Intelligence agents (knowledge management)

Reports some insights into knowledge management (KM) derived from UK one-day workshops with six businesses, three non-profits and one public sector organization. Lists the four questions posed to participants and discusses the themes which emerged, e.g. the need for a KM strategy to make raw information more useable, KM performance measurement etc. Stresses the need for commitment from a top-level champion and a wide range of employees to make this work and identifies three types of solutions for improving KM strategy: technological (e.g. databases and intranets), people (e.g. motivation, retention, training and networking) and processes (e.g. procedural instructions and balancing formal/informal knowledge sharing methods). Finds that accountants and senior managers do not generally see KM as very important but argues that management accountants are suitable knowledge champions who could develop explicit links between KM and organizational performance.

Blood glucose self-monitoring in non-insulin-treated type 2 diabetes:a qualitative study of patients' perspectives

Background: Self-monitoring of blood glucose is controversial in the management of type 2 diabetes. Some research suggests that self-monitoring improves glycaemic control, whereas other research is sceptical about its value for people with type 2 diabetes who are not on insulin. Although blood glucose meters are widely available and used by this group, patients' own views are absent from the debate. Aim: To explore the pros and cons of glucose monitoring from the patients' perspectives. Design of study: Qualitative repeat-interview study. Setting: Patients were recruited from 16 general practices and three hospital clinics within four local healthcare cooperatives in Lothian, Scotland. Method: Interview data from 40 patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes within the previous 6 months were analysed using thematic analysis informed by grounded theory. We report findings from round 1 and round 2 interviews. Results: Glucose monitoring can heighten patients' awareness of the impact of lifestyle; for example, dietary choices, on blood glucose levels. Glucose monitoring amplifies a sense of 'success' or 'failure' about self-management, often resulting in anxiety and self-blame if glucose readings remain consistently high. Moreover, monitoring can negatively effect patients' self-management when readings are counter-intuitive. Conclusion: Our analysis highlights the importance of understanding the meanings that newly diagnosed patients attach to glucose self-monitoring. To maximise the positive effects of self-monitoring, health professionals should ensure that patients understand the purpose of monitoring and should clarify with patients how readings should be interpreted. © British Journal of General Practice.

Community knowledge management (CKM): a framework for community action

Knowledge management (KM) is a developing field that focuses on harnessing knowledge for use by a person or community. However, most KM research focuses on improving decision making capacity in business communities, neglecting applications in wider society and non-decision making activities. This paper explores the potential of KM for rural communities, specifically for those that want to preserve their social history and collective memories (what we call heritage) to enrich the lives of others. In KM terms, this is a task of accumulating and recording knowledge to enable its retention for future use. We report a case study of Cardrona, a valley of approximately 120 people in New Zealand’s South Island. Realising that time would erode knowledge of their community a small, motivated group of residents initiated a KM programme to create a legacy for a wider community including younger generations, tourists and scholars. This paper applies KM principles to rural communities that want to harness their collective knowledge for wider societal gain, and develops a framework to accommodate them. As a result, we call for a wider conceptualization of KM to include motives for managing knowledge beyond decision making to accommodate community KM (cKM).

Has DRG payment influenced the technical efficiency and productivity of diagnostic technologies in Portuguese public hospitals? An empirical analysis using parametric and non‐parametric methods

The use of Diagnosis Related Groups (DRG) as a mechanism for hospital financing is a currently debated topic in Portugal. The DRG system was scheduled to be initiated by the Health Ministry of Portugal on January 1, 1990 as an instrument for the allocation of public hospital budgets funded by the National Health Service (NHS), and as a method of payment for other third party payers (e.g., Public Employees (ADSE), private insurers, etc.). Based on experience from other countries such as the United States, it was expected that implementation of this system would result in more efficient hospital resource utilisation and a more equitable distribution of hospital budgets. However, in order to minimise the potentially adverse financial impact on hospitals, the Portuguese Health Ministry decided to gradually phase in the use of the DRG system for budget allocation by using blended hospitalspecific and national DRG casemix rates. Since implementation in 1990, the percentage of each hospitals budget based on hospital specific costs was to decrease, while the percentage based on DRG casemix was to increase. This was scheduled to continue until 1995 when the plan called for allocating yearly budgets on a 50% national and 50% hospitalspecific cost basis. While all other nonNHS third party payers are currently paying based on DRGs, the adoption of DRG casemix as a National Health Service budget setting tool has been slower than anticipated. There is now some argument in both the political and academic communities as to the appropriateness of DRGs as a budget setting criterion as well as to their impact on hospital efficiency in Portugal. This paper uses a twostage procedure to assess the impact of actual DRG payment on the productivity (through its components, i.e., technological change and technical efficiency change) of diagnostic technology in Portuguese hospitals during the years 1992–1994, using both parametric and nonparametric frontier models. We find evidence that the DRG payment system does appear to have had a positive impact on productivity and technical efficiency of some commonly employed diagnostic technologies in Portugal during this time span.

Genotypic and phenotypic properties of coagulase-negative staphylococci causing dialysis catheter-related sepsis

Sixty coagulase-negative staphylococcus (CNS) isolates were recovered from the blood cultures or peritoneal dialysate effluent of 43 patients on renal dialysis. The patients had either renal dialysis catheter-related sepsis (CRS) or continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD)-associated peritonitis. Isolates were characterized by biotyping, and genotyped by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Phenotypic properties of the strains were also investigated. Several genotypes were identified with no one specific strain of CNS being associated with CRS. However, closely related strains were isolated from several patients within the units studied, suggesting horizontal transfer of micro-organisms. Genotypic macro-restriction profiles did not concur with phenotypic profiles or biotypes, confirming that genotyping is required for epidemiological studies. All staphylococcal strains were investigated for the production of phenotypic characteristics. Significant differences were predominantly seen in the production of lipase, esterase and elastase in strains isolated from the renal patients with CRS and CAPD-associated peritonitis, compared with a non-septic control group. These phenotypic characteristics may therefore have a role in the maintenance of CRS in renal patients. © 2003 The Hospital Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Towards a generic autonomic architecture for legacy resource management

Half a decade has passed since the objectives and benefits of autonomic computing were stated, yet even the latest system designs and deployments exhibit only limited and isolated elements of autonomic functionality. From an autonomic computing standpoint, all computing systems – old, new or under development – are legacy systems, and will continue to be so for some time to come. In this paper, we propose a generic architecture for developing fully-fledged autonomic systems out of legacy, non-autonomic components, and we investigate how existing technologies can be used to implement this architecture.

Management role in employee participation:a comparative study of multi-national enterprises in India and the U.K.

This research is an Anglo-Indian comparative case study. It studies managerial action in the participation arena of two British multi-nationals i.e. Cadbury Limited and ICI plc. The research was carried out in matched pairs of factories of the above named companies, located in the Midlands of the UK and in Bombay in India. The data for this research was collected through semi-structured interviews with managers and non-management actors, study of company documents and non-participant observation of some participation forums. The research conceptualises the idea of a `participation arena' consisting of the structures, processes, purposes and dynamics of participation. This arena is visualised as broadly reflecting the organisation structure and can be divided into corporate, unit and shopfloor level. Managerial action in this arena is examined in terms of interaction between three sets of factors i.e. company business objectives, strategies and policies; managerial values of power and control; and the responses of unions. Similarities and differences between management action in the home and host plants of the two multi-national companies are also examined. The major findings of the research are as follows. There is significant difference between the participation arena of the parent and the subsidiary company. The latter is marked by absence of higher level participation forums and lack of opportunity for employees to discuss, let alone influence, key decisions. This results from parent company control over key activities of the subsidiary. The similarities in management action in the participation arenas of the two companies in both countries can be attributed to the operation of the three sets of factors mentioned above. Nevertheless, the particular circumstances of each company are a greater influence on managerial action than the national context. Finally, future areas of research in this field are explored.

Strategic positioning in voluntary and non-profit organizations in the UK : exploring the experiences of British charitable organizations:Exploring the experiences of British Charitable Organizations

This thesis explores the strategic positioning [SP] activities of charitable organizations [COs] within the wider sector of voluntary and non-profit organizations [VNPOs] in the UK. Despite the growing interest in SP for British COs in an increasingly competitive operating environment and changing policy context, there is lack of research in mainstream marketing/strategic management studies on this topic for charities, whilst the specialist literature on VNPOs has neglected the study of SP. The thesis begins with an extended literature review of the concept of positioning in both commercial [for-profit] and charitable organizations. It concludes that the majority of theoretical underpinnings of SP that are prescribed for COs have been derived from the commercial strategy/marketing literature. There is currently a lack of theoretical and conceptual models that can accommodate the particular context of COs and guide strategic positioning practice in them. The research contained in this thesis is intended to fill some of these research gaps. It combines an exploratory postal survey and four cross-sectional case studies to describe the SP activities of a sample of general welfare and social care charities and identifies the key factors that influence their choice of positioning strategies [PSs]. It concludes that charitable organizations have begun to undertake SP to differentiate their organizations from other charities that provide similar services. Their PSs have both generic features, and other characteristics that are unique to them. A combination of external environmental and organizational factors influences their choice of PSs. A theoretical model, which depicts these factors, is developed in this research. It highlights the role of governmental influence, other external environmental forces, the charity’s mission, organizational resources, and influential stakeholders in shaping the charity’s PS. This study concludes by considering the theoretical and managerial implications of the findings on the study of charitable and non-profit organizations.

A heat metering system for energy management on an industrial site

Faced with a future of rising energy costs there is a need for industry to manage energy more carefully in order to meet its economic objectives. A problem besetting the growth of energy conservation in the UK is that a large proportion of energy consumption is used in a low intensive manner in organisations where they would be responsibility for energy efficiency is spread over a large number of personnel who each see only small energy costs. In relation to this problem in the non-energy intensive industrial sector, an application of an energy management technique known as monitoring and targeting (M & T) has been installed at the Whetstone site of the General Electric Company Limited in an attempt to prove it as a means for motivating line management and personnel to save energy. The objective energy saving for which the M & T was devised is very specific. During early energy conservation work at the site there had been a change from continuous to intermittent heating but the maintenance of the strategy was receiving a poor level of commitment from line management and performance was some 5% - 10% less than expected. The M & T is concerned therefore with heat for space heating for which a heat metering system was required. Metering of the site high pressure hot water system posed technical difficulties and expenditure was also limited. This led to a ‘tin-house' design being installed for a price less than the commercial equivalent. The timespan of work to achieve an operational heat metering system was 3 years which meant that energy saving results from the scheme were not observed during the study. If successful the replication potential is the larger non energy intensive sites from which some 30 PT savings could be expected in the UK.

Coherence and understanding in informal conversations between native and non-native speakers of English

This study investigates informal conversations between native English speakers and international students living and studying in the UK. 10 NNS participants recorded themselves during conversations with native speakers. The audio-recordings were transcribed and a fine-grained, qualitative analysis was employed to examine how the participants jointly achieved both coherence and understanding in the conversations, and more specifically how the NNSs contributed to this achievement. The key areas of investigation focused on features of topic management, such as topic initiations, changes and transitions, and on the impact which any communicative difficulties may have on the topical continuity of the conversations. The data suggested that these conversations flowed freely and coherently, and were marked by a relative scarcity of the communicative difficulties often associated with NS-NNS interactions. Moreover, language difficulties were found to have minimal impact on the topic development of the conversations. Unlike most previous research in the field, the data further indicated that the NNSs were able to make active contributions to the initiation and change of topics, and to employ a range of strategies to manage these effectively and coherently. The study considers the implications which the findings may have for teaching and learning, for second language acquisition research, and for non-native speakers everywhere.

Distinctive manufacturing competence or core competence:which is more relevant in non-corporate organizations?

This paper addresses the issues of what core competencies mean in the light of the earlier existing concept of distinctive manufacturing competencies (or manufacturing competencies). The apparent parallels bel ween these two concepts are highlighted and considered. The results of empirical research comlucled via a survey of UK non-corporate organizations is presented and then analyzed. The results from the investigation lead directly to conclusions about the relevance of these competency concepts to non-corporate, non-multinational organizations.

Tracking and updating academic research in selling and sales management:a decade later

This study examines the state of academic research in selling and sales management (S&SM) from the years 2003-7, ten years after the data collected by Moncrief, Marshall, and Watkins (2000). Sales articles are reviewed that appeared in 19 marketing journals and evidence is provided on the state of the S&SM discipline by comparing the number of authors, authorships, and publications versus a comparable five-year period a decade ago. Of interest are the universities that produce and employ faculty in S&SM and to identify those schools and geographic regions that are publishing the majority of articles. Publication distribution trends across journals are also examined. A dramatic increase in non-U.S. authors and authorships is noted versus the prior study. Overall, the findings indicate that, perhaps contrary to some popular misconceptions, the state of S&SM research is healthy, vibrant, and evolving.

Topic continuity in informal conversations between native and non-native speakers of English

Topic management by non-native speakers (NNSs) during informal conversations has received comparatively little attention from researchers, and receives surprisingly little attention in second language learning and teaching. This article reports on one of the topic management strategies employed by international students during informal, social interactions with native-speaker peers, exploring the process of maintaining topic continuity following temporary suspensions of topics. The concept of side sequences is employed to illustrate the nature of different types of topic suspension, as well as the process of jointly negotiating a return to the topic. Extracts from the conversations show that such sequences were not exclusively occasioned by language difficulties, and that the non-native speaker participants were able to effect successful returns to the main topic of the conversations.

HRM systems, internal marketing and performance in Indian call centres:non-technical summary (Research summary) ESRC end of award report, RES-000-22-1876. Swindon: ESRC

Considering the rapid growth of call centres (CCs) in India, its implications for businesses in the UK and a scarcity of research on human resource management (HRM) related issues in Indian CCs, this research has two main aims. First, to highlight the nature of HRM systems relevant to Indian call centres. Second, to understand the significance of internal marketing (IM) in influencing the frontline employees’ job-related attitudes and performance. Rewards being an important component of IM, the relationships between different types of rewards as part of an IM strategy, attitudes and performance of employees in Indian CCs will also be examined. Further, the research will investigate which type of commitment mediates the link between rewards and performance and why. The data collection will be via two phases. The first phase would involve a series of in-depth interviews with both the managers and employees to understand the functioning of CCs, and development of suitable HRM systems for the Indian context. The second phase would involve data collection through questionnaires distributed to the frontline employees and supervisors to examine the relationships among IM, employee attitudes and performance. Such an investigation is expected to contribute to development of better theory and practice.

Theoretical perspectives in purchasing and supply chain management:an analysis of the literature

Purpose – This paper attempts to seek answers to four questions. Two of these questions have been borrowed (but adapted) from the work of Defee et al.: RQ1. To what extent is theory used in purchasing and supply chain management (P&SCM) research? RQ2. What are the prevalent theories to be found in P&SCM research? Following on from these questions an additional question is posed: RQ3. Are theory-based papers more highly cited than papers with no theoretical foundation? Finally, drawing on the work of Harland et al., the authors have added a fourth question: RQ4. To what extent does P&SCM meet the tests of coherence, breadth and depth, and quality necessary to make it a scientific discipline? Design/methodology/approach – A systematic literature review was conducted in accordance with the model outlined by Tranfield et al. for three journals within the field of “purchasing and supply chain management”. In total 1,113 articles were reviewed. In addition a citation analysis was completed covering 806 articles in total. Findings – The headline features from the results suggest that nearly a decade-and-a-half on from its development, the field still lacks coherence. There is the absence of theory in much of the work and although theory-based articles achieved on average a higher number of citations than non-theoretical papers, there is no obvious contender as an emergent paradigm for the discipline. Furthermore, it is evident that P&SCM does not meet Fabian's test necessary to make it a scientific discipline and is still some way from being a normal science. Research limitations/implications – This study would have benefited from the analysis of further journals, however the analysis of 1,113 articles from three leading journals in the field of P&SCM was deemed sufficient in scope. In addition, a further significant line of enquiry to follow is the rigour vs relevance debate. Practical implications – This article is of interest to both an academic and practitioner audience as it highlights the use theories in P&SCM. Furthermore, this article raises a number of important questions. Should research in this area draw more heavily on theory and if so which theories are appropriate? Social implications – The broader social implications relate to the discussion of how a scientific discipline develops and builds on the work of Fabian and Amundson. Originality/value – The data set for this study is significant and builds on a number of previous literature reviews. This review is both greater in scope than previous reviews and is broader in its subject focus. In addition, the citation analysis (not previously conducted in any of the reviews) and statistical test highlights that theory-based articles are more highly cited than non-theoretically based papers. This could indicate that researchers are attempting to build on one another's work.