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This paper seeks to investigate the extent to which IiP is a useful method for managing change in local government. In order to do this considers the relative merits and limitations of IiP by examining its ability to encourage learning transfer, learning capability and strategic human resource development. By examining data from a postal survey of all 120 UK local authorities that had achieved the award by August 2001 questions the extent to which IiP can be viewed as a change management tool, as many advocates of IiP claim. Concludes with suggestions for future development.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the feasibility of collecting standardized, patient reported race and ethnicity (RE) data in hospitals, and to assess the impact on data quality and utility.

Part of a larger evaluation that included a comprehensive assessment. Sites documented RE data collection procedures before and after program implementation. Primary data collected through qualitative interviewing with key respondents in ten hospitals to assess implementation. Nine hospitals provided RE data on the same patients before and after implementation new data collection procedures were implemented to assess impact.

Implementation went smoothly in nine of ten hospitals and had substantial effects on the hospital staff awareness on the potential for disparities within their hospitals. New procedures had minimal impact on characterization of readmitted patients.

This study demonstrated that it is feasible for staff in a diverse group of hospitals to implement systematic, internally standardized methods to collect self-reported RE data from patients.

Although this study found little impact patients’ demographic characterizations, other benefits included greater awareness of and attention to disparities, uncovering small pockets of minorities, and dramatically increased RE data use in quality improvement efforts.

Human resource management (HRM) practices are implemented to improve outcomes, such as reducing turnover, absenteeism, and improving performance. Using social exchange theory (SET), the purpose of this paper is to examine one HRM practice that has received less attention by researchers: employer-sponsored childcare assistance programs.

Study 1 – a field study compared three groups of hospital employees’ (n=148) attitudes and behaviors using MANCOVA/ANOVA over two time periods. Study 2 – using a field study, on-site and voucher childcare assistance programs were evaluated in terms of the cost to the organization and the relationship to attitudinal variables.

Study 1 – results indicated that employee performance was higher and absenteeism lower for employees using the on-site childcare center than employees using an off-site center or with no children. Although the attitudinal results did not align with hypotheses, they were not inconsistent with SET. Study 2 – results indicate that childcare assistance programs may be a beneficial HRM practice for organizations to implement.

One limitation of Study 1 is the small sample size. Future research should continue to examine how employee benefits like childcare programs affect employees, as well as examine how such benefits differentially employees who value and do not value the benefits. In Study 2, although the authors randomly selected the sample of on-site and voucher programs, the health care facilities self-selected themselves to participate in the program and selected the type of childcare program, a potential source of bias. Future research should examine childcare assistance programs and their impact on work-family balance and strain-based conflict in a wider variety of samples.

Implications for research and practice: Both studies offer researchers a “next step” in the evaluation of childcare assistance research. Additionally, these studies are of practical value to administrators/researchers in organizations who may be considering vouchers or on-site programs as they relate such programs to organizational outcomes.

The first study is one of the few studies on this topic to use a field design with two time points and with multiple behaviors and attitudes. The second study provides a descriptive comparison of two types of childcare assistance programs, a comparison made by few studies to date.

Research in customer satisfaction over the past decade has lead to a much richer understanding of service quality and customer expectations. In trying to untangle the linkage between satisfied customers and long‐term success for the organization, however, attention has evolved from a focus on customer satisfaction to a realization that retaining customers and developing loyalty are essential for organizational success. This interpretive investigation focuses on customer retention and loyalty in an effort to understand better these variables in the context of service organizations. In so doing we review the rise of managerial concern for customer retention and loyalty and examine the definitions and relationships of these constructs. Then, to develop a richer understanding of repeat buyers, semi‐structured interviews were conducted with consumers identifying themselves as “loyal”. A typology of loyalty is offered consisting of five levels of repeat buyers, ranging from “prisoners” to “apostles”. Additionally, the managerial implications of this typology are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the needs of men experiencing domestic abuse from the perspective of the professionals supporting them.

An all Wales qualitative study, 20 semi-structured interviews were completed with managers and practitioners of domestic abuse services supporting men. Interviews were analysed using thematic analysis.

Analysis identified six themes: against the tide of recognition, a need to recognise and accept domestic abuse, knowledge of provision, low numbers of men, resources (time and funding) and rebuilding. However, against the tide of recognition was central. Domestic abuse is understood as a heteronormative and gendered experience; abused men defy these notions.

Findings cannot be generalised across the UK. This study offers a valuable base on which to build future knowledge. Future research might consider recruiting larger samples or follow up qualitative findings with a larger quantitative survey.

This paper presents the manager and practitioner views of the service needs and solutions for men. They perceive that abused men need to recognise and accept victimisation, have knowledge of provision and know it is acceptable to seek help and receive practical support.

Increasing recognition cannot be achieved in isolation. A shared commitment is required from policy, practice and research to raise the agenda for abused men.

This is an under-researched area. This paper is the first to explore the needs of men through the lens of domestic abuse professionals.

This paper seeks to respond to Otley's calls for future research to take an integrated and longitudinal approach to examining the operation of performance management in real organizations. The paper reviews 120 field studies published in Accounting, Organizations and Society and Management Accounting Research over the past 15 years.

The Otley's performance management framework is used to classify the field studies in terms of five central issues that relate to objectives, strategies, target setting, reward systems, and information flows.

The key findings are that only nine field studies examine the integrated performance management framework in any depth, and the research to date is fragmentary with regard to, for example, the performance management issues studied and theories used.

Implications from this research include the need to examine the operation of the integrated performance management framework together with in‐depth research methods to understand the system in use, rather than the intended design of performance management processes. Future theoretical development could also be enhanced by better selection of research sites and building on prior studies. The limitations of this review include journal bias and limitations associated with classifying the diverse range of field studies using any framework, including the Otley's framework.

The novelty of this review lies in using Otley's framework to classify the expansive performance management literature and to document the extent of the integrative nature of the field studies, the depth of the studies, and the diversity of theories applied.

We seek to understand how informal entrepreneurship education and training (EET) processes support marginalised women in challenging institutional contexts into gainful participation in entrepreneurial activities, facilitating empowerment and emancipation.

The study employs an inductive qualitative approach drawing on in-depth individual interviews, a focus group and observation of how female informal EET educators facilitate hands-on EET to marginalised female entrepreneurs in Uganda.

We specify a range of novel complementary practices that informal EET educators undertake during the main instructional EET stage and present the wraparound purposive work, both pre-and-post the instructional stage, they enact to support female empowerment processes for their disadvantaged learners. We then propose a grounded model capturing practices enacted by EET practitioners that illuminates ways in which informal EET can contribute to processes of empowerment and emancipation.

Our contributions are twofold. First, we conceptualise EET educators as institutional entrepreneurs undertaking institutional work beyond core teaching. Second, we specify a range of novel complementary practices they undertake before, during and after the conventional instructional part. This illuminates how EET can contribute to processes of empowerment and emancipation. Drawing on data from a unique institutional context, we illuminate novel practices enacted by informal EET educators thereby extending both the pedagogy and the realm of entrepreneurship education with implications for grander empowerment and emancipatory outcomes beyond the development of entrepreneurial competencies.

Since the implementation of the National Organic Program in 2002, the US organic market has grown in both scale and scope, consequently placing pressure on the organic supply chain. The crucial role of matching consumer demand for final products with farm-level production falls to certified organic handlers, the intermediary firms that process, manufacture and distribute organic products. Locating certified organic commodities and products that meet their needs, in a timely manner, is costly and challenging. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

A mixed-methods study was designed to better understand organic sector supply chain relationships in the USA. Data were collected from certified organic handlers via survey and semi-structured interviews. Those interviewed were randomly selected from 153 survey respondents who expressed an interest in being interviewed. This paper presents an analysis of interviews with 26 certified organic handlers regarding the relationships with their suppliers.

Three key concepts characterize the relationships between handlers and their suppliers: closeness, support and commitment. Nearly all handler supplier relationships possess some degree of closeness, where the handler expresses interest in their supplier. The relationships follow a spectrum of intensity, where the least engaged handlers provide little support and commitment, and the most engaged handlers provide support and commitment through a long-term relationship or contract.

Research into the organic supply chain is challenging to undertake, given the proprietary nature of the relationships. As the organic market continues to grow, the relationships along the supply chain will need to evolve to allow firms to meet consumer demand.