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    Rail human factor training : adaptation of crew resource training in KCRC to enhance modern railway safety : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Aviation at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2007) Tsang, Tak Sum
    Recent world headline disasters such as the September 11 attacks, 2005 London transport bombings and 2003 Daegu Subway arson attacks sent a strong warning to all nations that mass-transit systems are highly susceptible to arson or terrorist attacks with catastrophic consequences. Whilst it may be impossible to ever eliminate all forms of threats, one thing remains clear-the effectiveness of crew response to emergency situations can make a key difference between a minor incident and a full blown disaster. Staff effectiveness relies upon corporate awareness, training and investment into safety. Even a state-of-the-art system requires suitably matched and experienced staff for smooth, efficient and incident-free operation. Unfortunately, incident reports reveal consistently that about 70% of aviation and railway incidents have roots in human factors, highlighting the need to invest in effective, safety-oriented training to expose staff to operational and emergency situations in order to minimise or mitigate human error consequences. In aviation, crew resource management (CRM) was developed to address this need. CRM's effectiveness in improving teamwork, communication and staff response to emergency results in its popularity in the medical, nuclear, and military sectors. Although some work had begun to modify CRM for the railway industry, none yet existed in China or Hong Kong. Having observed the effectiveness of CRM and line oriented training (LOT) in aviation, this work documents the introduction of CRM and LOT in Hong Kong in the West Rail (WR) division of the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC). One-hundred-and-twenty drivers, station and traffic controllers from WR took part in a three days CRM training program. The program used lectures, video aided training facilities (VAT) and integrated training facilities (ITF) to expose staff to CRM and safety related concepts. ITFs were used in LOT programs to simulate emergency and abnormal operation scenarios to test and train ability of teams to handle such situations. Feedback was provided by computer, video and voice records, and trainer comments. The effectiveness of the training program was tested in an emergency drill in conjunction with Hong Kong police, fire and hospital services by comparison of a control group and the CRM trained group to evaluate the program effectiveness. It was observed that the CRM group displayed better incident handling capabilities, stronger teamwork and communication throughout the exercise. When analysing incidents, CRM trained members were able to recall and consider more factors of human performance. As the instituted CRM program is still in its infancy, more time is required to prove its effectiveness. It is believed that even in this short introduction period it has raised staff awareness of safety and human factors, and improved overall teamwork and performance in WR. Now that WR serves as a knowledge portal to the rest of KCRC divisions, it is envisioned that CRM will be extended to other KCRC rails. In later years it may also broaden to intercity rails to Mainland China to improve staff performance. An effective CRM program will be the key to minimise impact and consequences if one day disaster does strike.
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    A framework to evaluate the impact of ICT usage on collaborative product development performance in manufacturing firms : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering at Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2017) Silva, C W Chathurani
    Manufacturers are increasingly adopting collaborative product development (CPD) to achieve competitive advantage through joint synergies. Information and communication technology (ICT) is the major enabler of communication, collaboration, product designing, development, knowledge and information management, project management, and market research activities involved in CPD. Most ICT implementations incur a significant cost for firms, thus a deeper understanding of the impact of ICT usage on CPD performance would be immensely useful for managing ICT resources effectively in innovation programmes. However, existing evidence for the direct relationships between ICT usage and performance dimensions are counterintuitive (negative or insignificant). Not considering the different aspects of ICT usage was identified as a key reason for the lack of strong empirical evidence. Furthermore, the impact of ICT usage on collaboration-based product development performance and indirect impact through this collaboration performance on new product performance, as well as moderating effects of project characteristics on the direct and indirect ICT impact have largely been ignored in the literature. Therefore, drawing on relational resource-based view and organizational information processing theory, this study develops and utilizes a model including multidimensional ICT usage and CPD performance measurements, and possible moderating project characteristics, for better evaluating the impact of ICT usage on CPD performance. Initially, product development professionals from manufacturing firms and knowledgeable managers from ICT vendor firms were interviewed for a preliminary qualitative evaluation of the suggested model with industry perspectives. In addition, a quantitative investigation of secondary data obtained from the PDMA’s (Product Development and Management Association) 2012 comparative performance assessment study was conducted prior to the main survey in order to assess the significance of the proposed model with a different source of data. In the final main quantitative study, data collected from 244 CPD projects via an online global survey were used to test the research hypotheses. The study contributes to the current body of knowledge by revealing a positive direct impact of ICT usage on new product performance in terms of quality, commercial success, and time performance, and collaboration performance, which also in turn increases new product performance. In addition, moderating effects of project characteristics (complexity and uncertainty) on these associations have been explored. The study implies that manufacturers need to value not only the direct project benefits of ICT use, but also the collaboration-related outcomes that significantly increase the likelihood of achieving higher performance in their present and future CPD projects. Adequate attention must be paid to individual ICT usage dimensions as well. Particularly, other than frequency of ICT use, manufacturing firms need to improve the utilization of available features and functionalities of the tools (intensity) and the ICT proficiency of R&D staff, to gain the desired results in CPD projects.
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    How is co-leadership enacted in the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand : a 152.800 thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Management at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2016) Miller, Neil James
    This research report explores the enactment of a gender-balanced co-leadership throughout the organisation of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand. This small-sized political organisation has had representatives in parliament since 1996. Its experimental model of a male and a female sharing positions arose out of the social movements of the baby boomer generation. Gender-balanced co-leadership was devised as an exception to the norm of a single leader (frequently presented as a heroic man). The metaphor of theatre is used to frame a description of the stage-managed performance of Green Party political co-leaders. I show how co-leaders have been portrayed over the life span of the party as if they were characters in play. The re-presentation of co-leaders is illustrated by images, primarily taken from the party magazine. Experiences of the enactment of this co-leader model are interpreted through five interviews with key informants who have all held formal positions of authority within the organisation. I provide an auto-ethnographic account as a party insider illustrated by snapshots. The Green Party’s co-leadership model has endured over 25 plus years. By virtue of longevity it has demonstrated a viable way of sharing position power between two genders in a political party. Sharing positions in this organisation requires a significant investment of effort to maintain the desired presentation of the relationship. The lead actors are constrained to conform to the stage-setting. Parliamentary politics imposes isomorphic forces of order and hierarchy. The enactment of co-leadership has become increasingly gender stereotypical. Gender-balanced co-leadership is an experiment that has become a conventional routine.
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    The eye of the team : critical incidents analysis of team metaphors used by teams in a health setting : a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2005) Ramkissoon, Vinodhini
    This study sought to explore working teams' mental models of their success and failure, to cast light on what improves rather than undermines the teams' performance. Implicit team mental models may become explicit through exploring the language, specifically metaphors, that teams use to describe successful and unsuccessful performance. Ten teams comprising 69 individuals from a large district health board and including one all Māori team, participated in semi-structured interviews, that focused on the positive and negative critical incidents, when working together. Twin Content analyses of each type of incident revealed classical attribution biases, for example self-serving biases (team failures externalised using system metaphors as in "It is not our fault, it is the computer's fault" and successes internalised as in "the high standard of work is a reflection on the integrity and skills of the team"). At the same time however teams occasionally sidestepped these biases by reflecting on whether they could have achieved even more. Unlike their counterparts, the single all-Māori team used the same "two worlds" metaphor to describe both success and failure through bi-cultural harmony and bi-cultural conflict. Discussion focuses on how metaphors enhance team development. For example through discourse analysis of training sessions, teams may become aware of what biases the team is engaging in, thereby fuelling organisational learning.
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    BeWeDō® : co-creating possibilities with movement : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Massey Business School, Department of Management, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2015) Bradford, Mark
    One of the main challenges in contemporary creative practice is shifting beyond collaborative thinking to more relational ways of engaging co-operatively with each other. The interdisciplinary research focused on investigating how can the movement practices of the Japanese martial art of Aikido facilitate leadership development for co-creation. This research synthesised diverse literatures focussed on aikidoka, leadership development, and creative modes of practice as processes in action and in relation to collective creativity and the context of co-creation within the experience economy. The Aikido principle of aiki was used as a theoretical framework where experiential knowing – anchored in relational processes – focused on engaging my body and its experiences as a site of learning and a participatory way of knowing. This design-led ethnography combined autoethnography and visual ethnography through two Phases of fieldwork. The findings from Phase One highlighted four concepts zanshin, hipparu, extension, and common center, which were blended into the BeWeDō® conceptual framework. The BeWeDō® framework was investigated experientially in a series of workshops as part of Phase Two. The workshops involved me being immersed in a relational leadership process which encouraged participants to be in the moment and generate co-creative movement. Six key themes emerged: Aikido is not BeWeDō®; BeWeDō® is more than collaboration; Aiki involves “the two of us”; an aiki approach invites co-operation; BeWeDō® positions the body to lead co-creative movement; and BeWeDō® moves the conversation to a different place. This research is the first to investigate how Aikido movement practices can facilitate leadership development for co-creation. Beyond the influential act of an individual or individuals, the BeWeDō® framework is a relational leadership approach founded on the idea that individuals are constituted by social processes: a new way of co-creating possibilities to facilitate leadership development specifically for co-creation. BeWeDō® is a unique co-creation experience innovation. Furthermore, BeWeDō® extends beyond notions of embodied leadership and embraces the role of emplacement for transforming co-creative possibilities.
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    A mixed methods investigation of ethnic diversity and productivity in software development teams : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate of Philosophy in Information Systems at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2014) Congalton, Julian
    Software has become pervasive across all aspects of society in the developed world and as a result, society has become highly dependent on new software being created for any modern advancement. Much research has focused on reducing the cost to develop software, including understanding what makes software teams more productive. Software teams are increasingly ethnically diverse due to the growth in distributed software development and a globally mobile labour force. Team composition has been found to be a major influence of team performance and ethnic diversity in teams can improve innovation and problem solving. As software development relies on effective teams and often involves solving complex problems, this raises the question of how ethnic diversity within software development teams affects the performance, and therefore productivity of those teams. This research seeks to understand how ethnic diversity in software development teams influences the productivity that those teams achieve. This is important as software related costs represent a significant component of business costs. Furthermore, the cost effective development of new or changed software is critical to support advances in today’s technology-dependent society. A mixed methods research approach has been used in this study with an emphasis on qualitative data. This is the first mixed methods study of productivity in New Zealand software development projects and represents a unique examination of the sociological effects of ethnic diversity in software projects. Using a conceptual model of software development as a socio-technical system, project documents and interviews with project managers were analysed. A detailed analysis reveals themes and patterns regarding the influence of ethnic diversity in software development productivity. The qualitative data has been complemented with quantitative analysis of the project data using the productivity model embodied in the software development cost estimation model COCOMO II combined with indices measuring ethnic diversity. Ethnic diversity improved team problem solving and Ethnic Diversity in Software Development Teams innovation on complex software projects but hindered some aspects of communications which negatively influenced productivity, particularly on large projects. Ethnic diversity could either enhance or impair team cohesion, depending on whether the project manager took steps to build relationships and trust within their team.
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    The structural and personal effects of the swift trust film environment : a thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Psychology at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2013) Ellis, Georgina
    This thesis investigated New Zealand film production workers’ experiences of the ‘swift trust’ environment within the Auckland film and television industry. Previous research has identified swift trust between workers as a crucial mechanism for organising work within project based organisations. This research explored the ways in which working in a swift trust environment affects the personal and social identity of film workers. Semi structured, in-depth interviews were carried out with seven female and four male film production workers. Respondents had all worked successfully within the industry for over ten years and understood both the rewards and drawbacks of freelance film work. Respondents all identified swift trust as a key mechanism for facilitating the organisation of work within their industry. Clear cultural norms ensured workplace behaviours which supported cognitive, relational and motive-based trust mechanisms and facilitated collaboration, creativity and collective problem solving. The swift trust environment was experienced by respondents as personally validating. It had given them a strong sense of individual and social identity as wells as a clear sense of individual and collective purpose. However, all had experienced breakdowns in trust. Respondents recounted early difficulties coping with the extremes of working in an intense, high trust environment followed by the rejection of unemployment. Effects could be substantial and anxiety, depression and burnout was observed during the early years of careers. All respondents had also experienced the breakdown of trust at an organisational level with several suggesting that cultural norms around trust mean that interpersonal conflicts are poorly handled and constructive performance appraisals seldom given within the industry Over time interviewees developed a range of personal and industry focussed coping skills which enabled them to experience a high level of psychological safety and satisfaction from their work. These skills included a rapid ability to judge the trustworthiness of others; development of multiple social identities to soften the transition between work and unemployment and developing work related boundaries. Respondents believed these skills enabled them to thrive in project based freelance work environment and had added to their lives outside the industry. The thesis concludes with suggestions for increasing swift trust by improving performance and relational conflict management skills within the industry. It also suggests that the high trust environment of the film industry is highly rewarding for workers and would benefit more traditional organisations.