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The purpose of this study is to benchmark the use of process improvement techniques among US health care organizations that won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

The applications from 13 Baldrige award winning health care organizations were researched to determine which process improvement techniques were used most frequently to guide their operations.

The results from this study identify several best practices in process improvement techniques. Furthermore, the study pinpoints in which aspect of performance that a process improvement technique is most likely to be used.

Only applications from organizations winning the Baldrige award have been studied. The identity and application for organizations that do not win the award are not released to the public. Statistical analysis of the data is limited to the relatively small number (13) of award winners.

The results clearly show that there are certain process improvement techniques used by a majority of the Baldrige winners. It is not possible to guarantee that the use of these same techniques by other health care organizations will result in performance improvement, only that the winners used the techniques and have achieved a high level of performance. The results identify processes for further benchmarking studies.

The process improvement techniques identified in this study have been used by successful health care organizations. This information may be useful to other health care organizations when deciding on which process improvement techniques to pursue in order to improve their own performance. While the Baldrige award process has driven benchmarking efforts, this study uses the Baldrige process to identify benchmarking opportunities for process improvement in health care organizations.

The purpose of this article is to explore the knowledge capture process at the clinical level. It aims to identify factors that enable or constrain learning. The study applies complex adaptive system thinking principles to reconcile learning within the NHS.

The paper uses a qualitative exploratory study with an interpretative methodological stance set in a secondary care NHS Trust. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with healthcare practitioners and managers involved at both strategic and operational risk management processes.

A network structure is revealed that exhibits the communication and interdependent working practices to support knowledge capture and adaptive learning. Collaborative multidisciplinary communities, whose values reflect local priorities and promote open dialogue and reflection, are featured. The main concern is that the characteristics of bureaucracy; rational‐legal authority, a rule‐based culture, hierarchical lines of communication and a centralised governance focus, are hindering clinical learning by generating barriers.

Locally emergent collaborative processes are a key strategic resource to capture knowledge, potentially fostering an environment that could learn from failure and translate lessons between contexts. What must be addressed is that reporting mechanisms serve not only the governance objectives, but also supplement learning by highlighting the potential lessons in context. Managers must nurture a collaborative infrastructure using networks in a co‐evolutionary manner. Their role is not to direct and design processes but to influence, support and create effective knowledge capture.

Although the study only investigated one site the findings and conclusions may well translate to other trusts – such as the risk of not enabling a learning environment at clinical levels.

The purpose of this research is to investigate how secondary school teachers adaptively make use of the classroom learning environment. The approach illustrates the intimate relationship between teaching style, learning style and the adaptive use of space as well as the preferences for different learning environments.

A multi method study approach was used to carry out the research. Two main methods were used in the study. In the first method, trainee teachers recorded spatial observations (mapping). Maps of the chemistry classrooms were produced. The observers marked all fixed, semi‐fixed and flexible elements in the classroom space. The second method involved two questionnaires. The first questionnaire (Principles of Adult Learning Scale (PALS)) was used to identify and describe teachers' teaching styles. The second questionnaire (Questionnaire of the Classrooms' Physical Properties) was used by trainee teachers acting as observers. It consists of a set of items that enable the evaluation of classroom quality related to specific physical properties. Research data were collected from ten secondary schools (upper level of the Polish secondary schools) in five cities located in South‐West part of Poland.

The results suggest that the traditional row and column classroom seating arrangement was dominant. It was found that teaching styles could be identified determined using factors identified using the PALS scale. Teachers generally perceived their own learning environment as more teacher‐centered or more student‐centered. Their teaching styles were combinations of student‐centered and teacher‐centered activity.

The research has practical significance in that it had developed a questionnaire that can be used by students and teachers to monitor the quality of physical classrooms environments and provide guidelines for the improvement of learning spaces.

The application of the multi‐method described in this study creates possibilities for a deeper understanding of secondary school classroom environments. A structured data collection system was valuable for the trainee teachers. They acquired a useful knowledge of classroom management and how to create effective learning environments, during the professional practice period. Trainee teachers gain awareness that would enable them to make changes to the classroom environment as an adaptive resource.

This paper aims to increase understanding of how firms can more effectively identify valuable and profitable innovations in the pharmaceutical industry and to identify the issues and challenges posed by current managerial decision-making practices.

A case study of a single project is presented: a drug in-licensing decision made by a team of three managers in a large Australian pharmaceutical firm. Using participant-observation, interviews and archival analysis, the authors followed the managers as they identified and evaluated 122 late-stage anti-diabetic drug variants for further development.

The managers used decision heuristics to arrive at a short list of three drugs from a choice set of 122. While the process was ostensibly rational and systematic, there was evidence of data quality issues, misleading mental models and cognitive bias. The authors concluded a high probability of accepting a poor candidate or rejecting a stronger candidate (i.e. making Type I and II errors).

This paper focuses on initial market and technology evaluation stage only (i.e. not commercialization) and is a single case study design; therefore, care should be taken in generalizing to other decisions or other contexts. This paper highlights the need for further research integrating organizational decision-making and open innovation from a multi-disciplinary perspective.

This paper raises awareness of potential decision-making pitfalls and includes a detailed audit framework to support improved managerial decision processes and double rather than single loop learning.

The findings support better decision-making and therefore supports higher quality drug selection and development, leading to improved population health outcomes.

Multi-disciplinary, draws attention of marketing and new product development scholars to open innovation research. It adds to knowledge about open innovation practices at the project level. It also provides an extended model of market opportunity analysis for high technology markets.

Check-in based advertising is growing dramatically as the popularity of social media increases. The purpose of this paper is to explore which social cues are appropriate for check-in based advertising in social media based on media richness theory and how content effectiveness affects content generation intention based on achievement motivation theory.

A laboratory experiment was performed to evaluate the effects of social cue strategies on content effectiveness of attitude toward the ad and self-efficacy on recall. The influence of effectiveness on content generation intention are also measured in the experiment.

The results of a laboratory experiment indicated that a strategy of using plentiful social cues has high effectiveness as measured by the concept of attitude toward the ad. Content effectiveness measured by attitude toward the ad and self-efficacy on recall can directly affect user intentions to generating check-in based advertisements.

Although check-in based advertising is driven by the customers themselves rather than by the company, companies can encourage their customers to follow an appropriate check-in content generation strategy to improve effectiveness.

The findings of this study provide useful information for designing the content of social media designed to facilitate the promotion of products and companies in online marketing.

In theoretical contribution, this study integrates media richness theory and achievement motivation theory to explore how users intent to generate check-in advertising according to social cues effectiveness.