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Article
Publication date: 1 March 1994

Hope‐Arlene Fennell

During the past 25 years, many researchers and scholars have suggestedthat schools and school organizations often operate with a structurallooseness much different from that of…

758

Abstract

During the past 25 years, many researchers and scholars have suggested that schools and school organizations often operate with a structural looseness much different from that of the rational bureaucracy. Coupling and linkage are two metaphors which have been developed to describe the intricacies of life in schools and school organizations. Briefly reviews some of the developments of the linkage metaphor, the relationships between coupling and linkage, and illustrates how the linkage metaphor might be useful in developing greater understanding of change processes in schools and school organizations.

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Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 32 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

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Article
Publication date: 4 September 2009

Ian Herbert

The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of employee empowerment, and the implications for management control systems (MCS), as the style of management changes from a…

16811

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept of employee empowerment, and the implications for management control systems (MCS), as the style of management changes from a hierarchical, top‐down, style to a more lateral, bottom‐up, orientation, in which workers assume greater responsibility for situated decision‐making and self‐monitoring.

Design/methodology/approach

A longitudinal, multiple method, case study explores how empowerment is both understood and applied by management and workers. Simons “Levers of Control” framework is employed as a sensitising device to understand the implications for MCS.

Findings

The transformation strategy is largely successful in changing the long‐standing, bureaucratic, public‐sector culture, to a more devolved style in which challenge and participation is encouraged, although actual adoption patterns are uneven and developments are not always linear. By the end of the study period, there is a move back towards centralised control but, significantly, the study is able to confirm Simons' argument that the use of an appropriate mix of levers in a “loose‐tight” manner can still promote empowered working.

Research limitations/implications

The field work consists of a single case, albeit this is a large company with a number of autonomous units and, over time, each developed its own style of management control. At times, it is difficult to establish clear linkages between the empowerment initiative, operational management, actual performance and the MCS due to numerous contextual factors, hence the longitudinal nature of the project.

Originality/value

Whilst practitioner literature has made copious exhortations to empower workers, there is little empirical work on the practical application of empowerment, or the implications for MCS in the longer term. This paper finds that empowerment can, despite some academic reservations, have an honest purpose and indeed outlive its otherwise faddish tendencies.

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Journal of Human Resource Costing & Accounting, vol. 13 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1401-338X

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Article
Publication date: 1 July 1998

Andy Asquith

This paper deals with the management of complex environmental turbulence and organizational change in English local government. Research has been conducted to assess the…

661

Abstract

This paper deals with the management of complex environmental turbulence and organizational change in English local government. Research has been conducted to assess the perceptions of the strategic élites, chief executives and chief officers, to these change processes. However, no work had been undertaken to assess the extent of support and ownership amongst non‐élite actors, the middle managers and street‐level operatives, in English local authorities towards these élite change strategies. This paper identifies that different management styles do impact upon the roles of these non‐élites in a number of distinct ways. It provides evidence that one of the management styles is more appropriate than the others identified in the paper in terms of effecting successful change management.

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International Journal of Public Sector Management, vol. 11 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3558

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Article
Publication date: 1 February 1981

Peter Loose

A British company has developed a two‐camera system which can be used on‐line to find the precise width of steel strip. The system can be calibrated away from the hostile…

19

Abstract

A British company has developed a two‐camera system which can be used on‐line to find the precise width of steel strip. The system can be calibrated away from the hostile environment associated with steel works in which the unit will operate without special protection, apart from watercooling.

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Sensor Review, vol. 1 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0260-2288

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Article
Publication date: 6 April 2012

Alexander Gatej, Nicolas Pyschny, Peter Loosen and Christian Brecher

Laser systems are becoming more and more a commodity in many fields of application and this is driving a strong trend towards increasingly efficient production technologies and…

205

Abstract

Purpose

Laser systems are becoming more and more a commodity in many fields of application and this is driving a strong trend towards increasingly efficient production technologies and miniaturized products. A central aspect of laser production is the assembly where the majority of cost is due to manual operations. Resistance soldering of optical components is an upcoming technology for automated assembly, especially for high power laser applications. This technology transfers design and packaging concepts from the electronics industry into photonics. The purpose of this paper is to present recent developments in the field of this soldering technology and to show the first experimental results in combination with robot‐based handling.

Design/methodology/approach

Soldering results were examined by resistance measurements, shear testing and optical analysis of the melting zone.

Findings

The experiments conducted proved the viability of robot‐based automated resistance soldering of optical components. Analyses of current and voltage profiles gave valuable information for process control possibilities without additional sensors and validated the theoretical considerations of the temperature dependency of material properties. Shear testing underlined the necessity for accurate mechanical contact arrangement and opened fields for further process developments.

Originality/value

Robot‐based resistance soldering of optical components represents a promising joining technology for the automated assembly of laser systems. Existing solutions with mechanical fixtures hamper the miniaturization of optical systems and concurrently increase material and production costs. Manual and semi‐automated gluing of components is an alternative process with significant disadvantages regarding the robustness of the process and the resulting joint connection.

Details

Soldering & Surface Mount Technology, vol. 24 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0954-0911

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Available. Content available
Article
Publication date: 1 March 2000

106

Abstract

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Assembly Automation, vol. 20 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-5154

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Article
Publication date: 1 April 2001

Christian Jacobsson and Anders Pousette

Intra‐organizational coordination is studied almost exclusively using a case approach, with the implementation of one specific coordinating method and evaluation of the effects of…

631

Abstract

Intra‐organizational coordination is studied almost exclusively using a case approach, with the implementation of one specific coordinating method and evaluation of the effects of that method. By contrast, this study explores the daily use of five coordinating strategies in 30 Swedish schools. Furthermore, the relationships between coordinating strategies and co‐ordination problems in the schools and burnout among teachers are investigated. The most important coordinating strategy was “professional consideration”, followed by “striving for goals”. “Mutual adjustment” was perceived as important to a few, and hardly any teachers judged “following routines” and “following the boss” as important. The results showed that “striving for goals” was related to less frequent coordination problems and lower levels of burnout than was “professional consideration”.

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Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 39 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

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Article
Publication date: 1 April 1949

It has often been said that a great part of the strength of Aslib lies in the fact that it brings together those whose experience has been gained in many widely differing fields…

259

Abstract

It has often been said that a great part of the strength of Aslib lies in the fact that it brings together those whose experience has been gained in many widely differing fields but who have a common interest in the means by which information may be collected and disseminated to the greatest advantage. Lists of its members have, therefore, a more than ordinary value since they present, in miniature, a cross‐section of institutions and individuals who share this special interest.

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Aslib Proceedings, vol. 1 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0001-253X

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Article
Publication date: 1 January 1954

Aarhus Kommunes Biblioteker (Teknisk Bibliotek), Ingerslevs Plads 7, Aarhus, Denmark. Representative: V. NEDERGAARD PEDERSEN (Librarian).

120

Abstract

Aarhus Kommunes Biblioteker (Teknisk Bibliotek), Ingerslevs Plads 7, Aarhus, Denmark. Representative: V. NEDERGAARD PEDERSEN (Librarian).

Details

Aslib Proceedings, vol. 6 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0001-253X

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 5 July 2019

Rod Sheaff, Joyce Halliday, Mark Exworthy, Alex Gibson, Pauline W. Allen, Jonathan Clark, Sheena Asthana and Russell Mannion

Neo-liberal “reform” has in many countries shifted services across the boundary between the public and private sector. This policy re-opens the question of what structural and…

2858

Abstract

Purpose

Neo-liberal “reform” has in many countries shifted services across the boundary between the public and private sector. This policy re-opens the question of what structural and managerial differences, if any, differences of ownership make to healthcare providers. The purpose of this paper is to examine the connections between ownership, organisational structure and managerial regime within an elaboration of Donabedian’s reasoning about organisational structures. Using new data from England, it considers: how do the internal managerial regimes of differently owned healthcare providers differ, or not? In what respects did any such differences arise from differences in ownership or for other reasons?

Design/methodology/approach

An observational systematic qualitative comparison of differently owned providers was the strongest feasible research design. The authors systematically compared a maximum variety (by ownership) sample of community health services; out-of-hours primary care; and hospital planned orthopaedics and ophthalmology providers (n=12 cases). The framework of comparison was the ownership theory mentioned above.

Findings

The connection between ownership (on the one hand) and organisation structures and managerial regimes (on the other) differed at different organisational levels. Top-level governance structures diverged by organisational ownership and objectives among the case-study organisations. All the case-study organisations irrespective of ownership had hierarchical, bureaucratic structures and managerial regimes for coordinating everyday service production, but to differing extents. In doctor-owned organisations, the doctors’, but not other occupations’, work was controlled and coordinated in a more-or-less democratic, self-governing ways.

Research limitations/implications

This study was empirically limited to just one sector in one country, although within that sector the case-study organisations were typical of their kinds. It focussed on formal structures, omitting to varying extents other technologies of power and the differences in care processes and patient experiences within differently owned organisations.

Practical implications

Type of ownership does appear, overall, to make a difference to at least some important aspects of an organisation’s governance structures and managerial regime. For the broader field of health organisational research, these findings highlight the importance of the owners’ agency in explaining organisational change. The findings also call into question the practice of copying managerial techniques (and “fads”) across the public–private boundary.

Originality/value

Ownership does make important differences to healthcare providers’ top-level governance structures and accountabilities and to work coordination activity, but with different patterns at different organisational levels. These findings have implications for understanding the legitimacy, governance and accountability of healthcare organisations, the distribution and use power within them, and system-wide policy interventions, for instance to improve care coordination and for the correspondingly required foci of healthcare organisational research.

Details

Journal of Health Organization and Management, vol. 33 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7266

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