How do managerial techniques evolve over time? The distortion of “facilitation” in healthcare service improvement

When applied to solving real-world problems in the public sector, managerial techniques are likely to evolve over time in response to the context of their implementation. The temporal dynamics of this evolution and its underlying processes, however, remain under-researched. To address this gap, we present a qualitative longitudinal case study of a UK-based knowledge mobilization programme utilizing “facilitation” as a service improvement approach. We describe the processes underpinning the distortion of facilitation over time and argue that an uncritical and uncontrolled adaptation of managerial techniques may mask the unsustainable nature of the resulting improvement outcomes captured by conventional performance measurement.     

Students’ conceptions of learning in the context of an accounting degree

Students' conceptions of learning (CoL) play an important role in the learning process leading to the development of generic skills. This paper investigates whether CoL of accounting students can be developed by incorporating high-level cognitive skills progressively within the accounting curriculum. First, the study explored, using phenomenography, the variation in accounting students' CoL. The findings highlighted some nuances in accountings students' CoL and that lower-order CoL were prevalent among accounting students. However, more (less) third-year students than second-year students adopted higher- (lower-) order CoL. Upon examining the learning objectives, teaching methods and assessment of all units comprising the accounting major of the host university, evidence was found that CoL are progressively developed and shaped, albeit in a limited way, based on the levels of cognitive domain emphasised within the curriculum. The findings highlight the need for accounting educators to take a whole of the programme approach to developing higher-order CoL.     

When Paradigms Meet: Interacting Perspectives on Evaluation in the Non‐Profit Sector

This study examines a public debate in Australia, arising from a national government report, around how social contribution in the nonprofit sector should be assessed. Guided by several meta‐perspectives on evaluation, we identify connections between foundational assumptions and normative positions on evaluation espoused by non‐profit organizations (NPOs), and examine the ways in which the inter‐paradigmatic context of the non‐profit sector contributes to the emergence of NPOs’ different normative positions on evaluation. We conclude that particular paradigmatic orientations of NPOs (positivism, interpretivism, constructivism) lead to particular perspectives on how NPOs should engage with alternative paradigms (monism, impartial pluralism, radical pluralism).     

Enablers for Organizational Project Management in the Chinese Context

This study aims at exploring the organizational enablers (OEs) for organizational project management (OPM) in the Chinese context. From the resource‐based view of firms, we conceptualize OEs as important drivers for the business value creation processes in project‐based organizations. The preliminary factor framework was constructed through literature review and expert interviews. Questionnaire surveys elicited 146 responses from Chinese project management practitioners; thereafter, factor analysis was performed to test the OE system empirically. The resulting final OE system contains 49 enablers in nine categories for three management hierarchies; this OE system, constructed by exploratory analysis and verified by confirmatory analysis, comprehensively clarifies the framework of OEs in the Chinese context; it facilitates further investigations into the interaction among OEs and their effects on organization performance. Firm managers may also find this system helpful in formulating identifiable, measurable, and manageable OE frameworks for their own firms, and enabling their organization's strategies with robust OEs.     

技术路线图方法设计研究回顾

通过回顾有关技术路线图的研究文献,探讨了当前技术路线图方法设计的研究状况,尤其是特定应用情境下产业技术路线图定制化方法设计的研究,归纳、总结了当前研究的方法、成果以及不足之处,指出目前尚未有文献提出适用于特定情境的产业技术路线图通用定制化方法以及相关研究较少,并提出了后续研究方向。     

Combining Sources of Preference Data for Modeling Complex Decision Processes

We review current state-of-the-art practices for combining preference data from multiple sources and discuss future research possibilities. A central theme is that any one data source (e.g., a scanner panel source) is often insufficient to support tests of complex theories of choice and decision making. Hence, analysts may need to embrace a wider variety of data types and measurement tools than traditionally have been considered in applied decision making and choice research. We discuss the viability of preference-stationarity assumptions usually made when pooling data, as well as random-utility theory-based approaches for combining data sources. We also discuss types of models and data sources likely to be required to make inferences about and estimate models that describe choice dynamics. The latter discussion is speculative insofar as the body of literature on this topic is small.     

基于地方文脉视角下的甘南州玛曲县民族旅游开发

随着民族旅游的兴起,新、奇、特、异的地方文脉在少数民族地区民族旅游开发中发挥着越来越重要的作用;以甘肃甘南州玛曲县为例,通过深入挖掘民族地区文脉资源,分析了地方文脉在民族旅游开发中的运用。     

语境制约与语义理解

语境是表达和理解语义的基础,语义是表达和理解语境的。语境作为言语交际的重要组成部分,对语义的选择具有很大的决定性,体现为文化语境、社会语境对语义的制约。     

从语用角度解读跨文化交际中的委婉语

委婉语是用温和、含糊和迂回的说法替代粗俗、生硬和直率的说法,其使用受到语境、对象和意图的制约。在跨文化交际中除了文化差异外,结构生成、礼貌原则、场合及对象都是不可缺少的重要因素,是确认委婉语的指称义、辩明含义和意图的重要途径。     

Project management systems: Moving project management from an operational to a strategic discipline

This article illustrates one aspect of the concept of “fit” between an organization's implementation of project management and its organizational context by exploring how the underlying drivers of an organization's strategy might influence not only the nature of the projects that it undertakes, but also the appropriateness of the arrangements that it makes to manage those projects. Using a model conceptualized from the literature on strategic management, an analysis of four organizations that have made significant investments in project management over the past 5 years supports the hypothesis that the degree of “fit” between an organization's strategic drivers of value and the configuration of its project management system influences the value it obtains from project management.