Reflections, Anxieties, Developments & Quality

Deployment anxieties

Going off to war may stir up a wide range of intense feelings, including anxiety, excitement, depression, pride, and anticipation of what is to come. While a certain amount of anxiety is expected for most people, in some cases, anxiety can become overwhelming and interfere with your ability to function. Fortunately, there are various resources for members of the armed forces and a variety of po...

Arias, anxieties and epidemics.

Reflections on developments in institutional theory: Toward a relational approach

In this review article, we reflect upon recent developments in institutional theory with particular emphasis on first, how organizational fields have been conceived and second, on how action has been conceptualized and incorporated into institutional accounts. We show that progress has been made in regard to our understanding of field level processes and the role of institutional actors. Howeve...

Limits to Modularity: Reflections on Recent Developments in Chip Design

Research on ‘‘modularity’’ has made an important contribution to the study of technical change and economic institutions. It demonstrates that progress in the division of labor in design (technical modularity) has created new opportunities for the organization of firms beyond vertical integration, by fostering vertical specialization in both manufacturing and innovation. However, a small, but g...

Reflections on quality issues: quality becomes ever more complex.

W hen I became Chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners in 1998, the medical audit bandwagon, largely based on College values, had run out of steam. A new more sinister one — the identification and weeding out of poor performance was running strongly. This was partly fuelled by the Bristol paediatric cardiothoracic surgery case, and the subsequent Kennedy report, 1 partly by the S...