Small Number Of Organizations Research Articles

Tools to support the development of a quality culture in a learning organisation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show how a systematic approach and supporting tools can support the development of a quality culture, and align cultural change with process improvement goals. Design/methodology/approach – The paper describes the development and deployment of a systematic approach to developing a quality culture, achieved through a structured approach to mentoring and supporting learning techniques including algorithmic matching of mentors to mentees and a structured mentoring journey built around goals and milestones. Findings – A structured approach to mentoring can deliver significant enhancements to a quality culture, complementing structured approaches to process improvement allowing alignment of cultural and process goals. Research limitations/implications – The approach has been applied in a relatively small number of organisations (eight) at the time of writing. Originality/value – The use of a structured approach to learning enables establishment of a quality culture to be part of a structured quality plan.

Mechanisms of Cumulative Advantage Among NGOs Engaging Men in Violence Prevention

In the last 20 years, gendered violence has come to the forefront of human rights and public health discourse as a global phenomenon and as a global health concern. As this awareness has increased, so has the emphasis on the important role that men play in the prevention of gendered violence. Funding is now pouring into relatively new organizations seeking to engage men, yet little research has been done to examine the patterns through which this work gets endorsed, funded, and executed. In-depth interviews with leaders of these organizations and their funders reveal the mechanisms by which a small number of organizations are able to obtain and maintain financial and political leadership in this growing global field. The impact of cumulative advantage on the work being done is also discussed.

How are software defects found? The role of implicit defect detection, individual responsibility, documents, and knowledge

ContextPrior research has focused heavily on explicit defect detection, such as formal testing and reviews. However, in reality, humans find software defects in various activities. Implicit defect detection activities, such as preparing a product demonstration or updating a user manual, are not designed for defect detection, yet through such activities defects are discovered. In addition, the type of documentation, and knowledge used, in defect detection is diverse. ObjectiveTo understand how defect detection is affected by the perspectives of responsibility, activity, knowledge, and document use. To provide illustrative numbers concerning the multidimensionality of defect detection in an industrial context. MethodThe data were collected with a survey on four software development organizations in three different companies. We designed the survey based on our prior extensive work with these companies. ResultsWe found that among our subjects (n=105), implicit defect detection made a higher contribution than explicit defect detection in terms of found defects, 62% vs. 38%. We show that defect detection was performed by subjects in various roles supporting the earlier reports of testing being a cross-cutting activity in software development organizations. We found a low use of test cases (18%), but a high use of other documents in software defect detection, and furthermore, we found that personal knowledge was applied as an oracle in defect detection much more often than documented oracles. Finally, we recognize that contextual factors largely affect the transferability of our results, and we provide elaborate discussion about the most important contextual factors. Furthermore, we must be cautious as the results were obtained with a survey, and come from a small number of organizations. ConclusionsIn this paper, we show the large impact of implicit defect detection activities in four case organizations. Implicit defect detection has a large contribution to defect detection in practice, and can be viewed as an extremely low-cost way of detecting defects. Thus, harnessing and supporting it better may increase quality without increasing costs. For example, if an employee can update the user manual, and simultaneously detect defects from the software, then the defect detection part of this activity can be seen as cost-free. Additionally, further research is needed on how diverse types of useful documentation and knowledge can be utilized in defect detection.

Conservation and concealment in SpeciesBanking.com, USA: an analysis of neoliberal performance in the species offsetting industry

SUMMARYMarket-based strategies are promoted as neoliberal governance solutions to environmental problems, from local to global scales. Tradable mitigation schemes are proliferating. These include species banking, which enables payments for the purchase of species credits awarded to conserved areas to offset development impacts on protected species elsewhere. An analysis of species banks in the USA through a survey of data from the websitewww.SpeciesBanking.com(established as a ‘clearing house’ for species banking information) was complemented by questionnaire material from USA bank managers. The number of USA species banks has increased rapidly, bank area ownership and management is consolidated in a small number of organizations, and public information on species credit price is limited. In interrogating the case material, the roles of specific economic policies associated with neoliberalism are considered, focusing on the extension of privatization, de- and re-regulation and marketization into the arena of environmental conservation, and commodification processes as manifested in species banking. Problematic ecological and distributive ‘concealments’ in species banking include the ‘development-led’ nature of conservation banking, tendencies towards net biodiversity loss, and an emphasis on supporting conservation-related wealth accumulation by larger landowners and investors.

An Investigation of Enterprise Resource Planning Implementation in a Small Firm

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems have been recognized as complex and costly, which limited their implementation in large organizations. However, an increasing number of small organizations have recently gained interest in this system. This paper investigates the implementation process of ERP in a small firm. The investigation focused on two perspectives of ERP implementation: successes achieved and problems encountered. Despite many problems encountered in the firm, the ERP system still exists. This gives evidence that small organizations are more flexible and motivated to adapt to change and implement an ERP system. Most problems were encountered at early stages of implementation, which can be minimized if deliberate decision making of ERP implementation and proper selection processes were in place. Further, ERP is a good solution for small organizations if they are able to build a relevant in-house system.

Museums' communication in small‐ and medium‐sized cities

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study how museums in a medium‐sized city (Tarragona, Spain) communicate with their local community, analysing how people evaluate and inform themselves about the museums in their city, and studying how museums identify their specific publics within the local community and communicate with them.Design/methodology/approachThe author has designed a dual methodological approach, using qualitative and quantitative research methods. Qualitative research was conducted using in‐depth interviews with communication managers of the museums. Also, quantitative research was employed, designing a questionnaire directed at the local community in Tarragona (Spain).FindingsThe results show that museums have a narrow view of their publics, which is focused basically on their visitors, and that they are familiar with and use communication tools and techniques, although with a tactical perspective.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper was focused on all the museums in Tarragona, but it is a small number of organisations, and therefore, the results are not necessarily representative of all Catalan or Spanish museums.Originality/valueThe paper presents a specific methodology for analysing the communication of museums of any kind. From an academic perspective, this paper can improve our understanding of how museums communicate with their publics. It can be used by other researchers to analyse these types of organisations, and to promote the comparison of results. From a practitioner perspective, the results can contribute towards identifying some of the strengths and weaknesses of communication policies and activities of the museums and help to improve their communication management.

All Politics is Not Local: Networks and Influence in North Carolina from 1993 to 2008

Using social network and standard statistical analysis as well as state lobbying data from North Carolina and federal lobbying data, this project studies the structure of lobbying at the state level. Little research has explored the connections between special interests represented at both the national and state levels and possible associations with lobbying influence. A significant number of lobbying organizations, including law firms, engage in lobbying at the federal level as well as the state level. Moreover, the structure of relations among lobbying organizations appear to exhibit a truncated scale-free distribution of ties in which a small number of organizations garner the majority of ties. Law firms and other lobbying firms that operate at the federal and state levels seem to be the critical nodes in terms of the structure of the overall network. The results suggest that law firms that are more central in the network of lobbying organizations, that are rated as influential by their peers in state politics, and that operate at both the state and federal levels are more likely to garner client ties.

Evolution of right‐first‐time dyeing production

The concept of right‐first‐time production has become an essential feature of textile processing to enable companies to remain competitive and profitable through the many benefits achieved by this concept, not least the major cost savings that are obtained. It is perhaps surprising that no formal research and development programme was ever undertaken to achieve right‐first‐time in practical dyeing processes. The successful evolution of the concept depended on work carried out over many years by a relatively small number of organisations. Many application research and development projects were carried out, mainly with the laboratory, pilot‐plant and bulk‐scale equipment of the major users and manufacturers of dyes and equipment, to elucidate the important factors in achieving this concept.

Teaching and Learning Guide for: Social Movements in Organizations

Teaching and Learning Guide for: Social Movements in Organizations

The analysis of efficiency among a small number of organisations: How inferences can be improved by exploiting patient‐level data

Those responsible for monitoring and managing the performance of health-care organisations face the common problem that the relationship between observed performance and effort is difficult to establish. A solution is to compare the performance of multiple organisations, but this requires a sufficient number of comparators. Faced with a small sample, it may be possible to exploit other information sources. Multilevel regression models are applied to analyse the performance of six Danish vascular departments in 2004 using a patient-level data set. We find that treatment costs are higher for smokers, older patients, patients with cerebrovascular and pulmonal diseases and for those subject to acute hospitalisation and with longer lengths of stay. Costs are lower for patients who are having follow-up surgery and for patients who receive some form of home care, suggesting that there may be some substitution of care input between vascular departments and other care providers. We estimate the relative efficiency of each department. The construction of confidence intervals allows the six departments to be sorted into two groups containing the least and most efficient departments. Conclusions about relative efficiency are robust to model specification, choice of estimator and hold at the 95% confidence level.

An examination of buying centres in Irish biotechnology companies and its marketing implications

PurposeThis research is a qualitative study which aims to investigate the intricacies of organisational buying behaviour in the context of the Irish biotechnology industry. Particularly the research seeks to focus on the phenomenon of buying centres as the core decision‐making unit in an organisation and examines the functionality of such a process. The main aims of the research study is to examine key influencers, as well as to examine the decision process itself so as to fully comprehend modern organisational buyer behaviour and to discuss these issues from a practical viewpoint beneficial to both the marketing and purchasing functions.Design/methodology/approachThe research process was conducted through qualitative methods, which formed a combination of focus group and key respondent interviewing. A triangular approach of data was also used to obtain quality information and to achieve a platform upon which to base accurate conclusions. A small number of organisations from industry participated in this study, which was deemed sufficient as the purpose of the study was gaining insight as opposed to proving or disproving previous theories.FindingsIt was discovered that users were key influencers in the decision process as were quality control personnel. In addition the business functions were found to be the decision makers in a highly dynamic buying centre process, which is constantly changing in terms of numbers, participation, and structure. Based on the finding of the research newer models of organisation buying behaviour were developed in addition to appropriate marketing strategies being put forward in order to better represent the realities of modern business‐to‐business marketing. This is where the real benefits of this research will be seen as marketing organisations become more efficient, buying organisations develop best practice procedures, and academics can build on this research base to further enhance marketing knowledge.Originality/valueThe paper examines buying centres in Irish biotechnology companies and offers recommendations for future research.

A survey of policy and practice on expenses and other payments to mental health service users and carers participating in service development

This paper reports a survey of 75 organisations commissioning and providing secondary mental health services regarding their policies and practice in respect of payment to mental health services users and informal carers for expenses and their time when participating in the design, development, delivery and monitoring of services. A wide range of statutory and non-statutory organisations was invited to participate. Results indicate that there is a considerable desire to develop practice in this area and that the issue of payments is viewed as important in addressing user and carer participation. Significantly, many organisations employed unwritten policies based on custom and practice and were most likely to relate to basic expenses payments rather than payments for time given. A small number of organisations had developed robust policies and these usually included payment for time as well as expenses payments. Useful areas to address in developing policies were identified, along with barriers and possible solutions to successful implementation of such initiatives.

A new six ‘S’ framework on the relationship between the role of information systems (IS) and competencies in ‘IS’ management

The role of information systems (IS) in increasing operational efficiency and strategic advantage has been the subject of much academic research recently. A number of useful models have been developed by several researchers with varying degrees of success to provide a better understanding of the technology's potential in a range of organisational environments. This paper will make a critical assessment of most of the existing models, highlighting in each case, the positive and negative aspects and then proceed to outline the rationale for the development of a new six ‘S’ framework. The guiding principle in the development of this model has been that the adoption and diffusion of technology in organisations is a non-linear process and that organisations need not graduate from step 1 to step 2, etc. as is the case with most existing models. Each organisation's expectations from technology can be different and the fulfilment of these expectations hinges on the core competence of the organisation to exploit technology as the opportunity arises. According to our model, IS has five potential roles to play in an organisation. These are arranged around a ‘central core’ entitled ‘Survival’, which emphasises that technology is an essential part of doing business and that organisations would be unable to function without it. The other four roles, Sources and resources, Strategic, Service Value Analysis (SVA) and S(C)yberspace act as ‘satellites’ orbiting around this central hub. The sixth ‘S’, Sustainability, is the protective layer concerned with the management processes associated with the use of technology. Based on a comprehensive review of the literature and case studies in a small number of organisations, this paper will describe the applicability of this model as a methodological tool in enabling organisations to understand clearly the relationship between good IS management practices and the successful use of technology in a dynamic global environment. The model argues that whatever the role of information technology (IT) in organisations, sustainable advantage will depend on the ability to manage the IS resources effectively on an on-going basis.

The Changing Basis of Competition in Organizational Populations: The Manhattan Hotel Industry, 1898-1990

Density-dependence theory cannot account for the widely observed pattern of proliferation and concentration in organizational populations. Although density dependence provides an explanation for initial proliferation, it cannot explain subsequent concentration because it does not allow some organizations to become dominant competitors. To address this basic limitation, I combine density dependence with three ecological models that permit size-based competitive asymmetries among a population's members and let the intensity of competitive processes vary over time. My analysis shows that Manhattan hotels of different sizes generate and experience different strengths of competition and that size-based competitive processes increase in strength over time, contrbuting to industry concentration. Separating empirically the effects of low-density conditions that occur early and late in a population's history also clarifies tests of density dependence in populations that have evolved beyond their peak density. The evolutionary trajectories of diverse organizational populations appear to follow a common path. The number of organizations grows slowly initially, then increases rapidly to a peak. Once the maximum is reached, the number of organizations declines as one or a few large organizations come to dominate a much larger number of small organizations. Populations of newspaper publishers, labor unions, breweries, and banks, to list only a few, follow this basic pattern (Hannan & Carroll 1992). The application of ecological models of competition to explain this pattern has been a frequent topic in recent research in organizational sociology. An impressive array of evidence has been assem

Newspaper Advocacy Advertising

This article examines the magnitude and diversity of advocacy advertising in The New York Times and Washington Post for 1989. It is based on an analysis of the 661 advertisements which appeared in the two papers in 1989. The analysis shows: A small number of organizations regularly used advocacy ad- vertising as a communication tool. Profit corporations utilized advocacy advertising most fre- quently. However, nonprofit social service groups seem to be using advocacy advertising more frequently in the last several years. Three organizations were responsible for one-quarter of all ad- vocacy advertisements. Economic and social welfare issues were topics most often dis- cussed in the advertisements. The primary objective of the majority of ads was to mobilize public action rather than to provide education or improve pub- lic image.