Rod Peter Gapp

Humanitarian logistics: Enhancing the engagement of local populations

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to identify how local populations, particularly at the municipal and village levels, can enhance their capacity to prepare and respond more effectively and efficiently to the logistic challenges that they face in the aftermath of a natural disaster.Design/methodology/approach – Using a phenomenological approach, a qualitative research study was conducted from an interpretative, constructivist perspective. Through a series of semi‐structured interviews the researchers gathered stories about the experiences of local responders at municipal level in the capital city region of the Republic of the Philippines in the aftermath of a specific natural disaster event (Typhoon Ondoy – September 2009). A number of key differences between the espoused strategies expressed in disaster management legislation and the actual experiences of local people on the ground were identified and, as a result, a conceptual model was developed that, if implemented, would enhance the capacity of l...

Undergraduate management students’ perceptions of what makes a successful virtual group

Purpose – There are a number of factors that are essential to understanding the pedagogy, learning and knowledge requirements of developing virtual platforms for delivering effective course interaction using the World Wide Web (the web). The purpose of this paper is to focus on web‐based group work amongst undergraduate management students, during a two‐year study investigating the development of virtual groups as an important problem‐solving and learning‐enhancement process.Design/methodology/approach – This study is based on the identification of successful groups undertaking undergraduate management courses, where group work is a compulsory component of the course assessment. Focus groups are used to collect a broad qualitative understanding of perceptions of students in relation to success factors. Lexical analysis is then used to analyse data.Findings – Lexical analysis provides four clear clusters that the subjects consider are essential to group learning and performance. The outcomes of the finding...

Generating or developing grounded theory: methods to understand health and illness

Grounded theory is a qualitative research methodology that aims to explain social phenomena, e.g. why particular motivations or patterns of behaviour occur, at a conceptual level. Developed in the 1960s by Glaser and Strauss, the methodology has been reinterpreted by Strauss and Corbin in more recent times, resulting in different schools of thought. Differences arise from different philosophical perspectives concerning knowledge (epistemology) and the nature of reality (ontology), demanding that researchers make clear theoretical choices at the commencement of their research when choosing this methodology. Compared to other qualitative methods it has ability to achieve understanding of, rather than simply describing, a social phenomenon. Achieving understanding however, requires theoretical sampling to choose interviewees that can contribute most to the research and understanding of the phenomenon, and constant comparison of interviews to evaluate the same event or process in different settings or situations. Sampling continues until conceptual saturation is reached, i.e. when no new concepts emerge from the data. Data analysis focusses on categorising data (finding the main elements of what is occurring and why), and describing those categories in terms of properties (conceptual characteristics that define the category and give meaning) and dimensions (the variations within properties which produce specificity and range). Ultimately a core category which theoretically explains how all other categories are linked together is developed from the data. While achieving theoretical abstraction in the core category, it should be logical and capture all of the variation within the data. Theory development requires understanding of the methodology not just working through a set of procedures. This article provides a basic overview, set in the literature surrounding grounded theory, for those wanting to increase their understanding and quality of research output.

How best practices are copied, transferred, or translated between health care facilities: a conceptual framework

Introduction: In spite of significant investment in quality programs and activities, there is a persistent struggle to achieve quality outcomes and performance improvements within the constraints and support of sociopolitical parsimonies. Equally, such constraints have intensified the need to better understand the best practice methods for achieving quality improvements in health care organizations over time. This study proposes a conceptual framework to assist with strategies for the copying, transferring, and/or translation of best practice between different health care facilities. Purpose: Applying a deductive logic, the conceptual framework was developed by blending selected theoretical lenses drawn from the knowledge management and organizational learning literatures. Findings: The proposed framework highlighted that (a) major constraints need to be addressed to turn best practices into everyday practices and (b) double-loop learning is an adequate learning mode to copy and to transfer best practices and deuteron learning mode is a more suitable learning mode for translating best practice. We also found that, in complex organizations, copying, transferring, and translating new knowledge is more difficult than in smaller, less complex organizations. We also posit that knowledge translation cannot happen without transfer and copy, and transfer cannot happen without copy of best practices. Hence, an integration of all three learning processes is required for knowledge translation (copy best practice–transfer knowledge about best practice–translation of best practice into new context). In addition, the higher the level of complexity of the organization, the more best practice is tacit oriented and, in this case, the higher the level of K&L capabilities are required to successfully copy, transfer, and/or translate best practices between organizations. Practice Implications: The approach provides a framework for assessing organizational context and capabilities to guide copy/transfer/translation of best practices. A roadmap is provided to assist managers and practitioners to select appropriate learning modes for building success and positive systemic change.

Service-dominant logic and procurement in Africa: lessons learned from a development agenda in Ghana

A little over a decade now, there have been sweeping procurement reforms in most developing countries. The orchestrators of these reforms - mostly the World Bank and other international financial institutions, have cited financial mismanagement and the lack of transparency in public financial management as reasons for the reforms. In this paper, the authors examine current procurement reforms in Africa from the Ghanaian context and the alignment of these reforms to service-dominant (S-D) logic. S-D logic is seen as a progressive business concept capable of adding value by transforming business practices. Our findings indicate that current procurement reforms in Africa operate under the adversarial approach. Issues of resource integration and networking, collaboration, use of technology in procurement, relationship building and management among actors in business engagements are inimical to current procurement reforms in Ghana. This paper, thus, rekindles the debate on whether management principles in the West can directly be imported and applied in emerging economies.

The risk to organisational excellence by processes that limit managerial knowledge and perception

The focus on organisational excellence in the first instance must be excellence, defined by The Australian Concise Oxford Dictionary as “surpassing merit; thing in which persons etc. excel,” where to excel is to “be superior”. To be excellent one must exceed the existing, to “do more than is warranted by, go beyond the limit set by … surpass.” This paper examines the limits to organisational excellence by investigating the knowledge base behind the perceptions, values and beliefs that have developed both within business and business education over the last 100 years and provides supporting argument from relevant researchers. These authors postulate that such developments have placed limits at both the managerial and organisational levels by developing attitudes and beliefs that are actually in opposition to the real concept of capitalism. Such limits disempower the agents who have the real ability to achieve excellence within the organisation through increasing quality, effectiveness and cooperation.

Hospital employees’ perceptions of fairness and job satisfaction at a time of transformational change

Objective This study examines the relationships between job satisfaction and organisational justice during a time of transformational change. Methods Data collection occurred immediately before a major regional hospitals move to a greenfield site. Existing measures of job satisfaction and organisational justice were used. Data were analysed (n=316) using descriptive, correlation and regression methods together with interactions between predictor variables. Results Correlation coefficients for satisfaction and organisational justice variables were high and significant at the P<0.001 level. Results of a robust regression model (adjusted R(2)=0.568) showed all three components of organisational justice contributed significantly to employee job satisfaction. Interactions between the predictor variables showed that job satisfaction increased as the interactions between the predictor variables increased. Conclusions The finding that even at a time of transformational change staff perceptions of fair treatment will in the main result in high job satisfaction extends the literature in this area. In addition, it was found that increasing rewards for staff who perceive low levels of organisational justice does not increase satisfaction as much as for staff who perceive high levels of fairness. If people feel negative about their role, but feel they are well paid, they probably still have negative feelings overall. What is known about the topic? Despite much research highlighting the importance of job satisfaction and organisational justice in healthcare, no research has examined the influence of transformational change, such as a healthcare organisational relocation, on these factors. What does this paper add? The research adds to academic literature relating to job satisfaction and organisational justice. It highlights the importance of organisational justice in influencing the job satisfaction of staff. What are the implications for practitioners? Financial rewards do not necessarily motivate staff but low rewards do demotivate. Shortages of health professionals are often linked to a lack of job satisfaction, and recruitment and retention strategies are often based on salary.

Taking the professionalism out of the profession: a study of procurement and Africa

Because of their role, position and assumed power in the financial process, procurement practitioners have been linked with corruption in the workplace. While there is research evidence to suggest the incidence of corruption in public procurement in Africa, the article identifies deeper root causes. The study investigates some traditional drivers of corruption in public procurement in Africa. The constant comparative analytic approach is used to analyse interview data. Our findings reveal that most procurement decisions are driven by political rather than managerial processes thereby diminishing the levels of authority and responsibility provided to practitioners. To surmount this challenge, practitioners must increase their level of education and expertise as this will offer them extended involvement in the decision making process. Regarding social pressures from families, this is in response to the complex cultural settings and perceptions, where the profession is linked with the ability to provide socio-economic needs of extended families.