Lynn Massey and Sharon Williams
The purpose of this paper is to review the change process that is required to support CANDO, a business improvement technique primarily associated with the manufacturing sector…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review the change process that is required to support CANDO, a business improvement technique primarily associated with the manufacturing sector. It reviews the transferability of CANDO to a health setting and examines the effectiveness of this tool through the eyes of the change agents and implementers. The study draws on an ongoing empirical research study in the NHS.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology is a case study, combining semi‐structured interviews, observations and reflexive accounts.
Findings
The results show that this improvement tool is an appropriate mechanism as a foundation for developing change agents and for creating change in health care. The capability and competence of the change agent is critical to the success of a change programme. Specific skills include developing people outside of their normal functional boundaries, redefining values and norms, motivating and energising others, translating terminology, setting the initiative within the wider agenda for change, and designing and communicating solutions and new systems as a result of CANDO activities.
Research limitations/implications
As the research focuses on one NHS Trust within the UK this limits the generalisibility of the results. However, the results provide an important insight into developing change agents, their role while identifying enablers and inhibitors to the change process.
Originality/value
This paper records the early stages of what is a large‐scale and long‐term improvement programme from the perspective of the change agent. This is an important perspective that is often overlooked when examining change programmes.
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Ann Esain and Lynn Massey
The research aim is to identify and evaluate “value” and “effectiveness” in the system of temporary staffing in one NHS Trust. Temporary staffing, known as Bank and Agency (B…
Abstract
Purpose
The research aim is to identify and evaluate “value” and “effectiveness” in the system of temporary staffing in one NHS Trust. Temporary staffing, known as Bank and Agency (B & A) staffing, is an increasing proportion of NHS expenditure (Bank staff are already contracted with the Trust and work extra shifts, while Agency staff are independently employed through the agency, costing more per shift). The system is reviewed in terms of quality, delivery and cost in relation to customers. The study assesses if unnecessary complexity, and poor standards significantly impact on effective performance.
Design/methodology/approach
A diagnostic action research field based approach is taken with qualitative and quantitative analysis of the current system. This includes, cross‐functional mapping, stakeholder value analysis and historical data collection. The theoretical perspective includes system theory, stakeholder theory and value.
Findings
Research results indicate that the requirement for temporary staffing is predictable (previously thought to be unpredictable). Consequently, agency staffing can more readily be replaced with bank nurses. This could improve the outcomes of quality in service, delivery and reduce Trust expenditure.
Research limitations/implications
Research results could be idiosyncratic and contextual therefore a comparative study is underway to determine validity. Indications are NHS expenditure on temporary staffing, particularly agency nurses, could be reduced while increasing effectiveness of the service.
Originality/value
This research analyses working practice and value relationships within the temporary staffing system. A potential future state system is developed, that indicates improved value, quality, delivery, a win for patients, wards and Welsh NHS secondary care Trust, having wider NHS applications.
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Lynn Massey and Sharon Williams
The objectives of the study are to identify and understand the environment, relationships and barriers for the key stakeholders in changing their workplace environment, and to…
Abstract
Purpose
The objectives of the study are to identify and understand the environment, relationships and barriers for the key stakeholders in changing their workplace environment, and to negotiate and create an action plan to address the effectiveness issues in relation to rolling out CANDO across the Trust.
Design/methodology/approach
This study has adopted a multi‐method approach using action learning/research, questionnaire, participant observation, and reflexive analysis.
Findings
The results indicate that there are individual, group and system improvements, but to achieve these the training in CANDO has to be action based as the “knowing‐by‐doing” (not just the theory) has to be experienced, learnt, shared and disseminated to other teams.
Research limitations/implications
As this is a pilot study, the findings are at a preliminary stage and therefore limit the generalisibility of the results. However, there has been an opportunity to test methodological instruments that will enable us to understand the overall effectiveness of CANDO as a mechanism of change within the health setting. The implications of this research are discussed at three levels: individual, department and strategic.
Originality/value
Undertaking research in the health sector is a break from the Lean Enterprise Research Centre's roots in manufacturing, distribution and retail/service sectors. The importance of improving quality and performance are key to all sectors and we wish to contribute to understanding the transferability of good practice and organisational change. This is the first time CANDO implementation has been reported in a health setting as a means of change within the NHS.
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Once the third largest port in the country, the London ‘overspill’ town of King's Lynn has been revitalized in the last decade. Richard Brooks examines this once rather sleepy…
Abstract
Once the third largest port in the country, the London ‘overspill’ town of King's Lynn has been revitalized in the last decade. Richard Brooks examines this once rather sleepy market town, which now has one eye on Europe and the other on the Midlands and South‐East. Photographs by Colin Porter.
Lynn M. Jeffrey, Sophie Hide and Stephen Legg
This paper aims to report on the second half of a two‐part study that identified relevant content for safety audit training in small businesses. The specific aim of the paper is…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to report on the second half of a two‐part study that identified relevant content for safety audit training in small businesses. The specific aim of the paper is to determine the preferred learning styles and approaches of managers in these businesses in order to identify some principles which could be used to tailor training to meet their particular learning needs.
Design/methodology/approach
Participants in the study came from three relatively high‐risk industries – road transport, construction, and the motor trade – producing a sample size of 102. A self‐report questionnaire was distributed via trade magazines.
Findings
Very few differences were found between the three industries. Most differences were between road transport and the other two industries. Managers in the road transport industry have a lower preference for learning by listening and are less likely to be sequential learners than managers in the motor trade industry.
Practical implications
Small business managers are systematic, hard‐working, pragmatic and prefer less formal modes of learning. These characteristics have implications for the structure and context of training programmes and the nature of the training materials.
Originality/value
The four learning profiles that emerged from the analysis in the paper provide a clear picture of the small business managers in the three industries studied.
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Private sector residential property investors aiming to achieve optimal total returns need to be able to identify the best performing suburbs in a city. The purpose of this paper…
Abstract
Purpose
Private sector residential property investors aiming to achieve optimal total returns need to be able to identify the best performing suburbs in a city. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the risk‐adjusted investment performance of 19 suburbs within Auckland City and provide some insight into the likely future performance of some of these suburbs.
Design/methodology/approach
The annual pre‐tax and unleveraged investment performance of a residential property is a function of the changes in the value of the property plus the net yield. House price data for the suburbs were taken from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand. Rental information was obtained from the Department of Building and Housing.
Findings
Surprisingly, the suburb showing the highest average yields was also the suburb recording the greatest increase in house prices. This result appears to be a consequence of government intervention in the form of increased rental subsidies for renters, tax concessions for landlords and low‐deposit home loans aimed for first home buyers.
Research limitations/implications
It is all very well analysing the past performance of suburbs but investors are likely to be more interested in future performance, rather than past performance, when they make buying and selling decisions. In some cases, the characteristics of suburbs that have done well in the past can be useful in identifying suburbs likely to do well in the future.
Practical implications
The hypothesis advanced in this paper is that suburbs with lower than average household income to house price ratios and house income to rent ratios, combined with a trend for household incomes and rents to be increasing above the city‐wide average, are likely to be the best prospects for future residential investment.
Social implications
The main social implication appears to be the unintended consequences of rental subsidies increasing rents and house prices more than the average in the lower priced suburbs.
Originality/value
There has been very little published work comparing total returns on investor housing within a city, by suburb. This has been made possible by the combination of real estate sales information and a comprehensive rental database. In addition, census information on households' incomes at suburban level is also integrated into the study.The study also makes a novel contribution by suggesting variables likely to influence future total returns by suburb.
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The essential investments in new product development (NPD) made by industrial companies entail effective management of NPD activities. In this context, performance measurement is…
Abstract
The essential investments in new product development (NPD) made by industrial companies entail effective management of NPD activities. In this context, performance measurement is one of the means that can be employed in the pursuit of effectiveness.
Alexandra L. Ferrentino, Meghan L. Maliga, Richard A. Bernardi and Susan M. Bosco
This research provides accounting-ethics authors and administrators with a benchmark for accounting-ethics research. While Bernardi and Bean (2010) considered publications in…
Abstract
This research provides accounting-ethics authors and administrators with a benchmark for accounting-ethics research. While Bernardi and Bean (2010) considered publications in business-ethics and accounting’s top-40 journals this study considers research in eight accounting-ethics and public-interest journals, as well as, 34 business-ethics journals. We analyzed the contents of our 42 journals for the 25-year period between 1991 through 2015. This research documents the continued growth (Bernardi & Bean, 2007) of accounting-ethics research in both accounting-ethics and business-ethics journals. We provide data on the top-10 ethics authors in each doctoral year group, the top-50 ethics authors over the most recent 10, 20, and 25 years, and a distribution among ethics scholars for these periods. For the 25-year timeframe, our data indicate that only 665 (274) of the 5,125 accounting PhDs/DBAs (13.0% and 5.4% respectively) in Canada and the United States had authored or co-authored one (more than one) ethics article.