The expert system: constructing expertise in an IT/management consultancy

Despite widespread uncertainty, if not scepticism, about the precise nature of the expertise that consultants bring to bear in their client engagements, organisations continue to employ consultants in large numbers, especially in information technology-related projects. Drawing on a participant observation study of IT/management consultancy practice, this paper seeks to explore the different ways in which consultants are seen as experts in the light of the pressures of the consultancy market place. The ongoing construction of consultancy expertise through the interaction of consultants and their clients with an array of elements, including technical knowledge, skilled practice, individual and collective experience, and commercial interests is discussed. It is suggested that, rather than being a relatively-enduring property of individuals, based on their mastery of a body abstract knowledge or their skills at managing the perceptions of their clients, the precarious and multi-faceted character of their expertise means that consultants are continuously engaged in its active construction through their situated practice.     

Interactive identity work of professionals in management: a hospital case study

ABSTRACT

Hybrid professional managers appear less effective in introducing management into public professional settings than policymakers hope. To date, research has offered little understanding of professionals’ identity transition challenge and the role of social interactions underpinning this process. We studied the identity work of hybrid doctors inside a large public health-care organization, finding that it takes place through processes of familiarizing with management, rationalizing being a hybrid, and legitimizing the new role-identity. We contribute to the literature by showing that identity work is distributed and enabled by social interactions beyond the professional group. Implications for policymakers and executives are discussed.     

Performance appraisal and culture: practice and attitudes in Hong Kong and Great Britain

This article compares the practice of and attitudes towards performance appraisal for managerial and professional staff in Hong Kong and Britain, and considers the extent to which actual practice and employee preferences are in alignment. Findings suggest that appraisal may be more widespread in Hong Kong than in Britain. However, British appraisal tends to be more participative and to place greater emphasis on discussing objectives, development and career plans. Hong Kong appraisals appear to be more directive and Hong Kong respondents perceive a higher level of 'negative' appraiser behaviour. In spite of this, Hong Kong respondents show if anything slightly more confidence in the utility of appraisal than do British respondents. They show stronger support for appraisal's use for reward and punishment and less support for the objectives-setting and training and development uses than do the British sample. Hong Kong respondents are more likely than their British counterparts to favour involving a more senior manager in appraisal, and they are less likely to prefer more frequent appraisals. There was little evidence that Hong Kong respondents had a stronger preference for group-based appraisal criteria, although they did show more support than the British sample for the use of personality as a basis for appraisal. Overall, the suggestion is that appraisal has been adopted in Hong Kong organizations but that the practice of appraisal has been adapted to suit the cultural characteristics of the society.     

Cultural Complementarity: Reshaping professional and organizational logics in developing frontline medical leadership

With the rise of clinical management, new skills of medical doctors stand out, including leadership skills. Medical doctors organize medical work and improve patient care. The training of frontline leadership skills, however, is weakly developed in residency programmes. Medical professional cultures tend to resist organizational techniques and values. This paper analyses cultural interventions in health-care organizations, aimed at overcoming ‘clashes’ between professional and organizational logics in frontline domains. These interventions do not work against, but ‘use’ professional traditions, styles and customs as cultural resources. We use one particular project to illustrate this, a project in which internal medicine residents are invited to join quality improvement sessions, during which they identify critical (organizational) experiences with care provision and realize change. We show how residents feel enabled to establish results and cooperate with other professionals. We also show how this project links organizational responsibilities and medical professionalism – how complementarity (instead of conflict) is established. This is done in practical ways, which commit instead of alienate medical professionals.     

江西保险专业人才供需矛盾问题研究

近年来，在业界、学界以及相关部门的共同努力下，江西保险业取得了可喜的成就；无论是保费规模还是保险覆盖面，均呈现出快速扩张的态势。然而，作为一个发展历史仅有短短三十年的新生事物，江西保险业在发展过程中也不可避免地存在一些问题和体制性障碍。专业人才的供需严重失衡就是其中之一。导致江西保险专业人才供需失衡的原因是多方面的，它不是某单一因素作用的结果。而是由历史、体制、教育模式和认可度等诸多因素共同造成的。针对目前存在的问题，有必要采取彻实有效的措施，加强保险监管部门与教育部门以及学界与业界的沟通、联系与互动，共同促进保险高等教育发展，提高保险高等教育水平与质量，扩大保险招生规模，提升保险业社会形象。     

技能型旅游人才培养模式探析——基于闽台“校校企”创新实践

从福建省旅游人才的现实需求,分析当前国内外旅游人才培养的多种模式,阐述传统“校企合作”培养的弊端,提出“校校企”三方联合培养的创新方式。重点从福建对外经济贸易职业技术学院、台湾育达商业科技大学和厦门灿星国际旅行社三方合作的方式出发,探讨“校校企”三方联合培养人才的可行性。旨在探究一种适合闽台旅游业发展的教学模式,并为以...     

The SCM Knowledge Supply Chain: Integrating World Views to Advance the Discipline

Supply chain management is a discipline immersed in knowledge creation and dissemination concerning the integration of business processes across functions and among firms. Academics are the producers and distributors in this knowledge supply chain. The Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) provides numerous opportunities to integrate functions and processes between academics and practitioners. The Journal of Business Logistics, the CSCMP Educators' Conference, the CSCMP Annual Global Conference, and CSCMP per se, provide the venue for linking academics to practice, bridging the gap between the two groups as part of the same universe of value creation. Being actively involved in all of these makes a researcher more complete, relevant, and rigorous.     

中国传统文化在应用型本科院校动漫专业的课程设置和功能实现

基于动漫专业的发展现状,结合应用型本科院校实际情况,从中国传统文化类课程设置的依据、原则与实施三个方面,探讨了新形势下中国传统文化在高校动漫专业的课程设置和功能实现,将包罗万象的中国传统文化系统化、类别化,在动漫专业学生的教学目标、教学内容、教学方法及课时安排的选择上,在专业技术与传统艺术类知识的相互配合、相互衔接上,制定了更适合动漫专业人才发展目标的模块式课程体系,为提高动漫专业学生的审美情趣、创新精神和人文素养做了切实可行的调研和探讨。