Power and passion:remoulded teamwork in a plastics factory

Purpose: &ndash; The purpose of this paper is to document the progress made in a specified period and the experience of managers and staff in sustaining the high performance team approach in a plastics factory.Design/methodology/approach: &ndash; Single-case analysis was conducted on data collected through semi-structured interviews and site observations made with two managers and one team of six in a multinational plastics manufacturer (Visy) headquartered in Australia.Findings: &ndash; Based on the authors\u27 experiences and literature review a successful high performance team requires clear targets and efficiency standards, communication, rules of behaviour, continual input of facts and feedback, and last but not least &ndash; recognition of successes.Research limitations/implications: &ndash; The findings are based on observations and interviews conducted in one part of a multinational organization in Australia. No follow-up interviews could be undertaken to track the progress.Originality/value: &ndash; No other similar study had been undertaken in this organisation documenting the experiences of a quality improvement team and its interactions with managers. The findings have practical implications for industrial and other kinds of organisations engaged in implementing quality improvements through enhanced teamwork. <br /

People in Spaces: How Perception of the Physical Work Environment Impact Employee Engagement and Employee Outcomes

This study examines the partial mediating effect of employee engagement on the relationship between perceptions of the physical work environment and the three employee outcomes of performance, well-being, and organizational commitment. The theoretical framework of this study was Person – Environment Fit and the Job Demands – Resources Model. A total of 169 office workers from three diverse organizations participated in the study. Data was analyzed using Partial Least Squares - Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results showed perceptions of the physical work environment has a positive effect on employee engagement, employee performance, employee well-being, and organizational commitment, and that employee engagement partially mediates the relationship. Contributions to the current body of knowledge includes an extension of the Person – Environment Fit Theory, an extension of the Job Demands – Resources Model, and the relationship between perceptions of the physical work environment and employee engagement

Erityisherkkien ihmisten johtaminen tietotyössä

Erityisherkkyydellä tarkoitetaan autonomisen hermoston perinnöllistä ominaisuutta, joka on noin joka viidennellä ihmisellä. Kyse on taipumuksesta ja tyylistä toimia ja reagoida ympäristön ärsykkeisiin, sekä temperamenttiin liittyvästä emotionaalisesta reagoivuudesta ja aistiherkkyydestä (sensory processing sensitivity, SPS). Erityisherkkä ihminen tiedostaa ympäristöstään vivahteita muita tarkemmin, ja nämä havainnot aiheuttavat usein tavallista vahvempia tunnereaktioita. Erityisherkkyydelle tunnistettuja pääpiirteitä on neljä: tarkka havainnointikyky, kuormittumisalttius, vahva eläytymiskyky ja syvällinen tiedon käsittely. Erityisherkkyyteen liittyvät persoonallisuuden piirteistä sisäänpäin suuntautuneisuus, avoimuus, neuroottisuus ja tunnollisuus. Erityisherkät ihmiset kokevat usein olevansa virheellisiä, mitä tunnetta voimistavat herkkyyteen liitetyt ennakkokäsitykset. Merkittävällä osalla ihmisistä ilmenevät, muista tunnistettavasti poikkeavat taipumukset ja toimintatyylit asettavat työelämässä erityisvaatimuksia henkilöjohtamiselle. Tämä kirjallisuustutkimus ottaa kantaa ja etsii vastausta kysymykseen, miten erityisherkkien henkilöiden tarpeet voidaan huomioida erityisesti nykyaikaisessa tietotyössä. Tutkimus tarkastelee, millaisena erityisherkkyys ja tietotyö näyttäytyvät sekä millaisia kokemuksia erityisherkillä on työelämästä, ja esittää päätelmiä siitä, miten erityisherkkyys on huomioitavissa henkilöjohtamisessa tietotyössä. Tietotyöllä viitataan muutokseen, jossa perinteinen ruumiillinen tai suorittava työ on suurelta osin korvautunut korkeaa koulutusta sekä tiedon ja tietotekniikan hallintaa edellyttävillä tehtävillä. Tietotyölle tunnusomaiset vaatimukset liittyvät suuren tietomäärän vastaanottamiseen, käsittelyyn ja uuden tiedon tuottamiseen. Työssä korostuu luovuus rutiinien sijaan, ja työvälineistä riippumattomat kognitiiviset prosessit ovat työn kaikkein ratkaisevin ja tietointensiivisin osa. Työtehtävät kytkeytyvät erottamattomasti henkilösuhteisiin ja vuorovaikutukseen. Koska vallitseva kulttuuri suosii luonteenpiirteitä, jotka ilmenevät ei-herkällä enemmistöllä, erityisherkillä on usein vaikeuksia toimia sosiaalista statusta, itsevarmaa olemusta ja ulosantia korostavassa työelämässä. Heidän itsetuntonsa horjuu helposti ja he kuormittuvat tilanteista, jotka eivät aiheuta muille vastaavaa ylivirittymistä ja sosiaalista väsymistä. Erityisherkkien motivaatioon vaikuttaa muita enemmän kokemus työn tarkoituksellisuudesta, henkinen ja fyysinen työympäristö ja sosiaalisten suhteiden syvyys. Samalla erityisherkillä on ominaisuuksia, jotka ovat nähtävissä hyödyllisinä erityisesti tietotyössä. Erityisherkät menestyvät tilanteissa, joissa ympäristö on heitä ja heidän piirteitään kannustava ja kun ympäristöstä on poistettu sinne kuulumattomat fyysiset ja henkiset häiriötekijät. Erityisherkät ovat usein muita tavoitteellisempia ja määrätietoisempia ja heillä on taipumus luovuuteen, uteliaisuuteen ja avoimuuteen. Ihmisten välisissä suhteissa erityisherkkien empatiakyvyllä ja taidolla lukea ihmisiä tarkasti on alati kasvava merkitys. Tutkimuksen päätelminä esitetään erityisherkkien johtamiseen tietotyössä kolmea muutosta, jotka koskevat tarvetta erityisherkkyyden tunnistamiseen ja tunnustamiseen, tarvetta luovuuden ruokkimiseen sekä fyysisen ja henkisen työympäristön muokkaamiseen erityisherkille sopivaksi

Working misunderstandings and notions of collaboration

In a direct sense of the word, a “mis”-understanding is an understanding, but not in the “right” normatively expected direction. It therefore enables access to diverging viewpoints of the interacting parties. Consequently, misunderstandings can be regarded as an opportunity rather than a threat to ethnographic insight. By introducing the concept of working misunderstandings, this article illustrates in fact their productive (positive) role to facilitate social interaction on the basis of various accounts from literature. Derived from the diverging applications of the concept in ethnographic studies, a quadrant typology is proposed to structure working misunderstandings as analytical category. The suggested framework aims to facilitate a more precise discussion on working misunderstandings and their systematic employment in ethnographic research. The ethnographic example deals with a working misunderstanding between the anthropologist and her interlocutors on “collaboration” in a multi-national professional servicing firm in Mumbai, India.Littéralement, le malentendu (mis-understanding) est une forme de compréhension (understanding), mais dans une direction ne correspondant pas à la norme anticipée. Il permet dès lors d’accéder aux points de vue divergents des parties qui interagissent. Les malentendus sont dès lors plus une opportunité qu’une menace pour la recherche ethnographique. Sur base d’exemples puisés dans la littérature ethnographique, cet article reprend le concept de malentendus productifs (working misunderstandings) et illustre leur rôle positif pour faciliter les interactions sociales. Les usages variés du concept apparaissant dans cette littérature ont permis d’élaborer une typologie en quadrant des cas de figure. Ceci permet d’analyser avec plus de précision les références au malentendu productif et leur usage dans la recherche ethnographique. Le travail de terrain de l’auteur est mobilisé pour montrer comment un malentendu productif relatif à la « collaboration » a évolué, entre l’ethnographe et ses interlocuteurs, dans un multinationale de sous-traitance installée à Mumbay

Requirements elicitation and planning of a knowledge portal : case study of a property management division in a housing organization

Author name used in this manuscript: Patrick S. W. Fong2011-2012 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalAuthor’s OriginalPublishe

Discussing the motivation of knowlede workers to engage in employee driven innovation - the influence of trust in organisation processes

Title: Discussing the motivation of knowledge workers to engage in employee driven innovation – the influence of trust in organisational processes Date of the seminar: June 3rd 2014 Course: Master Corporate Entrepreneurship and Innovation Internship and degree project (Master thesis 15 ECTS) Authors: Sam Hobbs & Julien Véron Supervisor: Håkan Lagerquist Keywords: Motivation, trust, employee driven innovation, knowledge workers, innovation, organisational processes Thesis purpose: The purpose of this thesis to establish both what determines knowledge workers’ trust in organisational processes, as well as the influence of such trust on their motivation to engage in employee driven innovation. Both of these areas have been underexploited and thus the authors seek to close gaps within literature. Insights into these two areas can advise organisations in how to design organisational processes so as to maximise employee trust, as well as how to increase the motivation of employees to engage in innovative behaviour. Methodology: This qualitative research employed a case study design which sought to inductively develop new theory. The authors interned as thesis workers in the Apps, Services and Development Department of Sony Mobile in Lund, Sweden. Following familiarisation with the organisation through informal discussions and observations, the authors undertook a preliminary literature review. Through this review organisational processes were recognised as an important means by which employees can engage in innovation. Following this a more thorough literature review was conducted which established the authors’ theoretical framework, after which the authors gathered empirical data through semi-structured interviews with managers and employees working within the department. This empirical data was then examined against the theoretical framework in order to generate the authors’ conclusions, both in terms of contributing new theory and providing practical implications for managers and organisations. Theoretical perspectives: The authors were inspired and influenced by previous literature when undertaking the thesis: knowledge workers (Newell et al., 2009; Drucker, 1959), trust (Mayer et al., 2009, Costa, 2003; Colquitt et al., 2007, motivation (Ettinger, 2007; Jayawarna et al., 2013) and employee driven innovation (Roderkerken, 2011; Kristansen & Bloch-Poulsen, 2010). Such literature enabled the authors to identify four factors of trust – integrity (Killinger, 2010), fairness (Janssen, 2000; Lawler, 1968), credibility (Lyman, 2003) and control (Jayawarna et al., 2013, Coyle-Stapiro & Shore, 2007; Nemeth & Staw, 1989). The authors could then ascertain exactly what factors inspired employed trust in organisation processes. After this the authors could then establish the influence of such trust on motivation to engage in innovative behaviours, with Ettinger (2007) dividing motivation into three distinct stages – initial motivation, motivation in the face of adversity and motivation to work with high intensity. Thus the authors were enabled to establish what form of motivation is influenced by employee trust in organisational processes. Conclusions: The researchers concluded that trust of knowledge workers in organisation processes is largely determined by the extent to which such processes hold integrity, fairness and credibility. Credibility – that is the likelihood that a process will enable successful development of an idea – was observed to be of particular importance for workers who were strongly focused on the potential benefits that could arise from a successful development of an innovative idea. Workers were also found to be more trusting of processes which held some form of human interaction. This trust in organisational processes was established to have an influence upon the initial motivation of workers to engage in developing innovative ideas. However such trust was found to have little influence on their motivation to persist with a project in the face of difficulty or to develop an idea with high intensity. Organisations aware of these findings can seek to strengthen the degree of integrity, fairness and credibility in their processes so as to gain the trust of knowledge workers, which can then have a positive impact on their motivation to engage in employee driven innovation

Assessing the collaborative knowledge management of the market dominant organization

Dominant firms enjoy economic strengths which enable them to compete effectively in relevant markets through the use of collaborative knowledge management (CKM). While the literature is replete with general guiding principles for companies to adopt successful business strategies, there is very limited empirical research on effectively using CKM to improve company performance and market domination. The purpose of this study was to evaluate strategies for information sharing by companies to achieve better operations management and control, a wider range of customers, and stronger competitive edge in the global economy. Epistemological foundation for the study was provided by the literature on knowledge management and organizational dynamics. Data were collected by an electronically self-administered questionnaire on a convenience sample of 80 employees of three small businesses in Memphis, Tennessee. A quantitative method using Poisson regression was applied to test the hypotheses about relationships between six independent variables of value proposition, culture building, responsibilities, information technology, approaches and assessment and the dependent variable, collaborative knowledge management. Results indicate that value proposition, information technology, and building an organizational culture of responsibilities and best practices play significant roles in effective CKM. Social change implications of the study suggest that high-intensity collaborative knowledge management would produce creative leaders and workers, improved leader-worker collaboration, and more effective use of information technologies in organizational intelligence and decision making

Nurses As Knowledge Work Agents: Measuring The Impact Of A Clinical Decision Support System On Nurses\u27 Perceptions Of Their Practice And The Work Environment

Background: The HITECH act\u27s financial incentives and meaningful use mandates have resulted in unprecedented rates of EHR and CDSS adoption. These systems are premised on evidenced-based guidelines, the standardization of care, and the reduction of subjective clinical decisions. They are designed to record clinical events, synchronize the efforts of care teams, facilitate the exchange of information, and improve the control and design of clinical processes. Knowledge workers are challenged to assimilate these changes into a deliberative and autonomous style of practice. Aims: The study examined the impact of a CDSS implementation on nurses\u27 perceptions of their ability to perform aspects of knowledge work and on the nursing practice environment. Nurse and clinical unit characteristics were examined to identify those that predicted outcome variance. Methods: This study used The Impact of Health Information Technology (I-HIT) and The Essentials of Magnetism II (EOM II) instruments. Guided by the Quality Health Outcomes Model, this pre-post, quasi-experimental study includes t-tests, repeated measure and univariate general linear model regression analyses. Two groups comprised the convenience sample of 1,045 nurses: a paired (n=458) and independent (n=587). Results: The functionality of the CDSS was perceived to reduce nurses\u27 ability to efficiently practice, communicate, share information, and interfered with workflow in ways that depersonalized care. Perceptions of the practice environment, interestingly, remained essentially unchanged, with slight improvements and no statistically significant declines. This included perceptions about autonomy, patient-centered values, professional satisfaction and quality care. Even though the CDSS\u27s functionality interfered with practice, and may be poised to deemphasize subjective judgment and autonomy, nurses did not seem to reject the CDSS\u27s ability to standardize aspects of care. This study also found that nurse and clinical unit characteristics such as clinical unit type, shift, expertise, race, and whether or not nurse education was obtained outside of the USA, explained more variance than years of experience, institutional tenure, and level of education. Conclusion: Results suggest that nursing science needs to investigate and advise the design of CDSSs, as well as, develop tactics to reap the benefits of processes and guidelines, while preserving knowledge works\u27 emphasis on expertise, intuition, and holistic care