Steve Willcocks and Edward Joshua Willcocks
The purpose of this paper is to explore leadership in the context of the hub and spoke network in oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS) in the English National Health Service…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore leadership in the context of the hub and spoke network in oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS) in the English National Health Service (NHS).
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is a conceptual paper using literature relating to the antecedents of shared leadership and relevant policy documents pertaining to both NHS policy and the development of OMFS. The paper is informed, theoretically by the conceptual lens of shared leadership.
Findings
The paper identifies the challenges that may be faced by policymakers and those involved in the hub and spoke network in developing shared leadership. It also reveals the implications for policymakers in developing shared leadership.
Research limitations/implications
The paper is conceptual. It is acknowledged that this is a preliminary study and further work will be required to test the conceptual framework empirically. The paper discusses the policy implications of developing leadership in the hub and spoke network. As networks are of interest internationally this has wider relevance to other countries.
Originality/value
There is limited research on the antecedents of shared leadership. In addition, the conceptual framework is applied to a new policy context.
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Steve Willcocks and Tony Conway
The purpose of this paper is to explore leadership in the context of the policy shift to collaborative working and integration currently being pursued in the UK NHS. As ways of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore leadership in the context of the policy shift to collaborative working and integration currently being pursued in the UK NHS. As ways of integrating care are being explored in other countries it can be argued that this topic may have wider policy significance. This paper is particularly concerned with leadership in Primary Care Networks in the English NHS.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is a conceptual paper using literature relating to the antecedents of shared leadership and relevant policy documents pertaining to the English NHS. The paper is informed, theoretically by the conceptual lens of shared leadership. A conceptual framework is developed identifying the antecedents of shared leadership that help to explain how shared leadership may be developed.
Findings
The paper identifies the challenges that may be faced by policymakers and those involved in Primary Care Networks in developing shared leadership. It also reveals the implications for policymakers in developing shared leadership.
Research limitations/implications
The paper is conceptual. It is acknowledged that this is a preliminary study and further work will be required to test the conceptual framework empirically.
Practical implications
The paper discusses the policy implications of developing leadership in primary care networks. This has relevance to both the NHS and other countries.
Originality/value
There is limited research on the antecedents of shared leadership. In addition, the conceptual framework is applied to a new policy initiative.
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This paper aims to explore the early experiences of a new primary care organisation in the NHS. It reports the findings of a longitudinal qualitative case study of one primary…
Abstract
This paper aims to explore the early experiences of a new primary care organisation in the NHS. It reports the findings of a longitudinal qualitative case study of one primary care group in its first year of operation. It concludes and makes recommendations in four key areas relevant to the development of the primary care group: the experiences of individuals and their readiness for change; clarity and consensus about roles and responsibilities in the new organisation; the process of change, and the impact of culture/power structures; and developing relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
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This paper seeks to explore the relevance of strategy in health and social care. In particular, it aims to look at contrasting perspectives, generally related to either planned or…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to explore the relevance of strategy in health and social care. In particular, it aims to look at contrasting perspectives, generally related to either planned or emergent change.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is literature based and conceptual and, as such, makes use of methods associated with a literature review. Evidence is utilised from a general literature search on strategy, alongside policy‐specific and documentation.
Findings
A critical commentary on strategy in health and social care, from an historical perspective, is presented. It suggests that strategy in the context of recent reforms in health and social care is more likely to be characterised as emergent, and processual. It also offers an insight into the leadership implications of different approaches to strategy.
Originality/value
The paper makes a connection between general ideas about strategy and their relevance in a particular context, i.e. health and social care.
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Leslie P. Willcocks, Will Venters and Edgar A. Whitley
Although cloud computing has been heralded as driving the innovation agenda, there is growing evidence that cloud computing is actually a “slow train coming”. The purpose of this…
Abstract
Purpose
Although cloud computing has been heralded as driving the innovation agenda, there is growing evidence that cloud computing is actually a “slow train coming”. The purpose of this paper is to seek to understand the factors that drive and inhibit the adoption of cloud computing, particularly in relation to its use for innovative practices.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on a composite research base including two detailed surveys and interviews with 56 participants in the cloud supply chain undertaken between 2010 and 2013. The insights from this data are presented in relation to set of antecedents to innovation and a cloud sourcing model of collaborative innovation.
Findings
The paper finds that while some features of cloud computing will hasten the adoption of cloud, and its use for innovative purposes by the enterprise, there are also clear challenges that need to be addressed before cloud can be adopted successfully. Interestingly, the analysis highlights that many of these challenges arise from the technological nature of cloud computing itself.
Research limitations/implications
The research highlights a series of factors that need to be better understood for the maximum benefit from cloud computing to be achieved. Further research is needed to assess the best responses to these challenges.
Practical implications
The research suggests that enterprises need to undertake a number of steps for the full benefits of cloud computing to be achieved. It suggests that collaborative innovation is not necessarily an immediate consequence of adopting cloud computing.
Originality/value
The paper draws on an extensive research base to provide empirically informed analysis of the complexities of adopting cloud computing for innovation.
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Vassilis Serafeimidis and Steve Smithson
Numerous information system evaluation methodologies have been proposed in the literature. However, most of them suffer from a number of inherited disabilities originating in the…
Abstract
Numerous information system evaluation methodologies have been proposed in the literature. However, most of them suffer from a number of inherited disabilities originating in the nature of their fundamental principles as well as the nature of information systems evaluation. Uses evidence from the evaluation literature and two case studies to address the multiple dimensions for evaluation practices. We focus on the context, content and process of information systems evaluation as a source of organisational change. We found a noticeable gap between the recent theoretical work on IS evaluation and the practices within the case study organisations. This was not due to any lack of knowledge but was attributed to contextual variables such as the organisational culture and the power of important stakeholder groups.
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The purpose of this paper is to present some of the findings from an empirical, mixed methods research project that reveal the importance of the personal value frameworks held by…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present some of the findings from an empirical, mixed methods research project that reveal the importance of the personal value frameworks held by individual staff in the prevention of abuse of older people in private sector care homes.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with a sample of 36 care home personnel, including proprietors, care managers and care staff.
Findings
A significant number of respondents identified the importance of personal value frameworks among staff providing care as a potential contributory factor in the prevention of abuse of older people.
Research limitations/implications
Though the research draws upon the experiences of only 36 care home personnel through interviews, data suggest that the personal evaluations of staff towards those in their care is a significant contributory factor to the occurrence of abuse.
Originality/value
The research has identified individual staff value frameworks as a causal factor in the occurrence of abuse. The research also confirms that the perceptions of “values” among respondents directly involved in the provision of care are at odds with common understanding of “values” often cited elsewhere in connection with staff recruitment and training as a means of preventing the occurrence of abuse.
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Through the lens afforded by two theories drawn from the discipline of social psychology, the purpose of this paper is to explain the evident continuing abuse of adults at risk…
Abstract
Purpose
Through the lens afforded by two theories drawn from the discipline of social psychology, the purpose of this paper is to explain the evident continuing abuse of adults at risk living in care homes by the staff who should be looking after them.
Design/methodology/approach
By considering existing theories and research into the reasons why vulnerable adults are abused the paper proposes the relevance of other extant theories on the degradation of moral restraint and dehumanisation of victims, and on the social psychology of intergroup relations, to the perpetration of abuse.
Findings
The paper demonstrates how theories that explain the psychology of human behaviour in certain circumstances may be usefully applied to the inveterate social problem of the abuse of vulnerable adults living in care homes.
Practical implications
The paper offers the opportunity for the reader to consider how these theories of social psychology may be applied to explain and guide remedies to the persistent levels of abuse in English care homes, abuse that continues despite government oversight of care provided to adults who may be at risk by virtue of the activities of the statutory regulator and health and social care commissioners, and the interventions of safeguarding personnel.
Originality/value
This is a conceptual paper from which future research and theorising may arise to better understand the most fundamental causes of the abuse of older people in care homes in order to develop feasible and effective measures to overcome it.
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The authors present nine dimensions to provide structure for the many Futures of Work (FoW). This is done to advance a more sociotechnical and nuanced approach to the FoW, which…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors present nine dimensions to provide structure for the many Futures of Work (FoW). This is done to advance a more sociotechnical and nuanced approach to the FoW, which is too-often articulated as singular and unidimensional. Futurists emphasize they do not predict the future, but rather, build a number of possible futures – in plural – often in the form of scenarios constructed based on key dimensions. Such scenarios help decision-makers consider alternative actions by providing structured frames for careful analyses. It is useful that the dimensions be dichotomous. Here, the authors focus specifically on the futures of knowledge work.
Design/methodology/approach
Building from a sustained review of the FoW literature, from a variety of disciplines, this study derives the nine dimensions.
Findings
The nine FoW dimensions are: Locus of Place, Locus of Decision-making, Structure of Work, Technologies’ Roles, Work–Life, Worker Expectations, Leadership Model, Firm’s Value Creation and Labor Market Structure. Use of the dimensions is illustrated by constructing sample scenarios.
Originality/value
While FoW is multi-dimensional, most FoW writing has focused on one or two dimensions, often highlighting positive or negative possibilities. Empirical papers, by their nature, are focused on just one dimension that is supported by data. However, future-oriented policy reports tend are more often multi-faceted analyses and serve here as the model for what we present.
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Adekunle S. Oyegoke, Michael Dickinson, Malik M.A. Khalfan, Peter McDermott and Steve Rowlinson
The purpose of this paper is to examine different categories of building project procurement routes based on organisational, contractual, financial and technical issues.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine different categories of building project procurement routes based on organisational, contractual, financial and technical issues.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on review of literature and conditions of contracts. The UK construction industry serves as a general frame of reference. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors survey of Contracts in Use from 1985 to 2004 is used to probe the share and value of contracts along different procurement routes and across different conditions of contracts in the UK. The logic is that the value and the share of contracts will indicate the behaviour of different procurement routes in the UK construction market while the in‐depth analysis of conditions of contracts will show the gaps and relationships between the general definition/categorisation and contractual context (conditions of contracts) of each of the procurement routes.
Findings
The preliminary result of the analysis shows that traditional routes remain the main type of procurement route for the construction project industry sector, within which different management and incentivisation systems are applied for greater efficiency. The conditions of contracts in the UK support this assertion by aligning different procurement routes to different conditions of contracts and additionally specifying different forms of agreements, special provisions and incentivisation in order to increase performance, reduce risks and improve compensation methods.
Research limitations/implications
The study can serve as a learning opportunity for construction project stakeholders internationally, and clients in particular, to differentiate between procurement routes, management‐oriented systems, relational contracting and incentivisation.
Originality/value
The research provides an original assessment of construction procurement which can be used as intervening tool in different levels of private and public procurement strategies.