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1 – 10 of over 7000Bettina Lampert and Christine Unterrainer
Detached Concern and its core dimensions – employees’ concern toward and detachment from their clients – are important facets of the emotion-generative process during client…
Abstract
Detached Concern and its core dimensions – employees’ concern toward and detachment from their clients – are important facets of the emotion-generative process during client interaction in people-oriented work environments. We studied the intra- and interpersonal effects of Detached Concern on professionals’ burnout (N = 1411) and patient-centered care quality (N = 332 patients; 43 physicians). Our findings indicate different Detached Concern types. Balanced employees (scoring high on concern and detachment) yielded lower burnout levels compared to imbalanced professionals. Patients’ perception of care quality was positively related to their physicians’ concern and detachment, and was significantly higher for the balanced than for the imbalanced physicians.
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Salaheddine Bendak and Ahlam A. Alhammadi
House fire risk would be minimised if fire safety principles were incorporated at the design stage. This issue is rarely addressed in the literature. The purpose of this study is…
Abstract
Purpose
House fire risk would be minimised if fire safety principles were incorporated at the design stage. This issue is rarely addressed in the literature. The purpose of this study is to propose a multi-criteria decision-making framework to evaluate fire risk of detached house designs in the United Arab Emirates and countries of similar cultural background.
Design/methodology/approach
The framework was developed based on function areas where (detached) house fires start, expert opinion and recommendations derived from the published literature on residential fire safety. This framework was applied to a sample of ten public detached house designs to check the applicability of the framework and to determine how safe these designs are from a fire safety perspective.
Findings
The proposed framework is proven to be an effective preliminary fire risk evaluation tool of detached house designs, and more research is needed in this area.
Research limitations/implications
The proposed framework is an encouraging first step in incorporating fire risk minimisation at the design stage of detached houses based on determining the preferred location of function areas but requires further development and validation, especially in other design settings.
Practical implications
The proposed framework is an initial endeavour in helping designers of detached houses to minimise fire risk and its potential effects on residents.
Originality/value
This research proposes a way to minimise fire risk at the design stage of detached houses.
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A dense urban structure cuts down traffic emissions. It also promotes waste heat use and storage possibilities as a form of district heating. However, quality elements associated…
Abstract
Purpose
A dense urban structure cuts down traffic emissions. It also promotes waste heat use and storage possibilities as a form of district heating. However, quality elements associated with detached houses, such as tranquillity and self-expression possibilities, may be lost. Better building quality and alternatives to private car use can enable these elements in smaller spaces, which is assessed here. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
A technology set for an imaginary high-quality (HQ) apartment house is discussed by assessing increased embedded energy of the building structure, due to the HQ measures. HQ solutions include visual barriers, increased sound insulation, roof terraces, large windows, apartment adaptability, bike sheds, electrical cargo bikes and advanced energy solutions.
Findings
The increased construction and heating energy use in HQ buildings can be offset if car use is reduced by 10-15 per cent. There is a greater possibility of achieving this reduction if HQ housing can make urban densification more readily acceptable by demonstrating, that good quality housing can exist both in smaller building lots as well as in smaller apartments.
Originality/value
The quality issue brings a novel perspective to estimating the environmental impacts of built environment solutions. The approach here is quite simple, but the issue can be discussed more. That is, how much total resource input can be decreased, if the target is not to produce square metres but rather the necessary elements to have a good quality of life.
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This study aims to test whether energy performance effects single-family home sale prices. It also examines whether recommendations for supposedly cost-effective energy efficiency…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to test whether energy performance effects single-family home sale prices. It also examines whether recommendations for supposedly cost-effective energy efficiency measures, by intervention category (construction, installation or operation/control technical measures), are perceived as untapped potential – a real option – that effects sale prices.
Design/methodology/approach
The energy performance measurement and dummy variables for three categories of improvement recommendations are included as explanatory variables in a hedonic regression analysis using transaction data and energy performance certificates data for 1,073 observations.
Findings
Results indicate that better energy performance effects selling prices positively. Energy efficiency recommendations seem to have an impact on sale price; home buyers seem to require a larger “discount” for more complex types of measures.
Research limitations/implications
The sample only includes houses in the Stockholm; so-called sustainable buildings have not been specifically studied; and the heating source has not been accounted for.
Originality/value
The EU energy performance certificates provide new information and measure energy performance more exactly than many earlier (proxy) variables. This is one of the first studies to test the effect of this information, and the first one using Swedish data.
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Madlen Sobkowiak, Thomas Cuckston and Ian Thomson
This research seeks to explain how a national government becomes capable of constructing an account of its biodiversity performance that is aimed at enabling formulation of policy…
Abstract
Purpose
This research seeks to explain how a national government becomes capable of constructing an account of its biodiversity performance that is aimed at enabling formulation of policy in pursuit of SDG 15: Life on Land.
Design/methodology/approach
The research examines a case study of the construction of the UK government's annual biodiversity report. The case is analysed to explain the process of framing a space in which the SDG-15 challenge of halting biodiversity loss is rendered calculable, such that the government can see and understand its own performance in relation to this challenge.
Findings
The construction of UK government's annual biodiversity report relies upon data collected through non-governmental conservation efforts, statistical expertise of a small project group within the government and a governmental structure that drives ongoing evolution of the indicators as actors strive to make these useful for policy formulation.
Originality/value
The analysis problematises the SDG approach to accounting for sustainable development, whereby performance indicators have been centrally agreed and universally imposed upon all signatory governments. The analysis suggests that capacity-building efforts for national governments may need to be broader than that envisaged by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
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Roslyn Sorensen and Rick Iedema
This paper aims to understand the impact of emotional labour in specific health care settings and its potential effect on patient care.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to understand the impact of emotional labour in specific health care settings and its potential effect on patient care.
Design/methodology/approach
Multi‐method qualitative ethnographic study undertaken in a large ICU in Sydney, Australia using observations from patient case studies, ward rounds and family conferences, open ended interviews with medical and nursing clinicians and managers and focus groups with nurses.
Findings
Clinician attitudes to death and dying and clinicians' capacity to engage with the human needs of patients influenced how emotional labour was experienced. Negative effects were not formally acknowledged in clinical workplaces and institutional mechanisms to support clinicians did not exist.
Research limitations/implications
The potential effects of clinician attitudes on performance are hypothesised from clinician‐reported data; no evaluation was undertaken of patient care.
Practical implications
Health service providers must openly acknowledge the effect of emotional labour on the care of dying people. By sharing their experiences, multidisciplinary clinicians become aware of the personal, professional and organisational impact of emotional labour as a core element of health care so as to explicitly and practically respond to it.
Originality/value
The effect of care on clinicians, particularly care of dying people, not only affects the wellbeing of clinicians themselves, but also the quality of care that patients receive. The affective aspect of clinical work must be factored in as an essential element of quality and quality improvement.
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Andrea Fischbach and Benjamin Schneider
Purpose: Work-related emotional exposure is a fundamental job characteristic in all kinds of service jobs from sales to law enforcement and corrections and from human services…
Abstract
Purpose: Work-related emotional exposure is a fundamental job characteristic in all kinds of service jobs from sales to law enforcement and corrections and from human services (nursing, counseling) to legal services. But formalized job descriptions are surprisingly silent about the emotional issues accompanying the jobs and roles service workers perform. This is surprising because formalized job descriptions are the foundation of job design, HR, and leadership practices that positively affect employee, customer, and organizational outcomes. Study Design/Methodology/Approach: This is a theory paper and review. To help clarify the emotional labor issues service employees confront, we explicate a model of emotional labor based on the attributes of jobs, roles, and professionalism. Findings: We define emotional labor as service work that exposes those who do such work to interactions with others that can arouse negative emotions. We propose that, while employing organizations define their jobs and employees craft their larger roles, professional norms and values also are a foundation for their emotional labor. Research Implications: We integrate this work-focused emotional labor model into the larger context in which such work occurs via theory and research on organizational climate. We suggest future research on this approach to understanding the antecedents and consequences of emotional labor work. We summarize the major research ideas of what should be the focus of such research and provide a hint about what an emotional labor climate scale might look like based on these ideas. Practical Implications: This chapter offers practical advice to HR managers about how to improve emotional labor. Social Implications: Better management of emotional labor can reduce employee stress and increase employee well-being. Originality/Value: This chapter develops an original model of emotional labor.
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Ronald J. Berger, Carla Corroto, Jennifer Flad and Richard Quinney
Medical uncertainty is recognized as a critical issue in the sociology of diagnosis and medical sociology more generally, but a neglected focus of this concern is the question of…
Abstract
Medical uncertainty is recognized as a critical issue in the sociology of diagnosis and medical sociology more generally, but a neglected focus of this concern is the question of patient decision making. Using a mixed methods approach that draws upon autoethnographic accounts and third-party interviews, we aim to illuminate the dilemmas of patient decision making in the face of uncertainty. How do patients and supportive caregivers go about navigating this state of affairs? What types of patient–doctor/healthcare professional relationships hinder or enhance effective patient decision making? These are the themes we explore in this study by following patients through the sequence of experiencing symptoms, seeking a diagnosis, evaluating treatment protocols, and receiving treatments. In general, three genres of culturally available narratives are revealed in the data: strategic, technoluxe, and unbearable health narratives.
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