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Ingy Shafei, Jan Auke Walburg and Ahmed F. Taher
– This paper aims to develop a model that encompasses the constructs and sub-constructs consumers use in evaluating healthcare service quality (HSQ) in Egypt.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to develop a model that encompasses the constructs and sub-constructs consumers use in evaluating healthcare service quality (HSQ) in Egypt.
Design/methodology/approach
Factor analysis was performed on 40 variables to identify the constructs. Ordinal logistic regression was also used to identify the sub-constructs and examine the effect of each sub-construct on patients’ overall perception of service quality.
Findings
Factor analysis confirmed an eight-construct framework: hospital premises and employees; doctor medical service; nursing medical service; diagnostic medical service; admission; discharge; rooms and housekeeping; and meals. Ordinal logistic regression established 17 sub-constructs – physician reliability; physician assurance; physician interaction; physician’s competence; nursing tangibles; nursing reliability; nursing assurance; nursing interaction; nursing responsiveness; diagnostic service competence; diagnostic service reliability; hospital premises and employees tangibles; admission responsiveness; admission knowledge and courtesy; meals tangibles; rooms tangibles and housekeeping courtesy; and discharge knowledge and courtesy – that have significant effect on HSQ. Some sub-constructs had a significantly greater impact on overall perception of service quality than others.
Practical implications
Healthcare providers will be able to pinpoint areas of service quality shortfall and better satisfy their patients. This will ultimately lead to repeat patronage and positive recommendation behavior.
Originality/value
The model is the first comprehensive model in the Middle East that takes into account all constructs and sub-constructs patients use for evaluation of HSQ.
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Susan Cartwright and Andrew Gale
Considers the gendering of organizations and contends that gender,as a dimension of organizational culture, is a factor responsible forthe limited participation of women in…
Abstract
Considers the gendering of organizations and contends that gender, as a dimension of organizational culture, is a factor responsible for the limited participation of women in project management. Continues the argument presented in an earlier article published in this journal and proposes an agenda for future research in this area.
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Three themes dominate Hunting Causes. The first is that cause is a plural concept. The methods and metaphysics of causation, Cartwright believes, are context dependent. Different…
Abstract
Three themes dominate Hunting Causes. The first is that cause is a plural concept. The methods and metaphysics of causation, Cartwright believes, are context dependent. Different causal accounts seem to be at odds with one another only because the same word means different things in different contexts. Every formal approach to causality uses a conceptual framework that is “thinner” than causal reality. She lists a bewildering variety of approaches to causation: probabilistic and Bayes-net accounts (of, for example, Patrick Suppes, Clive Granger, Wolfgang Spohn, Judea Pearl, and Clark Glymour), modularity accounts (Pearl, James Woodward, and Stephen LeRoy), invariance accounts (Woodward, David Hendry, and Kevin Hoover), natural experiments (Herbert Simon, James Hamilton, and Cartwright), causal process accounts (Wesley Salmon and Philip Dowe), efficacy accounts (Hoover), counterfactual accounts (David Lewis, Hendry, Paul Holland, and Donald Rubin), manipulationist accounts (Peter Menzies and Huw Price), and others. The lists of advocates of various accounts overlap. Nevertheless, she sometimes treats these accounts as if they were so different that it is not clear why they should be the subject of a single book. And she fails to explain what they have in common. If, as she apparently believes, they do not have a common essence, do they have a Wittgensteinian family resemblance? She fails to explore in any systematic way the complementarities among the different approaches – for example, between invariance accounts, Bayes-nets, and natural experiments – that frequently make their advocates allies rather than opponents.
Robert Conti, Jannis Angelis, Cary Cooper, Brian Faragher and Colin Gill
This empirical paper seeks to address the neglected work condition aspect of lean production (LP) implementation, specifically the relationship between LP and worker job stress.
Abstract
Purpose
This empirical paper seeks to address the neglected work condition aspect of lean production (LP) implementation, specifically the relationship between LP and worker job stress.
Design/methodology/approach
The Karasek job stress model was used to link shopfloor practices to expected worker stress. The model incorporates the effects of job demands (physical and psychological), job control and social support. The study employs management and worker questionnaires, management interviews and structured plant tours. The response variable is total worker job stress – the sum of the physical and mental stress levels. The independent variable for the first question is the degree of lean implementation at the sites.
Findings
The results are based on 1,391 worker responses at 21 sites in the four UK industry sectors. About 11 tested practices are significantly related to stress and an unexpected non‐linear response of stress to lean implementation is identified. Results indicate that LP is not inherently stressful, with stress levels significantly related to management decisions in designing and operating LP systems.
Practical implications
The hypotheses tests shed light on the relationships between LP practices and job stress, and reveal a significant managerial influence on stress levels. The regression model shows the scale and significant lean practices of this influence, with the work practices explaining 30 percent of job stress variations. The stress reduction and stress control opportunities identified in the study show the potential for designing and operating effective lean systems while also controlling stress levels.
Originality/value
This is the first known multi‐industry empirical study of the relationship of job stress to a range of lean practices and to the degree of lean implementation.
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Maria Gabaldon-Parish and Kate Cartwright
Across the United States (US), COVID-19 vaccination coverage was lower in rural counties compared to urban counties, exacerbating rural health inequities. While rural communities…
Abstract
Purpose
Across the United States (US), COVID-19 vaccination coverage was lower in rural counties compared to urban counties, exacerbating rural health inequities. While rural communities fall short of the public health goal to vaccinate all who are eligible, most rural residents have chosen to vaccinate for COVID-19. The aim of this study was to better understand rural New Mexicans' attitudes and beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines.
Methodology
We conducted and analyzed 51 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with adults living in rural New Mexican counties, covering a range of topics related to the pandemic, including vaccines. These interviews were conducted in the Summer of 2021 after the vaccines were widely available to all adults over the age of 18 and youth between the ages of 12–17, but not yet available for children under 12 years.
Findings
Two major perspectives were identified: (1) the idea that COVID-19 vaccinations are a tool that individuals can use to achieve freedom and protection and (2) the view which regarded vaccines as an infringement of personal rights and one's autonomy of health. For people who viewed the vaccine as a tool for freedom, several themes emerged, including (1) a preference for vaccine manufacturers, specifically a preference for Pfizer, and (2) frustrations related to vaccine access, specifically, older adults expressed frustrations with the difficulty of scheduling vaccination appointments. However, most participants felt as though they had enough vaccination resources. For people who viewed vaccines (and vaccine mandates) as limiting their freedom, additional themes emerged: (1) overarching distrust of government and the perception that vaccines were an extension of government and (2) distrust in the vaccines themselves, including a perceived lack of research on the vaccines and a perception that the vaccine was developed in too short of a period. Some of the people who hold these beliefs are also vaccinated. We draw from social psychology theories to better understand how people who hold a rural identity come to establish different beliefs and practices compared to larger metropolitan regions. While political identity is a contributor, of our participants, the group who were most likely to report not being vaccinated were the “independent” or “unaffiliated voters.” Our findings can help craft culturally responsive vaccine initiatives for rural communities.
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Barrie O. Pettman and Richard Dobbins
This issue is a selected bibliography covering the subject of leadership.
Abstract
This issue is a selected bibliography covering the subject of leadership.
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Felicity Joslin, Lea Waters and Paul Dudgeon
This study aims to test the relationship between two measures of sociocultural adjustment (perceived acceptance and work standard) with work attitudes and behavior and with…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to test the relationship between two measures of sociocultural adjustment (perceived acceptance and work standard) with work attitudes and behavior and with psychological distress following an internal merger of two previously distinct working groups within the one business.
Design/methodology/approach
A field study, using a cross‐sectional design, was used to assess the reactions of 250 employees (host employees=170; relocated employees=80) who had undergone an internal merger within a communications company.
Findings
Perceived acceptance and work standards following the merger were significantly related to work attitudes and behavior for both the host and the relocated employees. There was no direct relationship between perceived acceptance and work standards with psychological distress. However, work attitudes and behavior were found to mediate the indirect effect of perceived acceptance and work standards on psychological distress.
Research limitations/implications
The findings must be considered within the limitations of the study which include the use of a cross‐sectional design and testing within one business setting.
Practical implications
The research suggests that ensuring that employees from both pre‐merger groups are assisted in feeling accepted in the new culture and that both groups are giving support and resources to maintain work standards are important factors in managing post‐merger integration.
Originality/value
The study is the first to empirically test Berry's concepts of sociocultural adjustment, neutrality and asymmetry within an internal business merger.
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Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) represent major organizational changes, and create traumatic, stressful situations to employees. The purpose of this paper is to study the acquired…
Abstract
Purpose
Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) represent major organizational changes, and create traumatic, stressful situations to employees. The purpose of this paper is to study the acquired key employees' organizational commitment towards the acquiring organization during the post‐acquisition integration phase.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is a longitudinal single case study of a European‐acquisition within the high‐tech sector. Data are collected for nearly two years both with four repetitive quantitative surveys and 58 interviews.
Findings
The results imply that the key employees perceive the organizational changes differently. In friendly acquisitions, key employees not only expect organizational changes but also they may have an active role in inducing changes. Moreover, the results imply that key employees' organizational commitment is closely linked to the prior role of the key employees in the acquired company, and how they perceive and experience the post‐acquisition integration phase.
Research limitations/implications
This research is a single case study, which strives for analytical generalisation rather than statistical generalisation. The results of the case study are limited to the context of European small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) and the Indian IT industry, and not generalisable as such to other companies or industries. However, this research contributes to the growing interest in understanding how change is experienced by individuals, and especially how key persons and managers from the acquired company experience changes following a cross‐border acquisition.
Practical implications
The findings of this paper provide useful insights to managers involved in M&As on how key persons from acquired SMEs may react to changes following a friendly acquisition.
Originality/value
This paper focuses on the key persons of an acquired high‐tech company and provides unique insights on how key persons may be critical in M&As not only for their tacit knowledge but also from the change leadership point of view. Commitment is crucial from both the retention and change management perspective.