bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The practice of complexity
Authors: Mowles Chris , van der Gaag Anna , Fox Jane 
Published: November 2014

PurposeIn the last five years more and more scholars have drawn on insights from the complexity sciences as a way of understanding the process of managing and organising in the NHS differently. This paper aims to describe working methods derived from the theory of complex responsive processes, a more radical interpretation of these insights, used by a consultancy team in one NHS setting.Design/methodology/approachThe authors were invited to undertake this intervention over a two year period to bring about service improvement. The paper sets out a critique of systems theory, which underpins most management literature, as well as offering a critique of some of the ways that complexity theory gets taken up in the health literature. As an alternative it explores the theoretical underpinnings of complex responsive processes and gives practical examples of methods that the authors believe are more suitable for understanding the complex environment NHS staff work within.FindingsWorking with ideas of ambiguity, paradox and complexity are not easy for staff educated in a Western tradition of linear cause and effect. However, as a result of this intervention managers and staff pointed to a much greater confidence and skill in dealing with the complex daily process of organising, which they attribute to the methods used. Although the authors make no claim that service improvement arose as a direct consequence of the methods employed, significant, observable improvements in service provision did occur during and after the consultancy intervention.Originality/valueThe description of working methods based on reflective and reflexive group processes, alongside more empirical data‐gathering methods, is offered as a radical alternative to more orthodox ways of understanding, and attempting to work with change in the NHS.
High performance work systems and employee well‐being
Authors: Young Suzanne , Bartram Timothy , Stanton Pauline , Leggat Sandra G. 
Published: November 2014

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the attitudes of managers and employees to high performance work practices (HPWS) in a medium sized rural Australian hospital.Design/methodology/approachThe study consists of two stages. Stage one involved a qualitative investigation consisting of interviews and focus group sessions with senior, middle and line management at the hospital. Bowen and Ostroff's framework was used to examine how strategic HRM was understood, interpreted and operationalised across the management hierarchy. Stage one investigates the views of managers concerning the implementation of strategic HRM/ HPWS. Stage two consisted of a questionnaire administered to all hospital employees. The mediation effects of social identification on the relationship between high performance work systems and affective commitment and job satisfaction are examined. The purpose of stage two was to investigate the views and effects of SHRM/HPWS on employees. It should be noted that HPWS and strategic HRM are used inter‐changeably in this paper.FindingsAt the management level the importance of distinctiveness, consistency and consensus in the interpretation of strategic HRM/HPWS practices across the organization was discovered. Findings indicate that social identification mediates the relationship between HPWS and affective commitment and also mediates the relationship between HPWS and job satisfaction.Practical implicationsHigh performance work systems may play a crucial role facilitating social identification at the unit level. Such practices and management support is likely to provide benefits in terms of high performing committed employees.Originality/valueThe paper argues that team leaders and managers play a key role in building social identification within the team and that organizations need to understand this role and provide recognition, reward, education and support to their middle and lower managers.
Redrawing medical professional domains
Authors: Kathan‐Selck Constanze , van Offenbeek Marjolein 
Published: November 2014

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the forces that influence the shifting of professional boundaries on the entry of a new medical occupation in Dutch hospitals – non‐specialist emergency physicians.Design/methodology/approachFive case studies of Dutch hospitals were conducted and the emergency physicians' implementation process was analyzed by means of force field analysis.FindingsEmergency physicians were conceptualized as being the answer to unequivocal contextual changes. However, their contribution to better performance varies due to problems in the implementation process. Strong socio‐political forces between traditional specialties and these new doctors mediate the intended improvement. The emergency physicians aim to establish their own organizational‐, patient‐ and knowledge‐domain by redrawing professional boundaries but they are not on a par with the specialists who set these boundaries. Consequently, emergency physicians only gradually redraw the existing boundaries, resulting in limited added value. Their reaction is to obtain power by striving to develop into a recognized specialty; ironically, by becoming an additional layer in the traditional medical hierarchy they might lose their envisaged added value.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper is based on the first Dutch hospitals that implemented emergency physicians. The number of cases is therefore limited. Moreover, the study took place at an early stage of emergency physician implementation.Practical implicationsThe extent of successful redrawing depends on the implementation's transition logic, the existing degree of differentiation and boundary permeability and on the ideological power developed by the leaders.Originality/valueThe introduction of emergency physicians is currently being discussed in many countries worldwide, and some countries consider following the Dutch example of non‐specialist doctors. This paper supports health professionals and hospital managers in not falling prey to the same pitfalls as some Dutch hospitals.
High performance work systems: the gap between policy and practice in health care reform
Authors: Leggat Sandra G. , Bartram Timothy , Stanton Pauline 
Published: November 2014

PurposeStudies of high‐performing organisations have consistently reported a positive relationship between high performance work systems (HPWS) and performance outcomes. Although many of these studies have been conducted in manufacturing, similar findings of a positive correlation between aspects of HPWS and improved care delivery and patient outcomes have been reported in international health care studies. The purpose of this paper is to bring together the results from a series of studies conducted within Australian health care organisations. First, the authors seek to demonstrate the link found between high performance work systems and organisational performance, including the perceived quality of patient care. Second, the paper aims to show that the hospitals studied do not have the necessary aspects of HPWS in place and that there has been little consideration of HPWS in health system reform.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on a series of correlation studies using survey data from hospitals in Australia, supplemented by qualitative data collection and analysis. To demonstrate the link between HPWS and perceived quality of care delivery the authors conducted regression analysis with tests of mediation and moderation to analyse survey responses of 201 nurses in a large regional Australian health service and explored HRM and HPWS in detail in three case study organisations. To achieve the second aim, the authors surveyed human resource and other senior managers in all Victorian health sector organisations and reviewed policy documents related to health system reform planned for Australia.FindingsThe findings suggest that there is a relationship between HPWS and the perceived quality of care that is mediated by human resource management (HRM) outcomes, such as psychological empowerment. It is also found that health care organisations in Australia generally do not have the necessary aspects of HPWS in place, creating a policy and practice gap. Although the chief executive officers of health service organisations reported high levels of strategic HRM, the human resource and other managers reported a distinct lack of HPWS from their perspectives. The authors discuss why health care organisations may have difficulty in achieving HPWS.Originality/valueLeaders in health care organisations should focus on ensuring human resource management systems, structures and processes that support HPWS. Policy makers need to consider HPWS as a necessary component of health system reform. There is a strong need to reorient organisational human resource management policies and procedures in public health care organisations towards high performing work systems.
Radio frequency identification: the big role player in health care management
Authors: Zare Mehrjerdi Yahia 
Published: November 2014

PurposeThis paper seeks to review the fundamental concepts of radio frequency identification (RFID) and to discuss the fact that the road to success for healthcare systems is the thorough management of patients, employees, equipment, medications, and records throughout the industry. Thereafter, it aims to prepare a deep review of the technology, study seven new cases on the topic of healthcare management and deliver a broad applications area thereof.Design/methodology/approachThe paper identifies key elements of RFID through the review of healthcare management literature and case studies. For this purpose, seven cases from the healthcare industry are reviewed to demonstrate the extent of the applications of RFID in this area.FindingsTo make healthcare management systems functional and successfully operational, RFID solutions can be used to reduce operating costs through management of patients, employees, equipment, medications, and records to improve tracking and tracing, and preventing the lost of resources under any circumstances.Originality/valueThis paper delivers a review of RFID on the healthcare industry. For this reason, the basic and key point on RFID technology is discussed and seven cases from the literature are reviewed.
Meeting the four‐hour deadline in an A&E department
Authors: Eatock Julie , Clarke Malcolm , Picton Claire , Young Terry 
Published: November 2014

PurposeAccident and emergency (A&E) departments experience a secondary peak in patient length of stay (LoS) at around four hours, caused by the coping strategies used to meet the operational standards imposed by government. The aim of this paper is to build a discrete‐event simulation model that captures the coping strategies and more accurately reflects the processes that occur within an A&E department.Design/methodology/approachA discrete‐event simulation (DES) model was used to capture the A&E process at a UK hospital and record the LoS for each patient. Input data on 4,150 arrivals over three one‐week periods and staffing levels was obtained from hospital records, while output data were compared with the corresponding records. Expert opinion was used to generate the pathways and model the decision‐making processes.FindingsThe authors were able to replicate accurately the LoS distribution for the hospital. The model was then applied to a second configuration that had been trialled there; again, the results also reflected the experiences of the hospital.Practical implicationsThis demonstrates that the coping strategies, such as re‐prioritising patients based on current length of time in the department, employed in A&E departments have an impact on LoS of patients and therefore need to be considered when building predictive models if confidence in the results is to be justified.Originality/valueAs far as the authors are aware this is the first time that these coping strategies have been included within a simulation model, and therefore the first time that the peak around the four hours has been analysed so accurately using a model.
Modeling of plated through hole reliability and performance
Authors: Sharon Gilad , Barker Donald 
Published: November 2014

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate modeling of the reliability characteristics of the copper (Cu) used in plated through holes (PTHs) for electrical connections across printed circuit boards (PCBs).Design/methodology/approachAssessments of the Cu damage in the first three reflow cycles are performed using finite element analysis. A two‐dimensional axi‐symmetric model of a PTH on a laminate board is validated against a three‐dimensional full model and test cases. Stress and strain measurements in the inner ring of the PTH are obtained in numerical simulations.FindingsLoads applied after the reflow cycles contribute to subsequent mechanical disconnects. Reliability assessments relying on undamaged circuits are less accurate than estimates incorporating Cu damage following three reflow cycles.Originality/valueIn order to increase the accuracy of PCB reliability predictions significantly, prior‐to‐use damage should be calculated. In this paper, a modification to the reliability analysis is proposed.
Wave propagation in thermo‐elastic plate of arbitrary cross‐sections
Authors: Ponnusamy P. 
Published: November 2014

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study the wave propagation in a homogeneous isotropic, thermo‐elastic plate of arbitrary cross‐sections using the two‐dimensional theory of thermo‐elasticity.Design/methodology/approachA mathematical model is developed to study the wave propagation in an arbitrary cross‐sectional thermo‐elastic plate by using two‐dimensional theory of thermo‐elasticity. After developing the formal solution of the mathematical model consisting of partial differential equations, the frequency equations have been derived by using the boundary conditions prevailing at the arbitrary cross‐sectional surface of the plate for symmetric and antisymmetrical modes in completely separate forms using Fourier expansion collocation method. The roots of the frequency equation are obtained by using the secant method, applicable for complex roots.FindingsThe computed non‐dimensional frequencies are compared with those results available in the literature in the case of elliptic cross‐sectional solid plate with clamped edges without thermal field and this result is coincide with the results of Nagaya. The computed non‐dimensional frequencies are plotted in the form of dispersion curves for longitudinal and flexural (symmetric and antisymmetric) modes of vibrations for the material copper.Originality/valueThe wave propagation in a plate of arbitrary cross‐sections with the stress free (unclamped) and rigidly fixed (clamped) edges are analyzed with and without thermal field.
Study of magnetic properties in materials Ni1−xCoxMnGe systems
Authors: Masrour R. 
Published: November 2014

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study the magnetic properties of the materials Ni1−xCoxMnGe systems by: mean field theory, probability law and high‐temperature series expansions (HTSE) in the range 0≤x≤1. The nearest neighbour J1(x) and the next‐nearest neighbour super‐exchange interaction J2(x) are calculated, using the mean field theory and in the range 0≤x≤1.Design/methodology/approachThe magnetic phase diagrams (TC versus dilution x) and the critical exponents associated with the magnetic susceptibility (γ) and with the correlation lengths (ν) are deduced for Ni1−xCoxMnGe in the ordered phase by HTSE method has combined with the Padé approximants method for the Ni1−xCoxMnGe.FindingsThe obtained magnetic phase diagram of Ni1−xCoxMnGe systems is comparable with those obtained by experiment. The values of critical exponents are nearest to those of 3D Heisenberg model and insensitive to the dilution.Originality/valueBesides the magnetic shape memory effect, the magnetocaloric effect, which exhibits in Ni‐Mn‐Ge or Co‐Mn‐Ge alloys, is of technological interest.
Effective structural sizing/shape optimisation through a reliability‐related multifactor optimisation approach
Authors: Ket Thein Chung , Liu Jing‐Sheng 
Published: November 2014

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to present a novel multifactor structural optimisation method incorporating reliability performance.Design/methodology/approachThis research addresses structural optimisation problems in which the design is required to satisfy multiple performance criteria, such as strength, stiffness, mass and reliability under multiple loading cases simultaneously. A MOST technique is extended to accommodate the reliability‐related optimisation. Structural responses and geometrical sensitivities are analysed by a FE method, and reliability performance is calculated by a reliability loading‐case index (RLI). The evaluation indices of performances and loading cases are formulated, and an overall performance index is presented to quantitatively evaluate a design.FindingsThe proposed method is applicable to multi‐objective, multi‐loading‐case, multi‐disciplinary and reliability‐related optimisation problems. The applications to a star‐like truss structure and a raised‐access floor panel structure confirmed that the method is highly effective and efficient in terms of structural optimisation.Originality/valueA systematic method is proposed. The optimisation method combines the MOST technique with a RLI (a new alternative route to calculate the reliability index at multiple loading cases) using a parametric FE model.
Glucocorticoids and stress‐related depression: an evaluation of biological mechanisms and the potential for new therapeutics
Authors: McVicar Andrew , Clancy John 
Published: November 2014

PurposePrinciples of epigenesis that provide a foundation for research into chronic medical disorders are increasingly being applied in the context of mental health. The purpose of this paper is to consider recent research evidence for epigenetic influences in the pathogenesis of depression, and the putative links with stress biology during exposure to chronic stress, with the aim of placing this into a context of potential new therapeutics.Design/methodology/approachSubstantive reviews published during the last ten years were identified in a search of the Pubmed database in September 2010 using the terms “epigenetics” or “epigenesis” with “mental health”, “mood disorder”, “depression”, stress', “chronic stress” or “environment”, supplemented by hand‐searching of citations in the reviews.FindingsEpigenetic mechanisms are both heritable and acquired, and their impact on the underlying genome helps explain individual vulnerability and patterns of occurrence of depression.Originality/valueThe paper shows that this relatively new field of research is in its infancy, and the influence of adverse environments (i.e. stressors) on genetic/epigenetic predisposition has promise for the advent of novel therapeutics based on epigenetic manipulation.
Qat consumption in Yemen – knowledge and practice of mental health policy makers and other stakeholders
Authors: Jenkins Rachel , Shoja' Aldeen Nahla 
Published: November 2014

PurposeThis paper seeks to report the findings of a half‐day workshop on the impact and control of Qat, held in Yemen in February 2010. Senior mental health policy makers, professionals and leaders of mental health non‐governmental organizations (NGOs), were present as part of a wider five‐day national stakeholder conference to develop national mental health strategy for Yemen, at the request of the Social Development Fund for Yemen and in collaboration with the Ministry of Health. The purpose of the half‐day workshop was to examine the knowledge and practice of senior Yemeni mental health policy makers and other stakeholders in relation to Qat.Design/methodology/approachThe stakeholders were purposively selected by the Yemen Social Development Fund to provide representation from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Social Affairs, Ministry of Human Rights, Ministry of Religious Affairs and Department of Prison Administration, which is linked to the Ministry of the Interior, United Nations Childrens Fund, various mental health NGOs and psychiatrists and psychologists from the main universities in the country. The stakeholders were divided into four workgroups, and each group was given a specified theme to discuss for an hour, namely the impact of Qat on the Yemen economy, health and society and measures to control the use of Qat. All participants were also asked if they habitually chewed Qat.FindingsThe stakeholders (professionals, policy makers and leaders of NGOs) were very knowledgeable about the physical, psychological and social effects of habitual Qat consumption, and yet all except one were habitual chewers.Originality/valueEfforts to discourage the chronic use of Qat will need to be strenuous, consistent and coordinated across sectors. Knowledge of health and social risks alone is unlikely be sufficient to bring about change.
Determinants of elapsed time to switch between auctions
Authors: Gönül Füsun F. , Popkowski Leszczyc Peter T.L. 
Published: November 2014

PurposeOnline auctions, which have become an important aspect of online sales, are generally regarded as stand‐alone events. However, in contrast to offline auctions, online auctions can be subject to the presence of simultaneous competing auctions. The purpose of this study is to model and estimate determinants of elapsed time to switch across concurrent auctions, with special attention to unobserved heterogeneity among bidders.Design/methodology/approachSince auctions are dynamic and since the current winning bid progresses over time, the authors study time dependency over the course of an auction with hazard function models. To account for unobserved heterogeneity, the paper uses a latent class approach, which identifies bidder segments based on both observed and unobserved factors.FindingsThe findings show significant heterogeneity across bidders, revealed by their varying degrees of propensity to switch across auctions. The three segments of bidders are The Inerts – about 30 percent, The Switchers – less than 10 percent, and The In‐Betweens. According to the findings, bidders can induce other bidders to switch to a concurrent auction by responding quickly to the current high bid. Moreover, the paper finds a surprisingly high degree of inertia and reluctance to switch towards the end of the auction when bidding is most critical.Originality/valueTo the authors' knowledge, this study is the first to model elapsed time to switch from one auction to a simultaneous auction for an identical product, and to investigate determinants of the time required to switch, with special attention to unobserved heterogeneity across bidders.