bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Internal manufacturing strategy audit: the first step in integrated strategic benchmarking
Authors: Meybodi Mohammad
Published: September 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how auditing internal manufacturing can improve the effectiveness of the benchmarking process. It is the intent of this study to provide a set of internal auditing guidelines and recommendations for organizations committed to benchmarking.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire‐based mailed survey was used to the audit manufacturing process. The questionnaire is a modified version of manufacturing futures survey. The survey contains a series of questions that managers need to answer about themselves and their competitors, covering the following categories. The questionnaire contains the following categories: corporate strategy and competitive priorities, and manufacturing performance objectives and action plans.

Findings

The proposed integrated strategic benchmarking (ISB) requires the benchmarking organization to conduct a thorough auditing of corporate strategy and deployment of the strategy into manufacturing strategy and action plans before committing resources to external benchmarking. Statistical results indicate evidence of misalignments and lack of consensus at various levels of the organizations. Lack of proactive strategy to develop organizational core competencies, miscommunication among managers, inadequate employee training, inconsistent short term and long‐term decisions, and inconsistent employee evaluation and reward system are the primary causes for such misalignments. Successful resolution of such inconsistencies in internal corporate and manufacturing strategies is the critical first step in an ISB.

Originality/value

This paper demonstrates how auditing internal manufacturing strategy can improve the effectiveness of the benchmarking process.
Natural vacancy rates in global office markets
Authors: Sanderson Ben , Farrelly Kieran , Thoday Corin
Published: September 2006

Purpose

This paper seeks to contribute to knowledge of the dynamics of global office markets with an assessment of the interaction of rental growth and vacancy rates across a sample of the world's leading office markets.

Design/methodology/approach

Econometric methods are used to estimate the relationship between rental growth and vacancy rates (taking into account the possible simultaneity between the two variables) and these equations are then used to estimate the natural vacancy rate at an individual city level and collectively for the three regions assessed (Europe, Asia Pacific and North America). An estimate is also made of the global natural vacancy rate.

Findings

The results suggest that estimates of natural vacancy rates vary significantly across the world but these estimates can be helpful to those seeking to understand global office markets. European markets in general have lower natural vacancy rates than those in North America. In Asia Pacific markets there is a greater variation between markets. In general developed markets have lower natural vacancy rates than developing ones. In developing markets the concept of a natural vacancy rate is one that should be applied with care, given the weakness of data and the speed with which they are undergoing structural change. When examining the differences in natural vacancy rates between markets, it is clear that fundamental supply and demand factors are key in driving those differences.

Practical implications

“Rule of thumb” estimates of natural vacancy rates are relatively common. However, a robust methodology for calculating natural vacancy rates is a powerful analytical tool for investors, occupiers and real estate advisors, as it enables a judgement of what supply/demand balance will trigger rental growth.

Originality/value

In estimating the natural vacancy rate across a sample of the world's leading office markets the paper makes an original contribution to the understanding of global office markets and in particular delivers an appreciation of how rental growth and vacancy rates interact.
Futures studies and public advisory work in Ireland
Authors: Mareuge Céline
Published: September 2006

Purpose

This paper is intended to provide a detailed account of foresight activities in Ireland, their methods, means, topics of research, and impact on public debate, together with links to the main web sites.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper surveys the institutions and agencies that contribute to futures studies in connection with public policies in Ireland.

Findings

The Irish system of raising and producing futures studies resources is thus characterized by a proliferation of authorities with the disadvantage of resources splitting up, but with the advantage of diversity.

Originality/value

Provides an insight into the state of futures research in Ireland.
Imagining sustainability: the added value of transition scenarios in transition management
Authors: Sondeijker Saartje , Geurts Jac , Rotmans Jan , Tukker Arnold
Published: September 2006

Purpose

To address lessons that specify the impact and contribution of current scenario methods when focused on facilitating transition management processes.

Design/methodology/approach

Comparative literature review based on transition management and scenario development.

Research limitations/implications

Need of further systemic thought about the required criteria of transition scenarios and the embedding of scenario use in transition management processes.

Practical implications

Processes of transition management are in need of transition specific scenarios.

Originality/value

Because transition management implies a complex and long‐term steering paradigm with which current scenario applications are not familiar, conclusions are drawn on the (changing) requirements of scenario development processes in transition management and on the need to innovate current scenario methods in the context of transition management.
Exploring total quality management for information systems in Indian firms
Authors: Rahman Z. , Siddiqui J.
Published: September 2006

Purpose

Considering IS as an integral part of the Indian firms under the purview of this study the paper seeks to investigate the TQM‐IS relationship. Describing total quality management (TQM) on the basis of five principles: top management commitment, customer‐centric advancements, benchmarking, relentless improvement and strengthening the employee base, it aims to analyze the realization of pragmatic goals by Indian firms through TQM for IS.

Design/methodology/approach

Data collection was done by mail survey questionnaires. The data set was intended to represent a large variance in their annual turnovers, worth of assets, IS budgets and the segment of the industry to which they catered. Addressed to the top executive In charge of the IS department the survey questionnaire was mailed to 300 Indian companies assumed to be making use of TQM in their information systems department. The questionnaire recipients were selected from a wide array of business areas and the firms belonged to different classes such as insurance, banking, software, manufacturers, etc.

Findings

It was found to be catching fast in India as a synergy between TQM and IS accrues benefits for improving the quality of products and services – the most common ones being greater customer satisfaction, increased productivity of IS personnel and enhanced quality of services and products. However, the other benefits such as cost and time cutting on production and optimization of human resources too are rated well. Best implementation success was received in the principles of customer‐centric advancements and employee enrichment by strengthening the employee base.

Practical implications

This shows that TQM has the capability to entice the primary as well as the secondary customer. It was found that the most important factor on which TQM implementation benefits rely is the top management support. The key influencers of TQM benefits were customer‐centric advancements and top management's support.

Originality/value

Despite the limitations of respondent bias in the methodology the findings are in compliance with other relevant studies and it is argued that the study is of global applicability.
Total quality management for sustainable development
Authors: Isaksson Raine
Published: September 2006

Purpose

To highlight possible synergies between total quality management (TQM) and sustainable development (SD).

Design/methodology/approach

These synergies are viewed based on a management system framework consisting of values, methodologies and tools. Based on common values the methodology of process management is identified as a good base for describing organisational synergies of TQM and SD. Also, process management for improved sustainability is reviewed. Here, organisational sustainability is viewed as performance based on the triple bottom line (TBL) of economy, environment and social responsibility.

Findings

Findings were that process models can be used to structure the large number of indicators used to describe the TBL. This should improve the system understanding. To integrate TQM and SD, quality indicators should be added to the economic dimension. The system‐based process models can be used to describe synergies between TQM and SD. The proposed framework forms a basis for further research of the possible synergies of TQM and SD.

Research limitations/implications

The research on synergies is limited on organisational sustainability.

Practical implications

Important practical implications are to introduce the process view into sustainability reporting and to include quality indicators in the economic dimension.

Originality/value

The paper highlights good possibilities for synergy in combining theory from TQM and SD which should have both a research and a practical interest.
Goldratt's thinking process applied to employee retention
Authors: Taylor Lloyd J. , Murphy Becki , Price William
Published: September 2006

Purpose

This study seeks to investigate the nature and extent of employee retention and turnover for metropolitan police and fire departments.

Design/methodology/approach

In order to maximize the system production, the weakest link must be improved and all other links in the processes regulated to the speed of the weakest link. The weakest link is the constraint. In the case of public safety employee retention, there are several reasons given why employment is terminated. In order to increase the number of public safety personnel that are retained, all steps must be examined together to determine the constraint; the core problem for termination. Since the constraint is not always obvious, Goldratt developed the thinking process. This is a series of steps used to locate the constraint, determine the solution, and how to implement the solution. These steps are actually referred to as the thinking process.

Findings

Findings suggest that a proper cause and effect process will produce a desired path to change. It was determined how one type of organization could contain employee turnover by using the logic of Goldratt's thinking process.

Research limitations/implications

This procedure is practical and can be applied to any problem anywhere at any time. This allows further research into other settings.

Practical implications

This process underscores the importance for a systematic process of problem‐solving by pin‐pointing the problem, determining a workable solution, and implementing the solution. The key is to begin by looking for the underlying causes of the problem which produces an undesirable effect. Using this structured cause and effect process, a future reality tree is then developed with the desired effect. This research reveals how the Goldratt thinking process can be applied to business problems with multiple variables.

Originality/value

This research is based on an actual situation in which employee retention was a problem for five years. By improving employee retention, additional human resource expenses are significantly reduced.
The implementation of environmental management towards sustainable universities and education for sustainable development as an ethical imperative
Authors: Nicolaides Angelo
Published: September 2006

Purpose

To show that the practices, processes and resources for the management of the university environment should be aligned to meet the ever‐growing demands of sustainability and its motivations should be clearly spelt out to all stakeholders. Universities should also strive to become leaders in the development of effective environmental programmes and work to overcome the barriers that may exist in this regard.

Design/methodology/approach

The general focus of this inquiry was based on the qualitative research paradigm. Information was gathered from a wide variety of formats, both printed and online databases which was used to build a foundation for analysis, consideration, description, explanation and prediction. It is maintained that universities – which arguably have played a significant role in bringing mankind to its current position – must practice, demonstrate and educate on the path to sustainability.

Findings

Effective environmental management systems (EMSs), must be adopted so as to manage and assess a university's impacts on the environment and education for sustainable development (ESD) should become common practice in all higher education institutions.

Practical implications

Two of the most essential tools for achieving sustainability are undoubtedly policy and education. In this regard, a number of universities across the globe have signed accords that partly make them responsible for adapting their curricula so that students in all faculties become conversant with issues of sustainability. A concerted effort to create public awareness and to educate and train about the concept of sustainability is necessary in the programme of a university which is concerned about the environment.

Originality/value

Unfortunately, many higher education signatories to international agreements on sustainability, while purporting to be concerned about environmental issues are in essence not implementing measures quickly enough. This paper fulfils the need of sensitizing higher education institutions to the need for action on environmental issues and builds on previous knowledge. A knowledge of environmental consequences should be fostered urgently by universities and there should be a firm commitment on the part of the hierarchies in a university to assume more responsible approaches to the management of environmental performance enhancement, which is also a non‐negotiable.
Campus sustainability audit research in Atlantic Canada: pioneering the campus sustainability assessment framework
Authors: Beringer Almut
Published: September 2006

Purpose

To introduce the campus sustainability assessment framework (CSAF) as a campus sustainability audit methodology; to share student campus sustainability audit research; to reflect on using the CSAF for pedagogy; to review the usefulness of the CSAF as an action research instrument; to encourage other faculty/sustainability educators to incorporate the CSAF into their curriculum; to present the Sierra Youth Coalition, Canada Sustainable Campuses project as a campaign worth emulating in other countries; to build the body of knowledge in using sustainability audits to integrate research, education, and campus operations.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper describes the Sierra Youth Coalition Sustainable Campuses project, a national student campus sustainability campaign in Canada, and how its campaign tool, the CSAF, was implemented at the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) to facilitate project‐based sustainability education. The paper shares the author's rationale and experience of using the CSAF to conduct UPEI's first campus sustainability audit, and of offering the CSAF for course credit.

Findings

The UPEI CSAF experience suggests the CSAF is a constructive tool for post‐secondary sustainability education; that it is possible to assess the ten CSAF sections (water, materials, air, energy, land; health and wellbeing, community, knowledge, governance, economy and wealth) and the total of 169 indicators in less than one academic year; and that students value the hands‐on learning, practical outcomes, and national recognition afforded by conducting a campus sustainability audit using the CSAF.

Practical implications

The UPEI experience can encourage other universities and colleges, in particular post‐secondary institutions in Canada, in synergizing sustainability research, education, and campus operations.

Originality/value

The paper will help Canadian faculty to evaluate the CSAF as a pedagogical tool and as an audit instrument. Non‐Canadian readers may glean insights for integrating student activism into higher education for sustainability. Researchers, educators, and university administrators keen to improve the sustainability performance of their institution can benefit by learning from UPEI's integrative approach.
Benchmarking and library quality maturity
Authors: Wilson Frankie , Stephen Town J.
Published: September 2006

Purpose

It remains unresolved from the literature whether benchmarking is a useful and appropriate tool for the library and information services sector. The aim of this research is to gather evidence to establish whether benchmarking provides a real and lasting benefit to library and information services.

Design/methodology/approach

The study investigated the long‐term effects of a benchmarking exercise on the quality level of three UK academic libraries. However, an appropriate framework for assessing the quality level of libraries is not present in the literature, and it was therefore necessary for such a framework to be developed. This article describes and provides initial characterisation of the framework developed – the Quality Maturity Model (QMM).

Findings

The evidence from the investigation showed that the two libraries which were at stage one on the QMM before the benchmarking exercise remained there; and the library which scored at the penultimate level, level four, before benchmarking, was, four years afterwards, at level five. The tentative conclusion drawn was that benchmarking may only be appropriate for organisations with a existing high level of quality maturity. Much further work is proposed.

Originality/value

The research provides evidence which establishes whether benchmarking provides a real and lasting benefit to library and information services.
Operationalising the Focus/Values/Purpose Matrix
Authors: Cullen Rowena
Published: September 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the Focus/Values/Purpose Matrix, first presented at the 2nd Northumbria International Conference on Performance Measurement which attempts to define three significant factors that contribute to the extent to which a library and information service organisation has a “culture of assessment” that informs its strategic planning, allocation of resources, and the use it makes of evaluation in these activities.

Design/methodology/approach

The underlying assumption is that the ability of a library to understand customer requirements, and deliver high quality service is influenced by its commitment to a “culture of assessment”. This assumption, and the matrix itself have been tested empirically, and positive placement on each of the axes was shown to correlate with an enhanced ability to deliver customer satisfaction, as assessed by a SERVQUAL type gap analysis. In that research each organisation's placement on the axes was assessed using documentary evidence and interview data from each library. An attempt to determine placement on the axes using survey data was unsuccessful. Other instruments to evaluate an organisation's culture of assessment have been developed, but they are developed from a management perspective, and take a top‐down approach to organisational culture.

Findings

The study finds that a new survey instrument is being developed and tested, that attempts to translate the theoretical model of the matrix into a workable instrument which would measure these factors in a wider range of institutions, using an approach that is more integrated with the perspectives of staff at all organisational levels on the understanding that a culture of assessment must permeate all staff levels to be translated into service quality.

Originality/value

The newly developed instrument is intended to be administered to an organisation's staff, and attempts to capture the views, practice and culture of the organisation using statements about the personal and organisational value placed on evaluation, and knowledge of activities that demonstrate that measurement is incorporated into planning procedures. The instrument, which has been developed through a series of focus groups, and testing in six university libraries, and which has inbuilt checks for construct validity, and consistency, is now ready for testing in a larger range of libraries, and correlating with scores of customer satisfaction.
In their own words
Authors: Stein Joan , Bright Alice , George Carole , Hurlbert Terry , Linke Erika , St Clair Gloriana
Published: September 2006

Purpose

The paper aims to give a presentation of a rich dataset to illuminate graduate students' rating of their satisfaction with library collections and services.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is a qualitative investigation based on focus groups.

Findings

The paper finds that, although rich detail is provided, the study is part way through and data need more analysis for trends to emerge.

Research limitations/implications

The study is a research project which is ongoing.

Practical implications

Rich data collected are indicating areas for improvement in service, which will be synthesized as the research progresses.

Originality/value

It is rare for data of this richness to be offered to readers. It will help others by confirming or illuminating their own investigations.
Digital libraries: what do users want?
Authors: Kani‐Zabihi Elahe , Ghinea Gheorghita , Chen Sherry Y.
Published: September 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to determine user suggestions for digital libraries' functionality and features.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was conducted as part of this study, in which users' suggestions for digital libraries were solicited, as well as their ranking opinions on a range of suggested digital library features.

Findings

The study revealed that, regardless of users' information technology (IT) backgrounds, their expectations of digital libraries' functionality are the same. However, based on users' previous experiences with digital libraries, their requirements with respect to specific features may change.

Practical implications

Involving users in digital library design should be an integral step in the process of building a digital library – in addition to the classic roles of evaluation and testing.

Originality/value

In previous digital library user studies, users were involved implicitly (e.g. observed) or explicitly (e.g. diary notes). However, they were never asked to suggest digital library features or functionalities, as this was left to usability and domain experts. This study approached digital library design from a new perspective, giving users an opportunity to express their suggestions on future functionality and features of digital libraries. Moreover, in contrast to previous work, this study has explicitly taken into account the IT abilities of those interacting with a digital library.
A study of metadata element co‐occurrence
Authors: Zhang Jin , Jastram Iris
Published: September 2006

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the internet web page metadata usage behavior in terms of their metadata element co‐occurrences. Metadata are designed to facilitate both web publishers/authors to organize their web pages and search engines to index the web pages accurately.

Design/methodology/approach

This study examines the types of metadata elements employed by different professional groups of web authors, the number of elements they prefer to use, and the types of element combinations they typically embed in their pages' HTML code.

Findings

The findings reveal that the “keyword” and “description” elements were the most popular single elements. The most popular combination of two elements was that of “keyword and description”. Very few authors included combinations of five elements. This study also shows that preferences for element combinations varied by domains.

Originality/value

This approach will enhance the current understanding of metadata usage behavior and may help search engine designers as they continue their quest for improved indexing and retrieval of web pages.
Agenda for Change: views and experiences from estates and facilities staff
Authors: May Daryl , Agahi Helen , Askham Phil , Nelson Margaret‐Mary
Published: September 2006

Purpose

Agenda for Change is the biggest reform of staff pay in the UK National Health Service (NHS) since it began in 1948. As well as introducing a standardised pay structure; it also aims to improve recruitment, retention and staff morale. The aim of this study is to look in‐depth at the experiences and opinions of a range of estates and facilities staff surrounding Agenda for Change during the implementation period.

Design/methodology/approach

Focus groups were used as the primary method of data collection in an attempt to tap into the views and opinions of staff working at operational positions in a wide range of trusts.

Findings

One of the most important and common themes, which reoccurred throughout the focus groups, was the view that the Agenda for Change framework was designed around the needs of nursing staff. Therefore, the framework did not adequately cater for the needs of estates and facilities staff. Specific concerns related to this included; the role or contribution of estates and facilities staff during patient care was not fairly reflected; trade qualifications were not recognised, particularly in comparison to academic qualifications; members of the job matching panels did not have the appropriate knowledge to make decisions surrounding estates and facilities jobs; nurses were more likely to make progress through the bands than estates and facilities staff.

Originality/value

This paper would be of use to NHS estates and facilities managers who are currently implementing Agenda for Change or as a general case study on change management.
Share prices and accounting variables: a hierarchical Bayesian analysis
Authors: Gallizo José L. , Salvador Manuel
Published: September 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relevance of accounting variables to explain the evolution of a company's share price; and more specifically, we analyse the influence of cash flow and book value on the evolution of the share price, taking into account certain covariates which have traditionally been regarded as helping explain this effect.

Design/methodology/approach

A hierarchical Bayesian model is used to analyse the relevance of the accounting figures considered by the markets.

Findings

The empirical results obtained show that the firm size and the speed of asset turnover are a company's most relevant features, which is indirectly consistent with the theory of company life cycles.

Originality/value

The empirical results obtained are of value to support the validity of company life cycle theory.
Trust relations in health care: developing a theoretical framework for the “new” NHS
Authors: Rowe Rosemary , Calnan Michael
Published: September 2006

Purpose

This paper seeks to address how and why trust relations in the NHS may be changing and presents a theoretical framework for exploring them in future empirical research.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper provides a conceptual analysis. It proposes that public and patient trust in health care in the UK appears to be shaped by a variety of factors. From a macro perspective, any changes in levels of public trust in health care institutions appear to derive partly from top‐down policy initiatives that have altered the way in which health services are organised and partly from broader social and cultural processes. A variety of policy initiatives, including the introduction of clinical governance and the resulting use of performance management to scrutinise and change clinical activity, increasing patient choice and involvement in decision‐making regarding their care, are examined for how they have changed the context for trust relations within the NHS.

Findings

It is argued that these policy initiatives have produced a new context for trust relations within the NHS, shifting the inter‐dependence and distribution of power between patients, clinicians, and mangers and changing their vulnerability to each other and to health care institutions. The paper presents a theoretical framework based on current policy discourses which illustrates how new forms of trust relations may be emerging in this new context of health care delivery, reflecting a change in motivations for trust from affect based to cognition based trust as patients, clinicians and managers become more active partners in trust relations. The framework suggests that trust relations in all three types of relationship in the “new” modernised NHS might, in general, be particularly characterised by an emphasis on communication, providing information and the use of “evidence” to support decisions in a reciprocal, negotiated alliance.

Originality/value

The paper examines the drivers for change in trust in health care relations in the UK and develops a theoretical framework for the emergence of new trust relations that can be subsequently explored through empirical research.
“You have to cover up the words of the doctor”
Authors: Robb Nadia , Greenhalgh Trisha
Published: September 2006

Purpose

This article explores issues of trust in narratives of interpreted consultations in primary health care.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on empirical data from a qualitative study of accounts of interpreted consultations in UK primary care, undertaken in three north London boroughs. In a total of 69 individual interviews and two focus groups, narratives of interpreted consultations were sought from 18 service users, 17 professional interpreters, nine family member interpreters, 13 general practitioners, 15 nurses, eight receptionists, and three practice managers. The study collected and analysed these using a grounded theory approach and taking the story as the main unit of analysis. It applies a theoretical model that draws on three key concepts: Greener's taxonomy of trust based on the different “faces” of power in medical consultations; Weber's notion of bureaucratic vs traditional social roles; and Habermas' distinction between communicative and strategic action.

Findings

Trust was a prominent theme in almost all the narratives. The triadic nature of interpreted consultations creates six linked trust relationships (patient‐interpreter, patient‐clinician, interpreter‐patient, interpreter‐clinician, clinician‐patient and clinician‐interpreter). Three different types of trust are evident in these different relationships – voluntary trust (based on either kinship‐like bonds and continuity of the interpersonal relationship over time, or on confidence in the institution and professional role that the individual represents), coercive trust (where one person effectively has no choice but to trust the other, as when a health problem requires expert knowledge that the patient does not have and cannot get) and hegemonic trust (where a person's propensity to trust, and awareness of alternatives, is shaped and constrained by the system so that people trust without knowing there is an alternative). These different types of trust had important implications for the nature of communication in the consultation and on patients' subsequent action.

Research limitations/implications

The methodological and analytic approach, potentially, has wider applications in the study of other trust relationships in health and social care.

Practical implications

Quality in the interpreted consultation cannot be judged purely in terms of accuracy of translation. The critical importance of voluntary trust for open and effective communication, and the dependence of the latter on a positive interpersonal relationship and continuity of care, should be acknowledged in the design and funding of interpreting services and in the training of both clinicians, interpreters and administrative staff.

Originality/value

This is the first study in which interpreted consultations have been analysed from a perspective of critical sociology with a particular focus on trust and power relations.
Audit of the quality of documentation in an eye casualty department
Authors: Liyanage S.E. , Thyagarajan S. , Khemka S. , Blades M. , de Alwis D.V.
Published: September 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper was to prospectively audit an eye department's quality of note keeping in a casualty setting.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper found that locally agreed standards for quality of documentation were based on criteria integral to the patient pathway. Assessment of local practice, was carried out, by reviewing patient records. The results were compared against locally agreed standards and indicators were divided into those, which the unit performed well, and those, which could be improved, necessitating action. Changes in practice, including education and document redesign, were carried out. The results were re‐audited and compared with previous cycles.

Findings

The paper found that 145 records were audited in four cycles over a nine‐month period. The department performed consistently well in the majority of indicators. All but one of the poorly performing indicators improved with the changes in practice. These improvements were sustained with repeated re‐audit.

Originality/value

The paper shows that good note keeping in the unpredictable setting of the casualty clinic is difficult, which impacts on patient care. This simple audit has had a beneficial effect on the unit's standard of note keeping in the casualty environment and can easily be adapted to improve documentation in other clinical specialties and scenarios.
Clinical Governance improvement initiatives in community nursing
Authors: Maddock Anne , Kralik Debbie , Smith Judy
Published: September 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe a clinical governance framework applied in a community nursing setting. Significant opportunities for improving quality and safety of clinical practice through clinical governance within a community‐nursing organisation are idendified.

Design/methodology/approach

The intention in this paper is to achieve quality client outcomes by translating a clinical governance framework into the day‐to‐day practice and processes of all staff, and by developing a system of leadership that supports improvement as a fundamental part of organisational processes.

Findings

The paper finds that a comprehensive project plan was developed which involved six interrelated steps or stages that would serve as indicators of project progress.

Research limitations/implications

In the paper, the organisation continues down the journey of implementing a comprehensive clinical governance framework over a five‐year implementation plan.

Originality/value

The paper shows that the improvement plan offers many exciting challenges for the organisation over the coming years.
The pursuit of happiness? A challenge
Authors: Cunningham Ian
Published: September 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to explore the issue of “happiness” as a meaningful concept in organizational life.

Design/methodology/approach

The article is based on published studies in the field of happiness.

Findings

The article finds that the concept of happiness is too narrow to be valuable to learning and development professionals.

Practical implications

The article has a practical application in that learning and development professionals can examine their own practice in the light of the wider issues that the debate about happiness raises.

Originality/value

The article raises important issues for learning and development professionals about their role.
How experts see what the rest of us miss
Authors: Schempp Paul G.
Published: September 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the key characteristics of the perceptual capacities experts use to analyze events and make decisions.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is a research review and summary.

Findings

The paper finds that the four keys to expert perception are: focus on events and factors most relevant to performance, draw inferences from observations, be attuned to the atypical, and critically analyze the events observed.

Practical implications

The paper identifies the steps necessary for analyzing events and making decisions like an expert.

Originality/value

The study offers cutting‐edge findings on a key characteristic necessary for developing expert performers.
Possibilities for upgrading the existing building stock in Belgrade
Authors: Cukovic Ignjatovic Natasa , Ignjatovic Dusan
Published: September 2006

Purpose

This paper wants to explore the potential for energy‐efficient upgrading of existing residential buildings in Belgrade, targeting the portions of the existing building stock which seem to be the most convenient for such intervention.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the methodology proposed by the scientific research project “Energy Optimization of Buildings in Context of Sustainable Architecture” (Faculty of Architecture – University of Belgrade and Serbian Ministry of Science and Technology) Belgrade's building stock is presented through six major groups. The typology shows different potentials of these building types for quality rehabilitation.

Findings

This paper shows that it can be estimated that over 45 percent of Belgrade's building stock could be efficiently improved in present market conditions. The potential overall benefit of such shift in the environmental quality of existing buildings is huge enough to initiate active involvement and support of various parties – authorities, legislation, building industry, professional organizations, NGOs, etc.

Practical implications

The paper points out which building types are the most suitable for such upgrades and improvements. It facilitates the choice for potential pilot‐projects, experimental interventions or sampling for theoretical and numerical research that could explore technical solutions and estimate possible benefits for a particular building or building type.

Originality/value

The paper shows rather informative overview of Belgrade's building stock, structured in order to facilitate further theoretical and practical work in this area and initiate more focused and precise quantification of potential benefits.
Urban development through PPPs in the Euro‐Mediterranean region
Authors: Kyvelou Stella , Karaiskou Elisavet
Published: September 2006

Purpose

The paper presents how public‐private cooperation schemes can successfully assist in the implementation of contemporary urban development policies, focusing mainly on the guidelines set by the European Union as well as the cases of three Mediterranean countries: Italy, France and Greece.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper approaches the issue of private financing in urban development by analyzing the main advantages of public‐private partnerships, the terms under which these co operations can be successful, as well as the way in which some national authorities in the Euro‐Mediterranean area have attempted to implement PPPs.

Findings

Mediterranean countries are lacking relatively behind concerning the adoption of public – private partnerships for urban development projects. This paper states that public‐private financing schemes have the potential of becoming an important tool for promoting urban regeneration in combination with respecting the principle of sustainability.

Practical implications

Attempts to encourage public policy makers and local authorities in particular to undertake relevant actions in order to promote partnerships with private institutions in the field of urban development.

Originality/value

Provides information on how private financing of urban development projects is being adopted in Southern Europe, thus presenting the different approaches undertaken by each of the countries in question (Italy, France and Greece) in relation to their legislative and administrative and cultural background.
Pure vs speculative risk
Authors: Powers Michael R.
Published: September 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this editorial is to study the relationship between the pure risks of insurance and the speculative risks of other financial markets in the context of financial services “convergence”.

Design/methodology/approach

The editorial recasts the difference between pure risks and speculative risks as a distinction between empirical risks (which arise from observable natural processes largely insulated against behavioral effects) and market risks (which contain substantial non‐empirical or behavioral components).

Findings

Using the empirical risk/market risk dichotomy, it is argued that there is little reason to anticipate a dramatic convergence of insurance and other financial markets.

Originality/value

The editorial challenges conventional distinctions between insurance and other financial risks, as well as conventional expectations regarding financial services convergence.
Option pricing for some stochastic volatility models
Authors: Thavaneswaran A. , Singh J. , Appadoo S.S.
Published: September 2006

Purpose

To study stochastic volatility in the pricing of options.

Design/methodology/approach

Random‐coefficient autoregressive and generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedastic models are studied. The option‐pricing formula is viewed as a moment of a truncated normal distribution.

Findings

Kurtosis for RCA and for GARCH process is derived. Application of random coefficient GARCH kurtosis in analytical approximation of option pricing is discussed.

Originality/value

Findings are useful in financial modeling.
Exploring soft versus hard factors for TQM implementation in small and medium‐sized enterprises
Authors: Lewis W.G. , Pun K.F. , Lalla T.R.M.
Published: September 2006

Purpose

This paper aims to rank the emphasis placed on critical factors and quality management principles that determine the success of total quality management (TQM) as it applies to quality management system implementation in small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs).

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is a synthesis of the literature on TQM implementation in SMEs operating in a developing environment and identifies critical factors. These factors are prioritised according to the frequency in which they appeared by number of articles. The compliance requirements of the ISO 9001:2000 standard is mapped to one or a combination of quality management principles (QMPs) on which the standard is based. These principles are grouped as soft and hard and ranked in terms of the number of compliance requirements they represent.

Findings

The paper identifies critical factors of TQM implementation for SMEs operating in a developing economy. Although exploratory in nature, evidence shows that, while researchers have placed more emphasis on the “soft” factors, the compliance requirements of the ISO 9001:2000 standard stress more on the “hard” factors.

Research limitations/implications

The paper shows that the possibility of enriching the theories and practices of TQM implementation and extending the knowledge and applications of “soft” and “hard” factors need to be explored. Contrasting the eight QMPs of ISO 9001:2000 with the evaluation criteria of quality excellence awards needs to be addressed.

Practical implications

This paper reviews the relative importance of “soft” and “hard” factors, and relates the QMPs and compliance requirements of ISO 9001:2000 to TQM implementation in SMEs. It identifies strengths and weaknesses of the standard, and provides a source of information for top management of SMEs interested in implementing a quality management system.

Originality/value

The findings in this paper link the compliance requirements of ISO 9001:2000 to QMPs, and point to areas that tend to be least addressed by the ISO 9001:2000 standard. The paper also advocates a holistic approach to safeguard proper TQM implementation and continual improvement of people, product and processes in SMEs.
Jobs that matter: Butler's “performativity” in the Dutch police force
Authors: Halsema Annemie , Halsema Lilian
Published: September 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to examine the use that critical philosophical concepts can have within management studies.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper introduces the notion “performativity” from the American philosopher Judith Butler and shows its fertility for organisation theory. It applies the notion to a case of the introduction of a job evaluation system within the Dutch police.

Findings

Although the notion of “performativity” has a broad range, its effects for gender are especially significant. The paper identifies what meanings are reproduced in the job evaluation system; examining what are the consequences of the system for women and how does it influence the gender division. Job evaluation, it is concluded, creates an organisational reality, which produces.

Practical implications

Using philosophical reflection processes of meaning making in practice are revealed and clarified. Gender bias in job evaluation is made visible.

Originality/value

Engagement with Judith Butler's work in critical management studies reveals how philosophical “moves” lead to concrete insights.
Taking ideology out of ethics: from failed business strategies to new cross‐cultural platforms
Authors: Dickerson David B. , Kouzmin Alexander , Korac‐Kakabadse Nada
Published: September 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to engage and provoke thought amongst strategists that their frameworks are bound by their cultural mindsets. The paper aims to explore the need for a new ethical model that accounts for the cultural differences of the participants from Western and Eastern Europe

Design/methodology/approach

This paper applies the varied expertise of the three authors to provide an exploratory study of ethics and strategy within different cultural frameworks. Dilemma theory, the chosen methodology that has been recognized by cross‐cultural management scholars, is applied to illustrate the need to resolve a cultural problem between a Latvian and Russian as a means to creating a unified strategic ethical framework.

Findings

The demonstration of Russia's cultural past perceptions of the west illustrates the need for crafting a new ethical platform that allows for all cross‐cultural participants to apply dilemma theory as a prescriptive approach to unite their differences into a new strategic framework.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitation of the study is related to the methodology. In further research longitudinal data could be potentially collected and mined to actually elicit the real dilemmas existing between those participants from the west, the Baltics and Russia that are involved in the strategy formulation process that creates the proposed ethical framework.

Practical implications

Many of the people representing companies in the Baltic States are finding themselves reconciling the cultural differences between themselves, members of neighboring Baltic States, Russia, European countries, the USA and Asia. Special attention should be paid to the importance of being a trans‐culturally competent manager in the Baltics by building the bridge from the West to the East.

Originality/value

The main value of the paper is the challenge that it provides to all western management scholars to think outside their own mindset when endeavouring to lecture the Eastern European mentality on how to be “ethical”. Moreover, it provides Russian management scholars with a voice and argues the need for a new platform that incorporates their cultural values and thinking.