Spanish Validation of the Leader Empowering Behavior Questionnaire (LEBQ)

[EN] The concept of empowering leadership (EL) has attracted widespread academic and practical interest and different questionnaires have been developed to measure it. However, there are no instruments to measure EL in the Spanish language. This article presents the translation, adaptation, and validation of a scale to measure this construct. In addition, it analyzes the relationship between managers¿ EL and employees¿ job satisfaction. In turn, the study analyzes whether employees who participate in a greater number of continuous improvement (CI) programs have supervisors who favor more empowering behaviors. A total of 739 participants with various occupations from different companies that have implemented CI processes filled out the Spanish version of the Leader Empowering Behavior Questionnaire (LEBQ-sp). Two different subsamples were used to test the relationships between the LEBQ and job satisfaction and CI, by means of Pearson¿s correlation coefficient and analysis of variance, making it possible to provide evidence about the validity of the Spanish LEBQ. The confirmatory factor analysis supported the original structure of the six-factor model. The factors show a high level of internal consistency, as well as sufficient convergent and discriminant validity. Moreover, the results show that the more companies invest in formal CI programs, the more important it is for their leaders to adapt their behavior by displaying more EL. The LEBQ-sp is a valid and reliable instrument for use in research and a useful tool for applied purposes in the context of Spanish-speaking countries.Bonavía Martín, T.; Marin-Garcia, JA. (2019). Spanish Validation of the Leader Empowering Behavior Questionnaire (LEBQ). Frontiers in Psychology. 10:1-9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02368S191

The current state of Lean implementation in health care : literature review

PURPOSE: The purpose of this article is to discuss the current state of implementation of Lean production in health care. The study focuses on the definition of Lean in health care and implementation process, barriers, challenges, enablers, and outcomes of implementing Lean production methods in health care. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: A comprehensive search of the literature concerning the implementation of Lean production in health care was used to generate a synthesis of the literature around the chosen research questions. FINDINGS: Lean production in health care is mostly used as a process improvement approach and focuses on 3 main areas: (1) defining value from the patient point of view, (2) mapping value streams, and (3) eliminating waste in an attempt to create continuous flow. Value stream mapping is the most frequently applied Lean tool in health care. The usual implementation steps include conducting Lean training, initiating pilot projects, and implementing improvements using interdisciplinary teams. One of the barriers is lack of educators and consultants who have their roots in the health care sector and can provide support by sharing experience and giving examples from real-life applications of Lean in health care. The enablers of Lean in health care seem not to be different from the enablers of any other change initiative. The outcomes can be divided into 2 broad areas: the performance of the health care system and the development of employees and work environment

The current state of Lean implementation in health care : literature review

PURPOSE: The purpose of this article is to discuss the current state of implementation of Lean production in health care. The study focuses on the definition of Lean in health care and implementation process, barriers, challenges, enablers, and outcomes of implementing Lean production methods in health care. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: A comprehensive search of the literature concerning the implementation of Lean production in health care was used to generate a synthesis of the literature around the chosen research questions. FINDINGS: Lean production in health care is mostly used as a process improvement approach and focuses on 3 main areas: (1) defining value from the patient point of view, (2) mapping value streams, and (3) eliminating waste in an attempt to create continuous flow. Value stream mapping is the most frequently applied Lean tool in health care. The usual implementation steps include conducting Lean training, initiating pilot projects, and implementing improvements using interdisciplinary teams. One of the barriers is lack of educators and consultants who have their roots in the health care sector and can provide support by sharing experience and giving examples from real-life applications of Lean in health care. The enablers of Lean in health care seem not to be different from the enablers of any other change initiative. The outcomes can be divided into 2 broad areas: the performance of the health care system and the development of employees and work environment

When does ISO 9000 lead to improvements?

The aim of this paper is to discuss and explain the conditions under which ISO 9000 is likely to have positive effects on organisational performance and employee development. The results described in this paper are coming from a research project looking at ISO 9000 in a more integrated manner using the different research strategies. Both questionnaire surveys and case studies investigating the processes related to ISO 9000 implementation and operation in the organisational settings were used. The value of ISO 9000 differs between organisations and depends on several organisational and external conditions, such as motivation for ISO 9000 implementation, maturity level of quality management, implementation strategy, certification audits and involvement of people. For this reason benefits achieved from ISO 9000 are not the same for every organisation. They depend on the quality objectives set and the level of commitment to achieve business excellence

From Successful to Sustainable Lean Production : The Case of a Lean Prize Award Winner

Many improvement programmes often fail to sustain over an extended period of time. Previous research suggests that a similar set of factors influence the success and sustainability of an improvement programme. The purpose of this paper is to make a distinction between the success and sustainability of improvement programmes, and to identify mechanisms that specifically contribute to the sustainability. In this paper, we study a sustainable improvement programme from the perspective of complexity theories that stress the importance of studying change as a dynamic process of interacting elements and events unfolding in time. We conducted a longitudinal, in-depth case study of a Swedish Lean Prize Award Winner where a Lean improvement programme was studied over 9 years. An improvement programme is successful if goals are achieved and the targeted problems are resolved. Furthermore, the first-order sustainability means the ability to sustain results and the second-order sustainability means the ability to keep an improvement programme alive. The lessons identified from complexity theories, such as destabilising the organisation, ensuring novelty and constant flow of change or self-organisation at the team level, are examples of mechanisms important to achieve the sustainability of the improvement programme.The previous status of this publication was Manuscript.</p

Measuring quality in elderly care: possibilities and limitations of the vignette method

Listening to citizens is seen as an important source of information about public service performance. In Sweden, to secure the quality of elderly care, the National Board of Health and Welfare conducts a yearly survey of in-home elderly care services and nursing homes. A central problem of the existing survey methodology is the interpersonal incomparability of survey responses due to differences in preferences and health conditions. One way to deal with this problem is to use the survey methodology with anchoring vignettes. The purpose of the paper is to investigate the possibilities and limitations of using anchoring vignettes as a general survey method and specifically to test the method for measuring elderly care quality. The vignettes were developed interactively with professionals working in elderly care and evaluated with 1600 users of in-home elderly care services and nursing homes. The results showed that anchoring vignettes reduce the impact of respondents personal characteristics on survey results. In general, anchoring vignettes give more robust answers that reduce the problem of incomparability. However, anchoring vignettes increase the complexity of the questionnaire and have limited value in elderly care. Our results indicate that the method might be applicable when using healthier and younger respondents.Funding Agencies|Swedish Agency for Health and Care Services Analysis [0821/2012]</p