Jan A. Pfister, David Otley, Thomas Ahrens, Claire Dambrin, Solomon Darwin, Markus Granlund, Sarah L. Jack, Erkki M. Lassila, Yuval Millo, Peeter Peda, Zachary Sherman and David Sloan Wilson
The purpose of this multi-voiced paper is to propose a prosocial paradigm for the field of performance management and management control systems. This new paradigm suggests…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this multi-voiced paper is to propose a prosocial paradigm for the field of performance management and management control systems. This new paradigm suggests cultivating prosocial behaviour and prosocial groups in organizations to simultaneously achieve the objectives of economic performance and sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors share a common concern about the future of humanity and nature. They challenge the influential assumption of economic man from neoclassical economic theory and build on evolutionary science and the core design principles of prosocial groups to develop a prosocial paradigm.
Findings
Findings are based on the premise of the prosocial paradigm that self-interested behaviour may outperform prosocial behaviour within a group but that prosocial groups outperform groups dominated by self-interest. The authors explore various dimensions of performance management from the prosocial perspective in the private and public sectors.
Research limitations/implications
The authors call for theoretical, conceptual and empirical research that explores the prosocial paradigm. They invite any approach, including positivist, interpretive and critical research, as well as those using qualitative, quantitative and interventionist methods.
Practical implications
This paper offers implications from the prosocial paradigm for practitioners, particularly for executives and managers, policymakers and educators.
Originality/value
Adoption of the prosocial paradigm in research and practice shapes what the authors call the prosocial market economy. This is an aspired cultural evolution that functions with market competition yet systematically strengthens prosociality as a cultural norm in organizations, markets and society at large.
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David Wilson and Michael Brookes
This paper aims to explore the reasons for and the subsequent longer-term impact of the closure of the Barlinnie Special Unit (BSU).
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the reasons for and the subsequent longer-term impact of the closure of the Barlinnie Special Unit (BSU).
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is both descriptive, providing an overview of the work of the BSU, and conceptual in that it argues that the limits of “prisoner rehabilitation” are observed in the closure of the BSU, which sounds a warning for other penal therapeutic communities and what it means to operate effectively.
Findings
The BSU which assisted long-term, difficult and violent prisoners moderate their prison behaviour and then to live non-offending lives, lost the confidence of government ministers and officials, as well as senior prison managers and, seemingly, the public, so closed after being in operation for 21 years. The impact of this has been that the Scottish Prison Service has not introduced, or attempted to introduce, a similar regime for managing and treating violent and disruptive prisoners.
Practical implications
There are important lessons to be learned from the BSU experience for all who manage and work in specialist, prison therapeutic units or within prison therapeutic regimes. This includes balancing the therapeutic elements of the regime, which may involve engaging in practices which are outside the norm for custodial establishments, with those establishments’ security and operational requirements, so as to not to create a disconnect between addressing offending behaviour and maintaining expected standards of wider prison conduct.
Originality/value
While there have been previous evaluations of the BSU, the longer-term impact has neither been previously considered and nor has the unit’s closure been considered from a penal philosophical perspective.
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It is still not completely understood what speeds up or slows down the decision‐making process. The duration of decision making may range from a month to four years, but usually…
Abstract
It is still not completely understood what speeds up or slows down the decision‐making process. The duration of decision making may range from a month to four years, but usually takes about 12 months. Most processes run into disruptions and interruptions, which lengthen the time taken. Measuring decision making is difficult since it is virtually impossible to define the beginning and end of the process. The evidence for this comes from an extensive study of how top managers and administrators in the public and private sectors move towards a conclusion. A database was established of 150 cases of strategic decision making obtained by interviewing. Six cases were traced back by intensive case study methods. Short, medium and long decision processes are examined using case examples. One of the curious features of decision making is what happens before the deliberation process starts. Impediments and delays are discussed and whether committees slow the process.
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Soroush Maghsoudi, Colin Duffield and David Wilson
This paper aims to develop a practical tool to evaluate the outcomes of innovative practices in the building and construction industry.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to develop a practical tool to evaluate the outcomes of innovative practices in the building and construction industry.
Design/methodology/approach
A practical tool was proposed. It is an online tool programmed in a JavaScript environment. A previously developed and tested framework was the basis for this tool. Six case projects were used to test and validate the reliability of the tool. The outcomes of the building projects were categorized into six categories of economic, quality, social, environmental, satisfaction and soft and organizational impacts.
Findings
The most important finding of this research was that the evaluation of innovation in building and construction would be possible only if the subjective assessment is tolerated to include the non-monetary outcomes in the evaluation, as well as the monetary outcomes.
Research limitations/implications
The findings of this research are limited to the domestic and medium density building projects; thus, the outcomes might be generalized with appropriate care. The developed tool would assist practitioners in the field of building and construction to realize the impacts of innovation introduced into their projects. The project owners and developers could be the main audience of this tool.
Practical implications
The main contribution of the current study into the literature is the consideration of tangible and intangible outcomes of innovation together. In other words, this tool not only evaluates monetary outcomes but also takes into account non-monetary outcomes. It has been stated in the literature that 80 per cent of firms choose “non-numeric” project selection models (Meredith and Mantel, 2006). To provide a full representation of the reality, this model considers both numeric and non-numeric measures by applying both quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods. The project owners and developers could be the main audience of this tool. It is worth mentioning that this tool is the first attempt of its kind for building and construction projects, and it is applicable and fully practical.
Originality/value
This tool is the first attempt of its kind to evaluate practically the outcomes of innovation in the building and construction industry. The tool practicality and applicability in the real-world project is a privilege which gives more reliability and credibility to the proposed approach of innovation evaluation.
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Soroush Maghsoudi, Colin Duffield and David Wilson
Although the construction industry is known for its low level of innovation and slow pace of change, some of its characteristics not only make this sector unique but also provide…
Abstract
Purpose
Although the construction industry is known for its low level of innovation and slow pace of change, some of its characteristics not only make this sector unique but also provide some opportunities to innovate. Innovation evaluation has become one of the priorities for building practitioners. This study aims to develop a practical methodology to evaluate the outcomes of innovation in small building and construction projects.
Design/methodology/approach
The research used three real case projects and information along with what was found in the literature. A framework was developed based on an extensive literature review of innovation outcomes evaluation.
Findings
The outcomes of the building projects were categorized into six categories of economic, quality, social, environmental, satisfaction and soft and organizational impacts. It was found that the outcomes of innovative practices in construction projects could be evaluated if subjective assessment is tolerated. The findings of this research are limited to the domestic and medium-density building projects, thus the outcomes might be generalized with appropriate care. The proposed practical framework would assist practitioners in the field of building and construction to realize the impacts of innovation introduced in their projects. The project owners and developers could be the main users of this framework.
Originality/value
Previously developed models or frameworks have mainly remained at the abstract level that could be used as guidelines, but the proposed framework in this study is practical and applicable to real building projects.
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Soroush Maghsoudi, Colin Duffield and David Wilson
Unlike manufacturing and research and developments, major infrastructure projects rarely emphasize or drive their objectives on the basis of innovation. This is in part because of…
Abstract
Purpose
Unlike manufacturing and research and developments, major infrastructure projects rarely emphasize or drive their objectives on the basis of innovation. This is in part because of a risk-averse culture, yet conceivably great benefits and opportunities are being lost because of this behavior.
Design/methodology/approach
The case for focusing on innovation in infrastructure projects is that the reasons driving innovation are not fully understood, and this impedes the effective implementation of lessons learned for the numerous innovative projects into practice more generally. The purpose of this study was to discover how innovation is produced and captured in major infrastructure projects in Australia and to understand how innovation may be replicated for future projects through refinement of design, project management, finance and procurement.
Findings
Engineering and project managers may find this paper helpful to better understand how innovation might happen in infrastructure projects and what different forms it can take.
Originality/value
The findings of this study demonstrate that people and culture drive consistent successful infrastructure outcomes more than simply the development of new products or processes.
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The primary purpose of this article is to introduce the special issue on trust in marketing and the selected papers. However, it has a secondary objective of acting as a brief…
Abstract
Purpose
The primary purpose of this article is to introduce the special issue on trust in marketing and the selected papers. However, it has a secondary objective of acting as a brief introduction to the concept of trust, of highlighting the scope and scale of research into the concept in a range of disciplines, and of stimulating more research in areas identified as still being under‐explored.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a discursive paper based on analysis and synthesis of trust literature and of submissions to the special issue.
Findings
This paper finds that despite a broad spectrum of disciplines that investigate trust, and despite this special issue in the area of marketing, there are still areas open for research into trust in marketing, for example the role of trust in a B2C context, the impact of indirect (referent) experience versus direct experience of levels of trust, and exploring the concept using more interpretivist or phenomenological approaches.
Research limitations/implications
The historical synthesis provides researchers new to the field with some foundational literature. For those interested in current thoughts, the discussion provides a synthesis of the areas represented by the paper in this special issue. For those interested in new areas it offers suggestions as to some possibilities.
Originality/value
The value of the paper lies in linking the special issue articles to areas of current interest and the identification of under‐researched areas of trust in a marketing context.
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The primary purpose of this bibliography is to provide a compilation of trust‐related articles from the disparate fields in which trust has been explored (from psychology to…
Abstract
Purpose
The primary purpose of this bibliography is to provide a compilation of trust‐related articles from the disparate fields in which trust has been explored (from psychology to sociology and information systems to marketing. Years in its compilation and (still incomplete), it provides a listing that is not easily obtained even with the search capability of the internet and electronic library catalogues. Its secondary purpose is to highlight which articles are used most by marketing‐related trust researchers both in general and within the submissions to the special issue.
Design/methodology/approach
The bibliography was compiled via search and analysis of databases, reference lists, bibliographies, internet searches, library catalogues, university web pages, researchers' curricula vitae (inter alia) for conference papers, journal articles, and books that use trust as a key concept within the work.
Findings
The paper finds that there is a plethora of material on trust, but spread across several thousand sources. No single comprehensive collection exists and the need for such a compilation is of value to researchers.
Research limitations/implications
The paper is an invaluable source of references on trust from across a wide range of academic disciplines.
Originality/value
The main contribution of the paper is the cross‐disciplinary nature of the compilation of reference materials.
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Marina Aferiba Tandoh, Felix Charles Mills-Robertson, Michael David Wilson and Alex Kojo Anderson
The purpose of this study was to elucidate the association between helminth infections, dietary parameters and cognitive performance, as well as the predictors of undernutrition…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to elucidate the association between helminth infections, dietary parameters and cognitive performance, as well as the predictors of undernutrition among school-age children (SAC) living in helminth-endemic fishing and farming communities in Ghana.
Design/methodology/approach
This was a cross sectional study involving 164 (9 to 12 years old) SAC from fishing (n = 84) and farming (n = 80) communities of the Kwahu Afram Plains South District of the Eastern Region of Ghana, using structured questionnaires and anthropometric and biochemical assessments.
Findings
Overall, 51.2% of the children were males, with no significant gender difference between the communities (p = 0.88). Average age of the children was 10.5 ± 1.25 years, with no significant difference between the farming and fishing communities (p = 0.90). About 53.1% of all children were anemic, with no significant differences between farming versus fishing communities (p = 0.87). Helminth-infected children were significantly anemic (p = 0.03). Mean serum zinc level of all children was 13.1 ± 4.57 µmol/L, with zinc deficiency being significantly higher in children in the farming community (p < 0.0001). About 7.5% of all the children were underweight, whilst 13.8% were stunted with a higher proportion of stunting occurring among older children (p = 0.001) and girls (p = 0.117). There was no significant difference in the Raven’s Colored Progressive Matrices cognitive test scores between the two communities (p = 0.79). Predictors of anemia were helminthiasis and pica behavior.
Originality/value
These findings are relevant and have the prospect of guiding the development of intervention programs in addressing the persistent problem of nutritional and cognitive deficits among SAC.