Organizational factors impacting on patient satisfaction : a cross sectional examination of service climate and linkages to nurses' effort and performance

Background Patient satisfaction is influenced by the setting in which patients are treated and the employees providing care. However, to date, limited research has explained how health care organizations or nurses influence patient satisfaction. Objectives The purpose of this study was to test the model that service climate would increase the effort and performance of nursing groups and, in turn, increase patient satisfaction. Method This study incorporated data from 156 nurses, 28 supervisors, and 171 patients. A cross-sectional design was utilized to examine the relationship between service climate, nurse effort, nurse performance and patient satisfaction. Structural equation modeling was conducted to test the proposed relationships. Results Service climate was associated with the effort that nurses directed towards technical care and extra-role behaviors. In turn, the effort that nurses exerted predicted their performance, as rated by their supervisors. Finally, task performance was a significant predictor of patient satisfaction. Conclusions This study suggests that both hospital management and nurses play a role in promoting patient satisfaction. By focusing on creating a climate for service, health care managers can improve nursing performance and patient satisfaction with care.

Are Australia’s universities in deficit? A tale of generic managers, audit culture, and casualisation

Managerial changes to Australian universities have had considerable impact on employees. In this paper we consider some of these changes and apply a theory known as the democratic deficit to them. This theory was developed from the democratic critique of managerialism, as it has been applied in the public sector in countries with Westminster-type political systems. This deficit covers the weakening of accountability through politicisation, the denial of public values through the use of private sector performance practices, and the hollowing out of the state through the contracting out and privatisation of public goods and services, and the redefinition of citizens as customers and clients. We suggest that the increased power of managers, expansion of the audit culture, and the extensive use of contract employment seem to be weakening the democratic culture and role of universities in part by replacing accountability as responsibility with accountability as responsiveness.

Leading or managing? Assistant Regional Directors, School Performance, in Queensland

Purpose Education reform aimed at achieving improved student learning is a demanding challenge for leaders and managers at all levels of education across the globe. In 2010, the position of Assistant Regional Directors, School Performance (ARD-SP), was established to positively impact upon student learning across public schools in Queensland, Australia. This study explores the perceptions of the role and leadership understandings of ARDs in Queensland in order to understand more fully the tensions and opportunities they face within this reasonably newly created position. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative study is based on interviews with 18 Assistant Regional Directors and two of their supervisors to gauge a better understanding of the nature of the role as it relates to leadership and management in the Queensland context. Findings Interview data revealed three key themes pertaining to the nature of the role and these were performance, supervision, and professional challenges. A key finding was that the notion of supervision was experienced as problematic for ARDs-SP. Research limitations/implications This study has limitations and these include a sample that focused on Assistant Regional Directors within one State of Australia and one schooling system (i.e. public education); and interviews were the primary data collection source. Originality/value Although there have been studies of supervisors of principals (referred to as superintendents, directors) in other countries and other systems, this study is a first to explore the tensions and opportunities faced by executive leaders in Queensland.

Rallying the troops or beating the horses? How project-related demands can lead to either high performance or abusive supervision

In today's high-pressure work environment, project managers are often forced to “do more with less.” We argue that this imperative can lead project managers to engage in either high-performance or abusive supervision behaviors. To understand this process, we develop a model and associated propositions linking a project manager's cognitive appraisal of project-related demands to high-performance work practices versus abusive supervision behaviors—both of which impact three project outcomes: stakeholder relationships, people-related project success factors, and employee well-being. We propose that the choice between high-performance work practices and abusive supervision behaviors is moderated by a project manager's personal resources (psychological capital, emotional intelligence, and dark triad personality).

Performance evaluation of elitist-mutated multi-objective particle swarm optimization for integrated water resources management

Optimal allocation of water resources for various stakeholders often involves considerable complexity with several conflicting goals, which often leads to multi-objective optimization. In aid of effective decision-making to the water managers, apart from developing effective multi-objective mathematical models, there is a greater necessity of providing efficient Pareto optimal solutions to the real world problems. This study proposes a swarm-intelligence-based multi-objective technique, namely the elitist-mutated multi-objective particle swarm optimization technique (EM-MOPSO), for arriving at efficient Pareto optimal solutions to the multi-objective water resource management problems. The EM-MOPSO technique is applied to a case study of the multi-objective reservoir operation problem. The model performance is evaluated by comparing with results of a non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II) model, and it is found that the EM-MOPSO method results in better performance. The developed method can be used as an effective aid for multi-objective decision-making in integrated water resource management.

Quality certification and company performance: The newly developed country experience

This study investigates the impacts of ISO 9001:2008 certification on companies in Malaysia. Data were collected from CEOs and Managers through a questionnaire survey. A multivariate analysis and SPSS macro were used as statistical techniques to assess the effects of ISO 9001 certification. Results of the study indicate that ISO 9001 certified companies were having significantly greater benefits and financial performance compared to non-certified companies. However, no significant direct relationship between ISO 9001 certification and company's financial performance was found. A further investigation revealed that financial performance is actually directly related to quality and local and international business performance, which are significantly influenced by ISO 9001 certification. Therefore quality and business performances are involved in the mediational process between the financial performance of companies and ISO 9001 certification. The novelty of this research lies in the establishment of, for the first time, high level statistical relationship between ISO 9001 certification, its mediating factors and financial performance of companies.

Relationship between quality certification and financial and non-financial performance of organizations

At present, many countries have either embraced ISO9001 or used it as the basis of their national quality certification systems. However, few studies have been conducted to examine the benefits companies’ gain from achieving and implementing ISO9001 standards (Chikuku et al. 2012; Psomas et al. 2013; Sampaio et al. 2011a,b). Analysis has brought much more confused and uneven results across the countries. Turning to the experience of Malaysia, this country has witnessed a spectacular growth at an average rate of 9.89% per annum of ISO certificates issued to companies operating within its borders (ISO Survey 2012). While many companies rush to be ISO 9001 certified whether this brings about better benefits (both the financial and the non-financial) is still an open question. In this study, the research problems were first formulated from the literature and then a questionnaire survey was conducted to test the hypotheses. A survey was administered to chief executives officers and managers across manufacturing and service organizations in Malaysia. Multivariate analysis and SPSS macro developed by Preacher and Hayes were used as statistical techniques to the financial and non-financial benefits of ISO9001 certification. The survey instrument was a two-page questionnaire comprising three sections. The first section of the questionnaire covered the company’s profile. The second section consisted of 25 items on internal benefits and third section consisted of 7 items on external benefits measured on 1–5 Likert scale to assess the benefits of ISO9001 certification. Total 201 valid responses were received. Results of the study indicate that there was no significant direct relationship between ISO9001 certification and organizational financial performance, while strong statistical evidence was found to support the direct relationship between ISO9001 certification and non-financial performance. The findings of the study discovered that financial performance is actually directly related to two non-financial measures, namely quality performance and local and international business performance, which are directly and significantly influenced by ISO9001 certification. Therefore non-financial performance measures are involved in the mediational process. The findings will assist practitioners in taking right courses of action that make the implementation of this standard more effective. For example, the study findings study suggests that companies should put emphasize on nonfinancial factors to improve their financial performance.

How can evaluative thinking and practice inform performance models for organizations and personnel

In the world today there are many ways in which we measure, count and determine whether something is worth the effort or not. In Australia and many other countries, new government legislation is requiring government-funded entities to become more transparent in their practice and to develop a more cohesive narrative about the worth, or impact, for the betterment of society. This places the executives of such entities in a position of needing evaluative thinking and practice to guide how they may build the narrative that documents and demonstrates this type of impact. In thinking about where to start, executives, project and program managers may consider this workshop as a professional development opportunity to explore both the intended and unintended consequences of performance models as tools of evaluation. This workshop will offer participants an opportunity to unpack the place of performance models as an evaluative tool through the following: · What shape does an ethical, sound and valid performance measure for an organization or personnel take? · What role does cultural specificity play in the design and development of a performance model for an organization or for personnel? · How are stakeholders able to identify risk during the design and development of such models? · When and where will dissemination strategies be required? · And so what? How can you determine that your performance model implementation has made a difference now or in the future?

Boosting morale and improving performance in the nursing setting

AIM AND BACKGROUND: While the importance of morale is well researched in the nursing literature, strategies and interventions are not so prolific. The complexities of interpersonal relationships within the clinical domain, and the critical issues faced by nurses on a daily basis, indicate that morale, job satisfaction and motivation are essential components in improving workplace efficiency, output and communication amongst staff. Drawing on educational, organizational and psychological literature, this paper argues that the ability to inspire morale in staff is a fundamental indicator of sound leadership and managerial characteristics. EVALUATION AND KEY ISSUES: Four practical concepts that could be implemented in the clinical setting are proposed. These include: role preparation for managers, understanding internal and external motivation, fostering internal motivation in nursing staff, and the importance of attitude when investing in relationships.

ACE Research Vignette 051: How and Why is Small Business Managers’ Age Related To Business Growth?

This series of research vignettes is aimed at sharing current and interesting research findings from our team of international entrepreneurship researchers. This vignette, written by Professor Hannes Zacher, Professor Michael M. Gielnik and Dr Antje Schmitt, reports findings on relationships between small business managers’ age, their focus on opportunities, and business growth (sales and number of employees) over five years.

How small business managers’ age and focus on opportunities affect business growth: A mediated moderation growth model

Research on business growth has been criticized for methodological weaknesses. We present a mediated moderation growth model as a new methodological approach. We hypothesized that small business managers' age negatively affects business growth through focus on opportunities. We sampled 201 small business managers and obtained firm performance data over 5 years, resulting in 836 observations. Growth modeling showed systematic differences in firm performance trajectories. These differences could be explained by modeling focus on opportunities as a mediator of the relationship between small business managers' age and business growth. The study illustrates how mediation models can be tested using growth modeling.

Trial of the Primary Care Practice Improvement Tool: Building organisational performance in Australian general practice and primary health care

Objective: To nationally trial the Primary Care Practice Improvement Tool (PC-PIT), an organisational performance improvement tool previously co-created with Australian primary care practices to increase their focus on relevant quality improvement (QI) activities. Design: The study was conducted from March to December 2015 with volunteer general practices from a range of Australian primary care settings. We used a mixed-methods approach in two parts. Part 1 involved staff in Australian primary care practices assessing how they perceived their practice met (or did not meet) each of the 13 PC-PIT elements of high-performing practices, using a 1–5 Likert scale. In Part 2, two external raters conducted an independent practice visit to independently and objectively assess the subjective practice assessment from Part 1 against objective indicators for the 13 elements, using the same 1–5 Likert scale. Concordance between the raters was determined by comparing their ratings. In-depth interviews conducted during the independent practice visits explored practice managers’ experiences and perceived support and resource needs to undertake organisational improvement in practice. Results: Data were available for 34 general practices participating in Part 1. For Part 2, independent practice visits and the inter-rater comparison were conducted for a purposeful sample of 19 of the 34 practices. Overall concordance between the two raters for each of the assessed elements was excellent. Three practice types across a continuum of higher- to lower-scoring practices were identified, with each using the PC-PIT in a unique way. During the in-depth interviews, practice managers identified benefits of having additional QI tools that relate to the PC-PIT elements. Conclusions: The PC-PIT is an organisational performance tool that is acceptable, valid and relevant to our range of partners and the end users (general practices). Work is continuing with our partners and end users to embed the PC-PIT in existing organisational improvement programs.

A Comparison of Managers’ Perception of Short-Termism in Finland, Sweden and the U.S

Increased media exposure to layoffs and corporate quarterly financial reporting have created arguable a common perception – especially favored by the media itself – that the companies have been forced to improve their financial performance from quarter to quarter. Academically the relevant question is whether companies themselves feel that they are exposed to short-term pressure to perform even if it means that they have to compromise company’s long-term future. This paper studies this issue using results from a survey conducted among the 500 largest companies in Finland. The results show that companies in general feel moderate short-term pressure, with reasonable dispersion across firms. There seems to be a link between the degree of pressure felt, and the firm’s ownership structure, i.e. we find support for the existence of short-term versus long-term owners. We also find significant ownership related differences, in line with expectations, in how such short-term pressure is reflected in actual decision variables such as the investment criteria used.

Performance of Finnish Mutual Funds: A Decomposition Approach

Mutual funds have increased in popularity among Finnish investors in recent years. In this study returns on domestic funds have been decomposed into several elements that measure different aspects of fund performance. The results indicate that fund managers in the long run tend to allocate fund capital between different stock categories in a profitable way. When it comes to the short term timing of their allocation decisions they are however unable to further improve overall performance. The evidence also suggests that managers possess the ability to pick above average performing stocks within the individual stock categories. During the investigated period most funds returned more than a broad benchmark index even after fees and indirect costs were taken into account.

Assessment of the performance of beach management units (BMUs) on Lakes Victoria, Albert, Kyoga and George

Until the late 1990s the fisheries of Ugandan lakes had been managed by government where stakeholders were excluded from the decision-making process. In order to involve other stakeholders, co-management was adopted. Operationalising Co-management on landing sites has led to the formation of BMUs at gazetted landing sites. A BMU is made up of a BMU assembly and the BMU committee that it elects. A BMU committee should be: 30% boat owners; 30% boat barias 30% including fish processors, boat makers, local gear makers and repairers, fishing input dealers and managers and 10% fish mongers/traders; and if possible, 30% women. To operate at a particular landing site, one must be registered with the BMU. The BMU assembly is the supreme organ of a BMU empowered to elect, approve and remove the BMU committee