Non-European Union nurses (overseas nurses), have filled nursing positions in the UK for some time in order to cover short-term staffing problems. It is essential that these overseas nurses are supported during the period of time they are assimilated into their new organisation and cultural environment. This is achieved through undergoing a period of supervision and education called an adaptation programme. These programmes prepare such nurses for working in hospitals in the UK ensuring a level of knowledge and skill equal to or greater than, a newly UK registered staff nurse. Research was undertaken as a single case study, in one Hospital Trust in England. The data was collected via individual and group interviews. Nurses from retrospective and prospective adaptation groups gave qualitative accounts of their experiences of the adaptation programme and their experiences of working in the UK as registered nurses. The findings of the research indicate that the experience of overseas nurses working in the UK completing their adaptation programme was often a challenge both for themselves and for their UK colleagues. The difficulties experienced by the nurses were categorised into six main themes. From these themes a model was developed which captures the findings of the research. It is argued that the model will be of benefit to any host organisation whatever the employment context, when developing programmes of support for overseas staff. Finally, suggestions for further research are briefly outlined.

The thesis is generally concerned with the exploration of individual differences in learning. Particular emphasis is placed upon the examination of the effects of personality factors on learning achievement from different.teaching strategies. First the relevant literature and prevalent theories were reviewed. This analysis suggested that the factors anxiety and intelligence are of paramount importance for an explanation of learning differences. However the evidence also indicated a need to examine the interactions between these factors and their relationship to teaching strategies. It was discerned that the teaching strategies which had been employed varied from predominantly discovery to predominantly reception. Consequently these two extremes were chosen for experimental comparison and analysis. The general impressions gained from the literature were supported by the results of two preliminary studies. The first of these dealt with the production and evaluation of a computer assisted teaching programme, and the second with the creation of a training scheme. The scheme involved analysis of learning tasks according to types of learning strategy combined with data on individual differences to produce Instructional Strategy Templates (I.S.T.s) as a basis for selecting appropriate teaching strategies for various types of task.

This thesis analyses corporate governance and executive remuneration in the UK during a period of precipitous change between 1992 and 2012. The study undertakes a mixed methods mode of enquiry to investigate the drivers and patterns of changes in corporate governance and executive remuneration. This thesis employs Bourdieusian perspectives on power, capital and fields, to illustrate those in society who operate in the field of power, harness observable forms of capital to cultivate policies which regenerate and support the elite body, which they are conceivably members of. The empirical setting for the analysis focuses on the 1995 Greenbury Committee, who played a central role in constructing the current framework for remuneration policy in UK organisations. Theoretically, this study propagates the idea of closure, as a specific mechanism in the field of power, whereby multiple elite groups come together, to address issues of mutual significance and thereby subvert threats to their collective authority. Using empirical data, the study questions normative interpretations of key concepts, such as merit, accountability and transparency, upon which much corporate governance regulation and remuneration decisions are predicated. Finally, the research reports on a de facto change from a unitary board structure, to a two tier system, structurally more akin to a German model of governance. The research finds that the Greenbury provisions failed in their stated objective, of linking pay with performance. This research also demonstrates that the construction of the Greenbury committee itself, was essentially a political response by the governing elite to address the ephemeral problem of executive remuneration and can, accordingly, be conceived of as an example of a form of quasi-political self-regulation.

Successful innovation depends to a high degree on an organization’s ability to develop an effective Research & Development (R&D) process and during the last decades many companies have adopted Stage-Gate® or similar methodologies. Although such methodologies are credited with significantly improving R&D results at many companies, there is still potential for improvement, if organizations can learn from projects. Each and every R&D project should not only result in a successful new product but also generate learning for the organization, because this has a high importance for the competitive advantage of an organization. Post-project reviews (PPRs) are recognized by both practitioners and academics as an appropriate mechanism to stimulate project-to-project learning in R&D project teams. However, PPRs are used by relatively few companies, and those that do utilize them often fail to do so adequately. Surprisingly, although PPRs are widely perceived to be a useful tool, empirical research on how they can best be used and how they support learning within a project team is very limited. This thesis addresses this gap in the extant knowledge and describes five in-depth exploratory case studies, which investigated how PPRs are conducted, how they are perceived by R&D managers and the project-to-project learning that can result from PPRs. Based on a complex research design which combines qualitative and quantitative data from documents, interviews and the observation of PPR meetings, the results show that current PPR practices vary much across different organizations. Furthermore, R&D managers perceive PPRs as important for learning in R&D project teams but difficult to manage effectively. An important result was also that tacit knowledge and experiences play an important role when analysing project-to-project learning. Although the operationalization of tacit knowledge is difficult, the detailed analysis of lessons learnt and metaphors used allowed to gather conclusions on the supporting role of PPRs for the creation and transfer of both explicit and tacit knowledge.

Aviation maintenance errors account for between 13% and 23% of the global aviation incidents and accidents initiators, which require a wider global use of aviation maintenance safety improvement activities. The current research applies the Human Error Risk Management in Engineering Systems (HERMES) methodology that conceptualizes two main streams of study. These are the retrospective investigation of human errors within aviation maintenance contexts, and a prospective innovation of new tools that work to prevent errors occurring. In this research the impact of human reliability on aviation maintenance safety is investigated. Rotorcraft is taken as a focal case study. A new model to represent the accumulation of crucial maintenance human errors causal factors, within aviation maintenance companies, is introduced. A total of 804 recent maintenance-induced helicopter accidents were reviewed, from which 58 fatal accidents and serious incidents were thoroughly analysed using Human Factors Accident Classification System - Maintenance Extension (HFACS-ME). A 4th order of analysis is newly introduced into the HFACS-ME taxonomy under the notion of ‘Specific Failures’ for better analysis resolution and comprehensiveness. Hypothesizing that human factors errors within aviation maintenance industry can be more effectively managed by applying proactive monitoring and early error detecting techniques - at both organizational and individual levels, a proactive Aviation Maintenance Monitoring Process (AMMP) is formulated. AMMP is a holistic hybrid retrospective / prospective integrated process that is to be simultaneously and collectively implemented by main industry stake-holders - regulators, manufacturers and maintenance organisations. The aim is to proactively monitor the existence of human error causal factors that are initiated during design practices, manufacturing processes, or at later stages due to workplace conditions. As a result, such causal factors can be gradually eliminated to reduce the overall risk of maintenance errors. This generic AMMP model is based on a Root Cause Existence Scale (RCES) and a comprehensive sociotechnical user program, coded as ‘ErroDetect’, built applying the fuzzy Analytic Network Process (fuzzy ANP) theory. A total of 870 different assessment criteria were designed and then in-built within the software thus mapping the outcomes of the retrospective error causal factors investigative studies. Full simulation of the process is conducted, and then it was further validated practically in real world within industry for both design for maintainability within major rotorcraft manufacturer facilities, and for MRO’s performance safety enhancement. Validation results were thoroughly discussed. The AMMP is found to have significantly enhanced aircraft maintenance proactive safety for both designers and maintainers. The tool can also be adopted for regulation purposes.

This thesis explores the impact of the use of Internet applications, provided by the Human Resource (HR) ftinction as an internal supplier, on its internal customers' satisfaction at the managerial level with the HR function, using role theory to underpin the research. From a review of the literature on role, and the relevant fields of HR, internal marketing, and information and communication technology (ICT), a conceptual framework was developed. The study set out to fill a gap in knowledge and addresses the under-development in the HR field regarding HR's relationship with its customers, its use of technology to provide services, and the impact this has on customer satisfaction with the HR function. An exploratory theory building research methodology was adopted. The study follows a realist approach to social enquiry. Seeking to explain internal customer satisfaction, it is necessary to understand perspectives and social relationships between the key actors involved as customers and suppliers of HR Internet services. An exploratory case study was undertaken in a single organisation operating in the telecommunications industry. Sixty interviews, evenly divided between HR customers and HR suppliers, were conducted with middle/senior level managers. During the analysis phase the research sought out possible contrasts within the single case setting to highlight theoretical constructs. In addition, quantitative content analysis of the qualitative data was carried out to identify trends in data and to provide a more rounded understanding of the phenomena under investigation. This research identifies three overarching factors from the data which appear to be important for improving the level of manager satisfaction with both the HR Internet application (HRIA) and the HR function. The first is the quality of HR leadership, followed by effective communication, and the management of expectations which encompass the relationship management process between HR and its internal customers. In addition, two groups of factors were identified as being important to the nature of participants' expectations and feelings of satisfaction. The first was found to influence expectations and included organisational context, current role, personal characteristics and experience, while the second group of factors could also be used by the HR leadership both to align HR customer and supplier expectations and to make them more realistic. A model illustrating the findings was developed, together with propositions for testing the model in later research.

Very little research has focussed on inexperienced pilots and there is a notion in literature and popular texts that such pilots are one of the safest groups. Despite this, ‘early-solo’ UK glider pilots were found to have a higher accident rate than any other group. Research was conducted in order to investigate the issues surrounding this. It was identified that accidents sustained by these pilots tended to be initiated by events in the approach and landing phases of fight, and caused by misjudgement of the approach path and landing flare. Most accidents to more experienced pilots were found to be different in all respects. It was subsequently found that instructors believed the highest accident likelihood to be associated with more experience pilots, in line with literature. It was also found that instructors wrongly believed that the ‘approach’ phase was the least likely in-flight phase to be associated with accident causes for low-hours pilots. Critical Incident Technique was used to investigate instructor decisions with regard to sending pilots solo. An initial model of the decision process was put forward. It was found that, with one critical exception, when events occurred on assessment flights that were similar to causal accident factors (from the accident analysis), instructors disallowed solo flight. An absence of potential accident factors was apparently insufficient to allow solo flight by itself; instructors required further evidence in order to confirm that students were ready to fly alone. Exceptionally, pilot performance in terms of the approach path did not appear to be a critical factor when instructors considered disallowing solo flight, highlighting a possible gap in the instructor decision process. It was recommended that further research be conducted to validate and extend the decision model, and that the approach phase be focussed upon more in both training and assessment.

No description available.

The thesis is a case-study set in a large UK Financial Organisation which post the September 11th 2001 attack on the World Trade Building in New York (9/11) was faced with the prospect of having to develop strategies and training for employees who potentially might experience a critical incident. A critical incident, as used in this thesis, being a disaster that disrupts business continuity. The 9/11 attack is not a consideration per se but was the impetus for the Organisation's review of its business continuity strategy. Post-incident support for staff was an important element of the business continuity strategy review as the protection of staff was considered essential for ensuring business continuity. The Organisation considered that training may be the best approach to offering such support. The focus of the thesis is post-critical support training. In exploring the demand for post-critical incident support training, the paper argues that at a time of (generally perceived) increased levels of anxiety and insecurity within the workplace, the potential for a critical incident to occur is considered a real possibility. In responding to such threats, employees are called upon to develop their skills/knowledge beyond that of their job requirements. In effect, they are required to learn about the effects of a disaster on their own performance and that of colleagues. Such learning has implications for trainers, and those requiring training, as the criteria for offering post-critical support training differs from other training programmes. Within post-critical support training, the focus is not the acquisition of specific skills or factual job-related knowledge but on developing the employee's emotional self-awareness. Unlike most other vocational training, it will not enhance current job performance nor organisation profits. In deed, it is highly probable that employees will never be called upon to put their learning into practice. The thesis argues that such differences separate post critical incident support training from other training programmes and brings into question the purpose and the benefits for developing post-critical support training. In developing the argument, the thesis uses a case-study method drawing upon the work of Yin (2003) and Stake (2000). The case-study used both quantitative and qualitative sources of data. However, the main body of data is qualitative and was gathered from thirty-two semi-structured interviews based on narrative and psycho-social research approaches (Holloway, & Jefferson, 2000). The thirty-two participants interviewed all had had experience of being involved in a critical incident either directly, as victims, or indirectly in the planning and delivering of post-incident service provision. The purpose of the interviews was to explore participants' understanding of a critical incident and how training might support post-critical incident recovery. In considering the case for training, the thesis explores issues relating to postcritical incident training and in doing so, attempts to place workplace learning within a wider educational context. As part of this, it considers the role of human resources and how different human resource models affect approaches to training. The thesis argues that the economic imperative, as reflected within a 'hard' human resources approach, is too narrow a focus. What is required is an holistic learning approach to training that is centred on a humanistic educational model, as reflected in a 'soft' approach to human resources. This model of training would be the most beneficial, to both employee and employer, should a critical incident occur.

This thesis is located in the arena of a distance learning accounting course of a vocational nature delivered to working managers. It is concerned with identifying and exploring students' perceptions of influences upon their study experiences. The influences are drawn from elements of the course design, characteristics of the students, and their inter-action. Data is collected through semi-structured interviews from thirty eight past students. The data are explored using the techniques of content analysis, repertory grid analysis, and laddering. The exploration generates findings concerning the most significant influences, suggesting indicative associations between sets of student characteristics and elements of course design and course achievement measured through academic scores. Typologies of groups of students are identified and linked to those scores. Particularly influential, based on such associations, are domestic circumstances, nature of work in relation to budget management and financial decision making, and levels of maths and PC skills. Further exploration reveals a gender divide, with females performing less well than males, with domestic circumstances and nature of work being of great significance. This thesis contributes new insights into the student experience, with practical implications for course design.