Designing managerial work in production: front-line managers' job crafting

in recent years, product design concept has extended and expanded continuously. People's attention to low carbon concept improves gradually. In particular, the concept of low carbon and environmental protection starts to fuse in product design so as to improve environmental protection idea of products, and really achieve effective product design and the original intention of project design. This also proposes new requirements and challenges of product designers. Designers need to think over and actively explore how to effectively fuse low carbon and environmental protection concept in actual operation process in practice. This paper simply analyzes the concept of low carbon and environmental protection and deeply discusses the era background of product design under low carbon concept and product design mode. This paper aims to offer effective project suggestions on designers and really drive sustainable development of product design project.

Performance management (PM) systems often fall short, yet organisations rely on them. This study leverages a Human Resource Co-Creation (HRCC) lens to explore how front-line managers can be pivotal in reshaping PM. Through in-depth interviews with front-line managers at a high-tech organisation, we uncover significant frustrations with the current PM approach and a clear call for greater clarity, flexibility, transparency, and inclusivity. By fostering employee voice, front-line managers emphasise the impact of informal PM processes and advocate for a redefined role for leadership within PM. These findings showcase HRCC in action, providing fresh insights to elevate PM into a more effective, engaging, and meaningful practice for all stakeholders. Implications for advancing PM theory and practice are also discussed.

PurposeThe paper seeks to improve the understanding of knowledge identification and management in product design by studying designers' cognition and behavior.Design/methodology/approachKnowledge management becomes an essential process in product design. However, most organizations and designers do not understand what knowledge should and can be managed. Little research is focused on studying the cognitive and social psychological factors within knowledge activities. This paper is mainly focused on knowledge issues in product design. This study focuses on the internal human activities and explores knowledge management research utilizing a human factors perspective.FindingsIn this paper knowledge in product design is defined; knowledge in product design is identified and classified based on design decision‐making processes. Furthermore, how to improve the knowledge management process in collaborative decision making is presented.Research limitations/implicationsThis study uses an experimental approach and hopefully the research can therefore be generalized to other situations.Practical implicationsThis study provides guidelines for information technology support for knowledge management in product design.Originality/valueKnowledge used in product design is identified and classified. The paper explores knowledge management research by analyzing human activity, in combination with the study of management and engineering technologies.

Integration of green quality function deployment and fuzzy theory: a case study on green mobile phone design

PurposeThis study aims to analyze the relationships between knowledge management and co-evolvement to green product and process design and green manufacturing and logistics. Besides, this study also analyses the direct and indirect effects of corporate environmental strategy, knowledge management and co-evolvement.Design/methodology/approachThe data used in this study were collected by a survey of Indian manufacturing firms and analyzed by a variance-based structural equation modeling technique to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results suggested that knowledge management and co-evolvement have significant positive relationships to green product and process design and green manufacturing and logistics. Likewise, corporate environmental strategy has positive effects on knowledge management and co-evolvement.Practical implicationsManufacturing firms should invest and deploy corporate environmental strategies to develop knowledge management and co-evolvement capability that foster green product and process design and manufacturing and logistics.Originality/valueThis study investigates the role of knowledge management and co-evolvement to improve green product and process design and green manufacturing and logistics. The uniqueness of this study is that it investigates novel direct and indirect relationships between corporate environmental strategy and knowledge management and co-evolvement.

: If organization theory finds it useful to draw upon some of the ideas that have emerged in cognitive psychology, it will be advantageous to borrow also the terminology used in discussing these ideas. Without working toward a higher level of consistency in terminology than prevails in organization theory today, it will be difficult or impossible to cumulate and assemble into a coherent structure the knowledge we are gaining from individual case studies and experiments. We will be continually reinventing wheels. That is a luxury we cannot afford. The happy band of researchers on organization theory is sufficiently small to be kept fully occupied discovering and verifying the theory just once. (Author) (kr)

Green process and product design in practice

Research studies confirm that embracing sustainability in product design and manufacturing not only yields environmental improvements, but offers key business benefits. There is an increasing pressure to adopt a more sustainable approach to product design and manufacture. Organizations that are actively engaged in sustainable product design and development cite impressive levels of improvement over their poorer performing peers in product innovation, quality, safety and revenue growth alongside anticipated environmental and energy gains. Sustainability in design and manufacturing has a lot to do with “doing better with less,” and embracing a broader view of product development, and examining full lifecycle of the product and the impact that its design, manufacture, performance and disposal can have across not only on business, but on the environment and society, as well. The process of rethinking a product’s design so that it is more durable contains fewer parts and easily packaged and recycled also drives innovation and quality. The goal of sustainable product design (SPD) is to produce products and/or to provide services, which are sustainable and achieve their required functionality, meet customer requirements and are cost effective. In other words, SPD is about producing superior products and/or services that fulfil traditional criteria as well as sustainability requirements. The requirement to develop sustainable product is one of the key challenges of 21st century. This paper describes a system that identifies sustainability related performance measures for products in terms of: a) Sustainable product design by robust design. b) Sustainable design by quality of service. The first case study is on a laser based measuring instrument which supports the theory of sustainable product by robust design techniques The objective of the robust design study is to find the optimum recommended factor setting for the surface roughness analyser to minimize the variability in the readings. This instrument relies on the spread of the laser light on the work piece to determine surface roughness; therefore, the analyser’s reliability depends primarily on everything involved with the laser and its path. There are a minimum number of parts to achieve this function since the laser can scan over the work piece, substituting functionality in place of additional parts. The use of surface roughness analyser for online measurement of surface finish and continuous online monitoring and control with a feedback provides the robustness in quality and sustainability. The second case study, which is on elevator quality of service, is considered to support the theory of sustainable design by quality of service. This example shows how the design considerations are influenced and closely linked to the quality of service and maintenance. To support the theory of sustainability by quality of service, this case study examines elevator design and maintenance and recommends a new procedure based on Root Couse Analysis resulting in Elevator Condition Index (ECI). ECI is a new procedure and is applied based on original equipment reliability, projected average life cycle of key wear components, number of run cycles since maintenance was last performed on each component, cost of emergency repair vs. cost of maintenance vs. likelihood of failure. It supports service based on prognostics rather than routine service cycles. Sustainable design and manufacturing is possible if we deploy the virtual engineering tools to monitor and service manufacturing machinery so that the sustainable benefits are maintained throughout the product design cycle. The choice of a workplace structure depends on the design of the parts and lot sizes to be manufactured as well as market factors, such as the responsiveness to changes. Designers should be aware of the manufacturing consequences of their decisions because minor design changes during the early stages often prevent major problems later. As a part of product performance evaluation, the use of capability index to maintain process quality can lead to beneficial results.

General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly pointed out that in his speech “Take the strategy of rural revitalization as the general grasp of the “three rural” work in the new era”, he clearly pointed out that we must take the road of socialist rural revitalization with Chinese characteristics, and work together to promote the overall upgrading of agriculture, the overall progress of the countryside, and the overall development of farmers. Under these conditions, competitions related to or based on rural revitalization in China have been carried out one after another. How to integrate design innovation into the development of rural revitalization strategy and lead the green and sustainable design trend of agricultural products is worthy of our deep consideration and discussion. The purpose is to study the development trend and design methods of green sustainable design of agricultural products based on precision agriculture. The methods include listing the characteristics of agricultural product design, starting from the connotation of sustainable development and green design, and analyzing the content and methods of sustainable agricultural design for agricultural products through the entries of the first China (Huaihua) Rural Revitalization Design Innovation Competition as a case. Relevant strategies for green sustainable design. The conclusion is that the design competition leads the development trend of green sustainable design of agricultural products. The simple symbolization of agricultural product design, the innovation of materials and structures, the abandonment of excessive packaging and the maximization of reuse are the inevitable trends of green sustainable design of agricultural products in China.KeywordsAgricultural product packagingPrecision agricultureSustainable developmentGreen design

Current environmental regulations and customer expectations force manufacturing companies to develop new products considering ecological, social, and economic issues. At present, product sustainability, time-to-market, and profit are equally important factors in the new product development process. Consequently, product design should embrace issues related to sustainability in the entire product life cycle. These issues refer to manufacturing processes, product use, and the post-use phase, including product reuse, remanufacturing, recycling or disposal. Product design considering these issues is called sustainable design or eco-design. The product development process aims to create a new product that can be a modification of existing products or be completely new for a company and market. Innovations are widely used as a key component for addressing sustainable development concerns. The role of product design and innovation in the quest for sustainability has received considerable attention among researchers and businesses in recent years. This research is a novel bibliometric analysis of sustainable product development, product design, and product innovation in the last 30 years, from 1993 to 2022. The results of data analysis embrace trends regarding the yearly number of publications devoted to sustainable product development, sustainable product design, and sustainable product innovation. Moreover, the collected publications were classified into subject areas, source titles, and source type. The bibliometric analysis reveals the most popular journals to knowledge dissemination of sustainable product development, sustainable design, and sustainable innovation. The results show that the increase of publications devoted to sustainable product design and sustainable product innovation is particularly strong in the last 5 years. Moreover, the number of publications related to sustainable product design is over ten times larger than related to sustainable product innovation.

ObjectiveTo describe how front-line managers of maternity wards provide support to midwives as second victims in the aftermath of an adverse incident. DesignA qualitative study using critical incident technique and a content analytic approach of semi-structured in-depth interviews. SettingMaternity wards in 10 Norwegian hospitals with more than 200 registered births annually were included in the study. ParticipantsA purposeful sample of 33 midwives with more than two years’ working experience described 57 adverse incidents. FindingsMaternity ward managers utilised four types of practices to support midwives after critical incidents: management, transformational leadership, distributed leadership and laissez-faire leadership. Key conclusions and implications for practiceThe study shows that proactive managers who planned for how to handle critical incidents provided midwives with needed individual support and learning. Proactive transformational leadership and delegating roles for individual support should be promoted when assisting second victims after critical incidents. Managers can limit the potential harm to second victims by preparing for the eventuality of a crisis and institute follow-up practices.

The competence perspective has emphasized the importance of organizational resources and capabilities, particularly organizational knowledge. In investigating the management of organizational knowledge creation processes, the literature on new organizational forms has explicitly focused on management processes and resources at different managerial levels. By integrating and applying managerial knowledge, managers develop managerial capability and render the service of their resource. Moreover, managers' own process for learning and capability development play a critical role in organizational knowledge creation processes and in the adoption of new organizational forms that improve dynamic organizational capabilities. Given these key services of managers as a resource, it can be argued that we should now put managerial knowledge at the forefront of competitive advantage. This chapter defines what managerial knowledge and managerial capabilities are, what services are rendered by them, how they interrelate with organizational knowledge creation processes, and how front-line, middle, and top managers can contribute to a firm's organizational competences. A conceptual framework for analyzing managerial knowledge integration is developed and applied to front-line managers, middle managers, and top managers.

Health workers are professionals who are engaged in the delivery of healthcare services to individuals. They include a wide range of roles such as doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, and support staff who provide clinical services to patients. They also encompass community health workers and public health professionals who work on disease prevention, health education, and improving access to healthcare. Health workers are essential for the functioning of health systems and play a critical role in ensuring the health and well-being of the population. Brain drain is increasing in Nepal day by day due to the many reasons, including the desire for better pay, work conditions, quality of life, high opportunities, more working hours, personal growth that make health workers leave. This situation is creating problem for Nepal’s health services. The main purpose of this study is to explore the perceptions of health professionals regarding brain drain in Nepal’s health sector. Through in-depth interviews and focused group discussions with various stakeholders, including doctors, nurses, pharmacist, health informatics, front line manager, the research aims to uncover the underlying factors contributing to emigration of skilled health workers. This study also examines the impact on Nepal’s healthcare system and suggest strategies to mitigate the loss of talent. This research contributes the deeper understanding of brain drain and provides insights for policy development to strengthen Nepal’s health sector.

A new methodology for evaluating sustainable product design performance with two-stage network data envelopment analysis

Coronavirus was first officially reported in Wuhan city of China in December 2019. As this novel coronavirus spread rapidly throughout the world, health care workers faced many difficulties addressing the pandemic. In the present study, we explored the challenges faced by front-line health managers on human resource management, execution of the central policies, and training and in formulating innovative approaches during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in India. A qualitative study was conducted using framework analysis among front-line health managers concerning COVID-19 management at the district level. We conducted 120 in-depth interviews among eight states with the use of an interview guide. The results are described under five sections: 'challenges of front-line managers in policymaking and its execution', 'human resource management', 'gaps in local execution of central policies', 'challenges in training workforce and data management', and 'innovative approaches adopted during COVID 19'. We observed that a centre-down approach was not appreciated much. Many participants felt that there was a need to understand the local context and appropriate amendment. The private system is a part of the Indian health system and can never be ignored; thus, all guidelines should include the private system.