Michael Rouse

• Koerber, R.; Rouse, M. J.; Stanyar, K.; Pelletier, M., 2018, "Building Resilience in the Workforce", Organizational Dynamics, April 47(2): 124 - 134.
• Jacobs, J.; Rouse, M. J.; Yaquian, E.; Burke, S.; Zaric, G. S., 2017, "The Economic Impact of Workplace Wellness Programs in Canada", Occupational Medicine, August 67(6): 429 - 434.
  Abstract: Background The economic benefits of workplace wellness programmes (WWPs) are commonly cited as a reason for employers to implement such programmes however, there is limited evidence outside of the US context exploring their economic impact. US evidence is less relevant in countries such as Canada with universal publicly funded health systems because of the lower potential employer savings from WWPs. Aims To conduct a systematic review of the Canadian literature investigating the economic impact of WWPs from an employer perspective. The quality of that evidence was also assessed. Methods We reviewed literature which included analyses of four economic outcomes: return on investment calculations cost-effectiveness or cost-benefit analyses valuations of productivity, turnover, absenteeism andor presenteeism costs and valuations of health care utilization costs. We applied the British Medical Journal (BMJ) Economic Evaluation Working Party Checklist to evaluate the quality of this evidence. Results Eight studies met the inclusion criteria. Although the studies showed that WWPs generated economic benefits from an employer perspective (largely from productivity changes), none of the reviewed studies were in the high-quality category (i.e. fulfilled at least 75% of the checklist criteria) and most had severe methodological issues. Conclusions Though the Canadian literature pertaining to the economic impact of WWPs spans over three decades, robust evidence on this topic remains sparse. Future research should include a comparable control group, a time horizon of over a year, both direct and indirect costs, and researchers should apply analytical techniques that account for potential selection bias.

  Link(s) to publication:

  https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqx075

• Jacobs, J.; Burke, S.; Rouse, M. J.; Sarma, S.; Zaric, G. S., 2016, "Cardiovascular disease risk awareness and its association with preventive health behaviors: Evidence from a sample of Canadian workplaces", Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, May 58(5): 459 - 465.
  Abstract: Objective: To determine Canadian employees' level of awareness about their cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors and the association between CVD risk awareness and health behaviors. Methods: We used cross-sectional data to compare self-reported risk of CVD risk factors with biometric measures from a workplace screening clinic (n 320). We assessed the association between risk factor awareness and self-reported health behaviors using regression analyses. Results: Overall, 39% of employees did not know at least one of their CVD risk factors. These individuals were less likely to meet recommended physical activity levels and to consume three daily servings of fruits and vegetables, and more likely to report weekly fast food consumption. Conclusions: This study highlights a lack of awareness about cholesterol levels, in particular, and demonstrates a negative association between low CVD awareness and preventive health behaviors.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0000000000000694

• Sibbald, S.; Kothari, A.; Rudman, D.; Dobbins, M.; Rouse, M. J.; Edwards, N.; Gore, D., 2012, "Partnerships in Public Health: Lessons from Knowledge Translation and Program Planning", Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, April 44(1): 94 - 119.
  Abstract: The purpose of this study was to better understand how partnerships are initiated, maintained, and sustained in public health practice. A qualitative design was employed to conduct individual interviews and focus groups. The participants included practitioners from 6 purposively selected public health units in the Canadian province of Ontario that developed partnerships in program planning. It was found that partnerships play an essential role in program planning but that minimal information is available regarding the partnership process. Most partnerships are formed on an ad hoc basis, with little formalization. Public health professionals rely on their experiential knowledge when seeking out and working with partners. These findings can serve to inform future public health planning and strengthen the formation and maintenance of partnerships in public health and other sectors. Understanding how partnerships are initiated, maintained, and sustained is an important first step in supporting the use of research to advance collaborative public health efforts.
• Kothari, A.; Rudman, D.; Dobbins, M.; Rouse, M. J.; Sibbald, S.; Edwards, N., 2012, "The use of tacit and explicit knowledge in public health: A qualitative study", Implementation Science, March 7(20): 1 - 12.
  Abstract: Background: Planning a public health initiative is both a science and an art. Public health practitioners work in a complex, often time constrained environment, where formal research literature can be unavailable or uncertain. Consequently, public health practitioners often draw upon other forms of knowledge. Methods: Through use of one-on-one interviews and focus groups we aimed to gain a better understanding of how tacit knowledge is used to inform program initiatives in public health. This study was designed as a narrative inquiry, which is based on the assumption that we make sense of the world by telling stories. Four public health units were purposively selected for maximum variation, based on geography and academic affiliation. Results: Analysis revealed different ways in which tacit knowledge was used to plan the public health program or initiative, including discovering the opportunity, bringing a team together, and working out program details (such as partnering, funding). Conclusions: The findings of this study demonstrate that tacit knowledge is drawn upon, and embedded within, various stages of the process of program planning in public health. The results will be useful in guiding the development of future knowledge translation strategies for public health organizations and decision makers.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1748-5908-7-20

• Rowe, W. G.; O'Brien, J.; Rouse, M. J.; Nixon, R. D., 2012, "Navy Stories: Behavior versus Professional Control", Journal of Management Inquiry, January 21(1): 61 - 77.
  Abstract: We propose contingencies of behavior and professional control. We use two auto-ethnographic accounts to lend support to our theoretically derived propositions that using behavior control, when professional control is expected and appropriate, decreases organizational effectiveness. We argue that the more discrepant the expectations the more negative will be the effect, especially if the discrepancy persists over time. We suggest that professional control should be employed when intense socialization is present and organization-specific skills have been developed. The auto-ethnographic accounts are based on lived experiences that occurred in the Canadian Navy while one of the authors was an officer in that navy. We argue that the lived experiences help to generalize back to theory - an important step in theory development.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1056492611400751

• Lencucha, R.; Labonte, R.; Rouse, M. J., 2010, "Beyond Idealism and Realism: Canadian NGOGovernment Relations during the Negotiation of the FCTC", Journal of Public Health Policy, March 31(1): 74 - 87.
  Abstract: The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) marks a unique point in the history of global health governance. This convention produced the first legally binding treaty under the auspices of the World Health Organization. Another first was the extent to which non-governmental organizations (NGOs) participated in the negotiation process. This article explores the relationship between one group of NGOs and their respective government during the negotiation of the FCTC. Documentary analyses and 18 individual in-depth interviews were conducted with both government and NGO representatives. In contrast to the polar perspectives of idealism (NGOs as unique and autonomous) and realism (NGOs as funded arms of the government), our findings suggest that neither opposition nor conformity on the part of the NGOs characterize the relationship between the NGOs and government. While specific to the case under study (the FCTC), our findings nonetheless indicate the need for a nuanced view of the relationship between governments and NGOs, at least during the process of multilateral health policy negotiations.
• Lencucha, R.; Kothari, A.; Rouse, M. J., 2007, "Knowledge Translation: A Concept for Occupational Therapy", American Journal of Occupational Therapy, December 61(5): 593 - 596.
  Abstract: The evidence-based practice (EBP) concept has ignited rigorous discussion within the occupational therapy literature. In the September/October 2006 issue of the American Journal of Occupational Therapy (AJOT), for example, the issue of EBP was reframed as an issue of knowledge translation (Corcoran, 2006). This reframing has contributed to a growing discussion about knowledge, evidence, practice, the individual occupational therapist, and his or her professional community. A substantial dialogue around the use of research in occupational therapy practice first emerged in the 1980s in AJOT (Baum, 1987; Gilfoyle, 1984; Grady, 1987; Johnson, 1981; McLain, 1987; Ottenbacher, 1987; Ottenbacher, Barris, & Van Deusen, 1986; Reed, 1984). This dialogue sought to enter the evidence-based forum from the perspective of rehabilitation. However, this lens differed little from that of medicine, where the emphasis was on empirically based evidence use by the “rational” occupational therapist. Since that period, the dialogue in the broader field of health has expanded into a systems-level approach to research utilization, where the individual user is situated within an environment influenced by organizational values, organizational and team structure (Ilott, 2003), and interpersonal interaction (McCluskey, 2004). This contemporary perspective is known as knowledge translation and is articulated in the definition put forward by the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) (2005): Knowledge translation is the exchange, synthesis, and ethically sound application of knowledge—within a complex system of interactions among researchers and users—to accelerate the capture of the benefits of research for Canadians through improved health, more effective services and products, and a strengthened health care system.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://dx.doi.org/10.5014/ajot.61.5.593

• Ainuddin, A.; Beamish, P. W.; Hulland, J. S.; Rouse, M. J., 2007, "Resource Attributes and International Joint Venture Performance", Journal of World Business, February 42(1): 47 - 60.
  Abstract: Using the resource-based view of the firm as a theoretical basis, we examine how four key resource attributes affect performance. The relationship between resource attributes and performance is studied in the context of international joint ventures (IJVs), using data from 96 IJVs in Malaysia. Executives were asked to assess the extent to which four resources (product reputation, technical expertise, local business network and marketing skills) exhibited the following attributes: (1) value (2) rarity (3) imperfect imitability and (4) non-substitutability. For each resource, the relationships between these attribute ratings and IJV performance were analyzed. We found that each of the four attributes had an influence on IJV performance, but that this varies by the type of resource involved. Value, rarity, and non-substitutability were found to be significant drivers of performance for IJV assets. In contrast, value, rarity, and non-imitability were critical attributes for organizational capabilities.
• St.Amour, W. F.; Rouse, M. J., 2004, "Knowledge Translation and Risk Management", Risk Management: An International Journal, December 6(2): 9 - 15.
  Abstract: Knowledge translation is a timely topic generally and for risk management particularly. In this paper knowledge translation and its application to risk management are described. The papers in this special issue provide some theoretical underpinning of risk and knowledge translation, and specific case examples of knowledge translation processes related to risk management.
• Rouse, M. J.; Daellenbach, U., 2002, "More Thinking on Research Methods for the Resource-Based Perspective", Strategic Management Journal, December 23(10): 963 - 969.
  Abstract: This paper re-examines the benefits of using a broader set of research methods to address key questions associated with the resource-based view of the firm. In responding to Edward Levitas and Tailan Chi's article "Rethinking Rouse and Daellenbach's Rethinking: Isolating vs. Testing for Sources of Sustainable Competitive Advantage" (2002), this comment considers how research inside organizations can complement and augment research relying on secondary data.
• Rouse, M. J., 1999, "Rethinking Research Methods for the Resource-based Perspective: Isolating Sources of Sustainable Competitive Advantage", Strategic Management Journal, December 20(5): 487 - 494.
  Abstract: An exploration of traditional perspectives and contemporary propositions regarding sustainable competitive advantage points to the conclusion that the locus of advantage is located specifically within organizational effects. The key issue emerges that research investigating sources of sustainable competitive advantage must be done not only on organizations but also in organizations. The fallout from this conclusion is, however, that the research methodologies traditionally used in strategy research will not unambiguously uncover these sources of sustainable advantage. Using organizational culture as an example of a possible source of sustainable advantage within a resource-based paradigm, a four-step research framework is suggested for isolating these organizational effects.
• Rouse, M. J.; Fleising, U., 1995, "Miners and Managers: Workplace Cultures in a British Columbia Coal Mine", Human Organization, December 5(3): 238 - 248.
  Abstract: A model developed specifically for organizational culture analysis is tested in an industrial relations case study of social change. The progression and deterioration of worker and management relations is seen within the context of changing world coal market contingencies, company adaptation to those changes, and workers' response to management's actions. From an organizational culture perspective, both management's and workers' responses are generated by their culturally formed interpretations of, and adaptations to, their environments. The research identifies two distinctive cultures within the organization which partly account for the conflictual interactions (e.g., 'oppressive' industrial relations strategies, illegal strikes, etc.). The model is useful within organizational contexts, especially clinical or consultancy contexts, but some modifications are required to gain a more complete understanding of organizational culture.

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