Sustainable components of leadership effectiveness in organizational performance

Purpose – The objective is to describe a selection of sustainability components of leadership effectiveness in organizational performance.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a conceptual discussion. Findings – The paper contributes to descriptive models that address sustainability components of leadership effectiveness in organizational performance. The study highlights some common views that exist in the management literature and in prosperous management practice related to the direct impact of the relationship in organizational performance between leadership and effectiveness. In fact, it also highlights the critical or sceptical views of leadership effectiveness in organizational performance raised in the literature. Research limitations/implications – The paper contends that the actual leadership effectiveness in organizational performance varies over time and across contexts. At times, the achievement in organizational performance is the outcome of prosperous and conscious leadership, while it at other times may be the outcome of poor and deficient leadership. The topic at hand is positioned and limited to the interface that may describe and explain the connection between these two views. Furthermore, it is limited to corporate decision making and business behaviour in relation to leadership effectiveness and organizational performance. Practical implications – The leadership of an organization need not only to be successful today, but they also need to be successful tomorrow to stay in control and to flourish. Quality control and quality assurance are no longer enough for most organizations. They need to build an awareness of the sustainability components into processes of their management and business practices (i.e. internal and external ones) in order to be judged as successful in corporate decision-making and business behaviour in organizational performance in the long term. Originality/value – The principal contributions of the study are a model of timely leadership effectiveness, a model of contextual leadership effectiveness, and a typology of leadership effectiveness in corporate decision-making and business behaviour. These contributions provide theoretical and managerial ideas and insights into the sustainability components of leadership effectiveness in organizational performance.

Development of an instrument for the analysis of problem gambling counselling practice

This article provides an overview of the development and validation of a Counsellor Task Analysis (Problem Gambling) [CTA (PG)] instrument undertaken in order to document the activities of counsellors in problem gambling services. The CTA (PG) aims to provide a broad overview of the complexity of the counsellor's role; specify the range of tasks they perform; and document the relationship between the frequency of task performance and the counsellor's beliefs about the importance of the tasks performed.

The CTA (PG) instrument addresses nine dimensions of practice activity through nine subscales, all of which demonstrate internal consistency. It appears to be a strong instrument in terms of its measurement error characteristics for recommending its use with counsellors engaged in the field of gambling. The CTA (PG) gives counsellors the opportunity to document their practice and theories in use when dealing with a problem gambler, a member of the problem gambler's family and the community at large. The psychometric findings reported in this article should be viewed as the preliminary results of an ongoing research effort and further psychometric testing is anticipated.

The performance of solarscan : an automated dermoscopy image analysis instrument for the diagnosis of primary melanoma

Objective To describe the diagnostic performance of SolarScan (Polartechnics Ltd, Sydney, Australia), an automated instrument for the diagnosis of primary melanoma.

Design Images from a data set of 2430 lesions (382 were melanomas; median Breslow thickness, 0.36 mm) were divided into a training set and an independent test set at a ratio of approximately 2:1. A diagnostic algorithm (absolute diagnosis of melanoma vs benign lesion and estimated probability of melanoma) was developed and its performance described on the test set. High-quality clinical and dermoscopy images with a detailed patient history for 78 lesions (13 of which were melanomas) from the test set were given to various clinicians to compare their diagnostic accuracy with that of SolarScan.

Setting Seven specialist referral centers and 2 general practice skin cancer clinics from 3 continents. Comparison between clinician diagnosis and SolarScan diagnosis was by 3 dermoscopy experts, 4 dermatologists, 3 trainee dermatologists, and 3 general practitioners.

Patients Images of the melanocytic lesions were obtained from patients who required either excision or digital monitoring to exclude malignancy.

Main Outcome Measures Sensitivity, specificity, the area under the receiver operator characteristic curve, median probability for the diagnosis of melanoma, a direct comparison of SolarScan with diagnoses performed by humans, and interinstrument and intrainstrument reproducibility.

Results The melanocytic-only diagnostic model was highly reproducible in the test set and gave a sensitivity of 91% (95% confidence interval [CI], 86%-96%) and specificity of 68% (95% CI, 64%-72%) for melanoma. SolarScan had comparable or superior sensitivity and specificity (85% vs 65%) compared with those of experts (90% vs 59%), dermatologists (81% vs 60%), trainees (85% vs 36%; P =.06), and general practitioners (62% vs 63%). The intraclass correlation coefficient of intrainstrument repeatability was 0.86 (95% CI, 0.83-0.88), indicating an excellent repeatability. There was no significant interinstrument variation (P = .80).

Conclusions SolarScan is a robust diagnostic instrument for pigmented or partially pigmented melanocytic lesions of the skin. Preliminary data suggest that its performance is comparable or superior to that of a range of clinician groups. However, these findings should be confirmed in a formal clinical trial.

The marketing audit and business performance: an empirical study of large Australian companies

The conceptual framework of the marketing audit has been well developed by different contributors since the late 1950s. At the present time, the popular marketing textbooks and the published academic and general literature deal primarily with the theoretical and practical aspects of the marketing audit without offering any rigorous empirical justification of the practice. The teaching of the marketing audit appears to be based on the logical expectation of its usefulness, isolated case studies, and anecdotal evidence. There is little indication of how the marketing audit is actually being used, the procedure in conducting it, and how the industry perceives and evaluates its benefits. This paper attempts to explore and profile the current practice of the marketing audit in larger Australian firms. The results of this industry-based survey of 216 large Australian businesses indicated that about 48 per cent of the respondents have used the marketing audit, with 75 per cent using the self-audit method in conducting it. The respondents’ perception was that the implementation of the recommendations of the marketing audit had contributed mostly between one per cent and 10 per cent to their organisational performance.

Profiles of poor performers in medical practice : models for prevention and intervention

Recent research on evidence-based medical practice has highlighted trends and patterns among medically qualified poor performers, and has produced a profile of risky performers in the profession. Drawing on empirically derived examples from medical practitioners based on reviews of recent government-ordered inquiries of hospitals in Australia, behaviours and practices that increase the risk of poor performance are identified. These findings permit development of a preventive approach to intervene before the problematic performance generates complaints to regulatory bodies. Preventive risk assessment measures to serve the interests of patients and the public are reviewed. These findings will be of interest to individual practitioners, and to those who regulate the profession, such as medical associations, medical councils and medical defense unions.

The world wide web in modern marketing's contribution to organisational performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a better understanding of the antecedents of organisational performance (OP), both financial and marketing, and the influence of holding a strategic market orientation (MO) where customer-base volatility is taken into account.

Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 167 marketing organisations in Australia was surveyed to test the hypothesised model. Structural equation modelling was employed in the data analysis.

Findings – Use of the world wide web (Web) reported by organisations in this study indicates that there is still separate use of the Web and that it has yet to be fully integrated into the marketing strategy of many organisations. The study finds that traditional marketing effort mediates the relationship between holding a MO and OP in terms of financial indicators.

Research limitations/implications – A major limitation of this study is that it surveys organisations from many industries rather than selected industries. This tends to mask some of the possible outcomes.

Practical implications – The findings in this study suggest that traditional and online elements of marketing effort each mediate the influence of holding a MO on OP, but differently. Innovation culture is found to influence both marketing practice and marketing performance, directly. A single measure of environmental turbulence – customer-base turbulence or churn – negatively affects marketing performance, and ultimately financial performance.

Originality/value – A major contribution of this study is the examination of use of the Web in marketing effort and how this usage influences financial and marketing performance.

The effect of intra- versus post-interview feedback during simulated practice interviews about child abuse

Objective
This study compared the effectiveness of two types of instructor feedback (relative to no feedback) on investigative interviewers’ ability to adhere to open-ended questions in simulated practice interviews about child abuse.
Method
In one condition, feedback was provided at the end of each practice interview. In the other, the instructor stopped the interviewer at various stages during the practice interviews to provide feedback. The relative effect of these conditions was examined by measuring interviewers’ performance in a standardized mock interview paradigm immediately prior to, immediately after, and 12 weeks after the practice and feedback sessions.
Results
Prior to and 12 weeks after the practice sessions were administered, there was no significant difference in participants’ adherence to open-ended questions irrespective of the nature of the feedback, or whether feedback was received. At the immediate post-practice assessment interval, however, the participants who received feedback during the practice interviews performed better (M proportion of open-ended questions = .85, SD = .13) than the other participants (post-interview feedback M = .67, SD = .18, p < .001; no feedback M = .56, SD = .16, p < .001). This heightened use of open-ended questions was associated with a greater tendency among the interviewees to provide abuse-related details in response to open-ended questions (M = .91, SD = .11) compared to the other participants (post-interview feedback M = .77, SD = .15, p < .05; no feedback M = .69, SD = .16, p = .001).
Conclusions
Different types of feedback can be differentially effective in training child abuse investigators to adhere to open-ended questions. The benefits of any training program, however, are likely to be short-lived without ongoing practice.
Practice implications
A single study compared the relative effectiveness of two types of instructor feedback (relative to no feedback) on investigative interviewers’ ability to adhere to open-ended questions in simulated practice interviews about child abuse. This research is relevant to trainers of investigative interviewers because there is currently large variability in the type of feedback employed in training programs. This study is one of the first to empirically demonstrate that different types of feedback may be differentially effective in improving the performance of investigative interviewers.

Reflexive and critical views of leadership performance in corporate accomplishment : framework and illustration

Purpose – This paper intends to shed some light on the relationship between leadership performance and corporate accomplishment through the aid of complexity sciences. The objective is to describe leadership performance in corporate accomplishment using different teleological approaches.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper discusses the underlying criteria of the relationship between leadership performance and corporate accomplishment. Case illustration and narrative analogy are also provided.

Findings – The authors believe that the discussion highlights a potential downside of leadership performance in corporate accomplishment and its precision rarely highlighted in practice and literature.

Research limitations/implications – There is a reigning assumption in management practice that is based on the belief that a top-down approach of leadership performance in management and business practices is superior to the bottom-up approach. It proffers the assumed importance of strategic management issues, but neglects the knowledge, experience, competence and awareness inherent among employees at tactical and operational levels of business practices. It also proffers a mechanical view of employee performance and ignores the worth of the generation of ideas from subordinates in management and business practices that contribute to corporate achievements. Furthermore, it neglects the fact that it is not possible to know the future nor it is predictable.

Practical implications – The paper contends that the importance of top management tends to be inflated in respect to corporate achievements in the management/leadership literature. It also contends that it should be questioned as to whether the top management of corporations are largely responsible for the corporate results on which they attempt to justify their salaries and other benefits. Furthermore, the paper contends that it also should be questioned as to what extent corporate accomplishment may be derived from the performance of the top management in organizations.

Originality/value – The paper strives to contribute to the ongoing discussion of leadership performance in corporate accomplishment in various ways. The principal contributions are: a set of teleological sub-processes of leadership performance and a case illustration and narrative analogies of teleological leadership performance patterns, in respect to corporate accomplishment in management and business practices. These contributions provide theoretical and managerial ideas and insights to anticipate and avoid deficient or erroneous grounds of leadership performance evaluation in corporate accomplishment.

The marketing audit and organizational performance an empirical profiling

This study investigates the use of strategy to address changes in business performance. It suggests the use of the marketing audit as a facility that can assist with the establishment, maintenance, and management of a market orientation strategy. The practice of the marketing audit and its perceived benefits are examined, and their relationships with change in business performance are investigated. The results indicate a positive association between the usage of the marketing audit and increase in market share, and a stronger increase in market share than increase in overall financial performance.

The effect of using trained versus untrained adult respondents in simulated practice interviews about child abuse

Objective
A single study tested the hypothesis that simulated practice interviews for investigative interviewers of children are more effective when the role of the child respondent is played by trained actors (i.e., postgraduate psychology students) than untrained fellow participants (i.e., child protection workers).
Method
The interviewers included 50 child protection service workers. Each interviewer received instruction in the use of open-ended questions and then engaged in two simulated practice interviews. The role of the child respondent in the practice interviews was played by either a trained psychology student or an untrained fellow participant. The key outcome measure was the proportion of open-ended questions, which was assessed immediately prior to and after the practice sessions, as well as 12 weeks post-training.
Results
Interviewers who had practiced with trained actors had higher post-training performance (M = .83, SD = .12) compared to those who had practiced with untrained fellow participants (M = .73, SD = .13, p < .05), even at the 12-week follow up (M actors = .66, SD = .25; M untrained actors = .49, SD = .23, p < .05).
Conclusions
Training programs that make better use of practice opportunities (e.g., by using trained respondents) will be more effective in improving the performance of investigative interviewers.
Practice implications
A single study investigated the relative effectiveness of two simulated practice exercises for professionals who interview children about abuse. This research is relevant to professionals who design investigative interviewer training programs because it indicates that practical exercises, which are currently chosen on an ‘ad hoc’ or convenience basis, can vary markedly in their effectiveness in encouraging adherence to open questions.

Measurement for improvement: a survey of current practice in Australian public hospitals

Objective:
To identify patient safety measurement tools in use in Australian public hospitals and to determine barriers to their use.

Design:
Structured survey, conducted between 4 March and 19 May 2005, designed to identify tools, and to assess current use of, levels of satisfaction with, and barriers to use of tools for measuring the domains and subdomains of: organisational capacity to provide safe health care; patient safety incidents; and clinical performance.

Participants and setting:
Hospital executives, managers and clinicians from a nationwide random sample of Australian public hospitals stratified by state and hospital peer grouping.

Main outcome measures:
Tools used by hospitals within the three domains and their subdomains; patient safety tools and processes identified by individuals at these hospitals; satisfaction with the tools; and barriers to their use.

Results:
Eighty-two of 167 invited hospitals (49%) responded. The survey ascertained a comprehensive list of patient safety measurement tools that are in current use for measuring all patient safety domains. Overall, there was a focus on use of processes rather than quantitative measurement tools. Approximately half the 182 individual respondents from participating hospitals reported satisfaction with existing tools. The main reported barriers were lack of integrated supportive systems, resource constraints and inadequate access to robust measurement tools validated in the Australian context. Measurement of organisational capacity was reported by 50 (61%), of patient safety incidents by 81 (99%) and of clinical performance by 81 (99%).

Conclusion:
Australian public hospitals are measuring the safety of their health care, with some variation in measurement of patient safety domains and their subdomains. Improved access to robust tools may support future standardisation of measurement for improvement.

The Chihuahua sustainability practice: lots of shivering but no real action. Practical sustainability acceptance is low in German and New Zealand firms

Purpose – This paper aims to describe the extent to which corporate organizations in Germany and in New Zealand have included sustainability practices as part of their strategic planning process.

Design/methodology/approach – Current literature is reviewed to make a case for sustainability to be a driver behind corporate decision making and long-term performance. The results of surveys of several hundred firms in both Germany and New Zealand, countries with a publicly stated commitment to sustainability, are reviewed to compare the adoption rates of sustainability practices.

Findings – There is a significant difference between what firms do and what their managers think is important. Managers largely consider sustainability practices an important factor for their future careers, while firms to a large extent do not include sustainability as part of their strategic or operational planning process.

Research limitations/implications – The International Sustainability Acceptance Measurement (ISAM) collects data in several countries through local-language versions of the same online survey tool (www.worldreply.com). The findings in this report are specific only to New Zealand and Germany.

Practical implications – The paper points academics, corporate executives and sustainability fanatics to an alarming inconsistency between what is publicly reported as commitment to sustainability and what is practically achieved.

Originality/value – This paper adds value to the discussion of how sustainability practices have migrated into the operation of firms.

The non-verbal and the verbal: expanding awareness of practice-led research in creative writings

This paper takes up the concept of practice-led research: research (or the production and performance of knowledge) that is implicit within practice – in this case creative arts practice and more specifically, creative writing practice. Does practice-led research offer new possibilities for recognition of contributions to research by writers? This exploration of creative practice and research stretches out tendrils between creative writing and other art forms. What may the predominantly non-verbal creative arts disciplines offer creative writing in terms of exploring modes of knowledge production and performance?

An evaluation of a self-intiated practice exercise for investigative interviewers of children

The current study extends debate and research on the important role of practice in promoting and sustaining complex skills in investigative interviewing. Specifically, we explored the use of self-initiated practice as one avenue for facilitating ongoing development of professionals who interview children about abuse. A group of 40 investigative interviewers were required to organise and administer their own practice opportunities and to document these sessions in a diary. The professionals were aware of the important role of practice and what constitutes best-practice interview guidelines; however no instruction was given about the desired format, structure and timing of the practice sessions. A combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed poor adherence to self-initiated practice, and the practice (among those who adhered to this model) had negligible impact on performance. Overall, these findings highlight the need for careful monitoring and evaluation of all interviewer practice tasks.

Teenage technological experts : Bourdieu and the performance of expertise

This thesis explores the construction of technological expertise amongst a heterogenous group of New Zealand teenagers, specifically in regard to their home computer use, which for many of them is their primary site of leisure. This thesis explores the field in which these teenagers are positioned, and explains the practice constituting that field. In this field, the trajectories towards expertise are explained including the time, experimentation, and pleasure evident in their praxis. The qualitative study involved observations and interviews with eight teenagers aged 13 – 17. Five boys and three girls participated and each attended one of various secondary schools located within a provincial city in New Zealand. All of the participants considered themselves to be technological experts, and their peers and/or their family supported this comprehension. Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu’s socio-cultural theories, the capital (cultural, economic, social) and habitus of the teenagers are described (habitus being what makes them who they are, and continues to define who they are in the future). Chapter five centres on explaining the field the teenagers have positioned themselves in, namely the field of out-of-school leisure and home computer use. It also explores the construction and performance of technological expertise within the field. Chapter six examines traditional views of schooling and expertise, and contrasts these views with what the teenagers think about their learning and expertise. This gap is specifically explained with regard to differences between the concepts and value of learning, expertise, and technology, and how they are recognised and valued differently between generations. Chapter seven explores the praxis that the participants exhibit, which is arguably misrecognized by those whose interests are in the established order (e.g. institutional, societal structures). The field they are placed in is arguably part of the broader field of education, yet the findings suggest their capital is misrecognized by digital newcomers, and therefore not legitimated. This thesis concludes that the gap between teenager and adult understandings of expertise is exacerbated in the digital world in which the teenagers position themselves. Their schooling is mainly positioned in the print culture of previous generations and consequently, in the lives of these teenagers, schooling has had little influence on the development of their technological expertise. Additionally, gender has had little impact in their development of expertise; therefore stereotypical notions of female underachievement as computer experts are contested.