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Article
Publication date: 9 February 2015

Pascale A.M. Simons, Jos Benders, Wim Marneffe, Madelon Pijls-Johannesma and Dominique Vandijck

For change programs to succeed, it is vital to have a detailed understanding of employees’ views regarding the program, especially when the proposed changes are potentially…

626

Abstract

Purpose

For change programs to succeed, it is vital to have a detailed understanding of employees’ views regarding the program, especially when the proposed changes are potentially contested. Gaining insight into employee perceptions helps managers to decide how to proceed. The authors conducted two workshops in a radiotherapy institute to assess the benefits and drawbacks, as well as their underlying causes, of a proposed Lean change program. Managers’ views on the workshops’ usefulness were charted. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

Two workshops were organized in which employees predicted positive and negative effects of a Lean program. The workshops combined a structured brainstorm (KJ-technique) and an evaluation of the expected effects. Eight top managers judged the workshops’ value on supporting decision making.

Findings

In total, 15 employees participated in the workshops. Participants from workshop 2 reported more expected effects (27 effects; 18 positive) than from workshop 1 (14 effects; six positive). However, when effects were categorized, similar results were shown. Three from eight managers scored the results relevant for decision making and four neutral. Seven managers recommended future use of the instrument. Increased employee involvement and bottom-up thinking combined with relatively low costs were appreciated most.

Practical implications

The workshop could serve as a simple instrument to improve decision making and enhance successful implementation of change programs, as it was expected to enhance employees’ involvement and was relatively easy to conduct and cheap.

Originality/value

The workshop increased insight into employee views, facilitating adaptive actions by healthcare organization managers.

Details

International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, vol. 28 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0952-6862

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Article
Publication date: 13 March 2017

Pascale Simons, Huub Backes, Jochen Bergs, Davy Emans, Madelon Johannesma, Maria Jacobs, Wim Marneffe and Dominique Vandijck

Treatment delays must be avoided, especially in oncology, to assure sustainable high-quality health care and increase the odds of survival. The purpose of this paper is to…

1291

Abstract

Purpose

Treatment delays must be avoided, especially in oncology, to assure sustainable high-quality health care and increase the odds of survival. The purpose of this paper is to hypothesize that waiting times would decrease and patients and employees would benefit, when specific lean interventions are incorporated in an organizational improvement approach.

Design/methodology/approach

In 2013, 15 lean interventions were initiated to improve flow in a single radiotherapy institute. Process/waiting times, patient satisfaction, safety, employee satisfaction, and absenteeism were evaluated using a mixed methods methodology (2010-2014). Data from databases, surveys, and interviews were analyzed by time series analysis, χ2, multi-level regression, and t-tests.

Findings

Median waiting/process times improved from 20.2 days in 2012 to 16.3 days in 2014 (p<0.001). The percentage of palliative patients for which waiting times had exceeded Dutch national norms (ten days) improved from 35 (six months in 2012: pre-intervention) to 16 percent (six months in 2013-2014: post-intervention; p<0.01), and the percentage exceeding national objectives (seven days) from 22 to 17 percent (p=0.44). For curative patients, exceeding of norms (28 days) improved from 17 (2012) to 8 percent (2013-2014: p=0.05), and for the objectives (21 days) from 18 to 10 percent (p<0.01). Reported safety incidents decreased 47 percent from 2009 to 2014, whereas safety culture, awareness, and intention to solve problems improved. Employee satisfaction improved slightly, and absenteeism decreased from 4.6 (2010) to 2.7 percent (2014; p<0.001).

Originality/value

Combining specific lean interventions with an organizational improvement approach improved waiting times, patient safety, employee satisfaction, and absenteeism on the short term. Continuing evaluation of effects should study the improvements sustainability.

Details

International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, vol. 30 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0952-6862

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Article
Publication date: 6 March 2017

Pascale Brodeur, Simon Larose, George M. Tarabulsy and Bei Feng

The purpose of this paper is to explore associations between different mentor behavioral profiles and mentees’ perceptions of the quality of mentoring relationship, the usefulness…

545

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore associations between different mentor behavioral profiles and mentees’ perceptions of the quality of mentoring relationship, the usefulness of the mentoring, and their college adjustment during the first year of college.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used a quasi-experimental design and involved the participation of 253 student mentees and 246 students from a control group. Cluster analysis on the responses of mentees on the mentor behavior scale was used to identify behavioral profiles of academic mentors.

Findings

Four distinct behavioral profiles were identified: optimal (high scores on mentor structure, involvement, autonomy support, and competence support); sufficient (moderate on all scales); controlling (low on autonomy support but high on other scales); and inadequate (low on all scales). Compared to mentees exposed to sufficient and inadequate profiles, mentees exposed to the optimal profile perceived the mentoring relationship and its usefulness as more positive. Furthermore, they reported better social adjustment in college compared to a control group, whereas mentees exposed to the inadequate profile reported poorer adjustment. Interestingly, mentees exposed to the controlling profile found the mentoring relationship useful.

Research limitations/implications

This study provides new empirical bases for the behavioral profiles of mentors that best meet mentees’ academic adjustment challenges. Limitations of the study include the absence of the mentors’ perceptions in the creation of behavioral profiles and the fact that the profiles were analyzed based on a single program.

Originality/value

Behavioral profiles of academic mentors were examined through the lens of a strong theoretical model that emphasizes the important role of structure, involvement, autonomy support, and competence support in the academic adjustment of mentees.

Details

International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, vol. 6 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-6854

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Article
Publication date: 1 January 1995

Fred Luthans, Michael J. Rubach and Paul Marsnik

The popular total quality management (TQM) approach has tended to focus on internal processes, rather than external issues such as competitiveness and market appeal, and is more…

534

Abstract

The popular total quality management (TQM) approach has tended to focus on internal processes, rather than external issues such as competitiveness and market appeal, and is more reactive and adaptive than anticipative. The time has come to go beyond TQM and to understand the nature and application of organizational learning. Learning organizations envision change, are committed to generating and transferring new knowledge and innovation, and have learned how to learn. TQM may be embedded in the learning organization, but TQM is but the first step or wave in transforming and creating organizations which continuously expand their abilities to change and shape their futures. This article first defines and identifies the characteristics of a learning organization, then explores some techniques to develop and transform an organization into a learning organization, and finally suggests some traditional and newer techniques, such as data envelopment analysis (DEA), as ways to measure and evaluate organizational learning.

Details

The International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 3 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1055-3185

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Article
Publication date: 1 June 1997

James L. Price

Addresses the standardization of the measurements and the labels for concepts commonly used in the study of work organizations. As a reference handbook and research tool, seeks to…

17252

Abstract

Addresses the standardization of the measurements and the labels for concepts commonly used in the study of work organizations. As a reference handbook and research tool, seeks to improve measurement in the study of work organizations and to facilitate the teaching of introductory courses in this subject. Focuses solely on work organizations, that is, social systems in which members work for money. Defines measurement and distinguishes four levels: nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio. Selects specific measures on the basis of quality, diversity, simplicity and availability and evaluates each measure for its validity and reliability. Employs a set of 38 concepts ‐ ranging from “absenteeism” to “turnover” as the handbook’s frame of reference. Concludes by reviewing organizational measurement over the past 30 years and recommending future measurement reseach.

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. 18 no. 4/5/6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

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Book part
Publication date: 1 January 2008

Elmer Steensen and Ron Sanchez

This chapter proposes that organizational strategy formation should be characterized theoretically as a process that is subject to several interacting forces, rather than…

Abstract

This chapter proposes that organizational strategy formation should be characterized theoretically as a process that is subject to several interacting forces, rather than represented by separate discrete decision-models or theoretic perspectives, as is commonly done in the strategic management literature. Based on an extensive review of relevant theory and empirical work in strategic decision-making, organizational change theory, cognitive and social psychology, and strategy processes, seven kinds of “forces” – rational, imposed, teleological, learning, political, heuristic, and social – are identified as interacting in and having significant influence on the strategy formation process. It is further argued that by applying a holistic “forces-view” of the significant and interacting influences on strategy formation, we can better understand the dynamics and challenges in managing the process of defining and changing organizational strategies.

Details

A Focused Issue on Fundamental Issues in Competence Theory Development
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84855-210-4

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Article
Publication date: 1 April 2000

D.G. Gouws and P. Lucouw

Thinking and research in respect of accounting and finance over the past three decades have been dominated by a methodology that is primarily based on the predictability of…

169

Abstract

Thinking and research in respect of accounting and finance over the past three decades have been dominated by a methodology that is primarily based on the predictability of accounting data and its relationship to certain phenomena. The magnitude of change in business makes the future unpredictable. Analysts and managers are confronting an entirely new business environment in which traditional approaches are no longer valid. A systems approach provides a new way of looking at financial analysis. The purpose of this study is to focus on the present, on the ability to cope and the capacity to change in a changing environment. The ability to create an own future is being seen as more important than the art of predicting the future. This paper describes an empirically tested dynamic balance model to establish whether entities are able to adapt, survive and prosper.

Details

Meditari Accountancy Research, vol. 8 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1022-2529

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Article
Publication date: 1 March 2015

Alexandru V. Roman

For a number of different reasons, some more rational than others, public sector management has often fallen for the allure of the “quick fix” promised by the latest managerial…

514

Abstract

For a number of different reasons, some more rational than others, public sector management has often fallen for the allure of the “quick fix” promised by the latest managerial fashion. Although it is commonly accepted that complex problems rarely, if ever, have simple solutions − this has not hindered public organizations from eagerly experimenting with trendy, increasingly radical, managerial practices. More often than not, these experiences, when weighed on the background of the original promises and eventual outcomes, prove to be utter failures. In order to clarify the reasons behind this pattern of failure, this article deconstructs two of the most notable recent managerial fashions: Total Quality Management (TQM) and Business Process Reengineering (BPR). It proposes that management fashions fail to lead to effective and productive organizational change primarily due to the fact that their logical construct, which relies on over-dramatization and oversimplification of organizational realities, is at odds with the operational complexities of public sector management. In particular, they fail to account for politics. To this extent, then, they are more likely to be destructive than productive when zealously adopted in public service.

Details

International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior, vol. 18 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1093-4537

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Article
Publication date: 1 March 1994

Richard T. Pascale

Many firms have adopted one or more “radical” management remedies in a quest for breakthroughs in performance. But their goal of “discontinuous” improvements usually has an

140

Abstract

Many firms have adopted one or more “radical” management remedies in a quest for breakthroughs in performance. But their goal of “discontinuous” improvements usually has an unspoken stipulation: change that causes breakdowns is not acceptable. A few innovative companies have found, however, that process and offering breakthroughs can't occur without carefully orchestrated management system conflict and breakdowns.

Details

Planning Review, vol. 22 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0094-064X

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Book part
Publication date: 25 May 2021

Alessandra Girlando, Simon Grima, Engin Boztepe, Sharon Seychell, Ramona Rupeika-Apoga and Inna Romanova

Purpose: Risk is a multifaceted concept, and its identification requires complex approaches that are often misunderstood. The consequence is that decisions are based on limited…

Abstract

Purpose: Risk is a multifaceted concept, and its identification requires complex approaches that are often misunderstood. The consequence is that decisions are based on limited perception rather than the full value and meaning of what risk is, as a result, the way it is being tackled is incorrect. The individuals are often limited in their perceptions and ideas and do not embrace the full multifaceted nature of risk. Regulators and individuals want to follow norms and checklists or overuse models, simulations, and templates, thereby reducing responsibility for decision-making. At the same time, the wider use of technology and rules reduces the critical thinking of individuals. We advance the automation process by building robots that follow protocols and forget about the part of risk assessment that cannot be programed. Therefore, with this study, the objective of this study was to discover how people define risk, the influencing factors of risk perception and how they behave toward this perception. The authors also determine how the perception differed with age, gender, marital status, education level and region. The novelty of the research is related to individual risk perception during COVID-19, as this is a new and unknown phenomenon. Methodology: The research is based on the analysis of the self-administered purposely designed questionnaires we distributed across different social media platforms between February and June 2020 in Europe and in some cases was carried out as a interview over communication platforms such as “Skype,” “Zoom” and “Microsoft Teams.” The questionnaire was divided into four parts: Section 1 was designed to collect demographic information from the participants; Section 2 included risk definition statements obtained from literature and a preliminary discussion with peers; Section 3 included risk behavior statements; and Section 4 included statements on risk perception experiences. A five-point Likert Scale was provided, and participants were required to answer along a scale of “1” for “Strongly Agree” to “5” for “Strongly Disagree.” Participants also had the option to elaborate further and provide additional comments in an open-ended box provided at the end of the section. 466 valid responses were received. Thematic analysis was carried out to analyze the interviews and the open-ended questions, while the questionnaire responses were analyzed using various quantitative methods on IBM SPSS (version 23). Findings: The results of the analysis indicate that individuals evaluate the risk before making a decision and view risk as both a loss and opportunity. The study identifies nine factors influencing risk perception. Nevertheless, it must be emphasized that we can continue to develop models and rules, but as long as the risk is not understood, we will never achieve anything.

Details

Contemporary Issues in Social Science
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80043-931-3

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