Complementary or Conflictual? Formal Participation, Informal Participation, and Organizational Performance

Most studies of worker participation examine either formal participatory structures or informal participation. Yet, increasingly, works councils and other formal participatory bodies are operating in parallel with collective bargaining or are filling the void left by its decline. Moreover, these bodies are sprouting in workplaces in which workers have long held a modicum of influence, authority, and production- or service-related information. This study leverages a case from the healthcare sector to examine the interaction between formal and informal worker participation. Seeking to determine whether or not these two forces—each independently shown to benefit production or service delivery—complement or undermine one another, we find evidence for the latter. In the case of the 27 primary care departments that we study, formal structures appeared to help less participatory departments improve their performance. However, these same structures also appeared to impede those departments with previously high levels of informal participation. While we remain cautious with respect to generalizability, the case serves as a warning to those seeking to institute participation in an environment in which some workers have long felt they had the requisite authority, influence, and information necessary to perform their jobs effectively

Meaningful and Effective Performance Evaluations in a Time of Community Policing

It is well recognized that the success of community-policing initiatives may be dependent on a variety of organizational changes, such as decentralization, increased officer autonomy and discretion, and permanent or stable geographic assignments. What is equally important, yet often overlooked, is the importance of a revised performance evaluation system that reflects the work to be performed in a community policing atmosphere. In a community policing context, performance evaluations do far more than simply evaluate police behavior; they serve as important vehicles for increasing awareness and understanding, conveying organizational expectations, and rewarding behavior concordant with a broadened police role (Oettmeier & Wycoff 1997). This manuscript suggests a step-by-step process for administrators interested in devising an evaluation system that will accomplish these goals

The Democratization of Data in Higher Education: A Case Study of the Challenges that Institutions Face as They Seek to Improve Student Success

In the current climate of increased external accountability and increased internal pressure to improve student performance, many colleges and universities are grappling with how to broaden access to data and information so as to improve decision-making -- a trend this report refers to as the democratization of data. In the past decade, advances in user-friendly information technology are enabling faculty, administrators, and staff to retrieve and analyze a host of information themselves, right from their desktops. For example, they can perform data searches, track student performance, monitor section enrollments in real-time, and estimate various budgetary impacts. By equipping people at all organizational levels with the data and information they need, colleges can enable them to make better decisions about how to reach and serve students. Colleges and universities are finding, however, that the democratization of data brings with it cultural as well as technical or procedural transformations. For example, it requires having departments work together to agree upon the kinds of information to track and to whom to make it available; changing channels of information flow; rewarding efforts to share information and knowledge rather than hoard it; being transparent about budgetary impacts; and valuing a culture of inquiry that identifies areas for improvement and supports analysis that pursues real change over time. Given the robust technological capabilities now available, colleges and universities that seek to understand and improve their rates of student success will inevitably confront, either deliberately or unwittingly, their own institutional practices and attitudes concerning access to and use of data. This report, in describing some of the major challenges that one higher education institution faced as it reconsidered its use of data and information in decision-making, outlines an investigative process to consider when seeking to improve student success and organizational effectiveness through the democratization of data. The report presents findings and identifies several important policy implications, at the campus and state levels, that could improve student outcomes by enhancing the use of data and information in decision-making

What Does it Take to Make Discovery a Success?: A Survey of Discovery Tool Adoption, Instruction, and Evaluation Among Academic Libraries

Discovery tools have been widely adopted by academic libraries, yet little information exists that connects common practices regarding discovery tool implementation, maintenance, assessment, and staffing with conventions for research and instruction. The authors surveyed heads of reference and instruction departments in research and land-grant university libraries. The survey results revealed common practices with discovery tools among academic libraries. This study also draws connections between operational, instructional, and assessment practices and perceptions that participants have of the success of their discovery tool. Participants who indicated successful implementation of their discovery tool hailed from institutions that made significant commitments to the operations, maintenance, and acceptance of their discovery tool. Participants who indicated an unsuccessful implementation, or who were unsure about the success of their implementation, did not make lasting commitments to the technical maintenance, operations, and acceptance of their discovery tool

Fostering implementation of health services research findings into practice: a consolidated framework for advancing implementation science

Abstract Background Many interventions found to be effective in health services research studies fail to translate into meaningful patient care outcomes across multiple contexts. Health services researchers recognize the need to evaluate not only summative outcomes but also formative outcomes to assess the extent to which implementation is effective in a specific setting, prolongs sustainability, and promotes dissemination into other settings. Many implementation theories have been published to help promote effective implementation. However, they overlap considerably in the constructs included in individual theories, and a comparison of theories reveals that each is missing important constructs included in other theories. In addition, terminology and definitions are not consistent across theories. We describe the Consolidated Framework For Implementation Research (CFIR) that offers an overarching typology to promote implementation theory development and verification about what works where and why across multiple contexts. Methods We used a snowball sampling approach to identify published theories that were evaluated to identify constructs based on strength of conceptual or empirical support for influence on implementation, consistency in definitions, alignment with our own findings, and potential for measurement. We combined constructs across published theories that had different labels but were redundant or overlapping in definition, and we parsed apart constructs that conflated underlying concepts. Results The CFIR is composed of five major domains: intervention characteristics, outer setting, inner setting, characteristics of the individuals involved, and the process of implementation. Eight constructs were identified related to the intervention (e.g., evidence strength and quality), four constructs were identified related to outer setting (e.g., patient needs and resources), 12 constructs were identified related to inner setting (e.g., culture, leadership engagement), five constructs were identified related to individual characteristics, and eight constructs were identified related to process (e.g., plan, evaluate, and reflect). We present explicit definitions for each construct. Conclusion The CFIR provides a pragmatic structure for approaching complex, interacting, multi-level, and transient states of constructs in the real world by embracing, consolidating, and unifying key constructs from published implementation theories. It can be used to guide formative evaluations and build the implementation knowledge base across multiple studies and settings.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78272/1/1748-5908-4-50.xmlhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78272/2/1748-5908-4-50-S1.PDFhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78272/3/1748-5908-4-50-S3.PDFhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78272/4/1748-5908-4-50-S4.PDFhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78272/5/1748-5908-4-50.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78272/6/1748-5908-4-50-S2.PDFPeer Reviewe

The Relationship between Correcting Deviations in Measuring Performance and Achieving the Objectives of Control - The Islamic University as a Model

The study aimed to identify the relationship between correcting the deviations in the measurement of performance and achieving the objectives of control and the performance of the job at the Islamic University in the Gaza Strip. To achieve the objectives of the research, the researchers used the descriptive analytical approach to collect information. The questionnaire consisted of (20) statements distributed to three categories of employees of the Islamic University (senior management, faculty members, their assistants and members of the administrative board). A random sample of 314 employees was selected and 276 responses were retrieved with a recovery rate of 88.1%. The Statistical Analysis Program (SPSS) was used to enter, process, and analyze the data. The results of the study showed a positive relationship between correcting deviations in performance measurement and achieving the control objectives represented by the functional performance in the Islamic University from the point of view of the members (senior management, faculty and their assistants, and the administrative board), where the relative weight of all the paragraphs was (74.25%). The study recommended the need to ensure that the actual performance of the planned performance is matched and decisions are taken to correct the serious deviations and take the necessary measures in terms of retraining and change in regulations, wages and bonuses and punishment of the culprit, neglect and negligence by mistake

Actions Lead to Results: How the Behaviors of Information Systems Professionals Influence the Success of Information Systems Departments

The growing complexity of systems, the increasing intensity of their use, and the greater prominence of technology in supporting organizational activities has meant that information systems (IS) professionals in organizations have to go beyond offering routine task-related support when working with their non-IS colleagues. For organizations to see IS professionals as effective, they have to carry out empathic behaviors such as sharing their IT knowledge with their non-IS colleagues and taking the initiative to minimize inconveniences during IS projects. Drawing from the organizational citizenship behavior concept, we develop a multilevel research model to examine how behaviors that IS professionals perform influence IS departments’ effectiveness. Using data from more than 1,000 respondents working in the global finance industry, we conducted both cross-level and unit-level analyses and found results that support our arguments. Our results deepen the extent to which we understand the role that IS professionals play in supporting post-adoption IS use and digitally empowering business units while also performing their traditional roles

Implementing section 404 of the sarbanes oxley act: Recommendations for information systems organizations

Section 404 of the Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) Act addresses the effectiveness of internal controls, which in most organizations are either fully or partially automated due to the pervasiveness and ubiquity of information technologies. Significant or material control deficiencies have to be reported publicly. The adverse impact on organizations declaring deficiencies can be severe, for example, damage to reputation and/or market value. While there are many practitioner-led manuals and methods for dealing with 404, there has been little published in the academic research literature investigating the role of Information Systems organizations in implementing Section 404. The paper addresses this gap in knowledge. We used institutional theory as the lens through which to examine the experiences of Section 404 implementation in three global organizations. We used the case study method and an abductive strategy to gather and analyze data respectively. Our findings are summarized in six recommendations. We found that institutional pressures play a critical role in the implementation of Section 404. In particular, organizations face coercive pressure to achieve Section 404 compliance, without which punitive sanctions can be imposed by regulators. Organizations tend to imitate one another in the methods they use so that each is perceived to be in line with their competitive environment. Organizations face normative pressures to act in ways that are socially acceptable, which is to achieve compliance. Failure to do so would be a signal to the market that the organization does not take controls seriously. We expand these findings in terms of power and influence tactics that IS organizations can use when implementing Section 404. Our findings provide directions for practice and lines of enquiry for further research

Analyzing community responses to HIV and AIDS : operational framework and typology

This paper presents a framework for analyzing the community response to HIV and AIDS. On the basis of a review of the literature, six criteria are proposed for characterizing such community responses: (1) the types of organizations and structures implementing the response, (2) the types of activities or services implemented and the beneficiaries of these, (3) the actors involved in and driving community responses, (4) the contextual factors that influence community responses, (5) the extent of community involvement in the response, and (6) the extent to which community responses involve wider partnerships and collaboration.Disability,Civil Society,Community Development and Empowerment,HIV AIDS,Health Monitoring&Evaluation

The influence of organizational culture on the outcome of an IS implementation

A number of information system (IS) studies have adopted organizational culture (OC) theory to investigate IS implementations. The studies highlight that members will reach consensus or agreement in the use of an IS but also experience inevitable tensions and ambiguities in the use of the IS. However, literature related to IS implementation/OC has rarely examined the influence that the saliency of specific cultural practices may have on the success or failure of IS implementations. Using a case study approach, we adopted the “soft positivism” research philosophy to collect data, underpinned by Martin’s (1992) integration and differentiation perspectives of OC to study organizational implementation of an IS. These perspectives served as interpretive lenses through which to explain how members’ salient behaviors towards an IS evolved during the implementation process. Our study augments the IS implementation/OC literature by demonstrating how salient cultural practices influence the outcome of IS implementatio