Team Work (team + work)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


IS TRUST A DRIVER FOR TERRITORIALLY EMBEDDED INDUSTRIAL SYSTEMS?

GEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES B: HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, Issue 4 2007
A CASE STUDY OF THE HOME-BUILDING INDUSTRY IN NORWAY
ABSTRACT Trust is said to be necessary for creating and maintaining territorially embedded industrial systems. On the basis of data for the Norwegian home-building sector, this article analyses trust and price competition; how trust is built and dismantled; and trust and place. The main findings are that: trust and price competition interact, but trust is more important in the design and planning phases than in the construction phase; economic factors are important for building trust, together with competence and team work; and trust is related to space, partly through places embodied in trust and partly through trust embedded in places. However, this embeddedness is not like that which has long been claimed to exist in territorially embedded industrial systems, but embeddedness where trust acts as a reinforcement, contingent upon other factors, as a capacity restraint and a socially constructed need for face-to-face meetings. [source]


Concrete Geometry: Playing with Blocks

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ART & DESIGN EDUCATION, Issue 1 2010
Andreas Luescher
This article describes a design/build exercise conducted in an Architectural Materials and Methods class to achieve three interrelated objectives: (1) to apply physically the semester's theoretical focus on the constituent process and languages of architecture investigations, (2) to capitalise on the physical and aesthetic properties of concrete masonry to explore fabrication and detailing in the design process, and (3) to examine preconceptions about solo work and team work in architectural education and practice. What makes this project unique among other design/build projects is its emphasis on Concrete Masonry Units (known as CMU in the USA) and their visual, tactile and functional properties. The junior and senior students were allowed three building elements: an 8, cube of space, an unlimited number of concrete blocks, and the visual ecology of a site. The structural vocabulary that Frank Lloyd Wright developed consisted of a three-dimensional field of lines through which the solid elements of the building were located, enabling the voids to be integral to the whole and equally meaningful. Using these elements, students were asked to design/build temporary structures in a field next to the airport hangar on campus. The pedagogical objective was to adopt Wright's creative spirit, as opposed to quoting his architectural language. [source]


Opportunities for an improved role for nurses in psychoactive substance use: Review of the literature

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NURSING PRACTICE, Issue 3 2004
Annette M Nkowane RN RM BSc MA
Nurses form a core component of many health care systems so their role in responding to problems related to psychoactive substance use is crucial. They are often under-utilized, mainly because of anxieties concerning role adequacy, legitimacy, lack of support and failure to implement interventions in a variety of settings. Nurses have unique opportunities through interactions they have with young people, families and significant others. Training and career preparation should encompass development of innovative strategies, taking a leading role in management of substance use patients, involvement in the treatment of the homeless mentally ill, HIV-infected individuals and persons with dual disorders of mental health and substance use. Future directions should focus on developing skills for critical thinking, preventive and therapeutic interventions, clinical judgement, effective organizational capacity and team work. Barriers such as scope of practice, authority, ethical and legal issues surrounding health care for substance use need to be addressed. [source]


Interprofessional education: the interface of nursing and social work

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 1-2 2010
Engle Angela Chan
Aims., To examine the influence of interdisciplinary seminars on undergraduate nursing and social work students' perceptions of their learning. Background., Collaboration is considered to be important for health professionals in working towards good patient care, and interdisciplinary education is seen as one way of addressing this need for greater collaboration and team work. Today's health professionals are dealing with an increasing number of older and chronically ill patients. The biopsychosocial dimensions inherent in such chronic illnesses bring about a closer working relationship between the nursing and social work professions to foster good patient care. No local research in Hong Kong, however, has looked specifically at how these two professions can develop their collaborative skills and qualities through interdisciplinary education. Design., Mixed methods design. Method., Data from questionnaires, videotape recordings of the sessions and follow-up phone interviews were used for quantitative and qualitative analyses. Results., The findings revealed three themes: an increased awareness of each other's professional values and personal judgement, a recognition of each other's disciplinary knowledge emphases and more, and an appreciation for, and learning about each other's roles for future collaboration. Conclusions., Whilst, it is usual to identify health professionals as non-judgemental, it is also important to recognise the existence of their personal and professional values and beliefs that shape their decision-making. Equally beneficial for students is their reported understanding of the other discipline's emphasis on the physical or social aspects of care, and the interrelationships and complementary values that lead to students' appreciation of each other's roles and the possibility for their future collaboration in the holistic care of patients. Relevance to clinical practice., The sharing of each other's knowledge and their appreciation of the corresponding roles enhanced students' decision-making capacity and the extension of the holistic approach beyond one profession, which is essential for good patient care. [source]


From critical care to comfort care: the sustaining value of humour

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 8 2008
Ruth Anne Kinsman Dean PhD
Aims and objectives., To identify commonalities in the findings of two research studies on humour in diverse settings to illustrate the value of humour in team work and patient care, despite differing contexts. Background., Humour research in health care commonly identifies the value of humour for enabling communication, fostering relationships, easing tension and managing emotions. Other studies identify situations involving serious discussion, life-threatening circumstances and high anxiety as places where humour may not be appropriate. Our research demonstrates that humour is significant even where such circumstances are common place. Method., Clinical ethnography was the method for both studies. Each researcher conducted observational fieldwork in the cultural context of a healthcare setting, writing extensive fieldnotes after each period of observation. Additional data sources were informal conversations with patients and families and semi-structured interviews with members of the healthcare team. Data analysis involved line-by-line analysis of transcripts and fieldnotes with identification of codes and eventual collapse into categories and overarching themes. Results., Common themes from both studies included the value of humour for team work, emotion management and maintaining human connections. Humour served to enable co-operation, relieve tensions, develop emotional flexibility and to ,humanise' the healthcare experience for both caregivers and recipients of care. Conclusions., Humour is often considered trivial or unprofessional; this research verifies that it is neither. The value of humour resides, not in its capacity to alter physical reality, but in its capacity for affective or psychological change which enhances the humanity of an experience, for both care providers and recipients of care. Relevance to clinical practice., In the present era which emphasises technology, efficiency and outcomes, humour is crucial for promoting team relationships and for maintaining the human dimension of health care. Nurses should not be reluctant to use humour as a part of compassionate and personalised care, even in critical situations. [source]


The role of the mental health nursing leadership

JOURNAL OF NURSING MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2010
ANNE LISE HOLM RPN
holm a.l. & severinsson e. (2010) Journal of Nursing Management18, 463,471 The role of the mental health nursing leadership Aim, The aim of the present study was to illuminate what the mental health nursing (MHN) leader needs in order to develop her/his leadership role. Background, MHN leadership has tended to focus on the nature of the care provided rather than the development of the role. Method, This literature review (1998,2008) examines papers from the past decade by means of a synthesis of empirical studies. Results, Three themes emerged: ,,clarifying role expectations and areas for development at the same time as increasing the influence on patients with mental health problems; ,,using evidence-based practice to implement improvements and organizational change in mental health; and ,,employing communication skills as well as supporting, nurturing and empowering others. Conclusion, This review provided evidence that the MHN leader needs various skills in order to make enlightened changes that can meet the needs of both patients and staff. Implications for nursing management, The MHN leader needs to explore the range of tasks involved in leadership in order to define role expectations and areas for development. These areas include enhancing patient care; reliance on team work; and attending to the personal life of the staff; increasing collaboration within the organization as well as with the community; utilizing the best available evidence; and communicating in order to improve the organization. [source]


Strategy Use by Nonnative English-Speaking Students in an MBA Program: Not Business as Usual!

MODERN LANGUAGE JOURNAL, Issue 3 2004
Susan Parks
Despite the long-standing interest in strategy use and language learning, little attention has been given to how social context may constrain or facilitate this use or the development of new strategies. Drawing on data from a longitudinal qualitative study, we discuss this issue in relation to the experiences of Chinese students from the People's Republic of China, who, following study in English for Academic Purposes courses, registered in a Masters in Business Administration program in a Canadian university. Specifically, we focus on how the contact with the native-English-speaking Canadian students mediated the Chinese students' strategy use in 3 domains: reading, class lectures, and team work. In contrast to the rather simplistic notion evoked in certain portrayals of the good language learner, strategy use as reported herein emerges as a complex, socially situated phenomenon, bound up with issues related to personal identity (Leki, 2001; Norton, 1997, 2000; Spack, 1997). [source]


Extended surgery for local recurrence and advanced rectal cancer

COLORECTAL DISEASE, Issue 2006
P. M. Sagar
Abstract Although much effort has been directed at reducing the incidence of local recurrence after surgical resection of rectal cancer, there remain a significant number of patients who will develop local recurrence without evidence of metastatic disease. Such patients, as well as patients with locally advanced rectal cancer at presentation, may represent a surgical challenge. Application of sound surgical principals and team work can lead to a good long term outcome. This paper sets out to discuss the philosophy and techniques involved in the surgical management of such patients. [source]


An Application of Activity Theory

PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2006
James A. Marken
Activity Theory has often been used in workplace settings to gain new theoretical understandings about work and the humans who engage in work, but rarely has there been sufficient detail in the literature to allow HPT practitioners to do their own activity analysis. The detail presented in this case is sufficient for HPT practitioners to begin to use Activity Theory as an analytical framework. The case described here tells in detail of an activity analysis done with the global sales and marketing training department of a U.S.-based Fortune 500 multinational corporation. With a facilitator coaching them in its use, the team was able to use Activity Theory both as a debriefing tool and proactively to plan a training intervention in Japan. As a result of the team's work, potential cultural conflicts were avoided, improvements for later training interventions were identified, and knowledge and experience were mutually shared. [source]


Experiential Education In New Product Design And Business Development

THE JOURNAL OF PRODUCT INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2002
Richard N. Cardozo
We describe an experiential approach to teaching new product design and business development in a year-long course that combines intensive project work with classroom education. Our course puts together up to six teams of graduate students from management and engineering who work on projects sponsored by individual companies. Student teams work with faculty from multiple disciplines and personnel from the sponsoring companies. The year-long format and involvement with company personnel provide opportunities for students to gain hands-on experience in a real product development project. Time constraints, coupled with students' determination to demonstrate what they can accomplish, stimulate teams to learn how to compress the design and development cycle. To help students generalize from their own projects to a wider universe of product design and business development phenomena, students participate continuously in constructive critiques of others' projects; and in presentations, case discussions and workshops that help them learn about the product and business development process itself. This article describes course objectives, syllabus, projects, sponsors, faculty, students and our course administration. In an effort to move towards a "paperless" course, we have put as much of the course material as possible on the World Wide Web; relevant websites are referred to in the article. At the end of the course each team presents a prototype and a protoplan to the sponsoring company in a final report, which in many cases includes suggestions for the sponsor on how to improve its design and development process. Students' positive evaluations, along with their comments, indicate that they are attaining their educational goals. Course projects have resulted in commercialized products, patents, continuing development projects in sponsoring companies, and placements for students. The course has generated public relations value for the units involved and for the university as a whole. © 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved. [source]