This article describes the process of organizational change due to technological evolutions, suggesting that community-specific differences in discourse may have a considerable influence on its success. The questions for this study focus on: 1) how do we define a technically oriented employee who has to cope with organizational change? 2) Which factors determine the reaction to organizational change projects in which these technically oriented employees are involved? And 3) what are the consequences of these specific characters of technically oriented employees for implementing change programs in the most effective manner? First, while the present studies on professional communication do not pay any attention to change management, the current models of change management also barely pay attention to (professional) discourse. Second, we examine culture, which can be divided into national culture (NC), organizational culture (OC), and professional culture (PC). In this case study, we focus on the professional cultures of specific (change) managers and technicians and their discourse in the utilities sector. After this, we describe the case study, which exemplifies how change results can be influenced. It seems that in a technical environment, the change process and interventions need to be specific, concrete, and to the point. However, there also seems to be a dilemma between universal (e.g. mechanistic and formal) and contingency (e.g. organic, informal and emergent) approaches to the change process. The results of this study show the need to analyze cultures through discourse and through PC as a way to differentiate discourse between technical and non-technical employees. We suggest further research on three aspects that interfere and influence the change effort: context, discourse, and professional cultures of (change) managers and technicians.
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The level of work engagement is an important aspect of organizational culture. In this empirical study the relation between engagement and experienced professionalism of probation officers is investigated. Starting from ideal-typical theories on professionalism, a psychometric instrument for measuring experienced professionalism was developed and administered to a sample of Dutch probation officers. Two reliable scales could be constructed that account for 64% of the variance in work engagement. Of these, professional ethos (humanistic values) is the most important predictor of work engagement in probation. Professional facilitation (support from the surroundings), however, also contributes to engagement.
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This doctoral thesis describes three case studies of service engineers participating in organizational change, interacting with managers and consultants. The study investigates the role of differences in professional discourse and culture when these three professional groups interact in organizational change, and how this affects the change result. We bring together two scientific fields, first change management and second, linguistics. The intersection represents the overlapping field of professional discourse and culture. The research design was an explorative multiple case study using qualitative linguistic analyses. The study found that successful organizational change is the result of interaction between professional culture, the organizational culture and the organization/change context. The differences between the professional cultures and discourses can hamper the change process. The practical contribution of this study might be the increased awareness among professionals about their own professional, and often implicit, assumptions. Managers, consultants and service engineers have to be aware of the group dynamics and the specific role of their own typical professional discourse and culture in a change project setting.
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A culture change within an organization may be of importance in this turbulent world. An assessment of the current and desired cultural profiles can help estimate as to whether any changes are required. In this study the organizational culture of a housing association was examined from both the staff’s and external stakeholders’ perspectives. How does the current culture compare with the desired culture? Do the external stakeholders perceive the organization’s culture in a similar way? Do the staff’s and external stakeholders’ perceptions coincide with the organization’s intended image? The results demonstrate that the external stakeholders’ perceptions of the organizational culture in this case study are similar to those of the organization’s staff.
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Abstract Business Process Management (BPM) is an important discipline for organizations to manage their business processes. Research shows that higher BPM-maturity leads to better process performance. However, contextual factors such as culture seem to influence this relationship. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of national culture on the relationship between BPM-maturity and process performance. A multiple linear regression analysis is performed based on data from six different countries within Europe. Although the results show a significant relationship between BPM-maturity and process performance, no significant moderation effect of national culture has been found. The cultural dimension long term orientation shows a weak negative correlation with both BPM-maturity and process performance. Through a post-hoc moderation analysis on each dimension of BPM-maturity, we further find that long term orientation negatively moderates the relationship between process improvement and process performance. Three other moderation effects are also discovered. The results of this study contribute to insights into the role of culture in the field of BPM.
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The energy management systems industry in the built environment is currently an important topic. Buildings use about 40% of the total global energy worldwide. Therefore, the energy management system’s sector is one of the most influential sectors to realize changes and transformation of energy use. New data science technologies used in building energy management systems might not only bring many technical challenges, but also they raise significant educational challenges for professionals who work in the field of energy management systems. Learning and educational issues are mainly due to the transformation of professional practices and networks, emerging technologies, and a big shift in how people work, communicate, and share their knowledge across the professional and academic sectors. In this study, we have investigated three different companies active in the building services sector to identify the main motivation and barriers to knowledge adoption, transfer, and exchange between different professionals in the energy management sector and explore the technologies that have been used in this field using the boundary-crossing framework. The results of our study show the importance of understanding professional learning networks in the building services sector. Additionally, the role of learning culture, incentive structure, and technologies behind the educational system of each organization are explained. Boundary-crossing helps to analyze the barriers and challenges in the educational setting and how new educational technologies can be embedded. Based on our results, future studies with a bigger sample and deeper analysis of technologies are needed to have a better understanding of current educational problems.
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Over the last two decades, institutions for higher education such as universities and colleges have rapidly expanded and as a result have experienced profound changes in processes of research and organization. However, the rapid expansion and change has fuelled concerns about issues such as educators' technology professional development. Despite the educational value of emerging technologies in schools, the introduction has not yet enjoyed much success. Effective use of information and communication technologies requires a substantial change in pedagogical practice. Traditional training and learning approaches cannot cope with the rising demand on educators to make use of innovative technologies in their teaching. As a result, educational institutions as well as the public are more and more aware of the need for adequate technology professional development. The focus of this paper is to look at action research as a qualitative research methodology for studying technology professional development in HE in order to improve teaching and learning with ICTs at the tertiary level. The data discussed in this paper have been drawn from a cross institutional setting at Fontys University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands. The data were collected and analysed according to a qualitative approach.
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The artcle describes the outcomes of a pilot study on professional development of teachers. The project was initiated by the school management. Nine teachers volunteered to work on their professional development in a programme consisting of: meetings discussing on relevant teacher topics meetings discussing video fragments of own performances meetings exploring ways to coach each other and how to use videotapes for feedback peer-coaching-sessions in small groups. Within these groups three teachers took turns in different roles: trainee, coach and observer. Aims of the study are: to develop a coaching programme, to describe extensively the process and the outcomes in order to identify the main factors influencing the learning processes of teachers in peer coaching settings with video feedback.
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This speech discusses how the professorship intends to support practitioners in the nursing domain and contribute to shaping nursing leadership and each person's professional individuality. The title of the speech, “Notes on Nursing 2.0,” is particularly intended to emphasize the need for these changes in the nursing domain. Not by assuming that nothing has changed in care and nursing since Nightingale's time. There has. Being educated in the professional domain is not only a given but a requirement. The knowledge domain of care and nursing has developed far and wide in nursing diagnostics and standards. Nursing science research, which Nightingale once started as the first female statistician in the British Kingdom, has firmly established itself in education and practice. Wanting to be of significance to others out of compassion is still the professional motivation, but there is no longer a subservient servitude (Cingel van der, 2012). At the same time, wholehearted leadership is not yet taken for granted in daily practice and optimal professional practice falters due to an equality principle of differently educated caregivers and nurses that has been held for too long. That is the need for change to which this 2.0 version “Notes on Nursing” and the lectorate want to contribute in the coming years. Chapter 1, through the metaphors in the story “The Cat Who Looked at the King,” describes the vision of emancipatory action research and the change principles that the lectorate will deploy. Chapter 2 contains the reason, mission and lines of research that are interrelated within the lectorate. Chapters 3 and 4 address the themes of identity and leadership, discussing their interrelationship with professional practice and developing a research culture. In addition, specific aspects that influence practice and work culture today are addressed, and how the lectorate contributes specifically to the development of nursing leadership and the formation of professional identity in the relevant domain is described. Chapter 5 contains a summary of the principles on which the research program is based, as well as information on current and future projects. Chapter 6 provides background information on the lector and the members of the knowledge circle.
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Due to fast and unpredictable developments, professional education is challenged with being responsive, which demands a rethinking of conventional curriculum development approaches. Yet, literature on curriculum development falls short in terms of recognising how to react rapidly and adequately to these new developments. This study focuses on curriculum development initiatives at the school level in a Dutch university of applied sciences. Open interviews were held with 29 curriculum developers to explore how they define and give substance to developing curricula for new, changing or unpredictable professions. These 29 participants were involved in seven curriculum development trajectories. Four themes were detected: (1) curriculum developers are in favour of open, flexible and authentic curricula; (2) the context in which the curriculum development takes place and the different roles and responsibilities of curriculum developers are challenging; (3) curriculum developers feel insufficiently equipped to carry out their tasks; and (4) involving stakeholders is necessary but results in a “viscous” social–political process. Responsive curriculum development requires a great deal of flexibility and adaptability from curriculum developers. Yet, in our study, “institutional concrete” is found to severely hinder responsive curriculum development processes. To be responsive, such processes need to be supported and institutional barriers need to be removed.
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