This research paper conducts a review of the development of facilities management as a profession and some of the key moments in that journey. It then considers the situation of New Zealand, which has a number of characteristics such as a small population, relatively few large organisations which might make use of Facilities Management (FM) at a strategic level, and an understanding of FM which is more about operational rather than strategic issues. Through the tool of a ‘World-Café’ methodology during an FM Masterclass at Auckland University of Technology (AUT) with members of FMANZ, New Zealand’s FM professional association, key issues in the development of FM professionals in New Zealand are discussed and recommendations made. It is interesting to note that the issues of professional recognition, career pathways and academic qualifications are all issues raised in the literature and also by participants in the World-Café session held. This suggests that New Zealand’s FM professionals are progressing through the same ‘growing pains’ as their colleagues in Europe faced in the 1990s. However, it also shows that FM in New Zealand is probably some 15 years behind Europe. The authors recognise that some of the reasons for this may be caused by the above-mentioned New Zealand characteristics. In addition to working on the development and recognition of a domestic FM industry in New Zealand, the authors also suggest that much could be learned from other FM players globally. Opportunities for further research include case studies of successful organisations and the development of an educational framework for New Zealand.
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Construction industries in New Zealand and abroad have a low track record for successful sustainable innovations. This often has a negative impact on private and government spending, and on quality, society and the environment. This paper posits that the construction industry needs step-change (i.e. architectural, system, radical, modular) environmental technical innovations to make drastic improvements.Often entrepreneurial or small to medium-sized firms at the beginning of supply chains or from other industries will introduce such innovations. These firms will use the innovation capacity of suppliers and of their own organisations to transform and commercialise such innovations into the industry. However, after an extensive literature review it remains unclear how innovative New Zealand firms procure environmental step-change technical innovations for the construction industry.The research focuses on procurement activities within such firms who supply the New Zealand construction industry. These procurement activities interact with (internal and external) innovation activities for an optimal firm performance (in economic and environmental terms) and are affected by clusters of internal and external variables.The heart of the research consists of two rounds of case studies alternating with two rounds of collaborative focus studies. The research focus is on New Zealand although part of this study will be replicated in the Netherlands. It is part of a doctoral project.
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Traditionally the construction industry in New Zealand and in other countries has seen a low productivity and a low track record for successful sustainable innovations. This has a negative impact on private and government spending, on quality and on health and environmental aspects. This research proposal posits that the construction industry needs disruptive (discontinuous, radical) technology innovations to be able to make drastic improvements. Such innovations often come from entrepreneurial small firms from outside the industry or at the beginning of supply chains and must be procured and adopted into such chains. This PhD proposal focuses on procurement activities of such firms in the New Zealand construction industry when they conduct disruptive waste-reducing innovations. These procurement activities must be aligned with (internal and external) innovation activities for an optimal firm performance. This performance is moderated by four clusters of internal and external variables.
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Traditionally construction industries in New Zealand and abroad have a low track record for successful sustainable innovations. This has a negative impact on private and government spending, and on quality, society and the environment. This conceptual paper posits that the construction industry needs non-incremental (i.e. architectural, system, radical, modular) sustainable technology innovations to make drastic improvements. Such innovations often come from entrepreneurial (small) firms from other industries or at the beginning of supply chains and must be procured and adopted further into such chains. However, after an extensive literature review it remains unclear how entrepreneurial firms procure non-incremental sustainable technology innovations for the construction industry. The paper focuses on procurement activities of entrepreneurial firms in the New Zealand context. These activities interact with (internal and external) innovation activities for an optimal firm performance. They are affected by clusters of internal and external variables.The paper discusses extant literature, a conceptual framework, main propositions, research aims and the choice for a focus group method. It is part of a doctoral project.Paper, presented at ACERE 2015 in Adelaide Australia.
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Purpose: The purpose of this study is to assess the evolution of restaurant locations in the city of Hamilton over a 12-year period (1996 to 2008) using GIS techniques. Retail theories such as central place, spatial interaction and principle of minimum differentiation are applied to the restaurant setting. Design/methodology/approach: A database of restaurants was compiled using the NZ yellow pages and contained 981 entries that consisted mainly of location addresses and types of cuisine. This paper focuses on locational patterns only. Findings: A process of geo-coding and clustering enabled the identification of two clustering periods over 12 years for city restaurants, indicating locational patterns of agglomeration within a short walking distance of the CBD and spill over effects to the north of the city. Research limitations/implications: The data do not allow statistical analysis of the variables causing the clustering but offer a visual description of the evolution. Explanations are offered on the possible planning regimes, retail provision and population changes that may explain this evolution. Practical implications: The findings allow identification of land use patterns in Hamilton city and potential areas where new restaurants could be developed. Also, the usefulness of geo-coded data in identifying clustering effects is highlighted. Originality/value: Existing location studies relate mostly to site selection criteria in the retailing industry while few have considered the evolution of restaurant locations in a specific geographic area. This paper offers a case study of Hamilton city and highlights the usefulness of GIS techniques in understanding locational patterns.
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The research concerned semi-dyadic relations in SMEs and large companies that managed innovative suppliers in New Zealand construction supply chains. It explored effects of (independent) company variables on (mediating) procurement management variables, and also the effects of these variable types on (dependent) procurement performance variables when managing innovative suppliers.Exploratory interviews (N=5) revealed that innovation procurement seemed professional and logical within their contexts.Survey I (N=112) revealed that most case companies followed a product leadership strategy, and were equally entrepreneurial to innovative customers and innovative suppliers. They were innovative and gave innovative suppliers a dominant innovation role. They seemed to prefer radical innovations less than incremental innovations, but still somewhat more than New Zealand averages. Companies had slight preferences for new, small, or foreign suppliers for radical innovations. Innovations with supplier interactions were more beneficial to the company and the natural environment, than innovations without supplier interactions. Higher company innovation-benefits could equal higher environmental innovation-benefits. This profile differed from the profile of average companies in the construction supply chain.Survey I found weak correlations among output performance variables and process or proxy performance variables.Dependent (procurement and performance) variables were affected differently. Conversely, independent (company and procurement) variables had different effects.Different from extant literature, Survey I found limited statistically-significant effects of company variables on procurement management variables, and of these two variable types on performance. A minority (41%) of company variables affected procurement variables; only two company variables (13%) affected performance; a minority (40%) of procurement variables affected performance.Product leadership and NPD/innovation experience affected performance. Moreover, trust, lifestyle strategies and survival strategies affected procurement variables. Conversely, 27% of performance variables (satisfaction on marketing & sales; benefits for the natural environment) and 30% of procurement variables (entrepreneurial orientation with innovative suppliers, relation intensity with manufacturers, and small vs large suppliers for radical innovations) responded stronger on some company variables. Company size (<99 versus >250 staff) had little effects.Innovating, opportunity-seeking and trust towards innovative suppliers, and relation intensity with innovative service providers had highest effects on performance. Conversely, 46% of the performance variables (satisfaction with innovative suppliers, benefits for natural environment and company) responded stronger on innovating, opportunities-seeking and trust variables.Survey II (N=33) identified 12 procurement best-practices that respondents used for specific supplier or innovation types.Causality should be treated cautiously. Findings reflected the inconclusive results from extant literature. The research provided a nuanced and varied understanding on management of innovative suppliers, on the effects of entrepreneurial orientation to innovative suppliers, on the limited effects of company size, on the complex relations between various performance measures, and on entrepreneurship as a theoretical lens in innovation procurement. Companies had several options on how they managed their innovative suppliers. Additionally, the company characteristics and context of in this nascent research domain could be more important than commonly assumed from extant research.
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Background: Burden of disease estimates are an important resource in public health. Currently, robust estimates are not available for the burn population. Our objectives are to adapt a refined methodology (INTEGRIS method) to burns and to apply this new INTEGRIS-burns method to estimate, and compare, the burden of disease of burn injuries in Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands. Methods: Existing European and Western-Australian health-related quality of life (HRQL) datasets were combined to derive disability weights for three homogenous burn injury groups based on percentage total body surface area (%TBSA) burned. Subsequently, incidence data from Australia, New Zealand, and the Netherlands from 2010 to 2017 were used to compute annual non-fatal burden of disease estimates for each of these three countries. Non-fatal burden of disease was measured by years lived with disability (YLD). Results: The combined dataset included 7159 HRQL (EQ-5D-3 L) outcomes from 3401 patients. Disability weights ranged from 0.046 (subgroup <5% TBSA burned > 24 months post-burn) to 0.497 (subgroup > 20% TBSA burned 0-1 months post-burn). In 2017 the non-fatal burden of disease of burns for the three countries (YLDs/100,000 inhabitants) was 281 for Australia, 279 for New Zealand and 133 for the Netherlands. Conclusions: This project established a method for more precise estimates of the YLDs of burns, as it is the only method adapted to the nature of burn injuries and their recovery. Compared to previous used methods, the INTEGRIS-burns method includes improved disability weights based on severity categorization of burn patients; a better substantiated proportion of patients with lifelong disability based; and, the application of burn specific recovery timeframes. Information derived from the adapted method can be used as input for health decision making at both the national and international level. Future studies should investigate whether the application is valid in low- and middle- income countries.
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Traditionally, the construction industry in New Zealand and in other countries has seen a low productivity and a low track record for successful innovations (Fairweather, 2010). The industry also lags in sustainability (e.g. Nemry, 2008) when seen from a broader or lifecycle perspective. This has a negative impact on private and government spending, on quality and health/wellbeing, and on the environment.This paper posits that the construction industry needs non-incremental (disruptive or discontinuous, i.e. modular, architectural, system or radical) sustainable technology innovations to make drastic improvements in sustainability. Such innovations are often procured (acquired) and (co-) developed by small entrepreneurial firms thus introducing such innovations into the construction and building industry. However it is unclear exactly how entrepreneurial small firms procure non-incremental sustainable technology innovations.
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This blog will give regular updates on my PhD journey.
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Het gebruik van ervaringskennis onder behandelaren in de geestelijke gezondheidszorg (ggz) is een opkomend fenomeen. Een significant percentage van alle ggz-professionals heeft zélf te maken gehad met psychische ontregeling. Studies suggereren uiteenlopende percentages in de groep ggz-professionals, variërend van 45 procent tot zeventig procent, wat hoger is dan gemiddeld genomen in de beroepsbevolking. Velen voelen zich juist ook om deze reden aangetrokken tot het hulpverlenerschap, hoewel slechts een minderheid expliciet gebruikmaakt van deze kennis. In opleidingen en nascholingen werd oorspronkelijk ruim aandacht besteed aan de risico’s van zelfonthulling. Daarnaast blijkt uit onderzoek dat het klimaat tijdens leertherapie en intervisies niet altijd veilig genoeg is om persoonlijke ervaringen met ontwrichting bespreekbaar te maken. Als dit wel het geval is, dan ligt de nadruk op het inzichtelijk krijgen van de eigen problematiek zodanig dat deze niet interfereert met toekomstig cliëntcontact. Hiermee wordt vaak uitgegaan van een mogelijk negatieve invloed van ervaringskennis. Eenmaal werkzaam in de ggz is het eveneens niet vanzelfsprekend om er openlijk over te spreken met collega’s en is er regelmatig sprake van (zelf-)stigma. Er bestaan namelijk nog veel misvattingen over het gebruik van ervaringskennis en -deskundigheid, voornamelijk voortkomend uit de psychoanalyse, zoals het idee dat het schadelijk zou zijn voor cliënten. Ggz-professionals hebben de neiging zich te verschuilen achter hun professionele identiteit, met vaak weinig ruimte voor persoonlijke aspecten. Daarbij komt dat er een trend is om in toenemende mate de interventie boven de relatie te prevaleren. Terwijl het belang van ervaringskennis in behandelingen internationaal en ook in Nederland steeds meer wordt erkend, raken psychotherapeuten op achterstand. Beroepsorganisaties als het Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists en de British Psychological Society benadrukken juist dat persoonlijke ervaringen een essentiële rol kunnen spelen bij het verminderen van stigma. In Nederland heeft de Nederlandse Vereniging voor Psychiatrie onlangs kenbaar gemaakt dit als een positieve ontwikkeling te zien. In Nederland is tevens een kwaliteitsstandaard en zorgstandaard voor het gebruik van ervaringsdeskundigheid en worden ervaringsdeskundigen steeds meer gewaardeerd vanwege hun unieke bijdragen. Terwijl dus steeds meer ex-cliënten worden opgeleid om hun ervaringen met psychische problemen en herstel in te zetten om anderen te helpen, wordt het psychologen nog steeds afgeleerd om open te zijn over hun persoonlijke verleden. Zodoende startte in 2019 een promotieonderzoek naar het gebruik van ervaringsdeskundigheid onder ggz-professionals. Gedurende ruim vier jaar werd kwalitatief en participatief onderzoek uitgevoerd bij vier zorgorganisaties. Naast een literatuurstudie werd er ook praktijkgericht samengewerkt met cliënten, ervaringsdeskundigen, professionals, bestuurders en managers. Een belangrijke vraag hierin was: ‘Wat levert professionele ervaringskennis binnen een therapeutische setting op en hoe kan dit door ggz-professionals worden ingezet?’
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