The purpose of this paper is to explore commonalities and differences between projects and processes, and between project management (PjM) and process management (PcM), with a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore commonalities and differences between projects and processes, and between project management (PjM) and process management (PcM), with a view to challenge this dichotomic typology, clarify the gray areas in between and propose better ways to classify and manage different endeavors.
Design/methodology/approach
The research compares different tools and techniques used in both fields, explores the respective literatures and uses various examples to bring out similarities and differences.
Findings
The current paradigms engender a number of organizational endeavors, which are actually complex processes being managed as projects, using the PjM body of knowledge. Because each instantiation takes a somewhat different form, it is treated as a one-of-a-kind undertaking; whereby many of the opportunities for learning and continuous improvement associated with PcM are lost. A reframing and typology is proposed to clarify the central notions involved.
Research limitations/implications
The proposed model has not been tested empirically and the authors could not agree on all aspects of the paper, though existing differences are more about degrees, nuances and wording than about the basic findings of the paper.
Practical implications
The research makes the case that two research and practice communities that are evolving independently have much to gain by adopting a unified model and integrating their respective bodies of knowledge. Practitioners would thus access resources that are better adapted to the management challenges they are facing and gain a sustainable source of strategic advantage.
Originality/value
The paper challenges long-established paradigms between two distinct research streams. A new typology and classification criteria are proposed.
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Julia A. Wolfson, Stephanie Bostic, Jacob Lahne, Caitlin Morgan, Shauna C. Henley, Jean Harvey and Amy Trubek
The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of – and need for – an expanded understanding of cooking (skills and knowledge) to inform research on the connection…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of – and need for – an expanded understanding of cooking (skills and knowledge) to inform research on the connection between cooking and health.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper describes a concept of “food agency” and contrasts it with how cooking is commonly conceived in food and nutrition literature. A food agency-based pedagogy and proposals for using it are also introduced.
Findings
Cooking is a complex process that may be crucial for making a difference in the contemporary problems of diet-related chronic diseases. There are two interlinked problems with present research on cooking. First, cooking has yet to be adequately conceptualized for the design and evaluation of effective public health and nutrition interventions. The context within which food-related decisions and actions occur has been neglected. Instead, the major focus has been on discrete mechanical tasks. In particular, recipes are relied upon despite no clear evidence that recipes move people from knowledge to action. Second, given the incomplete theorization and definition of this vital everyday practice, intervention designs tend to rely on assumptions over theory. This creates certain forms of tautological reasoning when claims are made about how behavior changes. A comprehensive theory of food agency provides a nuanced understanding of daily food practices and clarifies how to teach cooking skills that are generalizable throughout varied life contexts.
Originality/value
This commentary is of value to academics studying cooking-related behavior and public health practitioners implementing and evaluating cooking interventions.
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Michele Rigolizzo, Zhu Zhu and Jean-François Harvey
This study aims to empirically examine the relationship between the leader characteristic of humility and the informal learning of team members. It also evaluates the role of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to empirically examine the relationship between the leader characteristic of humility and the informal learning of team members. It also evaluates the role of leader authenticity in mediating that relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected on 518 salespeople reporting to 66 managers in a time-lagged study of a financial services firm. Generalized structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data and test a multi-hierarchical mediation model.
Findings
Leader humility has a significant positive direct and indirect effect on individual informal learning in team contexts, and leader authenticity partially mediates this relationship.
Research limitations/implications
This study advances research on how leaders can help transform learning from a risky endeavor to a daily practice. It shows the impact of the leadership characteristic of humility and explains how humble behaviors provide a model for individual learning in team contexts. It also reveals that leader authenticity is a key mechanism through which leader humility comes to influence employees’ informal learning within work teams.
Originality/value
This study provides empirical support for the importance of leader humility in engendering the trust required for employees to engage in everyday workplace learning. It integrates social information processing theory with social learning theory to show that humble leaders provide critical information about the value, cost and methods of individual informal learning in team contexts. Leader humility increases employees’ beliefs that they can and do learn from working in teams because employees perceive the humble leader’s behaviors as representing the leader’s true intentions.
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This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/02652329110144460. When citing the…
Abstract
This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/02652329110144460. When citing the article, please cite: Jean Harvey, Pierre Filiatrault, (1991), “Service Delivery Processes: New Technology and Design”, International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 9 Iss: 1, pp. 25 - 31.
This chapter explores the emergence, growth, and current status of the sociology of sport in Canada. Such an endeavour includes acknowledging the work and efforts of Canadian…
Abstract
This chapter explores the emergence, growth, and current status of the sociology of sport in Canada. Such an endeavour includes acknowledging the work and efforts of Canadian scholars – whether Canadian by birth or naturalization or just as a result of their geographic location – who have contributed to the vibrant and robust academic discipline that is the sociology of sport in Canadian institutions coast-to-coast, and who have advanced the socio-cultural study of sport globally in substantial ways. This chapter does not provide an exhaustive description and analysis of the past and present states of the sociology of sport in Canada; in fact, it is important to note that an in-depth, critical and comprehensive analysis of our field in Canada is sorely lacking. Rather, this chapter aims to highlight the major historical drivers (both in terms of people and trends) of the field in Canada; provide a snapshot of the sociology of sport in Canada currently; and put forth some ideas as to future opportunities and challenges for the field in Canada.
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Little attention has been given in the literature to operatingdecisions in professional service organisations. A better understandingof the power relationships within a…
Abstract
Little attention has been given in the literature to operating decisions in professional service organisations. A better understanding of the power relationships within a professional service organisation provides insight into the way these decisions are made. A model is proposed which categorises professional service organisations according to the relative power of the major stakeholders: professionals within the organisation; clients; and top management. The major factors which affect each of these are discussed.
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The opportunities, constraints and limitations of transferring anoperations management approach to public professional services areillustrated through a detailed analysis of two…
Abstract
The opportunities, constraints and limitations of transferring an operations management approach to public professional services are illustrated through a detailed analysis of two alternate designs for a social service process: a flow shop and a continuous intervention process. Trade‐offs between cost, quality and timeliness of output and between desirable process characteristics are highlighted through a quantitative example. Professional service organisations are democratic organisations staffed by highly competent and autonomous individuals. Process management is different in such an environment. Understanding the linkages between process design and process management is particularly important in professional service organisations, both for process designers, to ensure that they design manageable processes, and for process managers, so that they are aware of all the possibilities and limitations of the process.
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Focuses on the problems associated with the dynamic harmonizationof the actions of two or more complex and different human serviceagencies, in such a way that service packages are…
Abstract
Focuses on the problems associated with the dynamic harmonization of the actions of two or more complex and different human service agencies, in such a way that service packages are regularly reviewed in order to meet the changing needs of the client. Co‐ordinating the interventions of practitioners from different professions, employed by different organizations and working on the same cases, poses great challenges to operations managers. Elements of solutions currently being tested include the definition of a detailed delivery process common to all providers of human services to a given category of clients, the personalization of contact points between professionals (i.e. the human‐service equivalent of just‐in‐time in manufacturing) and the use of individualized service plans.