Carol Rivas, Stephanie Taylor, Stephen Abbott, Aileen Clarke, Chris Griffiths, C. Michael Roberts and Robert Stone
The purpose of this paper is to examine perceptions of local service change and concepts of change amongst participants in a UK nationwide randomised controlled trial of informal…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine perceptions of local service change and concepts of change amongst participants in a UK nationwide randomised controlled trial of informal, structured, reciprocated, multidisciplinary peer review with feedback to promote quality improvement: the National Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Resources and Outcomes Project (NCROP).
Design/methodology/approach
The paper takes the form of a qualitative study, involving semi‐structured interviews with 43 hospital respiratory consultants, nurses and general managers at 24 intervention and 11 control NCROP sites. Thematic analysis resulted in adoption of Joss and Kogan's quality indicators as an analytic framework.
Findings
The paper finds that peer review was associated with positive changes, which may lead to sustained service improvement. Differences existed in perceptions of change among clinicians and between clinicians and managers. “Generic changes” (e.g. changes in interpersonal relations or cultural changes), were often not perceived as change.
Research limitations/implications
The study highlights the significance of generic change in evaluations of change processes. Most participants were clinicians limiting inter‐professional comparisons. Some clinical staff failed to recognise changes they accomplished or their significance, perceiving change differently to others within their professional group. These findings have implications for policy and research. They should be considered when developing frameworks for assessing quality improvements and staff engagement with change.
Originality/value
This is the first qualitative study exploring participants' experience of peer review for quality improvement in healthcare. The study adds to previous research into UK health service improvement, which has had a more restricted focus on inter‐professional differences.
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Alexandra L. Ferrentino, Meghan L. Maliga, Richard A. Bernardi and Susan M. Bosco
This research provides accounting-ethics authors and administrators with a benchmark for accounting-ethics research. While Bernardi and Bean (2010) considered publications in…
Abstract
This research provides accounting-ethics authors and administrators with a benchmark for accounting-ethics research. While Bernardi and Bean (2010) considered publications in business-ethics and accounting’s top-40 journals this study considers research in eight accounting-ethics and public-interest journals, as well as, 34 business-ethics journals. We analyzed the contents of our 42 journals for the 25-year period between 1991 through 2015. This research documents the continued growth (Bernardi & Bean, 2007) of accounting-ethics research in both accounting-ethics and business-ethics journals. We provide data on the top-10 ethics authors in each doctoral year group, the top-50 ethics authors over the most recent 10, 20, and 25 years, and a distribution among ethics scholars for these periods. For the 25-year timeframe, our data indicate that only 665 (274) of the 5,125 accounting PhDs/DBAs (13.0% and 5.4% respectively) in Canada and the United States had authored or co-authored one (more than one) ethics article.
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Gábor Nagy, Carol M. Megehee and Arch G. Woodside
The study here responds to the view that the crucial problem in strategic management (research) is firm heterogeneity – why firms adopt different strategies and structures, why…
Abstract
The study here responds to the view that the crucial problem in strategic management (research) is firm heterogeneity – why firms adopt different strategies and structures, why heterogeneity persists, and why competitors perform differently. The present study applies complexity theory tenets and a “neo-configurational perspective” of Misangyi et al. (2016) in proposing complex antecedent conditions affecting complex outcome conditions. Rather than examining variable directional relationships using null hypotheses statistical tests, the study examines case-based conditions using somewhat precise outcome tests (SPOT). The complex outcome conditions include firms with high financial performances in declining markets and firms with low financial performances in growing markets – the study focuses on seemingly paradoxical outcomes. The study here examines firm strategies and outcomes for separate samples of cross-sectional data of manufacturing firms with headquarters in one of two nations: Finland (n = 820) and Hungary (n = 300). The study includes examining the predictive validities of the models. The study contributes conceptual advances of complex firm orientation configurations and complex firm performance capabilities configurations as mediating conditions between firmographics, firm resources, and the two final complex outcome conditions (high performance in declining markets and low performance in growing markets). The study contributes by showing how fuzzy-logic computing with words (Zadeh, 1966) advances strategic management research toward achieving requisite variety to overcome the theory-analytic mismatch pervasive currently in the discipline (Fiss, 2007, 2011) – thus, this study is a useful step toward solving the crucial problem of how to explain firm heterogeneity.
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Aarhus Kommunes Biblioteker (Teknisk Bibliotek), Ingerslevs Plads 7, Aarhus, Denmark. Representative: V. NEDERGAARD PEDERSEN (Librarian).
Thomas M. Keck and Kevin J. McMahon
From one angle, abortion law appears to confirm the regime politics account of the Supreme Court; after all, the Reagan/Bush coalition succeeded in significantly curtailing the…
Abstract
From one angle, abortion law appears to confirm the regime politics account of the Supreme Court; after all, the Reagan/Bush coalition succeeded in significantly curtailing the constitutional protection of abortion rights. From another angle, however, it is puzzling that the Reagan/Bush Court repeatedly refused to overturn Roe v. Wade. We argue that time and again electoral considerations led Republican elites to back away from a forceful assertion of their agenda for constitutional change. As a result, the justices generally acted within the range of possibilities acceptable to the governing regime but still typically had multiple doctrinal options from which to choose.
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Michael L. Roberts and Theresa L. Roberts
This chapter examines how public attitudes and judgments about tax fairness reflect distributive justice rules about proportionality/contributions, needs, and equality; fairness…
Abstract
This chapter examines how public attitudes and judgments about tax fairness reflect distributive justice rules about proportionality/contributions, needs, and equality; fairness issues that influence voluntary tax compliance (Hofmann, Hoelzl, & Kirchler, 2008; Spicer & Lundstedt, 1976). Most public polls and some prior research indicate the general public considers progressive income tax rates as fairer than flat tax rates, a reflection of the Needs rule of distributive justice theory; our 1,138 participants respond similarly. However, two-thirds of our politically representative sample of the American public actually assign “fair shares” of income taxes consistently with fairness-as-proportionality above an exempt amount of income, consistent with the Contributions rule of Equity Theory. We argue experimental assignments of fair shares of income taxes can best be understood as a combination of the Needs rule, applied by exempting incomes below the poverty line from income taxation (via current standard deductions) and taxing incomes above this exempt amount at a single tax rate (i.e., a flat-rate tax) consistent with the Proportionality/Contributions rule. Viewed in combination, these two distributive justice rules explain the tax fairness judgments of 89% of our sample and indicate surprising general agreement about what constitutes a fair share of income taxes that should be paid by US citizens from the 5th percentile to the 95th percentile of the income distribution. The joint application of these fairness rules indicates how seemingly competing, partisan distributive justice concerns can inform our understanding of social attitudes about tax fairness across income classes.
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Michael C.P. Sing, David J. Edwards, Arthur W.T. Leung, Henry Liu and Chris J. Roberts
The accuracy and reliability of subjectively assessing a construction project's complexity at the pre-construction stage is questionable and relies upon the project manager's…
Abstract
Purpose
The accuracy and reliability of subjectively assessing a construction project's complexity at the pre-construction stage is questionable and relies upon the project manager's tacit experiences, knowledge and background. The purpose of this paper is to develop a scientifically robust analytical approach by presenting a novel classification mechanism for defining the level of project complexity in terms of work contents (WCs), scope, building structures (BSs) and site conditions.
Design/methodology/approach
Empiricism is adopted to deductively analyze variables obtained from secondary data within extant literature and primary project data to develop project type classifications. Specifically, and from an operational perspective, a two-stage “waterfall process” was adopted. In stage one, the research identified 56 variables affecting project complexity from literature and utilized a structured questionnaire survey of 100 project managers to measure the relevance of these. A total of 27 variables were revealed to be significant and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is adopted to cluster these variables into six-factor thematic groups. In stage two, data from 62 real-life projects (including the layout and structural plans) were utilized for computing the factor score using the six-factor groups. Finally, hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) is adopted to classify the projects into collected distinctive groups and each of a similar nature and characteristics.
Findings
The developed theoretical framework (that includes a novel complex index) provides a robust “blueprint platform” for main contractors to compile their project complexity database. The research outputs enable project managers to generate a more accurate picture of complexity at the pre-construction stage.
Originality/value
While numerous research articles have provided a comprehensive framework to define project complexity, scant empirical works have assessed it at the pre-construction stage or utilized real-life project samples to classify it. This research addresses this knowledge gap within the prevailing body of knowledge.
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Daniel J. Carabellese, Michael J. Proeve and Rachel M. Roberts
The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship of two distinct variants of dispositional shame (internal and external shame) with collaborative, purpose-driven aspects…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship of two distinct variants of dispositional shame (internal and external shame) with collaborative, purpose-driven aspects of the patient–provider relationship (working alliance) and patient satisfaction. The aim of this research was to conduct a preliminary investigation into the relevance of dispositional shame in a general healthcare population.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 127 community members (mean age 25.9 years) who reported that they had regularly seen a GP over the past year were recruited at an Australian university. Participants were asked to reflect on their relationship with their GP, and completed instruments assessing various domains of shame, as well as working alliance and patient satisfaction.
Findings
Non-parametric correlations were examined to determine the direction and strength of relationships, as well as conducting mediation analyses where applicable. Small, negative correlations were evident between external shame and working alliance. Both external and internal shame measures were also negatively correlated with patient satisfaction. Finally, the relationship of external shame to patient satisfaction was partially mediated by working alliance.
Practical implications
Both the reported quality of patient–provider working alliance, and level of patient satisfaction are related to levels of dispositional shame in patients, and working alliance may act as a mediator for this relationship.
Originality/value
The findings from this preliminary study suggest that internal and external shame are important factors to consider in the provision of medical care to maximise the quality of patient experience and working alliance.