| 1. |
- Bäckström, Ingela, 1963-, et al.
(författare)
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Capturing value-based leadership in practice : Insights from developing and applying an AI-interview guide
- 2018
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Ingår i: International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences. - 1756-669X .- 1756-6703. ; 10:4, s. 422-430
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss the results from the appreciative inquiry (AI)-inspired interviews to explore the underlying values held by top managers and to identify soft aspects ofleadership.Design/methodology/approach – Top managers were interviewed as a part of a research project withthe aim to support the development of value-based leadership that integrates company values, organizationalculture, customer needs and sustainable development. A structured interview guide, inspired by AI, wasdeveloped and used to pinpoint their motivation and vision of a good organization to understand the valuesthat the managers had and to identify soft aspects of leadership. The interviews were analyzed in workshopswith the whole research teamand structured and visualized through affinity diagrams.Findings – The results showed the underlying values held by top managers and identified soft aspects ofleadership.Practical implications – The presented interview guide can be used to identify the top managers’underlying values, and the presented results from the interviews can be used to inspire other managers andleaders to develop their leadership in their striving of good leadership and effective organizations.Originality/value – The paper explains how to apply an AI-inspired interview guide in finding out valuebasedleadership and soft aspects of leadership for enhancing organizational culture.
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| 2. |
- Ingelsson, Pernilla, 1968-, et al.
(författare)
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Adapting a Lean leadership-training program within a health care organization through co-creation
- 2018
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Ingår i: 21st QMOD conference on quality and service science ICQSS, 22-24 August 2018, Cardiff University, Wales, UK.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose –The purpose is to describe and evaluate a Lean leadership-training program within the healthcare sector, developed through a co-creative process with the intent of enhancing the possibilities for a context-specific adaption of Lean.Methodology/approach – A co-created leadership-training program, executed over a period of one year, is described both as a model development process and as the final training program. The program was evaluated through reflective discussions and feedback as well as a written final evaluation of the program from participants in the program. Findings – Even though the process was not followed to the end the evaluation shows that the objectives of the training program was met, at least amongst the participators attended the whole program. Using a co-creative process when developing and realizing a leadership-training program enhances the possibilities for an organizational adaption of Lean to its own context. One condition for this approach to be successful is that the expectation on both the organization and the University needs to be in focus through the whole process. In addition the executive team needs to be continuously engaged and create conditions for the organization to realize the potential winnings from the training program.
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| 3. |
- Ingelsson, Pernilla, 1968-, et al.
(författare)
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Developing value-based leadership for sustainable quality development : Let’s do it
- 2018
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- IntroductionIn a report in Harvard Business Review, Grant (2016) cited that one of the most critical factors for building quality and innovation in business today is the role of values. Companies that are grounded in clearly articulated values create conditions for employees to be creative and divergent, which is a key ingredient for quality improvement and innovation (ibid). The industrial model that valued compliance and order, is being replaced by a model that values employee engagement as necessary for meeting the needs of customers and improving quality (ibid). This is possible when employees are clear about the values from which decisions are made and understand the reasons why companies choose certain practices. No longer is the “what” and “how” of business practice sufficient to ensure quality: employees need to understand “why” they do what they do to establish a sense of identity and culture for quality innovation (Pink, 2006; Sinek, 2009).Understanding values, including what they are and how they are developed is a contemporary challenge for many business leaders. Values are embedded in an organizations culture and reflected in the behaviors, language and symbol systems used in an organization (Schein, 2004). According to Hildebrandt (1991), changing the corporate culture is increasingly recognized as one of the primary conditions for successfully developing quality in business. At the same time research shows that the majority of quality initiatives fail due to a lack of understanding about culture (Turesky & Connell, 2010, ). Instead, many leaders remain stuck in a leadership approach that worked in the past and miss opportunities to build energy that is revitalizing (Boyatzis & McKee, 2005).Proponents of design thinking suggest there is much to learn from designers about how to understand and develop culture (Brown, 2008). Leavy (2010) states that there is a “growing recognition that ‘design thinking’ or the creative principles long associated with the design function, may now have something very significant to offer when applied…to business management and strategy development” (p. 5-6). Design thinking offers possibilities to develop innovation in management to generate sustainability in business excellence through high engagement and high performance organizational culture.In 2015, a project was initiated through financing from KK Stiftelsen to help business leaders develop a value-based leadership to support sustainable quality innovation in manufacturing. Design thinking was applied as part of the research and innovation approach to gain insights into the challenges facing leaders and to develop prototypes for understanding and building cultures of success through value-based leadership. The purpose of this paper is to present findings from years one and two of the project to examine the cultures within three manufacturing companies and the corresponding leadership practices. Specifically, we address the question: what can we learn from business leaders about the constraints and possibilities to developing a value-based leadership in manufacturing; and what tools can be applied to build a culture of innovation and engagement that resonates with company values and support strategic planning and business excellence? MethodA three-year multi-site case study was conducted in collaboration with three manufacturing companies in Sweden. Data were collected through a series of workshops to gain insights into the constraints and possibilities for leaders in manufacturing to develop a value-based leadership to support sustainable quality development. Data were gathered through a 1) leadership survey, 2) interviews with three general directors, 3) focus groups with middle and top-level managers, 4) observations and cultural analysis, survey, 5) storytelling and appreciative inquiry, and 6) an employee questionnaire. The study design was based on a collaborative, iterative model using the Stanford Design thinking framework (Ling, 2015): 1) empathy, 2) framing, 3) ideation, 4) prototyping, and 5) testing the prototypes with users. Respondents in the study represent leadership teams in three Swedish manufacturing companies and their employees. Company A includes 16 middle management leaders and two production leaders, and one general director. Company B is represented by ten middle managers and one production leader. Company C is represented by three middle managers, one production leader, and one general director. FindingsThe findings indicated that in general there is a lack of dialogue among leaders about what is leadership, what is culture and what is meant by values in the organization. As well, there is a heavy emphasis on structure and process, yet at the same time there lacks a clear understanding about why the structures exist and how they can be used to spawn innovation. Moreover, participating leaders in manufacturing succumb to a crisis leadership model that results from the heavy emphasis on productivity and bottom-line effectiveness. Leaders in each of the companies repeatedly expressed the need to develop structures and systems of leadership that would free them to become proactive. Participants also recognized a positive side effect they believed would result in the form of employee engagement and shared decision making if they had the opportunity to focus on long-term development. Design thinking and the methods used to develop work culture, including appreciative inquiry, storytelling and coaching, provided leaders with new insights into the culture within the company. Leaders were able to identify both constraints and possibilities for changing the culture from disengagement to engagement. Through the process, they also began to identify values and recognized the importance of valuing employees to affect innovation and build a culture of engagement. We also witnessed increased dialogue among leaders that reflected an understanding of the importance to engage middle managers and employees in problem solving and innovation. Boyatzis R., McKee, A. (2005) Resonant leadership. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.Brown, T. (2008) “Design thinking". Harvard Business Review, pp. 1-10Grant, A. (2016) “How to build a culture of originality”. Harvard Business Review. March 2016. 86- 94.Hildebrandt, S. 1991. Quality culture and TQM. Total Quality Management, 2, 1-15.Leavy, B. (2010) “Design thinking: a new mental model of value innovation”. Strategy & Leadership. Vol. 38, no 3., pp. 5-14Ling, D. (2015) Complete design thinking guide for successful professionals. Singapore: Emerge Creatives Group.Pink, D. (2006) A whole new mind: why right-brainers will rule the world. New York: Riverhead Books.Schein, E. H. 2004. Organizational culture and leadership (3. ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Sinek, S. (2009). Start with Why: how great leaders inspire everyone to take action. New York: Penguin Group.Turesky, E. F., Connell, P. (2010). “Off the rails: understanding the derailment of a Lean manufacturing initiative”. Organization Management Journal. 7, pp. 110-132
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| 4. |
- Ingelsson, Pernilla, 1968-, et al.
(författare)
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Strengthening quality culture in private sector and health care: What can we learn from applying soft measures?
- 2018
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Ingår i: Leadership in Health Services. - 1751-1879 .- 1751-1887. ; 31:3, s. 276-292
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose – The purpose of this study is to present a comprehensive approach to studying organizational culture using “soft measures” to facilitate sustainable quality development in organizations. The purpose is also to present, discuss and compare the results from a survey designed to measure a company’s value base.Design/methodology/approach – A number of different methods were used to collect soft data to study and measure organizational culture and at the same time influence the culture and the leadership within three organizations. One method, the survey, was used on two different occasions to obtain an overview of the culture within an organization and to investigate if the activities had influenced the culture and the leadership.Findings – The application of soft measures used by leaders to study and develop organizational culture resulted in statistically significant positive changes in organizational work culture, according to a pre-post survey after a short period of one year.Practical implications – The approach can be used by leaders in different types of organizations as the challenge of changing the organizational culture through the leadership seems to be a common challenge regardless of line of business.Originality/value – The study shows the benefits of using a comprehensive approach to assess an organization’s culture based on qualitative measures and analysis.
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| 5. |
- Lilja, Johan, 1978-, et al.
(författare)
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Why Action Research and Quality Management is such a Nice Match : And How to Make them Dance without Falling
- 2018
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 21st QMOD conference.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose For anyone digging into the concepts, it becomes obvious that action research and quality management are a really nice match. They share many of their conceptual roots, intentions, core principles/dimensions and processes. Current best practice of quality management can even be understood as doing and strengthening action research processes, in terms of the Plan-do-study-act cycle (PDSA), in organizations. However, the choice, design and application of action research within quality management research is surprisingly seldom discussed or shared. The purpose of this paper is hence to elaborate on how action research and quality management are closely interrelated and how action research can be used more frequently and successfully in quality management research. In addition, the paper hopes to contribute to revitalizing what could be considered the most fundamental practice of quality management: the PDSA cycle. Method The paper is based on a conceptual discussion combined with illustrative experiences and learnings from several research projects that have applied action research to develop the field of Quality Management. The projects and examples illustrate and share both experiences of dancing at its best and a few uncomfortable falls. Findings The paper identifies several critical factors to consider when designing and applying action research within quality management research. Practical Implications As action research is defined by its double aim, developing both scientific knowledge and practice, the ability to successfully design and apply action research in quality management research has large practical implications. One obvious risk if this dance fails is that academic researchers draw back from practice and their ambitions of developing and contributing to practice in their research. The findings of the paper are hoped to increase the number of successful future applications of action research within quality management. Originality The study provide insights in an area sparsely discussed in previous academic work.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Snyder, Kristen, 1964-, et al.
(författare)
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Using design thinking to support value-based leadership for sustainable quality development
- 2018
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Ingår i: Business Process Management Journal. - 1463-7154 .- 1758-4116. ; 24:6, s. 1289-1301
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present findings from a study of value-based leadership in which design thinking was used as a participatory, iterative process to examine and stimulate changes in organizational culture and develop value-based leadership in Swedish manufacturing. Of particular interest to the authors was to make visible and understand the constraints in leadership that kept leaders from understanding and working with organizational culture and values.Design/methodology/approachA three-year multi-site case study was conducted in collaboration with three manufacturing companies in Sweden. The study design was based on a collaborative, iterative model using the Stanford Design thinking framework in which data were collected through a series of workshops using a variety of sources including: leadership survey; interviews with three general directors; focus groups with middle- and top-level managers; observations and cultural analysis, survey; storytelling and appreciative inquiry (AI); and an employee questionnaire. Respondents in the study represented leadership teams in three Swedish manufacturing companies and their employees.FindingsIn general, there is a lack of dialogue among leaders about what is leadership, what is culture and what is meant by values in the organization. As well, there is a heavy emphasis on structure and process, yet, at the same time, there lacks a clear understanding about why the structures exist and how they can be used to spawn innovation. Moreover, participating leaders in manufacturing succumb to a crisis leadership model that results from the heavy emphasis on productivity and bottom-line effectiveness. Design thinking and the methods used to develop work culture, including AI, storytelling and coaching, provided leaders with new insights into the culture within the company. Leaders were able to identify both constraints and possibilities for changing the culture from disengagement to engagement. Through the process, they also began to identify values and recognized the importance of valuing employees to affect innovation and build a culture of engagement. The authors also witnessed increased dialogue among leaders that reflected an understanding of the importance to engage middle managers and employees in problem solving and innovation.Originality/valueThis study demonstrates that leaders can benefit from innovative approaches to identifying and building work culture to achieve value-based leadership.
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