The evaluation of core competencies in networks: the network competence report

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 189-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Francioli ◽  
Massimo Albanese
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Capital ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Core Competencies ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Network Competence ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Insight Into

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose a model to disclose, report, and manage intellectual capital (IC) in a network of companies. To this end, it provides a monetary evaluation of core competencies (CCs), which may be defined as a bundle of various types of intangibles, aggregating their value into a network statement, called a network competence report (NCR). Design/methodology/approach The paper utilises the interventionist approach. The intervention was conducted by the authors and studied through joint reflections on documentation from meetings and individual, semi-structured interviews. Findings The NCR makes IC more transparent, thereby allowing companies and network managers to assess the strengths and weaknesses of CCs with a consequent potential insight into their potential earnings. Research limitations/implications This method is labour-intensive, especially in its first application, and the data collection requires considerable company involvement. The interventionist approach may have influenced the empirical results, which may be affected by subjectivity. As the paper involves a single network, care should be taken in generalising its empirical evidence. Practical implications In making IC management more effective, the NCR is valuable for academics, management, political authorities and, more generally, for a network’s stakeholders. The NCR is a tool for internal and external communication purposes, creating the conditions to mobilise IC. The proposed model supports the diagnosis of networks by providing CC maps and assessments relevant to their governance and competitiveness. The NCR depicts company and network CCs, allowing intertemporal comparisons that facilitate understanding of the effectiveness of the network’s actions and the importance of belonging to it. Originality/value This paper represents a first attempt to evaluate, in monetary terms, CCs in a network. Its value lies in its practical implications. Moreover, the paper investigates IC in applied terms, contributing to reducing the gap between theory and practice.

Role reflections of police reservists: a study of volunteer reserve officers in Malaysia

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 813-827 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phaik Kin Cheah ◽  
N. Prabha Unnithan ◽  
Suresh Suppiah
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Role Orientations ◽  
Grounded Theory Approach ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Insight Into

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the work roles of the Royal Malaysia Police Volunteer Reserve officers.Design/methodology/approachA grounded theory approach was utilized for the generation and analysis of the data. Data were collected through interviews, observations and follow-ups. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 male and female volunteer reserve officers and 5 regular police officers aged between 24 and 58 years of mixed socioeconomic backgrounds, ethnicities and ranking in the Royal Malaysia Police force. Two civilian respondents (spouses of the Police Volunteer Reserve officers) were also interviewed for this study for the purpose of theory sampling.FindingsThe data were analyzed qualitatively resulting in a model of Royal Malaysia Police Volunteer Reserve officer roles consisting of four orientations.Research limitations/implicationsStudy outcomes are discussed theoretically and administratively. The four role orientations identified will assist researchers studying police reserve volunteerism.Practical implicationsStudy outcomes allow administrators to utilize and deploy police reservists in consonance with the four role orientations identified.Social implicationsThis study provides insight into how police reservists conceive of and execute their roles as they negotiate them in relation to the regular police officers they work with and the public from which they are drawn.Originality/valueThis is the first study of police volunteerism in Malaysia.

scholarly journals Practitioner perspectives of multi-agency safeguarding hubs (MASH)

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-20
Author(s):  
Sarah Shorrock ◽  
Michelle M. McManus ◽  
Stuart Kirby
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Governance Structure ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The North ◽  
Everyday Practices ◽  
Agency Practices ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Insight Into

Purpose The challenges of transferring the theoretical requirements of an effective multi-agency partnership into everyday practices are often overlooked, particularly within safeguarding practices. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore practitioner perspectives of working within a multi-agency safeguarding hub (MASH) and those factors that encourage or hinder a multi-agency approach to safeguarding vulnerable individuals. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews with 23 practitioners from one MASH location in the North of England were conducted, with a thematic analysis being used to analyse findings. Findings The interviews with practitioners illustrated the complexity of establishing a multi-agency approach to safeguarding. It was inferred that whilst information sharing and trust between agencies had improved, the absence of a common governance structure, unified management system, formalisation of practices and procedures and shared pool of resources limited the degree to which MASH could be considered a multi-agency approach to safeguarding. Practical implications Establishing a multi-agency approach to safeguarding is complex and does not occur automatically. Rather, the transition to collaborative practices needs to be planned, with agreed practices and processes implemented from the beginning and reviewed regularly. Originality/value Few studies have investigated the implementation of MASH into safeguarding practices, with this paper providing a unique insight into practitioner opinions regarding the transition to multi-agency practices. Whilst there is a focus on MASH, the challenges to arise from the research may be reflective of other multi-agency partnerships, providing a foundation for best practice to emerge.

Do public sector mergers (re)shape reputation?

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vilma L. Luoma-aho ◽  
Mirja E. Makikangas
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Insight Into

Purpose – The public sector worldwide is under pressure to downsize, which has led to mergers of public sector organisations. This paper seeks to bridge the unstudied gap of what happens to organisational reputation after a merger. The paper discusses change and reputation in the public sector, and reports findings of a longitudinal study on stakeholder assessments of four public sector organisations undergoing mergers recently. Design/methodology/approach – Following a theory-driven content analysis, this longitudinal study compares stakeholder assessments of four public sector organisations' reputations a year before an organisational merger with assessments of the two resulting organisations' reputations two years after the merger. Findings – The paper finds that the mergers did not really re-shape reputation, but the once established reputation persevered. Although the organisations faced greater expectations after the merger, only minor changes in reputation were detected post-merger: the reputation for expertise, heavy bureaucracy and trustworthiness remained strong after the merger, but certain traits, such as being international and esteemed, were lost. In both cases, one organisation's prior reputation slightly dominated the new reputation. Research limitations/implications – The findings may be limited to Finland and other Nordic countries, as well as those countries where trust in the public sector is high. Practical implications – Mergers may not change once-established reputations, and hence the improvements desired by mergers may go unnoticed by the different stakeholders. Organisations merging must prepare for increased stakeholder expectations, as the new organisations arise questions. Previous organisational traits may remain in stakeholders' assessments despite any achieved improvements. Originality/value – This paper addresses the gap in studying organisational reputation after public sector mergers, and contributes to both theory and practice by providing insight into the stability of once-established reputations.

Sustainable knowledge from consumer perspective addressing microfibre pollution

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 437-454
Author(s):  
Songyi Yan ◽  
Claudia Elisabeth Henninger ◽  
Celina Jones ◽  
Helen McCormick
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Potential Barriers ◽  
Types Of Knowledge ◽  
Knowledge Types ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Consumer Perspective ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Insight Into

PurposeThis research investigates sustainable knowledge from a consumer perspective, thereby focussing on the issue of microfibre pollution (MFP) within the context of the athleisure wear industry.Design/methodology/approachThis research is exploratory in nature and supports its findings with 15 in-depth semi-structured interviews with consumers who have an invested interest in athleisure wear and have either a fashion or a textile science background.FindingsThe results provide an insight into how different types of knowledge influence one another and which ones can act as barriers to acting more sustainably and more specifically in reducing MFP.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the sample size is relatively small, participants were selected carefully to have different backgrounds and lifestyles, thus, providing valuable insights that can be explored further in the future.Practical implicationsCommunication is a key issue that has been identified and which needs to be carefully addressed by providing both quantity and quality.Originality/valueThis research identifies interlinks between different knowledge types and potential barriers that need to be overcome in order to act more sustainably.

scholarly journals In our own backyard: when a less inclusive community challenges organizational inclusion

2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 395-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beth K. Humberd ◽  
Judith A. Clair ◽  
Stephanie J. Creary
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Boundary Work ◽  
Teaching Hospitals ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Community Impacts ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Insight Into

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to build insight into how the local community impacts an organization’s ability to develop an inclusive culture. The paper introduces the concept of inclusion disconnects as incongruent experiences of inclusion between an organization and its community. Then, using the case of teaching hospitals, the paper empirically demonstrates how individuals and organizations experience and deal with inclusion disconnects across the boundaries of organization and community. Design/methodology/approach – A multi-method qualitative study was conducted in hospitals located in the same city. Focus groups were conducted with 11 medical trainees from underrepresented backgrounds and semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten leaders involved with diversity efforts at two hospitals. Data analysis followed an iterative approach built from Miles and Huberman (1994). Findings – The findings demonstrate how boundary conflicts arise from disconnected experiences of organizational and community inclusiveness. Such disconnects create challenges for leaders in retaining and supporting minority individuals, and for trainees in feeling like they could build a life within, and outside of, their organizations. Based on findings from the data, the paper offers insights into how organizations can build their capacity to address these challenges by engaging in boundary work across organizational and community domains. Research limitations/implications – Future research should build upon this work by further examining how inclusion disconnects between communities and organizations impact individuals and organizations. Practical implications – The paper includes in-depth insight into how organizations can build their capacity to address such a deep-rooted challenge that comes from a less inclusive community. Originality/value – This paper contributes to an understanding of how forces from the community outside an organization can shape internal efforts toward fostering inclusion and individuals’ experiences of inclusion.

Has Lean improved organizational decision making?

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 536-549 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pascale Simons ◽  
Jos Benders ◽  
Jochen Bergs ◽  
Wim Marneffe ◽  
Dominique Vandijck
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Lean Management ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Organizational Decision Making ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Organizational Contexts ◽  
Sustainable Improvement ◽  
Care Processes ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – Sustainable improvement is likely to be hampered by ambiguous objectives and uncertain cause-effect relations in care processes (the organization’s decision-making context). Lean management can improve implementation results because it decreases ambiguity and uncertainties. But does it succeed? Many quality improvement (QI) initiatives are appropriate improvement strategies in organizational contexts characterized by low ambiguity and uncertainty. However, most care settings do not fit this context. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether a Lean-inspired change program changed the organization’s decision-making context, making it more amenable for QI initiatives. Design/methodology/approach – In 2014, 12 professionals from a Dutch radiotherapy institute were interviewed regarding their perceptions of a Lean program in their organization and the perceived ambiguous objectives and uncertain cause-effect relations in their clinical processes. A survey (25 questions), addressing the same concepts, was conducted among the interviewees in 2011 and 2014. The structured interviews were analyzed using a deductive approach. Quantitative data were analyzed using appropriate statistics. Findings – Interviewees experienced improved shared visions and the number of uncertain cause-effect relations decreased. Overall, more positive (99) than negative Lean effects (18) were expressed. The surveys revealed enhanced process predictability and standardization, and improved shared visions. Practical implications – Lean implementation has shown to lead to greater transparency and increased shared visions. Originality/value – Lean management decreased ambiguous objectives and reduced uncertainties in clinical process cause-effect relations. Therefore, decision making benefitted from Lean increasing QI’s sustainability.

scholarly journals Student engagement with sustainability: understanding the value–action gap

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 404-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gareth Chaplin ◽  
Paul Wyton
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Strong Association ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Sustainable Living ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Lack Of Information ◽  
Significant Barrier ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Insight Into

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of research that aimed to determine what university students living in Unite accommodation in the UK understand about the concept of sustainable living. It considers what barriers they perceive to be standing in the way of following sustainable living practices. In particular, the research aimed to explore any value–action gap for the student population with a view to informing future actions to help close any gap. Design/methodology/approach – The study was completed through an online questionnaire survey of students living in halls of residence operated by provider The Unite Group Plc. The survey informed semi-structured interviews and focus groups that explored the issues raised in greater detail. Findings – It was found that students living in Unite properties believed sustainable living to be important, yet levels of understanding were very low and there appeared to be a wide value–action gap. Reasons for this are varied; however, an unexpected theme emerged around the association of effort and importance. There was a very strong association between sustainable living and recycling, which, therefore, saw the lack of adequate recycling facilities as a significant barrier to sustainable living. There were also issues around a lack of information, cost and respondents’ flatmates as further barriers. However, the most significant barrier was the displacement of responsibility for sustainable living to other people or organisations. Originality/value – Gaining an insight into the complexity of attitude and behaviour of students with the sustainability agenda will enable understanding that can be applied to activities that promote sustainability.

What makes court-referred mediation effective?

2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amira Galin
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Process And Outcome ◽  
Refusal To Participate ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Theoretical Insight ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Low Rate

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to obtain insight into court-referred mediation in the Israeli Labor Courts, by analyzing its processes and outcomes, as a function of tactics used by both the disputants and the mediator. Design/methodology/approach – Observation of 103 court-referred mediations, for each of which a detailed process and outcome were documented. Data on disputants' refusal to participate in the mediation was also collected. At the end of each mediation case, disputants were given a questionnaire in which they expressed their satisfaction with the outcome and their evaluation of the mediator's contribution. Findings – A low rate of refusal to participate in court-referred mediation was found. Also, the higher the ratio of soft tactics to pressure tactics employed (by all parties involved) during the process, the higher the rate of agreements. Mediators use significantly more soft tactics than disputants, and are more active in using tactics. The two significant variables that predict the mediation's agreement are the ratio between soft tactics to pressure tactics used by all parties, and mediator contribution to the process. Practical implications – The significant role of soft tactics in the process, outcome, and satisfaction of court-referred mediation may serve as a guideline for disputants and mediators. Originality/value – This unique research, which examines the impact of tactics on court-referred mediation, may provide added and significant theoretical insight into its process and outcome, as well as a better understanding of other “hybrid” (compulsory at the beginning, voluntary at the end) mediations.

Design and topological optimization of rear pressure bulkhead for a typical aircraft

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marshal Thakran ◽  
Meenakshi ◽  
Jitender Sharma ◽  
Charles Gilbert Martin
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Analysis ◽  
Significant Influence ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Topological Optimization ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Iterative Design ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Selection Of

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the model of a rear pressure bulkhead with different design optimizations to meet the pressurized cabin requirements of an aircraft. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents the results of the static analysis of a dome-shaped rear pressure bulkhead model designed in Catia-v5. Numerical analysis of model meshed in hyper-mesh and solved using Opti-Struct for iterative design optimizations. Findings All the iterative models are analyzed at 9 Psi. Rear pressure bulkhead designed with L-section stringer shows better results than the model optimized with T-section stringer for the same thickness. The model optimized with L-shaped stinger also reduces the weight of the bulkhead without affecting the structural integrity. Practical implications It has been concluded in this paper that the selection of specific shapes of the stringers shows a significant influence on weight reduction. Originality/value This paper provides a topical, technical insight into the design and development of a rear pressure bulkhead. It also outlines the future development of dome-shaped rear pressure bulkhead.

Agile ascension

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Reading Time ◽  
Core Competencies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Agile Learning ◽  
Pertinent Information ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings Agile learning strategies and agile core competencies are crucial to the success of organizations in the digital economy. These principles can be adopted by others to gain and maintain competitive advantage. 10; 10; Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

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