1,721,133 research outputs found
Negotiation theory and application in the business environment
No full textThis chapter introduces different theoretical approaches to negotiation and provides an explanation of these differing frameworks. While the action of a negotiation centres on the background research undertaken and what happens at the negotiation table, there is a need to know what principles and assumptions are informing these activities. Theories offer a way of understanding the underlying structures, processes and relationships of negotiation. Further, negotiation theories also assist with focusing attention on the 'basis of the bargain' and provide a standpoint from which to judge offers and counter-offers during the\ud
negotiation
Researching inter-organisational collaboration using RO-AR
Get PDFThis chapter focuses on the application of Research Oriented Action Research (RO-AR) to research inter-organizational collaboration within and across the public and non-profit sectors. RO-AR is a phenomenological action research methodology developed by Colin Eden and Chris Huxham (1996, 2006) which they and others have used to research aspects of management and organizations generally and inter-organizational collaboration specifically; the latter being the focus here. To that end, this chapter draws on a program of empirical research into governing, leading and managing collaborations that has been ongoing since 1989, and which has relied primarily on RO-AR. As a program of research, it is concerned with the development of conceptual knowledge that can inform practice and which has accumulated into the still evolving theory of collaborative advantage (TCA) (Huxham and Vangen 2005; Vangen and Huxham 2014). The aim in this chapter is to provide a brief introduction to RO-AR and to explore its applicability to research on collaboration.
Action Research, of which RO-AR is a particular type, was pioneered in the United States in the 1940s, most notably by Kurt Lewin (1946). Lewin argued that research for social practice needs to be concerned with ‘the study of general laws … and the diagnosis of specific situations’ (36). He pointed, among other things, to the need to design methods for recording ill-structured data and to focus on the relationship between perception and action through taking an interpretist approach to research. In a similar vein, action research aimed at understanding organizations and organizational change began at the Tavistock Institute in the United Kingdom (UK) in 1947. With the aim of conducting research and developing knowledge, the Tavistock Institute developed new participative approaches to organization change and development. In the years that have followed, a number of related approaches have emerged including action science (Argyris, Putnam, and Smith 1985), action inquiry (Torbert 1976), action learning (Mwaluko and Ryan 2000; Revans 1982), appreciative inquiry (Cooperrider and Srivastva 1987; Cooperrider, Whitney, and Stavros 2008) and participatory action research (Argyris and Schon 1991; Whyte 1991). Given the growth in popularity of these kinds of research methods, the literature is unsurprisingly both large and somewhat confusing. Nevertheless, and notwithstanding inherent differences, these methods all involve learning from interventions in organizations with the purpose of bringing about change and advancing knowledge. A distinguishing feature between them is the relative emphasis on change (or practical transformation) and the development of more general knowledge (i.e. theory). The primary purpose of the systematic engagement with action in praxis may be the immediate development of an individual, an organization or a community (e.g. via appreciative inquiry or action learning) or it may be to inform the development of theory on the aspect of management or organizations that is being researched, as is the case with RO-AR. The validity of RO-AR, however, rests fundamentally on the intervention being useful in practice. This close relationship with practice enhances the potential of a theory ultimately developed to inform other contexts. Eden and Huxham distinguish RO-AR from other action research approaches in the following ways (2006: 388):
• from organizational intervention projects that do not satisfy characteristics of rigorous research
• from research within an organization that does not satisfy characteristics of action orientation
• from forms of action research that do not have research output as their primary rasion d’etre.
The aim of this chapter is to highlight key features of RO-AR and to show how it may be used to produce good research on collaboration. In what follows, we look at the relevance of RO-AR to research on collaboration, provide and account of the application of the method in developing the theory of collaborative advantage, along with an overview of issues pertaining to data capture and analysis. The chapter also offers a brief evaluation of the method and some thoughts on rigor and relevance for researchers who may wish to apply the methods in future research on collaboration
Evaluating and extending public service logic–introduction to the special issue
No full textThis special issue of Public Management Review, Public Service Logic – Evaluation and
Development, seeks both to evaluate the current body of Public Service Logic (PSL)
knowledge and to further develop theory and tools for its practical application. Thanks
to the hard work of reviewers, each of the six articles in this special issue contributes to
those ends. Each reviewer is a noted scholar of PSL specifically, or of the broader public
administration and management field. Their expertise sets high standards for manuscripts,
which were evaluated for their contribution of knowledge to the discipline, for
their application of knowledge to practice (de Ven and Andrew 1989; Whetten 1989;
Graham, Kothari and Kreuter 2011), and for their explication of how the proposed
advances of theory explain or predict actual experiences (Bacharach 1989).
In this editorial essay, we first address the significant themes of knowledge developed
across articles, namely ecosystems, value, and user engagement. We then propose
and justify future research directions linked to the scope of PSL, the role of value in
PSL, and the application of PSL in practice
Modern network research : insights from network practitioners in addressing the knowing-doing gap
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Integrated public services : the role of networked arrangements
No full textNetworked arrangements have moved from the periphery to the centre of public policy making and now occupy a position alongside of government as key mechanisms for social and organisational integration. Despite the current prominence of networked arrangements, little is known about how networks are actually formed and what explains their structure, operation and management strategies. Moreover, despite the pivotal position as the architects, administrators and facilitators of the network reform process, the role of central agencies of government in networked environments has yet to be fully determined. The purpose of this thesis was to examine the variation in networked arrangements and its effect on design and management and, in doing so, uncover the emergent role of central agencies of government. Using a mixed research design of case study and network analysis, this thesis 'unpacked' three exemplars of cross-sector networked arrangements within the Queensland human services arena. The research produced a number of findings. First, it provided empirical evidence to support the previously largely descriptive proposition that networked arrangements are differentiated. Second, through the synthesis of two parallel integration literatures, a framework to guide the design of networked arrangements was produced. Third, it identified a set of network management strategies and demonstrated that these horizontally oriented strategies were different to those currently utilised within government. Finally, the research developed a set of general and specific roles to guide central agencies' operation within the current networked environment
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