Jeanette Lemmergaard

Regarding gifts—on Christmas gift exchange and asymmetrical business relations

Gift exchange, and the economy associated with it, is not restricted only to those tribal cultures where it has mostly been studied, but can also appear as an element of contemporary market economies. Yet despite this, the practical functioning of gift relationships between business partners is an understudied area. By studying the giving of corporate Christmas gifts, this article contributes to closing this gap. Gifts are seen here as signifiers of hierarchy, position and intent, and although market economy reigns supreme in Western societies, important layers of social economies—such as gift economies—dictate the way in which we behave and read the market economy. Christmas gifts thus represent more than their economic value, and have a social value that is capable of connecting or separating business partners in very specific ways. An understanding of this is crucial for companies trying to manage their image and the signals they send to business partners.

Questioning the assumption that contingent work arrangements reshape organizations and relationships

Purpose – The purpose of this editorial is two‐fold: first, to provide an overview of team‐related issues in the particular realm of contingent work arrangements, and second, to introduce the collection of articles encompassing this special issue.Design/methodology/approach – The editorial is a general literature review that provides the readers of this special issue with a broader scholarly literature framework. The editorial also provides a historical context of the field. First, the phenomenon of contingent work arrangements is discussed. Second, attention is given to identification of major strategic factors, which have been contributing to the growth of contingent work arrangements. Third, team‐related issues of differentiation, integration, and cooperation are discussed.Findings – The overview of research in the area of contingent work arrangements demonstrates that such work arrangements are diverse in their contractual structure. The rationale for which organizations use contingent work arrangemen...

Interfirm knowledge management through a web-based benchlearning system

The survival of firms in an increasingly competitive and global market depends on adequate management of human resources. Adequate management necessitates evaluation of human resources, and in order to obtain organisational learning and gain from knowledge spillovers, implementing a benchlearning tool containing both measurement and valuation is suggested. Such benchlearning tool, however, must facilitate both the process of measuring and of evaluating, and it must communicate the value added from human resources practices. A knowledge-creating and knowledge-sharing web-based IT-benchlearning tool is presented. The system supports organisational learning through interorganisational knowledge sharing. The portal is an interactive IT architecture that supports firms in exchanging knowledge. The architecture is novel in its approach of facilitating benchlearning across industry boundaries and within a soft area (i.e., human resource practices and processes). Besides supporting interfirm knowledge creation and sharing, the tool assists managers in more efficient and qualitative decision-making.

Variation in general practitioners' information-seeking behaviour: a cross-sectional study on the influence of gender, age and practice form

Abstract Objective: To assess general practitioners’ (GPs’) information-seeking behaviour and perceived importance of sources of scientific medical information and to investigate associations with GP characteristics. Design: A national cross-sectional survey was distributed electronically in December 2013. Setting: Danish general practice. Subjects: A population of 3440 GPs (corresponding to approximately 96% of all Danish GPs). Main outcome measures: GPs’ use and perceived importance of information sources. Multilevel mixed-effects logit models were used to investigate associations with GP characteristics after adjusting for relevant covariates. Results: A total of 1580 GPs (46.4%) responded to the questionnaire. GPs’ information-seeking behaviour is associated with gender, age and practice form. Single-handed GPs use their colleagues as an information source significantly less than GPs working in partnership practices and they do not use other sources more frequently. Compared with their younger colleagues, GPs aged above 44 years are less likely to seek information from colleagues, guidelines and websites, but more likely to seek information from medical journals. Male and female GPs seek information equally frequently. However, whereas male GPs are more likely than female GPs to find that pharmaceutical sales representative and non-refundable CME meetings are important, they are less likely to find that colleagues, refundable CME meetings, guidelines and websites are important. Conclusion: Results from this study indicate that GP characteristics should be taken into consideration when disseminating scientific medical information, to ensure that patients receive medically updated, high-quality care. KEY POINTS Research indicates that information-seeking behaviour is associated with GP characteristics. Further insights could provide opportunities for targeting information dissemination strategies. Single-handed GPs seek information from colleagues less frequently than GPs in partnerships and do not use other sources more frequently. GPs aged above 44 years do not seek information as frequently as their younger colleagues and prefer other information sources. Male and female GPs seek information equally frequently, but do not consider information sources equally important in keeping medically updated.

Roles in the ISD process: a collaborative approach

Purpose – Looking at the Scandinavian information systems development (ISD) approach in contrast to more traditional ISD approaches, this paper reflects on experiences of the roles of the participants in an ISD process. The study aims to demonstrate how the theoretical knowledge of academic researchers together with the pragmatic approach of practitioners can be integrated in the ISD process – particularly in a new and more refined way, through a heightened awareness of the different roles.Design/methodology/approach – Based on case study methodology, the study focuses on the roles of human resource academics and human resource practitioners in an ISD process developing an intra‐ and inter‐organizational web‐based knowledge‐sharing portal.Findings – The study demonstrates that in order to secure the success of the ISD process, new roles must be performed and properly orchestrated. Also, the study demonstrates how a constant crosschecking of “real‐world” experiences against “the laboratory” in the ISD proc...

Are formalised implementation activities associated with aspects of quality of care in general practice? A cross-sectional study

Background There is a substantial variation in how different general practices manage knowledge implementation, including the degree to which activities are collectively and formally organised. Yet, it is unclear how these differences in implementation activities affect quality of care. Aim To investigate if there are associations between specific formalised knowledge implementation activities and quality of care in general practices, exemplified by the use of spirometry testing. Design & setting A nationwide cross-sectional study combining survey and register data in Denmark. Method An electronic questionnaire was distributed to GPs, and data on spirometry testing among first-time users of medication against obstructive lung diseases were obtained from national registers. Associations were investigated using multilevel mixed-effect logit models. Results GPs from 1114 practices (58%) responded, and 33 788 patients were linked to a responding practice. In partnership practices, the frequency of interdisciplinary and GP meetings affected the quality of care. Interdisciplinary and GP meetings held on a weekly basis were significantly associated with a higher level of quality of care and this was measured by the odds ratio (OR) of patients having spirometry. The development of practice protocols and standard recordings in the electronic medical record (EMR) for a range of disease areas compared with few or no areas at all also impacted the quality of care level provided. The effect of formalised implementation activities was not as evident in single-handed practices as in partnerships. Conclusion This study provides valuable knowledge for GPs who aim to organise their practice in a way that supports implementation and quality improvement most effectively. Also, results may be useful for managers of implementation strategies and quality improvement initiatives when planning future activities.

Reducing hospital‐acquired infections through knowledge‐sharing in work teams

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to analyze the use of a team‐based organizational structure for the purpose of improving the quality of the services provided by the health care system. More specifically, the research aims to investigate the efficiency of a cross‐functional team‐based structure in regard to improving knowledge‐sharing and hereby reducing hospital‐acquired infections (i.e. health‐care associated infections) caused by insufficient hand hygiene.Design/methodology/approach – The findings are drawn from interviews, observations, and desk research conducted in a large Danish university hospital. The paper has applied a case study methodology using grounded theory and has approached the analysis by employing a holistic view.Findings – The paper identifies the necessity for educating the hygiene teams in regard to team processes. Professional knowledge of proper hygiene behavior is to be combined with knowledge of procurement, processes of change, and teamwork in such a manner that the memb...

Treating threats: the ethical dilemmas of treating threatening patients

This paper considers the impact of threats on professional service workers, especially as these emerge in healthcare services. Based on interviews with healthcare professionals and prison guards, this paper discusses the ethical dilemmas inherent in viewing the doctor–patient relationship from a solely rule-based ethical approach when threatening behaviour is involved. It is argued that under threatening circumstances, a service worker will not be able to exclude personal moral beliefs from the decision-making process. Consequently, the tradition of relying on rule-based ethics is insufficient on its own and must be supplemented with a repersonalised ethics of ‘the Other’.

The Many Faces of Fit

This chapter delimits and discusses design considerations within the field of Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM). The relationship between human resource management (HRM) systems and strategy types is investigated and predictions are made about a simultaneous horizontal and vertical fit. In a conceptual model for SHRM the key argument is that the fit between business strategy and HRM strategy is determined by task characteristics of the strategy type and internally consistent HRM practices, i.e. a matching hypothesis.