bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Data envelopment analysis for estimating efficiency of intensive care units: a case study in Iran
Authors: Bahrami Mohammad Amin , Rafiei Sima , Abedi Mahdieh , Askari Roohollah 
Published: April 2018

Purpose
As hospitals are the most costly service providers in every healthcare systems, special attention should be given to their performance in terms of resource allocation and consumption. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate technical, allocative and economic efficiency in intensive care units (ICUs) of hospitals affiliated by Yazd University of Medical Sciences (YUMS) in 2015.

Design/methodology/approach
This was a descriptive, analytical study conducted in ICUs of seven training hospitals affiliated by YUMS using data envelopment analysis (DEA) in 2015. The number of physicians, nurses, active beds and equipment were regarded as input variables and bed occupancy rate, the number of discharged patients, economic information such as bed price and physicians’ fees were mentioned as output variables of the study. Available data from study variables were retrospectively gathered and analyzed through the Deap 2.1 software using the variable returns to scale methodology.

Findings
The study findings revealed the average scores of allocative, economic, technical, managerial and scale efficiency to be relatively 0.956, 0.866, 0.883, 0.89 and 0.913. Regarding to latter three types of efficiency, five hospitals had desirable performance.

Practical implications
Given that additional costs due to an extra number of manpower or unnecessary capital resources impose economic pressure on hospitals also the fact that reduction of surplus production plays a major role in reducing such expenditures in hospitals, it is suggested that departments with low efficiency reduce their input surpluses to achieve the optimal level of performance.

Originality/value
The authors applied a DEA approach to measure allocative, economic, technical, managerial and scale efficiency of under-study hospitals. This is a helpful linear programming method which acts as a powerful and understandable approach for comparative performance assessment in healthcare settings and a guidance for healthcare managers to improve their departments’ performance.
The texture of tension: complexity, uncertainty and equivocality
Authors: Burström Thommie , Wilson Timothy L. 
Published: April 2018

PurposeThe premise of this paper is that tension exists among participants and parties engaged in projects. The uniqueness of development virtually assures this. The purpose of this paper is to propose that tension is a product of the precursors of complexity, uncertainty and equivocality, and an attempt is made to characterize tension as it arises in projects – its genesis and its nature.Design/methodology/approachAn in-depth case study was conducted in a manner in which the contextually sensitive empirical researches for which Nordic studies are known. Within discussions on the strategy, decision making, intra- and inter-project interdependencies and managing across development sites associated with a flagship project, 77 statements concerning tension were identified for analysis. Through a literature review, 12 tension-driving factors were identified. These factors were used as base for analysis.FindingsThese statements were analyzed for content to produce a model associating tension with its precursors and the literature on tension. It is found that due to innovation turbulence, tension-driving factors are cascaded in and around organization(s). Tension is manifested in various ways for different stakeholders and tension management is performed through cognitive and emotional responses. The texture of tension is characterized by fluidity, multiplicity and parallelism.Research limitations/implicationsCase studies can of course not be generalized; they are valuable, however, in indicating important observations for further studies.Practical implicationsA contribution is made to management theory where knowledge about project context is seen as essential in order to understand best practices for project execution and effectiveness.Originality/valueAlthough common, even virtually assured in projects, tension tends to be neglected in successful management. This study associates the genesis of tension through the underlying contributions of complexity, uncertainty and equivocality. It is believed to be the first study of its type.
Perceptions of leader transformational justice and job satisfaction in public organizations
Authors: Singhry Hassan Barau 
Published: April 2018

Purpose
Transformational leadership (TL) is one among the leadership behaviors that is important in a period of uncertainty and continuous change. The behavior affects employees’ job satisfaction (JS) and performance. Nevertheless, there is an inconclusive debate over how organizational justice (OJ) can help transformational leaders to influence employees’ (JS). Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of OJ on the relationship between TL and employees’ JS.

Design/methodology/approach
The study employed a quantitative research design based on cross-sectional strategy. Structured questionnaires were distributed and data were collected from a sample of 418 middle managers of public organizations in Nigeria. Multiple regressions aided by structural equation modeling were employed to test four hypotheses.

Findings
The regression results support the mediating role of OJ, such as distributive, procedural, interpersonal and informational justice between TL and JS. Equally, the relationship between TL and JS, TL and OJ, and OJ and JS are all positive and significant. Overall, the influence of TL and OJ has a strong explanatory effect on JS.

Originality/value
This study adds to the literature of human resource management and organizational behavior by empirically validating and integrating TL theory with the four dimensions of OJ theory. The study will be beneficial to the top management and middle-level employees in public organizations.
Long-term community development within a researcher network
Authors: Hall Hazel , Cruickshank Peter , Ryan Bruce 
Published: April 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report the results from a study that investigated the extent to which an intervention to develop a community of library and information science (LIS) researchers – the Developing Research Excellence and Methods (DREaM) project – was successful in meeting its main objective three years after its implementation. Of particular interest are factors that support or hinder network longevity.

Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected by online survey/telephone and focus group. From quantitative data, a social network analysis (SNA) and network diagrams were generated. Focus group discussions were recorded and transcribed, and data from these were analysed manually.

Findings
Three years after the end of its formal funding period, DREaM endured as a loose but persistent network. Social ties were more important than work ties, and network members with the highest network centrality held roles in academic institutions. Physical proximity between members was important to the maintenance of network ties. Actor status did not appear to have a bearing on network centrality.

Research limitations/implications
Discussion is limited to consideration of community development amongst core members of the network only. The “manufactured” nature of the DREaM network and unique context in which it was formed have implications for the generalisibility of the findings reported.

Practical implications
Social infrastructure is key to the long-term health of a network initiative. Continued ad hoc support would strengthen it further.

Originality/value
The findings add to understanding of factors important to the development of scholarly and learning communities. They extend contributions of earlier work that has deployed SNA techniques in LIS research and research in other fields.
“Systemic Managerial Constraints”
Authors: Willson Rebekah 
Published: April 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the information behaviour of early career academics (ECAs) within humanities and social sciences (HSS) disciplines who are starting their first continuing academic position. The proposed grounded theory of Systemic Managerial Constraints (SMC) is introduced as a way to understand the influence of neoliberal universities on the information behaviour of ECAs.

Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative research used constructivist grounded theory methodology. Participants were 20 Australian and Canadian ECAs from HSS. Their information practices and information behaviour were examined for a period of five to seven months using two interviews and multiple “check-ins”. Data were analysed through two rounds of coding, where codes were iteratively compared and contrasted.

Findings
SMC emerged from the analysis and is proposed as a grounded theory to help better understand the context of higher education and its influence on ECAs’ information behaviour. SMC presents university managerialism, resulting from neoliberalism, as pervasive and constraining both the work ECAs do and how they perform that work. SMC helps to explain ECAs’ uncertainty and precarity in higher education and changing information needs as a result of altered work role, which, in turn, leads ECAs to seek and share information with their colleagues and use information to wield their personal agency to respond to SMC.

Originality/value
The findings from this paper provide a lens through which to view universities as information environments and the influence these environments can have on ECAs’ information practices and information behaviour.
“How’d you sleep?” measuring business travelers’ sleep quality and satisfaction in hotels
Authors: Chen Hsiangting Shatina , Severt Kimberly , Shin Yeon Ho , Knowlden Adam , Hilliard Tyra W. 
Published: April 2018

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore business travelers’ sleep experience in hotels by measuring sleep quality and determining the extent to which hotel attributes, demographic characteristics, and hotel quality level influence their sleep quality while staying in hotels.Design/methodology/approachThis study utilized a self-reported survey to obtain data from business travelers who have stayed in a hotel at least two nights for a business trip in the past 30 days. A total of 304 business travelers were surveyed in this study.FindingsThe results indicated that there was a difference in the factors that influenced business travelers’ overall satisfaction with sleep in mid-scale (2.5-3.5 stars) vs upscale hotels (4+stars). The findings showed that business travelers generally had lower sleep quality at hotels and they were more likely affected by noise both outside and inside the guestroom, as well as material elements inside the room.Originality/valueThis study represents a pioneering attempt at exploring business travelers’ sleep quality and satisfaction with sleep in hotels. Furthermore, this study contributes to the limited research addressing sleep quality as a fundamental function of hotel services. Also, this is the first study to measure business travelers’ sleep quality in hotels by using the sleep quality scale.
Leaders’ resources and newcomer socialization: the importance of delegation
Authors: Jokisaari Markku , Vuori Jukka 
Published: April 2018

PurposeOrganizational socialization refers to the process by which newcomers learn to perform in their role and adjust to work after organizational entry. Unfortunately, there is little knowledge regarding organizational socialization from the supervisors’ perspectives, although the importance of supervisors in newcomer socialization is one of the most robust findings in the field. The purpose of this paper is to examine how supervisors’ perceived organizational support (supervisor POS) and the quality of their working relationships with newcomers (supervisor leader-member exchange (LMX)) relate to the delegation of authority to newcomers and how delegation in turn relates to newcomers’ work adjustment.Design/methodology/approachA sample of new employees completed questionnaires that included delegation and socialization outcome measures. Supervisors evaluated their POS and the quality of their working relationships with newcomers (LMX).FindingsThe results showed that supervisor POS moderated the relationship between supervisor LMX and delegation. Specifically, supervisors with high POS showed delegation to newcomers irrespective of their LMX. Conversely, when supervisors’ POS was low, a high LMX was related to delegation. The results further showed that delegation was positively related to newcomers’ role clarity, organizational knowledge, and job satisfaction. Finally, the results showed indirect effects of supervisor LMX on newcomers’ role clarity and job satisfaction through delegation contingent on supervisor POS.Originality/valueThis study showed that a supervisor’s social exchange relations both with the organization and with a new employee are important in the delegation of authority and responsibility to a newcomer and that this delegation in turn relates to newcomers’ work adjustment.
Confrontation between techniques of time measurement
Authors: Assef Fernanda , Scarpin Cassius Tadeu , Steiner Maria Teresinha 
Published: April 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a precise comparison between a pre-determined time rules and the evaluation performed with the help of a manual chronometer using data from a line assembly in an automotive industry besieged in the state of Paraná, Brazil. Nowadays, it is possible to verify several tools of measurement of task times, some taking less time and causing less wear of the evaluator than others, but not being in accordance with the real conditions of the workers of a certain industry.

Design/methodology/approach
The developed paper has its methodology based on two methods of time analysis, one of them being an adaptation of the MODular Arrangement of Predeterminated Time Standard (MODAPTS) method – called MODAPTS 2. This method is used by the industry in analyzed in this work and the other through the use of simple manual timing, through the digital timer, of the stages developed in a workstation.

Findings
The study shows that for each operation analyzed, thus presenting a situation of minimum waste, it becomes possible to judge which reasons exist for the operator during manual timekeeping not to reach the optimum times generated by the system of pre-determined times and movements (PMTSs) questioned.

Research limitations/implications
This study is conducted on an automotive enterprise in a period of confidentiality, which means that only a single workstation is able to be studied. This means that the comparison obtained between the time measurements methods used, and the evaluation of the MODAPTS is carried out with the best possible movements and gestures, disregarding then that the wastes can still be postulated to the whole assembly line.

Originality/value
With the automation in industry, where assemble tasks are usually developed manually, it is believed possible to discard the option of measuring task times in its classic and manual form, using a timer, yet during this process, there will be variables that may not be considered by pre-determined measurements methodologies. The work developed by this paper presents different variables that are not examined by the methods of PMTS, not frequently seen in the literature, as well as the difference that occurs between the measurement of times with stopwatch and the use of PMTS, which, in its original form, disregards the wastes that the operator has in their movements.
Student information system satisfaction in higher education: the role of visual aesthetics
Authors: Ramírez-Correa Patricio Esteban , Rondán-Cataluña Francisco Javier , Arenas-Gaitán Jorge 
Published: April 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the role of visual aesthetics as a key in generating satisfaction in student information system (SIS) users and to discover relationships to other antecedents. This work has also studied how gender discriminates those relationships.

Design/methodology/approach
DeLone and McLean’s model of information systems success, visual aesthetic and gender socialisation theory are used as a theoretical framework for the study. An explanatory model was proposed based on the previous literature, and then this model was validated using a sample of undergraduate students. Partial Least Squares was chosen as the approach to conduct the statistical analysis.

Findings
First, the findings show that the variance explained by the proposed model in user satisfaction of SIS is 67 per cent. Second, visual aesthetics has a significant direct effect on user satisfaction of SIS, but the indirect effect is much higher, through its relationship to system quality and information quality. Third, the results indicate that there are significant differences between men and women in the direct relationship between visual aesthetics and user satisfaction of SIS, and this relationship being much more intense in the case of women.

Originality/value
The study highlights the role of visual aesthetics as a variable that explains user satisfaction in information systems; this fact emphasises on the importance of taking into account aesthetics when designing information systems. In addition, the findings support the existence of a novel relationship between visual aesthetics and information quality. Finally, new evidence on gender differences concerning user satisfaction in information systems is presented; this result indicates in the opposite direction to recent studies that imply a certain homogenisation of gender in relation to the perceptions associated with the technologies of the information.
Reconstructing accountability of the cash waqf (endowment) institution in Indonesia
Authors: Siswantoro Dodik , Rosdiana Haula , Fathurahman Heri 
Published: April 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to reconstruct the accountability of the cash waqf institution in Indonesia, including the logic which may refer to the accountability objective.

Design/methodology/approach
The paper employs the qualitative method with a constructivist paradigm. Four different characteristics of cash waqf institutions in Indonesia serve as the object of this research with other related respondents, such as the government and Islamic banks. These multiple case studies may represent the characteristics of cash waqf institutions.

Findings
The result shows that the cash waqf institution in Indonesia has unique and different logical characteristics, which is neither unitary nor pluralist.

Originality/value
This may be the first research which discusses the accountability-based logic for cash waqf institutions in Indonesia. These institutions apply Islamic teaching (Shariah) and must generate big income for social activities. Conditions in other countries may be similar since as waqf institutions have common concepts in general.
Corruption and firm-level productivity: greasing or sanding effect?
Authors: Bbaale Edward , Okumu Ibrahim Mike 
Published: April 2018

Purpose
Corruption was ranked among the top five biggest obstacles affecting the operation of enterprises in Africa and was rated as a severe obstacle by close to 40 percent of firms in the sample. Consequently, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between corruption and firm level productivity.

Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses the Enterprise Survey Data Set of the World Bank and employs an instrumental variable (IV) approach to deal with the potential endogeneity of corruption in a productivity equation. The authors use industry-country averages of the bribe tax and time tax as well as a dummy of female ownership as IVs.

Findings
Using three different measures of corruption, the authors find evidence that corruption “sands the wheels of commerce” and hence dampens firm-level productivity even when the endogeneity of corruption is controlled for. The authors find no evidence to support the trade-off between bribe payments and the red tape suggesting that government officials deliberately use bureaucracy as a mechanism of trapping the most productive firms that can afford to pay higher bribes. Hence this study lends no support to the “greasing” hypothesis.

Practical implications
The results thus suggest that in the second best choice environment firms are still not better off paying bribes rather mitigating corruption could be ideal. Therefore alongside existing regulatory corruption mitigants in the respective African countries, the paper suggests that government through public information dissemination ought to enlighten firms that corruption is not productivity enhancing. Thus firms are better-off evading corruption tendencies than propagating them.

Originality/value
The contribution to empirical literature is that much of the empirical studies have overly concentrated on Europe and Asia and with very limited evidence available for African countries. Therefore in terms of extending the work of McAuthar and Teal (2002) and Fisman and Svensson (2007), the authors argue that by using a new data set stretching from 2006 to as recent as 2017 the paper is rightly placed to make an empirical contribution about the relationship between corruption and firm-level productivity.
An Automated Two‐dimensional Pairwise form Registration Method for Pair‐matching of Fragmented Skeletal Remains
Authors: Lynch Jeffrey James 
Published: April 2018

AbstractThis study introduces an automated pairwise method for osteological pair‐matching of fragmented skeletal remains using two‐dimensional fragmented outlines extracted from photographs. The form data are used in pairwise iterative closest point registrations with rigid transformations. A modified version of the average Hausdorff distance is calculated to remove any coordinate correspondences with outline fracture margins, which allow the distance analysis of fragmented outlines. A dilation modification to the Hausdorff distance is proposed creating a greater separation between true‐ and false‐pairs. The sample consists of 122 calcanei (61 pairs) from the UI‐Stanford collection. Performance statistics are provided for simulated fragmented and complete assemblages. Results indicate up to 98% accuracy for fragmented and complete assemblages. The dilated Hausdorff distance performed similarly across assemblages, but showed a slight decrease in performance for the complete assemblage. This approach provides a useful short listing tool to reduce the number of visual comparisons required in large commingled assemblages.
From Exploration to Instruction: Children Learn From Exploration and Tailor Their Demonstrations to Observers’ Goals and Competence
Authors: Gweon Hyowon , Schulz Laura 
Published: April 2018

This study investigated whether children learn from exploration and act as effective informants by providing informative demonstrations tailored to observers’ goals and competence. Children (4.0–6.9 years, N = 98) explored a causally ambiguous toy to discover its causal structure and then demonstrated the toy to a naive observer. Children provided more costly and informative evidence when the observer wanted to learn about the toy than observe its effects (Experiment 1) and when the observer was ordinary than exceptionally intelligent (Experiment 2). Relative to the evidence they generated during exploration, children produced fewer, less costly actions when the observer wanted or needed less evidence. Children understand the difference between acting‐to‐learn and acting‐to‐inform; after learning from exploration, they consider others’ goals and competence to provide “uninstructed instruction”.