Key Team Research Articles

Technology Focus: Drilling Technology

Technology Focus Perseverance. The featured papers highlight this as a critical element in the successful application of new drilling technology. In one case, breakthrough performance was achieved on a complex, high-temperature/high-pressure exploration well offshore Norway as an example of “what can be delivered when a team adopts a fearless approach to new technology.” The team suggests fearless pursuit, or perseverance, against a variety of obstacles, hurdles, and potential show-stoppers. One might consider, then, what there is to fear when trying something new. In reality, plenty. First, history has proved that breakthroughs most often occur as a result of sustained effort, through trials and tribulation and, yes, failure. More specifically, primary financial exposure and schedule risks often correlate directly to the well-construction phase. Beyond financial and schedule risk, what about corporate reputation and career aspirations? These objectives can sometimes be at stake during the operational phase, as well. Are these realities understood and accepted by project leadership? Implementation of new technology can require that leadership and key team members be willing to step outside their comfort zones. When there is a high rate of turnover, changes in management and other key personnel can jeopardize the ability to follow through with implementation of new technology. In this context, perseverance is more challenging, but it is also more important today than ever before. Although most of us could agree that a fearless approach to new technology is desirable and even necessary for survival in some cases, like so many things in life, getting there is easier said than done. Thinking back on a few recent case histories and firsthand experience with major projects, there were significant challenges, time constraints, and limited engineering resources to investigate new alternatives fully. Most often, there is concept selection, partner approval, and authorization for expenditure before assembling the full team, committing to a rig, and selecting and procuring long-lead equipment. Permit/regulatory endorsement increasingly requires dedication of substantial time and resources as well. By this time, the execution phase looms large on the horizon; we often end up in the fast-track mode. Expediting peer reviews, recruiting and training personnel, and delivering and inspecting the rig and other major equipment are top priorities. Sound familiar? In many cases, there can be a tendency to fall back on proven equipment and procedures to minimize financial and schedule risk. “This is how it has been done before” is repeated, and the new idea is put on hold. But it does not have to be that way. Proper vision, an atmosphere where the risk/reward profile of new drilling technology is understood clearly, adequate time, and sufficient dedicated Earth-science and engineering resources are foundation ingredients. The featured papers represent relevant examples where these attributes combined to achieve impressive results during well construction. Consider the common threads in the selected papers illustrating step-change performance being delivered, overcoming short-term technical and organizational challenges with clear vision and sustained efforts over considerable periods of time. For today and the days ahead, important lessons are found in perseverance. JPT Recommended additional reading at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org. SPE/IADC 173081 All-Attitude Gyro- While-Drilling Technology Provides Accurate Surveys in High-Angle East/West Directional Wellbores Delivering Reduced Costs and Increasing the Length of the Producing Zone by Keith Beattie, Gyrodata, et al. SPE/IADC 173125 Pioneer Turbodrilling With 16½-in. Impregnated Bit in Deep Presalt Well in Santos Basin by R. Pantoja, Petrobras, et al. SPE/IADC 173046 Drilling-With-Liner Technology Enables Successful Sidetrack Through Depleted Sands in Shallow-Water Gulf of Mexico by Wayne Bridgeman, Chevron, et al. SPE 172559 Application of Friction- Reducing Rigid-Resin Centralizers Based on Silicon Carbide by Urdaneta Javier, Halliburton, et al.

Using a Shared Leadership Model to Transition to a New ILS & Discovery Service: A Case Study.

This is a case study of one university library’s transition to a new, cloud-based integrated library system using a shared leadership model. The authors provide a brief introduction to the shared leadership model, and discuss the value of a team approach for selecting and implementing the new system, as well as the leadership role of key team members during the migration and transition periods, the criteria used when selecting the new discovery service, the implementation process, and what changed for the patrons and the library once the transition was completed. The article concludes with a summary of positive and negative outcomes as well as helpful and important recommendations to libraries that may be planning a similar transition.

Emergency department surveillance of injuries and head injuries associated with baseball, football, soccer and ice hockey, children and youth, ages 5 to 18 years, 2004 to 2014.

Surveillance aux services d’urgence des blessures à la tête et de l’ensemble des blessures provoquées par le baseball, le football, le soccer ou le hockey sur glace chez les enfants et les jeunes de 5 à 18 ans, 2004 à 2014.

Non-Noether symmetries of Hamiltonian systems with conformable fractional derivatives**Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11272287 and 11472247), the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University, China (Grant No. IRT13097), and the Key Science and Technology Innovation Team Project of Zhejiang Province, China (Grant No. 2013TD18).

In this paper, we present the fractional Hamilton’s canonical equations and the fractional non-Noether symmetry of Hamilton systems by the conformable fractional derivative. Firstly, the exchanging relationship between isochronous variation and fractional derivatives, and the fractional Hamilton principle of the system under this fractional derivative are proposed. Secondly, the fractional Hamilton’s canonical equations of Hamilton systems based on the Hamilton principle are established. Thirdly, the fractional non-Noether symmetries, non-Noether theorem and non-Noether conserved quantities for the Hamilton systems with the conformable fractional derivatives are obtained. Finally, an example is given to illustrate the results.

The Integrated Care Team: A Practice Model in Child and Family Services

The Integrated Care Team brings together representatives from each of Windermere’s service areas to create a group of highly experienced and knowledgeable professionals. This transdisciplinary team aims to provide a cohesive and effective support to service delivery staff working with individuals and families who are experiencing issues across multiple service areas. This support involves sharing of knowledge, contacts, resources and brokerage. Initial evaluation of the Integrated Care Team demonstrates strong positive outcomes for individuals and families with results that could not be so efficiently achieved through standard practice. Positive outcomes occur more quickly, more effectively, with less disruption to individuals and families and with more ease for workers than in standard practice. Workers who utilize the Integrated Care Team and representatives who sit on the Team comment on the efficacy of the approach reinforcing the value of key worker models, transdisciplinary teams, seamless service and breaking down silos between service areas; even within the same agency.

Creativity and innovation management: team performance peculiarities

In the field of creativity and innovation management much research has gone into individual creativity and effectiveness, and models of innovation management. In corporate innovation, R&D and product development tools are created and help firms manage innovation projects. Creative behavior is either internally predicated (by personality) or externally induced (by setting conducive contexts). At the team level, most research and managerial practice focuses on establishing the context. The role of certain individuals and their relationship with project success has been described, as has the structure of the team to facilitate certain types of innovation. Thus the aim of this paper is to provide conceptual framework for analyzing the performance of creative innovation teams. Key personality and team role tools are disclosed, performance indicators measuring outputs are identified. Empirical research based on the conceptual framework is conducted on the creative innovation students’ teams and the resulting data on their performance is analyzed. Such analytic approach enables to disclose and investigate the behavior and outputs of creative innovation teams.

Building a Dashboard for the Punjab Health Department

This case is about monitoring and evaluation (M&E) challenges in the Punjab Department of Health (DOH). Despite his substantial experience of working in senior managerial positions, Arif Nadeem, the department secretary, finds himself somewhat lost in the numerous department related reports and data sheets that keep on coming from various quarters. He feels under-informed and over-informed at the same time. DOH regularly collects data on a range of indicators and there are multiple systems in place to collect the data from various health facilities. The following four systems are important. First, the District Health Information System (DHIS) collects data on around eighty indicators covering treatment and spread of communicable and non-communicable diseases, human resources, facility utilization, etc. Second, the M&E assistants (MEAs) inspect primary health care facilities and report on fourteen indicators covering the number of patients attended, staff presence, medicine availability, public opinion, etc. Third, the DOH field operatives visit health facilities and report on various aspects of functioning in monthly meetings of officials at the district level. Since 2011, they have been using simple smartphone based applications to enter data on site and transmit it to the points of analyses instantaneously. Fourth, progress on development projects is reported every month on prescribed pro forma covering physical progress as well as the amount spent. In addition, tertiary care hospitals report on various aspects of their functioning on need basis and receipt/expense statements are regularly prepared by the budget and accounts section in the department. Often there is too much information to absorb. There is no effective system of filtering and processing information according to the needs of various managerial tiers. Arif realizes that he needs a dashboard that can provide just enough detail to various users. Arif and his team deliberate on the choice of indicators for the dashboard. There is substantial disagreement on what to include and what to leave. The disagreement partly emanates from a lack of clarity on the mandate of the department and its senior management. Farasat, a key team member, proposes eight key areas for the dashboard. He suggests displaying these eight areas on the main screen and creating links to detailed district, tehsil and facility-wise data on selected indicators.

Key account teams: success factors for implementing strategy

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore a contributing factor – communication – within a team as well as with a client. Organizations that rely on key account teams for strategy implementation may find their “best laid plans” thwarted by communication problems associated with such teams. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on depth interviews and content analysis. The authors analyze what team members and team leaders say and count positive/negative terms about communication within teams and with clients. These counts of such terms as a proportion of interview length are compared to the actual team success. Findings Negative comments about communication within the team focus on difficulty and positive comments focus on support. Interestingly, however, the best indicator of whether a team has succeeded in selling its key account is the extent of negative expressions about communication from key account managers. Presumably, the structure of key account teams gives them an extra leadership burden, and the authors’ see a relationship between their perception of communication shortcomings and success or failure. Research limitations/implications The authors recommend investigating communication issues when strategy implementation depends on key account teams, but because this study is conducted using a qualitative method with one company, its results cannot be projected. The authors simply demonstrate what a company could learn from conducting its own study and comparing results to its sales success. Originality/value Little research has examined communication in key account teams or linked it to sales success.

Interpersonal Violence and Its Impact on Persons Living With HIV: A Social Work Response

The burden of interpersonal violence (IPV) among those living with HIV is significant. At the Southern Alberta Clinic in Calgary, Alberta, there has been ongoing attention given to the interplay of IPV and HIV. Our data reveal the potential risks, specifically physical harm, emotional suffering, and, in turn, lack of follow-through on HIV medical care. We also know that health care social workers are key clinical team members in service delivery around prevention, intervention, and education, in relation to IPV and its impact on HIV patients. Social workers’ knowledge and understanding of the impacts of IPV in the lives of persons living with HIV provides them with a significant role in addressing this social phenomenon, its impact, and its relationship with the comorbid health issue of HIV. Social workers are also trained to delineate how the personal histories of IPV are interconnected and linked to structural oppression in social and cultural processes.

Trust and Interorganizational Interactions for Managing Conflicts in a Blended Team

AbstractA blended team environment may be expected to promote trust and interaction among key team players. The quality of this interaction affects construction project performance. This paper investigates the effectiveness of such teaming from the perspective of trust between two key project participants (the client and the construction management organization) on an industrial construction project. Sixteen senior project members from both project organizations were administered a semistructured questionnaire. Simple inferences from the analyses of their responses provided the basis for this study’s conclusions. The study found that there were difficulties in establishing trust between the two organizations. This affected the flow of information and communication among team members. Consequently, there was an increase in relationship conflicts, and generally more control and supervision of work had to be imposed beyond those expected in blended team environments. Previous working experience and ability t...

Team-Based Learning: A Model for Democratic and Culturally Competent 21st Century Public Administrators

This article presents key literature on team-based learning, a research-based teaching method derived from the cooperative learning paradigm. Team-based learning is presented as a means to teach public administration students, our future practitioners and policy makers, how to practice cultural competency as they address local community challenges. Team-based learning is a pedagogical tool that emphasizes diverse teams that are properly managed, individual and group preparedness and accountability, application of key course content, peer evaluations, and team development and interpersonal communication skills. This paper provides evidence of this instructional method’s effectiveness and of the link between team-based learning and cultural competency, presents step-by-step instructions on how to effectively implement team-based learning, provides numerous examples of in-class activities meant to develop and strengthen cultural competency skills in public affairs and administration curricula, and provides a number of key resources for public administration faculty interested in learning more about research-based teaching.

Design of a low power 10 bit 300 ksps multi-channel SAR ADC for wireless sensor network applications**Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 61107025) and the Key Innovation Team Project of Zhejiang Province (No. 2010R50010).

This paper presents a low power 10 bit 300 ksps successive approximation register analog-to-digital converter (SAR ADC) which is applied in wireless sensor network (WSN) applications. A single ended energy-saving split capacitor DAC array and a latch comparator with a rail to rail input stage are utilized to implement the ADC, which can reduce power dissipation while expanding the full scale input range and improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). For power optimization the supply voltage of the SAR ADC is designed to be as low as 2 V. Four analog input channels are designed which make the ADC more suitable for WSN applications. The prototype circuit is fabricated using 3.3 V, 0.35 μm 2P4M CMOS technology and occupies an active chip area of 1.23 mm2. The test results show that the power dissipation is only 200 μW at a 2 V power supply and a sampling rate of 166 ksps. The calculated SNR is 58.25 dB, the ENOB is 9.38 bit and the FOM is 4.95 pJ/conversion-step.

Redesigning rounds: towards a more purposeful approach to inpatient teaching and learning.

Inpatient rotations remain a central component in residency training, particularly in specialties such as internal medicine. However, maintaining the quality of this important learning experience has become a challenge. Recent approaches to redesigning the inpatient rounding experience have included reductions in the number of admissions and in patient census, which may not be feasible or desirable for many programs. The authors designed and implemented an approach to inpatient teaching that maintained the standard patient volume. It had the following five goals: (1) enhance bedside clinical skills, (2) promote a culture of patient safety, (3) emphasize diagnostic reasoning, (4) engage patients, and (5) provide learners with an expanded perspective on patients' experiences of care. This redesign, called the Chiefs' Service (CS) program, was implemented in 2013. The CS team acted as the intervention group in a quasi-experimental design study evaluating and comparing their experiences and outcomes with those of the standard inpatient medical teams not using the CS model. Five key team activities, or elements, were developed, piloted, and refined with learner, attending, and patient feedback. Those elements were morning huddle, bedside rounds, diagnostic "time-outs," day-of-discharge rounds, and postdischarge follow-up rounds. A robust evaluation process is under way; initial impressions from attendings, learners, and patients have been positive. Several educational outcomes also are being measured and compared with those of the standard inpatient medical teams. Further evaluations will guide modifications to the CS program and direct plans for dissemination within the institution and to other institutions.

Overcoming challenges to teamwork in patient-centered medical homes: a qualitative study.

There is emerging consensus that enhanced inter-professional teamwork is necessary for the effective and efficient delivery of primary care, but there is less practical information specific to primary care available to guide practices on how to better work as teams. The purpose of this study was to describe how primary care practices have overcome challenges to providing team-based primary care and the implications for care delivery and policy. Practices for this qualitative study were selected from those recognized as patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs) via the most recent National Committee for Quality Assurance PCMH tool, which included a domain on practice teamwork. Sixty-three respondents, ranging from physicians to front-desk staff, were interviewed from May through December of 2013. Practice respondents came from 27 primary care practices ranging in size, type, geography, and population served. Practices emphasizing teamwork overcame common challenges through the incremental delegation of non-clinical tasks away from physicians. The roles of medical assistants and nurses are expanding to include template-guided information collection from patients prior to the physician office visit as well as many other tasks. The inclusion of staff input in care workflow redesign and the use of data to demonstrate how team care process changes improved patient care were helpful in gaining staff buy-in. Team "huddles" guided by pre-visit planning were reported to assist in role delegation, consistency of information collected from patients, and structured communication among team members. Nurse care managers were found to be important team members in working with patients and their physicians on care plan design and execution. Most practices had not participated in formal teamwork training, but respondents expressed a desire for training for key team members, particularly if they could access it on-site (e.g., via practice coaches or the Internet). Participants who adopted new forms of delegation and care processes using teamwork approaches, and who were supported with resources, system support, and data feedback, reported improved provider satisfaction and productivity. There appears to be a need for more on-site teamwork training.

Advanced practice nursing, health care teams, and perceptions of team effectiveness.

This article summarizes the results of an extensive review of the organizational and health care literature of advanced practice nursing (APN) roles, health care teams, and perceptions of team effectiveness. Teams have a long history in health care. Managers play an important role in mobilizing resources, guiding expectations of APN roles in teams and within organizations, and facilitating team process. Researchers have identified a number of advantages to the addition of APN roles in health care teams. The process within health care teams are dynamic and responsive to their surrounding environment. It appears that teams and perceptions of team effectiveness need to be understood in the broader context in which the teams are situated. Key team process are identified for team members to perceive their team as effective. The concepts of teamwork, perceptions of team effectiveness, and the introduction of APN roles in teams have been studied disparately. An exploration of the links between these concepts may further our understanding the health care team's perceptions of team effectiveness when APN roles are introduced. Such knowledge could contribute to the effective deployment of APN roles in health care teams and improve the delivery of health care services to patients and families.

Alternative mouse models for future cancer risk assessment

*This commentary was created by members of the limited duration key issues team that supports the representatives of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association on the ICH S1 Expert Working Group. This is an opinion article submitted to the Regulatory Forum and does not constitute an official position of the Society of Toxicologic Pathology or the journal Toxicologic Pathology. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the policies, positions or opinions of their respective agencies and organizations. The Regulatory Forum is designed to stimulate broad discussion of topics relevant to regulatory issues in toxicologic pathology. Readers of Toxicologic Pathology are encouraged to send their thoughts on these articles or ideas for new topics to regulatoryforum@toxpath.org.

How should we divide the pie? Equity distribution and its impact on entrepreneurial teams

Drawing on a multiple case study approach and data on eight entrepreneurial teams observed over six months this article develops a dynamic model of the consequences of equity distribution among team members. Perceived justice of equity distribution emerged as a key variable influencing entrepreneurial team interactions and important entrepreneurial outcomes. High perceived justice triggered positive team interaction spirals, whereas low perceived justice triggered negative interaction spirals. Teams exposed to external threats drifted from a positive spiral to a negative spiral despite high perceived justice. We discuss the implications of our study for research on entrepreneurial imprints, justice, and exit.

Understanding the Determinants of Program Organization for Construction Megaproject Success: Case Study of the Shanghai Expo Construction

Program management is increasingly regarded as a key approach to improving the performance of a construction megaproject through the coordinated management of its constituent projects. However, previous studies have seldom provided a pragmatic program management framework that can fully address the requirements of clients in managing construction megaprojects. Therefore, based on a case study of the Shanghai Expo construction, this study aims to identify the principal program organization factors (POFs) that are determinants of the program organization established by a client to manage a megaproject. Mixed research methods, such as case study, literature review, interviews, Delphi survey, and archival methods, are employed in this study. Consequently, 12 principal POFs, grouped under three main categories (environmental capability, core capacity, and motivational capability of the client’s program organization to manage its construction megaproject), are identified: (1) contextual understanding, (2) program strategy, (3) program leadership, (4) scope management, (5) program governance, (6) matrix organizational structure, (7) program management office, (8) use of project breakdown structure and work breakdown structure tools, (9) partnering with key stakeholders, (10) technology management, (11) communication management, and (12) team building. These research findings will help scholars and professionals, particularly those in China, to appreciate the key issues in managing megaprojects through program organization.

A meta-ethnography of organisational culture in primary care medical practice.

Over the past decade, there has been growing international interest in shaping local organisational cultures in primary healthcare. However, the contextual relevance of extant culture assessment instruments to the primary care context has been questioned. The aim of this paper is to derive a new contextually appropriate understanding of the key dimensions of primary care medical practice organisational culture and their inter-relationship through a synthesis of published qualitative research. A systematic search of six electronic databases followed by a synthesis using techniques of meta-ethnography involving translation and re-interpretation. A total of 16 papers were included in the meta-ethnography from the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand that fell into two related groups: those focused on practice organisational characteristics and narratives of practice individuality; and those focused on sub-practice variation across professional, managerial and administrative lines. It was found that primary care organisational culture was characterised by four key dimensions, i.e. responsiveness, team hierarchy, care philosophy and communication. These dimensions are multi-level and inter-professional in nature, spanning both practice and sub-practice levels. The research contributes to organisational culture theory development. The four new cultural dimensions provide a synthesized conceptual framework for researchers to evaluate and understand primary care cultural and sub-cultural levels. The synthesised cultural dimensions present a framework for practitioners to understand and change organisational culture in primary care teams. The research uses an innovative research methodology to synthesise the existing qualitative research and is one of the first to develop systematically a qualitative conceptual framing of primary care organisational culture.

Using quality improvement to optimise paediatric discharge efficiency

BackgroundBed capacity management is a critical issue facing hospital administrators, and inefficient discharges impact patient flow throughout the hospital. National recommendations include a focus on providing care that is timely...