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The authors determine how the scheduling and sequencing of surgeries by surgeons impacts the rate of post-surgical complications and patient length-of-stay in the hospital.

Leveraging a dataset of 29,169 surgeries performed by 111 surgeons from a large hospital network in Ontario, Canada, the authors perform a matched case-control regression analysis. The empirical findings are contextualized by interviews with surgeons from the authors’ dataset.

Surgical complications and longer hospital stays are more likely to occur in technically complex surgeries that follow a similarly complex surgery. The increased complication risk and length-of-hospital-stay is not mitigated by scheduling greater slack time between surgeries nor is it isolated to a few problematic surgery types, surgeons, surgical team configurations or temporal factors such as the timing of surgery within an operating day.

There are four major limitations: (1) the inability to access data that reveals the cognition behind the behavior of the task performer and then directly links this behavior to quality outcomes; (2) the authors’ definition of task complexity may be too simplistic; (3) the authors’ analysis is predicated on the fact that surgeons in the study are independent contractors with hospital privileges and are responsible for scheduling the patients they operate on rather than outsourcing this responsibility to a scheduler (i.e. either a software system or an administrative professional); (4) although the empirical strategy attempts to control for confounding factors and selection bias in the estimate of the treatment effects, the authors cannot rule out that an unobserved confounder may be driving the results.

The study demonstrates that the scheduling and sequencing of patients can affect service quality outcomes (i.e. post-surgical complications) and investigates the effect that two operational levers have on performance. In particular, the authors find that introducing additional slack time between surgeries does not reduce the odds of back-to-back complications. This result runs counter to the traditional operations management perspective, which suggests scheduling more slack time between tasks may prevent or mitigate issues as they arise. However, the authors do find evidence suggesting that the risk of back-to-back complications may be reduced when surgical pairings are less complex and when the method involved in performing consecutive surgeries varies. Thus, interspersing procedures of different complexity levels may help to prevent poor quality outcomes.

The authors empirically connect choices made in scheduling work that varies in task complexity and to patient-centric health outcomes. The results have implications for achieving high-quality outcomes in settings where professionals deliver a variety of technically complex services.

The incidents of hotel theft constitute a significant cause of concern for the hotel industry. Such incidents result in substantial financial implications, inventory management issues and complications in finding exact replacements. This study, therefore, investigates customer stealing practices in Indian hotel industry.

A structured email interview was conducted with twenty-five senior hotel managers. The data were analyzed by adopting a coding technique using inductive content analysis.

The results were discussed under seven headings-extent of such stealing incidents, financial consequences of such practices, strategies to prevent such instances and, finally, how to deal with customers when caught stealing.

This study highlighted themes related to the profile of customers involved in stealing practices, motives, consequences and strategies required to manage such customers. Future studies can focus on restaurants, airlines, airports and tourist attractions to identify strategies and best practices for preventing such practices.

The study's findings have tremendous potential for the hospitality industry. Dealing with customers’ stealing practices is a very sensitive issue. Furthermore, hotels bear lots of expenses if the policy for tackling the problem still needs to be implemented. Furthermore, if not handled professionally, a lack of effective guidelines can cause embarrassment for managers.

The study has the potential to raise awareness among the members of society to be more responsible toward hotel property.

This study extends to the limited literature on hotel guests' theft. The comprehensive analysis of the themes generated from an interview with the senior managers of the hotel industry provides a unique insight into the nature of the problem. The solutions offered in this study are an original contribution to the literature.

The purpose of this paper is to understand various organizational and operational impediments to successful built heritage management at a regional level from the perspective of stakeholder theory.

An exploratory study was conducted in Jammu city of India wherein total of 16 interviews using a semi-structured questionnaire were done with officials (N = 6), organization members (N = 7), local organization heads (N = 3) and 30 local residents. Thematic analysis and stakeholder analysis were used to identify themes and examine the relationships between stakeholders.

Six themes were derived from thematic analysis. The results from stakeholder attribute analysis and studying stakeholder interactions show that lack of trust, skewed power relation and lack of communication among stakeholders are some of the factors that hinder successful heritage management at the Mubarak Mandi heritage complex. The study emphasizes the dimension of “authenticity” be added to existing discourse of heritage management in India ensuring commoditization does not override authenticity and integrity of heritage site.

The results of this study are useful in understanding challenges of heritage management in India at regional level. Using stakeholder analysis the study adds a managerial perspective to the existing heritage management discourse in India by providing empirical insights into developing stakeholder collaboration.

This paper aims to examine the health technology use in health information seeking, communication and personal health information management, as well as in the effects they may have on his relationship with the physician and on the consumption of medical resources.

An online survey was conducted. The questionnaires were distributed via online health discussion forums using Google's survey software with a summary presentation of the study’s objective. The final selection of 362 individuals was made using social media, direct email and collaboration with community groups. The empirical validation of the causal model was conducted using the partial least square approach.

The results show that the use of e-health strengthens the quality of the patient–physician relationship and patient empowerment while increasing the consumption of medical resources.

The results of this research indicate that the internet has transformed the relationship of patients to health, to their doctors and to the health-care system. In this new context, a reconsideration of the status of the patient must be considered by health service providers.

Diabetes is one of the health problems of increasing importance owing to the increase in its incidence and the problems it causes, and it is closely related to nutrition. This study aims to determine the relationship between the dietary inflammatory index (DII) scores of individuals with type 2 diabetes, depression, anxiety and quality of life.

In this cross-sectional study, 158 individuals with type 2 diabetes who applied to a nutrition and diet outpatient clinic of a private hospital in Istanbul were included. Their depression status was evaluated using the Beck Depression Inventory; their anxiety status was evaluated using the Beck Anxiety Inventory; and their quality of life was evaluated using the Short Form 36 Quality of Life scale. One-way ANOVA test was used to define the difference between groups. All test results were evaluated at a significance level of 0.05.

There was no significant relationship between DII scores, depression (p = 0.814) and anxiety (p = 0.817). However, a significant decrease was observed in the scores of the quality of life criterion in the groups with high depression and anxiety scores (p < 0.05). In addition, participants with high anxiety states had higher HbA1c levels (p = 0.043).

Individuals in this sample with no known psychiatric diagnosis or treatment history demonstrated a significant relationship between depression and anxiety scores and quality of life.

The global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been well documented, but there is still limited insight into the complex interaction of factors that determine its longer-term effects on the most vulnerable sectors of society. The current study therefore develops an integrated conceptual framework to investigate how consumers' fear of mortality and the perceived risk of severe illness associated with COVID-19 act as critical determinants of consumer food choices and perceived well-being.

An online survey was utilized to collect data from a sample of 407 adult, low-income consumers across Trinidad and Tobago. The PROCESS macro was used to empirically test the hypothesized relationships in a moderated mediation model.

The results confirm that an increase in the perceived risk of severe illness has a significant negative effect on the consumption of healthy foods and perceived well-being. Moreover, consumers' choice of healthy foods mediates the negative relationship between consumers' perceived risk of severe COVID-19 illness and subjective well-being. Finally, the negative relationship between perceived risk of illness and healthy food choice weakens as an individual's fear of pandemic-related mortality increases.

This research integrates multiple related theoretical constructs to provide a more nuanced understanding of the lingering impact that risk perceptions and fear have on consumer food choices and associated well-being among a vulnerable Caribbean population. The changes identified have important implications for researchers interested in consumer food preferences as well as policymakers seeking to promote a healthy lifestyle among individuals coping with psychologically stressful circumstances.

The ubiquity of the internet has extended immense informational power to patients around the world who previously had abysmal knowledge about the disease they are suffering from. With a large amount of information in their hands, these educated and well-informed patients are cultivating deeper relationships and engagement with their physicians through meaningful interactions. This study aims to investigate the influence of patients’ internet usage and their interactions on their intentions to revisit and foster relationships with their physicians.

A survey-based questionnaire was administered at four government hospitals in Pune, involving a sample size of 400. The study intends to use structural equation modelling (SEM) to examine the hypothesized relationships identified within the research analysis.

The findings of this study indicate that patients report higher levels of satisfaction and intention to revisit when they have a strong interaction with their physician.

This study provides valuable inputs to the hospital authorities and health-care-related policy makers. This study also contributes to the overall body of literature on health care information system, behavioural aspects of patients and doctors as well as other health-care-related staffs in hospitals.

The study adds values to the overall body of literature for both hospital information system, patient interaction and health care policy. To date, no research has examined the association between patient–physician interactions conducted through internet channels and subsequent behavioural intentions. Moreover, the study investigates the behavioural aspects of patients and health-care staffs, which adds value towards the body of knowledge in the extant literature.

This study aims to develop theory on the process toward digital service innovation (DSI) and to generate insights into how companies deal with the rising complexity associated with DSI, both inside and outside of the organization, through organizational learning and alignment.

After purposeful sampling, in-depth, longitudinal case studies of three manufacturers are presented as illustration. Per case, multiple semi-structured interviews are conducted, and insights are validated through rich additional data gathering. Each company's DSI pathway is reconstructed with critical incident technique. Next, using systematic combining, a middle-range theory is developed by proposing a theoretical frame concerning the relations between DSI maturity, learning and alignment.

The authors posit that, as companies gradually develop and progress toward DSI maturity, they deal with a rising degree of complexity, fueling their learning needs. Companies that are apt to learn, pass through multiple cycles of learning and alignment to overcome specific complexities associated with different DSI stages, with each cycle unlocking new DSI opportunities and challenges.

The study applies a stage-based view on DSI combined with complexity management and organizational learning and alignment theory. It offers a theoretical frame and propositions to be used by researchers for future DSI studies and by managers to evaluate alternative DSI strategies and implementation steps.

Some studies have been reported in the past on diaphragmatic hernia (DH) surgery techniques using additive manufacturing (AM) technologies, symptoms of a hernia and post-surgery complications. But hitherto little has been reported on bibliographic analysis (BA) for health monitoring of bovine post-DH surgery for long-term management. Based on BA, this study aims to explore the sensor fabrication integrated with innovative AM technologies for health monitoring assistance of bovines post-DH surgery.

A BA based on the data extracted through the Web of Science database was performed using bibliometric tools (R-Studio and Biblioshiny).

After going through the BA and a case study, this review provides information on various 3D-printed meshes used over the sutured site and available Internet of Things-based solutions to prevent the recurrence of DH.

Research gaps exist for 3D-printed conformal sensors for health monitoring of bovine post-DH surgery.

In recent times, reverse logistics (RL) is gaining significant traction in various automobile industries to recapture returned vehicles’ value. A good RL program can lower manufacturing costs, establish a green supply chain, enhance customer satisfaction and provide a competitive advantage. However, reducing disruptions and increasing operational efficiency in the automobile RL requires implementing innovative technology to improve information flow and security. Thus, this manuscript aims to examine the hurdles in automobile RL activities and how they can be effectively tackled by blockchain technology (BCT). Merging BCT and RL provides the entire automobile industry a chance to generate value for its consumers through effective vehicle return policies, manufacturing cost reduction, maintenance records tracking, administration of vehicle information and a clear payment record of insurance contracts.

This research is presented in three stages to accomplish the task. First, previous literature and experts' opinions are examined to highlight certain factors that are an aggravation to BCT implementation. Next, this study proposed an interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy set (IVIFS) – decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) with Choquet integral framework for computing and analyzing the comparative results of factor interrelationships. Finally, the causal outline diagrams are plotted to determine the influence of factors on one another for BCT implementation in automobile RL.

This study has categorized the barriers to BCT implementation into five major factors – operational and strategical, technical, knowledge and behavioral, financial and infrastructural, and government rules and regulations. The results revealed that disreputable technology, low-bearing capacity of IT systems and operational inefficiency are the most significant factors to be dealt with by automobile industry professionals for finer and enhanced RL processes utilizing BCT. The most noticeable advantage of BCT is its enormous amount of data, permitting automobile RL to develop client experience through real-time data insights.

This study reveals several factors that are hindering the implementation of BCT in RL activities of the automobile industry. The results can assist experts and policymakers improve their existing decision-making systems while making an effort to implement BCT into the automobile industry's RL activities.

Although there are several studies on the benefits of BCT in RL and the adoption of BCT in the automobile industry, individually, none have explicated the use of BCT in automobile RL. This is also the first kind of study that has used IVIFS-DEMATEL with the Choquet integral framework for computing and analyzing the comparative results of factor interrelationships hindering BCT implementation in automobile RL activities.