Showing papers on "Culture change published in 2006"

Home Depot's blueprint for culture change

Abstract: Deep, lasting culture change requires an integrated approach that remodels a company's social systems. The leadership team of Home Depot employed a remarkable set of tools to do that.

Targets of Intervention in Cultural and Behavioral Change

Abstract: Behavior analysts implement different type of interventions in their efforts to bring about cultural change. In this article, we identify basic elements of interventions having such goals: the number of people whose behavior contributes to the product of interest, the variety of response topographies that help to generate the product, the intervention locus of change, and the selection contingencies involved in bringing about that change. Based on these elements, we distinguish interventions that target selection contingencies from those that do not; and we distinguish those selection contingencies where the locus of change is individual repertoires (operant contingencies and macrocontingencies) from those where the locus of change is cohesive cultural entities (metacontingencies). We illustrate each type of intervention with examples from the behavior analytic literature and discuss some conceptual, practical and methodological implications.

Barriers and enablers to changing organizational culture in nursing homes

Abstract: Purpose To discuss the barriers and enablers of changing organizational culture in 3 nursing homes undergoing a culture change initiative, and suggest actions for program enhancement. Methods Interview data with staff (n = 64) and families (n = 14) from 3 culture-change facilities in a larger mixed-methods pilot study were used to identify barriers and enablers. Findings The 3 sites ranged from 120 to 139 beds and did not differ in staff characteristics. Barriers included exclusion of nurses from culture-change activities, perceived corporate emphasis on regulatory compliance and the "bottom line," and high turnover of administrators and caregivers. Enablers included a critical mass of "change champions," shared values and goals, resident/family participation, and empowerment at the facility level. Recommendations Involve all levels of staff, residents, and community in culture-change activities. Align incentives and rewards with the new values. Empower individual homes to make decisions at the facility level. Work with corporate partners to enable rapid translation and implementation of recommendations based on the findings.

Culture Change Management in Long-Term Care: A Shop-Floor View:

Abstract: Advocates of culture-change management suggest that the right sort of managerial philosophy can transform nursing homes from impersonal institutions into safe, caring communities. However, participant observation carried out at Heartland Community, a nonprofit culture-change nursing home, suggests that culture change founders on the structural problem of inadequate staffing. Resource limitations imposed by Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement rates mean that even nonprofit facilities desiring to maximize staffing cannot afford to hire enough staff to live up to basic care standards. Thus, above-average staffing notwithstanding, Heartland's nursing aides could not complete their work on time without compromising the quality of care by breaking important care rules. Resource limitations also forced management to adopt a series of punitive personnel policies that actively undercut the rhetoric and aims of culture change, turning culture change into a rhetorical device for shifting blame for care problems from...

Tangling with the barriers to culture change: creating a resident-centered nursing home environment.

Abstract: Prior to beginning culture change, nursing homes should analyze potential barriers, such as staff turnover, and develop plans to deal with these barriers. Infusion of culture change is dependent on inversion of the organizational structure, placing decision-making in the hands of the older adults. Although data from this study indicated decreased depression in older adults and increased family satisfaction with culture change, there were many confounding variables. Evaluation of culture change can be enhanced by using repeated measures and qualitative techniques.

The Political Dynamics of Organizational Culture in an Institutionalized Environment

Abstract: This paper addresses organizational culture change from a longitudinal perspective. It analyses how the organizational culture of a major Brazilian telecommunications company changed during its 27-year history from a condition of integration to one of fragmentation and then differentiation. The paper identifies the sources of these changes, paying particular attention to the role of institutional and political factors. Based on the empirical data, a framework for analysing the dynamics of culture change in organizations is proposed.

Culture's consequences for economic development: an empirical examination of culture, freedom, and national market performance

Abstract: In this study we empirically examine the role of culture in encouraging or discouraging country-level economic performance. We find that, when it comes to economic growth, not all cultures are created equal. For the global company and the practicing manager, our results indicate that cultural values appear to have some statistically significant and operationally meaningful economic effects. We also evolve and test a more encompassing framework within which cultural and political factors continuously interact to enable or discourage growth. Our interactive model explains fully 51 percent (p≤.01) of the country-to-country variance in per capita GDP growth over the two decades studied. We discuss implications for business at the macro- and micro-levels, and propose that any fully specified analysis of managerial prescriptions and proscriptions must consider the effects of culture and the process of culture change. INTRODUCTION At the dawn of the twenty-first century the world remains starkly divided between rich and poor, democratic and authoritarian, just and unjust, orderly and chaotic. Extant contrasts are so dramatic that it becomes clear to even the casual observer that we live in highly disjunctive times. There exist all manner of explanations with regard to underlying causal factors. Geography, climate, previous colonization and the vagaries of history loom large in contemporary explanations of economic divergence. However, culture's consequences for development have been given short shrift. The possible reasons for this are manifold, however Patterson (2006) concluded that "the main cause for this shortcoming is a deep-seated dogma that has prevailed in social science and policy circles since the mid-1960's: the rejection of any explanation that invokes a group's cultural attributes - its distinctive attitudes, values and predispositions, and the resulting behavior of its members..." (p. 13). Why this rejection? Culture is difficult to address on several levels: it is definitionally problematic; it is directionally ambiguous - simultaneously affecting and affected by a host of contextual factors; it is difficult to objectify and assess; and it carries with it the ability to unfairly stereotype and deeply anger. It is also unsettling to many scholars and policymakers. It challenges the basic assumptions of, at one extreme, market economists, and Marxist thinkers at the other, who share a metatheoretical belief regarding the temporal primacy of economic and political initiatives over social values and individual attitudes. However, that culture is difficult to address fails to compromise its possible explanatory power, and today's multinational executives are obliged to consider all factors affecting market growth and management practices and structures. We suggest that in our increasingly globalized world, culture (Wehner, 2006) and economics can be seen as two of the more powerful forces shaping human behavior (Throsby, 2001). Understanding these factors is an essential prerequisite of fully specified managerial analysis (see, for instance, Fan and Zigang, 2004). Others have attempted to similarly examine the role of culture, relying on anecdotal evidence and parallel case studies. We, however, use a multidisciplinary perspective, an empirically derived schematic of culture, and a widely accepted quantitative assessment of 34 countries. We also seek, for the first time, to examine culture's consequences for markets while controlling for political and economic freedom. CULTURAL DIMENSIONS IN MANAGERIAL LIFE Much of what we know, or believe we know about culture and its possible consequences for the way we live and work derives from Hofstede's (1980) original research (Bing, 2004). Hofstede argued that "people carry 'mental programs' which are developed in the family in early childhood and reinforced in schools and organizations" (p. 11). Believing that these mental programs contain a component of national culture, Hofstede formulated a four-dimensional empirical model of cultural differentiators. …

Social processes underlying acculturation: a study of drinking behavior among immigrant Latinos in the Northeast United States

Abstract: Acculturation refers to the cultural and psychological processes and outcomes that result from prolonged intercultural contact between two culturally distinct groups (Berry 1997). As a framework to identify and understand patterns in drug and alcohol use, its main thesis suggests that the longer an immigrant group has been in the country, the more its behavior resembles that of the mainstream (Room 2005). Acculturation has been helpful in alcohol research to identify profiles of at-risk drinkers among Latinos who immigrate to the US. For example, increased acculturation has been associated with increased substance abuse (Cherpitel & Borges 2002; Gil, Wagner & Vega 2000), alcohol use (Gil, Wagner & Vega 2000; Polednak 1997), and problems associated with use (Cherpitel & Borges 2002; Grant, Stinson, Hasin, Dawson, Chou & Anderson 2004). In a comprehensive review, Gil and associates (2004) concluded that adults of Latino origin at “medium” to “high” acculturation levels are more at risk for problematic alcohol use than those who are less acculturated. This acculturation finding appears to be robust in that it has been observed over time (Caetano & Clark 2003), across independent epidemiological studies (e.g. Burnam, Hough, Kamo, Escobar, Timbers & Telles 1987), and in a clinical sample of patients from a hospital emergency room (Cherpitel & Borges 2002). Though helpful, the limitations of acculturation as a model need to be addressed to better understand what about acculturation might be related to increased drinking problems (Gutmann 1999; Hunt, Schneider & Comer 2004; Room 2005). First, acculturation is typically perceived as assimilation, a uni-directional process of change whereby immigrants are assumed to shed their cultural practices and adopt the cultural norms of the host society. However, acculturation needs to be understood more broadly as a process that does not follow a single sequence. Assimilation is only one strategy to acculturation (Berry 1997; Cortes 2003). In the case of drug and alcohol use, identified as markers of ethnic identity and acculturation, it has been documented that many trajectories of drug and alcohol use are possible within a single immigrant group (Gutmann 1999; Hunt et al. 2004; Room 2005) following migration to a new country. For example, some immigrant groups practice abstention from alcohol as part of their cultural practice even after generations of living in the US (Room 2005). A second critique of acculturation is that it needs to be more broadly studied, extending investigative analyses to peoples’ social and physical worlds (Hunt et al. 2004; Gutmann 1999). Acculturative change is usually located exclusively within the individual (Gutmann 1999; see Hunt et al. 2004, for a review). In fact, external factors such as limited access to resources can also influence acculturation (Kleinman 1995; Lopez 2003; Hunt et al. 2004). For example, after immigrating to the US, Latinos may experience fewer social networks compared to being in a Latin-American country. This external structural change, not just internal cultural values (e.g. familismo) can contribute to Latino families becoming more dependent on each other. Therefore, we need to understand shifts in drinking behavior more broadly as the result of changes in peoples’ social, physical, and cultural worlds. Thirdly, models of acculturation need to provide some idea of the behavior of interest in the country of origin, to explore whether changes in behavior here in the US, are attributable to living in the United States (Hunt et al. 2004; Gutmann 1999). Without discussion of the “baseline level” of the targeted behavior prior to immigration it is difficult to make statements about behavior change. Qualitative methodologies have the potential to shed some light on what about acculturation might be related to increased drinking problems. Such an approach can provide a broader assessment of acculturation processes (not simply language) to capture the multiple social and cultural processes associated with drinking and related problems. Qualitative studies are particularly good at identifying how the social world contributes to health and health related behaviors (Garro 2003; Kleinman 1995; Hunt et al. 2004). Of particular interest would be to examine the “baseline level” of Latinos’ drinking in their home country and how it compares with their drinking in the United States. Doing so could provide a window in the presumed culture change thought to take place after immigrating to the US (Gutmann 1999; Hunt et al. 2004). We carried out a qualitative study to provide a broader perspective of acculturative processes that addressed the concerns mentioned above. It was hoped that by taking a more open-ended approach relative to survey format we would be able to capture richer information from the participants, including descriptions of their social worlds. A qualitative approach was appropriate for the exploratory nature of the study. Study goals were to better understand participants’ experiences of being in a new country and how/whether that influenced their drinking behavior. We queried participants about their social worlds (e.g., social networks and work) to examine its role as it related to their drinking behaviors. We also compared Latinos’ health behavior of interest (alcohol consumption) in their home countries and in the United States. Our intent was to obtain our participants’ “baseline” alcohol consumption behaviors prior to immigration to the US so that we could identify possible changes. Lastly, we considered whether to use a homogenous (one Latino group only) or heterogeneous (individuals of different nationalities) sample. We recognize that the category “Latino” is a term that reflects a grouping together of individuals from very diverse cultures of origin (Room 2005). Findings from multinational epidemiological studies (Obot & Room 2005), and ethnographies of individual ethnic groups in the Northeast (Gordon 1978; Gordon 1986), illustrate the diversity of alcohol-related norms across Latino sub-groups. However, we were not interested in examining the cultural differences between sub-ethnic groups. Our main interest was to examine the social experiences and drinking behaviors of Latino immigrants in the Northeastern part of the United States. Using this approach made it possible to identify thematic elements that could be common to a diverse group of Latinos. Second, as the study constituted the first phase of a program of research designed to tailor standard alcohol interventions to the particular needs of Latino heavy drinkers, it was important that the present study was comprised of that target sample. Given the disproportionately higher number of Latinos who suffer from health problems related to late-stage alcoholism (Singh & Hoyert 2000; Stinson, Grant & Dufour 2001), it was of public health interest to investigate this question with respect to Latinos who drink frequently and at high levels of alcohol consumption. We decided to include Latinos who were comfortable speaking English as well as Spanish because research suggests that more highly acculturated (typically measured as more frequent use of English) Latinos experience more drinking-related problems (e.g., Caetano & Clark 2003). The resulting sample of participants was all foreign-born, spoke Spanish and some English, and met criteria for frequent heavy drinking. An innovation of the study is its focus on Latinos groups in the Northeast. With some exceptions, (Gordon 1978; Gordon 1985; Polednak 1997), the majority of alcohol research has sampled Mexican-Americans in the Southwest or California (Zayas, Rojas & Malgady 1998). This study will contribute to increasing knowledge about South American and Caribbean Latinos, groups that are well represented in Rhode Island and throughout the Northeast region. Research questions guiding the study included: 1) A comparison of the quality and conditions of lives in the country of origin and in the US 2) A comparison of drinking customs/behavior in the native country and the US 3) The documentation of changes in drinking behavior since immigration to the US.

Changing the Culture of Long-Term Care

Abstract: “Culture change” the effort to transform long-term care institutions into communities where elders and workers thrive has become a significant part of the national agenda in long-term care. This article addresses the difference between programmatic change and the deep, organizational transformation known as culture change. There is a growing need to distinguish between these types of change in order to establish a clear definition of what it means to transform organizational culture This article explores how institutions can become true home by examining how their espoused values align with their values in action. Most importantly, it emphasizes the need to flatten the traditional hierarchy and involve residents and direct-care workers in planning and implementing changes that empower them as decision makers in their own lives.

Developing Cultures: Essays on Cultural Change

Abstract: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Introduction -- Lawrence Harrison CHILD REARING 1. Culture, Values, and the Family, Jerome Kagan 2. Parenting Practices and Governance in Latin America: The Case of Costa Rica, Luis Diego Herrera EDUCATION 3. Cultural Values and Parenting Education, Sharon Lynn Kagan and Amy Lowenstein 4. Character Education: Restoring Virtue to the Mission of the Schools, Thomas Lickona 5. Civic Education and the Development of Civic Knowledge and Attitudes, Richard Niemi and Steven Finkel 6. Schooling Open Societies in Latin America, Fernando Reimers and Eleonora Villegas-Reimers RELIGION 7. Evangelical Expansion and 'Progressive Values' in the Developing World, David Martin 8. Anglo-Protestant Culture, Samuel Huntington 9. The Development of the Jews, Jim Lederman 10. Culture Begins with Cult: The Surprising Growth of the Catholic People, Michael Novak 11. Re-Imagining the Orthodox Tradition: Nurturing Democratic Values in Orthodox Christian Civilization, Nikolas Gvosdev with a response by Georges Prevelakis 12. Market Development, Political Change, and Chinese Cultures, Robert Weller 13. Buddhist Economics in Asia, Christal Whelan 14. Cultural Change in Islamic Civilization, Bassam Tibi 15. Islam Matters: Culture and Progress in the Muslim World, Robert Hefner 16. Hinduism and Modernity, Pratap Bhanu Mehta THE MEDIA 17. Journalism and Values, Mariano Grondona and Carlos Alberto Montaner 18. The Global Battle for Cultural Domination, Reese Schonfeld LEADERSHIP 19. Public Policy and Culture, Richard Lamm DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS 20. Donor Projects And Culture Change: The Case Of Costa Rica, James Fox 21. Can Social Capital Be Constructed? Decentralization and Social Capital Formation in Latin America, Mitchell Seligson

Issues in Organizational Culture Change: A Case Study (1)

Abstract: As organizations adapt to be more effective in dynamic and competitive environments, the role of their organizational culture in either supporting or resisting internal changes is critical. The organization's leadership must seek a culture that fits with new strategic demands, and that culture itself may need to change as the strategy evolves. Helping leaders manage culture change effectively is the focus of this research. Changing a culture generally means changing some of the organization's values, beliefs, and customary ways of doing things. Such changes are often disruptive. They can violate implied (or actual) contractual agreements with various stakeholders based on established routines and patterns of past behaviors. It is like one team changing the rules of a game during the game. Depending on how this is done and communicated to the stakeholders (e.g., fans, referees, the other team), some parties to the game may view the changes as unfair, or even unethical. Leaders must be able to see, understand, and attend to these changes to reduce the likelihood of dysfunctional stakeholder behavior. We discuss culture as a strategic variable and consider the ethical dimension of culture change. By sharing an example of cultural change and misalignment in one organization, we are able to explore its process of coming to understand its culture and then begin to create a new culture to support its competitive strategy. INTRODUCTION Examining an organization's culture has become a target for organizational analysis. The emphasis on understanding social and symbolic processes of organizations has increased - rational aspects alone no longer dominate the management literature. The concept of culture is used to capture the essence of what must change or adapt within an organization for it to be more competitive in the marketplace. Culture is the set of shared values, shared beliefs, and customary ways of thinking and doing things which shape and guide the behavior of organizational members. Its importance lies in its ability to influence the activities of members and the functioning of the organization without the direct imposition of measures and controls. Research shows that member perceptions of the organization's culture are associated with cognitive and affective sources of motivation and job satisfaction (Reichers & Schneider, 1990). Organizational climate - an organization's more temporal and local culture - is an intervening variable between organization design factors and work performance and job satisfaction (deWitte & de Cock, 1988). The concept of culture has been found useful in explaining the achievement of broad organizational goals such as innovation, service, and quality enhancement. Culture is typically measured at the collective level by capturing the norms and expectations that exist in the organization that are intended to govern the behavior of its members. For example, some organizations are competitive - members feel they must out-perform one another. Other organizations are collaborative - members seek each other out to create joint products and outcomes. Culture, by this definition, becomes a powerful construct for researchers' study, and for practitioners to use in affecting member behaviors and thereby affecting their efficiency, satisfaction, and commitment to the organization (i.e., fewer withdrawal behaviors). Culture measures have been used in many leadership and change situations. Its uses have ranged from assessing 'gaps' between an existing and future desired state of affairs to helping top management articulate strategic and structural changes for the organization. Two questions emerge for those using culture as a construct for driving change: (a) To what extent does culture, as an index of the norms, values, and beliefs of organizational members, have the power to guide change, foster adaptation, and yield competitive success ? …

Professional Hope in Working with Older Adults

Abstract: Writings about hope within gerontological literature assume social workers already possess hope that they can use in their practice. The purpose of this article is to challenge this assumption and to examine ways in which social workers can sustain hope in personal life, in their agencies, and in the reform of larger social structures that impact older adults. The authors examine culture change in nursing homes as an emerging approach that can be more fully developed by applying the strengths perspective to interpersonal work with elders, agency change and broader structural change. Keywords: hope, growth, culture change, and strengths perspective Introduction At first glimpse, professional hope in older adults' capacities for ongoing growth and change appears pretentious and not based in reality. Although some human development models or theories describe growth and change in old age (Smith, & Freund, 2002; Atchley, 1989; Kuypers, & Bengston, 1973; Mead, 1934), many continue to describe aging as a life stage fraught with multiple health problems, an accumulation of losses (e.g., loss of friends, housing, or life partner), and decreased access to financial, social and other resources. Older adults are often not able to sustain let alone surpass current levels of growth and development (Gray, 2003; Herth, & Cutliffe, 2002; Cheavens, & Gum, 2000; Rowe, & Kahn, 1998; Farran, Wilken, & Fidler, 1995). These negative views of older adult growth and development permeate the hope and aging literature. This literature emphasizes how professionals can instill hope in the older adult who is facing negative and difficult challenges such as a terminal or chronic illness, bereavement, and depression (Westburg, 2003; Duggleby, 2000; Forbes, 1999; Roberts, Johnson, & Keely, 1999; Tennen, & Affleck, 1999; Klausner, Clarkin, Spielman, Pupos, Abrams, & Alexopoulos, 1998; Nekolaichuk, & Bruera, 1998). Few writings address the role of hope in physically or emotionally healthy older adults (Zorn, 1997; Herth, 1993). Consistent with negative views of older adult growth and change, virtually no gerontological writings discuss how professionals develop and sustain hope in working with older adults. In order for professionals to believe in older adults' capacities for growth and change it seems paramount to cultivate this professional hope. The purpose of this article is fourfold. First, the authors will examine ways in which hope is described in the gerontological literature as compared with the larger social sciences literature. Second, strategies are presented that gerontological social work professionals can use to develop and sustain hope in personal life and professional work. Third, the use of hope-inducing models or theories of human development are presented for use in social work curricula and in agency-based practice to help gerontological social workers develop and sustain hope. Fourth, culture change in nursing homes, often described as the enlistment of resident and direct-care staff involvement in institutional decision-making, is critiqued as an example of larger social structural reform that can develop and strengthen professional hope. Social workers are encouraged to facilitate advocacy efforts that involve multiple stakeholders (i.e., staff, residents and families) for the purpose of changing the culture in nursing homes. Although physical capacities eventually diminish in old age, human beings are comprised of multiple and overlapping components (e.g., social, psychological and spiritual) that may contribute to enhanced growth and development in old age. For example, older adults may strengthen friendships and support, develop wisdom and increased well-being, and may enhance their capacity for self-transcendence and a sense of life meaning. Our contention is that gerontological social work professionals can have hope in older adults' capacities to grow even in the face of physical and other limitations. …

The local, the global, and the creole : ethnic identification, acculturation to global consumer culture, and consumptionscapes

Abstract: The globalization of the marketplace and how this process is shaping the cultural characteristics of people around the world is arguably the most critical issue facing international marketing managers today. Powerful forces such as capitalism, global communications, marketing, and transnational cosmopolitanism are interacting to dissolve the boundaries across national cultures and economies, and in the eyes of many, accelerating the emergence of a homogeneous 'global consumer culture'. Others have countered that globalization serves to reactivate and strengthen national and ethnic identities; in other words, rather than suppressing cultural differences, globalization may actually promote them. Still others have argued that globalization is reducing the homogeneity of consumer behaviors within countries, while increasing communalities across countries. Despite the widespread discourse on this topic, there is a scarcity of studies that have simultaneously considered both global and local cultural influences on consumer behavior, and a complete lacking of a way for measuring how individuals acquire and become a part of this emerging global consumer culture. This absence is all the more glaring, given that culture exerts the broadest and deepest influence on consumer behavior. The extant acculturation studies have generally focused on culture change occurring within the narrow context of minority-culture ethnic groups (usually immigrants) adapting to the alternative host cultures, and not from the broader perspective of how a deterritorialized, global culture shapes local cultures, consumers, and their behaviors, around the world. The first major contribution of this dissertation concerns the development and validation of a multidimensional scale for the measurement of acculturation to global consumer culture, via a series of qualitative and quantitative studies. The second major contribution is the articulation of theoretical framework for assessing the selective, contextual nature of both global and local cultural influences on an array of consumer values and behaviors. Survey data was gathered from respondents in eight countries to test the proposed model and associated hypotheses. The findings demonstrate that both ethnic identification and global-culture acculturation are multidimensional, selective, and contextual processes, in that the acquisition of new cultural characteristics and the maintenance or loss of traditional ones varies from trait to trait and from situation to situation

Method for institutionally effecting hand hygiene practices

Abstract: A method to effect behavioral change with regard to good hand hygiene practices is disclosed. The methodology employs staged and stratified tools of education, triggers of awareness, leadership development, personal engagement, feedback, reinforcement, and the provision of outside support matched to stages of individual and cultural change. The program stages through a pre-launch period, a launch period, a concentrated period of culture change, and a process for maintaining the culture thereafter. Each stage involves various tools and various personnel to achieve the desired result of good hand hygiene practices being a way of life, rather than a weak periodic focus that can threaten safety and quality of patient care.

Upgrade Stakeholder Service by Changing Your Agency's Organizational Culture

Abstract: Today's young transportation professionals often have excellent technical skills, but are rarely trained in business skills. This article seeks to guide young transportation professionals as they transition into management positions by introducing the concept of organizational culture. A real-life case study based on shaping the organizational culture of a municipal department of transportation is used to discuss organizational culture and to provide techniques to assess current culture, define desired future culture attributes and develop a plan to achieve culture change. One of the key factors associated with successful organizational culture change is the need for a committed leadership team. Improvements in agency peformance, customer satisfaction and employee morale are among the many benefits that result from changing the organzation's culture.

Culture change management

Abstract: The full text of this book chapter is not available on the Leicester Research Archive (LRA) owing to copyright restrictions.

Australian early career researchers negotiating the ‘culture change’ of higher education reform

Abstract: Situated within the conceptual terrain of poststructuralist policy-sociology and drawing on data collected through in-depth interviews with early career researchers at a regional post-Dawkins university, this paper explores how ECRs are responding to the neoliberal ‘culture change’ embedded in recent higher education policy changes. The interviewed ECRs report a deep sense of frustration, which could be conceptualised as stemming from a contradiction in discourses about what constitutes and should constitute academic work. Their notions of academic work and identity are incessantly thwarted by what they consider inappropriate or irrelevant rationalities and practices. The frustration leads to serious consideration of various ‘exit options’ that will leave them time and space to undertake research.

Culture Change in Nursing Homes

Abstract: Quality of care in nursing homes must be addressed from all angles: regulatory, legal, advocacy, and within the nursing home itself. An emerging effort to promote a new way of living and working in nursing homes is known as “culture change.” Culture change involves rethinking values and practices of a nursing home from top to bottom, inside and out. It is not about change for its own sake. It is about change that brings all who are involved in the nursing home culture – staff, management, residents, and families – to a new way of working that creates a humane environment supporting each resident’s life, dignity, rights, and freedom. Culture change is about de-institutionalizing services and individualizing care. Providers report that a true commitment to fundamental culture change improves the quality of care and quality of life for nursing home residents and the quality of work experience for staff. From a consumer perspective, it is important to support and advocate for creative approaches with this focus and learn from them. It is also important to keep in mind that simply stating an organization is pursuing culture change is not enough to ensure high quality care, and that often working towards a new culture can be disruptive in its own way, as organizations seek to redefine work roles in order to put person before task. Consumers must be active partners in this process. We must educate ourselves about all that is involved in this transformation, just as providers and other stakeholders are educating themselves. The Pioneer Network is an organization working with NCCNHR and others around the country to foster the spread of culture change principles and practices. Pioneer principles are used to guide their work. Consumer Fact Sheet

An evaluation of a combined education and multi-project practice development programme in mental health.

Abstract: This paper describes a unique mental health practice development programme, which aims to integrate education, research, clinical practice and culture change, and promote collaboration between academics, researchers and healthcare practitioners to meet current government policy needs. The programme combines academic qualifications within the context of practice development and aims to produce practitioners who are dynamic leaders, capable of critical thinking, influencing culture change and challenging the nature of conventional practice. The aim of the evaluation was to give insight into participants' experience of the programme using a qualitative approach. Open-ended questionnaires obtained participant's views on facilitation and module content. Focus groups discovered the views and experiences of participants of the programme. The findings showed that the programme was well-received and impacted positively on both patient care and the personal and professional development of participants. The findings were used to modify the programme for the next intake of participants. The research complements the existing body of knowledge on practice development and highlights the benefits for staff, nurses and service users, and the challenges of implementation. The framework and design has the potential to be applied to other areas of practice beyond mental health.

Trust for Accounting and Accounting for Trust

Abstract: This paper combines insights from the sociology of knowledge and the emerging practice-based literature on learning and knowing to extend the institutional framework of accounting change developed by Burns and Scapens (2000). In particular, it explores how management accounting systems (MAS) can be implicated in processes of learning and culture change, and used to identify 'trustworthy' solutions in the face of organisational crises. A case study of an Italian company, which was subject to massive change following its acquisition by General Electric, is used to discuss how, when crises arise and organisation members find themselves under intense pressure for change, their rationales and routinised behaviour, which are driven by the existing knowledge and cultural assumptions, are challenged. The case illustrates how MAS can act as sources of trust for the processes of change - i.e., accounting for trust; while at the same time being socially constructed objects of trust - i.e., trust for accounting. Drawing on the concept of personal trust and the notion of roles as access points to organisational (expert) systems, the paper discusses how, in this case, finance experts facilitated the acceptance and progressive sharing of new rationales and routines. Clearly, this does not guarantee that change will occur or occur in some 'desired' direction in other cases, but it increases the possibility of replacing trust in the predictability of routines with feelings of trust for change.

Is development of organisational culture a path-dependent process?

Abstract: In this paper, we review the idea of path-dependent processes and study the analogues to the development of organisational cultures and the managerial implications arising from this. We propose that culture creation is analogical to a path-dependent series of events that can be described with Polya-type process models. The graphical presentation of some hypothetical development paths is helpful in discussing some implications for management choices in culture change situations. Some cultures can be seen to be closer to each other, and changing from one to the other would be possible by incremental change, either by choosing to attempt to change the prevailing set of beliefs to something where the beliefs do not differ much. Alternatively, trends in environment can make cultures 'drift' so that beliefs that are quite far away from each other can get closer to each other over time. It might be possible to wait for the optimum time for change to succeed. The main function of this paper is to act as the discussion opener in path-dependency in cultures, but we also briefly discuss the implications, as well as the main shortcomings of the approach and suggestions for further research.

Culture change at the source: a medical school tackles patient safety.

Abstract: Health care professionals have always been dedicated to providing safe patient care and minimizing errors,but training in methods for attaining this complex goal has never been part of medical school curricula or practitioner education. The Institute of Medicine report, To Err Is Human, highlighted this serious gap in medical education and identified a need for interprofessional education that will be essential to transforming American health care delivery and achieving our national goals for health care quality and safety. Relatively few educational institutions or academic health centers provide leadership in interprofessional education on patient safety. A 2-pronged educational approach is needed, one that reaches physicians in training and seasoned practitioners alike. On the national level, one of the better teaching tools is Best Practices in Patient Safety Education Module Handbook. This module handbook is a compilation of materials for house officers oriented around Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) competencies. At Jefferson Medical College, the Department of Health Policy has engaged in an effort to develop educational programs for its medical students and faculty.These programs are designed to heighten awareness of patient safety issues, provide insights on potential solutions, and promote a systemwide culture of safety. A mandatory program for third-year medical students was instituted in January 2004. The annual Interclerkship Day, so named because it occurs during the break between clinical rotations, devotes an entire day to discussing patient safety. The highly rated program features nationally prominent speakers who emphasize the role of the physician in patient safety at every level of training and experience. On September 15, 2005, this successful formula was translated into a half-day program for faculty members. A trio of experts approached patient safety from 3 different perspectives, each conveying a compelling message with applicability in real-world medical practice. The following presentation summaries hint at the potential power of such a program as an efficient, effective approach to professional education targeting patient safety.

SMALL TOURISM BUSINESS AND SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CHANGE——A Case Study of Xijie Road of Yangshuo County

Abstract: Small tourism business is the first place where the residents communicate with the tourists as well as the most frequently.So it is also the place where is infected by extra culture deeply.On the other hands,Small tourism business is regarded the symbol of the traditional culture of the community,which often shows the local cultural consuetude in its service.So what is the function of the Small tourism business really in the social and culture change? The paper takes a case study on Xijie,Yangshuo to give detail analyze on this question.At the first part,the paper describes the varies of phenomenon on the social and culture change in Xijie after the development of tourism,such as the appearance of English culture on an old Chinese town,the change of view on marriage and the change of view on value.Then,the paper analysis the function of Small tourism business in this development from three areas: the first,one of the content of operation of Small tourism Business is the community of culture between Chinese and west;the second,the employee in Small tourism Business is the first group who affected by the external culture,then these employees spread the external culture when they community with other local people;the third,Small tourism Business is the flat roof that local people can be community with the tourists.To the local people,Small tourism Business is the easiest place that they can meet the tourists.Finally,though the case study on Xijie road of Yangshuo county,the paper draws a conclusion the small tourism business accelerates and promotes the community's social and cultural change directly.

Reflexivity and Normative Change

Abstract: Normative change programs that is, programs that attempt to effect organisational change through altering employees’ beliefs, values, emotions and self-perceptions have been heralded by some as the royal road to corporate ‘excellence’. Academic literature on the phenomenon, however, is pervaded by a sense of unease. Critics claim that these programs invade employees’ subjectivity, and erode their autonomy and capacity for critical thought. In this paper, I employ concepts from the work of George Herbert Mead and Rom Harre to explore the reflexive processes of managers subjected to a normative change program that was carried out in an Australian steel plant during the 1990s. Taking two supporters of change as my prime examples, I show how reflexive processes are manifested in the way managers talk about themselves their private ‘real’ selves, their public personae and the relationship between these aspects of self. I conclude by examining how reflexivity is linked to autonomy and critical thinking, and argue that our academic unease about normative change may be explained by our own evaluations of the degree to which employees engage in the sorts of reflexive processes that we, as academics, value.