Palliative care is a complex environment in which teams of healthcare professionals are constantly challenged to match the configuration of care delivery to suit the dynamics of the patient's bio‐medical, social and spiritual situations as they change during the end‐of‐life process. In...

Palliative care is a complex environment in which teams of health care professionals are constantly challenged to match the configuration of care delivery to suit the dynamics of the whole of a patient’s bio‐medical, social and spiritual situations as they change during the end of life...

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the role of mental models in knowledge development in order to demonstrate how the type and strength of the mental models held by a team contribute to its success in general and to innovation in particular. Design/methodology/approach – Two cases are...

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate whether an organisation's configuration, with regard to its operating environment, could have a bearing on the learning that occurs within the organisation because the configuration can be considered an artefact capable of enabling learning and capable...

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to show that free flowing teamwork depends on at least three aspects of team life: functional diversity, social cohesion and superordinate identity. Design/methodology/approach – The paper takes the approach of a discussion, arguing for a strong need to...

Purpose – To begin a process of understanding how palliative care organisations are configured to enable innovative multidisciplinary patient care teams and their management in an uncertain, complex and dynamic environment. Design/methodology/approach – A range of literature was reviewed to...

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the role of mental models in knowledge development in order to demonstrate how the type and strength of the mental models held by a team contribute to its success in general and to innovation in particular. Design/methodology/approach – Two cases are...

This paper is the first in a series that will examine the management of innovation by cross‐functional, multi‐disciplinary patient care teams in a palliative care environment. This highly innovative environment is singularly focused on relieving the suffering of patients and their socially...

This paper is the third in a series that will examine the management of innovation by multidisciplinary patient care teams in palliative care in Australia and reports on the existence and use of organisational levers to enable and influence required characteristic behaviours in the teams. These...

To maintain or achieve competitiveness and profitability, a manufacturing firm or enterprise must respond to a range of challenges, including rapid improvements in technology; declining employment and output; globalisation of markets and environmental requirements. In addition, substantial...