An investigation of the prevalence and measurement of teams in organisations:the development and validation of the real team scale

This thesis begins with a review of the literature on team-based working in organisations, highlighting the variations in research findings, and the need for greater precision in our measurement of teams. It continues with an illustration of the nature and prevalence of real and pseudo team-based working, by presenting results from a large sample of secondary data from the UK National Health Service. Results demonstrate that ‘real teams’ have an important and significant impact on the reduction of many work-related safety outcomes. Based on both theoretical and methodological limitations of existing approaches, the thesis moves on to provide a clarification and extension of the ‘real team’ construct, demarcating this from other (pseudo-like) team typologies on a sliding scale, rather than a simple dichotomy. A conceptual model for defining real teams is presented, providing a theoretical basis for the development of a scale on which teams can be measured for varying extents of ‘realness’. A new twelve-item scale is developed and tested with three samples of data comprising 53 undergraduate teams, 52 postgraduate teams, and 63 public sector teams from a large UK organisation. Evidence for the content, construct and criterion-related validity of the real team scale is examined over seven separate validation studies. Theoretical, methodological and practical implications of the real team scale are then discussed.

A management tool for developing the relationships between large purchasing organisations and small ethnic minority suppliers

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to scrutinise the characteristics of the relationship between large purchasing organisations (LPOs) and ethnic minority suppliers (EMSs) engaging with supplier diversity programmes and provide an assessment and developmental framework for such organisations. Design/methodology/approach: Having considered an array of purchaser-supplier relationship frameworks in relevant streams of literature, the paper draws on Lamming et al.'s framework to advance a tool for assessing and developing the relationship between LPOs and EMSs. Findings: The submitted relationship assessment and development framework brings in sharp focus the characteristics of the relationship between LPO and EMS, providing a systematic way to examine the inter-organisational context within which EMS development takes place. Research limitations/implications: The framework submitted could signpost future research in this field, which should take a longitudinal, processual approach. This is necessary to provide opportunities to examine the dynamics underlying the development of potent LPO-EMS relationships in a variety of settings, including negative instances. Practical implications: The paper has implications for corporate policy making and practice in this arena. Assessing the potency of LPOs-EMSs relationships by applying the proffered tool can help both parties engage with supplier diversity, to develop fruitful relationships that enhance their competitiveness. Social implications: The latter can have social implications, as EMSs often operate in and employ people from disadvantaged communities. Originality/value: The framework advanced in this article constitutes a novel tool that highlights the areas in which LPOs and EMSs should channel their efforts, in order to develop a potent relationship between them, which underpins the development of EMSs' supply capabilities. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Evacuation responsiveness by government organisations (ERGO):the evacuation preparedness assessment workbook

This Evacuation Preparedness Assessment Workbook (EPAW) is a tool to assess the level of preparedness of Government Organisations (GOs) for the mass evacuation of their public. It has its origins in the results of a three-year, EU-funded research project called Evacuation Preparedness by Government Organisations (ERGO) which sought to research and strengthen the preparedness activities for the evacuation of cities, regions or even countries. This EPAW presents a list of tasks to be carried out at the different phases of evacuation preparedness. It also provides an assessment facility to evaluate how much progress GOs have made against each task, as well as indications of standard and best practices for each task. A brief background to the need for evacuation, the ERGO project and the development of the workbook is given next. After this, the application process of the workbook is explained and illustrated with an example.

Green supply chain performance measurement using the analytic hierarchy process:a comparative analysis of manufacturing organisations

The main purpose of this research is to develop and deploy an analytical framework for measuring the environmental performance of manufacturing supply chains. This work's theoretical bases combine and reconcile three major areas: supply chain management, environmental management and performance measurement. Researchers have suggested many empirical criteria for green supply chain (GSC) performance measurement and proposed both qualitative and quantitative frameworks. However, these are mainly operational in nature and specific to the focal company. This research develops an innovative GSC performance measurement framework by integrating supply chain processes (supplier relationship management, internal supply chain management and customer relationship management) with organisational decision levels (both strategic and operational). Environmental planning, environmental auditing, management commitment, environmental performance, economic performance and operational performance are the key level constructs. The proposed framework is then applied to three selected manufacturing organisations in the UK. Their GSC performance is measured and benchmarked by using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), a multiple-attribute decision-making technique. The AHP-based framework offers an effective way to measure and benchmark organisations’ GSC performance. This study has both theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically it contributes holistic constructs for designing a GSC and managing it for sustainability; and practically it helps industry practitioners to measure and improve the environmental performance of their supply chain. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC. CORRIGENDUM DOI 10.1080/09537287.2012.751186 In the article ‘Green supply chain performance measurement using the analytic hierarchy process: a comparative analysis of manufacturing organisations’ by Prasanta Kumar Dey and Walid Cheffi, Production Planning & Control, 10.1080/09537287.2012.666859, a third author is added which was not included in the paper as it originally appeared. The third author is Breno Nunes.

Ontology-based knowledge capture and sharing in enterprise organisations

Despite years of effort in building organisational taxonomies, the potential of ontologies to support knowledge management in complex technical domains is under-exploited. The authors of this chapter present an approach to using rich domain ontologies to support sense-making tasks associated with resolving mechanical issues. Using Semantic Web technologies, the authors have built a framework and a suite of tools which support the whole semantic knowledge lifecycle. These are presented by describing the process of issue resolution for a simulated investigation concerning failure of bicycle brakes. Foci of the work have included ensuring that semantic tasks fit in with users’ everyday tasks, to achieve user acceptability and support the flexibility required by communities of practice with differing local sub-domains, tasks, and terminology.

Training staff in voluntary organisations:challenges in providing a service to adults with learning disabilities

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Discourses of partnership:a case study of collaboration amongst refugee organisations

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The provision of quality awareness programmes amongst companies and organisations seeking BS5750 registration

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