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Research by Gillian Wright suggests that effective knowledge sharing in public services is shaped by wider organisational issues beyond the sharer-receiver unit.

Knowledge sharing in public services has not yet received much attention in the research literature. This paper investigates knowledge sharing in one public service context and identifies factors that influence the readiness of an organization to share knowledge effectively. Using participant observation, document analysis, interviews (n=30) and a survey (n=132), data are presented to highlight antecedents to effective knowledge sharing in healthcare service delivery. Through factor analysis and regression modeling, we have isolated six factors that are significant predictors of effective knowledge sharing. Our research is broadly consistent with previous findings that an innovative culture, a capacity to learn from failure and good information quality are strong predictors of successful knowledge sharing. However, we also identify factors associated with change management, and a predisposition to confront performance indicators, that significantly influence the knowledge sharing process. While we argue that our six-factor model may be equally relevant to private sector firms, we suggest that the peculiar nature of the public sector environment poses unique challenges for healthcare managers who seek to develop a knowledge sharing capability.

This article reports the findings of a large-scale research project on environmental new product development (ENPD) within British manufacturers. A major contribution of this article is the attempt to integrate new product development (NPD) and environmental management philosophies in order to develop and empirically test a theoretical framework for ENPD and performance. As such, it is one of the first studies to go beyond the anecdotal evidence in the extant literature, to empirically research ENPD activities and their impacts. This contributes to the debate about the potential for firms to be “green and competitive” by examining the relationship between ENPD activities and market and eco-performance for environmental new products. Contrary to the popular perception, the results suggest that there is more synergy than conflict between the conventional and environmental product development paradigms.

Performance Management is by no means a new concept in public services. Rather, it is the current initiative to achieve the longstanding quest for accountability and performance improvement, which began in the 1980s. We present the history of performance management and suggest an agenda for performance management in the context of partnerships and alliances, quality and information management. We propose that performance management is most effective when objectives beyond operational variables are incorporated, that they are based on an understanding of strategic effectiveness and underpinned by appropriate information systems. This paper addresses the historical context and culture of performance management in a public service (health and social care), determines the partnership and quality management challenges of performance management and the relationship of performance improvement with information strategy. Partnership working is considered as a form of strategic alliance. The need for service quality management and the notion of excellence are considered in the context of healthcare services. We consider the challenges of Management Information Systems in a rapidly changing Healthcare sector, which in the last ten years, has been trying to transform from a product focused, protected professional service to a highly visible and increasingly consumerist market sector (Linial, 1995). These themes are brought together to consider how alliances, quality, and information are the three elements of successful performance management of effective public services. This challenge that has perplexed providers for two decades and is likely to persist, despite changes in governments and policies. This paper presents a framework for effective performance management. It is based on case studies of alliances between health and social services to deliver partnership working for improved service delivery and identification of user requirements and information systems effectiveness.

This paper introduces a new concept of brand management: autopoietic brand management. Autopoiesis is a biological definition of life that stresses the radical autonomy of living systems. Organisational science has developed the concept, emphasising the capacity of autopoietic organisations to adapt spontaneously to external pressures. These facts support the following arguments. First, that the Disney brand is managed as an autopoietic system. The brand has its own operating code, self-defined boundaries, self-replicating ability and pace of operation. This conveys a sense of reassurance to Disney's customers. Further arguments about the brand's role in corporate socialisation and adaptation are developed. These claims focus on the brand's ability to represent the corporation's activity to itself via the self-referencing features of autopoiesis.

AIM: To generate thought and discussion regarding the application of key features of generic services which may influence management and marketing decisions in health care. BACKGROUND: Health care, as many other services provides benefits to the consumer, the quality of which is largely dependent on the interpersonal element of the service delivery. Services now dominate the UK economy, and consumer participation in service delivery is as important in health care as in services in the private sector. ORIGINS OF INFORMATION: There is now an established body of research on the nature of services and the particular management and marketing challenges posed by service provision. The application of general management concepts and tools to the public services is an area of current debate. KEY ISSUES: The paper firstly discusses key features of services and their application to health care contexts. Secondly, a discussion of strategic classifications of services seeks to identify common themes which exist across the diverse service sector. CONCLUSIONS: Nursing and midwifery managers have much to gain from understanding the use of services management frameworks, and have scope for much creativity in adapting generic frameworks for their own areas of practice.

Examines the debate on quality in health care in light of GP fundholding and the Patients' charter. Focuses on the development of quality issues in General Practice by carrying out research based on two stages: first, an exploratory stage aimed at the understanding of key issues; and second, a questionnaire made up primarily of attitude elements drawn from stage one. Concludes that, in the changing political and public environment, GPs are facing the challenges of managing service quality.

Since the publication of quantified dietary guidelines in 1983/4, interest in food related issues has both increased and diversified. This paper describes changes in these issues and marketing response to these changes. There is, however, a marketing challenge which goes beyond reaction to individual issues and specific crises such as salmonella or listeria. This broader marketing challenge is the general increase in interest in food and in food related issues. This paper asserts that this phenomena itself is the greatest challenge to food marketers and further, that in today's consumer environment, it is a challenge which must be addressed without delay. There is currently a merging of food and environmental/conservation issues along with the general increase in public awareness and information campaigns relating to "green" issues. This highlights the need for organisations in the food sector to take immediate action to rebuild customer confidence in the industry and in producers and in information produced by them. This problem is a shared one throughout the industry and when addressed will restore a more stable environment for competitive product marketing. This paper is presented as a demonstration of the importance of the holistic view of research--of looking at the total situation and putting the issues or hypotheses in context of the total situation. It draws on a variety of sources, secondary and primary whilst also taking into account environmental factors such as media coverage and the particular history of the situation such as the distribution of the Villejuif list of food additives in 1986. It is, the paper concludes, important that a market situation is understood and reacted to in a sympathetic way for a marketing strategy to be successful.