Ron E. Temple and Robert W. Droege
Concerns the concentrated efforts of a relatively small group (170people) at Caterpillar Inc. who realized that they would have to lookagain at their most basic work practices if…
Abstract
Concerns the concentrated efforts of a relatively small group (170 people) at Caterpillar Inc. who realized that they would have to look again at their most basic work practices if they were to remain in business: their customers, other profit centres and divisions within Caterpillar Inc., demanded not only market competitiveness but also service excellence from their former colleagues. The solution was to embark on a journey towards empowered people and self‐directed teams. They determined specific areas that needed to be addressed throughout the journey, not only to sustain the change, but also to expand it beyond their department. These areas of opportunity are explained by ten “building blocks” which are continuously reviewed to provide a solid foundation for the journey. The study provides a description of these “building blocks” and many lessons learned along the way.
Details
Keywords
Many organizations are investing much time and effort in the management of quality. A few enlightened ones even have a vision to be the best. G. Howland Blackiston, thepresident…
Abstract
Many organizations are investing much time and effort in the management of quality. A few enlightened ones even have a vision to be the best. G. Howland Blackiston, the president of the Juran Institute, noted recently that, “All around the world companies are waking up to ‘quality’. Everyone is touting quality. Many are attempting it. Some organizations have gotten enviable results by using the concepts of ‘managing for quality’ dramatically to lower their costs, increase their profits and become more competitive in an increasingly competitive market. For these winners, quality has become an integral part of their business strategy”.
Svetlana Norkin and Katriina Byström
This paper aims to examine the interaction between gatekeeping and trust in a public sector organization, where employees at lower hierarchical levels are expected to autonomously…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the interaction between gatekeeping and trust in a public sector organization, where employees at lower hierarchical levels are expected to autonomously translate and transform directives into public services. This requires them to have access to operational steering information, i.e. information about directives and how to interpret and apply them. This study focuses on how gatekeeping structures regulate flows of operational steering information and how the gatekeeping structures affect the development of trust.
Design/methodology/approach
The research design is qualitative. The data material consisted of semi-structured interviews with 26 employees in home care and schools and of eight complementary nonparticipant observations. Thematic analysis revealed the presence of static and dynamic gatekeeping structures, which are characterized by fixed and variable arrangements of information sources and channels, respectively.
Findings
In static gatekeeping structures, managers or domain experts typically act as gatekeepers, and employees also perform gatekeeping activities collectively. Gatekeeping structures allow employees to switch between acting as gatekeepers and being gated, depending on the situation. The results show that gatekeeping structures for intermediation of operational steering information may support or impede employees' work, thus affecting their trust in their peers and their work organization.
Research limitations/implications
Although the present study included both interviews and observations, these primarily occurred within scheduled and prearranged activities rather than capturing the nuances of the typical daily work of teachers and home care employees. As a result, certain perspectives may have been unintentionally omitted.
Practical implications
The participants were recruited through the City of Oslo contact people, which may have impacted their status or perception in some way. Moreover, the study was conducted in the City of Oslo, a specific organization with its own unique set of values, norms and processes. The trust-based management in the City of Oslo is likely not representative of all public sector organizations.
Originality/value
This study contributes conceptually by introducing gatekeeping structures and operational steering information and empirically by providing evidence of their relationship to trust development in public service delivery. Thus, it contributes to the research fields of information management and public administration.
Details
Keywords
Ting Jer Yuen and M. Shaheen Majid
The objective of this study is to investigate the knowledge‐sharing behavior of undergraduate students in Singapore and to cover areas such as the purpose of sharing knowledge…
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this study is to investigate the knowledge‐sharing behavior of undergraduate students in Singapore and to cover areas such as the purpose of sharing knowledge, communication channels preferred for sharing, and factors that inhibit or motivate knowledge sharing among students.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire was used for collecting data and 180 students from three public universities in Singapore participated in the study.
Findings
It was found that, generally, students displayed a positive attitude towards knowledge sharing and were appreciative of its importance in peer learning. However, it was interesting to note that the respondents were less inclined to share knowledge for academic activities that were graded. The study also revealed that competition among students to outperform their fellow students and lack of depth in peer relationship were the two main factors that inhibited knowledge sharing.
Practical implications
The paper argues that fresh approaches to learning are desirable to make it less competitive, which is likely to encourage active knowledge sharing among students.
Originality/value
A majority of the studies on knowledge sharing have been conducted in an organizational context. Only limited work has been done on the knowledge‐sharing behavior of students. As a majority of the university students are expected to join the workforce after graduation, it is desirable their knowledge‐sharing behavior should be thoroughly investigated.
Details
Keywords
Daniel P. Lorence and Robert Jameson
The growing acceptance of evidence‐based decision support systems in healthcare organizations has resulted in recognition of data quality improvement as a key area of both…
Abstract
The growing acceptance of evidence‐based decision support systems in healthcare organizations has resulted in recognition of data quality improvement as a key area of both strategic and operational management. Information managers are faced with their emerging role in establishing quality management standards for information collection and application in the day‐to‐day delivery of health care. In the USA, rigid data‐based practice and performance standards and regulations related to information management have met with some resistance from providers. In the emerging information‐intensive healthcare environment, managers are beginning to understand the importance of formal, continuous data quality assessment in health services delivery and quality management. Variation in data quality management practice poses quality problems in such an environment, since it precludes comparative assessments across larger markets or areas, a critical component of evidence‐based quality assessments. In this study a national survey of health information managers was employed to provide a benchmark of the degree of such variation, examining how quality management practices vary across area indicators. Findings here suggest that managers continue to employ paper‐based quality assessment audits, despite nationwide mandates to adopt system‐based measures using aggregate data analysis and automated quality intervention. The level of adoption of automated quality management methods in this study varied significantly across practice characteristics and areas, suggesting the existence of data quality barriers to cross‐market comparative assessment. Implications for healthcare service delivery in an evidence‐based environment are further examined and discussed.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this research is to understand how knowledge sharing takes place in the dynamic labour environment of Darwin's hospitality industry in the Northern Territory of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to understand how knowledge sharing takes place in the dynamic labour environment of Darwin's hospitality industry in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Design/methodology/approach
Three hotels, part of the same hotel chain, were used as a case study. Data were acquired through 76 semi‐structured interviews and validated through two focus groups over an eight‐month period.
Findings
The research revealed that organisational and individual factors supported knowledge sharing in the dynamic labour environment of Darwin's hospitality industry. Noteworthy were the participant's attitudes to knowledge sharing as well as the role of social interactions and social networks as they enabled peers to familiarise with one another both professionally and non‐professionally. The product of this familiarity was people knowledge that enabled their adaptation to multiple levels (place, industry, hotels, and peers) and in turn helped them to share knowledge with peers irrespective of labour instability.
Research limitations/implications
The research focused only on one aspect of knowledge management (knowledge sharing) and the front office departments of three hotels located in Darwin, Northern Territory of Australia.
Practical implications
The research provides a knowledge sharing strategy that could help practitioners nurture knowledge sharing in environments of high turnover.
Originality/value
The research contributes to the scant literature available on knowledge sharing strategies in environments of high turnover.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical historical analysis of the business (mis)behaviors and influencing factors that discourage enduring cooperation between…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical historical analysis of the business (mis)behaviors and influencing factors that discourage enduring cooperation between principals and agents, to introduce strategies that embrace the social values, economic motivation and institutional designs historically adopted to curtail dishonest acts in international business and to inform an improved principal–agent theory that reflects principal–agent reciprocity as shaped by social, political, cultural, economic, strategic and ideological forces
Design/methodology/approach
The critical historical research method is used to analyze Chinese compradors and the foreign companies they served in pre-1949 China.
Findings
Business practitioners can extend orthodox principal–agent theory by scrutinizing the complex interactions between local agents and foreign companies. Instead of agents pursuing their economic interests exclusively, as posited by principal–agent theory, they also may pursue principal-shared interests (as suggested by stewardship theory) because of social norms and cultural values that can affect business-related choices and the social bonds built between principals and agents.
Research limitations/implications
The behaviors of compradors and foreign companies in pre-1949 China suggest international business practices for shaping social bonds between principals and agents and foreign principals’ creative efforts to enhance shared interests with local agents.
Practical implications
Understanding principal–agent theory’s limitations can help international management scholars and practitioners mitigate transaction partners’ dishonest acts.
Originality/value
A critical historical analysis of intermediary businesspeople’s (mis)behavior in pre-1949 (1840–1949) China can inform the generalizability of principal–agent theory and contemporary business strategies for minimizing agents’ dishonest acts.
Details
Keywords
This paper aims to provide a critical assessment of the Internet of things (IoT) and the social and policy issues raised by its development. While the Internet will continue to…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide a critical assessment of the Internet of things (IoT) and the social and policy issues raised by its development. While the Internet will continue to become ever more central to everyday life and work, there is a new but complementary vision for an IoT, which will connect billions of objects – “things” like sensors, monitors, and radio-frequency identification devices – to the Internet at a scale that far outstrips use of the Internet as we know it, and will have enormous social and economic implications.
Design/methodology/approach
It is based on a review of literature and emerging developments, including synthesis of a workshop and discussions within a special interest group on the IoT.
Findings
Nations can harvest the potential of this wave of innovation not only for manufacturing but also for everyday life and work and the development of new information and services that will change the way we do things in many walks of life. However, its success is not inevitable. Technical visions will not lead inexorably to successful public and private infrastructures that support the vitality of an IoT and the quality of everyday life and work. In fact, the IoT could undermine such core values as privacy, equality, trust and individual choice if not designed, implemented and governed in appropriate ways.
Research limitations/implications
There is a need for more multi-disciplinary research on the IoT.
Practical implications
Policymakers and opinion formers need to understand the IoT and its implications.
Social implications
If the right policies and business models are developed, the IoT will stimulate major social, economic and service innovations in the next years and decades.
Originality/value
This paper pulls together discussions and literature from a social science perspective, as one means to enable more multidisciplinary studies of emerging developments.
Details
Keywords
Hong Xu, Yuqing Liu and Xingyang Lyu
This study aims to examine how the degree of value co-creation affects Chinese customers’ evaluations of new tourism and hospitality services, and how the outcome quality…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine how the degree of value co-creation affects Chinese customers’ evaluations of new tourism and hospitality services, and how the outcome quality moderates this relationship under different conditions.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed hypotheses are tested using a self-reporting questionnaire-based survey and two experimental designs. Data analysis entailed hierarchical multiple regression analysis, a simple slope test and a two-way ANOVA.
Findings
Three component studies assessed boundary conditions for the positive effects of the degree of value co-creation on customers’ evaluations of new services. Studies 1 and 2 indicated that unequivocal high-quality outcomes amplified positive effects, which were reversed by unequivocal low-quality outcomes. Study 3 demonstrated that in Chinese contexts of ambiguous outcomes, the relationship between the degree of co-creation and new service evaluation was positively mediated by self-integration in private contexts and negatively mediated by loss of face in public contexts.
Practical implications
This study identifies critical factors influencing successful service innovation in China within different contexts. Its finding of context-dependent customer engagement in value co-creation has managerial implications for facilitating favorable new service evaluations.
Originality/value
This exploratory study addresses a research gap regarding service innovation, offering insights into positive and negative influences of customer value co-creation on new service evaluation, under different outcome quality conditions in the domestic Chinese hospitality and tourism sector.
Details
Keywords
Rajshekhar (Raj) G. Javalgi, Patricia R. Todd and Robert F. Scherer
A classical model of organizational ecology dynamics which is utilized to characterize an ecosystem called the internet is proposed and a parallel is drawn between the population…
Abstract
Purpose
A classical model of organizational ecology dynamics which is utilized to characterize an ecosystem called the internet is proposed and a parallel is drawn between the population ecology model and the current global e‐commerce environment.
Design/methodology/approach
Survivorship theory is applied to global e‐commerce. The Verhulst‐Pearl logistic equation can be used to describe the inhibition of growth within an ecosystem. The approach is to apply the Verhulst‐Pearl logistic equation to describe international growth dynamics of the internet.
Findings
When applying the Verhulst‐Pearl equation to the internet environment around the world, the number of domain names or host counts, the rate at which there is an increase or decrease in the number of domain names, and the availability of information technology infrastructure are all factors that are part of the equation. The model of population dynamics presented in our discussion lends itself to the description of the current pattern of growth within the internet environment.
Practical implications
The application of population ecology to international growth dynamics describes the long‐term survival and differentiation strategies that impact success. The next evolution of firms on the internet, which may be the ultimate survivors, should follow the path characterized as low cost producers with a focus on meeting the needs of the consumers on the internet. An ecological approach allows managers to ascertain the effectiveness of their organizations in the internet environment and accordingly devise strategies to embrace changes and challenges of the global environment.
Originality/value
The population ecology conceptual framework offers promise for a more sophisticated and methodologically rigorous approach to future investigations by both researchers and practitioners. The operationalization of the organizational ecology model for application to the internet is an extension of the literature.