Supporting strategy : a survey of UK OR/MS practitioners

This paper reports the results of an on-line survey conducted with practitioner members of the UK Operational Research (OR) Society. The purpose of the survey was to explore the current practice of supporting strategy in terms of activities supported and tools used. The results of the survey are compared to those of previous surveys to explore developments in, inter-alia, the use of management/strategy tools and „soft‟ Operational Research / Management Science (OR/MS) tools. The survey results demonstrate that OR practitioners actively support strategy within their organisations. Whilst a wide variety of tools, drawn from the OR/MS and management / strategy fields are used to support strategy within organisations, the findings suggest that soft OR/MS tools are not regularly used. The findings also demonstrate that tools are combined to support strategy from both within and across the OR/MS and management / strategy fields. The paper ends by identifying a number of areas for further research

The development and use of tools to support the strategy process

This document presents a collection of peer reviewed journal articles, book chapters and books which together form the submission for PhD by published work. The document demonstrates that the collection submitted forms a significant contribution to knowledge primarily to the field of operational research (OR) and strategy. The contribution covers four key areas: the practice of tool use by practitioners to support the strategy process and one of its particular activities (visioning); the development and application of two specific tools (visioning and scenario planning); the support of the strategy process through tool use; and, teaching the subject of OR and strategy

Resource conceptualization : the role of group dynamics in defining a firm's strategic resources

This study extends the Dynamic Resource-based view, which suggests managerial processes as a source of resource heterogeneity between firms, to analyze the role that group dynamic processes may have in the identification of strategic resources. The paper contends that resource heterogeneity is not only determined by substantive characteristics of a management team, but also by the very process of the group decision process. Two different groups’ resource conceptualization processes were analyzed in search for the relationship between resource conceptualization process and the conceptualized set of resources. Contrasting group processes indicated differences in various group dynamic variables; deliberateness, cognitive overload, and cognitive and affective conflicts during the process of identifying strategic resources. The distinct group dynamics, in turn, determined diverse levels of understanding of the contribution of strategic resources to firm performance

Supporting strategy using system dynamics

This paper presents a protocol for supporting strategy development via system dynamics (SD) modeling in consultation with Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of small organizations; it also reports on the effectiveness of this protocol one year after an initial study was conducted. The protocol was applied in five small organizations; it involves the development of a SD model that is used to generate scenarios of alternative strategic situations an organization may face. We found that when the CEOs identified more feedback loops and causal relationships among key resources through their modeling analyses, they increased their capacities to generate new strategic ideas through more developed mental models. However, those CEOs who were not able to generate alternative strategic ideas to overcome the challenges of scenarios presented during the simulation sessions found it difficult to make strategic decisions when the scenarios occurred one year after our intervention. This finding suggests that SD modeling can affect firm performance when the facilitation process helps CEOs reflect on potential strategic actions that can be taken in the future. When CEOs cannot change their strategic plans by imagining what should be done in a challenging scenario, they are not able to address challenging situations when they arise

The use of case studies in OR teaching

This article investigates the current use of case studies in the teaching of Operational Research (OR) in the UK: how and where they are used; how they are developed; and whether there is an interest in training this area. It is aimed at lecturers teaching OR who are using or planning to use case studies in their teaching. It may also be of interest to policy-makers who wish to know what is being done in OR. The article focuses on the results of a survey sent to lecturers of OR in higher education in the UK. These are combined with an examination of the literature on using case studies in teaching in general and a small number of specific examples of how case studies are used in OR teaching. Case studies are included in OR teaching in a variety of ways and to develop a range of skills; particularly the ability to transfer academic knowledge to real-life contexts. The article identifies that the most significant barrier to the use of case studies in OR teaching is the development of new case studies; suggestions are made to address this, including providing training and collaboration opportunities. Overall this article provides an assessment of the ways in which case studies are used in OR; the advantages and limitationsof using them; and specific examples of their use which will provide ideas to assist in improving OR teaching

Comparative analysis of sex chromosomes in Leporinus species (Teleostei, Characiformes) using chromosome painting.

BACKGROUND: The Leporinus genus, belonging to the Anostomidae family, is an interesting model for studies of sex chromosome evolution in fish, particularly because of the presence of heteromorphic sex chromosomes only in some species of the genus. In this study we used W chromosome-derived probes in a series of cross species chromosome painting experiments to try to understand events of sex chromosome evolution in this family. RESULTS: W chromosome painting probes from Leporinus elongatus, L. macrocephalus and L. obtusidens were hybridized to each others chromosomes. The results showed signals along their W chromosomes and the use of L. elongatus W probe against L. macrocephalus and L. obtusidens also showed signals over the Z chromosome. No signals were observed when the later aforementioned probe was used in hybridization procedures against other four Anostomidae species without sex chromosomes. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate a common origin of sex chromosomes in L. elongatus, L. macrocephalus and L. obtusidens but suggest that the L. elongatus chromosome system is at a different evolutionary stage. The absence of signals in the species without differentiated sex chromosomes does not exclude the possibility of cryptic sex chromosomes, but they must contain other Leporinus W sequences than those described here.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

Assessment of resolution and intercenter reproducibility of results of genotyping Staphylococcus aureus by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of SmaI macrorestriction fragments: a multicenter study

Twenty well-characterized isolates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus were used to study the optimal resolution and interlaboratory reproducibility of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) of DNA macrorestriction fragments. Five identical isolates (one PFGE type), 5 isolates that produced related PFGE subtypes, and 10 isolates with unique PFGE patterns were analyzed blindly in 12 different laboratories by in-house protocols. In several laboratories a standardized PFGE protocol with a commercial kit was applied successfully as well. Eight of the centers correctly identified the genetic homogeneity of the identical isolates by both the in-house and standard protocols. Four of 12 laboratories failed to produce interpretable data by the standardized protocol, due to technical problems (primarily plug preparation). With the five rel

Provision of obstetrics and gynaecology services during the COVID-19 pandemic:a survey of junior doctors in the UK National Health Service

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting health services worldwide. We aimed to evaluate the provision of obstetrics and gynaecology services in the UK during the acute-phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Design: Interview-based national survey. Setting: Women’s healthcare units in the National Health Service. Population: Junior doctors in obstetrics and gynaecology. Methods: Participants were interviewed by members of the UKARCOG trainees’ collaborative between 28th March and 7th of April 2020. We used a quantitative analysis for closed-ended questions and a thematic framework analysis for open comments. Results: We received responses from 148/155 units (95%), majority of the participants were in years 3-7 of training (121/148, 82%). Most completed specific training drills for managing obstetric and gynaecological emergencies in women with COVID-19 (89/148, 60.1%) and two-persons donning and doffing of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) (96/148, 64.9%). The majority of surveyed units implemented COVID-19 specific protocols (130/148, 87.8%), offered adequate PPE (135/148, 91.2%) and operated dedicated COVID-19 emergency theatres (105/148, 70.8%). Most units reduced face-to-face antenatal clinics (117/148, 79.1%), and suspended elective gynaecology services (131/148, 88.5%). The two-week referral pathway for oncology gynaecology was not affected in half of the units (76/148, 51.4%), while half reported a planned reduction in oncology operating (82/148, 55.4%). Conclusion: The provision of obstetrics and gynaecology services in the UK during the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic seems to be in line with current guidelines, but strategic planning is needed to restore routine gynaecology services and ensure safe access to maternity care on the longterm

Does Work Affect Personality? A Study in Horses

It has been repeatedly hypothesized that job characteristics are related to changes in personality in humans, but often personality models still omit effects of life experience. Demonstrating reciprocal relationships between personality and work remains a challenge though, as in humans, many other influential factors may interfere. This study investigates this relationship by comparing the emotional reactivity of horses that differed only by their type of work. Horses are remarkable animal models to investigate this question as they share with humans working activities and their potential difficulties, such as “interpersonal” conflicts or “suppressed emotions”. An earlier study showed that different types of work could be associated with different chronic behavioural disorders. Here, we hypothesised that type of work would affect horses' personality. Therefore over one hundred adult horses, differing only by their work characteristics were presented standardised behavioural tests. Subjects lived under the same conditions (same housing, same food), were of the same sex (geldings), and mostly one of two breeds, and had not been genetically selected for their current type of work. This is to our knowledge the first time that a direct relationship between type of work and personality traits has been investigated. Our results show that horses from different types of work differ not as much in their overall emotional levels as in the ways they express emotions (i.e. behavioural profile). Extremes were dressage horses, which presented the highest excitation components, and voltige horses, which were the quietest. The horses' type of work was decided by the stall managers, mostly on their jumping abilities, but unconscious choice based on individual behavioural characteristics cannot be totally excluded. Further research would require manipulating type of work. Our results nevertheless agree with reports on humans and suggest that more attention should be given to work characteristics when evaluating personalities