Therese Nilsson and Andreas Bergh
There is an on-going debate as to whether health is negatively affected by economic inequality. Still, we have limited knowledge of the mechanisms relating inequality to…
Abstract
There is an on-going debate as to whether health is negatively affected by economic inequality. Still, we have limited knowledge of the mechanisms relating inequality to individual health and very little evidence comes from less-developed economies. We use individual and multi-level data from Zambia on child nutritional health to test three hypotheses consistent with a negative correlation between income inequality and population health: the absolute income hypothesis (AIH), the relative income hypothesis (RIH) and the income inequality hypothesis (IIH). The results confirm that absolute income positively affects health. For the RIH we find sensitivity to the reference group used. Most interestingly, we find higher income inequality to robustly associate with better child health. The same pattern appears in a cross country regression. To explain the conflicting results in the literature we suggest examining potential mediators such as generosity, food sharing, trust and purchasing power.
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Sharon Purchase, Sara Denize and Doina Olaru
This chapter outlines a method for developing simulation code from case-based data using narrative sequence analysis. This analytical method allows researchers to systematically…
Abstract
This chapter outlines a method for developing simulation code from case-based data using narrative sequence analysis. This analytical method allows researchers to systematically specify the ‘real-world’ behaviours and causal mechanisms that describe the research problem and translate this mechanism into simulation code. An illustrative example of the process used for code development from case-based data is detailed using a well-documented case of photovoltaic innovation. Narrative sequence analysis is used to analyse case data. Micro-sequences are identified and simplified. Each micro-sequence is presented first in pseudo-code and then in simulation code. This chapter demonstrates the coding process using Netlogo code. Narrative sequence analysis provides a rigorous and systematic approach to identifying the underlying mechanisms to be described when building simulation models. This analytical technique also provides necessary and sufficient information to write simulation code. This chapter addresses a current gap in the methodology literature by including case data within agent-based model building processes. It benefits B2B marketing researchers by outlining guiding processes and principles in the use of case-based data to build simulation models.
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This paper aims to address the generic research question of how promising management practices such as total quality management (TQM) initiatives affect employee relations in…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to address the generic research question of how promising management practices such as total quality management (TQM) initiatives affect employee relations in South Eastern European (SEE) countries by focusing on managers' professional lives. In particular, this study focuses on the effects of TQM programmes on middle managers' (MMs') career prospects and job security.
Design/methodology/approach
A multi‐modal research approach was applied based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. A total of 1,800 middle managers from 73 service organizations in both the public and private sectors participated in the research (19 and 54 respectively).
Findings
The implementation of TQM programs was found to have a positive impact on MMs' careers and job security. Nevertheless, it was related mostly to the “hard”, rather than the “soft”, side of TQM. The strong impact of TQM practices on MMs' responses to various aspects related to their physical work, as compared to the small impact of the “soft” side, implies a more pragmatic view of restructuring of the employment relations covenant due to the application of management models in SEE region.
Research limitations/implications
The business literature has presented limited measurement tools for the “soft” and “hard” aspects of TQM. This paper provides a new, more reliable, and valid measurement of both sides of TQM. More research is required in order to further verify the use of such a measurement tool.
Practical implications
Managers should be aware of a somewhat more linear path to career progression and job security through the use of “hard” quality management practices while anticipating less importance to be given to concepts such as empowerment and employee involvement.
Originality/value
This study expands our understanding of how industrial relations can be formed from the application of promising management practices. In particular, it argues that managers' familiarity with the “hard” side of TQM seems to both positively and negatively influence career development and job security, while being influenced by employment sector and educational background.
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Ebrahim Soltani and Adrian Wilkinson
The purpose of this paper is to extend the Pelz Effect to explain the effects of incongruence between senior managers' orientations and underlying assumptions of total quality…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to extend the Pelz Effect to explain the effects of incongruence between senior managers' orientations and underlying assumptions of total quality management (TQM) on middle managers' own orientations and on TQM itself.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a multi‐case study approach of three organisations from different sectors, the authors conducted 68 semi‐structured interviews with managers at both senior and middle levels.
Findings
The findings largely support the Pelz Effect in that senior management exerts a major influence in establishing the tone and atmosphere of the TQM organisation by their orientations and attitudes towards the underlying principles of it. It has been found that senior managers' reliance on detection, reactive strategies and hard aspects of TQM – as opposed to prevention, proactive strategies and soft people‐based issues – resulted in: first, middle managers' compliance with short‐term tactical orientations rather than long‐term commitment; second, middle managers' increased control over the workforce rather than the work‐related processes; third, middle managers' tendency to agree about TQM objectives in a way to prioritise and fulfil their own self‐interests rather than TQM intended objectives and organisational interests; and finally the inability of middle managers to run TQM effectively.
Research limitations/implications
The findings suggest that the nature of middle management's orientation towards TQM and the degree of their supportive behaviour towards first line managers is affected by the senior management's orientation towards TQM and their supportive behaviour towards middle managers.
Originality/value
The results reveal that the current practice of TQM can be characterised by inspection and quality control approach, a top‐down process based upon a culture of procedure‐dominated with a heavy bureaucratic base, and the dominance of senior management's unilateral control. Finally, the theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.
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Describes a model based on empirical research which provides the details of an integrated management system and takes into account existing and accepted definitions of quality…
Abstract
Describes a model based on empirical research which provides the details of an integrated management system and takes into account existing and accepted definitions of quality management, environmental management, and occupational health and safety management systems. Claims that the model addresses the issues of scope and culture which none of the existing integrated management system models address. The model has been tested with a sample of members of the British Standards Society. Among the main findings of this testing is that the model addresses the problems of implementing a second standard (e.g. environmental) other than a quality management system or an integrated management system; compatibly and alignment are not crucial issues in implementing standards; and an integrated standard is favored.
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This paper relates the main findings of a literature review of integrated management systems (IMS). In general, integration has been discussed in the literature dealing with…
Abstract
This paper relates the main findings of a literature review of integrated management systems (IMS). In general, integration has been discussed in the literature dealing with quality, environmental, and health and safety management. The need for an IMS has arisen as a result of the decisions of organisations to implement an environmental management system and/or an occupational health and safety management system in addition to a quality management system. A number of differences have been identified in the interpretation of what integration means and how it should be accomplished. This leads the authors to conclude that the need for definitions is of some urgency. It is also pointed out that the current emphasis is on achieving compatibility between the standards to facilitate alignment.
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Merce Bernardo, Marti Casadesus, Stanislav Karapetrovic and Iñaki Heras
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the application and the level of integration of internal and external audits in organizations that are registered to multiple management…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the application and the level of integration of internal and external audits in organizations that are registered to multiple management system standards.
Design/methodology/approach
Using descriptive analyses, this work examines the manner in which organizations, categorized in a previous study with respect to the degree of integration of their standardized management systems (MSs), apply and integrate the related MS audits. The sample included 435 Spanish organizations registered to ISO 9001: 2000 and ISO 14001: 2004 at the minimum.
Findings
It was found that organizations that exhibited a higher level of integration of their standardized MSs also demonstrated more highly‐integrated audits. In addition, the level of integration was generally higher for internal compared with the external audits.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation was related to the survey responses, because they were asked and obtained from the organizations' managers only, and not from the registrars or other external audit bodies.
Originality/value
The study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the usage of auditing systems in organizations, in particular the level of integration of internal and external MS audits relative to the integration of the corresponding MSs.
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The association between income distribution and measures of health has been well established such that societies with smaller income differences between rich and poor people have…
Abstract
The association between income distribution and measures of health has been well established such that societies with smaller income differences between rich and poor people have increased longevity (Wilkinson, 1996). While more egalitarian societies tend to have better health, in most developed societies people lower down the social scale have death rates two to four times higher than those nearer the top. Inequities in income distribution and the consequent disparities in health status are particularly problematic for many women, including single mothers, older women, and women of colour. The feminization of poverty is the rapidly increasing proportion of women in the adult poverty population (Doyal, 1995; Fraser, 1987).
This chapter provides an extensive review of literature on the interaction between and interdependence of informal and formal working practices in various workplace settings. The…
Abstract
This chapter provides an extensive review of literature on the interaction between and interdependence of informal and formal working practices in various workplace settings. The aim of the chapter is to elucidate the organisational, managerial, human relations and social factors that give rise to informal work practices and strategies, on the shop-floor not only at workers and work group levels but also at supervisory and managerial levels. This chapter helps the reader to understand the informal work practice of making a plan (planisa) in a deep-level mining workplace.