Middle Managers As Agents Of Collaboration

This important book examines the role, behaviours and management practices of middle managers operating within the context of collaboration – complex inter-organizational and multi-sector settings that demand cross boundary governance, policy and practice to tackle challenging contemporary societal problems and issues. Presenting new evidence and offering perspectives from both the public and private sectors, the author critically explores the main themes that are integral to the management challenges facing this cadre of managers. The book sets out the implications of this research for policy and practice and offers practical recommendations to policy makers and managers working in this area.

Addresses a range of e-collaboration topics, with emphasis on virtual team leadership and collaborative engineering. Presents a blend of conceptual, theoretical, and applied chapters.

This book examines trends and challenges in research on IT governance in public organizations, reporting innovative research and new insights in the theories, models and practices within the area. As we noticed, IT governance plays an important role in generating value from organization’s IT investments. However there are different challenges for researchers in studying IT governance in public organizations due to the differences between political, administrative, and practices in these organizations. The first section of the book looks at Management issues, including an introduction to IT governance in public organizations; a systematic review of IT alignment research in public organizations; the role of middle managers in aligning strategy and IT in public service organizations; and an analysis of alignment and governance with regard to IT-related policy decisions. The second section examines Modelling, including a consideration of the challenges faced by public administration; a discussion of a framework for IT governance implementation suitable to improve alignment and communication between stakeholders of IT services; the design and implementation of IT architecture; and the adoption of enterprise architecture in public organizations. Finally, section three presents Case Studies, including IT governance in the context of e-government strategy implementation in the Caribbean; the relationship of IT organizational structure and IT governance performance in the IT department of a public research and education organization in a developing country; the relationship between organizational ambidexterity and IT governance through a study of the Swedish Tax Authorities; and the role of institutional logics in IT project activities and interactions in a large Swedish hospital.

Despite significant financial investments, the rate of development and pace of poverty reduction in developing and transitional countries has not always matched expectations. Development management typically involves complex interactions between governmental and non-governmental organisations, donors and members of the public, and can be difficult to navigate. This volume brings together a group of international contributors to explore the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of development management, and to consider the prospects and challenges associated with it in the context of both developing and transitional countries. Referring to dominant norms and values in public and developmental organisations, development management is tied up with the attitudes and perceptions of various stakeholders including: government officials, public sector managers, aid workers, donors and members of the public. Attempting to make sense of complex interactions between these actors is highly problematic and calls for new approaches, models and insights. Based on cutting-edge research, the chapters challenge much of the previous discourse on the subject and evaluate the challenges and opportunities that it presents. Development Management offers academics, researchers and practitioners of public administration, business and management, international development and political science a comprehensive and state-of-the-art review of current research on development management in the context of developing and transitional countries.

The Routledge Handbook of Service Research Insights and Ideas offers authoritative coverage of current scholarship in the expanding discipline of service research. Original chapters from the world’s leading specialists in the discipline explore foundations and innovations in services, highlighting important issues relating to service providers, customers, and service design. The volume goes beyond previous publications by drawing together material from different functional areas, including marketing, human resource management, and service process design and operations. These topics are important in helping readers become knowledgeable about how different functional areas interact to create a successful customer experience. This book is ideal as a first port of call for postgraduate students desiring to get up to speed quickly in the services discipline. It is also a must-read for academics new to services who want to access cutting-edge research.

A state-of-the-art psychological perspective on team working and collaborative organizational processes… This handbook makes a unique contribution to organizational psychology and HRM by providing comprehensive international coverage of the contemporary field of team working and collaborative organizational processes. It provides critical reviews of key topics related to teams including design, diversity, leadership, trust processes and performance measurement, drawing on the work of leading thinkers including Linda Argote, Neal Ashkanasy, Robert Kraut, Floor Rink and Daan van Knippenberg.

Key aspects of a learning organization & the process of organizational learning are explored in this volume as they apply across a variety of human services, including social, mental health, health, & aging.