AIM:The current vs desired brand position of the nursing profession is examined using brand theory.BACKGROUND:The nursing brand has a long and revered image with various stakeholder groups. However, the current image frequently represents nurses as caring advocates rather than Influential Leaders who deliver, manage and administer health care services.EVALUATION:Recent quantitative field research describes perceptions of nurses' current vs desired brand position. A perceptual map illustrated a gap on the axes of Patient-Centered Caregivers and Leaders in Healthcare. Empirical literature provided the foundation for prescriptive advice, which could address potential threats and opportunities for the brand.KEY ISSUE:Brand theory is used to describe how nurses' current image seems at odds with nurses' role in contemporary society. The largest gap on the perceptual map was on the 'Leadership Axis', suggesting more effort is needed to change perceptions of the essential leadership role of nurses in various health care systems.IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT:The nursing profession needs to implement branding strategies, which close the gap between the current and desired brand positions. The central brand position of nurses as leaders should thread throughout practice, education, research and professional associations for effective brand repositioning to occur.

It has been observed that subjective age (SA) often trails chronological age, especially in older adults. In a previously published article, we argued that differences in individual's SA is a function of their level of activity on biological, mental, and social dimensions. This article empirically tests this proposition using a newly created Subjective Aging Index (SAI). The SAI is related to SA above the effect of age with differences existing across age groups and sex. The findings contribute to the literature on successful aging strategies with important implications for health care practitioners, marketers, and individuals heading towards older adult years.

Purpose – This paper aims to examine how some leading companies are integrating sustainability into their planning of future direction and growth. Readers will have a strong interest in sustainability and how it should be managed within organizations. Creating and maintaining sustainable organizations is of high priority to companies planning their future in a turbulent and difficult-to-predict operating environment. Readers will learn how sustainability may be better integrated into the strategic thinking and management processes. This article will be cited in the future for its early discussion on the importance of integrating sustainability discussion and planning into mainstream strategic management. Design/methodology/approach – This paper draws on secondary data from seven international organizations to show how they are beginning to embrace sustainability issues into mainstream strategic management. This background is used to propose a process that integrates business and sustainability strategy processes that will deal with issues that emerge in more turbulent operating environments. Findings – Secondary research findings suggest that it would be timely to embrace sustainability issue processing with mainstream strategic management processes. Research limitations/implications – Information collected in this paper is based upon a small sample of seven international organizations; hence, observations and recommendations are not representative of the wider business community. Originality/value – Recommendations presented in this paper will be useful to senior practicing managers as they seek to integrate sustainability management into mainstream strategic management processes.

This article is intended to build a better understanding of the knowledge dynamics in organisations and the role communities of practice play in facilitating the effective flow and application of knowledge. Exploring the dimensions of knowledge dynamics in organisations, this article highlights the critical role communities of practice play in healthcare organisation operations. Readers will gain new insights into the role they play in the knowledge dynamics of organisations. From the insights gained from pilot studies in health care, the article suggests that the concept of communities of practice can be extended to include customers, thus building knowledge management efficiency and effectiveness of the organisation. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to build on the original Dunphy, Griffiths and Benn (2007) model by proposing a new model of organisational sustainability which includes the economic dimension. There is a growing level of interest by senior executives in the role and potential impact that sustainability will have on their organisation’s future strategy and structure. Although management is keenly aware that sustainability is important in their future planning, there is much uncertainty about what level of involvement and commitment they should make towards sustainability endeavours. Design/methodology/approach – This article reviews the existing organisational sustainability change model while building a case to have the important economic strand added to the original change dimensions relating to the human and the environmental strands. Findings – This conceptual paper builds on previous work of sustainability organisational change theorists to produce an enhanced sustainability change model thus proposing a more comprehensive and integrated sustainability stage model that can guide managers in their quest to evolve effective and more sustainable organisations. Originality/value – This is a conceptual paper that builds on previous work of sustainability organisational change theorists to introduce an enhanced sustainability change model that includes the important economic dimension to the widely accepted social and environmental dimensions, thus proposing a comprehensive and integrated sustainability stage model that can guide managers in their quest to evolve effective and more sustainable organisations.

Academics and practitioners have shown an increasing interest in the link between knowledge management and organisational behaviour. This paper examines a case study of an outpatients clinic in an Australian public hospital with the objective of gaining a better understanding of the issues related to knowledge flows in communities of practice within a health care environment. An additional case related to the co-creation of health services is also provided, thus proposing that the traditional community of practice network be extended with the benefit of broadening the organisational knowledge base to include consumers. An analysis of knowledge behaviour will be undertaken as a prerequisite to building a tentative knowledge dynamics model for the purpose of stimulating discussion regarding the role and importance of knowledge flows in and between communities of practice.

This article will examine a case study of an outpatient's clinic in an Australian public hospital with the objective of gaining a better understanding of the issues related to knowledge dynamics in communities of practice within a health care environment. This case study research approach was considered to provide a fine-grained approach recommended for improved understanding of nuances, detail, and the forces underlying the phenomena under observation. Focus on detail was an important attribute of this study notwithstanding possible shortcomings in not being able to externalize the research findings. Of the four modes of knowledge exchange observed to take place in this public hospital community of practice, Mode C (tacit to explicit) stands out as a key finding. Here, the release of each individual's tacit knowledge is forthcoming and free flowing given the established culture of trust in this clinic. The informal communication environment in the luminal space of their workplace corridor provided a conducive environment that enabled a free-flowing exchange of community knowledge. Health-care managers are increasingly required to guide the use and flow of knowledge within their organizations. The insights gained from this project will provide them with a better understanding of knowledge dynamics within a health-care community of practice, which is a microcosm of the larger organization.

This article will explore the concept and meaning of codesign as it applies to the delivery of health services. The results of a pilot study in health codesign will be used as a research based case discussion, thus providing a platform to suggest future research that could lead to building more robust knowledge of how the consumers of health services may be more effectively involved in the process of developing and delivering the type of services that are in line with expectations of the various stakeholder groups.

This paper is intended to stimulate discussion on the issue of health service delivery. It will examine some of the underlying characteristics of services and review them from a health service perspective. It will then explore the nature and implications of health service failure. Key findings from a recent Australian study of practice in open disclosure in public hospitals will be reviewed for the purpose of discussing the implications of the impact of service failure in a health care setting. The paper then goes on to explore the process and nature of health service delivery in terms of potential shortcomings and flaws with its implication for service quality. To assist in the analysis of this topic and to begin the debate on potential solutions, a matrix table is developed to highlight the key areas of health service failure, suggest possible causes, and then go on to suggest prescriptive measures to help manage the risks involved in the health service delivery process.

Purpose Under high turbulence conditions, a company's periodic planning cycle needs to be supplemented with a dynamic, real‐time, strategic‐issue‐management system. This paper aims to investigate this issue. Design/methodology/approach A case study of a prominent Australian healthcare organization shows the eight steps for how its management used the strategic issue management (SIM) process to identify, rank and address strategic issues in a rapidly changing business environment. Findings The paper finds that, for companies entering a period of turbulence, the tracking, monitoring, and management of strategic issues become s imperative so that the corporate, strategy, and capability do not fall out of alignment. Practical implications The company's survival may well depend on having a well‐developed process for decision‐makers to rapidly put forth critical rebalancing responses. Originality/value In the SIM approach, external issues are manifest as opportunities and threats, and internal issues as strengths and weaknesses. Issues are viewed in the context of the environment, strategy, and capability (E‐S‐C) framework. A 3×3 strategic issue priority matrix is used to map the level of urgency and potential impact of each issue.

Strong forces of competition and globalisation have created awareness and an urgency to focus on how an organisation controls and nurtures its intellectual capital. The knowledge concept and its management have gained currency and momentum as technology has enabled thoughts and ideas to be more easily generated and distributed. The knowledge management debate has relevance for all stakeholders involved in healthcare. As a contribution to this debate, this paper describes various knowledge domains at the different levels of healthcare organisations. The paper uses Polanyi's knowledge framework to identify issues that need to be considered to ensure knowledge can be progressively applied to the continuous improvement of health services whilst safeguarding the rights of individuals.Knowledge management has received the attention of academics and managers over the years with varying degrees of intensity and enthusiasm. This paper will first provide a brief background on the subject. This background will provide a basis on which to examine knowledge management from a health perspective. A framework suggesting knowledge domains will be introduced to enable discussion on the issues that healthcare managers face in gaining a better understanding of the dynamics of knowledge flows in the health environment. The purpose of the paper is to provide a conceptual basis that will stimulate future research and discussion on how knowledge is managed in a healthcare setting.

Organisations face a challenging future where managers will need to work smarter to achieve growth and profit targets. Senior managers and boards perceive the market-place as becoming more complex and challenging. As environmental turbulence increases, strategic issues that challenge the way an organisation plans and implements its strategy emerge with greater frequency. It also brings into question responsibilities as well as the balance of power and decision-making between those who manage and those who govern. It would be useful for management and board members to discuss perceptions of environmental turbulence from time to time. This would enable a meeting of the minds regarding the strategic position and future directions of the organisation. It would also enable a better understanding of capability appreciation needed to respond to various levels of environmental turbulence. For successful survival, organisations need to balance the conditions of the environment, their business and marketing strategies and their capability to implement them. Hence the tracking, monitoring and management of priority strategic issues becomes an imperative. Strategic issue processing techniques present the opportunity for managers to identify issues and plan appropriate actions that will enable them to maintain an alignment with the demands of the external environment, no matter how turbulent.

Strong forces of competition and globalisation have created awareness and an urgency to focus how organisations control and nurture intellectual capital. The knowledge concept and its management have gained currency and momentum, as technology has enabled thoughts and ideas to be more easily produced and distributed. With the increased application of recent technologies such as the internet, CRM and advanced software capabilities, it has been suggested that the time has come for a debate on a new paradigm for knowledge management. As a contribution to this debate, this paper will examine exploratory research conducted in the Australian private hospital industry with a view to better understand issues related to knowledge management from an industry perspective.

OBJECTIVE:To determine which aspects of open disclosure "work" for patients and health care staff, based on an evaluation of the National Open Disclosure Pilot. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS:Qualitative analysis of semi-structured and open-ended interviews conducted between March and October 2007 with 131 clinical staff and 23 patients and family members who had participated in one or more open disclosure meetings. 21 of 40 pilot hospital sites, in New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria and Queensland, were included in the evaluation. Participating health care staff comprised 49 doctors, 20 nurses, and 62 managerial and support staff. In-depth qualitative data analysis involved mapping of discursive themes and subthemes across the interview transcripts. RESULTS:Interviewees broadly supported open disclosure; they expressed uncertainty about its deployment and consequences, and made detailed suggestions of ways to optimise the experience, including careful pre-planning, participation by senior medical staff, and attentiveness to consumers' experience of the adverse event. CONCLUSION:Despite some uncertainties, the national evaluation indicates strong support for open disclosure from both health care staff and consumers, as well as a need to resource this new practice.

Some researchers contend that it is only through a deep understanding of the possibilities and nature of routine coordinated activity that whole industries can be properly framed and understood. This paper sets out to examine industry dynamics of the Australian private hospital industry regarding factors that will impact industry members in setting business and marketing strategy for future directions. A strategy framework is used to examine the extent of competitive rivalry, the threat of new entrants, the role of consumers, the role of substitutes and the role of suppliers. In discussion, an assessment is made of the industry's attractiveness, implications of the findings for industry managers and an overview of future issues facing the industry.