The gap between the information poor and the information rich is widening in the modern societies of western countries and continues to divide East and West, the developed and the…
Abstract
The gap between the information poor and the information rich is widening in the modern societies of western countries and continues to divide East and West, the developed and the developing countries. The transformation from collection‐oriented to access‐oriented libraries and information centers too often neglects the cultural precondition of differing societies, but must be taken into account in organising training and other forms of continuing education. In this context, workshops and training seminars are being organised by the Foreign Relations Office at the German Library Institute in Berlin and are described in brief here.
Elisabeth Simon and Karl A. Stroetmann
The cultural determination of information behaviour is deeply influencing the way information is looked for, used and handled. Therefore, libraries in Central and Eastern Europe…
Abstract
The cultural determination of information behaviour is deeply influencing the way information is looked for, used and handled. Therefore, libraries in Central and Eastern Europe show, to a certain extent, the same characteristics due to the centralist information environment of the previous socialist rule. However, the deeply rooted belief in education and knowledge which was the pursued idea, regardless of frequent misuse by the Communist government may, in comparison to Western countries, ease the way into a knowledge society. The newly created information infrastructure in all European countries due to the technological development which will change libraries, for example in Germany, could be useless, or maybe even dangerous, without being embedded in a solid base of learning and knowledge.
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Elisabeth Simon and Karl A. Stroetmann
Since the opening up of the Soviet bloc countries, help given tolibraries from the West has mainly taken the form of donation ofmaterial. It has been difficult for Western…
Abstract
Since the opening up of the Soviet bloc countries, help given to libraries from the West has mainly taken the form of donation of material. It has been difficult for Western colleagues to appreciate the full extent of the problems experienced by their counterparts in the former Soviet bloc. The most pressing problems concerned library management. Describes two seminars on library and information management set up by the Foreign Relations Bureau, Berlin, in former Soviet bloc countries. The seminars tackled the problem of management from different angles. Outlines the learning and benefits received by both Western and Eastern participants.
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Lisa van Rossum, Kjeld Harald Aij, Frederique Elisabeth Simons, Niels van der Eng and Wouter Dirk ten Have
Lean healthcare is used in a growing number of hospitals to increase efficiency and quality of care. However, healthcare organizations encounter problems with the implementation…
Abstract
Purpose
Lean healthcare is used in a growing number of hospitals to increase efficiency and quality of care. However, healthcare organizations encounter problems with the implementation of change initiatives due to an implementation gap: the gap between strategy and execution. From a change management perspective, the purpose of this paper is to increase scientific knowledge regarding factors that diminish the implementation gap and make the transition from the “toolbox lean” toward an actual transformation to lean healthcare.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional study was executed in an operating theatre of a Dutch University Medical Centre. Transformational leadership was expected to ensure the required top-down commitment, whereas team leadership creates the required active, bottom-up behavior of employees. Furthermore, professional and functional silos and a hierarchical structure were expected to impede the workforce flexibility in adapting organizational elements and optimize the entire process flow.
Findings
The correlation and regression analyses showed positive relations between the transformational leadership and team leadership styles and lean healthcare implementation. The results also indicated a strong relation between workforce flexibility and the implementation of lean healthcare.
Originality/value
With the use of a recently developed change management model, the Change Competence Model, the authors suggest leadership and workforce flexibility to be part of an organization’s change capacity as crucial success factor for a sustainable transformation to lean healthcare.
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Abstract
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Susan Cartwright, Simon L. Albrecht and Elisabeth Wilson-Evered
Jane Elisabeth Frisk and Frank Bannister
This study aims to examine the application of design thinking to complex decision-making processes in local government and to link the design thinking to the theoretical work of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the application of design thinking to complex decision-making processes in local government and to link the design thinking to the theoretical work of leading thinkers in decision-making.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses multiple case studies, including non-participant observation, group discussions, semi-structured interviews, presentations and questionnaires.
Findings
For complex decisions, design thinking can contribute to more effective decision-making by expanding the range of solutions considered, people consulted and involved, sources of data/information and decision tools as well as in achieving buy-in to the eventual decision.
Research limitations/implications
The principal limitations include that this is one study in one country and in the public sector. There were some practical problems with external factors disrupting two of the cases, but these do not affect the findings. The principal implication is that by adopting a design thinking approach to complex decision-making, the quality of decision-making and decisions can be significantly improved.
Practical implications
When it comes to complex decisions, organisations can improve the quality of both their decision-making processes and their decisions by adopting and implementing ideas and insights from design thinking.
Social implications
For local authorities, a design approach can enhance the quality of the services provided by local authorities to citizens in particular in better meeting the needs of users and other stakeholders and in opening up better lines of communications between officials and citizens.
Originality/value
This research was based on an initiative in Swedish local government and its first implementation in practice. The authors are not aware of any similar study done elsewhere.
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Jane Elisabeth Frisk and Frank Bannister
Evolving digital technologies continue to enable new ways to collect and analyze data and this has led some researchers to claim that skillful use of data analytics and big data…
Abstract
Purpose
Evolving digital technologies continue to enable new ways to collect and analyze data and this has led some researchers to claim that skillful use of data analytics and big data can radically improve a company’s performance, but that in order to achieve such improvements managers need to change their decision-making culture and to increase the degree of collaboration in the decision-making process. The purpose of this paper is to create an increased understanding of how a decision-making culture can be changed by using a design approach.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents an action research project in which the authors use a design approach.
Findings
By adopting a design approach organizations can change their decision-making culture, increase the degree of collaboration and also reduce the influence of power and politics on their decision-making.
Research limitations/implications
This paper proposes a new approach to changing a decision-making culture.
Practical implications
Using data analytics and big data, a design approach can support organizations change their decision-making culture resulting in better and more effective decisions.
Originality/value
This paper bridges design and decision-making theory in a novel approach to an old problem.
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Christina Anna Elisabeth Claßen and Reinhard Schulte
The purpose of this paper is to develop an understanding of how conflicts, caused by the specifics of family businesses – the familiness – impact change in family businesses.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop an understanding of how conflicts, caused by the specifics of family businesses – the familiness – impact change in family businesses.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis is based on 21 semi-structured in-depth interviews of German family business members. The authors followed the grounded theory approach.
Findings
This study gives evidence for family business-specific conflicts and family business-specific change and outlines how conflict impacts change. Findings show that a family system works like a recursive catalytic converter in family businesses.
Research limitations/implications
This paper offers researchers a broader understanding and a comprehensive view of change in the family business. Although still limited by its exploratory approach, its insights can be valuable for researchers, practitioners and policy makers. The findings offer an operational base for future quantitative studies.
Originality/value
Using the new system theories approach the authors develop an understanding of how conflicts impact change in family businesses. The study explains how conflicts are managed in family business practice.