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Article
Publication date: 1 April 1996

E.J. Bergum

Drum Side Treated Foil is an electrodeposited copper foil with the adhesion promoting treatment applied tothe drum, or shiny side, instead of to the more typical matte side. The…

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Abstract

Drum Side Treated Foil is an electrodeposited copper foil with the adhesion promoting treatment applied to the drum, or shiny side, instead of to the more typical matte side. The treated drum side is then laminated to the core prepreg, leaving the matte side exposed. Advantages of this technology, compared with standard copper foil, include: Simplified, non‐subtractive pre‐cleaning, eliminating the need for microetching, pumice cleaning or mechanical scrubbing; improved resist adhesion for higher innerlayer yield; ultra‐low profile for cleaner etching and improved line definition; higher oxide‐to‐prepreg bond strength for improved board reliability; improved controlled impedance consistency and predictability. A technical description of Drum Side Treated Foil’s inherent advantages, processing recommendations and results of several case studies comparing printed circuit board yields with Drum Side Treated Foil vs standard foil are presented in this paper.

Details

Circuit World, vol. 22 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0305-6120

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Article
Publication date: 4 September 2007

J. McKenna and M. Whatling

The purpose of this paper is to explore the live experiences of urban commuter cycling (UCC).

2931

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the live experiences of urban commuter cycling (UCC).

Design/methodology/approach

In semi‐structured interviews, participants described day‐to‐day experiences of UCC in a single English city. Verbatim transcripts were coded using the themes of time, space, body and human relations, and interpreted through the principles of hermeneutic phenomenology.

Findings

The nine participants (seven males, two females) were aged 27 to 54. Each regularly commuted by bicycle at least three times per week for “18 months” to “27 years”. Strong influences on commuter cycling included the weather, daily tasks, cycling infrastructure, driver behaviour and the value of cycling for physical and mental well being. The contest for space was central to the UCC experience, with UCCs sensing they lacked respect despite feeling that they were “embodying citizenship” by enacting public policy. Due to their regular negative experiences, many UCCs were now willing to quit cycling and commute by car.

Research limitations/implications

Findings are limited to regular commuter cyclists and do little to describe the passage into regular cycling.

Practical applications

This paper highlights that cycle promoters and health educators may profit from focusing on road user interactions during the rush hour.

Originality/value

This paper addresses the untold day‐to‐day experiences of UCCs.

Details

Health Education, vol. 107 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0965-4283

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Article
Publication date: 16 October 2009

C.V. Som

The purpose of this paper is to explore the dilemma facing the health staff regarding the achievement of targets (waiting list reduction, etc.), on the one hand, and, on the other…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the dilemma facing the health staff regarding the achievement of targets (waiting list reduction, etc.), on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the responsibility of continuously improving the healthcare quality in NHS organisations.

Design/methodology/approach

In‐depth interviews were conducted using a semi‐structured interview method with a heterogeneous group of 33 key persons who have important responsibilities in an NHS Hospital Trust. The case study method was adopted to understand how the health staff are coping with the dilemma of meeting targets, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, continuously improving the quality of care (a statutory duty imposed on every member of health staff under clinical governance framework).

Findings

The findings of the research suggest that clinical governance has increased the dilemma of health staff on how to meet targets while continuously improving the quality of clinical care. The departments get additional funds only when it is clearly demonstrated that funds will be used to meet targets, whereas such additional funding is not available for quality improvement activities. Consequently, meeting targets becomes a priority, while achieving continuous quality improvement takes a backseat.

Research limitations/implications

In view of the mounting pressure on health staff to deliver the highest quality of clinical care more speedily, more research on a wider scale is necessary to understand what could be a practical solution for reducing the tensions of health staff and delivering the highest quality of care.

Practical implications

The research points out that it is almost impossible to continuously improve service quality to higher standards while meeting quantitative targets, because improving quality of healthcare would require allocation of more time to each patient and subsequent quality improvement activities. Putting too many patients through the system may reduce waiting lists but it may increase the risk of clinical errors because less time is available for individual patients.

Originality/value

The current literature provides little information on the above issue. The paper makes a valuable contribution by highlighting the failure of clinical governance to address some of the fundamental issues facing the NHS organisations. The managerial concepts of improving both quality and quantity at the same time may not be workable in healthcare organisations, because of the unique characteristics (i.e. the human dimension of clinical decision making) of healthcare management.

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Clinical Governance: An International Journal, vol. 14 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7274

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Article
Publication date: 8 August 2016

Jan Velvin, Kristian Bjørnstad and Erling Krogh

This study aims to explore the shift in social and cultural values in the wake of ongoing change; specifically, the degree of embeddedness of these values among farm-based…

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore the shift in social and cultural values in the wake of ongoing change; specifically, the degree of embeddedness of these values among farm-based entrepreneurs. The authors examine how this value-change-embeddedness continuum can further the development of theories in the field of social entrepreneurship.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use an exploratory and a descriptive approach when interviewing eight farmers and members of their respective households. The sample encompasses almost all the providers of farm-based tourism in this particular area of rural Norway. The empirical materials form the basis for selecting our theoretical approach, one of which is a structural life-mode analysis.

Findings

The findings show that the social value of self-reliance, when taken to extremes, can hinder the growth of deeper commercial cooperation between farmers. This constitutes a challenge to efficiency and effectiveness on a larger scale, given a need for both independence and interdependence together with flexible entrepreneurial network cooperation in social entrepreneurship. The findings also indicate that social entrepreneurship does not necessarily have to include a cognitive shift in values and roles for the exclusion of a productive entrepreneurial identity.

Originality/value

By focusing on value changes in social entrepreneurship, this paper addresses a significant gap in the entrepreneurship literature relating to the process of value creation. By using the structural life-mode analysis, this study identifies the underlying value changes that are fundamental to entrepreneurial processes, allowing that process to unfold and take hold to the betterment of affected farm-based communities.

Details

Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, vol. 10 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6204

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Publication date: 27 July 2022

Quivine Ndomo

The chapter discusses the question of social justice in social science research by problematizing the researcher-research content relationship and its guiding principle framework…

Abstract

The chapter discusses the question of social justice in social science research by problematizing the researcher-research content relationship and its guiding principle framework Science-Society-Me. With a focus on early career researchers, the author draws on her own PhD research experience to highlight the social justice tension inherent in the normative approaches and methods for selecting research topic, collecting data and relating with research participants, and analyzing and interpreting data especially in empirical research with fellow human beings. Drawing on the theory of affect, the chapter centralizes the position, biography and experience of the researcher, and the relationship between the researcher and the research participants to balance out the privileged (power) position of ‘science’ and ‘society’ in the current framework. To this end, I make two ontological and methodological adjustment recommendations: (1) Relocating the space of research from a fixed and exclusive ‘location’ of science theories, methods, concepts etc., to the space of daily life experience and interaction, requiring a compassionate approach to research, and thus the second recommendation; (2) Developing long-term, inclusive and equal relationships with research participants augmented by constant reflexivity – as including the biographies and experiences of the researcher and the research participant – as well as political reflexivity.

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Article
Publication date: 8 January 2025

Dario Natale Palmucci, Guido Giovando and Zuzana Vincurova

This qualitative study aims to identify key intervention areas for today’s leaders and the leadership skills necessary to enhance employee motivation in this digitized, post-COVID…

166

Abstract

Purpose

This qualitative study aims to identify key intervention areas for today’s leaders and the leadership skills necessary to enhance employee motivation in this digitized, post-COVID era.

Design/methodology/approach

An inductive qualitative approach with a semi-structured interview-based design has been adopted, inspired by previous studies that aimed to explore and shed light on the object of this study.

Findings

First, findings refer to actual main areas of intervention and challenges for leaders to drive organizations in the new post-Covid digitalized era. Second, the study also identifies new skills needed to lead businesses and drive employees’ motivation. Third, this work proposes a framework to explain the leadership role in the actual complex reality.

Originality/value

Despite the extensive body of research on leadership, current theories fall short in the complex, post-COVID environment marked by instability, constant change and pervasive technology. Thus this research strives to develop an integrated framework to better elucidate the challenges and skills essential for leading businesses in today’s complex reality, with a comprehensive perspective.

Details

Management Decision, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

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Article
Publication date: 1 June 2008

Em Pijl‐Zieber, Brad Hagen, Chris Armstrong‐Esther, Barry Hall, Lindsay Akins and Michael Stingl

Nurses and other professional caregivers are increasingly recognising the issue of moral distress and the deleterious effect it may have on professional work life, staff…

272

Abstract

Nurses and other professional caregivers are increasingly recognising the issue of moral distress and the deleterious effect it may have on professional work life, staff recruitment and staff retention. Although the nursing literature has begun to address the issue of moral distress and how to respond to it, much of this literature has typically focused on high acuity areas, such as intensive care nursing. However, with an ageing population and increasing demand for resources and services to meet the needs of older people, it is likely that nurses in long‐term care are going to be increasingly affected by moral distress in their work. This paper briefly reviews the literature pertaining to the concept of moral distress, explores the causes and effects of moral distress within the nursing profession and argues that many nurses and other healthcare professionals working with older persons may need to become increasingly proactive to safeguard against the possibility of moral distress.

Details

Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, vol. 9 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1471-7794

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Article
Publication date: 1 April 1981

V.J. Shackleton

Many people make the assumption that a repetitive job is automatically a boring one. This is not so. For many years, psychologists and other students of work behaviour have been…

1250

Abstract

Many people make the assumption that a repetitive job is automatically a boring one. This is not so. For many years, psychologists and other students of work behaviour have been pointing out that boredom is a subjective experience and refers to the individual's reaction to the environmental situation, whereas repetition or monotony is a characteristic of a task as perceived by an individual. Simply put, some repetitive or monotonous tasks are experienced as boring by some people. The aim of this article is to explore the sorts of repetitive tasks which lead to feelings of boredom, the effects of repetitive tasks on boredom and performance, and the methods that both workers and employers can use to reduce these effects.

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 10 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

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Article
Publication date: 5 November 2018

Caroline Ruiller, Beatrice Van Der Heijden, Frédérique Chedotel and Marc Dumas

As a way to enable employees to work distantly, teleworking has gained a growing interest in companies. At the same time, management challenges regarding the teleworkers’ risk of…

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Abstract

Purpose

As a way to enable employees to work distantly, teleworking has gained a growing interest in companies. At the same time, management challenges regarding the teleworkers’ risk of isolation, coupled with the need to maintain cohesion for the dispersed team, to give an example, are various. How can management practices help to maintain adequate levels of perceived proximity for a dispersed team’s members? The purpose of this paper is to answer this question. Referring to a particular person’s perception of how close or how far another person is, the concept of perceived proximity is mobilized. This Telecom case study is based on 22 interviews with human resources directors, managers and teleworkers. While the results of this study appear to corroborate empirically the theoretical model as proposed by O’Leary et al. (2014), they also propose nuances, highlighting the importance of the interpersonal relationship to expand the perceived proximity and stressing the need for both distant and face-to-face exchanges. They also help to understand which management practices can influence perceived proximity. In particular, they help to understand the role of communication and collective identity and support the importance of the e-leader. Finally, the results highlight two remote management modes that will be discussed elaborately.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a single in-depth case study of Telecom as a unique case study; it is useful to analyze new and complex phenomena for which theoretical development is emerging and the consideration of the context is essential (Yin, 2013). In total, 22 interviews were conducted with the human resources directors, managers and teleworkers. Lasting between 40 and 130 min each, the interviews were all fully transcribed and analyzed using an iterative thematic content analysis. The authors first manually analyzed the data on the basis of the social regulation theory to interpret the local and the combined regulation (that is say to how the managers and the teleworkers co-build the rules to work being distant) the telework implied between managers, teleworkers and their co-workers (Authors, 2018). Two emerging codes led the authors to reinterpret the data, compared to the initial interpretative framework. The authors thus transformed the coding and recoded the 22 interviews (Bacharach et al., 2000, p. 713; cited by Gibbert et al. 2010, p. 58) around the objective/subjective working time and information and communication technology (ICT) use and the perceived proximity: shared identity and perceived proximity, and communication and perceived proximity.

Findings

First, the level of ICT use and the accompanying objective and subjective perceptions with regard to working time are reported and positive perceptions for the employees are determined because of the timing flexibility the ICT determines. Second, the ICT use is presented in relation to the managerial and collegial proximity perceived. Third, the authors discuss the shared identity processes that influence the proximity perceived, followed by the characteristics of the communication process, being the fourth one. As such, the results lead to a valuable input that enables to critically reflect on the e-leader roles, resulting in two emerging management modes seen as a continuum in terms of shared identity: the “e-communicational” mode signals the re-foundation of management in situations of distance based on the personality of the e-leader that influences the team members in terms of communicational and organizational behaviors; and the control management mode that is based upon objectives in a situation of being distant, illustrated by managers who regulate the work made by the distant team in monitoring the objectives without sharing the experience of telework.

Research limitations/implications

The results corroborate empirically with the theoretical model by Boyer O’Leary et al. (2014), while putting into perspective the complexity to manage the inter-subjectivity that is related to distance. More specifically, the results show that even if the ICT use leads to a new balance regarding time management for teleworkers – increasing their quality of life perceptions, with a better organizational flexibility – that is to say, a “win-win” configuration, the ultimate success of such a configuration depends on sound management practices. In this sense, the authors propose to enrich their model (Figure 3, p. 33). More extensive research will test two new moderating variables. At first, the results put in evidence the core role of e-management (e-communicational vs control), with a potential moderator effect on the relationship between objective distance and shared identification, on the one hand, and communication, on the other hand. Another result is the potential moderator effect of the ICT use on the relationship between perceived proximity and relationship quality. The nuances proposed support some recent studies arguing that distant communication (versus face-to-face) may inhibit geographically distributed team performance without consideration of the way the teams use ICT to ensure their cohesion and performance (Malhotra and Majchrzak, 2014).

Practical implications

These conclusions result into important management recommendations to support dispersed teams with how to cope with challenges such as the risk of delayed communication, possible misinterpretations, limited information richness and great conflicts (Zuofa and Ochieng, 2017).

Originality/value

Compared to the unique empirical application of the Boyer O’Leary et al.’s framework (2014), who found no differences existing in terms of proximity perceived with the study of 341 “geographically present” dyads with 341 “geographically distant,” this study’s results show that the construction of the feeling of proximity depends on a fragile balance between virtual and face-to-face exchanges. The authors also highlight the role of an e-leader in this regard and identify and compare two modes of remote management.

Details

Team Performance Management: An International Journal, vol. 25 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-7592

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Article
Publication date: 1 September 2006

Marylyn Carrigan and Isabelle Szmigin

The paper explores how the complex relationship between consumption and production evolves as women enact their roles as mothers, and reconstruct their self‐identity through their…

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Abstract

Purpose

The paper explores how the complex relationship between consumption and production evolves as women enact their roles as mothers, and reconstruct their self‐identity through their use or avoidance of convenience products.

Design/methodology/approach

Qualitative, individual interviews are used to allow an in‐depth analysis of the life stories of the group of respondents. An interpretive analysis reveals the purpose, patterns and rules followed by these individuals in their actions.

Findings

Convenience consumption empowers these “mothers of invention” to instrumental and emotional autonomy through their rejection of unnecessary drudgery, and enables them to negotiate the role of caretaker within the family.

Research limitations/implications

The implications of the study suggest that there is a role for marketing to remove any vestiges of guilt in convenience consumption by addressing the issues of sustainability, nutrition, quality and value in convenience products. Future research should investigate whether these findings resonate cross‐culturally and across broader socio‐economic groups.

Originality/value

The paper reveals the importance of reinforcing the connections between a better quality of family care and love. The paper also demonstrates the importance of the interactions of the family members on convenience consumption. These findings are important for marketing practitioners and academics researching family consumption.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 40 no. 9/10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

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