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This study investigates which factors are conducive to individual job performance in large-scale work from home (WFH) arrangements that rely on the current generation of technology, such as information and communications platforms.

The researchers proposed a research model based on research on WFH arrangements. The model was tested based on a survey of 1,183 respondents who engaged in large-scale WFH arrangements during an extensive national COVID-19 lockdown.

The proposed research model explains 41% of the variance in individual job performance in WFH arrangements. The findings show that the strongest positive predictors for job performance are home office quality and the reach and communication quality of information and communications platforms. A sense of professional isolation was found to have a negative impact.

This study is based on a unique situation of large-scale mandatory WFH arrangements that are comparable to a natural experiment, and it is one of the first studies to conduct an extensive exploration of WFH that relies on the current generation of digital technology.

The purpose of this paper is to address a theoretical gap in the business process management (BPM) literature on factors that influence the acceptance and use of business process modelling (PM) in organisations. The paper seeks to contribute to theory building and practice in BPM through better understanding of important determinants of PM adoption and use.

A combination of literature review and 34 interviews in context was used to develop a PM acceptance model that was subsequently empirically tested using survey data from 74 companies.

The paper provides empirical insights about how business PM can be influenced by many factors in the organisational context. It suggests that PM is a complex activity mandated by management, but influenced by individual and socio‐political factors.

There is a need for future research to focus on the many opposing forces that influence business PM in organisations. Future studies should analyse influence from different stakeholder groups separately to reveal their relative influence on PM activity and its outcomes.

The paper identifies important forces in the organisational context that managers should focus on in their efforts to successfully implement business PM in their organisations.

This paper uses a triangulation of sources of information to better understand the less‐studied process of PM adoption and use in an organisational context. It contributes to theory building within BPM and to more successful BPM in organisations.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether investment in a quality system leads to process management. Do firms that have invested in documenting their processes in a quality system also manage their processes?

The research question is approached by applying four fundamental dimensions of process management: process awareness, process ownership, process measurement and process improvement. A multi‐case study based on interviews and live demonstrations of the quality systems in question is designed, and quality managers in 23 firms are interviewed. Various analyzing techniques such as descriptive and interpretive analysis, meaning condensation, and thematic scoring are applied.

This research finds that investments in quality systems have not resulted in process management. Business executives are not particularly concerned about their firms' business process on a daily basis, process accountability has not been institutionalized, explicit process goals are seldom set and measured, and continuous improvement practices are rarely found. This could be read as if the executives view their quality system as an artifact which is forced upon them, rather than a valuable resource for managing and developing their companies.

First, without process management, firms do not know whether they are satisfying quality requirements and achieving customer satisfaction. Ideas as to what quality managers could do to move toward process management are consequently provided. Second, the findings challenge the present certification arrangement. Although a certain firm is certified, a substantial gap may exist between how the processes are described in the quality system and how they are practiced by the employees. This should be discussed by those who consider a quality system as a written guarantee for managed quality.

Given that the processes in a quality system must be managed, it has not been found that the question of whether investments in quality system leads to process management is empirically investigated in as detailed a manner as one would expect. In this multi‐case study, it was found that a quality system is viewed as something enforced upon the firms. A quality system is a prerequisite for doing business, and the investment is primarily a consequence of external orders, demands and expectations. In the context of quality systems, firms are not concerned about developing better organizational and management practices, i.e. process management; they are concerned about satisfying external requirements in order to stay in business.

This monograph contains abstracts from the 2005 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, 6‐7th September 2005

Exploring a researchable topic and narrowing it down sufficiently to make it workable is a first task in any scientific research. This is particularly difficult when the researcher is a novice, because s(he) is unlikely to be properly aware of what the essential issues and the research question(s) in the field are. This article addresses the question of how to navigate a research topic for an academic project. The article is potentially of interest to novice researchers and researchers new to a field. Illustrating its argument by means of an example in the area of knowledge management, the article proposes a set of guidelines for narrowing down a research topic to workable size. A number of recommendations are made; by utilizing these recommendations to construct a navigation map, it is hoped that a researcher can use fully formulate research question(s). It can be argued that drawing such a navigation map is an art in which prospective researchers need to be trained.

Globalisation is generally defined as the “denationalisation of clusters of political, economic, and social activities” that destabilize the ability of the sovereign State to control activities on its territory, due to the rising need to find solutions for universal problems, like the pollution of the environment, on an international level. Globalisation is a complex, forceful legal and social process that take place within an integrated whole with out regard to geographical boundaries. Globalisation thus differs from international activities, which arise between and among States, and it differs from multinational activities that occur in more than one nation‐State. This does not mean that countries are not involved in the sociolegal dynamics that those transboundary process trigger. In a sense, the movements triggered by global processes promote greater economic interdependence among countries. Globalisation can be traced back to the depression preceding World War II and globalisation at that time included spreading of the capitalist economic system as a means of getting access to extended markets. The first step was to create sufficient export surplus to maintain full employment in the capitalist world and secondly establishing a globalized economy where the planet would be united in peace and wealth. The idea of interdependence among quite separate and distinct countries is a very important part of talks on globalisation and a significant side of today’s global political economy.

Devotes the entire journal issue to managing human behaviour in US industries, with examples drawn from the airline industry, trading industry, publishing industry, metal products industry, motor vehicle and parts industry, information technology industry, food industry, the airline industry in a turbulent environment, the automotive sales industry, and specialist retailing industry. Outlines the main features of each industry and the environment in which it is operating. Provides examples, insights and quotes from Chief Executive Officers, managers and employees on their organization’s recipe for success. Mentions the effect technology has had in some industries. Talks about skilled and semi‐skilled workers, worker empowerment and the formation of teams. Addresses also the issue of change and the training that is required to deal with it in different industry sectors. Discusses remuneration packages and incentives offered to motivate employees. Notes the importance of customers in the face of increased competition. Extracts from each industry sector the various human resource practices that companies employ to manage their employees effectively ‐ revealing that there is a wide diversity in approach and what is right for one industry sector would not work in another. Offers some advice for managers, but, overall, fails to summarize what constitutes effective means of managing human behaviour.

One reason for the severe short age of nurses is the un will ing ness of males to pursue the profession in great numbers. This article explores people’s negative stereotypic beliefs about males in the nursing profession. Participants were asked to provide evaluations and trait descriptions of both male and female nurses. The results revealed that both male and female participants harbored favorable impressions of female nurses but unfavorable impressions of male nurses. Male participants were especially likely to form negative evaluations of men who pursue the nursing profession. Exploratory multivariate analyses of trait descriptions revealed that male nurses are viewed as feminine, non traditional, intelligent, and caring. Additional results suggest that unfavorable stereo types of male nurses can be moderated by highlighting the masculine qualities of nurses’ job duties. Implications for the recruitment of males into nursing are discussed.

Birding, the active seeking out and identification of birds, is a wide‐spread and fast growing avocation on this continent, and indeed throughout the world. Jon Rickert's A Guide to North American Bird Clubs lists 17 national/continental organizations for both professional ornithologists and amateur birders and 844 state, provincial, and local associations. In addition, there are those legions of “unorganized” bird watchers and occasional, inquisitive discoverers of backyard birds. Members of this diverse congregation of birders have at least one thing in common — the need for a reliable identification tool enabling them to correctly label the just‐seen, unfamiliar bird. A field guide is just such a tool.

Continuous improvement of manufacturing quality is the preoccupation of production management teams throughout the world. At least, it is within companies who hope to have a commercial future.