R.L.J. Schouteten

First organise, then automate: a modern socio-technical view on ERP systems and teamworking

Previous empirical work demonstrated that self-managing teamwork and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are difficult to combine in practice, and have called for the development of templates for configuring ERP systems to support teamworking. This requires a view on organisation design, dealing with both in an integrated fashion. Modern Socio-technology provides such a view. We discuss its underlying principles and show how it relates to ERP.

Age as a moderator in the relationship between work-related characteristics, job dissatisfaction and need for recovery

Job dissatisfaction and need for recovery are associated with voluntary turnover, absenteeism and diminished health. In the light of encouraging working longer, this study investigated whether the relationships between various work characteristics and job dissatisfaction and need for recovery are dependent on age. Cross-sectional questionnaire data from 591 university employees were divided into four age groups: < 36, 36–44, 45–54 and ≥ 55 years. Multivariate regression analyses were used, including interaction variables to detect a moderating effect of age group. Limited age group effects were found: only the association of Feedback with job dissatisfaction and Task variety with need for recovery were influenced by age group. The salience of specific work characteristics within the age groups varied: for job dissatisfaction, Task variety ( < 55) and Changes in tasks ( ≥ 55) were most important. For need for recovery, this applied to Autonomy ( < 36) and Workload ( ≥ 45). To encourage working longer, age-specific measures could be considered, in addition to individual measures, to respond to individual needs. Practitioner summary: Demographic changes increase the importance to stimulate working longer. Using questionnaire data, we investigated the relationship between work characteristics, job dissatisfaction and need for recovery in four age groups. Although the moderating effect of age group was rather limited, the salience of specific work characteristics within the age groups varied.

ERP‐systems and job content: a case study of HR‐assistants

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to gain insights into the effects of an enterprise resource planning (ERP)‐implementation on job content.Design/methodology/approach – Data are collected using a qualitative expert instrument (WEBA) and a questionnaire (NOVA‐WEBA) among HR‐assistants in a case study in the Dutch hospitality industry.Findings – Contrary to what one might expect, the introduction of an ERP‐system does not automatically result in a more centralized organization: in granting local authorizations user/employee job decision latitude is affected c.q. realized. However, even when a decentralization policy is pursued as is the case in our study, job decision latitude is not necessarily enhanced. This is partly caused by ERP‐related changes such as increasing standardization of operational procedures and data entry requirements, and partly by organization‐specific developments in how tasks get assigned to jobs.Research limitations/implications – The configuration of ERP‐systems varies by organ...

Knowledge management, health information technology and nurses’ work engagement

Background: Knowledge management (KM) extends the health information technology (HIT) literature by addressing its impact on creating knowledge by sharing and using the knowledge of health care professionals in hospitals. Purpose: The aim of the study was to provide insight into how HIT affects nurses’ explicit and tacit knowledge of their ongoing work processes and work engagement. Methodology: Data were collected from 74 nurses in four wards of a Dutch hospital via a paper-and-pencil survey using validated measurement instruments. In a quasiexperimental research design, HIT was introduced in the two experimental wards in contrast to the two control wards. At the time of the HIT introduction, a pretest was administered in all four wards and was followed by a posttest after 3 months. Data were analyzed via partial least squares modeling. Results: Generally, nurses’ tacit knowledge (i.e., their insight into and their capacity to make sense of the work processes) appears to be a significant and strong predictor of their work engagement. In contrast, nurses’ explicit knowledge (i.e., information feedback about patients and tasks) only indirectly affects work engagement via its effect on tacit knowledge. Its effect on work engagement therefore depends on the mediating role of tacit knowledge. Interestingly, introducing HIT significantly affects only nurses’ explicit knowledge, not their tacit knowledge or work engagement. Practice Implications: Nurses’ tacit and explicit knowledge needs to be systematically distinguished when implementing HIT/KM programs to increase work engagement in the workplace. Tacit knowledge (insight into work processes) appears to be pivotal, whereas efforts aimed only at improving available information will not lead to a higher level of work engagement in nurses’ work environments.

Implementing lean practices in manufacturing SMEs: testing ‘critical success factors’ using Necessary Condition Analysis

Lean practices are known to increase operational performance. Previous research has identified critical success factors for implementing lean practices. This research aims to examine the extent to which success factors are critical for various degrees of lean practice implementation. Using multiple-respondent self-assessments from 33 Dutch manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), we conducted a Necessary Condition Analysis. Our findings indicated that the criticality of success factors is progression dependent. In the initial stages of the lean journey, SMEs could improve their lean practices in a bottom-up manner through local factors such as a learning focus, improvement training and support congruence. When lean practices are more advanced, some company-wide factors must be present: top management support, a shared improvement vision and a supplier link. Our findings question the universality of success factors such as strategic involvement and indicate the need for a more dynamic model of lean implementation.

The relative importance of improvement routines for implementing lean practices

Purpose This paper examines whether and when improvement routines are critical for implementing lean practices in small- and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs). Improvement routines such as “employees initiate and carry through improvement activities” are generally seen as an important means to achieve the full benefit of structural lean interventions. Womack and Jones (2003) suggest that these improvement routines should be developed as the company becomes more experienced in lean. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relative importance of individual improvement routines at various degrees of lean practice implementation. Design/methodology/approach A Between-Case Comparison Analysis (Dul and Hak, 2012) and a Necessary Condition Analysis (Dul, 2016) were performed on self-assessment data from 241 respondents at 38 Dutch manufacturing SMEs. Findings The importance of improvement routines depended on the degree of lean practice implementation. Lean practices could be implemented to some extend without developing specific improvement routines, yet certain routines were necessary for more advanced implementations of lean. These routines relate to employees conducting shared improvement activities and in the most advanced cases to aligning different improvement activities. Originality/value These findings question existing lean implementation models that neglect improvement routines and indicate the need to integrate improvement routines into every lean transformation for it to be sustainable.