bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Professionals, discretion and public sector reform in the UK: re‐visiting Lipsky
Authors: Taylor Ian , Kelly Josie
Published: January 2007

Purpose

Seeks to examine how far Michael Lipsky's theory of discretion as it relates to public sector professionals as “street‐level bureaucrats” is still applicable in the light of public sector reform and in particular the introduction of increased managerial control over professionals.

Design/methodology/approach

The main thesis in Lipsky's work,Street‐Level Bureaucracy, that street‐level bureaucrats devise their own rules and procedures to deal with the dilemmas of policy implementation is linked to public sector reform over the past 25 years or so. The article differentiates between three forms of discretion, rule, task and value and assesses the extent to which these different forms of discretion have been compromised by reform. Examples are drawn principally from the literature on school teachers and social workers

Findings

The findings suggest that the rule‐making (hence bureaucratic) capacity of professionals at street‐level is much less influential than before although it is questionable whether or not the greater accountability of professionals to management and clarity of the targets and objectives of organisations delivering public policy has liberated them from the dilemmas of street‐level bureaucracy.

Research limitations/implications

The work has focussed on the UK and in particular on two professions. However, it may be applied to any country which has undergone public sector reform and in particular where “new public management” processes and procedures have been implemented. There is scope for in‐depth studies of a range of occupations, professional and otherwise in the UK and elsewhere.

Practical implications

Policy makers and managers should consider how far the positive aspects of facilitating discretion in the workplace by reducing the need for “rule‐making” to cope with dilemmas have been outweighed by increased levels of bureaucracy and the “de‐skilling” of professionals.

Originality/value

Lipsky's much cited and influential work is evaluated in the light of public sector reform some 25 years since it was published. The three forms of discretion identified offer the scope for their systematic application to the workplace.
Consuming work: front‐line workers and their customers in Jobcentre Plus
Authors: Rosenthal Patrice , Peccei Riccardo
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual and empirical analysis of the rationale and enactment of consumer discourses in reformed British welfare administration, through a focus on consumption and the service interaction. The paper aims to explore how administrators use these discourses to manage consumption in particular ways in order to promote individual enterprise and employability, and analyse the pivotal role of front‐line workers in these efforts.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws from range of data sources collected in a case study of Jobcentre Plus, including analysis of public and internal documents, observation of six public offices and interviews with 13 front‐line staff.

Findings

Images of customer sovereignty are used alongside heightened control to try to shape claimants' motivation and capacity for work. Front‐line staff, mainly endorse reformed structures, but their view of claimants is complex, departing from the images fostered by administrators.

Research limitations/implications

The paper highlights the importance of context‐specific understanding of deployment of consumer discourses in public sector, but interview data are exploratory and further research is needed.

Practical implications

The paper highlights complexities inherent in customer orientation in welfare administration and the pivotal role of front‐line in reforms.

Originality/value

The paper provides a distinctive approach to analysis of customer concept in public sector reform, through focus on consumption and the service interaction.
Learning across borders: the case of Danish local government
Authors: Salskov‐Iversen Dorte
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This paper sets out to chart the transnational activities of Danish local government, with a specific view to examining the perceived relevance of these activities for public sector learning, innovation and development. More specifically, it probes into the degree to which Danish local government can be seen to have a global outlook and is actively participating in knowledge sharing and knowledge production across borders; and the nature of this engagement.

Design/methodology/approach

Theoretically, the study draws on the literatures of public management, governance and globalization. Empirically, the paper is founded on a survey of the global orientation of the 79 largest Danish local authorities, and on a number of more detailed studies of selected local authorities conducted in 2003‐2004.

Findings

The findings show that more than a third of the local authorities surveyed consider themselves very internationally active, even if a closer examination of the data suggests that the nature, intensity and, importantly, strategic implications of these activities vary considerably. Nevertheless, for several major authorities, transnational activities and, more generally, a global outlook, are part and parcel of being a learning organization. For a majority of authorities, however, transnational activities appear to constitute an under‐utilized learning, innovation and development resource which, if carefully attended to and managed, could bring some distinct value to the municipal organization.

Research limitations/implications

The modest size of the overall population of respondents, a response rate of only 65 per cent and the open‐ended nature of many of the questions suggest that no firm conclusions can be drawn on the basis of these data. The questions probed into the lived experience of the interviewees, and what we got was their representation of the world. The data cannot tell us anything about what these authorities actually do, whether transnational activities can actually be harnessed as a management development tool.

Originality/value

The study is explorative in the sense that it seeks to elicit insights into a relatively under‐researched area. It adds some flesh to current thinking about the global interconnectedness of local authorities, focusing on the strategic implications of such an orientation.
Knowing “the price of everything and the value of nothing”: accounting for heritage assets
Authors: Hooper Keith , Kearins Kate , Green Ruth
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the conceptual arguments surrounding accounting for heritage assets and the resistance by some New Zealand museums to a mandatory valuing of their holdings.

Design/methodology/approach

Evidence was derived from museum annual reports, interviews and personal communications with representatives of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Zealand (ICANZ) and a range of New Zealand museums.

Findings

ICANZ's requirement that heritage assets be accounted for in a manner similar to other assets is shown as deriving from a managerialist rationality which, in espousing sector neutrality, assumes an unproblematic stance to the particular nature and circumstances of museums and their holdings. Resisting the imposition of the standard, New Zealand's regional museums evince an identity tied more strongly to notions of aesthetic, cultural and social value implicit in curatorship, than to a concern with the economic value of their holdings. Museum managers and accountants prefer to direct their attention to what they see as more vitally important tasks related to the conservation, preservation and maintenance of heritage assets, rather than to divert scarce funds to what they see as an academic exercise in accounting.

Originality/value

The paper points to some of the difficulties inherent in the application of a one‐size‐fits‐all application of an accounting standard to entities and assets differentiated in their purpose and essence.
The conceptual arguments concerning accounting for public heritage assets: a note
Authors: Barton Allan
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This paper seeks to reply/comment on the paper by Keith Hooper et al., titled “‘Knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing’: accounting for heritage assets”.

Design/methodology/approach

This note uses the economic theory of public goods to complement the explanation and analysis of Hooper et al's article on accounting for public heritage assets by New Zealand museums.

Findings

Using public goods theory from economics, the paper explains why the “sector neutral” approach, which underlies the application of commercial accounting standards to public heritage assets, is unsound; why “fair market prices” cannot be obtained for public heritage assets because of their being public goods; and why they should be accounted for outside the statement of financial position as assets held in trust by the custodial entities.

Originality/value

The opposition of some of the museums to the accounting standards being imposed on them is soundly based in the economic theory of public goods.
The first poem of the financial year
Authors: Irvine Patricia
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To reflect on the way that wellbeing is measured.

Design/methodology/approach

Fictional poem.

Findings

The poem reflects on the measurement of wellbeing, contrasting the natural world with that created by humankind. It suggests a differential enjoyment of benefits within humankind, and incidentally asks how the fruits of the creative mind can be weighed against material accounts.

Research implications

Encourages consideration of the worth of systems of accounting when individual lives can be so disparate in their sharing of social wealth.

Originality/value

A unique interpretation of the practice of accounting.
Guadalajara
Authors: Ramsey Caroline
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To reflect on what evidence might be persuasive, powerful, and influential in decision‐making.

Design/methodology/approach

Fictional poem.

Findings

Meditation on the way that we decide what to do, account for it, be responsible for it to others, and be accountable to them.

Research limitations/implications

Stimulates thought about how organisations construct an agreed set of terms and language for measuring progress and organising accountability.

Originality/value

An individual comment on assessing what language is appropriate for building organisations.
Editorial
Authors: Neu Dean , Graham Cameron
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This essay sets out to introduce the special issue.

Design/methodology/approach

The essay discusses a variety of approaches to exploring the relationship between accounting and the public interest, and briefly reviews the contribution of the articles in the issue.

Findings

Not applicable.

Originality/value

The essay argues that accounting research can be opened up by problematizing the notion of the public interest, and by considering not only how accounting constitutes the public interest, but how various public interests constitute accounting.
What is the meaning of “the public interest”?
Authors: Baker C. Richard
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To examine the rhetorical claims put forth by several prominent organizations in the American public accounting profession that claim to act in the public interest, and to attempt to identify the ideological position or positions underlying their claims.

Design/methodology/approach

Certain rhetorical claims put forth by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) are examined. A discussion of Paul Ricoeur's concept of ideology follows, along with an explanation of the way in which Ricoeur's understanding of ideology can be used to gain a better understanding of the ideology of the American public accounting profession.

Findings

Initially it appears that the rhetorical claims of the prominent organizations of the American public accounting profession reveal an underlying neo‐liberal ideology. Closer examination indicates a certain degree of ambiguity with respect to a neo‐liberal ideology, with a greater emphasis placed on the importance of regulation of capital markets through auditing and financial accounting standards setting. This ambiguity also reveals that there are economic interests involved and that these economic interests constitute a public accounting ideology, one which conflates the values and activities of the public accounting profession with serving the public interest. This public accounting ideology can be understood as providing a socially integrative function for the public accounting profession and also a justifying function with respect to maintaining the legitimate authority of CPAs with respect to auditing and financial accounting standards setting. The distortive aspect of ideology is also evident, in that there seems to be an inability to determine precisely what the meaning of the public interest is or may be.

Research limitations/implications

This is a limited study of only three prominent organizations in the American public accounting profession.

Practical implications

May help to define the meaning of the term “the public interest.”

Originality/value

Uses Ricoeur's concept of ideology for the first time in the accounting literature. One of the first papers to explicitly address the meaning of “the public interest.”
Empirical study of a venture capital relationship
Authors: Smith Julia A.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The paper aims to examine five assumptions of agency theory: that both investor and investee make rational decisions; future outcomes are predictable; both act in their own best interests; the investee has an information advantage over the investor; and the investee is work‐ and risk‐averse.

Design/methodology/approach

An agency framework is used to analyse the relationship between a venture capital investment house and one of its investees. Empirical evidence is provided on the nature of this relationship. Additional evidence of the post‐investment performance of both parties is provided, to examine whether the contractual arrangements are conducive to good performance.

Findings

There is general support for the assumptions of agency theory, and the framework is found to provide a useful basis for analysing the relationship between a venture capital investor and investee.

Research limitations/implications

The paper uses case studies of one investor and one investee, and so is limited by data, coupled with a qualitative analysis. Further quantitative work should use a larger sample and statistical or econometric methods, to support the findings.

Practical implications

The empirical evidence shows that an investor who is alert to such problems as agency theory implies may take steps to control adverse effects, e.g. through improved management accounting systems for monitoring and control.

Originality/value

The paper gives evidence on the internal management practice of venture capital investors and investees, linked to publicly available performance measures. Thus it provides an insight into practice which will be of interest to investors, investees and academic researchers alike.
Half a pound of tuppeny rice
Authors: Jacobs Kerry
Published: January 2007

Purpose

Seeks to reflect on the way that truths about commerce and labour have been captured in seemingly “innocent” rhymes.

Design/methodology/approach

Fictional prose.

Findings

The piece contemplates the trap into which a tradesman might fall when at the mercy of fluctuating demand and tempted to give up his tools. Alternative means of income are weighed up and a moral about managing money is suggested.

Research limitations/implications

Encourages further consideration of the way that common rhymes represent the economic and social truth of their times.

Originality/value

A creative representation of the origins of popular verses that deal with working lives of the past.
Three poems on organisation, control and exchange
Authors: Reid Gavin C.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To express and illustrate in verse ubiquitous problems of organizational, auditing and trading malfunctions, thereby stimulating the imagination to contemplate alternative approaches.

Design/methodology/approach

Poetic expression of the following design: I. “Putting out work”. Three nine‐line stanzas of syllabic verse, mythic in tone, otherwise of irregular, free form. Expression approaches prose poetry. II. “The happiest days of your life”. Three seven‐line stanzas of free verse, mythic in tone. III. “The exchange”. Twelve six‐line stanzas in free verse; a narrative prose poem.

Findings

I. Asks whether the discredited putting‐out system is not lurking yet in modern “home‐working”, but with more subtle drawbacks, and even closer control. II. Finds that pressures to permit labour abuses are persistent, even in alleged “advanced” economies – its incidence and its form are just more surreptitious. III. Develops an alternative metaphor for North‐South economic relations, and suggests exploring an ethics of “gift exchange”, in contrast with the so‐called “anonymity of the market”.

Research limitations/implications

The limitation of verse in this context is that it is a stimulus to the imagination, but not a vehicle for empirical investigation as such. However, what verse does here is to suggest three areas for research that are novel and challenging, but may otherwise be neglected without this stimulus.

Originality/value

I. Finds an emerging “new putting‐out system” II. Shows how the motivation for child labour is persistent, even in “advanced” economies. III. Points to an alternative approach to exchange, as a mutual process of gifting.
The internet and possibilities for counter accounts: some reflections
Authors: Paisey Catriona , Paisey Nicholas J.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

Seeks to extend debates about the emancipatory potential of the internet by commenting on Sikka's reflections (in this issue) on the papers also in this issue by Gallhofer et al. and by Paisey and Paisey.

Design/methodology/approach

Discusses the location of the internet within the politics of neoliberalism, with particular reference to the pensions crisis.

Findings

Accepts that the internet's use depends upon its social context and agrees that the internet is a communicative device that has the potential to facilitate change. However, the example of pension accounts shows that the internet has been more effectively harnessed by groups wishing to endorse the status quo rather than to counter it.

Practical implications

While the development of counter accounts and critiques of contemporary social problems is encouraged, education must play a role in exposing alternative views and encouraging debate.

Originality/value

Extends debates surrounding the role of the internet in promoting more emancipatory accountings.
Perspectives on “new” models of business reporting: a reflective note
Authors: Guthrie James , Boedker Christina
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to introduce alternative perspectives on “new” business reporting models as they appear in the “thought pieces” in this special themed section of AAAJ.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper employs a literature based analysis and critique. The paper is primarily a discussion paper.

Findings

There are several research issues examined in the papers in this special theme section which point to the need for researchers to reflect on their motivation, use of theory and values to ensure academic work is making a genuine contribution.

Research limitations/implications

“New” models of business reporting are experimental and could be explored in greater depth in future studies.

Originality/value

The papers contribute to the growing debate on “value” and key underlying issues associated with the emergence of “new” accounting and reporting practices. Through this process of reflection, hidden assumptions can be exposed, “new” visibilities explored, and competing dilemmas opened up.
Social, environmental and sustainability reporting and organisational value creation?
Authors: Gray Rob
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The objective of this essay is to examine the extent to which social, environmental and sustainability accounting and reporting (SEA) can or should contribute to shareholder value and, correspondingly, to consider the challenge that SEA can offer to the conventional views of “value” that underpin traditional financial accounting. The essay is then used as a vehicle to introduce some relatively new data about sustainable development that has implications for our consideration of “value”.

Design/methodology/approach

Although drawing from a wide range of secondary contextual data, the paper is primarily argumentative and seeks to challenge a number of implicit assumptions within both conventional and more “critical” accounting.

Findings

Substantive social and environmental reporting and, especially, high quality reporting on (un)sustainability will demonstrate that modern international financial capitalism and the principle organs which support it are essentially designed to maximise environmental destruction and the erosion of any realistic notion of social justice. This paper seeks to demonstrate this contention and the powerful and fundamental implications that this has for conventional financial reporting and for the superficial and cosmetic adjustments to that reporting through “new models of organisational reporting”.

Research limitations/implications

The paper questions whether any research which is not either cognisant of or directed towards sustainability and/or sustainable development makes any real sense in the context of current data about the planet. More especially, the paper asks whether any notion of “value” employed in the accounting (and wider) literature can be anything other than self‐delusional and empty if it ignores a crucial wider context.

Originality/value

Apart from taking debates about “value” and, especially “shareholder value” into another dimension, the paper is one of the first (at least in accounting as far as I am aware) to formally introduce and confront data about planetary sustainability.
Problematising intellectual capital research: ostensive versus performative IC
Authors: Mouritsen Jan
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This paper develops a problematisation of research about intellectual capital (IC) with a view to extending the types of questions that can be posed and explanations that can be given about the roles and effects of IC. The aim is to contribute to the debate on how it is possible and fruitful to study IC.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper compares an ostensive and a performative approach to IC research and develops an analysis and critique of ideas in IC research on this basis.

Findings

The paper concludes that it is possible and advisable to develop research that has an ambition to understand IC as a concept and not only as an application of a pre‐set idea. It suggests that a performative approach to IC will enhance possibilities of developing new and interesting propositions about how IC works and is involved in organisational and social transformation.

Originality/value

The main implication of this paper is that research in IC can take up new forms of inquiry that will complement and extend the currently used approaches.
Balancing dilemmas of the balanced scorecard
Authors: Johanson Ulf , Skoog Matti , Backlund Andreas , Almqvist Roland
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to debate various critical issues in the implementation and use of the balanced scorecard (BSC) as a management control tool. Because there is no self‐evident solution to these critical issues, they are termed dilemmas.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper contributes to the BSC debate by collecting insights from empirical findings, as well as exploring various theoretical aspects.

Findings

After presenting four perceived dilemmas and how they affect the implementation and use of the BSC in various settings, the paper concludes that there is a need for further debate and research on these dilemmas.

Research limitations/implications

The paper is primarily a contribution to the debate concerning the balanced scorecard and its range of application as a management control model.

Practical implications

The paper is motivated by an overall high rate of implementation failure in various practical settings.

Originality/value

Some of the problems described have been debated before, whereas others are new. However, there has been hardly any discussion of the dilemmas in conjunction with one another. The paper is an attempt to generate important new questions about the future implementation and use of the BSC.
Measuring general managers' performances
Authors: Merchant Kenneth A.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This paper discusses how to choose a measure or set of measures for the purposes of evaluating and rewarding general managers' performances.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper describes a set of criteria that is useful for evaluating any measure or set of measures. Then it applies the criteria to an evaluation of three measurement alternatives in common use at general management organization levels: market measures, accounting measures, and combinations of measures.

Findings

The paper shows that all of the measurement alternatives fail to satisfy one or more of the evaluation criteria and, hence, lead to less than optimal outcomes. But it also shows that some alternatives are better than others in specific situations.

Originality/value

While comprehensive sets of evaluation criteria have been applied to financial accounting choice issues, this is the first such approach in management accounting. This approach can lead to improved performance measurement system choices. It can also be used to guide future research because the analysis also reveals major gaps in our knowledge about the qualities of performance measures in common use.
The fortunes of Dan Synergy
Authors: Taylor Andrew
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To provide an analysis of the relationship of corporate and individual life in middle management

Design/methodology/approach

Fictional poem.

Findings

Organisational and personal success often comes at the cost of personal sacrifice and disillusion.

Originality/value

Stimulates thought about how organizations and individuals may work together to maximize corporate and personal reward without detriment to personal fulfillment.
Patient satisfaction under managed care
Authors: Simonet Daniel
Published: January 2007

Purpose

In the USA, health maintenance organizations (HMOs) have pledged to control health care costs. Many patients have complained about the quality of care under the HMO regime and limits imposed on them, particularly access to care. Has quality of care been degraded under the HMO regime, resulting in an impact on patient satisfaction? There have been many studies that have compared the satisfaction of HMO patients with that of patients in the traditional fee‐for‐service payment system. The aim of this paper is to review HMO patient satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach

A review of patient satisfaction under managed care arrangements with a focus on HMOs. The article describes the US history of managed care and its effect on the satisfaction of several patient categories including the general population, vulnerable patients and the elderly.

Findings

There is much information available on patient satisfaction with their insurers and most surveys indicate the lack of choice of a provider – a major source of discontent. Therefore, patient protection laws are necessary to avoid abuse.

Originality/value

Patients have little ability or are not willing to rely on the information available when selecting a provider. The paper discusses patient awareness regarding satisfaction surveys and how the latter can be used when patients are seeking care.
Benchmarking patient improvement in physical therapy with data envelopment analysis
Authors: Friesner Daniel , Neufelder Donna , Raisor Janet , Khayum Mohammed
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to present a case study that documents how management science techniques (in particular data envelopment analysis) can be applied to performance improvement initiatives in an inpatient physical therapy setting.

Design/methodology/approach

The data used in this study consist of patients referred for inpatient physical therapy following total knee replacement surgery (at a medium‐sized medical facility in the Midwestern USA) during the fiscal year 2002. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) was applied to determine the efficiency of treatment, as well as to identify benchmarks for potential patient improvement. Statistical trends in the benchmarking and efficiency results were subsequently analyzed using non‐parametric and parametric methods.

Findings

Our analysis indicated that the rehabilitation process was largely effective in terms of providing consistent, quality care, as more than half of the patients in our study achieved the maximum amount of rehabilitation possible given available inputs. Among patients that did not achieve maximum results, most could obtain increases in the degree of flexion gain and reductions in the degree of knee extension.

Research limitations/implications

The study is retrospective in nature, and is not based on clinical trial or experimental data. Additionally, DEA results are inherently sensitive to sampling: adding or subtracting individuals from the sample may change the baseline against which efficiency and rehabilitation potential are measured. As such, therapists using this approach must ensure that the sample is representative of the general population, and must not contain significant measurement error. Third, individuals who choose total knee arthroplasty will incur a transient disability. However, this population does not generally fit the World Health Organization International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health definition of disability if the surgical procedure is successful. Since the study focuses on the outcomes of physical therapy, range of motion measurements and circumferential measurements were chosen as opposed to the more global measures of functional independence such as mobility, transfers and stair climbing. Applying this technique to data on patients with different disabilities (or the same disability with other outcome variables, such as Functional Independence Measure scores) may give dissimilar results.

Practical implications

This case study provides an example of how one can apply quantitative management science tools in a manner that is both tractable and intuitive to the practising therapist, who may not have an extensive background in quantitative performance improvement or statistics.

Originality/value

DEA has not been applied to rehabilitation, especially in the case where managers have limited data available.
Value‐added benefits of technology
Authors: Smith Alan D. , Correa Joseph
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To provide insights into the current supply chain for original equipment manufacturers (OEM) in the radiology diagnostic imaging equipment business. As is common in many manufacturing and service firms, the rationale of bridging suppliers of OEMs is the ability to leverage technology, software, and accessories pertaining to the various pieces of equipment.

Design/methodology/approach

Several models of e‐procurement and e‐commerce related to the health care industry are presented.

Findings

Although the radiology capital equipment market presents numerous idiosyncrasies that must be addressed to successfully implement an e‐business strategy effectively, incredible opportunities exist all along the supply chain for e‐business strategies to both eliminate costs and acquire strategic initiatives. Those firms that most successfully listen to their customers and address the barriers to efficiency (B2E) will help move the industry toward more effective utilization of the benefits e‐business can create and also obtain first mover advantages.

Originality/value

Although the efficiencies that e‐business provides are extremely important in the radiology capital equipment market, the main value of e‐business in this industry of high‐priced and relatively infrequently purchased equipment may well be the value‐added benefits the technology brings to its customers, as illustrated in the modeling process. The OEMs that eventually market their finished product directly to hospital and imaging centers via a direct sales force can best take advantage of the connectivity and accessibility of e‐commerce.
Internal supply chain performance measurement
Authors: Swinehart Kerry D. , Smith Allen E.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to present one example of how the strategies of total quality management (TQM) and continuous improvement are being used by US health care providers to meet the challenges of the future.

Design/methodology/approach

This article presents an application utilizing the strategies of TQM and continual and rapid improvement in the area of assessing internal customer satisfaction in the health care arena. Satisfaction information concerning internal processes is critically important to the health care provider, and this article presents the development and application of an instrument designed to provide timely and relevant internal customer satisfaction information to individual health care providers. This provides information on problem identification and improvement opportunities for a world‐class continuous improvement program.

Findings

The article finds that customer satisfaction is increasingly being recognized as an appropriate measure for determining how well a particular organization is accomplishing its mission and, while customer satisfaction surveys provide valuable information and may be used to improve the entire operation, they provide limited insight into the details of the inner workings of each cost center. Each of the measures discussed in this article is potentially equally insightful and may provide more directly usable information when applied to internal customers.

Originality/value

This article provides useful information on providing customer satisfaction in the health care arena.
Assessment of the work environment of multidisciplinary hospital staff
Authors: McCusker Jane , Dendukuri Nandini , Cardinal Linda , Katofsky Lilly , Riccardi Michael
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to investigate the performance of scales to assess the work environment of hospital professional staff, other than nurses or physicians.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was conducted among professional (non‐nursing or medical) staff at a 300‐bed urban, university‐affiliated Canadian hospital. A total of 24 work environment items were adapted from a scale previously validated among nursing staff. Scales were developed based on a principal components analysis, and were compared among four groups of staff. The relationships between the scales and the following measures were then explored using univariate and multivariate analyses: satisfaction with the work environment, perceived quality of patient care, perceived frequency of patient/family complaints, work‐related injuries, and verbal abuse of staff.

Findings

The survey response rate was 154/200 (76.6 percent). Four scales were identified (with corresponding Cronbach's alpha), assessing the following aspects of the work environment: supervisory support (0.88), team‐work (0.84), professionalism (0.77), and interdisciplinary relations (0.64). In multivariate analyses, there were significant differences between the job groups in all four scales. One or more of the scales was significantly associated with overall satisfaction, perceived quality, and adverse incidents, even after adjustment for other staff characteristics.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations include: the cross‐sectional design, subjective measurement of quality of care, small sample sizes in some groups of staff, and the single study site.

Practical implications

The scales developed in this study may be used by managers to assess hospital staff perceptions of the work environment.

Originality/value

The four proposed scales appear to measure meaningful aspects of the working environment that are important in determining overall satisfaction with the work environment and are related to quality of care.
Integral leadership: a research proposal
Authors: Pauchant Thierry C.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

Many authors have called for a more humane and effective type of leadership. This article seeks to propose a research program on the content and process of integral leadership. This type of leadership has been exemplified by leaders known for their ethical and spiritual maturity, such as Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, Mohandas Gandhi and Rachel Carson, among others, and by many men and women who have not achieved fame.

Design/methodology/approach

As this research requires a multi‐disciplinary, multi‐level and developmental approach, Ken Wilber's integral model is described and used as a frame for the research program, going beyond the limitations of current leadership inquiry.

Findings

After having presented both the critics offered on leadership research and the tenets of the integral model, the article proposes a research program articulated by the analysis of individual cases of this leadership pattern and the collective analysis of these cases. Further, it adopts a micro, meso and macro perspective through the use of three methodologies: interpretative biography, institutional analysis and historical inquiry.

Originality/value

This research program contributes to a developmental theory of leadership. Researchers will find in this paper an innovative and sounded research program which can generate results on both the practice and development of a type of leadership we badly need.
Using integral theory to effect strategic change
Authors: Landrum Nancy E. , Gardner Carolyn L.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the need for integration of Wilber's all levels, all quadrants (AQAL) approach into the strategy of a corporation. Organizations have incorporated elements of his theory at various levels, but none has fully incorporated all four quadrants. We explore how each quadrant can be used in strategic change to aid organizations in their quest for sustainable competitive advantage.

Design/methodology/approach

Using Wilber's AQAL approach, we present suggestions on how corporations can use each quadrant in strategic change efforts.

Findings

Several strategic planning methods which try to be all‐inclusive are discussed. Several companies are also discussed that have incorporated progressive approaches throughout the organization. However, no example yet exists of a company that has used a full integrally‐informed approach to strategic change and transformation.

Originality/value

The authors seek to present an example of how each quadrant can be used in strategic change to aid organizations in their quest for sustainable competitive advantage.
Open source communities: an integrally informed approach
Authors: Millar Carla C.J.M. , Ju Choi Chong , Russell Edward T. , Kim Jai‐Boem
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To reframe analysis of the open source software (OSS) phenomenon from an AQAL perspective

Design/methodology/approach

The approach is a review of current research thinking and application of the AQAL framework to suggest resolution of polarizations.

Findings

The authors find that AQAL is valuable as an integrating framework allowing a more holistic understanding of the complex economic, social and cultural characteristics of open source communities.

Originality/value

The original value of this paper is to link, within the AQAL framework, current parallel streams of OSS research, the traditional economic and the social and anthropological, by introducing considerations of psychological contract and intrinsic motivation.
Political entrepreneurship in action research: learning from two cases
Authors: Björkman Hans , Sundgren Mats
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To discuss political entrepreneurship as a capability to enable durable insider action research projects.

Design/methodology/approach

The two authors utilize auto‐ethnographic methods in order to evaluate and draw inferences from their own actions as insider action researchers. The paper draws on action research theory and theories on political entrepreneurship.

Findings

Political entrepreneurship is an important factor behind success or failure in action research projects, but has, despite this, been scarcely discussed in the action research literature. Findings indicate that a political entrepreneurship repertoire consisting of capabilities to find red‐hot issues for one's research, to use the inside of the organization in the research efforts, to use and diffuse the research results, and, finally, to work on the positioning of one's relational platform.

Research limitations/implications

The study is based upon case studies in two organizations. Its implications may be further developed through studies in a wider array of settings.

Practical implications

The study provides valuable knowledge for organizations intending to participate in (insider) action research as well as for (insider) action researchers.

Originality/value

Political entrepreneurship in action research is scarcely discussed in action research theory – and hence the paper addresses an important research gap. Moreover, the presented implications have a certain practical value for organizations and researchers.
Radical strategic change in the global professional network: the “Big Five” 1999‐2001
Authors: Brock David M. , Powell Michael J.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This paper seeks to explore and explain the dramatic organizational changes that took place over a relatively short time period in the five largest global professional networks, or GPNs – a group of organizations that were originally global accounting firms and traditionally accustomed to relatively gradual change.

Design/methodology/approach

Begins by describing the background of divestiture and diversification in GPNs. The data were collected from the firms' web sites, interviews with GPN managers, e‐mail requests for information via Big Five web sites, and from reports in the newspapers and business press over the two‐year period to June 2001. Uses neo‐institutional theory to study the context, precipitating dynamics, and enabling dynamics of large‐scale organizational change, including the part played by governmental and regulatory forces.

Findings

Explains the extent to which changes have occurred in a sample of countries in which these organizations operate, noting that the firm effects seem to be stronger than the country effects in the consulting area, while country effects are more pronounced in the law area.

Originality/value

This paper is an original study of mainly secondary data – including those collected from firms' internet sites – analyzing change in an institutionalized environment. It is one of the first studies to make use of the GPN concept. Researchers and practitioners interested in professional service firms in general will find a unique combination of data, analyses, and conclusions.
Buttonwood Park, New Bedford: from conflict to partnering
Authors: Fine Helene
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To offer a narrative account of an intervention to resolve a conflict and thus enable a community to mobilize against a threat to its Olmsted Park and, simultaneously, to showcase a participatory action research (PAR) approach to change.

Design/methodology/approach

A detailed description of the action from the inception of the conflict through the partnering behavior among some of the former adversaries. The narrative account, combined with reflections on the role of the researcher as both a stakeholder in the outcome and a leader of the action provides a complete picture of the PAR approach.

Findings

There were four main findings. First, the ultimate divide in this conflict was between the pragmatists and the ideologues. The former could finally compromise; the later could not. Second, personality clashes often masked substantive differences. Third, the PAR approach, which combined quantitative as well as qualitative techniques and which crossed political, organizational, and community change boundaries, was effective in bringing about the partnering. Finally, once the crisis was over, the PAR researcher could not continue in that role.

Practical implications

PAR practitioners have a role to play in situations where they share the stake that others have in the outcome of change.

Originality/value

Offers a contribution to the very sparse literature on PAR as well as some practical advice on community activism.
Learning and innovation: a narrative analysis
Authors: Reissner Stefanie C.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To investigate the relationship between learning, organizational change, organizational culture and narratives. The issues are explored on the basis of a case study of an automotive supplier based in North‐East England where learning is deeply integrated in the daily routines of the company.

Design/methodology/approach

The project reported upon in this paper was of qualitative and interpretive nature, using narrative cross‐national comparative research. The main data collection method was in‐depth interviewing with organizational members from all hierarchical levels. The interviews were tape‐recorded, transcribed and fed back to the interviewees. The data was analysed using grounded theory.

Findings

The research concludes that organizational change, learning and culture are deeply interwoven. More specifically, the success of the case study company is based to a large extent on its people focus and unique learning culture, which are reflected in, separable from and sustained by the prevailing organizational narratives.

Research limitations/implications

The generalizability of case studies is limited, but opens up new questions to be explored by further research into the relationship of organizational change, learning, culture and narratives.

Practical implications

Organizational narratives are a powerful tool for managers to examine cultural aspects within the firm, which should be used more widely.

Originality/value

The paper raises interesting issues for management researchers, challenging some previously taken for granted assumptions.