David Partington
Cranfield University
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Featured researches published by David Partington.
International Journal of Project Management | 1996
David Partington
Abstract There is mounting pressure from many sources for organizations to abandon more bureaucratic forms of organization in favour of flexible project-based structures. However, despite widespread perceptions of the importance of this new structural form, there is a lack of acknowledgement of fundamental incongruities between the objectives, principles and techniques of project management and the needs of flexible project-based forms of organization. This paper considers the overall lack of empirical studies of project management in the context of organizational innovation and suggests a potentially fruitful new direction for project management research.
Journal of Management Development | 1999
David Partington; Hilary Harris
Accompanying the growing use of teams in the workplace, Belbin’s diagnostic instrument for team role self‐perception is now widely used for a variety of practical management development purposes, including putting together “balanced” teams. Despite the claims of some purists that Belbin’s instrument lacks a strong theoretical underpinning, it fills an apparent void in practical teamworking literature, even though its applicability is not well understood. This study uses data from 43 teams of MBA students performing a project management simulation exercise, and finds no significant relationship between team role balance and team performance. Nevertheless, the study shows that the presence or absence of some individual roles can have a positive or negative effect on performance.
International Journal of Innovation Management | 2003
David Tranfield; Malcolm Young; David Partington; John Bessant; Jonathan Sapsed
In this paper we use the literature on knowledge management and innovation, together with empirical data, to develop a process model for knowledge management routines in the context of innovation projects. First we develop a high-level conceptualisation from the literature, the model characterising knowledge management as consisting of three distinct phases: Discovery, Realisation and Nurture. We then expand this three phase perspective into a model of generic knowledge management routines, reporting four contrasting, exemplar cases from a wide ranging study across business sectors. Using the notions of radical and incremental innovation in both products and processes we illustrate how the three high-level phases may be further expanded into a more detailed conceptualisation of the knowledge management process. This comprises eight generic routines: Search, Capture, Articulate, Contextualise, Apply, Evaluate, Support and Re-innovate. We derive a new description of knowledge management and discuss the practical implications of the model, including the opportunities which exist for cross-sector learning between organisations which are superficially dissimilar. We conclude that the successful management of organisational knowledge in the context of innovation requires attention to be paid to all eight generic routines and to the influence of enablers and blockers operating both inside and outside the framework of routines.
Women in Management Review | 2004
Simon Wilson; Michael J.R. Butler; Kim James; David Partington; Val Singh; Susan Vinnicombe
Many organisations are encouraging their staff to integrate work and non‐work, but a qualitative study of young professionals found that many crave greater segregation rather than more integration. Most wished to build boundaries to separate the two and simplify a complex world. Where working practices render traditional boundaries of time and space ineffective, this population seems to create new idiosyncratic boundaries to segregate work from non‐work. These idiosyncratic boundaries depended on age, culture and life‐stage though for most of this population there was no appreciable gender difference in attitudes to segregating work and non‐work. Gender differences only became noticeable for parents. A matrix defining the dimensions to these boundaries is proposed that may advance understanding of how individuals separate their work and personal lives. In turn, this may facilitate the development of policies and practices to integrate work and non‐work that meet individual as well as organisational needs.
Public Management Review | 2011
Jonathan Lupson; David Partington
Abstract This article presents a preliminary study of how civil servants in the United Kingdom understand accountability characterized by its emphasis on individual performance and accountability. Using the interpretive approach known as phenomenography, we interviewed ten civil servants who as Senior Responsible Owners (SROs) were accountable for the delivery of IT enabled business change programmes. Our analysis revealed five attributes of accountability, each conceived at three levels in a hierarchy of increasing richness and complexity. These results challenge the notion that accountability is a unitary concept and that there is conflict between traditional and newer forms of accountability.
Organizational Research Methods | 2007
David Partington; Mark Jenkins
Understanding the variety of different ways in which citations contribute to scholarly writing is an important part of the tacit knowledge possessed by experienced researchers. There is, however, little published work to help novice researchers develop this aspect of their craft. To address this issue, we present a framework of citation usage derived from inductive analysis of a selection of published articles and emphasize its relevance for research methods topics. This framework provides a template for structuring citation usage in academic research and a useful developmental tool for novice researchers.
British Journal of Management | 2000
David Partington
International Journal of Project Management | 2007
Sergio Pellegrinelli; David Partington; Christopher J. Hemingway; Zaher Mohdzain; Mahmood Shah
International Journal of Project Management | 2005
David Partington; Sergio Pellegrinelli; Malcolm Young
International Journal of Project Management | 2004
Ping Chen; David Partington