bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Benchmarking patient improvement in physical therapy with data envelopment analysis
Authors: Friesner Daniel , Neufelder Donna , Raisor Janet , Khayum Mohammed 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThe 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/approachThe 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.FindingsOur 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/implicationsThe 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 implicationsThis 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/valueDEA 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

PurposeTo 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/approachSeveral models of e‐procurement and e‐commerce related to the health care industry are presented.FindingsAlthough 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/valueAlthough 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

PurposeThe 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/approachThis 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.FindingsThe 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/valueThis 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

PurposeThe 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/approachA 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.FindingsThe 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/implicationsLimitations 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 implicationsThe scales developed in this study may be used by managers to assess hospital staff perceptions of the work environment.Originality/valueThe 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

PurposeMany 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/approachAs 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.FindingsAfter 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/valueThis 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

PurposeThe 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/approachUsing Wilber's AQAL approach, we present suggestions on how corporations can use each quadrant in strategic change efforts.FindingsSeveral 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/valueThe 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

PurposeTo reframe analysis of the open source software (OSS) phenomenon from an AQAL perspectiveDesign/methodology/approachThe approach is a review of current research thinking and application of the AQAL framework to suggest resolution of polarizations.FindingsThe 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/valueThe 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

PurposeTo discuss political entrepreneurship as a capability to enable durable insider action research projects.Design/methodology/approachThe 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.FindingsPolitical 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/implicationsThe study is based upon case studies in two organizations. Its implications may be further developed through studies in a wider array of settings.Practical implicationsThe study provides valuable knowledge for organizations intending to participate in (insider) action research as well as for (insider) action researchers.Originality/valuePolitical 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

PurposeThis 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/approachBegins 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.FindingsExplains 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/valueThis 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

PurposeTo 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/approachA 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.FindingsThere 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 implicationsPAR practitioners have a role to play in situations where they share the stake that others have in the outcome of change.Originality/valueOffers 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

PurposeTo 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/approachThe 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.FindingsThe 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/implicationsThe 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 implicationsOrganizational narratives are a powerful tool for managers to examine cultural aspects within the firm, which should be used more widely.Originality/valueThe paper raises interesting issues for management researchers, challenging some previously taken for granted assumptions.
Bridging the conceptual divide: lessons from stakeholder analysis
Authors: Simmons John , Lovegrove Ian 
Published: January 2007

PurposeTo demonstrate that stakeholder analysis has a significant contribution to make as a “middle ground” research method and as a means of organisational change.Design/methodology/approachA case study of performance appraisal in UK academic institutions uses stakeholder analysis to address issues of organisation performance and development in a way that bridges the divide between theory and practice. This approach is supported by locating stakeholder theory within modes of organisation enquiry, and by positioning it more specifically within its conceptual domain.FindingsDemonstrates the integrity and value of stakeholder analysis as a “middle ground” research method via development of a stakeholder systems model that identifies design, operation and evaluation stages of the performance management process and links these to measures of effectiveness and equity.Research limitations/implications“Joined up thinking” in organisation analysis implies incorporation of quantitative and qualitative research methods in a holistic method of organisation enquiry. Stakeholder analysis illustrates how different research philosophies and methods can be combined in a pragmatic but robust way.Practical implicationsThe stakeholder systems model builds on the concept of multi‐source approaches to performance appraisal. Both broaden the basis of assessment by incorporating stakeholder perspectives but, while the former seeks stakeholder consensus at the evaluation stage, the later incorporates multi‐source (stakeholder) perspectives on design, process and evaluation stages and on the system as a whole.Originality/valueThe paper demonstrates how stakeholder theory can draw from the conceptual clarity and intellectual rigour of “objective” epistemologies while retaining acceptance of the “soft”, unstructured and value‐based nature of organisation problems.
Cross‐cultural investigations: emerging concepts
Authors: Jacob Nina 
Published: January 2007

PurposeTo provide an overview of emerging concepts in the field of cross‐cultural management, which could augment/supplant the contributions made by Hofstede and Trompenaars.Design/methodology/approachThe contributions made by well‐known researchers in the field of cross‐cultural management, such as Hofstede and Trompenaars is critiqued so that the reader can have an idea of what the existing lacuna in this field are. This critique is followed by a discussion of recent research endeavours, which are taking into account these lacuna. A polemic is built around the theme of how the grand typologies of Hofstede and Trompenaars may now have outlived their utility.FindingsProvides an analysis of the shortcomings of Hofstede's and Trompenaars's contributions. Examines how emerging concepts like crossvergence and multiculturalism serve to make research in the area more meaningful and relevant. Focuses on how management practices found effective in one culture, can be transplanted to other cultures and embedded there.Research limitations/implicationsOnly a few selected emerging concepts have been considered.Practical implicationsThe direction in which future research should be carried out so as to have practical validity is delineated.Originality/valueThe paper has suggested that it is time to move forward and even away from the contributions made by Hofstede and Trompenaars. It has also pointed out the direction in which current researchers in the field are attempting to do this.
Gender in change: gendering change
Authors: Linstead Stephen , Brewis Joanna , Linstead Alison 
Published: January 2007

PurposeTo provide a critical review of existing contributions to gender and change management and in doing so highlight how organizational change needs to be read more readily from a gendered perspective.Design/methodology/approachThis paper argues that gender has received little attention regarding the change management side of managerial practice and reviews recent contributions to gender and change to demonstrate this. The paper then questions how men and women both cope with and drive change and whether the identified differences are more than superficial. The concept of gender is then read into management theory in order to understand how gender affects the way managers think and act, and the gendering of management is discussed. The paper concludes by outlining future research areas – change agents, entrepreneurs, female innovators, psychoanalytic treatments of change and gender experiences.FindingsThe paper finds that traditional and dominant conceptions of masculine and feminine values that rely on static conceptions of gender to argue that more attention to be paid to the dynamic and the genderful approaches.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper concludes by outlining future research areas – change agents, entrepreneurs, female innovators, psychoanalytic treatments of change and gender experiences.Practical implicationsDraws much needed attention to the neglect of gender in change theory and practice and suggests some ways forward.Originality/valueOffers a unique introduction to an important but complex literature that needs to be integrated into change management practice.