bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Improving screening for diabetes in cystic fibrosis
Authors: Abdulhamid Ibrahim , Guglani Lokesh , Bouren Jennifer , Moltz Kathleen C
Published: May 2015

Purpose

– Annual screening for cystic fibrosis-related-diabetes (CFRD) using oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) is recommended, but national testing rates are low. The purpose of this paper is to implement the quality improvement (QI) initiative to improve cystic fibrosis (CF) annual screening rates among patients at one CF center.

Design/methodology/approach

– To improve screening for CFRD at the CF Center, the authors used the Dartmouth Microsystem Improvement Ramp method and formed a collaborative working group. A process map was created to outline the steps and a fishbone analysis was performed to identify barriers and to utilize resources for implementing new interventions.

Findings

– Prior to these interventions, 21 percent of eligible patients had completed annual screening and after the intervention, it rose to 72 percent. The initial completion rate with the first prescription was only 50 percent, but it improved steadily to 54/75 (72 percent) in response to reminder letters sent six weeks after the initial script was given.

Practical implications

– Close tracking and reminder letters can improve adherence with annual OGTT screening for CFRD among CF patients, with special emphasis on high-risk patients.

Originality/value

– There should be a special emphasis on screening for CFRD in high-risk CF patients (those with low BMI or higher age). This QI initiative brought about several operational changes in the annual OGTT screening process that have now become the standard operating procedure at the center.
A memetic algorithm based on hyper-heuristics for examination timetabling problems
Authors: Lei Yu , Gong Maoguo , Jiao Licheng , Zuo Yi
Published: May 2015

Purpose

– The examination timetabling problem is an NP-hard problem. A large number of approaches for this problem are developed to find more appropriate search strategies. Hyper-heuristic is a kind of representative methods. In hyper-heuristic, the high-level search is executed to construct heuristic lists by traditional methods (such as Tabu search, variable neighborhoods and so on). The purpose of this paper is to apply the evolutionary strategy instead of traditional methods for high-level search to improve the capability of global search.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper combines hyper-heuristic with evolutionary strategy to solve examination timetabling problems. First, four graph coloring heuristics are employed to construct heuristic lists. Within the evolutionary algorithm framework, the iterative initialization is utilized to improve the number of feasible solutions in the population; meanwhile, the crossover and mutation operators are applied to find potential heuristic lists in the heuristic space (high-level search). At last, two local search methods are combined to optimize the feasible solutions in the solution space (low-level search).

Findings

– Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach obtains competitive results and outperforms the compared approaches on some benchmark instances.

Originality/value

– The contribution of this paper is the development of a framework which combines evolutionary algorithm and hyper-heuristic for examination timetabling problems.
Enhancing university teaching and learning through mentoring
Authors: Pleschová Gabriela , McAlpine Lynn
Published: May 2015

Purpose

– Mentoring has been increasingly used in educational development to facilitate transfer of knowledge from programs for higher education teachers to their pedagogic practice. However, studies are missing which would critically assess the outcomes of mentoring in programs for university teachers. The purpose of this paper is to systematically review existing research on mentoring in the context of educational development in higher education.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using a careful search strategy, 17 relevant scholarly sources were selected and analyzed to document the results of mentoring at individual, departmental and institutional levels.

Findings

– Among the striking findings was the lack of clarity or definition surrounding mentoring and similar terms, coaching and tutoring and the lack of methodological rigour in many studies. However, those methodologically more advanced studies suggest that mentoring can become a valuable component of educational development programs. As reported by previous research, mentoring can: enhance university teachers’ cognitive abilities, beliefs and attitudes; improve the effectiveness of teaching; increase teachers’ capability to research teaching and learning; enhance mentoring skills; and improve the overall teaching climate at universities.

Practical implications

– Categorization of different types of outcomes of mentoring in educational development can help the practitioners engaged in introducing or re-designing educational development programs with a mentoring element.

Originality/value

– This is the first systematic review of the studies discussing the process, value and outcomes of teacher mentoring to improve pedagogical practice at the university level.
Caring relationships and efficient social care provision
Authors: Hollinrake Sue , Thomas Will
Published: May 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to understand the nature of support that helps older people continue living in their own homes for as long as they wish to.

Design/methodology/approach

– The research made use of a participatory approach in which service users, service providers and commissioners were involved in the design of the approach in addition to contributing to the research as participants in their own right.

Findings

– This paper presents analysis from the research which focuses on the importance of caring relationships for providing a support mechanism. The authors question whether budget cuts and efficiency drives within statutory care providers preclude the notion of caring relationships.

Practical implications

– The authors suggest, in the light of the evidence presented, that statutory service providers should acknowledge the role that caring relationships play in providing support for older people. Whilst budget cuts make providing support for caring relationships more challenging, the authors suggest that there is scope for delivering services and support in ways which promote the types of interactions which better support older people living independently.

Originality/value

– The analysis presented here provides a distinctive, timely and thoughtful insight into support for older people at a time when public sector budgets are under increasing pressure.
Payment by results: the materialist reconstruction of criminal justice
Authors: Whitehead Philip
Published: May 2015

Purpose

– The criminal justice system in England and Wales is being reconstructed on a new operating platform of which Payment by Results (PbR) is the material signifier. This critical historic transformation is occurring during a period of radical economic disruption and political restructuring after 2007-2008. PbR signals the deeper penetration of the core principles of capitalism into the body of the state and its welfare and criminal justice system. Conceptually a Lacanian-Žižekian framework is put to work to theorise these important transformations. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– The design and methodology of this research paper utilises open sources and documentary materials on the development of PbR, in its application primarily to the criminal justice system.

Findings

– There is evidence that PbR, located within the wider context of capitalist reconstruction, is radically transforming the delivery of criminal justice services.

Originality/value

– This is the first critical analysis of PbR located within the context of late modern capitalism.
Pre-school practitioners, child poverty and social justice
Authors: Simpson Donald , Lumsden Eunice , McDowall Clark Rory
Published: May 2015

Purpose

– Several ideas exist about social justice and how inequalities can be tackled to help families and children in poverty. The Coalition government released the UK’s first Child Poverty Strategy in 2011. Pervaded by neoliberal ideology, the strategy mentions “empowering” pre-school services and practitioners within the childcare market “to do more for the most disadvantaged” (Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Department for Education (DfE) 2011, p. 35). The purpose of this paper is to bring to light how Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) practitioners across England have engaged with policy discussions and adopted expectations concerning their place in addressing child poverty.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using a phenomenological qualitative research design the paper draws upon 30 interviews with pre-school practitioners in three geographic areas of England. All interviewees worked with families and children in poverty and were senior ECEC practitioners within their pre-school settings.

Findings

– Many interviewees shared the Coalition’s construction of child poverty as a problem of “troubled” parenting. These views pervaded their interaction with parents and intersected with the regulatory influence of “policy technologies” to influence their practice within a context of austerity cuts. This limited practitioners’ poverty sensitivity and their promotion of social justice. Therefore this paper concludes by critiquing the contribution which ECEC practitioners can make to addressing child poverty.

Practical implications

– The findings suggest there may be a need for poverty proofing toolkits in the pre-school sector.

Originality/value

– This paper provides a rare insight into how pre-school practitioners have engaged with, adopted and adapted assumptions about their role within policy discussion over child poverty and the promotion of social justice.
Why do people use social computing? An experiential perspective
Authors: Tehone Abiyot B. , Zo Hangjung , Ciganek Andrew P.
Published: May 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework to describe the continual usage of social computing systems from an experiential perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

– A conceptual framework is developed using theories formulated from a variety of disciplines including information system (IS) continuance, relationship formation, human-computer interaction, and motivation theory.

Findings

– The conceptual framework encompasses the relationship and experiential perspective of user-computer interactions. The framework also identifies factors that contribute to the continual usage of social computing by users and how these factors are related with system features.

Research limitations/implications

– This study does not include an empirical analysis to validate the conceptual framework proposed in this study. Future research is encouraged to examine the ten propositions from the proposed conceptual framework.

Practical implications

– The conceptual framework takes a different approach which is well suited for examining the continual usage of social computing applications (SCAs).

Originality/value

– Previous research investigating factors that contribute to the continual usage of social computing often examined using static and utilitarian-based models. The conceptual framework in this study provides a different perspective for explaining why people use SCAs.
A review of the critical factors affecting Islamic market mechanisms in Malaysia
Authors: Ali Md Arphan , Rahman Muhammad Khalilur , Rahman Mahfuzur , Albaity Mohamed , Jalil Md Abdul
Published: May 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to explore the critical factors that influence Muslim consumers’ motivation towards the Islamic market mechanism.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper also attempts to formulate Ibnomer Mohamed Sharfudddin’s “Islamic Administrative theory and Klaus Hurrelmann’s socialization theory” based on the “productive processing of reality (PPR)” model. The data were collected by distributing a self-administered questionnaire to a sample of 147 participants residing in the major cities in Peninsular Malaysia. The constructs and items used in the questionnaire were derived from the basic guidelines provided in the literature review and Al-Qur’an and Sunnah (Prophet’s deeds) on the conduct of Malaysian business practices.

Findings

– The results suggest that while awareness of the Islamic market mechanisms exists amongst businesses, in practice, not many obey such rules. However, a significant relationship does exist between the Muslim consumer motivational factors and Islamic market mechanisms.

Research limitations/implications

– First, limitation in scope as only two main components (productive service and commodity market) practices was examined. Future research may include other types of variables practices in the Islamic market mechanism. Second, the sample size is small and respondents were restricted to marketing and the academic sector. Future research should be done on bigger sample size and more on diverse sample, such as extended to the manufacturing sector and the service industry because manufacturing firms and the service sector might have different Islamic market mechanism practices and outcomes compared to marketing and the academic sector.

Practical implications

– Productive service and commodity market have positive impact on consumers’ motivation towards the Islamic market mechanism. Government’s controlling and monitoring in the market has positive effect on consumers’ motivation in selecting the Islamic market mechanism.

Social implications

– There is a need for more research on how to establish the Islamic market mechanism practice. In addition, the outcomes of this paper are of particular significance to policymakers, as it better informs them as to how best to design the Islamic market mechanism to make it more practical regardless of various religious beliefs.

Originality/value

– This research is a rare attempt on the part of scholars and researchers in Malaysia to relate the Islamic market mechanism practices and guidelines on a specific discipline. Based on the researchers’ knowledge, it is the first study investigating the application of the Islamic market mechanism practice in Malaysia.
Revealing factors hindering halal certification in East Kalimantan Indonesia
Authors: Prabowo Sulistyo , Abd Rahman Azmawani , Ab Rahman Suhaimi , Samah Asnarulkhadi Abu
Published: May 2015

Purpose

– This study aims to explore various factors that hamper halal certification in food service industries in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. World halal business as well as awareness in halal products and services consumption has been growing rapidly for the past few years. However, many industry players have not yet realized those huge potential concepts of halal business. Food service industries such as restaurants and caterings show less concern in putting priority on the issue of halal certification.

Design/methodology/approach

– A qualitative data collection technique called nominal group technique (NGT) was used in this study. Four categories of stakeholders participated in this NGT to represent certifying body, consumers, industry player and government. Each category was given a fundamental question: “What factors are hindering restaurant and catering in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, in obtaining halal certification?”

Findings

– The authors found that through NGT, the authors can obtain top priority issues to be followed up by the respecting institutions which are concerned. The lack of socialization and information have led to the lack of knowledge and awareness. This is the most important issue addressed by the participants.

Research limitations/implications

– This research was conducted to collect data from various stakeholders in East Kalimantan Province of Indonesia. Considering the vast expanse of Indonesia and different level of development in each province, results of this study could not be generalized as Indonesia situation in general.

Practical implications

– Halal certification in food service industry gains low interest from industries. This research presents hampering factors in various perspectives and offers some suggestions to overcome those issues accordingly.

Originality/value

– It is hard to find research paper discussing halal management from the Indonesian perspective. This paper extends the use of NGT in halal management with the perspectives from many stakeholders in food service industries. It provides a relatively new finding from the Indonesian point of view.
A study on distributed transcoding using dynamic allocation of virtual machines in a cloud computing environment
Authors: Gu Seokmo , Seo Aria , Kim Yei-chang
Published: May 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is a transcoding system based on a virtual machine in a cloud computing environment. There are many studies about transmitting realistic media through a network. As the size of realistic media data is very large, it is difficult to transmit them using current network bandwidth. Thus, a method of encoding by compressing the data using a new encoding technique is necessary. The next-generation encoding technique high-efficiency video coding (HEVC) can encode video at a high compressibility rate compared to the existing encoding techniques, MPEG-2 and H.264. Yet, encoding the information takes at least ten times longer than existing encoding techniques.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper attempts to solve the tome problem using a virtual machine in a cloud computing environment.

Findings

– In addition, by calculating the transcoding time of the proposed technique, it found that the time was reduced compared to existing techniques.

Originality/value

– To this end, this paper proposed transcoding appropriate for the transmission of realistic media by dynamically allocating the resources of the virtual machine.
An outlook of electric vehicle daily use in the framework of an energy management system
Authors: Neves de Melo Hugo , Trovão João P. , Henggeler Antunes Carlos , Pereirinha Paulo G. , Jorge Humberto M.
Published: May 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to present a prospective study of sustainable mobility in the framework of a supporting energy management systems (EMS). Technological advances are still required, namely electric vehicles (EV) endowed with improved EMS in order to increase their performance by making the most of available energy storage technologies. As EVs may be seen as a special domestic load, EMS are proposed based on demand-sensitive pricing strategies such as the Energy Box discussed in this paper.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study presents an overview of electric mobility and an urban EV project, with special focus on the utilization of its energy sources and their relation with the energy demand of a typical urban driving cycle. Results based on the ECE 15 standard driving cycle for different free market electricity tariffs are presented.

Findings

– The analysis based on present Portuguese power and energy tariffs reveals that it is highly questionable whether the resulting profit will be enough to justify the potential inconveniences to the vehicle user, as well as those resulting from the increased use of batteries.

Practical implications

– The conclusions indicate that more studies on the trade-offs between grid to vehicle and vehicle to grid schemes and electricity pricing mechanisms are needed in order to understand how the utilization of EVs can become more attractive in the end-users’ and utilities’ perspectives.

Originality/value

– The paper proposes an approach for future electricity tariff behavior that could be applied to EVs in order to understand whether or not their grid integration in charge and discharge situations would be beneficial for end-users and utilities, in the framework of smart energy management technologies.
Are new mental nurses prepared for practice?
Authors: Walsh Andrew
Published: May 2015

Purpose

– As well as working with people who have serious mental health problems, mental health nurses have to maintain a values-based approach to their interactions with mental health service users. However, some have suggested that students and newly qualified nurses are unprepared for this role. The purpose of this paper is to explore perceptions of practising mental health nurses, third year mental health nurse students and lecturers about how well students are being prepared for practice.

Design/methodology/approach

– A two-phase phenomenological study within a mental health nurse training institution and with staff from a Mental Health Trust in England. The study collected questionnaire responses from 87 participants (42 third year mental health nurse students, 39 practising mental health nurses and six nurse lecturers). A Likert scale questionnaire with written feedback produced data that formed the schedule for ten subsequent focus groups with 41 participants from the above categories. Focus group data were analysed using a process of interpretive phenomenological analysis. This led to the development of three main study themes. The transition from student to registered nurse is difficult, the importance of learning from experience, violence and aggression is difficult to manage, working effectively with victims of sexual abuse or those who have a diagnosis of personality disorder is difficult.

Findings

– Whilst the study found some evidence to suggest the development of positive values there is a perception that newly qualified mental health nurses lack confidence in other important areas. Participants also expressed doubt about whether it was possible to prepare someone for practice completely. Another finding was that the relationship between student and the mentor is critical to the quality of practice learning.

Research limitations/implications

– Study limitations are that this is a small selection of participants from one particular area. The researcher attempted to ensure that this study has internal validity. However, it is possible to question the extent to which findings may apply to other areas. Therefore, this study may be most useful to others as a basis for the discussion and comparison of these issues within mental health nurse educators.

Practical implications

– The need to encourage proactive learning approaches in students is emphasised. Universities should facilitate the sharing of clinical learning experiences as well as developing realistic training in the management of violence and aggression. It is possible to question how well nurses are prepared to work with the physical health needs of service users.

Originality/value

– This paper gives information about mental health nurse preparation for practice, which will be of value to training organisations as well as to employers of newly qualified mental health nursing staff.
Comparing carer wellbeing: implications for eating disorders
Authors: Linacre Stephen , Heywood-Everett Suzanne , Sharma Vishal , Hill Andrew J.
Published: May 2015

Purpose

– Around 50 per cent of carers of people with eating disorders (EDs) experience mental health difficulties. The purpose of this paper is to investigate well-being of carers of people with ED and carers of people with severe and enduring eating disorders (SEEDs).

Design/methodology/approach

– Carers (n=104) were recruited from UK support groups and stratified using duration of the care recipient’s ED (0-2, 2-6,
>
6 years), with the
>
6 years category classified as SEED. Data were compared with existing carer well-being studies of other patient groups.

Findings

– Carers of people with SEED were not significantly different on reported well-being to carers of people with ED. However, carers of people with ED reported significantly less well-being than community norms, carers of people with brain injury and of people with dementia. Specifically, poorer social functioning was reported.

Research limitations/implications

– Further research on carers of people with SEED is warranted as carers of people with SEED were not equally balanced in gender. It would be beneficial if support groups and skill-based workshops were more available for carers.

Originality/value

– This is the first known study to compare carer well-being of people with SEED with carers of other clinical populations. Further research is required to identify the needs of carers.
Virtual ethnography: corporate virtual diversity communication
Authors: Long Shawn D. , Doerer Sharon , Stewart Oscar J.
Published: May 2015

Purpose

– Research examining organizational diversity has largely ignored the role corporate web sites play in establishing the tone for diversity in organizations. Serving as “electronic storefronts,” corporate web sites are typically the first point of contact individuals have with an organization. The purpose of this paper is to centralize communication as a critical tool in understanding the strategies corporations use to communicate their diversity philosophy, practices and policies. This virtual ethnographic study examines corporate web sites (n=100) across industries and sectors to capture the strategies organizations use to strategically communicate diversity to a variety of stakeholders.

Design/methodology/approach

– Taking a virtual ethnographic, this study examines 100 corporate web sites across industries to capture the methods organizations employ to strategically communicate diversity in their respective organization.

Findings

– Results from this ethnographic study reveal that organizations typically use three strategies in their diversity messages: impression management, persuasion and strategic ambiguity. Strategic ambiguity and the persuasive use of selling, telling and framing their diversity message are ubiquitous in corporate diversity communication. The use of these strategies may have a profound impact on how diversity is perceived within organizations. Implications for practice and research are discussed.

Originality/value

– This is one of the first social science/humanistic studies to examine diversity messages on corporate web sites and advances a conceptual framework for electronic diversity communication. Additionally, this project employs a virtual ethnographic approach, a novel, yet contemporary, method.
The mutual constitution of legal environments and practices
Authors: Styhre Alexander , Arman Rebecka
Published: May 2015

Purpose

– Institutional theorists treat law and regulations as external factors that is part of the organization’s environment. While institutional theory has been criticized for its inability to recognize the role of agents and to theorize agency, the growing literature on institutional work and institutional entrepreneurship, partially informed by and co-produced with practice theory, advances a more dynamic view of processes of institutionalization. In order to cope with legal and regulatory frameworks, constituting the legal environment of the organization, there are evidence of organizational responses in the form of bargaining, political negotiations, and decoupling of organizational units and processes. The purpose of this paper is to report how legal and regulatory frameworks both shape clinical practices while at the same time they are also informed by the activities and interests of professional communities and commercial clinics.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper reports an empirical study of the Swedish-assisted conception industry and is based on a case study methodology including the use of interviews and formal documents and reports issues by governmental agencies.

Findings

– The empirical material demonstrates how scientists in reproductive medicine and clinicians regard the legal and regulatory framework as what ensures and reinforces the quality of the therapies. At the same time, they actively engage to modify the legal and regulatory framework in the case when they believe it would benefit the patients. The data reported presents one successful case of how PGD/PGS can be used to develop the efficacy of the therapy, and one unsuccessful case of regulatory change in the case of patient interest groups advocating a legalization of commercial gestational surrogacy. In the former case, scientific know-how and medicinal benefits served to “push” the new clinical practice, while in the latter case, the “demand-pull” of patient interest groups fails to get recognition in regulatory and policy-making quarters.

Originality/value

– The study contributes to the literature on agency in institutional theory (e.g. the emerging literature on institutional work) by emphasizing how legal and regulatory frameworks are in a constant process of being modified and negotiated in the face of novel technoscientific practices and social demands. More specifically, this process include many scientific, technological, economic, political and social relations and resources, making the legal environment of organizations what is the outcome from joint negotiations and agreements across organizational and professional boundaries.
Managing stress
Authors: Thunman Elin
Published: May 2015

Purpose

– Given the parallel processes of stress development and organisational changes towards increased managerialism, the purpose of this paper is to understand the way in which employees’ stress is perceived and managed in female- and male-dominated sectors, characterised by new management-oriented steering methods.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper is based on a thematic analysis of interviews with managers and employees at one Swedish female-dominated work setting and one male-dominated work setting. The paper offers an analysis of how managerial approaches to stress mediate the ways in which employees may come to govern their own subjectivity through stress-management practices. Drawing upon Foucault’s and Rose’s work on governmentality and freedom, these practices are understood as implicated in the everyday exercise of power over the self.

Findings

– The main finding is that a logic emphasising proactivity was more prevalent at the female-dominated workplace, while a logic emphasising trust was most prevalent at the male-dominated workplace. Both logics perceive self-management and self-realisation as ways to manage stress, but in the proactive regime, self-management and self-realisation tend to turn into new modes of exploitation. Approaches to stress management in the proactive regime in fact seem to further diminish levels of discretion and control, which, according to previous research, are typically already low in female-dominated work.

Practical implications

– Based on these findings, the study argues for the importance of combining a self-managerial approach with trust in order to avoid turning the individualisation of work into a source of stress at female-dominated workplaces.

Originality/value

– The paper contributes to a more complex understanding of women’s work stress by highlighting its interconnection with a proactive stress management regime.
Transforming capabilities in offshoring processes
Authors: Jørgensen Claus , Friis Ole Uhrskov , Koch Christian
Published: May 2015

Purpose

– This paper aims to focus on how organisational capabilities, enhancing the dynamic capability perspective, evolve during a more than five-year offshoring process in four Danish small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The strategic decision to offshore some manufacturing activities meant that capabilities were ruptured and had to be rebuilt.

Design/methodology/approach

– The empirical investigation took the form of qualitative case studies with a longitudinal orientation focussing in on a few events in the four cases (strategic change in the sourcing configuration) as a process research design (Pettigrew, 1990; Van de Ven, 2007). Interviews were transcribed and coded in NVivo.

Findings

– The four cases followed distinct trajectories, but they all changed their routines regarding how to handle knowledge, including both technology and human resources. A need for specific human resources acting as boundary spanners arose, transforming both intra- and inter-organisational practices in all four cases. More complex activities were moved offshore to enhance the dynamic capabilities of the companies regarding both product development as well as specific processes, thereby transforming/reconfiguring the organisational capabilities of the companies. However, in the two small-sized cases, more complex/less routinised activities were backsourced, demonstrating a significant problem over time with the development of sufficient organisational resources to maintain seizing and sensing capabilities within these companies in comparison with the two other medium-sized cases.

Research limitations/implications

– The fact that most of the data were generated from an inside-out perspective, taking the point of departure in the core firms, can be viewed as a limitation. The authors’ data on the wider network are also limited. Finally, the authors’ interviews are conducted relatively infrequently when considering the length of the process.

Practical implications

– The four longitudinal cases show that the longer-term offshoring journey does not involve a single path or a single best practice. The cases show captive as well as outsourcing arrangements and even enterprise transformations. The cases demonstrate a common focus on finding and nurturing core suppliers and core business processes, which can be characterised as continual learning and development of organising capabilities.

Originality/value

– The study contributes to the growing body of research into dynamic (organisational) capabilities in an offshoring and SME context.
A stakeholder approach to corporate social responsibility, reputation and business performance
Authors: Taghian Mehdi , D’Souza Clare , Polonsky Michael
Published: May 2015

Purpose

– This paper aims to investigate business managers’ assessment of stakeholders’ influence on corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. The key stakeholders included “employees” and “unions” as internal and “public”, the “media” and the “government” as external stakeholders. The purpose was to estimate the influence of stakeholders that managers perceive as important. Moreover, the study sought to identify association between the CSR construct and corporate reputation and in turn whether this influences business performance.

Design/methodology/approach

– This study uses a mail survey with a random sampling of senior managers sourced from Dun & Bradstreet’s Australian business database, focusing on large organizations (i.e. minimum $10 million p.a. reported sales and minimum 100 employees) as the selection criteria. A conceptual model was developed and tested using structural equation modeling.

Findings

– The results identified that “employees” and the “public” are perceived to be the influential stakeholder groups in CSR decision-making. There was evidence of a positive relationship between the CSR construct and reputation, which in turn influenced market share, but not profitability.

Research limitations/implications

– This study examined a cross-section of organizations using Dun & Bradstreet’s database of Australian businesses and may not fully represent the Australian business mix. The effective response rate of 7.2 per cent appears to be low, even though it is comparable with other research in the CSR area. There may have been some self-selection by the respondents, although there were no statistically significant differences identified in the corporate characteristics of those invited to participate and those responding with usable questionnaires.

Practical implications

– Managers can adopt a stakeholder-influenced CSR strategy to generate strong corporate reputation to improve business performance. It is important to ensure that the interests of “employees” and “public” stakeholders are addressed within organizational strategy. Respondents were less concerned about government stakeholders and thus government involvement in organizational CSR may need to be revisited.

Social implications

– The major concern that emerges from these findings is the absence of the perceived importance of regulatory stakeholders on firms’ CSR activities. Regulatory controls of CSR messages could reduce or eliminate inaccurate and misleading information to the public.

Originality/value

– The analysis explains the perceived relative influence of stakeholders on CSR decisions. It also provides an understanding of the link between organizational CSR reputation and organization’s performance.
Corporate response to human resource disclosure recommendations
Authors: Alvarez America
Published: May 2015

Purpose

– This paper aims to study corporate response to intellectual capital and social responsibility disclosure recommendations regarding employees. Such an analysis would reveal which forms of corporate interest induce a company to disclose: reflecting the firm’s value to satisfy priority shareholders’ needs of information or improving the corporate social image to meet the demands of stakeholders other than capital providers.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper quantify the extent to which 105 Spanish listed companies present in their annual reports information about employees. Human resource disclosure attending the recommendations of social disclosure and information linked to value creation following the information included in the intellectual capital models are distinguished. A content analysis of 105 companies’ annual reports was conducted. Once the information was quantified, the author considers which theoretical arguments of voluntary/social disclosure motive that a company follows have different recommendations about human resource disclosure.

Findings

– The findings reflect the existent recommendations are not enough for companies to disclose about human resources. Spanish companies pay more attention to social issues about employee than to others human capital aspects usually integrated in the intellectual capital.

Research limitations/implications

– It would be interesting to extend the period of analysis to study the trend in human resource disclosure and to use an alternative measure of disclosing as the information quality.

Practical implications

– These findings concluded that the fundamental aim of Spanish companies is to reflect social behaviour regarding employees. Less important appears to be to inform about business capacity, through human element, for creating value. The necessity of explicit disclosure requirements to Spanish companies’ disclosure on human resources is also detected.

Originality/value

– Some studies have been carried out to analyse disclosure on intellectual capital or on social issues but not since a broad perspective. Furthermore, these studies have not been done in Spain. The author may confirm that the influence of some stakeholders in this country is conditioning corporate disclosure.
Ameliorating effect of the novel dipeptidyl peptidase‐4 inhibitor teneligliptin on psoriasis: A report of two cases
Authors: Nagai Hiroshi , Fujiwara Susumu , Takahashi Yutaka , Nishigori Chikako
Published: May 2015

Dipeptidyl peptidase‐4 inhibitors are a new class of antidiabetic agents also shown to possess immunomodulatory functions. Although various dipeptidyl peptidase‐4 inhibitors have been widely used and assumed to be administrated in many patients with psoriasis accompanied by type 2 diabetic mellitus, only two studies have shown that sitagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase‐4 inhibitor, improved the cutaneous symptom of psoriasis independently of its antihyperglycemic effect. We report two cases of psoriatic skin lesions that obviously ameliorated after initiation of therapy with teneligliptin, a novel dipeptidyl peptidase‐4 inhibitor. This report strengthens the notion that dipeptidyl peptidase‐4 inhibitors clinically exert an ameliorating effect on psoriatic lesions. Considering the pharmacokinetic data that indicate the high penetrative ability of teneligliptin into skin tissue, teneligliptin may be considered an effective agent for improving skin lesions of psoriasis.
Bodily rights and collective claims: the work of legal activists in interpreting reproductive and maternal rights in India
Authors: Heitmeyer Carolyn , Unnithan Maya
Published: May 2015

This article engages with anthropological approaches to the study of global human rights discourses around reproductive and maternal health in India. Whether couched in the language of human rights or of other social justice frameworks, different forms of claims‐making in India exist in tandem and correspond to particular traditions of activism and struggle. Universal reproductive rights language remains a discourse aimed at the state in India, where the primary purpose is to demand greater accountability in the domain of policy and governance. Outside of these spheres, other languages are strategically chosen by activists for their greater resonance in addressing individual cases of women claiming reproductive violence within the context of the family as well as localized histories of feminist struggle and social justice. In focusing on the work of legal activists and the discourses which inform their interventions, this article seeks to understand how the language of reproductive rights is used in the context of India, not as a `Western import' which is adapted to local contexts, but rather as one of multiple frameworks of claims‐making drawn upon by legal activists emerging from distinct histories of struggle for gender equality and social justice.
Posterior predictive checks of coalescent models: P2C2M, an R package
Authors: Gruenstaeudl Michael , Reid Noah M. , Wheeler Gregory L. , Carstens Bryan C.
Published: May 2015

Bayesian inference operates under the assumption that the empirical data are a good statistical fit to the analytical model, but this assumption can be challenging to evaluate. Here, we introduce a novel r package that utilizes posterior predictive simulation to evaluate the fit of the multispecies coalescent model used to estimate species trees. We conduct a simulation study to evaluate the consistency of different summary statistics in comparing posterior and posterior predictive distributions, the use of simulation replication in reducing error rates and the utility of parallel process invocation towards improving computation times. We also test P2C2M on two empirical data sets in which hybridization and gene flow are suspected of contributing to shared polymorphism, which is in violation with the coalescent model: Tamias chipmunks and Myotis bats. Our results indicate that (i) probability‐based summary statistics display the lowest error rates, (ii) the implementation of simulation replication decreases the rate of type II errors, and (iii) our r package displays improved statistical power compared to previous implementations of this approach. When probabilistic summary statistics are used, P2C2M corroborates the assumption that genealogies collected from Tamias and Myotis are not a good fit to the multispecies coalescent model. Taken as a whole, our findings argue that an assessment of the fit of the multispecies coalescent model should accompany any phylogenetic analysis that estimates a species tree.
Efficacy of a Danish version of the Cool Kids program: a randomized wait‐list controlled trial
Authors: Arendt K. , Thastum M. , Hougaard E.
Published: May 2015

Objective

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of a Danish version of the Cool Kids program, a generic manualized group cognitive‐behavioural therapy (CBT) program for anxiety disorders among children and adolescents.

Method

Children and adolescents (age 7–16) with a primary anxiety disorder diagnosis (n = 109) were randomly allocated to group CBT or a wait‐list (WL) control condition at a Danish university clinic.

Results

Results showed that the Danish version of the Cool Kids program was efficacious with 48.2% free of all anxiety diagnoses at post‐treatment, compared with 5.7% in the WL condition, and large effect sizes on self‐report measures of child anxiety symptoms rated by child, mother, and father ( range = 0.18–0.24). Children and adolescents improved further from post‐treatment to 3‐month follow‐up, and this improvement was maintained at 12‐month follow‐up. Participants with a primary diagnosis of social phobia (SoP) showed less improvement compared with other anxiety diagnoses.

Conclusion

The study contributes to the evidence base for the Cool Kids program, previously only evaluated by its developers in Australia. Generic group CBT programs may not be the most appropriate treatment for children and adolescents with primary SoP.
Rating scales measuring the severity of psychotic depression
Authors: Østergaard S. D. , Rothschild A. J. , Flint A. J. , Mulsant B. H. , Whyte E. M. , Leadholm A. K. , Bech P. , Meyers B. S.
Published: May 2015

Objective

Unipolar psychotic depression (PD) is a severe and debilitating syndrome, which requires intensive monitoring. The objective of this study was to provide an overview of the rating scales used to assess illness severity in PD.

Method

Selective review of publications reporting results on non‐self‐rated, symptom‐based rating scales utilized to measure symptom severity in PD. The clinical and psychometric validity of the identified rating scales was reviewed.

Results

A total of 14 rating scales meeting the predefined criteria were included in the review. These scales grouped into the following categories: (i) rating scales predominantly covering depressive symptoms, (ii) rating scales predominantly covering psychotic symptoms, (iii) rating scales covering delusions, and (iv) rating scales covering PD. For the vast majority of the scales, the clinical and psychometric validity had not been tested empirically. The only exception from this general tendency was the 11‐item Psychotic Depression Assessment Scale (PDAS), which was developed specifically to assess the severity of PD.

Conclusion

In PD, the PDAS represents the only empirically derived rating scale for the measurement of overall severity of illness. The PDAS should be considered in future studies of PD and in clinical practice.
Consent for third molar tooth extractions in Australia and New Zealand: a review of current practice
Authors: Badenoch‐Jones EK , Lynham AJ , Loessner D
Published: May 2015

Background

Informed consent is the legal requirement to educate a patient about a proposed medical treatment or procedure so that he or she can make informed decisions. The purpose of the study was to examine the current practice for obtaining informed consent for third molar tooth extractions (wisdom teeth) by oral and maxillofacial surgeons in Australia and New Zealand.

Methods

An online survey was sent to 180 consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeons in Australia and New Zealand. Surgeons were asked to answer (yes/no) whether they routinely warned of a specific risk of third molar tooth extraction in their written consent.

Results

Seventy‐one replies were received (39%). The only risks that surgeons agreed should be routinely included in written consent were a general warning of infection (not alveolar osteitis), inferior alveolar nerve damage (temporary and permanent) and lingual nerve damage (temporary and permanent).

Conclusions

There is significant variability among Australian and New Zealand oral and maxillofacial surgeons regarding risk disclosure for third molar tooth extractions. We aim to improve consistency in consent for third molar extractions by developing an evidence‐based consent form.