bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The dynamics of commissioning across organisational and clinical boundaries
Authors: Baxter Kate , Weiss Marjorie , Le Grand Julian 
Published: May 2008

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to investigate the inter‐ and intra‐organisational relationships in the commissioning of secondary care by primary care trusts in England, using a principal‐agent framework.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology is a qualitative study of three case studies. A total of 13 commissioning‐related meetings were observed. In total, 21 managers and six consultant surgeons were interviewed.FindingsThere are a number of different levels at which contractual and managerial control take place. Different strengths of control at one level can affect willingness to comply with agreements at other levels. Agreements at one level do not necessarily result in appropriate or expected action at another.Research limitations/implicationsThe system for commissioning in the National Health Service (NHS) has changed with the introduction of payment by results and practice‐based commissioning. However, the dynamics of the inter‐ and intra‐organisational relationships studied remain.Practical implicationsIncentives within organisations are as important as those between organisations. Within a chain of principal‐agent relations, it is important that a strong link in the chain does not result in the exploitation of weaknesses in other links. If government targets and frameworks are to be met through commissioning, it may be advantageous to concentrate efforts on developing incentives that align clinician with NHS trust objectives as well as NHS trust with primary care trust (PCT) and government objectives.Originality/valueThis paper is based on original empirical work. It uses a principal‐agent framework to understand the relationships between PCTs and NHS trusts and highlights the importance of internal NHS trust governance systems in the fulfilment of commissioning agreements.
Innovative health care delivery teams
Authors: Fitzgerald Anneke , Davison Graydon 
Published: May 2008

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to show that free flowing teamwork depends on at least three aspects of team life: functional diversity, social cohesion and superordinate identity.Design/methodology/approachThe paper takes the approach of a discussion, arguing for a strong need to understand multidisciplinary and cross‐functional barriers for achieving team goals in the context of health care. These barriers include a strong medically dominated business model, historically anchored delineations between professional identities and a complex organisational environment where individuals may have conflicting goals.FindingsThe paper finds that the complexity is exacerbated by the differences between and within health care teams. It illustrates the differences by presenting the case of an operating theatre team.Research limitations/implicationsWhilst the paper recommends some ideas for acquiring these skills, further research is needed to assess effectiveness and influence of team skills training on optimising multidisciplinary interdependence in the health care environment.Originality/valueThe paper shows that becoming a team member requires team membership skills.
Models of governance and the changing role of the board in the “modernised” UK health sector
Authors: Addicott Rachael 
Published: May 2008

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to show that there has been an increasing focus on networks as a model of service delivery and governance in the UK public sector. As an early example, managed clinical networks for cancer were initially considered to represent an ideological move towards a softer model of governance, with an emphasis on moving across the vertical lines that were strengthened or established during the new public management (NPM) movement of the 1990s. The NPM ideology of the 1990s emphasised the role of Boards and powerful non‐executives in governing public services. This paper seeks to explore the role of the Board in the UK health sector under the apparent emerging “post‐NPM” ideological framework of accountability.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on findings from five comparative case studies of managed clinical networks for cancer in London.FindingsThe paper finds that cancer network boards have had limited strategic influence as these networks are constrained by a continued emphasis of centralised performance management and structural reconfiguration, which become dominant during the NPM era.Practical implicationsThe inability of the post‐NPM governance ideology to make a significant impact in the UK, and the resulting confused and conflictual framework, have hindered the initial intention of cancer networks as a forum for spreading best practice across organisational boundaries.Originality/valueThere is only limited research on the emergent remit, structure or strategy of public sector Boards in the UK, and very limited research on the role of Boards in health care networks: the paper provides some illumination on this limited area of study.
Aggression in the workplace
Authors: Corney Barbara 
Published: May 2008

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to highlight the problem of bullying within nursing.Design/methodology/approachA Heideggerian methodology was used to illuminate the phenomenon of bullying and answer the question, “How does it feel to be bullied?. Two nurses were interviewed in a “judgemental” sample. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed and analysed thematically. Results were then integrated into an “exhaustive” statement in an attempt to identify the fundamental structure of the phenomenon under investigation.FindingsThe results highlight the way in which nurses experienced and felt about bullying behaviour, which was fundamental to the structure of nursing itself. Despite the terrible repercussions, physical and psychological, victims remained unaware that they were being bullied until it was pointed out to them by another. The guilt feelings that seem to be inherent in nursing appeared to become magnified when nurses were being bullied, resulting in self‐blame and a lack of self‐esteem. Nurses were afraid to speak out and this extended into their home lives where feelings of shame and inadequacy prevented them from seeking support.Research limitations/implicationsThe size of the study was small and therefore cannot be claimed as being representative.Practical implicationsThe paper highlights the very real problem of bullying in nursing, which has resonance with the historical concept of nurses as an oppressed group. This has implications for the design of nurse education in the future.Originality/valueThe paper extends the understanding of the lived experience of being bullied and acts in a conscience‐raising manner, without which there can be no solution.
Positivity in healthcare: relation of optimism to performance
Authors: Luthans Kyle W. , Lebsack Sandra A. , Lebsack Richard R. 
Published: May 2008

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the linkage between nurses' levels of optimism and performance outcomes.Design/methodology/approachThe study sample consisted of 78 nurses in all areas of a large healthcare facility (hospital) in the Midwestern United States. The participants completed surveys to determine their current state of optimism. Supervisory performance appraisal data were gathered in order to measure performance outcomes. Spearman correlations and a one‐way ANOVA were used to analyze the data.FindingsThe results indicated a highly significant positive relationship between the nurses' measured state of optimism and their supervisors' ratings of their commitment to the mission of the hospital, a measure of contribution to increasing customer satisfaction, and an overall measure of work performance.Research limitations/implicationsThis was an exploratory study. Larger sample sizes and longitudinal data would be beneficial because it is probable that state optimism levels will vary and that it might be more accurate to measure state optimism at several points over time in order to better predict performance outcomes. Finally, the study design does not imply causation.Practical implicationsSuggestions for effectively developing and managing nurses' optimism to positively impact their performance are provided.Originality/valueTo date, there has been very little empirical evidence assessing the impact that positive psychological capacities such as optimism of key healthcare professionals may have on performance. This paper was designed to help begin to fill this void by examining the relationship between nurses' self‐reported optimism and their supervisors' evaluations of their performance.
Writing a scientific publication for a management journal
Authors: Øvretveit John 
Published: May 2008

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to stimulate debate about criteria for assessing the scientific contribution of a piece of management research and to guide and encourage researchers in writing papers for publication. The paper also seeks to reduce the number of papers submitted to journals and reviewers which are really unfinished early drafts or which do provide knowledge which could contribute to reducing suffering.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on and discusses the difference between practical research for a manager and scientific research, as well as the author's experience as researcher, writer, reviewer, editor, research methods course leader and director of research.FindingsThe discussion highlights that the author should draft the paper under the suggested headings and fulfil criteria of validity, reliability, supported conclusions, generalisability, ensuring that each section follows on from the other, and that the findings are related to previous research.Research limitations/implicationsThis is the author's personal view about how to carry out and write research to get published, without discussions of other views.Practical implicationsThe findings in this paper may provoke more debate about management science and the role of this journal. The guidance may help many researchers publish their management research.Originality/valueThe paper links practical guidance with discussion of criteria for scientific contribution in a readable way.
Management of the built heritage in the Lisbon's central downtown
Authors: Loforte Ribeiro Francisco , Videira Sofia Isabel 
Published: May 2008

PurposeBuilt heritage is one of the biggest assets that Lisbon's central downtown has accumulated since eighteenth century. The efficient use of these assets is a challenge for both the owners of individual buildings and society as a whole. Recently, a new regeneration initiative was announced for Lisbon's historic district. This paper aims to address the urban problems of old Lisbon's downtown, to discuss the existing public intervention framework and to present an integrated information management system aimed at providing technical and economic information needed to improve co‐ordination between public sector and private agents.Design/methodology/approachThe research methodology of the study is an interpretative case study method. The case study approach is one of the most commonly used research designs in qualitative research. The contents and conclusions from the research were obtained by means of: a review of publications and current practices related to urban regeneration; a review of data and information on urban regeneration studies; a survey conducted throughout the duration of the study; and a case study.FindingsThe integrated information management system presented in this paper is a tool that allows the management agency of the Lisbon's historic district to the take full advantage of the potentialities of the area, namely the strategic location and the historic and architectonic heritage.Research limitations/implicationsA great number of buildings in the historic district are classified as buildings of “public heritage”. The findings suggest that property and economic activity can be the driving forces for revitalising Lisbon's historic district.Originality/valueThis paper is aim to understand the key features of old Lisbon's downtown and to analyse existing practice in managing built heritage on the historic district. It also seek to identify how an information management system could improve the current intervention practices, in the area, that agency follows.
The performance and problems of affordable housing policy in China
Authors: Niu Yi 
Published: May 2008

PurposeThe paper's aim is to estimate the benefits and costs of China's affordable housing program, as well as to provide recommendations to this housing policy.Design/methodology/approachThe Cobb‐Douglas utility function is employed to estimate the net benefits of the affordable housing policy. Both of the sunk costs and current costs are computed, and an improved housing affordability index is used to measure the levels of housing affordability in cities in China.FindingsThe total net benefits of this policy are estimated to range from $234,176.7 million to ¥271,020.4 million. The costs are divided into sunk costs and current costs, computed to be ¥447,598.63 million and ¥328,685.21 million, respectively. The supply size of affordable dwellings is far from adequate due to the low level of housing affordability in China.Research limitations/implicationsThe data in this study is insufficient and some information such as the income of occupiers has yet to be estimated. However, if more individual data was available, the conclusion would be confidential.Practical implicationsFrom this paper the policymakers may understand how to estimate the welfare efficiency of affordable housing policy, adjust the participant regulations and determine the supply of affordable houses.Originality/valueThis paper estimates the benefits and costs of China's affordable housing program as the first study in this area. The Cobb‐Douglas utility function was used in the analysis of China's housing policy.
Can nearby open spaces substitute for the size of a property owner's private yard?
Authors: Kenyon Henderson Katherine , Song Yan 
Published: May 2008

PurposeThis paper aims to assess the marginal value of several types of open space in a single family residential market. It also aims to test the hypothesis that locating closer to open spaces might be a substitute for the size of a homeowner's own yard.Design/methodology/approachUsing data from Wake County, North Carolina in the US hedonic modeling is used to estimate the house price as a function of the quantities of a property's characteristics, including the property's access to different types of open spaces, property structural features, public services, disamenity features, neighborhood socio‐economic characteristics, and accessibility measures.FindingsThe findings were that housing prices increase with a property's proximity to certain types of open land uses, and that the size of those nearby open spaces also impacts home price. More importantly, the findings concluded that the value of being adjacent to public open spaces, having more public open spaces within walking distance of the property, and being closer to the nearest open space is greater for properties with smaller private yards.Originality/valueThis paper explicitly tests the relationship between yard size and the proximity value of various types of open spaces. The paper also discusses the implications of the research findings for land use planning and smart growth development.
Heterogeneity in housing attribute prices
Authors: Xu Ting 
Published: May 2008

PurposeThe paper aims to analyse the Shenzhen housing market.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses an empirical case study using hedonic modelling that includes not only the property specifics, but also the spatial (via {X, Y} coordinates) and household (buyer's) characteristics. Two expansion models are employed to examine the spatial and socio‐economic heterogeneities in housing attribute prices.FindingsThe results provide strong evidence that the marginal prices of key housing attributes are not constant but vary with household profile and absolute‐location context within Shenzhen's housing market.Research limitations/implicationsExamining housing market behaviour in major Chinese cities should eventually be approached more explicitly with the development of China's official statistical system.Originality/valueLargely supported by the valuable transaction data, this paper makes initial and valuable attempts to examine the interaction behaviour between property specifics, location coordinates and buyers’ characteristics within one of the very complex and immature housing markets, namely Shenzhen, China.
Housing price gradient changes between Macau and Hong Kong: a neighboring city effect
Authors: Yim Yiu Chung 
Published: May 2008

PurposeThe classical land market model assumes a one‐workplace scenario. However, with the globalization trend, travel between two workplaces is becoming more and more common. This paper therefore aims to study the housing price gradient changes between Macau and Hong Kong to test the two workplaces hypotheses.Design/methodology/approachThe temporal‐spatial difference of housing prices between the two neighboring cities are studied by using a two‐workplace residential location choice model.FindingsThis paper found that housing price gradient from Macau to Hong Kong is flattened when more non‐resident workers traveled from Hong Kong to Macau (ceteris paribus).Originality/valueThe results have important implications for polycentric city models and provide a novel method to study neighboring city effects on housing price.
World class manufacturing and accountability
Authors: Hopper Trevor , Jazayeri Mostafa , Westrup Chris 
Published: May 2008

PurposeThe paper's aim is to establish how world class manufacturing (WCM) was diffused to some small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises in the NW of England and the network of institutions involved ranging from the state to firms, and to iterate the results with Miller and O'Leary's work on accounting practices and governance.Design/methodology/approachThis followed an actor network theory approach of “following the actors and actants” using interviews and documentation.FindingsThree accountabilities (financial, production, and idealised customer) at firm and state levels were linked through agencies like consultants, academics, and employer federations, and quasi‐governmental organisations like training and enterprise councils. New discourses and programmes of governance associated with competitiveness fostered changes in accountability locally and nationally. Competitiveness, WCM, and occasional allies like activity‐based costing lacked stable and consistent definition. They are adopted and circulate because their plasticity helps actors redefine themselves within translation and mediation processes.Research limitations/implicationsShop floor workers were not directly studied. Hence, observations on resistance and enactment are tentative.Practical implicationsContinual translations within large networks shape new techniques of management and governance.Originality/valueThe paper shows that programmes and discourses of governance over time are reciprocally linked in a constellation of state institutions and firms.
A rationale for stakeholder‐based management in developing nations
Authors: Joseph George 
Published: May 2008

PurposeThe paper aims to provide a rationale for stakeholder‐based management in developing countries. To implement the objectives, the paper contrasts the implications of agency and stakeholder theories as they apply to developing countries and highlight “total wealth creation” and “purposive adaptation” that support developmental goals of developing countries. This “purposive adaptation” also implicates the use of management accounting tools in a flexible way to meet the needs of the strategy.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses conceptual analysis and the case study approachFindingsThe Tata Steel case illustrates the normative stakeholder approach in the developing country context. Specifically, the case highlights strategy developed through “stakeholder engagement” and the application of the balanced scorecard to address stakeholder issues in implementing the strategy, illustrating the rationale underlying the stakeholder approach in addressing developmental concerns through more dispersed and larger wealth creation.Research limitations/implicationsThere is limited scope to use methods other than illustrating the theory using specific instances of its application, as in the case approach.Practical implicationsThe paper illustrates long‐term implications on sustainable development.Originality/valueFew papers consider contextualizing theoretical implications of management to developing countries. This is important as the theory has implications on development in such aspects as environmental costs, increasing inequality, and associated issues. The paper directs attention to the importance of identifying theory that addresses the unique management challenges in developing countries and can potentially enable further research to systematize and generalize management approaches in developing countries.
Predicting change in bank efficiency in Jordan: a data envelopment analysis
Authors: Bdour Jamal I. , Al‐khoury Abeer F. 
Published: May 2008

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the relative efficiency pattern of Jordanian banks during the period between 1998 and 2004.Design/methodology/approachThe deterministic data envelopment analysis (DEA) as a quantitative approach was used to obtain the efficiency of individual commercial banks in Jordan.FindingsThe results of the DEA Charnes, Cooper and Rhodes model show an increase in bank efficiency in the entire period except in 2003 and 2004 where a decrease in bank efficiency was shown for few banks in the sample. The total efficiency scores suggest that the liberalisation programme has provided the anticipated efficiency gains. Most efficiency scores showed consistent increases after the introduction of the policy with the exception of few banks which have responded differently and shown decreased in efficiency. This may be taken to imply that the banks have responded differently to the new system. The analysis further shows that both assets utilisation and the labour factor had an adverse effect on bank efficiency, especially in terms of number of employees.Research limitations/implicationsThe effect of the Jordanian Government liberalisation programme may not be readily discerned in such a relatively short period of time, which may require that a longer time period elapses before this effect becomes noticeable.Originality/valueThe paper analyses the performance of Jordanian banks with regard to their efficiency.