This article provides an introduction into the innovative use of the methodological approach of Mediated Discourse Analysis (MDA) and illustrates this with examples from an interventionist insider action research study. An overview of the method, including its foundation and association with the analysis of practice and how it can be situated within a reflexive ethnographic and critical realist stance, is presented. It offers samples of findings and analysis for each of the different aspects of method, structured by a set of heuristic questions, as well as an example showing the possibilities of theory development. The article constructs and shows an analytical pathway for HRD researchers to use MDA and concludes with a discussion about the advantages of utilizing MDA, in terms of theory and practice, as well as the practical issues in conducting an MDA study. The implication for the HRD research community is that MDA is a new, innovative, and germane approach for analyzing HRD practice within organizational settings.

Purpose The purpose of this research is to support responsible decision-making in Higher Education (HE) settings by understanding what type of learning journey satisfies students most in their HE experience and what they want from the learning. Design/methodology/approach This paper analyses the key tool used to assess satisfaction factors for UK students, the National Student Survey (NSS). It adopts peculiar regression statistical tests to identify the NSS items that influence “overall student satisfaction” by reviewing responses over 9 years from accountancy students at business schools located in England. Findings The findings of the study provide evidence that students are most satisfied with a learning journey where they are part of a course that is “well organised and running smoothly”, which provides “intellectual stimulation” that helps in developing their ability to “present themselves with confidence” and provides “academic advice and support”. The findings of the paper show that students are not satisfied so much by utilitarian aspects of learning but rather those that relate to who they are and where they are in their learning journey, the level of intellectual stimulation they have experienced, the self-confidence they have developed and the supportive relationship they have developed with academics. A factor that did not relate highly was “assessment and feedback” which has been the focus of much university resource. Results show the factors that impacted overall satisfaction are most related to students wanting to develop personal responsibility. These findings shape the key principles of responsible design and management of HE programmes and influence strategic decision-making. Practical implications Focussing on helping students experience, the type of learning journey that develops the virtue of responsibility emergent from the analysis will not only satisfy the student but will also have a knock-on effect of improving NSS scores, university league table ranking and accreditation under the Teaching Excellence Framework. The improved reputation aspects would then feed back into increased student satisfaction (Dean and Gibbs, 2015). The findings will also help HE managers and leaders to evaluate their decisions through three lenses: responsibility, students’ experience and students overall learning journey. Originality/value Much of the information published on the NSS have been predominantly descriptive and has resulted in decisions being made for students based on uninformed analysis of the survey’s results. This study uses advanced statistical modelling to evidence the relationship between factors of the NSS and overall student satisfaction providing key information regarding students’ importance to the type of learning journey they value and that this relates to a desire in wanting to develop responsibility. This study shows the link between factors of the NSS to provide useful lenses for HE managers and leaders to use to support responsible decision-making processes.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report on a research project, using intervention research (IR), which aims to identify how a higher education institution could develop process improvement (PI) capability. Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts a practice perspectives of routines, and classifies and catalogues the potential routines that could form PI capability. The development of these routines are investigated using the constructive research approach, a form of IR), in the action research mode. Within this approach, the methodology of mediated discourse analysis was employed to trace the empirical trajectory of the routine development, in a student management office within the context of an improvement project by the institutions PI unit. Findings Of relative significance is the implication that there is a small group of initialising PI practices which are accessible to practitioners, in contrast to a large set of critical success factors. Second, these PI practices transcend particular methodologies, meaning their development can be incorporated into customised, contextualised methodologies, by individual organisations. Practical implications The set of PI practices identified are able to be enacted by practitioners and are not dependent on macro-management factors. Second they are relatively simple to understand and are not associated with any particular improvement fad or fashion. Originality/value The study contributes to the appreciation of PI in higher education as a capability, and outlines the potential array of routines that could constitute that capability. It provides a theoretical view on how key PI routines are developed in an organisational field, and a more nuanced and richer view of “process mapping” and its effect on other PI practices.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand the phenomena of an employee “being valued” in the context of a manufacturing SME. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative study using rich data from in-depth interviews following a classical (Glaserian) grounded theory. Findings – A three dimensional concept of authentic pride enablement, altruistically-orientated shared-purpose and servant leadership explained the reasons people felt valued. Research limitations/implications – The limitations were that this study was in one context Practical implications – The implications are that if organisations consider a servant leadership approach, enabling of authentic pride and fostering of altruistically-orientated shared-purpose, this may help employees feel valued. Social implications – This has implications for how organisations can show their employees that they are valued. Originality/value – “Being valued” is a concept/construct that is widely quoted as a driver for employee engagement and yet rarely unpacked.

The paper utilises a form of Action Research, known as the 'Constructive Research Approach' (CRA), to explore how project teams could engender the development of process improvement (PI) routines in a higher education context. The methodology of Mediated Discourse Analysis (MDA), an ethnographic approach to researching practice, is used to trace the development of PI routines over time. The findings showed that process owners and actors who were engaged because of 'power' of an initial pre-project Kaizen event, then became more passive participants in the ensuing traditional improvement project, with reduced performances of the PI routines. The main contrition stemming from the work was the abduction of a hybrid model of participatory engagement, that of a 'Kaizen series'. This extended series of events affords the development of two key routines, 'the working with a process map' and the process analysis routine, by increasing opportunity for actors to perform these routines both within and between events, and by balancing the facilitation and empowerment routines. In addition, the Kaizen series is not dependent on any individual PI methodology. The resulting Kaizen series offers PI practitioners an opportunity to blend the best aspects of two different modes of engagement, Kaizen events and project improvement teams.