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1 – 10 of over 5000Sean D. Darling and J. Barton Cunningham
The purpose of this paper is to identify unique values and competencies linked to private and public sector environments.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify unique values and competencies linked to private and public sector environments.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on critical incident interviews with a sample of senior leaders who had experience in both the public and private sectors.
Findings
The findings illustrate distinct public and private sector relevant competencies that reflect the unique values of their organizations and the character of the organization’s environments. This paper suggests a range of distinct public sector competencies including: managing competing interests, managing the political environment, communicating in a political environment, interpersonal motivational skills, adding value for clients, and impact assessment in decision-making. These were very different than those identified as critical for the private sector environment: business acumen, visionary leadership, marketing communication, market acumen, interpersonal communication, client service, and timely and opportunistic decision-making. Private sector competencies reflect private sector environments where goals need to be specifically defined and implemented in a timely manner related to making a profit and surviving in a competitive environment. Public sector competencies are driven by environments exhibiting more complex and unresolvable problems and the need to respond to conflicting publics and serving the public good while surviving in a political environment.
Originality/value
A key message of this study is that competency frameworks need to be connected to the organization’s unique environments and the values that managers are seeking to achieve. This is particularly important for public organizations that have more complex and changing environments.
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Tim Haslett, John Barton, John Stephens, Liz Schell and Jane Olsen
The purpose of this paper is to explain the emergent nature of leadership in a university‐based learning network of mature‐aged practitioner‐scholars.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explain the emergent nature of leadership in a university‐based learning network of mature‐aged practitioner‐scholars.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on previously published work, interviews, and current research.
Findings
The paper finds that once initial structures have been established, the leadership role falls to different members depending on the needs of the group. Intellectual leadership becomes important in this setting.
Research limitations/implications
The study is drawn from a single case although supported by research done in a similar group in the UK. Research indicates that cohorts and support networks increase success rates in PhD completions. This paper outlines one example of the structures and processes of a successful one.
Practical implications
There is significant leverage for universities in developing the network structures and process, beyond the simple supervisor/student relationship that support doctoral students. It focuses on the contribution a learning network can make to mature‐aged part‐time students.
Originality/value
This paper develops the current literature on supervision of doctoral students.
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The purpose of this paper is to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.
Design/methodology/approach
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.
Findings
This review is based on “Implementing change in public sector organizations,” by J. Barton Cunningham and James S. Kempling. Some points made here about the principles behind organizational change might seem to be spelled out excessively, but there some useful observations about the public sector, its dependency on other agencies, and how obstacles to change can be surmounted.
Originality/value
The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to‐digest format.
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Sean Darling and J. Barton Cunningham
The purpose of this paper is to develop a better understanding of the types of career models that different managerial and union employees view influencing their career…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a better understanding of the types of career models that different managerial and union employees view influencing their career development.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, the authors gathered interview data from 74 public sector employees in management and union positions illustrating examples of the career models they experienced.
Findings
The study explains how unique career models are often defined by gatekeepers who act in setting out the procedures, incentives, and norms for the careers of others. The results, based on interviews in a Canadian government organization, suggest that employees perceive that different gate keepers are central in shaping careers of management and union employees in a more traditional career hierarchy, even though other perspectives or orientations of career progression exist in encouraging people to take more responsibility for career development. Management participants were more likely to be guided by upper level managers who acted as gatekeepers within a ‘perception of organizational politics’ model where “the system has a procedural merit rather than real merit….and systemic biases are not even realized by the people doing the hiring.” Key gatekeepers for union employees were those in human resource departments and the union who defined the fairness of the procedures within a human capital model which generally managed career development as a reward for higher levels of experience, education, and training. The findings illustrate unique ways that each set of gatekeepers shape the way that selection and promotion processes are carried out.
Research limitations/implications
The authors are mindful that our results are, at best, exploratory. The qualitative interviews were from a sample of 74 government workers in the Canadian public service and should be verified with further research. Although the authors felt that interviews illustrated saturation and might only be a reliable reflection of a specific sample, other research should examine these findings in other contexts. Further examination of these findings might help us understand the challenges of developing systems and procedures which illustrate a distributive rather than merely a procedural fairness.
Practical implications
The process of socialization for a career in management and union positions is demonstrated by the boundaries through which a person moves from being an outsider to an insider to the organization. Unique career models are often defined by gatekeepers who act in setting out the procedures, incentives, and norms for the careers of others. The research and practical implications point to: (i) designing supplemental behavioral interview questions and tools in selection and promotion as a way to respond to systemic biases, (ii) building awareness of how to respond to biases of the powerful role of referrals and networks in shaping careers of managerial employees, and (iii) taking steps to develop a climate which might be supportive of merit processes.
Social implications
The process of socialization for a career in management and union positions is demonstrated by the boundaries through which a person moves from being an outsider to an insider to the organization. Unique career models are often defined by gatekeepers who act in setting out the procedures, incentives, and norms for the careers of others.
Originality/value
The study suggests that unique career models are often defined by gatekeepers who act in setting out the procedures, incentives, and norms for the careers of others.
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James MacGregor and J. Barton Cunningham
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the results from two public sector organizations to test a model of the organizational antecedents and health consequences of sickness…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the results from two public sector organizations to test a model of the organizational antecedents and health consequences of sickness presenteeism (SP) in the workplace.
Design/methodology/approach
The study reports on two surveys of public employees, one including 237 respondents and another of 391 employees. The combined sample allowed for the testing of a model of organizational antecedents and the health consequences of SP.
Findings
The results supported the model, indicating that increased leader support and goal clarity decrease SP indirectly through increased trust. Decreasing presenteeism is associated with decreased sickness absence and better health.
Practical implications
The key practical application is in encouraging managers and scholars to recognize that the costs of presenteeism are as higher or higher than the costs of absenteeism.
Social implications
The social implications are clear in helping us recognize that when people come to work sick, they are not productive and are endangering the productivity of others.
Originality/value
This is the first time that research had defined and operationalized a causal model linking antecedents such as leader-member relations, goal clarity and trust with SP and absenteeism.
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J. Buckley, B. O'Flynn, J. Barton and S.C. O'Mathuna
The purpose of this paper is to develop a highly miniaturized wireless inertial sensor system based on a novel 3D packaging technique using a flexible printed circuit (FPC). The…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a highly miniaturized wireless inertial sensor system based on a novel 3D packaging technique using a flexible printed circuit (FPC). The device is very suitable for wearable applications in which small size and lightweight are required such as body area network, medical, sports and entertainment applications.
Design/methodology/approach
Modern wireless inertial measurement units are typically implemented on a rigid 2D printed circuit board (PCB). The design concept presented here is based around the use of a novel planar, six‐faceted, crucifix or cross‐shaped FPC instead of a rigid PCB. A number of specific functional blocks (such as microelectromechanical systems gyroscope and accelerometer sensors, microcontroller (MCU), radio transceiver, antenna, etc.) are first assigned to each of the six faces which are each 1 cm2 in area. The FPC cross is then developed into a 1 cm3, 3D configuration by folding the cross at each of five bend planes. The result is a low‐volume and lightweight, 1 cm3 wireless inertial sensor that can sense and send motion sensed data wirelessly to a base station. The wireless sensor device has been designed for low power operation both at the hardware and software levels. At the base station side, a radio receiver is connected to another MCU unit, which sends received data to a personal computer (PC) and graphical user interface. The industrial, scientific and medical band (2.45 GHz) is used to achieve half duplex communication between the two sides.
Findings
A complete wireless sensor system has been realized in a 3D cube form factor using an FPC. The packaging technique employed during the work is shown to be efficient in fabricating the final cubic system and resulted in a significant saving in the final size and weight of the system. A number of design issues are identified regarding the use of FPC for implementing the 3D structure and the chosen solutions are shown to be successful in dealing with these issues.
Research limitations/implications
Currently, a limitation of the system is the need for an external battery to power the sensor system. A second phase of development would be required to investigate the possibility of the integration of a battery and charging system within the cube structure. In addition, the use of flexible substrate imposes a number of restrictions in terms of the ease of manufacturability of the final system due to the requirement of the required folding step.
Practical implications
The small size and weight of the developed system is found to be extremely useful in different deployments. It would be useful to further explore the system performance in different application scenarios such as wearable motion tracking applications. In terms of manufacturability, component placement needs to be carefully considered, ensuring that there is sufficient distance between the components, bend planes and board edges and this leads to a slightly reduced usable area on the printed circuit.
Originality/value
This paper provides a novel and useful method for realizing a wireless inertial sensor system in a 3D package. The value of the chosen approach is that a significant reduction in the required system volume is achieved. In particular, a 78.5 per cent saving in volume is obtained in decreasing the module size from a 25 to a 15 mm3 size.
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Frank Morven and J. Barton Cunningham
The purpose of this paper is to define different types of culturally commensurate experiences, events, activities and interventions which Indigenous people find relevant for…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to define different types of culturally commensurate experiences, events, activities and interventions which Indigenous people find relevant for improving cultural diversity.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on interviews and surveys with Indigenous Probations Officers, the authors define a framework of nine experiences and events relevant to the organization, team and cultural development.
Findings
The key finding lies in proposing a framework of what Indigenous Probation Officers finding lies view as commensurate experiences, activities or interventions which recognize their cultural context (American Psychological Association, 2003).
Research limitations/implications
The key limitations to this study are the size of the sample and the inability to conclusively argue that the framework of experiences developed can claim to represent those important for improving recruitment and retentions of all Indigenous Probation Officers. Further exploratory research of this type is necessary to add to this research in guiding future research and practice.
Practical implications
The definition of a multicultural experiences offered here might be useful in encouraging Probation Officers and others in developing a deeper appreciation of cultures of Indigenous peoples and other groups.
Social implications
The purpose is to better understand an Indigenous perspective on enhancing a connection to culture within the Corrections system.
Originality/value
Rather than using a list of competencies to shape behaviors and experiences that people practice, the underlying assumption is to encourage cultural multiculturalism framework competency development by focusing on experiences and events important to objectives related to improving diversity.
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