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To examine a local primary health care infrastructure and the reality of primary health care from the perspective of residents of a small, urban community in the southern United States.

Data were derived from 13 semistructured focus groups, plus three semistructured interviews, and were analyzed inductively consistent with a grounded theory approach.

Structural barriers to the local primary health care infrastructure include transportation, clinic and appointment wait time, and co-payments and health insurance. Hidden barriers consist of knowledge about local health care services, nonphysician gatekeepers, and fear of medical care. Community residents have used home remedies and the emergency department at the local academic medical center to manage these structural and hidden barriers.

Findings might not generalize to primary health care infrastructures in other communities, respondent perspectives can be biased, and the data are subject to various interpretations and conceptual and thematic frameworks. Nevertheless, the structural and hidden barriers to the local primary health care infrastructure have considerably diminished the autonomy community residents have been able to exercise over their decisions about primary health care, ultimately suggesting that efforts concerned with increasing the access of medically underserved groups to primary health care in local communities should recognize the centrality and significance of power.

This study addresses a gap in the sociological literature regarding the impact of specific barriers to primary health care among medically underserved groups.

This chapter provides both an introduction to the volume and a review of literature on health disparities and social determinants.

Literature Review.

The chapter argues for the importance of greater consideration of social determinants of health disparities. This includes a consideration of race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status factors, geographic and place factors, and disparities especially linked to particular diseases.

Reviews the topic of health disparities and social determinants and previews this book.

This chapter summarizes many conceptual, theoretical, and methodological topics related to studying group communication using qualitative research methods. First, it explains five of the most common theoretical frameworks used by group communication scholars (i.e., symbolic convergence theory, bona fide group perspective, unobtrusive control theory, dialectical theory, and structuration theory). Next, it discusses best practices and issues related to different data collection methods including observations, historical case studies, ethnographies, focus groups, and interview studies. Then, the chapter describes two primary data analytic tools, various iterations of constant comparison method, and qualitative content analysis. Finally, the chapter describes several innovative qualitative methods that may lead to new understandings of group communication processes including discourse analysis and discourse tracing, as well as new approaches to collecting qualitative network data and mediated data. The chapter concludes with a discussion of future research suggestions.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on studying the concept of “Smart Organization” and providing a comprehensive framework for the various factors as barriers for the smart organization, identifying and classifying the key criterion of these factors based on their direct and indirect relationships.

In this paper an extensive literature survey and experts’ opinion have been used to identify major barriers of smart organization. These barriers are then modeled using interpretative structural modeling (ISM) methodology. The model so developed has been further improved and an integrated model has been developed using fuzzy-MICMAC.

Various barriers of smart organization have been identified and a structural model has been developed for barriers using the ISM methodology. The critical barriers have been found out by fuzzy-MICMAC analysis. The driver power and dependence graph has been plotted for barriers. The barriers are classified into four categories which are, autonomous, linkage, dependent and independent according to their driver power and dependence. From the ISM model and the integrated model, and from further discussions with the experts, it has been found that the barriers “(B1) organizational structure” and “(B6) Managerial actions” are the two most important barriers, every other barrier is directly or indirectly driven by these.

The basis of developing the ISM model, i.e, the structural self-interaction matrix is based on experts’ opinion, therefore the result may get influenced if there is any biasing in judging the barriers. The future research scope for this paper will be to test the model generated in this paper. The testing of the model can be done by applying structural equation modeling technique, it has the capability of testing the hypothetical model. Further a framework of smart organizations can be created to find out the smartness of different organizations.

The paper can be used by organizations in understanding the barriers in becoming “smart” on the basis of their inter-relationships. This model can help manufacturing organization of North India in understanding the barriers which needs to be worked upon and the inter-relationship among these factors. This model-based study may be helpful in understanding and implementing the practices of smart organization by removing the possible critical barriers.

This is the first study to identify the barriers of smart organizations and to develop a model of these barriers using ISM and fuzzy-MICMAC.

This paper aims to identify and investigate barriers to multicultural education in Iran.

This research is a qualitative research that was done using the phenomenological method. Participants included all experts and key informants in the field of multicultural education in the country who were selected as a statistical sample in different stages of the research using purposeful sampling. The semi-structured interview was used to collect information. Two ways, including member checking and external auditing, were used to validate the information. The thematic analysis method (theme analysis), which is based on open and core coding, was used to analyze the data.

The interview data revealed that barriers are generally identified in both structural and executive parts. The structural part had two main obstacles, political and scientific-professional, and the executive part had two technical and socio-cultural barriers. Also, barriers to multicultural education in curriculum design are the ideological education system, lack of a clear framework for multicultural education, etc. Furthermore, barriers to multicultural education in the curriculum implementation are hidden curriculum, the inability of teachers to implement multicultural education, etc. Finally, barriers to multicultural education in curriculum evaluation are misconception of evaluation and limited evaluation methods.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first one that presents the experts' viewpoints and experiences on the barriers to multicultural education in Iran.

The objective of this study is to investigate how country risk, different political actions from the government and bureaucratic behavior influence the activities in industry supply chains (SCs) in emerging markets. The main objective of this study is to investigate the influence of these external stakeholders’ elements to the demand-side and supply-side drivers and barriers for improving competitiveness of Ready-Made Garment (RMG) industry in the way of analyzing supply chain. Considering the phenomenon of recent change in the RMG business environment and the competitiveness issues this study uses the principles of stakeholder and resource dependence theory and aims to find out some factors which influence to make an efficient supply chain for improving competitiveness. The RMG industry of Bangladesh is the case application of this study. Following a positivist paradigm, this study adopts a two phase sequential mixed-method research design consisting of qualitative and quantitative approaches. A tentative research model is developed first based on extensive literature review. Qualitative field study is then carried out to fine tune the initial research model. Findings from the qualitative method are also used to develop measures and instruments for the next phase of quantitative method. A survey is carried out with sample of top and middle level executives of different garment companies of Dhaka city in Bangladesh and the collected quantitative data are analyzed by partial least square-based structural equation modeling. The findings support eight hypotheses. From the analysis the external stakeholders’ elements like bureaucratic behavior and country risk have significant influence to the barriers. From the internal stakeholders’ point of view the manufacturers’ and buyers’ drivers have significant influence on the competitiveness. Therefore, stakeholders need to take proper action to reduce the barriers and increase the drivers, as the drivers have positive influence to improve competitiveness.

This study has both theoretical and practical contributions. This study represents an important contribution to the theory by integrating two theoretical perceptions to identify factors of the RMG industry’s SC that affect the competitiveness of the RMG industry. This research study contributes to the understanding of both external and internal stakeholders of national and international perspectives in the RMG (textile and clothing) business. It combines the insights of stakeholder and resource dependence theories along with the concept of the SC in improving effectiveness. In a practical sense, this study certainly contributes to the Bangladeshi RMG industry. In accordance with the desire of the RMG manufacturers, the research has shown that some influential constructs of the RMG industry’s SC affect the competitiveness of the RMG industry. The outcome of the study is useful for various stakeholders of the Bangladeshi RMG industry sector ranging from the government to various private organizations. The applications of this study are extendable through further adaptation in other industries and various geographic contexts.

This paper aims to propose a novel hybrid-decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory-K means clustering algorithm as a decision-making framework for analyzing the barriers of green computing adoption.

A literature review is conducted to extract relevant green computing barriers. An expert elicitation process is performed to finalize the barriers and to establish their corresponding interrelationships.

The proposed approach offers a comprehensive framework for modeling the barriers of green computing adoption.

The results of this paper provide insights on how the barriers of green computing adoption facilitate the adoption of stakeholders. Moreover, the paper provides a framework for analyzing the structural relationships that exist between factors in a tractable manner.

The paper is one of the very first attempts to analyze the barriers of green computing adoption. Furthermore, it is the first to offer lenses in a Philippine perspective. The paper offers a novel algorithm that can be useful in modeling the barriers of innovation, particularly, in green computing adoption.

As technical barriers gradually become the important tools of trade protection, it is important to understand whether intensified enforcement of border controls is adopted as a hidden tool of trade protectionism and differs across periods and industries.

This article applies a panel structural vector autoregression (PSVAR) model to investigate the potential role of trade protectionism motives in Food and Drug Administration (FDA) import refusals on China's agricultural exports, utilizing newly constructed monthly data at the industry level.

The results show that import refusal is mainly driven by the inspection history, highlighting the importance of the intrinsic product quality and maintaining an excellent inspection history in border inspection. The novel finding is that US employment contractions would also lead to a small increase in FDA import refusals, especially those taking place within ten months and made without sampling tests. Such an association is driven by industry-specific employment shocks and becomes stronger after the financial crisis. It is also more evident in industries where the US lacks competitiveness against China, being manufactured without mandatory safety regulations, and with negative skewness of employment growth.

This research is one of the preliminary attempts to understand whether the de facto border controls are worked as a hidden tool of protectionism to agricultural products, and what the specific trajectory and duration of the impacts at the monthly level. This study provides empirical evidence showing the role of protectionism motives in FDA import refusals and is heterogeneous across industries, which generate new insights and policy implications to predict and cope with additional barriers on agricultural trade.

The context of a long-standing research tradition, discrimination has emerged as a critical factor contributing to inequalities within the labor market. While existing studies have primarily focused on overt discrimination during the recruitment and selection process, influenced by biases, attitudes, or stereotypes, there remains a significant knowledge gap regarding discrimination within the workplace and its underlying structural dimensions. This article aims to address this gap by examining the impact of organizational culture, structure and policies on workplace discrimination, with a particular emphasis on women and ethnic minorities.

Utilizing a case study strategy centered around a Belgian branch of a multinational professional service agency, data was gathered through ten semi-structured in-depth interviews conducted with employees representing various organizational levels.

The findings reveal that organizational culture, structure and policies may pose inherent risks in perpetuating discrimination throughout individuals' professional trajectories. Furthermore, it becomes apparent that, albeit often unconscious, these elements exhibit biases against women and ethnic minorities.

Given the unintentional nature of structural discrimination, it is crucial to foster increased awareness and understanding of these dynamics.

The originality of this research article lies in its focus on addressing a critical knowledge gap in the existing research tradition on discrimination in the labor market. While previous studies have primarily concentrated on overt discrimination during recruitment and selection, this article delves into the often overlooked area of discrimination within the workplace itself. It explores the intricate interplay of organizational culture, structure and policies in perpetuating discrimination, particularly against women and ethnic minorities. By utilizing a case study approach within a multinational professional service agency in Belgium, the research uncovers hidden biases and unconscious elements contributing to structural discrimination. This emphasis on understanding unintentional discrimination adds a novel dimension to the discourse on workplace inequalities.

This study aims to assess the auditor's psychological characteristics (self-consciousness, envy, prejudice, trust, cautiousness, happiness, agility, shyness, aggressiveness, forgiveness) on organizational conflicts and occupational innovation barriers in Iraqi audit firms. In other words, the study attempts to answer the question that “whether the psychological characteristics of the auditor can settle the organizational conflicts and occupational innovation barriers of audit firms or not.”

The statistical population includes 195 employed auditors in Iraqi audit firms, among whom 131 participants are selected using the Cochran sampling method in 2020.

The results show a positive and significant relationship between auditors' psychological characteristics, organizational conflicts and occupational innovation barriers in audit firms.

Since no study is carried out so far on the effect of different types of psychological characteristics on organizational conflicts and occupational innovation barriers in Iraqi audit firms, this paper can provide useful information and contribute to science and knowledge development.