Postgraduate Course

Evidence-based management:Formulate a focused question

Postgraduate Course

The 5 steps of EBP

1. Formulate a focused question (Ask)

2. Search for the best available evidence (Acquire)

3. Critically appraise the evidence (Appraise)

4. Integrate the evidence with your professional expertise and apply (Apply)

5. Monitor the outcome (Assess)

Postgraduate Course

Asking the right question?

Effect vs Non-effect

Postgraduate Course

Types of questions: effect

Does it work?

Does it work better than ....?

Does it have an effect on ....?

What is the success factor for ....?

What is required to make it work ...?

Will it do more good than harm?

Effect

Postgraduate Course

Types of questions: non-effect

Needs: What do people want or need?

Attitude: What do people think or feel?

Experience: What are peoples’ experiences?

Prevalence: How many / often do people / organizations ...?

Procedure: How can we implement ...?

Process: How does it work?

Explanation: Why / how does it work?

Economics: How much does it cost?

Postgraduate Course

Focused question?

Does team-building work?

What are the costs and benefits of self-steering teams?

What are the success factors for culture change?

Does management development improve the

performance of managers?

Does employee participation prevent resistance to

change?

How do employees feel about 360 degree feedback?

Postgraduate Course

What is a ‘team’? What kind of teams? In what contexts/settings? What counts as ‘team-building’? What does ‘work’ mean? What outcomes are relevant? Over what time periods?

Focused question?

Does team-building work?

Postgraduate Course

P = Population

I = Intervention (or success factor)

C = Comparison

O = Outcome / Objectives

C = Context

Focused question: PICOC

Postgraduate Course

Example: merger

Postgraduate Course

Focused question: PICOC

Imagine you are a consultant, your client is the board of directors of a large Canadian health-care organization. The board of directors has plans for a merger with a smaller healthcare organization in a nearby town. However, it’s been said that the organizational culture differs widely between the two organizations. The board of directors asks you if this culture-difference can impede a successful outcome of a merger. Most of them intuitively sense that cultural differences matter, but they want an evidence-based advice.

Postgraduate Course

Answerable question: PICOC

What else would you like to know?

Postgraduate Course

Answerable question: PICOC

P: What kind of Population are we talking about? Middle managers, back-office employees, medical staff, clerical staff?

O: What kind of Outcome are we aiming for? Employee productivity, return on investment, profit margin, competitive position, innovation power, market share, customer satisfaction?

P/C: And how is the assumed cultural difference assessed? Is it the personal view of some managers or is it measured by a validated instrument?

Postgraduate Course

According to the board the objective of the merger is to integrate the back-office of the two organizations (ICT, finance, purchasing, facilities, personnel administration, etc.) in order to create economy of scale. The front offices and primary process of the two organizations will remain separate.

The cultural difference is not objectively assessed (it is the perception of the senior managers of both organizations).

Answerable question: PICOC

Postgraduate Course

P = back office employees

I = merger, integration back office

C = status quo

O = economy of scale

C = healthcare, different organizational culture, unequal

Answerable question: PICOC

Postgraduate Course

P = Population

I = Intervention or successfactor

C = Comparison

O = Outcome

C = Context

Focused question: PICOC

Employee productivity?

Job satisfaction?

Return on investment?

Market share?

Organizational commitment?

Postgraduate Course

Does a difference in organizational culture

affect a successful integration of back-office

functions during a merger between two

healthcare organizations of unequal size?

Focused question

Postgraduate Course

4 sources of evidence

Use the 4 sources of evidence to formulate sub questions