Are Family Businesses a Good Environment for Project Management?

Relationships between project management, operations management, and organizational strategy are well-known, as well as organizational influences on project. Family businesses work on projects, but their unique nature makes family firms a challenging context for Project Management. This chapter aims to present and discuss the specific dynamics of family business that can impact project management practices. By definition, a project is a complex system, consisting of a set of dozens of interrelated sub-processes. As is known, the percentage of projects that satisfy both technical requirements, budget compliance and which meet the deadlines, is extremely low. This fact forces the researchers to equip themselves with more sophisticated tools to face the complexity of a project, in order to increase its chances of success.

Identifying Accident Factors in Military Aviation

Investigating accidents is an important method to enhance safety in aviation. Nevertheless, it is equally important to examine trends and factors across different accidents to adapt accordingly. Therefore, in the first study, 48 accidents and incidents occurring to manned military aircraft of the German Armed Forces between the years 2004 and 2014 were analyzed using the HFACS framework. Results show that preconditions for unsafe acts (37.7%) was observed most often, followed by unsafe acts (36.2%) and organizational influences (17.9%). Unsafe supervision was observed least often (8.2%). Thus, operators on the front line contribute the major part to manned aircraft incurrences in the German Armed Forces while higher levels of HFACS seem to play a smaller part. In the second study, 33 accidents and incidents occurring to unmanned military aircraft of the German Armed Forces between 2004 and 2014 were analyzed, also using the HFACS framework. Results show that technical issues were mentioned most often and human factors were identified considerably less than in manned aircraft.

Approaches to Instructional Leadership: Organizational Influences in Contexts of (Mis)match

Instructional leadership efforts are complicated when leaders and teachers do not share areas of expertise. Leaders work to bridge this divide through a number of approaches, such as collaboration with specialist personnel and the development of leadership content knowledge (LCK). The purpose of this study was to explore the organizational factors that help shape the ways school leaders enact instructional leadership when supervising in areas of (mis)match. Interviews with n = 31 teachers and school leaders indicated that organizational factors influenced the ways in which leaders understood and enacted their roles related to instructional supervision. Evidence also suggested the presence of organizational structures that could be reframed as robust, intentional supports to help school leaders develop LCK.

Social Ecological Examination of Alcohol Use Among Division III Athletes

Alcohol remains the most frequently abused substance among college athletes. Athletes experience a unique set of social influences on college campuses that range from intrapersonal beliefs to governing policies that can effect behaviors. A social ecological framework was used to examine the influences on reported alcohol use among a sample (n=106) of Division III athletes. Participants were surveyed regarding reported drinking habits and social ecological influences. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to analyze which levels of the social ecological framework predicted a greater number of drinks consumed in one sitting. The full model was significant (R2=0.559, F(15,105)=7.600, p<0.001). Intrapersonal, interpersonal and institutional/organizational influences significantly added to the model.Prevention programs targeting multiple influences are important to reduce risky alcohol use among DIII athletes.

Strategic Decisions between Short-Term Profit and Sustainability

Sustainability has evolved into one of the key topics for organizations and organizational researchers alike. To meet changing societal demands, organizations have to adapt their long-term strategies and incorporate environmental and social aspects into their product offerings and decision-making. However, at the same time companies must satisfy short-term profitability interests and demands from shareholders. An organization’s sustainability commitment, strategy, or view is impacted by several influential factors, e.g., by the top management commitment or stakeholder integration. These factors have largely been studied individually without linking them. As such, the following study aims at creating a holistic view and framework for organizational influences and on sustainability. The framework is validated by a comparison to industrial practice in interviews with sustainability managers from the chemical and automobile industry, which are both highly relevant in the context of sustainability. Interview results suggest that the identified influential factors attributed to the four framework layers organization, top management, project team and project are relevant for industrial representatives. The view on and impact of specific influential factors can vary between companies and industries. The study further gives insights into the actual status and future direction of the management of corporate sustainability (CS) in practice.

Exploring the intersections: researchers and communication professionals' perspectives on the organizational role of science communication

PurposeThis paper reports on research exploring the intersections between researchers and communication professionals' perspectives on the objectives, funders and organizational influences on their science communication practices.Design/methodology/approachExamining one context, the inter-organizational BCDC Energy Research project based at five different research organizations in Finland, this paper presents data from semi-structured interviews with 17 researchers and 15 communication professionals.FindingsThe results suggest that performance-based funding policies that drive the proliferation of large-scale research projects can create challenges. In particular, a challenge arises in generating a shared sense of identity and purpose amongst researchers and communication professionals. This may have unintended negative impacts on the quality and cohesiveness of the science communication which occurs.Research limitations/implicationsThe study was exploratory in nature and focuses on one organizational and institutional environment. Further research with a wider number of projects, as well as funders, would be conducive to a greater understanding of the issues involved.Practical implicationsOn a practical level, this research suggests that the creation of clearer communications awareness and guidance may be helpful in some large-scale projects, particularly involving broad numbers of organizations, individual researchers and funders.Originality/valueThis is one of the first studies examining the perspectives of both researchers and communication professionals working over one project, drawing together a range of different institutional and disciplinary perspectives. The results highlight the importance of the influences of funding on science communication aims, assumptions, cultures and structures. The article articulates the need for further research in this area.

Employee Churn in After-School Care: Manager Influences on Retention and Turnover

This study examined field employee turnover at a national after-school program provider to assess the knowledge, skills, motivation, and organizational influences of those with the greatest impact on employee retention—area managers who oversee after-school programs and their ­­­frontline staff. Clark and Estes’ (2008) gap analysis served as the general conceptual framework for the study. A convergent parallel mixed methods case study was conducted using historical document analysis, surveys, interviews, and observations. Analysis revealed high employee retention (74%) as well as high turnover (62%), which can coexist when most staff are retained, but a smaller segment repeatedly churns over the same period. Specifically, recurring turnover among 37% of staff roles was found to be the source of the high turnover rate, while 63% of roles remained filled and stable. Further analysis of managers’ mindset illuminated barriers to success with retention, including limited knowledge of factors related to turnover, perception of minimal organizational focus on and resources for retention, significant external locus of control over turnover, and lack of ownership and accountability for turnover. After implementing context-specific solutions grounded in literature and in the New World Kirkpatrick Model (Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016), a 1-year follow-up indicated elevations in 16 of 17 areas of manager mindset around retention, including 90% or higher agreement in 12 of 17 areas, a 22% decrease in turnover, an 8% increase in stable roles, and an 11% decrease in unstable or repeatedly churning roles.

Financial stability instruments for the banking systems of Ukraine

The article focuses on the issues of systematization, analysis and development of the classification of instruments for ensuring the financial stability of the banking system, which is a determining factor in the formation of the necessary influences to ensure the financial stability of the banking system. For the selection and application of the toolkit that most precisely meets the goals, current conditions and priorities of ensuring the financial stability of the banking system, its classification was supplemented by the introduction of new classification features. In particular, in order to take into account the importance of maintaining the continuous circulation of financial flows in the banking system, their consistency and synchrony, we developed a classification criterion ‘for influencing the inflow and outflow of financial flows’, which makes it possible to use the appropriate instrument to complete such specific tasks as ensuring continuity, streamlining the cost of resources, smoothing the impact on interest rates of liquidity changes. Based on the presence of different levels of regulatory influences on ensuring the financial stability of the banking system – strategic and operational – the classification criteria ‘to influence the achievement of monetary policy operational goals’ and ‘to influence the achievement of strategic monetary policy goals’ were introduced. The classification criterion ‘impact on systemic/state-owned banks’ is justified by the significance of systemically important banks for ensuring the financial stability of the banking system, since a significant concentration of assets and capital in such banks requires the use of special tools aimed at preventing systemic risks. Taking into account the need for balancing the flows of credits provided by the banking system, the impact of risks on banking activities, the classification features of instruments for ensuring the financial stability of the banking system ‘by impact on the credit cycle’, ‘by key risks’, ‘by organizational elements’ were proposed. Allocation of the classification features of the instruments for ensuring the financial stability of the banking system will contribute to the achievement of targeting of regulatory and organizational influences and compliance with the criteria of rationality and adequacy when choosing specific instruments. This will create the basis for the selection and application of such a combination of instruments that most closely meets the goals, current conditions and priorities for ensuring the financial stability of the banking system.