Dr Julia Claxton

This research shows to what degree the benefits of using action learning sets and student peer feedback on postgraduate programmes can be transferred to undergraduate programmes and presents one way in which students and staff alike can enhance their learning experience and students in particular can develop independent learning skills, research skills and emotional intelligence. Tutors in the UK higher education sector are constantly striving to improve the student learning experience and at the same time are under pressure to reduce resources. In addition to this staff can find that they are not learning and developing as much as they would like. This method of learning and teaching was introduced onto some undergraduate Management Studies modules at York St John University, York, England. Benefits in the areas of independent learning, emotional intelligence, improved research skills and an improved feeling of support were acknowledged. The benefit of ‘improved feeling of support’ was unexpected and very welcome at a time when, owing to a reduction in resources, many staff felt they could not support students as effectively as they used to. The findings will be discussed along with practical suggestions for others to trial the ‘learning system’.

This chapter seeks to consider the possibility of a blindness to considering the impact of mothering and post mothering (menopause) upon the workforce in terms of career development models. There has been a continuing ‘onward and upward’ tournament (Malhotra et al., 2010) in the UK which suggests workers should continue strive to change jobs to seek higher pay and status moving around the country throughout their worklife with little regards for their familial responsibilities. Despite a discourse which suggests the economic position of women has been heralded as positively changed as there is no longer a ‘glass ceiling’ for female employees who are willing to put work before their employment (Whiteside and Harding, 2013), this provides a hollow victory. It fails to recognise that within the labour market, there will be parental years. Legislation in the UK and even Europe largely deals with ‘baby years’ but despite the inclusion of some ‘family friendly work-life balance’ initiatives, the experience for many parents is that the workplace represents a cause for work family conflict. In part this is because mothering is still stereotypically seen as a women’s role and increasing legislation provides an illusion of resolving discrimination (TUC, 2014). As such there is little consideration for the development of mothers during their ‘career‘ lifetime.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand the phenomena of an employee “being valued” in the context of a manufacturing SME. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative study using rich data from in-depth interviews following a classical (Glaserian) grounded theory. Findings – A three dimensional concept of authentic pride enablement, altruistically-orientated shared-purpose and servant leadership explained the reasons people felt valued. Research limitations/implications – The limitations were that this study was in one context Practical implications – The implications are that if organisations consider a servant leadership approach, enabling of authentic pride and fostering of altruistically-orientated shared-purpose, this may help employees feel valued. Social implications – This has implications for how organisations can show their employees that they are valued. Originality/value – “Being valued” is a concept/construct that is widely quoted as a driver for employee engagement and yet rarely unpacked.

This paper is a conceptual attempt to unravel the notions of ‘change’ and ‘managing change’ in organizations and other collective contexts. It is a theoretical reflection with the aim of raising questions on the thinking around ‘change’ and throwing light on possible new avenues of thinking about ‘managing change’, particularly in view of the human person. It aims to present a critique of the normative, prescriptive and pragmatic approaches to organizational change (including models of change) and its ‘so called’ management. By considering these and the language of change the goal is to raise questions and provoke thought outside of the established realm of ‘change management’.

Lord Leitch was commissioned by the Chancellor in 2004 with a remit to ‘identify the UK's optimal skills mix in 2020 to maximise economic growth, productivity and social justice and to consider the policy implications of achieving the level of change required.’ In the 2006 Budget, the Chancellor asked Lord Leitch to consider how to better integrate employment and skills services at a local level. In his final report ‘Prosperity for all in the global economy – world class skills’ Leitch states the need to further improve management and leadership skills in the UK recommending that the UK should aim to be a world leader on skills by 2020. One of the key ways to maximize economic growth is through leadership of small and medium enterprise. In response to this Leitch report and in conjunction with the Sector Skills Councils, an action learning opportunity was made available for leaders in the retail and leisure sectors in Merseyside. Alongside the government also highlighted a need for skill development in ‘inspirational’ leadership in particular. To make learning and development ‘relevant and timely’ for busy leaders, action learning is often a preferred option. This paper looks at three particular aspects of using action learning with leaders in the retail and leisure sectors. Firstly, how commitment to engage with the process was created and fostered, in light of work pressures and long working hours. Secondly, the factors that encouraged each member to feel, and act upon, a sense of responsibility for each others' learning and development, rather than just their own, and, thirdly, a frank look at some of the difficulties which arose which could have threatened the effectiveness of the learning.

Based on small firm statistic from DTI research in the UK (1998) more than 9,418,000 people are working in small firms with less than 50 employees, 2,544,000 people are working in medium size companies with less than 250 employees and 9,112,000 people are working in large companies with more than 250 employees. Although Small Medium Enterprises are providing more jobs in the society in compare to large organisations their investment in training programme is considerably less than large organisations. According to Cambridge Business Research Centre (1998) only 41% of people who are working in the small businesses with less than 50 employees are going to external training courses and most of these people are the business managers not the normal employees. This ratio is 57% for companies with 50 to 100 employees, 66% for companies with 100 to 250 employees and 81% for companies with more than 250 employees. Although the external training courses are not necessarily the most effective method of training they are obviously one of the most costly methods and these statistics are proving that Small Medium Enterprises are significantly investing less money in their human resources in compare to large organisations. This issue will become more severe when we realise that those small firms which are investing less in their human resources have got considerably higher failure rate in compare to the bigger firms. This importance is sometimes neglected in the Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) (Storey, 2007) Westhead and Storey (1997) have concluded that employees in small organisations have less chance for training opportunities in compare to people in large organisations. They have provided two explanations for this situation; the first one is “Ignorance” which is saying business owners are not aware of the impact of Human Resource Development (HRD) programmes on their business results and they do not believe in the benefits of these investments.

The paper utilises a form of Action Research, known as the ‘Constructive Research Approach’ (CRA), to explore how project teams could engender the development of process improvement (PI) routines in a higher education context. The methodology of Mediated Discourse Analysis (MDA), an ethnographic approach to researching practice, is used to trace the development of PI routines over time. The findings showed that process owners and actors who were engaged because of ‘power’ of an initial pre-project Kaizen event, then became more passive participants in the ensuing traditional improvement project, with reduced performances of the PI routines. The main contrition stemming from the work was the abduction of a hybrid model of participatory engagement, that of a ‘Kaizen series’. This extended series of events affords the development of two key routines, ‘the working with a process map’ and the process analysis routine, by increasing opportunity for actors to perform these routines both within and between events, and by balancing the facilitation and empowerment routines. In addition, the Kaizen series is not dependent on any individual PI methodology. The resulting Kaizen series offers PI practitioners an opportunity to blend the best aspects of two different modes of engagement, Kaizen events and project improvement teams.

Purpose This paper aims to provide an exposition of the constructive research approach (CRA) to show the potential utility of CRA in transcending or mitigating the methodological and practical issues involved in researching organisations. Design/methodology/approach The paper is a literature review, and resulting thematic discussion of methodological and practical issues involves in action research (AR) in organisations through the lens of the CRA approach. Findings The paper identifies that CRA has benefits in orientation to a practical outcome grounded in a theoretical domain but with leeway to facilitate creativity, which can also potentially improve the quality of the collaborative relationships. The centrality of the construction within the method provides a “vantage point” to manage the emic (inside) and etic (outside) positionality concerns of action researchers working within organisational settings. Practical implications CRA has multiple practical benefits for action researchers and their collaborators in terms of time, risk and collaborative commitment. Originality/value The paper develops a useful tactical framework for discussing the practical and methodological issues when considering AR in organisations and highlights how CRA can be used in wider organisational scholarship outside its roots in management accounting.

Purpose: This paper reports on a research project, using Intervention Research (IR), which aims to identify how a Higher Education Institution (HEI) could develop Process Improvement (PI) capability. Design/methodology/approach: The paper adopts a practice perspectives of routines, and classifies and catalogues the potential routines that could form process improvement (PI) capability. The development of these routines are investigated using the Constructive Research Approach (CRA), a form of Intervention Research (IR), in the Action Research mode. Within this approach the methodology of Mediated Discourse Analysis (MDA) was employed to trace the empirical trajectory of the routine development, in a student management office within the context of an improvement project by the institutions process improvement unit. Findings The study shows a smaller set of ‘initialising’ practices; those which are present, or desired, and instrumental to the beginning of a process improvement activity. The analysis reveals the mechanisms of why ‘process mapping’ is significant in the development of process improvement routines and the potential recursive power of the interrelatedness of these. Practical implications Of relative significance is the implication that there is a small group of initialising process improvement practices which are accessible to practitioners, in contrast to a large set of critical success factors. Secondly, these process improvement practices transcend particular methodologies, meaning their development can be incorporated into customised, contextualised methodologies, by individual organisations. Originality/value The study contributes to the appreciation of process improvement in higher education as a capability, and outlines the potential array of routines that could constitute that capability. It provides a theoretical view on how key process improvement routines are developed in an organisational field, and a more nuanced and richer view of ‘process mapping’ and its effect on other process improvement practices.

The paper provides an introduction into the innovative use of the methodological approach of Mediated Discourse Analysis (MDA) and illustrates this with examples from an interventionist insider action research study. An overview of the method, including its foundation and association with the analysis of practice and how it can be situated within a reflexive ethnographic and critical realist stance is presented. It offers samples of findings and analysis for each of the different aspects of method, structured by a set of heuristic questions, as well an example showing the possibilities of theory development. The paper constructs and shows an analytical pathway for HRD researchers to use MDA and concludes with a discussion about the advantages of utilising MDA, in terms of theory and practice, as well as the practical issues in conducting an MDA study. The implications for the Human Resource Development (HRD) research community is that MDA is a new, innovative and germane approach for analysing HRD practice within organisational settings

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact competency frameworks as standardisation can have on the employee engagement of academic staff within higher education (HE) through their employment as managerial tools. Design/methodology/approach A literature review is conducted from which the conditions for effective competency frameworks are evaluated and the influence of changes in the HE environment in the form of political agendas and tight resources are explored. Findings This paper provides insights into the dynamics of public service modernisation and the tensions between the dominant discourse of managerialism and the degree of agency afforded to professional academics. It highlights the relevance of informal peer relationships in setting the climate to generate collegial bonding and professional engagement that underpin successful teacher fellowship accreditations. It further highlights the key role managers play in this process and provides a conceptual framework highlighting the dynamics and combined effect of employee engagement and competency frameworks set within complex HE environment. Practical implications This paper brings together the prerequisites for effective implementation of competency frameworks to implement successful employee engagement strategies set within the complexities of the HE context, which has not been studied to date. Armed with such insights, Human Resource Development (HRD) departments and universities can implement competency assessments that generate greater staff engagement. Originality/value The paper provides a critical approach in reviewing the impact of Continued Professional Development and its link to professional status and thus helps British Universities and others to understand how the mechanisms at work affect engagement levels of academic staff. Armed with this depth of understanding of how the change initiative works, with whom and under what circumstances, universities will be better able to meet target UK Professional Standards Framework membership levels required by the higher education academy (HEA) and, subsequently, the HEA to meet their targets for the government.

Purpose The purpose of this research is to support responsible decision-making in Higher Education (HE) settings by understanding what type of learning journey satisfies students most in their HE experience and what they want from the learning. Design/methodology/approach This paper analyses the key tool used to assess satisfaction factors for UK students, the National Student Survey (NSS). It adopts peculiar regression statistical tests to identify the NSS items that influence “overall student satisfaction” by reviewing responses over 9 years from accountancy students at business schools located in England. Findings The findings of the study provide evidence that students are most satisfied with a learning journey where they are part of a course that is “well organised and running smoothly”, which provides “intellectual stimulation” that helps in developing their ability to “present themselves with confidence” and provides “academic advice and support”. The findings of the paper show that students are not satisfied so much by utilitarian aspects of learning but rather those that relate to who they are and where they are in their learning journey, the level of intellectual stimulation they have experienced, the self-confidence they have developed and the supportive relationship they have developed with academics. A factor that did not relate highly was “assessment and feedback” which has been the focus of much university resource. Results show the factors that impacted overall satisfaction are most related to students wanting to develop personal responsibility. These findings shape the key principles of responsible design and management of HE programmes and influence strategic decision-making. Practical implications Focussing on helping students experience, the type of learning journey that develops the virtue of responsibility emergent from the analysis will not only satisfy the student but will also have a knock-on effect of improving NSS scores, university league table ranking and accreditation under the Teaching Excellence Framework. The improved reputation aspects would then feed back into increased student satisfaction (Dean and Gibbs, 2015). The findings will also help HE managers and leaders to evaluate their decisions through three lenses: responsibility, students’ experience and students overall learning journey. Originality/value Much of the information published on the NSS have been predominantly descriptive and has resulted in decisions being made for students based on uninformed analysis of the survey’s results. This study uses advanced statistical modelling to evidence the relationship between factors of the NSS and overall student satisfaction providing key information regarding students’ importance to the type of learning journey they value and that this relates to a desire in wanting to develop responsibility. This study shows the link between factors of the NSS to provide useful lenses for HE managers and leaders to use to support responsible decision-making processes.

This study employed hermeneutic phenomenology paradigm to investigate the ‘lived experiences’ and ‘perceived outcomes’ of using Appreciative Inquiry (AI) in organisations in Jordan, and how AI approach and its tools have been implemented through analysing the lived experiences of people using AI in these organisations.  This study used the hermeneutic phenomenology within the interpretive paradigm to design and analyse research qualitative data. Three organisations that have been engaged with AI activities in Jordan were selected as research sites, where 34 participants across the three organisations participated in the study. A qualitative data approach utilizing multiple methods that included participants’ reflective notes, researcher’s observations and semi-structured interviews; 12 semi-structured interviews were conducted. A hermeneutical cycle for interpreting the qualitative data is adopted. Specifically, an ongoing interpretation of the phenomenon of AI, through three data analysis stages; transcription and naive reading stage (stage one), structural analyses and interpretation stages (stage two), and comprehensive understanding, and illustrating the phenomena stage (stage three).  The findings of the lived experiences and perceived outcomes of using AI suggest that adoption of the AI increased employee’s independence, their engagement, better employment relationships, and improved emotional management. The results also indicate that adoption of the AI increases the climate of trusting and respectful employment relationships, increases the sense of self-awareness and confidence through shared stories and ideas. Individuals felt more aware of their impact on others and been recognised the power of active listening to understand and work with difference. The findings also suggest that adoption of the AI process offered a new way of thinking that allowed individuals to challenge assumptions and consider options and collaborative working. AI also been seen as tools and a method for an organisation to develop its strategy and make quality decisions. Overall the findings of lived experiences indicated the perceived outcomes of using AI that involvement and inclusion, collaboration and relationship development, positive focus, energy and leadership.  This study has contributed to the existing literature in three ways. First, this study contributes to the limited and emerging literature regarding AI within organisations, and more specifically in Jordan context, as the current study is the first of its nature to evaluate the lived experiences of AI in Jordanian context. Second, this study has used a methodology worthy applied in the AI literature, the use of a hermeneutic phenomenology approach, specifically; to analyses the AI lived experiences in the organisational context enables access to a phenomenon that is often subconscious and provides a means of interpreting participants’ understanding and their experiences of AI. Third, the finding of this study has implications for organisations and business managers and those involved in Organisation Development and change. This study will be of interest to organisations and business managers to understand how to establish real relationships among their employees to achieve the best practices drawn from grounded past positive experiences.