the "dos and dont's" of writing a journal article

Purpose \u2013 During work as reviewers and editors of journals authors are often faced the same types of problems in many articles. The purpose of this piece is to give some guidelines on typical problems that lead to rejection, and how to avoid these. Design/methodology/approach \u2013 The paper discusses journal article design and offers some methodology viewpoints; in particular about the differences between a PhD thesis aim and a scienti\ufb01c journal article. It focuses on some typical mistakes found in reviewing papers. Findings \u2013 The paper \ufb01nds that the main criteria to getting published are that the article must include original, empirical research. Originality/value \u2013 Following these guidelines the review process of articles will be smoother and the amount of rejects should diminish. Especially young researchers can \ufb01nd good suggestions about how to write a paper for the Journal of Workplace Learning

Quality training: needs and evaluation-findings from a European survey

Quality systems and quality management are key elements for organizations wanting to maintain or develop their competitive edge. The training that underpins quality management determines the likely effectiveness of the quality initiatives undertaken. With the introduction of the new ISO 9000 : 2000 the issues of training needs analysis and training evaluation both form part of the standard. This article presents findings drawn from a questionnaire survey about quality management tools adopted and the training provided, focusing on the training needs assessment and training evaluation. A total of 450 responses is analysed. Findings from the UK, Portugal and Finland are compared to identify similarities or differences in national practice and identify any areas where one country can learn from the practices of another. Training needs assessment is dominated by senior management decision and supervisors’ opinions. The skills inventory is the most widely applied formal technique. Finnish organizations tend to pay more attention to customers and work groups when defining training needs. In general, objective and formal methods should be adopted more widely (e.g. training audits). As with much training evaluation, informal feedback and participant satisfaction measures are the most frequently adopted. Formal, structured methods such as cost- benefit analysis are adopted by less than one in five organizations. Linking to quality-related organizational objectives is reasonably frequently done (about 40%), but this is mostly subjective. A greater objectivity is also needed in training assessment

European quality management practices: the impact of national culture

The patterns of adoption of quality management practices and techniques vary across national boundaries. This article presents the findings of a questionnaire survey into the quality management procedures and tools adopted in three European countries, the UK, Portugal and Finland. A total of 450 responses are analysed. The main differences between the three countries are outlined with regard to factors motivating the implementation of quality systems, quality tools and techniques used, outcomes from quality management and problems encountered in providing quality training. The results are then analysed under the perspective of the probable impact of national culture. The models of national culture developed by Hofstede, Trompenaars and Earley and Erez were used for this purpose. The main conclusion is that these models can help to explain, to a great extent, much of the variation observed and constitute a basis for understanding why particular quality management approaches are adopted

Quality training: findings from a European survey

Quality management is an essential part of an organisation's competitive strategy. The training that underpins quality management determines the likely effectiveness of the quality initiatives undertaken. This article details the findings of a questionnaire survey into the training provided to support quality management. A total of 450 responses are analysed. Findings from the UK, Portugal and Finland are compared to identify differences in national practice. Training provision is definitely focused at quality staff, but even with this group training in many of the traditional quality tools is denied to one third. The area in which training is given consistently concerns awareness, systems and standards. This confirms that much of the emphasis within the sample base is on working to a quality system rather than necessarily embracing the message of quality. Training methods tend to be traditional, with little impact evident of the hi-tech revolution. Nevertheless, there is a spread of approaches considered effective with no single approach dominating the field. While external short courses rank top in all areas, the incidence is never in excess of one-third

A study of the effect of functional subcultures on the performance of Hong Kong construction companies

As some theorists regard organizational culture as ambiguities, this study attempts to prove that ambiguities are actually the resultant overview of interacting and dissimilar functional subcultures. Therefore, study of the effect of culture on performance should focus on the subculture system instead of the illusive and probably non-existing unitary corporate culture. To this end, a consensual structural framework that effectively demarcates the boundaries of subcultures is needed. By using the Viable System Model as a structural framework for the demarcation of functional subcultures, a questionnaire survey on construction professionals in Hong Kong was conducted. Statistical analysis results indicate that corporate culture could be better understood as a system of functional subcultures that correspond to the five functions of the viable system model. It is further noted that the strength of some functional subculture variables associates differently and significantly with organizational performance