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Discerning promising practices: innovation in high growth firms
No full textPurpose
While innovation theories are often applied within the context of non-small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), more research is needed to understand SMEs and in particular high-growth firms (HGFs) among the SMEs, known as high-growth SMEs (HGSMEs). This study provides empirical insights on the innovation determinant factors, processes and outcomes employed by HGSMEs based in Wales, UK. It answers the research question of “How have HGSME leaders developed and implemented effective innovation practices?”
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopted a multiple case study methodology with two stages. Stage one included a pre-interview data-gathering tool to capture innovation processes of eight purposively selected HGSMEs in Wales, UK regarding their employee engagement, continuous improvement practices and innovation methods/tools. Stage two involved semi-structured interviews with 19 leaders within these HGSMEs to examine in-depth details on their innovation processes and practices. Data were analysed using content analysis, interpretative phenomenological analysis and triangulation data methods.
Findings
Drawing upon quantitative and qualitative data analysis, four main innovation practices were identified. First, leaders created an innovation culture emphasising problem-solving. Second, innovation processes engaged workers with the productivity and innovation challenges of the business, whilst distributing problem-solving tasks. Third, formal and informal mechanisms captured performance data and facilitated feedback. Fourth, strong supplier/customer relationships enabled innovation implementation. A theoretical framework is developed to demonstrate the innovation processes and practices of HGSMEs.
Practical implications
The paper identifies successful practices that could be adopted widely, beyond firms in Wales, to enhance innovation performance of HGFs. It informs regional and national policymakers' context-specific models of innovation that could guide their focus and incentive schemes as well as SME leaders by sharing these successful cases and their salient practices.
Originality/value
This study advances the nuanced and comprehensive understanding of innovation in HGSMEs. Based on empirical evidence, findings connect leadership and innovation and develop a framework of context-specific HGSME innovation factors, processes and their interaction, which is novel in the current literature
"Count Yourself Lucky"
No full text"Count Yourself Lucky" has been filmed by Anima Goli Films, thanks to funding from South East London’s Local Maternity and Neonatal System (LMNS) and support from University of Greenwich, to be used as a training tool for NHS staff. Our hope is that it fosters empathy, compassion, and a deeper understanding of the challenges migrant women face, and that other organisations can use it to educate and create change
Textual Space
No full textIn studies of Shakespeare in print, the narratives we construct about textual space similarly shape our interpretations of how printed texts were made, and our impressions of the ways Shakespeare participated in that process. Moreover, in the textual space we can observe both authors and stationers at work as individual agents and as a collective community of textual production. This chapter considers the character and power structures of the textual space of the early modern printed playtext to better understand Shakespeare’s place as an author within it. Recognizing how textual space both shapes and is shaped by a number of influences alerts us to particular power dynamics that, for better or worse, inform our narratives of author/stationer interactions. Aware of inequities within these models, this chapter then posits potential alternatives that can further enrich our understanding of print production, and of Shakespeare’s contributions as an author in this medium
Tough guests, smart moves: helping employees navigate challenging hospitality encounters
Get PDFThe hospitality industry is increasingly vulnerable to guest misconduct and fraud, particularly scams such as “dine and dash,” which have risen nationally in recent years. Tough Guests, Smart Moves: Helping Employees Navigate Challenging Hospitality Encounters investigates how these behaviours affect staff morale, retention, and organisational resilience, while presenting practical tools to address them. Using a case study of 112 employees across three luxury hotels, workshops and thematic analysis identified five recurring themes: guest interactions and staff awareness, guest identity and behaviour, payment security, booking patterns, and high-value transactions. From these findings, a behavioural checklist and a RED/AMBER/GREEN guest model were developed by an experienced hospitality leader and a retired senior police officer. The tools empower frontline employees to recognise suspicious behaviours, de-escalate conflict, and apply consistent responses without over-reliance on managerial intervention. Implementation led to measurable improvements, including reduced fraudulent compensation, more secure payment practices, improved cross-departmental communication, over £10,000 in revenue protection in one year, and a marked boost in staff confidence and morale. The study highlights that outdated maxims such as “the customer is always right” perpetuate staff dis-empowerment, inconsistent decision-making, and financial loss. By contrast, empowering employees with structured processes and training promotes both safety and service excellence. This research contributes a replicable framework for operators, addressing a longstanding industry gap in tackling guest incivility and fraud. It calls for sector-wide adoption of consistent practices that safeguard employees, ensure legal compliance, and protect commercial performance, while still upholding exceptional guest experiences
The light bite: Red‐Nosed Cuxiu ( Chiropotes albinasus , Primates) exploit differential penetrability of hard fruit husks when selecting dental puncture sites
Get PDFThe Amazonian primate Chiropotes albinasus (red-nosed cuxiu) is a specialist on seeds of hard-husked unripe fruit. These are accessed with specialized processing behavior, involving highly modified canines and incisors. This is energetically demanding and carries high dental damage risk. Hypothesizing that red-nosed cuxiu process foods in ways that minimized both energetic-expenditure and maximized dental safety, we predicted that individuals would selectively bite fruit husks at locations that were most easy to penetrate. Sutures were the easiest area to penetrate for all the 11 analyzed red-nosed cuxiu diet species with functioning (non-fused) sutures. Quantification of bite mark locations on these fruits showed significant clustering along the lower-penetrability areas (sutures) in 8 of 11 species (72.7%). This pattern did not exist for another 10 species that lacked sutures; bites did not cluster on the thinnest (and most easily penetrated) parts of the husk for 9 of these 10 species (90%). For four species that were functionally indehiscent due to fused or thick sutures, penetrability was lowest at the face (2 species) and suture (2 species). In only one species did bite marks cluster at the site of easier penetrability, most likely due to species-specific features (such as thick and/or fused sutures or fruit shape). Thus, despite robust crania, mandibles, and dentition that appear highly suited for resisting forces generated by powerful biting action, red-nosed cuxiu deploy a more refined technique and often select the weakest areas of fruits for their seed-accessing bite sites, especially when the fruits are dehiscent with unfused sutures
Simulations using APSIM suggest that Conservation Agriculture sustains protein yield under changing climate dynamics in Northern Mozambique
Get PDFBackground
Conservation Agriculture (CA) is based on the simultaneous practice of three principles: (i) no or minimum mechanical soil disturbance, (ii) permanent soil cover, and (iii) crop diversity e.g. crop rotation and/or intercropping systems. In parts of Sub Saharan Africa (SSA), conventional tillage practice is still pervasive and includes the practice of crop burning, resulting in severe soil erosion. Moreover, there is heavy reliance on maize, which contributes to limited dietary diversity. Crop modelling efforts allow for future scenarios to be explored to support policy formulation and farmer decision making. Research exploring potential benefits of CA on food and nutrition security has been limited and existing crop modelling efforts have failed to model the full CA system and/or have been limited to comparisons against monocultures or a narrow range of crops. The APSIM crop model was used to simulate the productivity and protein yield of a variety of intercropping systems involving three crops (maize, cowpea and pigeonpea) under full CA practice relative to conventional tillage (CV) with the same intercropping system. A baseline scenario used site-specific daily historical weather data acquired between 1997 and 2015 for Pemba-Metuge district in Cabo Delgado province (Northern Mozambique). A second set of simulations used incremental changes in temperature corresponding to future climate scenarios.
Results
Results showed that temperature plays the most important role, contributing to nearly 60% of the variance in the combined protein yield. Projected trends further indicated that the combined protein yield of the three crops decreased from a median of 207 kg ha⁻¹ in the baseline scenario to 121 kg ha⁻¹ under a 4 °C temperature increase in the CV system. In the CA system, the median combined protein yield decreased from 230 to 135 kg ha⁻¹ under the same temperature scenarios.
Median grain yields declined from the baseline scenario to a 4 °C temperature increase by 267, 97, and 29 kg ha⁻¹ for cowpea, pigeonpea, and maize, respectively, under the CV system. Under the CA system, the corresponding declines were 291, 107, and 27 kg ha⁻¹. Nevertheless, protein yields and overall productivity remained consistently higher under the CA system.
Conclusions
Our simulation work provides preliminary evidence that suggests Conservation Agriculture can sustain protein yield under changing climate dynamics in Northern Mozambique
Effects of electrostatic charge on particle adhesion, powder cohesiveness and its alternative influences on powder flow properties
Get PDFCharacterising powder flowability for handling process is important but can be particularly challenging if only a small quantity of samples is available. A novel method developed at the Wolfson Centre uses only a few milligrams of samples to predict powder flow properties by Bond number — a representation of powder cohesiveness at the median size of particles by measuring particle adhesion. A good agreement between this method and the results using conventional shear cell testers has been found across various powders and formulations. However, recent investigations on acetaminophens revealed a discrepancy: predictions based on the Bond number did not align with the shear cell test results, suggesting the presence of additional contributing forces during the Bond number measurement. As the Bond number is determined by assessing particle adhesion, it was hypothesised that electrostatic forces could influence the adhesion results and therefore the Bond number. This study focused on the electrostatic charge measurements of two grades of acetaminophen (dense and micronised) with differing particle sizes. For a comparison, common excipients such as lactose, magnesium stearate, and calcium carbonate were also evaluated, all of which previously exhibited good predictive correlations. Results show that acetaminophen samples exhibited charge levels up to 20 times higher than the excipient materials. It is inferred that electrostatic forces can strongly influence particle adhesion, if charge is significant, though their effect appears negligible in shear cell testing. The study concludes that electrostatic forces can significantly contribute to particle adhesion and impact powder flow behaviour particularly at low consolidation stresses
Statistics is not measurement: the inbuilt semantics of psychometric scales and language-based models obscures crucial epistemic differences
Get PDFThis article provides a comprehensive critique of psychology's overreliance on statistical modelling at the expense of epistemologically grounded measurement processes. It highlights that statistics deals with structural relations in data regardless of what these data represent, whereas measurement establishes traceable empirical relations between the phenomena studied and the data representing information about them. These crucial epistemic differences are elaborated using Rosen's general model of measurement, involving the coherent modelling of the (1) objects of research, (2) data generation (encoding), (3) formal manipulation (e.g., statistical analysis) and (4) result interpretation regarding the objects studied (decoding). This system of interrelated modelling relations is shown to underlie metrologists' approaches for tackling the problem of epistemic circularity in physical measurement, illustrated in the special cases of measurement coordination and calibration. The article then explicates psychology's challenges for establishing genuine analogues of measurement, which arise from the peculiarities of its study phenomena (e.g., higher-order complexity, non-ergodicity) and language-based methods (e.g., inbuilt semantics). It demonstrates that psychometrics cannot establish coordinated and calibrated modelling relations, thus generating only pragmatic quantifications with predictive power but precluding epistemically justified inferences on the phenomena studied. This epistemic gap is often overlooked, however, because many psychologists mistake their methods' inbuilt semantics—thus, descriptions of their study phenomena (e.g., in rating scales, item variables, statistical models)—for the phenomena described. This blurs the epistemically necessary distinction between the phenomena studied and those used as means of investigation, thereby confusing ontological with epistemological concepts—psychologists' cardinal error. Therefore, many mistake judgements of verbal statements for measurements of the phenomena described and overlook that statistics can neither establish nor analyze a model's relations to the phenomena explored. The article elaborates epistemological and methodological fundamentals to establish coherent modelling relations between real and formal study system and to distinguish the epistemic components involved, considering psychology's peculiarities. It shows that epistemically justified inferences necessitate methods for analysing individuals' unrestricted verbal responses, now advanced through artificial intelligence systems modelling natural language (e.g., NLP algorithms, LLMs). Their increasing use to generate standardised descriptions of study phenomena for rating scales and constructs, by contrast, will only perpetuate psychologists' cardinal error—and thus, psychology's crisis
Contemporary Issues in Health and Social Care Policy and Practice: A Comparative Introduction
Get PDFThis accessible text presents a comparative analysis of health and social care policy and practice from around the world, with learning points drawn out for the UK. It supports readers to improve practice by reflecting on differences and similarities in the policies of other OECD countries. Divided into two parts, the book opens with a focus on core concepts in health and social care policy and practice such as service user involvement, the promotion of well-being, health inequalities, funding and integrated care. The differing philosophical, socio-political and historical perspectives that underpin these key areas in different countries are explored, in order to develop a greater understanding of the UK system. The second part of the book takes a close look at a range of specific contemporary issues, such as end of life care, long term conditions, homelessness, refugee and migrant health, disability, domestic abuse, substance use and women in prison. These in-depth case study chapters enable readers to identify best practices and challenges in relation to specific areas of health and social care policy and practice. Ideal for undergraduate students studying health and social care policy from a range of disciplinary backgrounds, this practical text provides a deeper understanding of complex health and social care issues and supports the development of a global and comparative skills-set.
Women in prison
No full textAlthough women comprise significantly smaller percentages of the prison population in all countries, the global rates of female imprisonment have increased (global increase of 60% for women compared to 22% for men since 2000) (Fair and Walmsley, 2022). However, there is variation between countries and regions and numbers of women imprisoned have decreased, since 2000, in Europe; the only region to show such a decrease. The needs of imprisoned women are often complex with elevated levels of vulnerability and victimisation evident. This vulnerability is compounded when women enter institutions which are primarily designed for male prisoners, meaning their needs are often overlooked. This chapter will give an overview of the numbers of women in prison across selected OECD countries before continuing to discuss imprisoned women’s specific wellbeing needs
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