Alison Bullock, Fiona Fox, Rebecca Barnes, Natasha Doran, Wendy Hardyman, Duncan Moss and Mark Stacey
The purpose of this paper is to describe experiences of transition from medical school to new doctor in the UK and to examine the development and evaluation of initiatives…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe experiences of transition from medical school to new doctor in the UK and to examine the development and evaluation of initiatives designed to lessen anxiety and assist transition.
Design/methodology/approach
The evaluations of two recent interventions for new doctors are reported, one at organisational and one at the individual level: first, a longer induction programme; and second, provision of a library of medical textbooks on smartphones (the “iDoc” project). The paper also reports on mindfulness training designed to help trainees' well‐being.
Findings
These initiatives address different aspects of transition challenges (related to roles and responsibilities, cognitive and environmental factors). Benefit can be gained from multiple approaches to supporting this time of uncertainty.
Practical implications
Given the link between transition, doctor stress and patient safety, there is a need to review existing strategies to ameliorate the stress associated with transition and seek novel ways to support new doctors. The authors argue that diverse approaches, targeted at both the organisational and individual level, can support new trainees, both practically and emotionally.
Originality/value
The paper reports initiatives that support transition, of value to medical schools, deaneries, researchers and trainees themselves.
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Stacey Baxter and Tina M. Lowrey
Children are bombarded by branded communication every day. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role that particular linguistic devices play in communication, and…
Abstract
Purpose
Children are bombarded by branded communication every day. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role that particular linguistic devices play in communication, and whether this process differs between children and adults. One such device is phonetic symbolism, which has been shown to lead adults to prefer brand names whose phonetic attributes match product and/or brand features.
Design/methodology/approach
Three experiments were undertaken to examine children's (six to 12 years of age) preference for phonetically manipulated brand names. Experiment 1 replicates findings in previous research showing that preference for a particular brand name within a single product category is dependent on how the brand is described. Experiment 2 extends this research across product categories that are expected to lead to differential brand name preference (based on product features). Finally, experiment 3 investigates the interaction between pure phonetic symbolism and semantic information.
Findings
Children show similar patterns of brand name preference (with some age differences that could be attributable to developmental stages), and that they link particular sounds with specific brand/product attributes.
Practical implications
This research shows that when selecting an inventive and distinct brand name, consideration could be given to the relationship between vowel sounds and brand characteristics. The authors believe that the findings are of importance to marketers as they consider different approaches to the naming of new brands.
Originality/value
This is the first set of experiments to investigate the effects of phonetic symbolism on brand name preference utilising a children's sample.
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The Opera House building is synonymous worldwide with Sydney, Australia. The unique shape (see photo) is actually due to the architect wanting to recreate the geometry of orange…
Abstract
The Opera House building is synonymous worldwide with Sydney, Australia. The unique shape (see photo) is actually due to the architect wanting to recreate the geometry of orange segments, not to project the image of sails on the harbour as is generally believed. However, whatever the origin of its conceptualization, the problems of maintaining such a shape remain. So, when a new development in mobile systems was recently revealed, there was an immediate interest to establish its capabilities for fixing the leaks in the Opera House roof. The new development is called “Mr Plod” (see photo). Mr Plod is really an “it” but “he” sounds better.
In the assessment of student nurses, there is limited research exploring why the contributions of people with lived experience (LE) have an impact on learning. The purpose of this…
Abstract
Purpose
In the assessment of student nurses, there is limited research exploring why the contributions of people with lived experience (LE) have an impact on learning. The purpose of this paper is to compare the nature of feedback provided to students by people who have both worked in and used mental health services.
Design/methodology/approach
To explore the nature of qualitative student feedback generated from an assessment involving people who have experience of using and working in mental health services. Therefore, an inductive content analysis conducted on the formative written feedback provided to students following a simulated assessment.
Findings
The results demonstrate significant similarities in the feedback provided by those with LE of using and working within mental health services, suggesting a shared conceptualisation of professionalism.
Research limitations/implications
The research indicates the potential socialisation of professionals and service users to not only the assessment process but also the professional expectations of mental health nurses. These findings resonate with Barker et al.’s (1999) description of the “pseudo ordinary me” and emphasise the principles and importance of person-centred care.
Originality/value
The paper highlights that assessment approaches which incorporate feedback from people with LE offer a vehicle to demonstrate and explore how attributes, subjectively associated with professionalism, can be recognised and developed by student mental health nurses.
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Wafa Said Mosleh and Henry Larsen
The purpose of this paper is to present researcher's reflexive writing about emergent events in research collaborations as a way of responding to the process-figurational…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present researcher's reflexive writing about emergent events in research collaborations as a way of responding to the process-figurational sociology of Norbert Elias in the practice of organizational ethnography.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing parallels between Norbert Elias' figurative account of social life and auto-ethnographic methodology, this paper re-articulates the entanglement of social researchers in organizational ethnographic work. Auto-ethnographic narration is explored as means to inquire from within the emerging relational complexity constituted by organizational dynamics. Writing about emergent events in the research process becomes a way of inquiring into the social figurations between the involved stakeholders; thus nurturing sense-making and increasing the awareness and sensitivity of the researcher to her own entanglement with the relational complexity of the organization under study.
Findings
In the paper, we argue that the writing of auto-ethnographic narratives of emergent field encounters is a process of inquiry that continuously depicts the temporal development of the relational complexity in organizations. Viewing that from the perspective of Elias' concept of figuration, we find a common commitment to the processual nature of research processes, which insists on moving beyond objectifying empirical insights.
Originality/value
This paper encourages awareness of the interdependency between ourselves as social researchers and field actors as we engage with the field. It moves beyond simplifying the ethnographic research agenda to that of “studying” and “describing” organizations. It offers unique insights into the organizational context, and increased sensitivity toward the social entanglement of the experiences that we, ourselves, as researchers are part of.
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Jean-Francois Stich, Monideepa Tarafdar, Patrick Stacey and Cary L. Cooper
Using e-mail is a time-consuming activity that can increase workload stress. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the individual’s e-mail load…
Abstract
Purpose
Using e-mail is a time-consuming activity that can increase workload stress. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the individual’s e-mail load, workload stress and desired e-mail load, drawing from the cybernetic theory of stress.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on prior theory, the authors first hypothesized relationships among e-mail load, workplace stress and desired e-mail load. The authors then tested these relationships on a sample of 504 full-time workers in the USA, using survey data and covariance-based structural equation modeling techniques.
Findings
The authors find that higher e-mail load is associated with higher workload stress; higher workload stress is associated with lower desired e-mail load; lower desired e-mail load is associated with lower e-mail load; and higher workload stress is associated with higher psychological strain, higher negative emotions and lower organizational commitment.
Originality/value
The study provides a novel understanding of workload stress due to e-mail load, through the lens of cybernetic theory. It contributes to the e-mail overload and technostress literatures by conceptualizing desired e-mail load as a potential outcome of workplace stress and as a regulator for e-mail load. For practitioners, the study highlights the importance of managing employees’ e-mail load to prevent the negative effects of workplace stress and associated strains.
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This paper aims to help develop an understanding of how complexity theory may be applied to an understanding of leadership and organizational dynamics and contributes to the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to help develop an understanding of how complexity theory may be applied to an understanding of leadership and organizational dynamics and contributes to the growing body of literature in the same subject.
Design/methodology/approach
Stacey's theory of complex responsive processes is used to analyse leadership and organizational dynamics in an unusual example of an organizational simulation exercise on an MBA programme.
Practical implications
This article shows how the theory of complex responsive processes may offer the potential to understand episodes of emergent, and potentially creative, forms of organization and leadership. It demonstrates how to recognise and work with the qualities of participation, conversational life, anxiety, diversity, and with unpredictability and paradox.
Originality/value
This paper complements previous articles in LODJ that seek to use complexity theories in the analysis of leadership and organizational dynamics. It demonstrates how an analysis from the perspective of complex responsive processes differs from that of complexity theories that focus on systemic rather than process thinking and that do not incorporate insights from psychology and social theory.
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Health care associated infection has become a health service priority that transcends all clinical areas. Education is commonly cited as the cornerstone of effective practice on…
Abstract
Health care associated infection has become a health service priority that transcends all clinical areas. Education is commonly cited as the cornerstone of effective practice on the tacit assumption that the knowledgeable practitioner will execute their skills more effectively. Consequently, infection control training has become embedded within the pre‐registration curriculum, however, students undertaking the mental health branch have been critical of an unduly adult focus to the topic, which fails to address their specific educational requirements. An educational intervention based on a problem‐based learning approach was developed to address this contention. The intervention received a three‐way evaluation from students who attended the session, a mental health lecturer/ facilitator and an infection control educator/ adviser. The results suggest that students were able to develop salient material, which recognised the principles of infection control practice, while placing it in the context of mental health nursing. The students gave positive feedback in terms of the mode of teaching and the relevance of the content.
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Reva Berman Brown and Sean McCartney
Recounts how medieval English Jewry began when Jews were invited to immigrate by William I and ended with their expulsion by Edward I in 1290. The Jewish community was important…
Abstract
Recounts how medieval English Jewry began when Jews were invited to immigrate by William I and ended with their expulsion by Edward I in 1290. The Jewish community was important and for most of its existence it was prosperous, owing to its particular social function – being the bankers, moneylenders and financiers of the time. Concentrates on a relatively little known aspect of the medieval Jewish community: the role played by its women. Jewish women played a significant part in business, not just as the wives or widows of businessmen, but as entrepreneurs on their own account. This was in sharp contrast to the position of women in wider English society. Using contemporary documents, the article examines the scale and nature of the business activities of Jewish women in medieval England, sketches the activities of some of these female entrepreneurs, and attempts to investigate the factors which enabled them to play such a prominent role.