1522 research outputs found
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An exploration of workplace literacy as a catalyst to support employees in dealing with changing workplace literacy practices
Get PDFThe changing workplace requires employees to engage with new ways of working that rely increasingly on a variety of literacy skills. This study used action research to answer the research question whether a workplace literacy initiative could act as a catalyst to support employees to manage these new literacy practices in the workplace with confidence. A multi-national high-tech manufacturing plant in Ireland which is in a process of continuous change was selected as research site.
A 45 hour workplace literacy course was designed in consultation with the stakeholders involved: government, employer, training provider and employees. The researcher acted as mediator between them. This collaboratively designed contextualised course was delivered to one group of eight employees on-site.
Literacy terminology throughout the initiative was exchanged for more workplace friendly terminology.
An approach viewing literacy as a social practice acquired in a constructivist manner was used during curriculum design and facilitation of the training. Topical workplace related content like managing change, problem solving, teamwork and effective communication, was used to explore individual needs and literacy practices. Much of this work was undertaken through dialogue and often assisted by computers. This resulted in each participant presenting three portfolios for accreditation by the Further Education and Training Awards Council (FETAC).
Outcomes for the participants were an increase in confidence in reading, writing, speaking as well as increased computer skills. Participants also expressed a better understanding of and capacity to deal with changing workplace literacy practices.
Stakeholders stated that their perceptions of workplace literacy had been challenged.
The researcher-mediator identified that expectations for the workplace literacy course were not mutually exclusive. By creating a space for consultation with collaboration as a desired outcome, areas of resonance were established. The workplace literacy initiative resulted in benefits for all stakeholders with outcomes matching most of their desired expectations
A Qualitative study of lifestyle counseling in general practice in Ireland
Get PDFBackground. There is limited information in Ireland on the attitudes of GPs and practice nurses to lifestyle counselling and the strategies or approaches they use. Furthermore, there is no national framework or resources to support the systematic and uniform provision of lifestyle counselling.
Objectives. To explore the views of Irish primary health care practitioners about behavioural risk factor management in particular to the provision of lifestyle counselling. To identify barriers to behavioural risk factor management and to inform the development of a risk factor management toolkit for general practice.
Methods. The research design is a qualitative study consisting of six focus groups with primary health care practitioners in urban and rural locations in the Republic of Ireland. Two focus groups were conducted with GPs, two with practice nurses, one with a mixed group of GPs and practice nurses and one with a Primary Care Team. In total, 56 participants, aged 30–64 years, attended the focus groups. Descriptive analysis was performed.
Results. GPs and practice nurses experienced considerable barriers to lifestyle counselling. These include insufficient time, patient resistance, lack of funding for prevention and lack of training. Participants were aware of the value of patient-centred lifestyle counselling; however, the provision of simple lifestyle information and advice was the predominant strategy used.
Conclusions. GPs and practice nurses regularly conduct lifestyle counselling despite considerable barriers. It is essential that they are supported to carry out lifestyle counselling as part of a systematic ‘whole practice approach’ to prevention in general practice.
Keywords. Chronic disease, counselling, health promotion, lifestyle, prevention, public health
An Empirical Study of ISD Methodologies and Socialisation Tactics In Virtual ISD teams
Get PDFIn recent years more and more systems development projects involve distributed, virtual teams of system developers, analysts and other experts in the design and construction of information technologies. These ISD teams work in separate locations using computer based tools to coordinate and structure their work. This mode of work creates problems associated with both the use of ISD methodologies and the socialisation of team members. For example, current ISD methodologies do not take into account the particularities of virtual development. Whilst many researchers have investigated the dynamics of co-located ISD teams, studies of virtual ISD teams are rare. This study investigated the use, in practice, of ISD methodologies and socialisation tactics by information systems professionals in virtual ISD teams. A conceptual framework was synthesised from the ISD methodology and socialisation literature. The central contention of the theory was that successful virtual ISD required well structured and complementary ISD and socialisation processes. The framework was tested empirically using an online survey which gathered both quantitative and qualitative data from 15 virtual ISD teams. Successful teams with excellent team communication, collaboration and cohesion used a bespoke ISD methodology and an institutionalised socialisation strategy. Internally developed ISD methodologies provided a structured, consistent and common approach by which team members could engage in their systems development process whilst also supporting knowledge sharing and social interaction. Institutionalised socialisation tactics were important for these teams because they enabled members to interact and create an integrated social system which contributed to the success of the projects. Virtual ISD work was also improved by mentor programmes, formal socialisation documentation, regular online meetings, facilitated informal communication, and the easy identification of expertise within the team by team members. The conceptual framework was revised on the basis of these findings and implications were drawn for both ISD practice and theory. This thesis therefore provides a fundamental contribution to the ISD literature by developing and validating a new theoretical framework for virtual ISD teams which has not previously appeared. This framework provides a basis for improved practice in the organisation and management of ISD projects, and the use of ISD methodologies in emerging ISD contexts. It also provides a springboard for deeper research into the particular nature of virtual ISD activities
Collaborative HRM Delivery: Surfacing the Features and Associated Impacts that Emerge in Line Manager-HR Professional Relationships
Get PDFThe notion of line managers assuming an increased involvement in the human resource management issues relating to their direct reports is not a contemporary
phenomenon. With the adoption of strategic human resource management practices,line managers, as a group, are specifically identified, through devolution approaches,
as the drivers and deliverers of HRM policy and practice to support the strategic integration of HRM with the wider business strategy and moreover, integrate HRM policy and practice within the line management function. However, the research in the field predominantly categorises the division of roles and responsibilities and, as such, the actual relationships that are forged have not been addressed in the same
level of detail. Consequently, acknowledging the vociferous calls for research to
advance upon the studies that simply frame the roles and impacts of line managers and HR professionals, this research focuses on the relationships formed by and between line managers and HR professionals with reference to HRM delivery.
The research itself is approached from an interpretivist orientation and embodies a single case research design in the context of a semi-state organisation, where the
units of analysis were individual line managers (20), individual HR professionals(14), individual business-unit HR Managers (4) and individual Group HR Managers(2). By utilising social exchange theory (Blau, 1964), the extent of line manager and HR professional interaction and relationships has been illuminated, ranging from
close to distant, in conjunction with identifying the tangible and intangible exchange content, the preferred face-to-face mediums of exchange and the varying degree of
dependency within such relationships. Additionally, the development and impact of trust and reciprocity have been explored by adopting a social penetration (Altman &
Taylor, 1973) lens to relationship tie development. Finally, a sense-making perspective (Weick, 1995) has informed how and why line managers and HR professionals form perceptions of their role and relationships and how the quality of relationships is evaluated. Specifically, the features of line manager-HR professional relationships were found to be: not homogenous in their categorisation; influenced by respective experience and competency levels; cross-functional with associated mixed authority and
dependence features; geographically and perceptually distant and trusting and not reciprocal in a calculative manner. The quality of relationships was evaluated in
terms of the relationships formed between the respondents, the degree of conflict between them and the receipt or absence of credible outcomes from collaborating.
Turning to the impacts of such relationships, reflecting the existing literature in the field, the line manager and HR professional respondents experienced positive (requesting and receiving support and guidance, knowledge sharing and enhanced respective understanding and appreciation) and negative outcomes (competency
concerns, stress, work overload and finding time to collaborate). Furthermore, the organisational impacts included: strategic integration of HRM practice, forging of
close ties and realising and releasing social capital embedded in line manager-HR professional collaborations.
Importantly, this research study has contributed both in terms of theory development in relation to social exchange, knowledge and understanding on line manager-HR
professional relationships with reference to HRM delivery and furthermore, has achieved this within an Irish organisational context. As such, this research (and
taking cognisance of the limitations of adopting single descriptively-orientated case study methodology) may provide both a useful framework and serve to identify
additional opportunities for further research in the field, in conjunction to offering a variety of practical implications and recommendations
An investigation into the reputation of a public hospital
Get PDFPrevious work in the reputation management literature has focused mainly on commercial organisations and the views of external stakeholders. However, important outcomes of reputation, such as both internal and external stakeholder satisfaction, are also important in public sector organisations. It is surprising therefore that little work in the literature thus far has focused on the reputation of public sector organisations. The notion of customer orientation is of particular relevance in the context of a hospital‟s reputation, as the interactions and experiences that external stakeholders such as patients and visitors have with customer-facing public service employees will influence their perceptions towards the organisation. To understand better the issues of reputation and customer orientation, and moreover how they interact, the aims of this study are to (1) investigate the reputation of a public hospital, and importantly, the drivers and outcomes of such reputation among different stakeholders, and (2) to explore the links between reputation and customer orientation in a public service context. This study adopts a mixed methodology approach. Phase one involved a qualitative study of three focus groups (n=32) with the main stakeholders of a public sector hospital: patients and visitors, clinical staff and non-clinical staff. The overall aim of the focus groups was to explore the main drivers and outcomes of a public hospital‟s reputation. The second phase was a quantitative survey based study (N=650) which investigated the relationships between the perceived corporate reputation of the hospital as measured by the Corporate Character Scale, perceived employee and organisational customer orientation and; internal and external stakeholder satisfaction. Findings from phase one of this study identified different drivers and outcomes of public sector organisation‟s reputation from those previously found in mainstream commercial literature. In line with previous published studies, the empirical findings from phase two of the study highlight that employee customer orientation (ECO) impacts external satisfaction. In contrast to previous work however, ECO was found to have an insignificant effect on employee satisfaction. Most importantly, this study finds that for both employees and external stakeholders, corporate brand personality mediates the relationship between ECO and satisfaction, that is, ECO influences perceived brand personality, which in turn influences satisfaction. This study concludes by providing an outline of the study‟s contribution to the literature together with a discussion of managerial implications and research limitations. Finally recommendations for future research are proposed
Developing and managing brand communities through event marketing strategies
Get PDFAs the market landscape keeps evolving with a blistering pace and traditional marketing approaches are no longer effective in delivering competitive advantage there is a need for new marketing strategies to be implemented. The concept of brand communities has been attracting increasing attention as it provides a platform upon which various kinds of strong relationships centered around a brand can be established, providing a multitude of positive outcomes for brands. The purpose of this study is to explore the role of event marketing strategies in developing and managing brand communities. The focus of the present study was placed on the higher education sector and the role of event marketing in building alumni associations. The chosen research methodology was qualitative as the primary data for this study was collected through semi-structured interviews with both alumni officers and alumni members whichallowed the researcher to gain an in-depth understanding of the investigated phenomenon. This research revealed a number of significant findings that add to previous literature and contribute to managerial practice as well. The findings indicate that event marketing strategies reinforce overall community feelings within alumni associations and can have a positive impact on alumni’s referral and contributing behaviour towards the institution, on their intention to return to the institution for further education as well as on their involvement with the institution. Based on the findings of the primary research a number of managerial recommendations were also made to enhance the effectiveness of event marketing strategies in building alumni associations
How indigenous software companies price their product and service offerings: an exploratory investigation
Get PDFThe purpose of this study is to investigate how indigenous software companies are pricing and licensing their product and service offerings. Nearly a decade ago, almost all software product companies sold software by offering perpetual licences and the software companies performed local installations on their clients’ premises. Today the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model is having a profound influence on the way software is currently charged and licensed. In place of an upfront payment in the form of a licence fee the cost of the service, upgrades, backups and support are all included in a specific fee (subscription).
The Ireland-Newfoundland Partnership (INP) fund supported this research project. The research focused on Irish and Newfoundland indigenous software companies and with the help of the INP fund, the researcher collected part of the primary data in Newfoundland, Canada. Conducting the study in two jurisdictions enabled the researcher to identify similarities and differences amongst the indigenous software vendors in the two regions.
Mixed-methods surveys are pursued to achieve the research objectives. The primary data used in this study was gathered through a questionnaire administered to 220 indigenous Irish software companies, with a response rate of 29% and a series of six semi-structured interviews. The interviews were conducted with owners and managers in Ireland and Newfoundland. This mixed-method survey enabled the researcher to establish information as regards the industry sector, gain an in-depth understanding of how software companies are pricing and licensing their software offerings and understand exportation of software.
The findings that emerged from this research show that pricing was dependent on a vendor’s software business model. The outcome of this study shows that there appears to be a mixture of software licensing methods used by software vendors surveyed. Some vendors are using the traditional software licensing methods while others are using contemporary methods such as usage-based methods. A second finding that surfaced from this study relates to the pricing methods used by software vendors surveyed. In general, vendors’ pricing methods are categorised as cost-based, competition-based or customer-based. It emerged that despite the software owners indicating that they use customer-based methods, a cost-based approach dominated both the questionnaire and interview findings. It was also discovered that software vendors were no longer offering pure product or pure services to their customers and that SaaS was increasing in popularity as a pricing model amongst the Irish and Newfoundland software vendors.
The outcome of this study offers a software-pricing template attached as Appendix F, which would help practitioners to learn from their experience and induct staff assuming responsibility in this area