Management Studies (Department)

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Insertion Heuristics for Central Cycle Problems
(2006) Lamb, John Douglas; University of Aberdeen, Business School, Management Studies
A central cycle problem requires a cycle that is reasonably short and keeps a the maximum distance from any node not on the cycle to its nearest node on the cycle reasonably low. The objective may be to minimise maximumdistance or cycle length and the solution may have further constraints. Most classes of central cycle problems are NP-hard. This paper investigates insertion heuristics for central cycle problems, drawing on insertion heuristics for p-centres [7] and travelling salesman tours [21]. It shows that a modified farthest insertion heuristic has reasonable worstcase bounds for a particular class of problem. It then compares the performance of two farthest insertion heuristics against each other and against bounds (where available) obtained by integer programming on a range of problems from TSPLIB [20]. It shows that a simple farthest insertion heuristic is fast, performs well in practice and so is likely to be useful for a general problems or as the basis for more complex heuristics for specific problems.
‘I don’t know what I’m doing. How about you?’: Discourse and identity in practitioners dealing with the survivors of childhood sexual abuse.
(2007-01-30T15:37:20Z) Randall, Julian
This research is based on interviews conducted with a voluntary group of health practitioners who care for the adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse in one area of Scotland. This project takes a broadly interpretive approach to the interviews, and examines the processes of sense-making apparent in the scripts of the doctors, community nurse and counsellors who comprise this voluntary Forum. Those interviewed were highly sceptical of traditional medical approaches to dealing with survivors of such abuse, and they all questioned the effectiveness of expert professional knowledge. The research highlights the role of patient disclosure as a key mechanism in the process of their treatment, which is akin to the confessional technology discussed in detail in the work of Michel Foucault. Combined with other medical technologies patient disclosure is revealed as a technique of normalization. In this particular case the experts themselves were engaged in unravelling this process in search of alternative approaches to caring for their patients, which were based on a relationship of equal partnership rather than of expert authority. This research thus begins to illustrate the processes of sense-making and identity formation which exist between professional health care workers and the victims of abuse for whom they care.
Ambiguity and ambivalence: organizational change in government departments
(2007-03-05T16:52:41Z) Randall, Julian; Procter, Stephen
The way in which workers and managers interpret change at work has been an important focus of interest for researchers. This interpretation may find them assimilating change as they listen to accounts from other workers experienced in the outcomes of such events. On the other hand, there may be a divergence among workers concerning the value and meaning to be ascribed to the change events. If this is the case, a culture of ambiguity may be said to exist, where the nature, degree and value of the cultural change are highly contested and remarkably unclear (McLoughlin et al;., 2005). Following Piderit (2000), this paper suggests this may explain the disparity between an individual’s expectancy of change and their response to it, and also that, individuals’ ambivalence may influence whether they accept change, adapt to it, or reject it out-of-hand, . We show how different dimensions of ambivalence in different individuals can lead not only to different responses to imposed change at work, but can also account for individuals coming to terms with the demands of change.
The Subtour Centre Problem
(2007-03-20T15:09:05Z) Lamb, John Douglas; University of Aberdeen, Business School, Management Studies
The subtour centre problem is the problem of finding a closed trail S of bounded length on a connected simple graph G that minimises the maximum distance from S to any vertex ofG. It is a central location problem related to the cycle centre and cycle median problems (Foulds et al., 2004; Labbé et al., 2005) and the covering tour problem (Current and Schilling, 1989). Two related heuristics and an integer linear programme are formulated for it. These are compared numerically using a range of problems derived from tsplib (Reinelt, 1995). The heuristics usually perform substantially better then the integer linear programme and there is some evidence that the simpler heuristics perform better on the less dense graphs that may be more typical of applications.
Organizational control & the Catholic Church: a case study
(2007-05-03T13:48:04Z) Littler, Craig R.; Randall, Julian
This paper presents an analysis of the problem of child-abusing priests in the Catholic Church using data from the USA, UK and Ireland. The apparent scale of this issue raises crucial theoretical as well as policy issues. This paper explores various organizational explanations, linking it to traditional methods of ‘confessional control’ of organizational members. This is a novel concept which brings the issue into a wider organizational lens. Confessional control creates a series of guilt-laden identities that serve to maintain hierarchical control as well as social inclusion. Thus the process of recycling priests was part of a long-persisting pattern applied to child abuse cases. The theoretical implications of this are explored. The data consists of a series of cases across the three countries, partly drawn from a data-base of 4,000 alleged cases.
Understanding consumption within a residential care home : an interpretation of George’s everyday experiences of life and death
(2007-07-02T08:48:38Z) Stone, Tim
We are witnessing perhaps the most important shift in the history of mankind – the rapid ageing of the earths population. This trend raises such issues as elderly care giving and living arrangements in old age. By virtue, the author suggests that managing service provision for elderly consumers within residential care homes is going to become an increasingly important issue as more consumers live longer and require residential care. Moreover, given the paucity of literature related to elderly consumers understandings of such institutions this research aims to illuminate and distil this issue. Based on existential-phenomenological hermeneutic interpretive methods the author reveals that elderly consumers actively consume life and death related experiences in order to create a meaningful existence within residential care homes.
Ambiguity and ambivalence : senior managers' accounts of organizational change in a restructured government department
(2008-10) Randall, Julian Adrian; Procter, Stephen; University of Aberdeen.Business Management
Simulation modelling and strategic change : creating the sustainable enterprise
(2009) Dawson, Patrick; Spedding, Trevor; University of Aberdeen.Business Management
Vessel traffic disrupts the foraging behavior of southern resident killer whales Orcinus orca
(2009-01-01) Lusseau, D.; Bain, D.E.; Williams, R.; Smith, J.C.; University of Aberdeen.Biological Sciences; University of Aberdeen.Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland (MASTS); University of Aberdeen.Business Management
The socially organized basis of everyday ‘economic’ conduct: evidence from video recordings of real-life pre-verbal salesperson-shopper encounters in a showroom retail store
(2009-02-24T15:12:53Z) Clark, Colin; Pinch, Trevor
Divergence or convergence? : Health inequalities and policy in a devolved Britain
(2009-05) Smith, Katherine E.; Hunter, David J.; Blackman, Tim; Elliott, Eva; Greene, Alexandra; Harrington, Barbara E.; Marks, Linda; McKee, Lorna; Williams, Gareth H.; University of Aberdeen.Other Applied Health Sciences; University of Aberdeen.Business Management
Data Envelopment Analysis Models of Investment Funds
(University of Aberdeen: Business School, 2010) Lamb, John Douglas; Tee, Kai-Hong; University of Aberdeen.Business Management
The translation research in a dental setting (TRiaDS) programme protocol
(2010-07-20) Clarkson, Jan E; Ramsay, Craig R; Eccles, Martin P; Eldridge, Sandra; Grimshaw, Jeremy M; Johnston, Marie; Michie, Susan; Treweek, Shaun; Walker, Alan; Young, Linda; Black, Irene; Bonetti, Debbie; Cassie, Heather; Francis, Jill; Mackenzie, Gillian; Macpherson, Lorna; McKee, Lorna; Pitts, Nigel; Rennie, Jim; Stirling, Doug; Tilley, Colin; Torgerson, Carole; Vale, Luke; University of Aberdeen.Aberdeen Centre for Evaluation; University of Aberdeen.Other Applied Health Sciences; University of Aberdeen.Business Management; University of Aberdeen.Institute of Applied Health Sciences
Implementation and adoption of nationwide electronic health records in secondary care in England : Qualitative analysis of interim results from a prospective national evaluation
(2010-09-02) Robertson, Ann; Cresswell, Kathrin; Takian, Amirhossein; Petrakaki, Dimitra; Crowe, Sarah; Cornford, Tony; Barber, Nicholas; Avery, Anthony; Fernando, Bernard; Jacklin, Ann; Prescott, Robin; Klecun, Ela; Paton, James; Lichtner, Valentina; Quinn, Casey; Ali, Maryam; Morrison, Zoe; Jani, Yogini; Waring, Justin; Marsden, Kate; Sheikh, Aziz; University of Aberdeen.Business Management
Process innovation costs in supply networks : a synthesis
(2010-12) Bunduchi, Raluca; Smart, Alison; University of Aberdeen.Business Management
A quest for patient-safe culture : contextual influences on patient safety performance
(2011-04) Charles, Kathryn; McKee, Lorna; McCann, Sharon; University of Aberdeen.Other Applied Health Sciences; University of Aberdeen.Business Management
Anything but engaged : user involvement in the context of a national electronic health record implementation
(2011-07-01) Cresswell, Kathrin; Morrison, Zoe; Crowe, Sarah; Robertson, Ann; Sheikh, Aziz; University of Aberdeen.Business Management
Implementation and adoption of nationwide electronic health records in secondary care in England : final qualitative results from prospective national evaluation in "early adopter" hospitals
(2011-10-17) Sheikh, Aziz; Cornford, Tony; Barber, Nicholas; Avery, Anthony; Takian, Amirhossein; Lichtner, Valentina; Petrakaki, Dimitra; Crowe, Sarah; Marsden, Kate; Robertson, Ann; Morrison, Zoe; Klecun, Ela; Prescott, Robin; Quinn, Casey; Jani, Yogini; Ficociello, Maryam; Voutsina, Katerina; Paton, James; Fernando, Bernard; Jacklin, Ann; Cresswell, Kathrin; University of Aberdeen.Business Management
Participation in physical play and leisure : developing a theory- and evidence-based intervention for children with motor impairments
(2011-11-07) Kolehmainen, Niina; Francis, Jill; Ramsay, Craig R; Owen, Christine; McKee, Lorna; Ketelaar, Marjolijn; Rosenbaum, Peter; University of Aberdeen.Other Applied Health Sciences; University of Aberdeen.Aberdeen Centre for Evaluation; University of Aberdeen.Business Management; University of Aberdeen.Institute of Applied Health Sciences
Are research data a common resource?
(2012) Mauthner, Natasha; University of Aberdeen.Business Management