Inter-occupational cooperation and boundary work in the hospital setting

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 658-673 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Cregård

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to add a little piece to the research on boundary work and inter-occupational cooperation by addressing two questions: how do actors perform boundary work in an inter-occupational cooperation project that seeks to improve the personnel health work in a hospital setting? What impact does the boundary work have on such cooperation in the personnel health project? Design/methodology/approach The study is based on individual, in-depth interviews and participative observations of focus group discussions conducted at a regional municipal organization in Sweden. Respondents are hospital line managers, experts and strategists in the HR departments, and experts from the internal occupational health service. Findings The concepts on boundary work, which include closing/opening boundary strategies, provide the framework for the empirical illustrations. The cooperation runs smoothly in the rehabilitation work because of an agreed upon process in which the professionals’ jurisdictions are preserved through closing strategies. Illness prevention and health promotion are not areas of inter-occupational cooperation because the stronger actors use closing strategies. While the weaker actors, who try to cooperate, use opening boundary strategies in these areas, they are excluded or marginalized. Research limitations/implications The empirical investigation concerns one cooperation project and was completed at one data collection point. Originality/value No similar study of boundary work and inter-occupational cooperation in a hospital setting is available despite the frequency of this professional group configuration in practice. A more inclusive concept of professionalism may facilitate the study of boundary work and inter-occupational cooperation among actors with different professional authority.

2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Hallström

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze how the Swedish Association of Biology Teachers (ABT) and some other subject associations helped form pre-service biology teacher education in two major Swedish reforms from ca. 1960 to 1990. Design/methodology/approach – The activities of subject associations can be understood as boundary-work since they defend their subject boundaries in terms of content, space in the timetable, and legitimacy. A hermeneutic method of text interpretation is employed in analyzing historical archival and parliamentary material. Findings – The work of the ABT to demarcate their subject in the 1968 and 1988 Teacher Education Reforms may seem like merely defending certain biological items instead of others, in the name of science. However, it was also a professional struggle to assert the importance of the teachers, their jobs, education, knowledge of biology subject matter, and thereby their professional authority and autonomy. The ABT were also caught in a political struggle for their subject throughout the period of investigation. Depending on the political winds of the time they therefore had to ally themselves with or distance themselves from various actors. Originality/value – In comparison with the few other studies of subject associations, this paper is unique in outlining how the ABT acted in relation to teacher education. However, the ways of doing boundary-work were still very similar to those used by subject associations in schools in other countries, especially in acting for increased study time in their respective science subjects as well as their resistance to subject integration. An obvious conclusion regarding teacher education is that subject associations such as the ABT did not contribute to bridging the gap between subject matter and pedagogy but rather the opposite. Biology teacher education was seen as an academic pursuit carried out at universities rather than at the practically oriented teacher training colleges.


2010 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 422-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynette Harrisr ◽  
Carley Foster

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the implementation of talent management interventions in UK public sector organisations.Design/methodology/approachThis paper draws upon the findings of a qualitative study of talent management in two UK public sector case study organisations.FindingsImplementing talent management was found to present particular tensions for public sector managers, particularly in terms of its alignment with well‐embedded diversity and equality policies and their own perceptions of fair treatment in the workplace. Despite an acknowledgement that the sector needs to attract, develop and retain the most talented individuals to achieve its modernisation agenda, interventions which require singling out those individuals for special treatment challenges many of its established practices for recruitment and selection, employee development and career management.Practical implicationsPublic sector organisations need to invest both time and effort into developing appropriate and relevant approaches to talent management, which take proper account of line managers' perceptions of fair treatment and established organisational approaches to diversity and equality.Originality/valueTalent management is a topic of growing interest from employers concerned about their work force demographics, specific skills shortages and the retention of high potential employees but the concepts that inform talent interventions are often unclear or are an uneasy fit with the beliefs and understandings about fair treatment of those who have to implement them.


2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (12) ◽  
pp. 2969-2974 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Pérez-Lago ◽  
Miguel Martínez-Lirola ◽  
Sergio García ◽  
Marta Herranz ◽  
Igor Mokrousov ◽  
...  

Current migratory movements require new strategies for rapidly tracking the transmission of high-risk importedMycobacterium tuberculosisstrains. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) enables us to identify single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and therefore design PCRs to track specific relevant strains. However, fast implementation of these strategies in the hospital setting is difficult because professionals working in diagnostics, molecular epidemiology, and genomics are generally at separate institutions. In this study, we describe the urgent implementation of a system that integrates genomics and molecular tools in a genuine high-risk epidemiological alert involving 2 independent importations of extensively drug resistant (XDR) and pre-XDR BeijingM. tuberculosisstrains from Russia into Spain. Both cases involved commercial sex workers with long-standing tuberculosis (TB). The system was based on strain-specific PCRs tailored from WGS data that were transferred to the local node that was managing the epidemiological alert. The optimized tests were available for prospective implementation in the local node 33 working days after receiving the primary cultures of the XDR strains and were applied to all 42 new incident cases. An interpretable result was obtained in each case (directly from sputum for 27 stain-positive cases) and corresponded to the amplification profiles for strains other than the targeted pre-XDR and XDR strains, which made it possible to prospectively rule out transmission of these high-risk strains at diagnosis.


2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 459-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha Evans

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the interplay between the role of front line managers (FLMs) and their contribution to the reported gap between intended and actual human resource management (HRM). Design/methodology/approach – The findings draw on case study research using 51 semi-structured interviews with managers across two UK retail organisations between 2012 and 2013. Findings – This paper argues that FLMs are key agents in people management and play a critical role in the gap between intended and actual employee relations (ER) and HRM. The research found that these managers held a high level of responsibility for people management, but experienced a lack of institutional support, monitoring or incentives to implement according to central policy. This provided an opportunity for them to modify or resist intended policy and the tensions inherent in their role were a critical factor in this manipulation of their people management responsibilities. Research limitations/implications – The data were collected from only one industry and two organisations so the conclusions need to be considered within these limitations. Practical implications – Efforts to address the gap between intended and actual ER/HRM within organisations will need to consider the role tensions of both front line and middle managers. Originality/value – This research provides a more nuanced understanding of the interplay between FLMs and the gap between intended and actual HRM within organisations. It addresses the issue of FLMs receiving less attention in the HRM-line management literature and the call to research their role in the translation of policy into practice.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Grazia Ietto-Gillies

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of major structural changes on the conceptualization of the transnational corporation (TNC) based on foreign direct investment (FDI) and on indicators of transnationality. Design/methodology/approach Analysis of three major structural changes which impact the current conception of transnationality. They are: the rise of digital companies; the increased role of finance in the economy; externalization of activities via non-equity modalities (NEMs) with an impact on FDI and on the labour market. Findings The paper finds that the current concept of transnationality needs widening to take account of companies with a low degree of fixed assets abroad such as the digital and the financial companies and those internationalizing via NEMs, as well as to take account of the evolving relationship between TNCs and labour. Research limitations/implications Future research along the lines proposed should consider: working explicitly with the new, inclusive concept of transnationality and arrive at an empirical estimate of the proposed indices of transnationality which modify and amplify the current United Nations Conference on Trade and Development indices. Social implications Useful for understanding the nature of transnationality in the twenty-first century and for developing policies. Originality/value The paper proposes a new concept of transnationality and of the TNC, one that allows for new ways of organizing direct business activities abroad. It also proposes broadening the list of indicators of transnationality.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Bayo-Moriones ◽  
Alejandro Bello-Pindado

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact on manufacturing performance of human resource management (HRM) practices across two job levels within manufacturing firms in Argentina and Uruguay: that of line managers and frontline workers. HRM practices are categorised into three bundles defined by the AMO theoretical framework: ability, motivation and opportunity.Design/methodology/approachThe article uses data from a survey to 301 manufacturing plants in Uruguay and Argentina. Given the characteristics of the dependent variable, linear regression models have been estimated in order to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results show that the ability and opportunity bundles for line managers are positively associated with manufacturing performance. However, only the motivation bundle affects manufacturing performance for frontline workers.Research limitations/implicationsThe main limitations are the use of cross-sectional data, the focus on two specific countries and the analysis of two employee categories that are not completely homogenous. The paper extends the contingency perspective in HRM by examining the relevance of job level as a contingent factor in the HRM-performance relationship in the manufacturing industry.Practical implicationsThe results suggest that manufacturing companies should target HR investments more towards line managers than to frontline employees. More specifically, they should concentrate efforts on the ability and opportunity bundles.Originality/valueThe article contributes to the very limited empirical evidence on the impact of HRM differentiation on firm performance by analysing sub-dimensions in a context not previously analysed.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Petty ◽  
Amanda Griffiths ◽  
Donna Maria Coleston ◽  
Tom Dening

Purpose Improving hospital care for people with dementia is a well-established priority. There is limited research evidence to guide nursing staff in delivering person-centred care, particularly under conditions where patients are emotionally distressed. Misunderstood distress has negative implications for patient well-being and hospital resources. The purpose of this study is to use the expertise of nurses to recommend ways to care for the emotional well-being of patients with dementia that are achievable within the current hospital setting. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative study was conducted in two long-stay wards providing dementia care in a UK hospital. Nursing staff (n = 12) were asked about facilitators and barriers to providing emotion-focused care. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings Nursing staff said that resources existed within the ward team, including ways to gather and present personal information about patients, share multidisciplinary and personal approaches, work around routine hospital tasks and agree an ethos of being connected with patients in their experience. Staff said these did not incur financial cost and did not depend upon staffing numbers but did take an emotional toll. Examples are given within each of these broader themes. Research limitations/implications The outcome is a short-list of recommended staff actions that hospital staff say could improve the emotional well-being of people with dementia when in hospital. These support and develop previous research. Originality/value In this paper, frontline nurses describe ways to improve person-centred hospital care for people with dementia.


2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 171-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anshu Sharma ◽  
Jyotsna Bhatnagar

Purpose This paper aims to identify the determinants of team engagement emerging as a collective team-level phenomenon under time pressure context. The paper particularly explores how teams working under time pressure conditions use their social resources to develop into highly engaged teams. Design/methodology/approach The paper develops a conceptual framework along with related propositions by integrating diverse literature from the field of team processes, leadership and engagement. The arguments are theoretically embedded into the job demands-resources (JD-R) model to explain the emergence of team engagement under time pressure conditions. Findings The suggested conceptual model based on the JD-R model reveal that teams working under time pressure conditions view it as a challenging job demand and, hence, use their social resources as a coping mechanism, thereby developing into highly engaged teams. However, the paper finds that for team engagement to emerge under time pressure, teams require two important determinants. These two main determinants are team leader engaging behaviors and team climate. Engaging team leader’s behaviors include four sub-components: emotional agility, use of humor, efficient delegation and quality of feedback. Team climate constitute three sub-components: open communication, fun at work and compassion within the team. Only teams which have a strong team climate and team leaders’ engaging behaviors tend to have high team engagement under time pressure contexts. Research limitations/implications The paper offers implications for both HR and line managers in team-based organizations to promote factors that enhance team engagement, for teams to perform under time pressure situations. Originality/value The paper identifies determinants of team engagement under time pressure context and further adds to the understanding of team processes by theoretically exploring how time pressure as a job demand can be channeled in a positive manner for promoting team engagement by using teams’ social resources: team leader’s engaging behaviors and team climate.


2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 8-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dave Ulrich

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show that the human resource (HR) focus on “talent” has dominated the profession for the past 15 to 20 years. Much of this work draws on the research from the excellent study and book called The War for Talent. In this paper, the author proposes that victory (from any war) does not come from talent alone, but from the organization. Organization is defined as capabilities, or what an organization is known for and good at, and culture, which is a key capability. When HR professionals deliver both talent and organization, they build sustainable success that leads to victory. Design/methodology/approach – This paper offers a perspective on shifting HR focus from an exclusive emphasis on talent to one on talent and organization. The author gives many examples of where great individual talent does not lead to long-term success (e.g. in most team sports, the leading scorer is on the winning team about 20 per cent of the time). Findings – Once one identifies organization as a source of long-term success, it is critical to operationalize organization into a series of conscious choices. The paper defines culture as a key capability (along with other possible capabilities of speed [agility, flexibility, responsiveness and change], innovation, collaboration, efficiency and so forth). The author identifies specific wars that HR professionals and line managers can diagnose that create the right organization. Originality/value – Many have talked about parts of organization (culture, climate, systems, process, etc.). The author offers an original way to define organization capabilities and culture.


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 245-259
Author(s):  
Rebecca Mosson ◽  
Henna Hasson ◽  
Ulrica von Thiele Schwarz ◽  
Anne Richter

Purpose A common component in leadership interventions is the provision of feedback on leadership behaviors. The assumption is that, when there is a discrepancy in this feedback between managers’ and others’ ratings of leadership, this will increase managers’ self-awareness and motivate them to close this gap. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how agreement between managers and their subordinates changes over time as a result of a leadership intervention. Design/methodology/approach Questionnaire data were collected from line managers (N=18) and their subordinates (N=640) at pre-intervention, post-intervention and at a six-month follow-up. The managers participated in a leadership intervention that aimed to increase their knowledge and skills related to the leadership behaviors described in the Full-Range Leadership Model. Inter-rater agreement and reliability were calculated to justify aggregating the subordinates’ ratings. The managers and their subordinates were grouped according to three agreement categories: in agreement, managers’ over-rating and managers’ under-rating based on the managers’ views of their leader behaviors in relation to their subordinates’. Findings Manager-subordinate agreement on the managers’ leadership increased between pre-intervention and post-intervention but then decreased at the six-month follow-up (17, 61 and 44 percent, respectively). Most managers (n=15) changed agreement categories over time, and only three managers remained in the same agreement category throughout. The subordinates’ mean leadership ratings changed more than the managers’ mean ratings. Originality/value This is the first study to explore how manager-subordinate agreement changes when managers participate in a leadership intervention in a health care context. It shows that an intervention that includes upward feedback, by which managers self-rating of their leadership is compared with their subordinates’ ratings, can be an effective way to increase agreement.


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