Good Management Skills Research Articles

Knowledge, attitude, and practice of basic hospital management principles among medical doctors in Lokoja, Nigeria

Background: Good management skills are required by medical doctors to offer optimal service to clients (patients). Though doctors are often managers, basic hospital management principles are lacking in the training curriculum, and may affect how they organize multi-disciplinary teams or units in synergizing healthcare delivery. Aims: This study sought to determine the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice of management principles among private and public medical doctors in Lokoja. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study of 160 medical doctors using a pretested 23-item closed-ended questionnaire. Descriptive and bivariate analyses (using the Chi-squared, Pearson's correlations and Students' t-tests) were performed to compare categorical and continuous outcomes respectively. Results: A total of 70.9% of respondents were found to have a high knowledge of basic management principles, 80.6% had a positive attitude toward management principles while only 35.6% of respondents actually used formal management principles in their administrative work. Public sector doctors had significantly better knowledge (P < 0.001), positive attitudes (P < 0.003), and higher level of practice (P < 0.004) compared to private sector doctors. There was a positive linear relationship among knowledge and attitude (R = 0.47), knowledge and practice (R = 0.33), and attitude and practice (R = 0.38). Conclusion: Public sector doctors had higher knowledge and better attitudes toward management principles compared to private sector colleagues. Low levels of practice of basic management principles were seen in both groups. This study sets the groundwork for future research.

OR-Management - Essentials

Operating theaters are strongly linked to other units in a hospital such as the ICU, the wards and the emergency room for example. Good management skills are necessary to improve the productivity by 2-3 percent per year. To reach these goals resources' such as personnel, IT-systems, specific equipment and the adherence to professional standards are required. Information exchange and sharing between the different professional stake holders are the important prerequisites for success. OR managers should focus on logistics, IT-systems, capacity planning, quality standards and communications. The coordination of the daily workflow should be delegated using proper rules and standards and being supported by IT. Efficiency of the unit is important, but should never over rule patient outcome and safety.

Improving the Management and Operational Success of the Third Party Logistics Industry in Taiwan: Application of Fuzzy Quality Function Deployment

The main purpose of this paper is to illustrate the application of the fuzzy quality function deployment (FQFD) approach to identify the technical requirements for improving the management and operational success of a third-party logistics (3PL) industry. First, the questions of what the key success factor (KSF) needs may be and how the technical requirements should be made are emphasized on a house of quality matrices. Then, to effectively grasp the inherent fuzziness of human judgments and preferences, the systematic steps using FQFD are proposed. Subsequently, an empirical study of 3PL industry in Taiwan is utilized to demonstrate the systematic steps. This study's results show that the five major technical requirements for improving the management and operational success requirements of 3PL industry are: (1) professional capability of service personnel, (2) complete information system, (3) good customer communication network, (4) superb technology and management skills, and (5) operational process optimization capability. In addition, this study also provides suggestions concerning the top five technical requirements for improving management and operational success in meeting KSF needs. These can be considered to be the key points for the operation and management planning of companies in the 3PL industry.

Leadership in the Classroom: An Examination of Exposure to Leadership Theory and Training in Public Relations Course Curricula

The purpose of this study is twofold: first, to take an initial step toward determining whether leadership theory is valued in public relations (PR) undergraduate education; second, to explore the focus on leadership as a distinct pedagogical concentration within the leading undergraduate PR programs in the United States. The results indicate that most departments offer one or two leadership-specific courses within the PR curriculum. However, PR instruction focuses more on skills training than leadership theory. It appears that PR professors do an adequate job teaching students good management skills, but curricula need more focus on theoretical understanding of leadership and application within the PR profession.

A study on effective principal leadership factors in China

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to find out what are the effective school principal leadership (ESPL) factors or indicators that Chinese teachers consider or expect. It explains how and why ESPL factors are important for effective school improvement (ESI). It tries to expand the domain knowledge of ESPL.Design/methodology/approach– The questionnaires consisted of eight factors and 40 indicators. The rating instrument was a five point Likert Scale (from 1 to 5). In total, 100 school teachers in Liaoning Province of mainland China were participated and surveyed. Factor analysis,t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to analyze the collected data.Findings– This study provides empirical insights about what ESPL factors that Chinese teachers considered. According to the results oft-test and one-way ANOVA, there were no significant differences between and among the respondents’ gender, areas and years of teaching experiences in rating the ESPL factors. The findings argue that the 16 extracted ESPL indicators have not only revealed the expectations of Chinese teachers toward their school principals, but also have drawn a three-dimensional-image of what a good and effective school principal should be. From the Chinese teachers’ eyes, a good school principal should not only possess good managerial skills in the aspects of time and routine work (such as self management, time management, influence, decision making and commitment) but also should possess good emotional intelligence, human skills, more attentiveness and consideration toward the needs of their followers (such as comfort, communication skills and empathy, etc.).Practical implications– This study provides implications for all school stakeholders, particularly for school principals, school leaders and educational managers both in and outside of schools. A good school principal should possess good ESPL characters/factors. If not, at least he/she should be aware of the ESPL characters/factors and actively adopt or adapt them. Thus the ESPL factors or indicators extracted from this study can be served as a mirror and a useful knowledge.Originality/value– This study belongs to very few of this kind of researches carried out in mainland China. Its findings have made some contributions to the ESPL research in mainland China, to the research of school leadership and ESI.

The Investigator's Brochure: A multidisciplinary document

The Investigator's Brochure (IB) is a multidisciplinary document that summarises the main elements of an entire development programme to date. Although the IB also serves other purposes, it is primarily written to enable investigators conducting clinical studies to assess the risks and benefits associated with an investigational product. The ICH E6 guideline specifies that an IB should include information on the investigational product itself as well as on its use in non-clinical and clinical studies, together with a section providing guidance for the investigator on the use of the drug. Beyond a need for good project management skills, the main challenge and responsibility for medical writers is to ensure that the information presented in an IB is as concise and focused as possible while remaining balanced and sufficiently complete to communicate what an investigator needs to know about using the investigational product.

Is it all about competence? The human capital of U.S. presidents and economic performance

This paper explores the extent to which human capital improves the economic policy competence of US presidents. Several recent studies have used international data to test similar hypotheses. However, international studies suffer from a variety of comparability issues, not all of which can be avoided through fixed effects and error correction. The US results developed in this paper suggest that both career paths and education have significant effects on a president’s economic policy judgment, particularly in the period after the Civil War. However, the paper also suggests that more than good economic management skills are required to win national elections.

Emotional, Spiritual Intelligence Create Exemplary Leaders

Emotional, Spiritual Intelligence Create Exemplary Leaders

Change management in integrated care: what helps and hinders middle managers – a case study

Purpose – There is little published research on the role of middle managers in the delivery of health and social care integration. Middle managers are critical to change management and require the skills to do this effectively. This study aims to explore what middle managers perceived as helping and hindering them in the delivery of change in one high‐profile integration project.Design/methodology/approach – The study involved semi‐structured interviews of eight middle managers across health and social care organisations using a grounded theory approach.Findings – Middle managers possessed good project management and staff engagement skills and understood the challenges of integration. Time and capacity, changes in senior leadership and lack of role clarity were significant hindrances. There were indications that informal networks had allowed them to progress the project.Research limitations/implications – This is a small‐scale study limited to one project. Although findings are supported by other publish...

Working in International Health

International health deals with health issues in countries other than one’s own, especially the so-called low and middle income countries (lMICs). In contrast, global health (a term that sounds as though it could be synonymous) concerns health issues, such as pandemics, that can transcend national boundaries. The target audience for this book is people interested in working in international heath and concentrates on those employed by the uK National Health Service. The three authors of this book are a physician and two non-medically trained professionals with an impressive background in international health work and are well qualified in the subject. They convey deep knowledge and familiarity through their own experience and that of many other practitioners in the field (whose quotations are liberally sprinkled throughout the book). It is highly readable and well-structured into sections relevant to one’s level of interest in, and intention to enter, international health. There is some repetition but this appears deliberate because it emphasizes several important points for those considering international health, such as language ability, resource challenges and competence to perform the required job once in-country. There are a few niggles with the format. For instance, it was difficult to read the keys on the maps, which are small and produced in black and white, but these do not detract from what is a very informative book. What is its relevance to occupational health professionals? Not much, from the way it is written. Even though there is a section on health and safety, I could find only one reference to occupational health and this was about pre-travel preparation rather than occupational health professionals becoming practitioners of international health. This is understandable because work performed when in a lMIC needs to align with the host government’s health plans and one assumes occupational health is not a high priority. Nevertheless, perhaps this is a missed opportunity? We all hear of the ‘thirdworld sweat shops’ where work takes its toll on health. Working conditions like these add to a country’s overall health burden, so some effort should go towards implementing basic occupational health measures. Also, for the niche area of disaster relief, occupational health support is needed for the team of responders, i.e. the workforce. There are useful sections on the challenges of expatriation/repatriation, monitoring and evaluation techniques, and the importance of good management skills. These have relevance to general occupational health practice. I liked this book. Even if not relevant to most of us, it is still a good and salutary read showing what it takes to practice international health effectively.

Managerial Skills and Attitude of MBA and Non-MBA Employees

The present study is an attempt to assess the perceptions of the hiring managers about the managerial skills and attitude of the MBA employees in comparison to the non-MBA employees. A sample of 100 hiring managers, who have been involved in the placement of MBAs, was taken for the purpose of the study. The hiring managers have been found agreeing that employees with MBA degree are better in ‘communication skills’, ‘decision making’, ‘leadership qualities’, ‘handle job related tasks and responsibilities’, ‘learning’ and ‘adapting to changing situations’ than non-MBA employees. The hiring managers have also been found agreeing that MBA employees ‘demand higher pay’, ‘change jobs more frequently’, ‘are more authoritarian’, ‘have unrealistic expectations’, ‘are more loyal to their careers than to their jobs and organizations’ than non-MBA employees. The discriminant analytical approach has been applied to examine the impact of the ‘profile’ and ‘attributes’ examined in the study which clearly differentiate hiring managers who agree with the good managerial skills of MBAs and negative attitude of MBAs from those who disagree with these. In case of ‘profile’ the managers with MBA qualification and regarding the various attributes of MBAs considered in the present study; ‘MBAs are more adaptive to changing situations’ and ‘MBAs change jobs more frequently than non-MBA employees’ have been found evoking significant differences among hiring managers. The findings of the present study can be useful for various stakeholders like, monitoring agencies and education policy makers, faculty and governing bodies of various management institutes for developing required management skills and attitudes among the students.

The Perceived Success Factors and Problems of Small Business Owners in Africa

Abstract Approximately 600 micro and small business owners in Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria were surveyed to better understand their perceived success factors and ongoing problems. According to the entrepreneurs, hard work, good management skills and good customer service are the most important ingredients for success. Fifteen of the 17 success items could be broken into four factors. The factor for controllable non-managerial items was seen as the most important factor governing success for entrepreneurs from all three countries. The most significant problems as reported by entrepreneurs were a weak economy and unreliable employees. A factor analysis of the problems revealed significant differences among the three countries. Ghanaian entrepreneurs were less concerned about their lack of training and locational issues and more concerned about their lack of capital. Compared to Ghanaian and Kenyan entrepreneurs, Nigerians had greater concern with the factor related to safety, location and employees.

College ESL Teachers’ Views on Teacher Effectiveness

This study employs a qualitative approach in order to investigate ESL teachers’ own views on teacher effectiveness. Ten ESL teachers working at an intensive English program affiliated to a U.S. university were participated in the study. They were asked to respond freely to a question, “What does it take to be an effective teacher at the program?” A thematic analysis was performed on the data collected from their responses. The results show that the participants had a clear view of ESL teacher effectiveness. Individually and collectively, they believed that an effective ESL teacher is the one who: (1) is equipped with relevant experience and training; (2) is flexible and creative enough to be able to adapt instruction to students’ needs; (3) has good classroom management skills; (4) is sensitive to students’ needs, interests, and concerns and maintain a good rapport with students; (5) is willing to work for his/her own professional development; (6) collaborates with colleagues; and (7) is able to meet the administrative demands of the program effectively. This study ends with a discussion of implications the results have for research methodology and three constituents of ESL/EFL education.

Protocol of Job Evaluation: A Bird's Eye View

Job evaluation has become one of the most systematic and rational paths for an organization’s fair and equitable wage and salary determination. It has become a reality within an organization’s wage and salary administration. This article tries to investigate the inside concepts, dimensions, premises, and process of job evaluation. It extends to include the universality of job evaluation as a common phenomenon in organizations, particularly large ones. In view of this, this article explores and discusses the variety of ways in which job evaluation is viewed and defined. It also provides a sound understanding of the theoretical / philosophical context of job evaluation. In so doing, the article examines the combination of the conceptual and technical aspects involved in the job evaluation process, which demand good management sense and skill. Keywords: Job evaluation, Dimensions, Jobs comparison, Prerequisites, Relativities, Different views, Elements and Stages, Universality.

Challenges faced by skilled birth attendants in providing antenatal and intrapartum care in selected rural areas of Myanmar.

In Myanmar a large proportion of antenatal and intrapartum care in rural areas is provided by skilled birth attendants (SBAs), this study assessed the coverage by these health workers of all births, their adherence to service guidelines, and community opinion on the antenatal and delivery care they give in two rural health centres in Pathein Township, Ayeyarwaddy Region to identify the challenges and improve antenatal and intrapartum service delivery provided by the SBAs. A structured questionnaire was used to interview 304 women who had infants under one year of age, and in-depth interviews were held with 12 SBAs and 10 community members. Of the 304 pregnancies, 93% had received antenatal care (ANC); 97% of these were covered by SBAs at an average 15 weeks' gestation. The average frequency of ANC visits was 9. Rates of home and hospital deliveries were 84.5% and 13.8% respectively. Among home deliveries, use rate of SBA was 51.4%, while for postnatal care, 31.3% was given by unskilled providers (traditional birth attendants (TBAs) 17.5%, auxiliary midwives (AMWs),13.8%). Multivariate analysis showed that interviewees aged 30 years and below (OR=0.468, P=0.046), with an education at primary level and below that of husband (OR=0.391, P=0.007) or not residing in the village of the rural/station health centre (OR=0.457, P=0.011) were significantly less likely to use SBAs. The categories of supervision, referral, and health education activities of SBAs were not in line with service guidelines. The main reasons were lack of access and community acceptance of TBAs. Heavy workload, geographical location, transportation and financial concerns were major challenges for SBAs, along with community compliance and mutual coordination. Good communication and service management skills were important to overcome these challenges.

A Tanzanian Perspective of the Technical Aspects of IT Service Management Education

Information technology (IT) professionals face markedly different kinds of challenges in developing countries from the ones in developed countries. Based on the research literature and our fourteen years of fieldwork in Iringa, Tanzania, we have identified eight groups of technical characteristics of IT work that significantly affect the work of IT service management professionals in that particular developing country context. Those groups are climate conditions on the site, physical security on the site, characteristics of premises, characteristics of rooms, quality of electricity, local area network, peripherals, and ICT users. Even though the characteristics of IT work in developing countries are a challenge for any IT professional, they all can be overcome with appropriate education and preparation. However, scarcity of capable IT professionals who can effectively manage IT systems is an issue in East Africa. Although the situation is widely acknowledged, there are no reports of educational initiatives to address this issue. We show that without a broad understanding of environmental effects, physical security, power-related issues, and characteristics of premises for ICT equipment, IT professionals cannot maintain ICT services of organizations on a sufficient level. Our identified solutions to practical challenges lead us to conclude that IT service management education must include some topics from the fields of electrical engineering and civil engineering in the IT curriculum. Those topics prepare students to overcome context-specific challenges in their future working milieu. Besides technical topics, organizational support for IT work plays a central role in the self-sustainability of ICT services. Hence, IT professionals should be able to advocate other members of an organization. Advocacy work demands good management and communication skills and strong commitment to IT professionalism. Education for IT service management has to recognize these issues and emphasis, in its curriculum design, the role of management and leadership skills in a culturally sensitive way.

Chinese entrepreneurs

PurposeThis article aims to investigate motivations, success factors, problems, and business‐related stress of entrepreneurs in small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises and relates them to the success of the Chinese entrepreneurs.Design/methodology/approachA total of 196 entrepreneurs in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou were randomly selected for a survey, which was analyzed to determine motivations, success factors, problems, and business‐related stress by gender. Ordered logit models were applied to motivation and success factors.FindingsResults showed that 68 percent were male and 32 percent female. The average age of the entrepreneurs was about 32 years old and time devoted to their business was almost 45 hours per week. Of the total respondents, 56 percent were married and 44 percent single. When asked to indicate their motives for business ownership, these entrepreneurs suggested that increasing income, becoming their own boss, and to prove that they can succeed were the most important reasons. Reputation for honesty, providing good customer services, and having good management skills were reported to be necessary conditions for business success. Friendliness to customers and hard work were also critical for high‐performance enterprises. Among the problems encountered by entrepreneurs, unreliable/undependable employees were the most critical. Intense competition and lack of management training also proved to be great challenges for Chinese entrepreneurs.Practical implicationsPolicy makers can strengthen its small business entrepreneurs by promoting the factors that lead to entrepreneurs' success, such as the ability to manage personnel and management skills through business outreach services provided by universities, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations. In addition, the government has the ability to simplify the tax system, and reduce payroll taxes. Technical assistance in areas such as market research, human resources management, and technological support should be provided to small business owners.Originality/valueThis study applied to Chinese entrepreneurs in addition to an extensive analysis of the factors that affect motivations, success, problems, and business stress.

Is it All About Competence? The Human Capital of U.S. Presidents and Economic Performance

This paper explores the extent to which human capital improves the economic policy competence of U.S. presidents. Several recent studies have used international data to test similar hypotheses. However, international studies suffer from a variety of comparability issues, not all of which can be avoided through fixed effects and error correction. The U.S. results developed in this paper suggest that both career paths and education have significant effects on a president's economic policy judgment, particularly in the period after the Civil War. However, the paper also suggests that more than good economic management skills are required to win office.

Patent Searching: Back to the Future How to Use Patent Classification Search Tools to Create Better Searches

The proliferation of free patent databases on the web over the last fifteen years has dramatically improved access to patent information. Ironically, as access to patent information has improved, emphasis on teaching engineering students how to search the patent literature using patent classification has waned. Recently published engineering textbooks and articles recommend that students search patent databases using keywords. However, keyword searching is unreliable and produces incomplete results. Engineering students who learn to search patent databases using keywords risk developing poor information management skills. This paper will illustrate the problems that arise in keyword searches and demonstrate strategies for teaching students how to use patent classification to improve their search results, thus encouraging the development of good information retrieval and management skills.

Risks and Mitigation Measures in Build-Operate-Transfer Projects

Infrastructure investments are important in developing countries, it will not only help to foster the economic growth of a nation, but it will also act as a platform in which new forms of partnership and collaboration can be developed mainly in East Asian countries. Since the last two decades, many infrastructure projects had been completed through build-operate-transfer (BOT) type of procurement. The developments of BOT have attracted participation of local and foreign private sector investor to secure funding and to deliver projects on time, within the budget and to the required specifications. Private sectors are preferred by the government in East Asia to participate in BOT projects due to lack of public funding. The finding has resulted that the private sector or promoter of the BOT projects is exposed to multiple risks which have been discussed in this paper. Effective risk management methods and good managerial skills are required in ensuring the success of the project. The review indicated that mitigation measures should be employed by the promoter throughout the concession period and support from the host government is also required in ensuring the success of the BOT project. Keywords—BOT project, risks management, concessionaire, consortium.