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It is recognised that a sustainable competitive advantage is a necessary condition for a firm to survive and prosper. Specifically, companies need to embark on real, substantive business initiatives that will accrue to the company an asymmetrical, firm‐specific resource that will not be perfectly imitable by competitors, to borrow from Barney’s (1986) parlance. Barney’s notion of imperfect imitability is see as crucial in ascertaining the long run efficacy of any potential source of competitive advantage. A sustainable competitive advantage is one which is of value, is rare, has few if any substitutes, and in particular is not easily copied (Barney, 1986). The acquisition of such a sustainable competitive advantage is seen as the whole point of planning and executive business level strategies.

In recent years, the number of refugees and migrants entering Europe has increased dramatically. Such trauma may affect not only refugees themselves, but also care givers and rescue workers. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the intensity and psychological impact of the refugee crisis, with a view to suggesting ways of moving forward.

Based on recent literature, this paper briefly looks at the importance of attention to health and social issues, before discussing the psychological trauma of refugees and potential emotional trauma of those involved in rescue operations.

The provision of psychological support which is both compassionate and culturally competent should be viewed as essential. Furthermore, the development of resources and tools to assist with the current refugee crisis could enable care givers, rescue workers, and healthcare professionals to provide psychological support to migrants and refugees. Such resources could also encourage, and support, frontline responders in caring for their own personal psychological well-being.

The content of this paper could help to encourage further research in this field, including research into the emotional trauma of rescue workers. Furthermore, it is intended that this paper could contribute to an on-line knowledge base when considering the development of tools and resources to assist with the current refugee crisis.

African American corporate business executives employed in black owned and operated businesses were studied with the purpose of developing profiles and identifying their perceptions of the importance of professional characteristics and career activities to their career achievement.The typical African American corporate executive in this study held the position of chief executive officer or vice president, was male, had a mother as a female primary care giver, had a father as a male primary care giver, had primary care givers who were very supportive of career decisions and goals, had earned a bachelor’s degree, and had a male mentor.With regard to perceptions, the typical African American corporate executive believed that communicating in writing and speaking was “crucial” to his/her career achievement; believed that setting goals was “crucial” to his/her career achievement; believed that adjusting to new situations was “crucial” to his/her career achievement; and believed that developing and strengthening self‐confidence were “crucial” to his/her career achievement.

Children with disabilities that exhibit maladaptive behaviors as a result of abuse and neglect require consideration of a more comprehensive, alternative method of assessment to determine the source and patterns of the behaviors. The need exists to go beyond an assessment of the current level of intellectual functioning, individual academic achievement, and functional behavior to a more ethological approach that considers the dynamics in the home and social settings that influence development. The careful analysis of the child’s social and academic records; patterns and frequency of movement for those in out-of-home placements; interviews and records of primary care givers; along with the intellectual and academic assessments enables special educators, social workers, school staff, and health care professionals to more effectively address the individual needs of the child. This paper discusses assessment methods that utilize a more comprehensive approach to determine the factors that lead to high levels of maladaptive behavior in special needs children. Additionally, alternative intervention strategies are recommended that include establishing the child’s perceived primary care giver with the most stable environment to facilitate the child’s development of more appropriate behaviors.

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the development of a recovery-oriented training programme for mental health care-givers. It also considers the effectiveness of using participatory research methods that promote involvement of people with diverse expertise to co-produce this programme. It presents a rationale for developing recovery-oriented training, which employs blended learning, comprising face-to-face and e-learning.

A small advisory group consisting of professionals, experts-by-experience (service users) and -by-caring (care-givers) and an academic developed a blended learning programme about the recovery approach for mental health carer-givers. This paper details the participatory approach supported by an action research cycle that contributed to the design of the programme, and the specific impact of experiential knowledge on its development.

Reflections on the advisory group process are described that led to the co-production of the course. This leads to consideration of the value of using this research approach to develop a carer-focused programme. The content of the recovery-oriented training programme is presented which adopts blended learning. This leads to discussion of potential of this format to improve carers’ access to training.

It is proposed that this recovery-oriented course, building on a previous study, has the potential to positively influence outcomes for the training programme participants (the care-givers) and the person they support. It is suggested that blended learning may in part overcome some of the barriers carers experience to accessing and participating in traditional interventions. Reflections on the process of co-production underline the value of participatory research in designing this recovery-oriented course for carers.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the potential factors that may generate complexity in managing operations in home care (HC) organizations. Hence, a framework which might assist decision making regarding complexity‐driven issues in HC organizations is developed.

Based on a systems thinking view, a framework was developed identifying complexity factors in HC organizations. The paper is based on field research to explore the practical challenges of managing operations in HC structures. The authors additionally give a state of the art in many scientific domains; definition of complexity and its implications; complexity in health care; description of home care operations and their management. The literature review enlightens the lack of consensus on HC complexity and thus provides a broad view and a critical analysis of the underlying concepts.

Proposal of a HC operations complexity model (and validation due to a practical application).

The framework developed by the authors permits one to identify rapidly the existing complexity factors which may create potential damages regarding value creation and cost improvement in HC. Two kinds of HC complexity are identified: HC organization complexity and HC individual patients' therapeutical projects complexity. Complexity factors are grouped into five categories: factors related to size; factors related to variety; interdependence factors; factors related to uncertainties; and factors related to context. By identifying the factors, decision support systems and response plans may be more adapted to the potential existing short comings of operations.

Based on authors' extensive knowledge of HC practices, as well as an international systematic review of literature, this paper contributes to a better characterization of factors inducing complexity in the HC context. To the best of the authors' knowledge, operations management literature lacks a general framework enabling a better identification and understanding of what makes HC operations specific. The paper presents an innovative way to analyze HC complexity using a systems thinking‐based approach. In this sense, its contribution is very complementary to traditional operations management models.

Attempts to address the gap in literature on the experiences of HIV/AIDS care workers in Africa through studies of professional care givers in Lome, Togo. Uses a pilot study of 30 care givers and examines the roles, services and coping mechanisms of these individuals. Presents the demographics characteristics of the care givers and the type of services provided. Discusses how they cope with stress and their feeling regarding the prevention of HIV. Concludes they face enormous demands which may affect their own health and families. Suggests that a support network would be helpful.