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Abstract High secure services treat patients who may have very complex clinical needs under conditions of security. Until very recently such services were run and managed on the periphery of the structures and accountability arrangements put in place for the rest of the NHS, becoming isolated from modern thinking and evidence‐based therapeutic practice. A high percentage of patients in the high secure system were assessed as no longer requiring that level of security.Following an inquiry at Ashworth hospital which reported in 1999, steps were taken to bring these services into the mainstream of the NHS, to decentralise further the commissioning and performance management and to develop the capacity and capability to enable discharge of patients to lower levels of security. New partnerships and new relationships have resulted in an NHS Plan target of 400 patients discharged from high security.The inclusion of high security services within Health & Offender Partnerships creates a framework for managing proposed and ongoing changes. High security services are a necessary part of our mental health system and should be valued and developed. This paper outlines how quality improvements will be enabled and embedded.

The purpose of the paper is to demonstrate how a generic value chain and customer focused system as demonstrated by the Scottish and Irish breast screening programmes can be used to provide a high quality health service.

Literature relevant to aligning the entire operating model – the companies' culture, business processes, management systems to serve one value discipline, i.e. customer intimacy, is reviewed and considered in the context of the NHS Scottish Breast Screening Programme in Edinburgh and BreastCheck – the National Breast Screening Programme in Ireland.

This paper demonstrates how an emphasis on customer focus and operational excellence, as used in other service industries, can help to provide a better health service. It uses the Scottish and Irish breast screening programmes as illustrative examples. The paper applies the key requirements in the delivery of a quality service including an understanding of the characteristics of a service industry, the management of discontinuities involved in its delivery and the environment in which it operates.

System failure is commonly the cause of quality failure in the health system. Breast screening programmes are designed to prevent such a failure. This paper promotes and describes the use of the generic value chain by using the knowledge gained in delivering a mammography‐screening programme.

The purpose of this paper is to study the role of the actors (especially firms) in interactions between contexts defined as “innovation ecosystems.”

The paper presents a conceptual framework. A review of the literature to frame the concepts of innovation ecosystems and the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) approach is presented. A possible integration of the two concepts is then discussed.

The paper adds new discursive inputs to the concept of innovation ecosystem that validate its use in the context of the knowledge economy and extends the theories of knowledge, by analyzing the role that various actors who populate an innovative ecosystem play in the creation, learning, use, and dissemination of knowledge.

The paper furnishes an approach to the research on knowledge management and innovation, in the attempt to relate the IMP Group approach with the perspective of the “innovation ecosystems” concept.

Empirical evidence on the determinants of corporate FX speculation is ambiguous. We note that the conflicting findings of prior studies could be the result of different methodologies in determining speculation. Using a novel approach to defining speculative activities, we seek to help solve the puzzle of the determinants of speculation and examine which firms engage in such activities and why they do so.

This paper examines an unexplored regulatory environment that contains publicly reported FX risk data on the firms' exposures before and after hedging per year and currency. This unprecedented data granularity allows us to use actual reported volumes instead of proxy variables in defining speculation and to examine whether the convexity theories are empirically supported in FX risk management.

We find that frequent speculators are smaller, have more growth opportunities and possess lower internal resources, which indicates unprecedented empirical evidence for the convexity theories in FX risk management. Further, we provide evidence that corporate speculation might be linked to the application of hedge accounting.

We help solve the questions of which and why firms engage in speculative activities. This can provide valuable information to various stakeholders such as financial analysts, investors, or regulators, which can help prevent imperiling corporate losses and curb excessive speculative financial activities.

In order to question the unresolved issue of the determinants of speculation, this paper is the first to use openly available accounting data with actual reported FX exposure information before and after hedging in defining speculation, instead of relying on proxy variables for FX exposure and derivative usage with potential estimation errors.

Companies often provide preferential treatment, such as free upgrades, to customers. The present study aims to identify a costly consequence of such preferential treatment (i.e. opportunistic behavior) and reveal which type of customer is most likely to engage in that negative behavior (i.e. new customers).

Across two experimental studies, the authors test whether preferential treatment increases customers’ entitlement, which in turn increases their propensity to behave opportunistically. Moderated mediation analysis further tests whether that mediated effect is moderated by customers’ prior relationship with the company.

Preferential treatment increases feelings of entitlement, which consequently triggers customers’ opportunistic behaviors. New customers are more likely to feel entitled after preferential treatment than repeat customers, and hence new customers are more likely to behave opportunistically. Preferential treatment also increases customers’ suspicion of the company’s motives, but suspicion was unrelated to opportunistic behavior.

Future research may focus on other marketplace situations that trigger entitlement and explore whether multiple occurrences of preferential treatment provide different effects on consumers.

Present findings demonstrate that preferential treatment can evoke opportunistic behaviors among customers. The authors suggest that preferential treatment should be provided to customers who previously invested in their relationship with a company (i.e. repeat customers) rather than new customers.

Prior research has focused more on the ways companies prioritize their repeat customers than how they surprise their new customers. The present research instead examines preferential treatment based on customers’ relationship with a firm (i.e. both repeat and new customers) and demonstrates behavioral and contextual effects of entitlement.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the literature on the representation of the quadruple and quintuple helix (QQH) in innovation environments such as incubators and science and technology parks (STPs).

The authors used the integrative review as a methodological approach and systematized studies regarding the main research objectives; theoretical approaches; methodology and study object; QQH representation, by identifying actor, performance and main results; and additional contributions to the QQH model.

As a result, the authors noticed a lack of standardization on the representation of the quadruple helix, but the example of associations and community centers as representatives of the civil society. The quintuple helix does not have an actor that represents the environment, but STPs foster sustainable actions, encourage the generation of green companies and stimulate sustainable practices among established companies.

Based on changes in the economic and social scenarios, new theoretical approaches emerge to explain the innovation process, such as the QQH. Incubators and STPs are favorable settings for interactions, according to the new models; however, there is a lack of studies addressing this topic in such environments. Hence, this study contributes to understanding the existence and performance of QQH, by showing how these new helices were identified, in addition to advancing the subject in innovation environments such as incubators and STPs.

The purpose of this paper is to offer a state of the art description of open air markets (OAM), a little-known phenomenon that is indispensable in Africa’s consumer packaged goods industry.

A qualitative methodology comprising in-depth semi-structured interviews and direct observation was employed.

Analysis of data from Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy and most populous country, reveals that channel members have roles that are different from that of their Western counterparts. For example, distributors often do not distribute and principals are expected to actively sell on behalf of their distributors to empty the latter’s warehouse. Also, while many end-users in developing countries expect credit sales and opportunity to bargain, extant literature does not include these demands in the formal list of service output demands. Another major finding is the surprising order underlying OAM. It is the bedrock of commercial activities: for most consumer packaged goods manufacturers, sales through OAM account for over 90 percent of revenue.

The focus on one industry and country limits the generalizability of the above findings.

Africa is the next growth frontier. Tapping into this growth requires a deep understanding and appreciation of the important role played by its unique marketing channels.

Given the dearth of documented knowledge about marketing channels in emerging markets, this study addresses an important gap. Its findings could inform theory development and encourage more research on marketing channels in developing countries.

The purpose of this paper is to apply a computer-aided engineering approach in order to improve the performance and the reliability of an innovative internal combustion engine. The engine is called twin engine packs system and it consists into the presence of two independent piston engines working in the same crankcase, thus allowing the helicopter to meet the safety standards of the fail-safe design approach, as happens with the twin-turbine helicopters, but with reduced operative costs. The goal is to propose to the designers modifications aimed to improve the performance of the components.

The crankshaft, connecting rod and the piston of the engine have been investigated by means of numerical FE models. Numerical fatigue assessments have been performed along with vibrational modes and buckling analysis in order to verify the structural integrity of the system.

On the basis of the numerical results, some modifications have been proposed to the designers and the originally proposed geometry has been modified. Eventually, the mass of the engine has been reduced keeping a high reliability level.

The prototype of the engine has been built following the modifications proposed in this paper. This paper represents a comprehensive application of a CAE methodology to a real industrial application.

This paper shows a complete CAE procedure applied to a real working engine whose performances and reliability have been improved by following the findings of this paper.

Life satisfaction is an ultimate goal in human existence, and it is also an important factor in the work domain. It may both trigger work-related outcomes and be influenced by work-related factors. The authors are here concerned with career satisfaction and its association with life satisfaction. From a bottom-up perspective, career satisfaction should enhance life satisfaction; from a top-down perspective, the influence should work in the reverse direction; and from an interactionist perspective reciprocal influences are conceivable. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The authors tested these perspectives in two longitudinal studies with three points of measurement each. Study 1 (n=517) covered a period of five years and Study 2 an eight-week period (n=99). The authors analyzed the data by means of latent growth curve modeling and cross-lagged analysis.

Both studies revealed that life satisfaction and career satisfaction are positively associated both within and across time. The directional association between both constructs is well-represented by a top-down model; further, by a reciprocal influence model. The bottom-up model received least support. Study 2 additionally showed that work centrality is a moderator.

The authors discuss these findings with respect to both the relevance of life satisfaction in the work domain and the relationship between global and domain-specific life satisfaction.

The present research is the first one that investigates the association between career satisfaction and life satisfaction using two longitudinal studies.

Previous research indicates that dissatisfied consumers in other countries react differently as compared to those in the USA, due to their cultural orientation. These studies, however, have not recognized that retail policies (regarding returns and exchanges) in the USA are much more liberal and “consumer friendly” than in other parts of the world, and thus it is possible that their conclusions are flawed. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to determine the extent to which cross-national differences in complaint behavior are due to cultural vs situational factors.

To examine this issue, a two-part study was conducted. Study 1 compared consumers living in China, India and Mexico to cohorts who immigrated to the USA. Study 2 compared individuals from those same countries to subjects who are native to the USA.

The findings indicate that situational factors (i.e. consumer-oriented vs restrictive refund/return/exchange policies) have a large impact on consumer complaint behavior (i.e. redress, negative-word-of-mouth and exit), and that the effects of culture are minor.

To infer cause-effect, and establish scientific theory, one must rule out alternative hypotheses. Researchers who are investigating cross-cultural complaint behavior must take situational factors into account.

With the emergence of “global consumers” consumer expectations around the world are changing. Astute retailers should institute and promote more liberal return policies, thereby mitigating consumers’ perceived risk.

This study dispels the notion that culture is responsible for differences in cross-national consumer complaint behavior.