The book analyses the developments of inter-organizational networks in the UK National Health Service during the New Labour period, combining empirical case studies from various policy arenas (clinical genetics, cancer networks, sexual health networks, and long term care) with a theoretically informed analysis.
At a time of growing pressure on health and social care services, this book draws together contributions which highlight contemporary challenges for their management. Providing a range of contributions that draw on a Critical Management Studies perspective the book raises macro-level concerns with theory, demographics and economics on the one hand, as well as micro-level challenges of leadership, voice and engagement on the other. Rather than being an attempt to define the ‘wickedness’ of problems in this field, this book provides new insights designed to be of interest and value to researchers, students and managers. Contributions from international researchers explore four main topics: identifying contemporary challenges in health and social care; managing, leading and following; listening to silent voices in delivering change; and new methodologies for understanding care challenges. The concerns discussed in this volume are ‘wicked’ in so far as they are persistent, pernicious and beyond the curative abilities of any single organisation or profession. Such problems require collaboration but also new approaches to listening to those who suffer their effects. This book demonstrates such listening through its engagement with policy makers, leaders, followers, professions, patients, forgotten groups and silenced voices. Moreover, it considers how future research might be transformed so as to shine a more inclusive light on ‘wicked’ problems and their amelioration. This is a timely and engaging book that challenges you – the reader – to think again about how we should look at, engage with and support all those involved in health and social care.
The ebook edition of this title is Open Access and freely available to read online. Organizing for Societal Grand Challenges unpacks how diverse forms of organizing help tackle-or reinforce-grand challenges,while emphasizing the need for researchers to expand their methodological repertoire and reflect upon scholarly practices.
"This collection engages environmental, ethical and cultural values perspectives to show how Design and Technology (D&T) Education actively contributes to the significant educational goal of attaining sustainable global futures. An international collection of authors representing all levels of education articulate how D&T research, curriculum theory, policy, and classroom practices can synergise to contribute positively to the education of children for sustainable global futures. The book offers a spectrum of theorised curriculum positions, political and policy analysis, and case studies of successful school practice. A key word in the title is that of contribution which is construed in several senses: first, of D&T as a vehicle for understanding the range of political and social values that arise with such a major educational challenge; second, of D&T as an agent of critical and practical action for students as global citizens; third, by taking global and multiple perspectives (rather than, say, Western or mono-cultural positions); and, fourth, by demonstrating D&T’s capacities for working in holistic and integrative cross-curricular ways. The authors show how students can not only learn about their potential as humans-as-designers but can also develop designerly capacities that enable them to contribute meaningfully in practical ways to their communities and to wider society, that is, as global citizens who can apply design capability in ethical ways that are respectful of peoples, cultures and environments alike."
The growth of philanthropic foundations in numbers and significance raises two immediate questions. First, what makes for success and failure of foundations’ projects and activities? Second, what yardsticks or benchmarks are used to measure performance and track goal attainment? The purpose of this book is to delve deeper into the complex set of issues that lie behind the performance and wider impact of philanthropy. Performance Measurement in Philanthropic Foundations looks at the strengths and weaknesses of philanthropic foundations, which are independent of both the market and ballot box and yet open to signal and incentive deficiencies. The authors use in-depth case studies from different countries to illustrate the problems and challenge much of the conventional wisdom on foundation "success" and "failure." The book also outlines the main contours of a proactive governance and management style to address those problems.
Organizational Leadership provides an accessible, critical and engaging analysis of what constitutes ‘leadership’ today. Demonstrating leadership as an interconnected process between leaders, followers and context, the book ensures a rounded understanding of theory and practice to support students throughout their course and future career. Part 1: Contextualising Leadership examines the internal and external forces influencing leadership, addressing issues such as ethics, power, culture and innovation. Part 2: Leadership Theories reviews and analyses traditional and contemporary theories of leadership. Part 3: Managing People and Leadership builds on the idea of leadership as a human process and considers how complementary aspects of HRM can inform leadership practice and its outcomes on employees and organizational performance. Part 4: Contemporary Leadership considers topical issues including the shift of leadership studies towards followership, gender and leadership and pro-environmental leadership. Bringing complex theories and concepts to life through a range of case studies and examples, the book is further supported by a series of fascinating expert video conversations with those in leadership roles. From small social businesses to major multi-nationals, from the NHS to the frontline military teams, the videos offer a unique insight into the diverse reality of leadership in practice today.
While the implementation of evidence-based medicine guidelines is well studied, there has been little investigation into the extent to which a parallel evidence-based management movement has been influential within health care organizations. This book explores the various management knowledges and associated texts apparent in English health care organizations, and considers how the local reception of these texts was influenced by the macro level political economy of public services reform evident during the period of the politics of austerity. The research outlined in this volume shows that very few evidence-based management texts are apparent within health care organizations, despite the influence of certain knowledge producers, such as national agencies, think tanks, management consultancies, and business schools in the industry. Bringing together the often disconnected academic literature on management knowledge and public policy, the volume addresses the ways in which preferred management knowledges and texts in these publicly funded settings are sensitive to the macro level political economy of public services reform, offering an empirically grounded critique of the evidence-based management movement.
Reflecting the challenges and opportunities of achieving improvement in healthcare systems, the contributions of this innovative new text lend depth and nuance to an increasing area of academic debate. Encompassing context, processes and agency, Managing Improvements in Healthcare addresses the task of attaining, embedding and sustaining improvement in the industry. The book begins by offering insight into the different valued aspects of quality, providing specific examples of national and organizational interventions in pursuit of improvement. The second part focuses on strategies for embedding good practice and ensuring the spread of high quality through knowledge mobilization, and the final part draws attention to the different groups of change agents involved in delivering, co-creating and benefitting from quality improvement. This inventive text will be insightful to those researchers interested in healthcare and organization, looking to transform theory into policy and practice.
Strategic Management in Public Services Organizations sets out to connect the two traditionally disparate academic literatures of public management and strategic management. The authors argue that some models of strategic management are now of enhanced relevance for contemporary public services organizations, especially when considering successive New Public Management reforms. This observation has important consequences for the requisite work practices, skills and knowledge bases of current public managers, as they are increasingly being asked to act as strategic as well as operational managers. Strategic Management in Public Services Organizations takes a strongly comparative and international perspective in addressing the fundamental issue of strategic management within diverse public administrative traditions. The impact of strategic management on the performance of public agencies is examined and it is argued that the appropriate use of strategic management models depends on the politico-administrative and cultural contexts of the public services organization in question, concluding that there is no single best way to strategically lead public organisations. This is an advanced textbook aimed at the postgraduate level, particularly students on MPAs and MBAs with a public sector option or MScs in Public Policy and Public Management.
The Congress "Arsenic in the Environment" offers an international, multi- and interdisciplinary discussion platform for research and innovation aimed towards a holistic solution to the problem posed by the environmental toxin arsenic, with considerable societal impact. The congress has focused on cutting edge and breakthrough research in physical, chemical, toxicological, medical, agricultural and other specific issues on arsenic across a broader environmental realm. The Congress "Arsenic in the Environment" was first organized in Mexico City (As2006) followed by As2008 in Valencia, Spain, As2010 in Tainan, Taiwan, As2012 in Cairns, Australia and As2014 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The 6th International Congress As2016 was held June 19-23, 2016 in Stockholm, Sweden and was entitled Arsenic Research and Global Sustainability. The Congress addressed the broader context of arsenic research along the following themes: Theme 1: Arsenic in Environmental Matrices and Interactions (Air, Water, Soil and Biological Matrices) Theme 2: Arsenic in Food Chain Theme 3: Arsenic and Health Theme 4: Clean Water Technology for Control of Arsenic Theme 5: Societal issues, Policy Studies, Mitigation and Management Long term exposure to low-to-medium levels of arsenic via contaminated food and drinking water can have a serious impact on human health and globally, more than 100 million people are at risk. Since the end of the 20th century, arsenic in drinking water (mainly groundwater) has emerged as a global health concern. In the past decade, the presence of arsenic in plant foods – especially rice – has gained increasing attention. In the Nordic countries in particular, the use of water-soluble inorganic arsenic chemicals (e.g. chromated copper arsenate, CCA) as wood preservatives and the mining of sulfidic ores have been flagged as health concern. The issue has been accentuated by discoveries of naturally occurring arsenic in groundwater, primarily in the private wells, in parts of the Fennoscandian Shield and in sedimentary formations, with potentially detrimental effects on public health. Sweden has been at the forefront of research on the health effects of arsenic, technological solutions for arsenic removal, and sustainable mitigation measures for developing countries. Hosting this Congress in Sweden was also relevant because historically Sweden has been one of the leading producer of As2O3 and its emission from the smelting industries in northern Sweden and has successfully implemented actions to reduce the industrial emissions of arsenic as well as minimizing the use of materials and products containing arsenic in since 1977. The Congress has gathered professionals involved in different segments of interdisciplinary research in an open forum, and strengthened relations between academia, industry, research laboratories, government agencies and the private sector to share an optimal atmosphere for exchange of knowledge, discoveries and discussions about the problem of arsenic in the environment and catalyze the knowledge generation and innovations at a policy context to achieve the goals for post 2015 Sustainable Development.