bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
External mandates and instructional leadership: school leaders as mediating agents
Authors: Seashore Louis Karen , Robinson Viviane M. 
Published: August 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how US school leaders make sense of external mandates, and the way in which their understanding of state and district accountability policies affects their work. It is posited that school leaders’ responses to external accountability are likely to reflect a complex interaction between their perception of the accountability policies, the state and district contexts in which those policies are situated and their own leadership beliefs and practices.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use both principal and teacher survey data to explore the question of how perceptions of external policy are associated with instructional leadership behaviors. Cases of seven principals are employed to flesh out the findings from the survey analysis.FindingsIt is concluded that external accountability policy may have a positive impact on instructional leadership – where they see those policies as aligned with their own values and preferences, and where they see their district leaders as supportive of school‐driven accountability initiatives. In these cases, school leaders internalize the external accountability policies and shape them to the particular needs that they see as priorities in their own school. Where one or the other of these factors is weak or missing, on the other hand, leaders demonstrate more negative attitudes to external accountability and weaker instructional leadership.Originality/valueThis analysis draws on a unique, large‐scale data base and uses a mixed methods approach to answer the question.
Managing the intersection of internal and external accountability
Authors: Knapp Michael S. , Feldman Susan B. 
Published: August 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to direct attention to the intersection of external and internal accountability systems within urban schools, and the role of school leadership, especially that of the principal, in managing this intersection. In particular, the paper explores how school leaders are able to strengthen and sustain the school's internal accountability system, in pursuit of school‐defined learning improvement agenda, and at the same time respond productively to external accountability demands. The paper also seeks to identify consequences of these leaders’ efforts to navigate an often problematic set of converging demands.Design/methodology/approachThis paper draws on findings from a larger multi‐case study of learning‐focused leadership in 15 schools in four urban school districts in the USA. Schools were chosen to represent those that were “making progress” (by local measures). Data were collected over 18 months, spanning two school years, from Spring 2007 to Fall 2008. Data collection included multiple site visits, semi‐structured interviews and observations of leadership activity across school and district settings, and a variety of documentary evidence.FindingsThough working in substantially different contexts, these leaders found remarkably similar ways of crafting tools and creating occasions, from the array of external accountability demands and resources, to serve internal accountability purposes. They did so by internalizing external expectations and developing accountable practice within the school, leading through data, and modelling what it meant to learn to lead in a fully accountable way. As they did so, they reshaped the scope of instruction and the instructional improvement conversation, and also made teaching and leadership practice more public.Originality/valueThis paper extends discussions of school‐level accountability in two ways. First, it updates scholarship on accountability by examining school‐level responses at a time five years into the new accountability context in the USA defined by strict system‐wide expectations and mechanisms. Second, the paper demonstrates ways in which the often onerous demands of external accountability systems can be treated as a resource by school leaders and used in ways that bolster the school's capacity for accountable professional practice.
Bridging accountability obligations, professional values and (perceived) student needs with integrity
Authors: Mintrop Heinrich 
Published: August 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the tensions between external accountability obligations, educator's professional values, and student needs. Strategic, cognitive, and moral dimensions of this tension are captured with the central category of integrity.Design/methodology/approachThis is a mixed methods study that compares five exceptionally high performing middle schools with four exceptionally low performing middle schools in the state of California (USA), controlling for demographics, school context factors, and below average performance range.FindingsIt is found that schools under similar circumstances differ on the degree of integrity. Schools with high integrity have a good balance between values and reality, are more cohesive and more open to dissent. In each case, integrity was associated with an expansion of agency that combined moral earnestness with prudent strategizing and actively constructing interpretive frames that maintained a school's sense of self‐worth. Integrity develops or survives with a good dose of educational leaders’ personal strength, but also depends on leaders’ insistence to fully exhaust the moral horizon of an institution which obligates educators to balance equity, system efficiency, child‐centeredness and professionalism with prudence.Research limitations/implicationsThis is a case study of nine schools in one state. Explanatory relationships can be explored, but not generalized.Practical implicationsThe research has implications for leadership. It demonstrates the power of integrity as a key virtue of leadership under accountability pressures. It shows the different ways integrity can be forged in schools and the different ways it can be missed with consequences for school life.Social implicationsThe paper stresses the point that it is quite conceivable that ideological zeal, Machiavellian strategizing, or eager system conformism may produce more forceful agency than integrity. But as everyday responses they are not as realistic, ethical or productive as the striving for integrity.Originality/valueThe practitioner literature often points to integrity as a desirable quality when dealing with tensions of the sort addressed in this paper, but little systematic theoretical thinking and empirical exploration of this concept exists. The paper makes an advance in both areas.
Use of qualitative research in foodservice organizations
Authors: Arendt Susan W. , Roberts Kevin R. , Strohbehn Catherine , Ellis Jason , Paez Paola , Meyer Janell 
Published: August 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present the challenges encountered when conducting qualitative research in foodservice operations and to discuss the strategies to overcome the identified challenges.Design/methodology/approachThe researchers conducted food safety observations, interviews, and focus groups with more than 600 foodservice employees and managers. The researchers encountered multiple challenges including institutional review board approvals, managements' willingness to participate, and organizational and cultural barriers.FindingsObtaining in‐depth, credible information through observations, interviews, and focus groups adds depth and breadth to hospitality studies. However, given high industry turnover, recruitment and retention throughout a study is problematic. Moreover, researchers encounter many barriers as they obtain data, such as establishing authenticity and overcoming Hawthorne and halo effects.Originality/valueStrategies to increase participation and thereby improve qualitative research have not been previously addressed in the hospitality literature
Structure and process modeling of seemingly unstructured leisure‐travel decisions and behavior
Authors: Martin Drew , Woodside Arch G. 
Published: August 2012

PurposeThis paper aims to introduce a structuring and processing model (SPM) as a framework for tourism decision making research.Design/methodology/approachThe study employs McCracken's long interview to collect data in field settings. The study introduces advances in Mintzberg et al.'s approach to structuring seemingly unstructured decision making to explain travelers' decision‐making processes.FindingsSPM enables mapping and comparing visitors' plans, motivations, choices, and consequences. The results demonstrate nuanced decision‐behavior dynamics and complexities of visitors' travel‐related unconscious/conscious thinking and behavior.Research limitations/implicationsSPM does not attempt to generalize findings to large survey samples.Practical implicationsTravel planning and execution dynamics dictate that a decision‐making funnel metaphor in consumer research does not capture such trip complexity because additional decisions are made when the traveler arrives at the destination.Originality/valueSPM is dynamic and inclusive explaining simultaneous planning elements as well as considering sub‐decisions occurring before and after different phases in the process. This model includes both conscious and unconscious internal retrievals as well as contextual influences relating to current planning affect the decision‐making process.
How to promote cooperation in the hospitality industry
Authors: Pechlaner Harald , Volgger Michael 
Published: August 2012

PurposeWhile it is possible to classify the previously suggested conditions to the promotion of interorganizational cooperation as either referring to strategic interdependence or to structural and procedural conditions, it is unclear which approach is more critical to the promotion of local and regional cooperation in the hospitality industry at the network level. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is twofold: to inductively develop propositions regarding the promotion of such cooperation in order to evaluate the relative importance of the two conflicting positions, and to demonstrate the suitability of GABEK to the development of these propositions.Design/methodology/approachFollowing a qualitative case study design, data were gathered by conducting 15 open interviews in a South Tyrolean destination and analyzed with the aid of the GABEK technique.FindingsThe results suggest that the structural and procedural conditions are relatively more critical to the promotion of interorganizational cooperation in the hospitality industry: first, the balancing of the efficiency and legitimacy dimensions via the organizational and procedural design of the cooperation seems crucial; second, intermediary organizations, if characterized by good corporate governance, may have a positive influence on cooperation; and third, the application of GABEK‐like tools may facilitate the finding of commonly shared solutions in cooperative configurations.Practical implicationsThe research reveals actionable insights regarding the improvement of interfirm cooperation by offering managers tangible measures and a tool for implementing the theoretical concepts.Originality/valueThe paper is original because it contributes to evaluating the two main approaches to the promotion of cooperation and because it proposes an innovative methodology (GABEK) for practice‐oriented qualitative research.
Reflecting on a phenomenological study of creativity and innovation in haute cuisine
Authors: Stierand Marc B. , Dörfler Viktor 
Published: August 2012

PurposeThis paper aims to present and reflect on a phenomenological research process used to elucidate the nature of creativity and innovation in haute cuisine.Design/methodology/approachIn‐depth unstructured interviews and field notes capturing subjective experiences were employed to elucidate the experiences of 18 top chefs from the UK, Spain, France, Austria and Germany with regards to creativity and innovation.FindingsThe findings are twofold: first, an empirical sample finding is presented in order to contextualize the type of findings obtained; second, key methodological findings are presented explaining the process of elucidating the nature of creativity and innovation through iterative learning from the descriptions of the interviewees and the subjective experiences gathered.Research limitations/implicationsThe underlying phenomenological study is limited to male haute cuisine chefs in five European countries. Future research is planned including female and male chefs from other countries in order to learn whether similar empirical findings can be obtained.Practical implicationsThe paper presents a research process for elucidating cognitive and nebulous phenomena such as creativity and innovation to make them accessible to managers, researchers, students and policy makers.Originality/valueThe findings explain the process of elucidating the nature of creativity and innovation through iterative learning from the descriptions of the interviewees and the subjective experiences gathered. Further conceptual and methodological development emerges from investigating interviewees representative of the notion of the extraordinary.
Testing geographical information systems: a case study in a fire prevention support system
Authors: Taylor Mark , Higgins Emma , Lisboa Paulo 
Published: August 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe the development and evaluation of a geographical information system (GIS) testing framework that was used to test a fire prevention support GIS.Design/methodology/approachA year‐long case study was undertaken concerning the testing of a fire prevention support GIS in a UK fire and rescue service.FindingsThe GIS testing framework developed involved testing the different components of a GIS, testing their interactions, and then testing the system as a whole. Since GISs contain different components such as spatial analyses and map‐based output, this supports the adoption of a different testing framework compared to existing types of information systems.Research limitations/implicationsGISs will typically be used by organisations for decision making. Clearly if the information presented by a GIS is inaccurate, unrepresentative, or unreliable, then the decision‐making process can be undermined.Practical implicationsThis is particularly important with regard to GISs used by emergency services (such as the fire and rescue service studied) where lives could potentially be put at risk by erroneous information provided by such systems.Originality/valuePrevious research had indicated that GISs may be inadequately tested. The framework developed for GISs testing provided a systematic testing approach, reducing the likelihood of errors in such systems.
The effectiveness of social networks in complex adaptive working environments
Authors: Hasgall Alon E. 
Published: August 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine whether working environments possessing characteristics of a complex adaptive systems (CAS), such as organizational social networks (SNs), will be perceived by the individual worker as contributing to working efficiency. The author tested whether SNs increase the workers' sharing of knowledge, sensitivity to environmental changes and synchronization of resource, which contribute to the autonomic ability to create solutions according to changing demands in turbulent environments.Design/methodology/approachA research questionnaire distributed online assessed the views and behaviors of 94 subjects regarding SNs. An index was formed for each of the four CAS variables (Goal compliance; Situational sensitivity; Integration of information; and Resource synchronization) to evaluate how the subjects perceive SN effectiveness.FindingsA significant positive correlation was found between the degree of contribution to organizational working processes and the variables “Situational sensitivity” and “Integration of information”. This suggests that SNs allow workers to increase the degree of sensitivity to environmental changes; and that SNs allow a high degree of integration of information between the worker and other workers.Originality/valueThe utilization of SNs in organizations may allow quick and direct transfer of information between workers and answer immediate demands and requirements. Thus, organizations that are required to adapt to turbulent environments with high uncertainty factors and strong competition may benefit if their workers utilize SNs effectively. It can be concluded that SNs can be used as a friendly platform for the knowledge workers to update, be updated, sense environmental changes and integrate information in cooperation with other workers.
An integrated electronic medical record system (iEMRS) with decision support capability in medical prescription
Authors: Ting S.L. , Ip W.H. , Tsang Albert H.C. , Ho George T.S. 
Published: August 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to show how a clinical decision support system can help in prescription and knowledge acquisition processes.Design/methodology/approachAn integrated electronic medical records system (iEMRS) is designed to enhance the decision support quality in prescription.FindingsBy evaluating the system performance through 135 prescription records collected from a Hong Kong medical organization, iEMRS shows a satisfactory result in suggesting medicines that is properly the same as the decisions made by the physicians.Originality/valueCompared with the static clinical guidelines built (manually) in the traditional clinical decision support system, knowledge in iEMRS is generated by the knowledge discovery result from professional experiences of various physicians and patient histories, which are more dynamic in nature. A treatment algorithm, designed in data mining technique, is introduced to improve information management in medical organizations by integration of decision support capability and EMRS, and supplement the deficiencies of traditional clinical decision support system.
Using multi‐criteria analysis to prioritize stakeholders
Authors: Bendjenna Hakim , Charre Pierre‐Jean , Eddine Zarour Nacer 
Published: August 2012

PurposeMany problems in science and engineering fields involve decision making. Usually these decision‐making processes are based on several criteria that represent various experts' knowledge. Stakeholder prioritization is useful for assisting in decision‐making situations where various stakeholders have competing interests, resources are limited, and stakeholder requirements must be appropriately balanced. When these conflicts arise it is important to the success of the organization that it has prioritized each stakeholder according to the situation. To date, few researchers tried to resolve this question, mostly are based on intuitive and very simple reasoning methods which are error prone. The purpose of this paper is to propose a multi‐criteria decision analysis process to help decision makers when evaluating and prioritizing stakeholders.Design/methodology/approachIn this process, Mitchell et al.'s model is used for identifying criteria on which stakeholders will be evaluated and the fuzzy Choquet integral as an aggregation operator. This research also tested and discussed the proposal using a case study from Toulouse city subway.FindingsThe results show the applicability of this process and the effectiveness of using the fuzzy Choquet integral than a traditional multi‐criteria evaluation method for human subjective evaluation, or when criteria are not mutually independent.Research limitations/implicationsThe highly subjective nature of criteria weights and rapid elicitation can lead to questions of validity. Also, results are not always widely accepted.Originality/valueThe paper is original in considering the stakeholder prioritization problem as a multi‐criteria decision analysis problem; using a simple and well‐known model to classify stakeholders, i.e Mitchell et al.'s model; and in using Choquet integral as an aggregation operator which allows considering interaction between criteria.
Regional differences in managerial leader behaviour preferences in China
Authors: Littrell Romie F. , Alon Ilan , Wai Chan Ka 
Published: August 2012

PurposeThis study demonstrates the complexities of analyzing determinants of leader behaviour preference dimension differences between and within national cultures. Culture is firmly established as important and influential effects in the international business environment. However, intra‐country regional cultural differences are relatively neglected. The purpose of this paper is to help fill this gap.Design/methodology/approachField survey research, the Leadership Behaviour Description Questionnaire XII (LBDQ XII) was administered to people working in business organizations in Zhengzhou City, Henan Province; Hangzhou City, Jiangsu Province; Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province; and in the Macau Special Administrative Region, in the People's Republic of China.FindingsSignificant differences were found amongst the samples for each of the 12 leader behaviour dimensions of the LBDQ XII, with the exception that the nearby regions of Guangzhou and Macau exhibited no differences. The results indicate that “culture areas” exist in China, distinctly different from one another.Practical implicationsThe results are based upon differences in mean of leader behaviour preference dimension scores amongst businesspeople in specific geographic regions; the usual level of analysis caveats apply: preferences of individuals will not conform perfectly to the means of the groups of which they are members.Social implicationsAs interactions with businesspeople pervade life, knowledge of regional differences in expectations of their behaviour can facilitate more successful transactions.Originality/valueThe study provides the first multi‐regional empirical study of preferred leader behaviour of businesspeople in China, indicating preferences for managerial leader behaviour vary across regions. The findings can be used to develop awareness of differences managerial leader education, training, and development programmes for expatriate and local businesspeople.