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The recent debate in the House of Lords showed that the official plans for milk of better quality, set out in the White Paper three years ago, are only slowly being put into…
Abstract
The recent debate in the House of Lords showed that the official plans for milk of better quality, set out in the White Paper three years ago, are only slowly being put into effect. A more active policy was, however, promised by Lord Ammon when labour and plant made it possible. Farmers have come to accept the view that a safe milk supply depends both upon the improvement of animal health and on the heat‐treatment of milk. Some recent figures issued in the Monthly Bulletin of the Ministry of Health show what the pasteurisation of milk has already achieved in reducing the number of deaths among young children from abdominal tuberculosis, a form of the disease which is generally due to tubercle bacillus of bovine origin. In 1921, in the administrative county of London, 136 out of every 1,000,000 children died from this disease. In 1944 the corresponding figure was six. In rural areas the rate in 1921 was 252 and in 1944 still sixty, or ten times the London rate. The London figures for 1944 show a reduction to one‐twenty‐third of the 1921 rate, while for rural areas the reduction is only about one‐quarter. These figures suggest a high degree of correspondence between the increase of pasteurisation and the decrease of mortality from abdominal tuberculosis. In 1944 99 per cent. of London milk supplies was pasteurised; and though more milk has been treated in rural areas and in urban areas outside London during the past twenty years, nothing like the London standard has yet been generally reached. Large towns such as London are at one disadvantage in regard to milk safety in that they receive their supplies in bulk, and samples, before pasteurisation, show a high degree of infection. To this extent rural areas might be expected to have better figures. That they do not would appear to be proof of the greater safety provided by pasteurisation. In the House of Lords debate Lord Rothschild estimated the annual casualties from raw milk contaminated by bovine tuberculosis germs as between 7,000 and 8,000. The case for speedier progress with the provision of pasteurisation plant will be generally endorsed. This development under the auspices of the Ministry of Health needs to be supported by a vigorous effort by the Ministry of Agriculture to build up the health of dairy herds. The problems involved in establishing clean areas, beginning with isolated districts and extending them gradually until in ten or fifteen years' time the whole country is clear of tuberculosis and contagious abortion, were recently discussed in these columns. The Milk Marketing Board, the producers' organisation, has now declared its support for a national drive to clean up the dairy herds; and the Government are assured of general support when a comprehensive plan for ensuring safety in milk is put forward.
Robert Johansen and Ellen Baker
User needs or requirements analysis is a subject about which intelligent people are beginning to admit their ignorance. An approach to this thorny problem is proposed, along with…
Abstract
User needs or requirements analysis is a subject about which intelligent people are beginning to admit their ignorance. An approach to this thorny problem is proposed, along with suggestions for adaptation of the approach to other situations. The emphasis is on recognizing the difficulties of anticipating user needs, as well as the value of exchanging information about alternative approaches.
Guy Bennett-Longley and Daniel Laufer
Crises and natural disasters represent significant challenges to business, straining financial and human resources. However, corporate philanthropy during these times can result…
Abstract
Crises and natural disasters represent significant challenges to business, straining financial and human resources. However, corporate philanthropy during these times can result in significant benefits to the reputation of firms, while assisting in crisis recovery. This research focuses on the 2016 earthquake in Kaikōura, New Zealand to examine consumer reactions to corporate philanthropy. Two between-subject experiments were used to test the proposed hypotheses. Our results suggest that consumers do not differ significantly in their perceptions of the reputation of a company when donations of money or employee time are made by the company to assist the Red Cross. However, if a company is not engaged in corporate philanthropy, its reputation is significantly lower than when it engages in corporate philanthropy. We also found that the reputational benefits of giving to corporate philanthropy are weakened when consumers are highly sceptical of underlying corporate motives. Finally, we found that companies who give, despite being adversely impacted by a natural disaster, are perceived more favourably in terms of reputation, when compared with firms that have not been hurt by the natural disaster. We discuss the implications of this research for both practitioners and researchers.
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Ian Palmer, Richard Dunford, Thekla Rura‐Polley and Ellen Baker
A common argument is that organizations should adopt new organizational practices, in order to respond to the hyper‐competitive business environment. The assumption underlying…
Abstract
A common argument is that organizations should adopt new organizational practices, in order to respond to the hyper‐competitive business environment. The assumption underlying this argument is that such adoption generally entails the replacement of traditional practices. We suggest, instead, that managers are more likely to be managing simultaneously both new and old organizational practices. We explore our position through an investigation of the use of remote collaboration technologies in film production. In our study of US, UK and Australian film production houses we identify seven organizational dualities which characterize remote collaborations: creative work/routines, freedom/constraint, trust/control, artistic excellence/cost effectiveness, collaboration/competition, emotional/rational and closeness/remoteness. One side of each relationship represents organizational practices commonly associated with traditional forms of organizing, while the other represents those practices commonly associated with new forms of organizing. The coexistence of these dualities suggests that new organizational forms are not replacing traditional forms but rather co‐exist with, and become incorporated into, remolded traditional forms.
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Ellen Baker, Melanie Kan and Stephen T.T. Teo
The purpose of this paper is to examine a collaborative non‐profit network which is undergoing organizational change.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine a collaborative non‐profit network which is undergoing organizational change.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors present a case study of an employment‐services network in its first year of change, as the network implemented various activities to enhance its performance. A grounded‐theory approach was adopted to study the organizational and collaborative processes within the member‐site and Head‐Office levels.
Findings
It was found that member‐site leadership was the critical factor influencing site culture and site performance, and that high‐performing sites were initiating collaborative activities with other sites. Head‐Office leadership also influenced site performance and collaboration, but its initiatives were only moderately successful. The findings also indicate that change efforts should focus on leadership at both the site and network levels, and may need to begin with low‐performing sites.
Practical implications
The paper discusses the implications of leadership on the implementation of collaborative networks in the employment services sector.
Originality/value
The qualitative findings of the study add to, and help to explain, earlier research findings on the questions of how public sector organizations utilize various activities to implement collaborative networks and their impact on managerial practice.
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An important report on the work carried out during the two years 1906–7 and 1907–8 by the Inspectors of Foods appointed by the Local Government Board has been drawn up by Dr. G…
Abstract
An important report on the work carried out during the two years 1906–7 and 1907–8 by the Inspectors of Foods appointed by the Local Government Board has been drawn up by Dr. G. S. BUCHANAN, the Chief Inspector, and forms part of the report of the Medical Officer to the Board, Dr. ARTHUR NEWSHOLME, for the year 1907–8 (Appendix A, No. 10).
In this time of severe national budget deficit, all programs are reviewed for trimming/downsizing and effectiveness. Just as educational systems are evaluated for trimming, so are…
Abstract
In this time of severe national budget deficit, all programs are reviewed for trimming/downsizing and effectiveness. Just as educational systems are evaluated for trimming, so are school and academic library services. This article will address why it is crucial to have close linkages between school and academic libraries through articulation programs to avoid duplication and waste of human resources, and explain how articulation can be initiated through precollege programs offered by colleges and universities. It will focus on why academic libraries participate in precollege access programs, highlight how collaboration between school and academic libraries helps the “town and gown” community relationship, and point out how precollege programs help minority students and university recruitment and retention efforts. As an example, it will describe the outreach program of the College Library at the University of Wisconsin‐Madi‐son. The article concludes by discussing the future goals of strengthening and broadening the participation of academic libraries in precollege access programs.
Guillermo A. Sandoval, Adalsteinn D. Brown, Walter P. Wodchis and Geoffrey M. Anderson
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between hospital adoption and use of computed tomography (CT) scanners, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between hospital adoption and use of computed tomography (CT) scanners, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines and in-patient mortality and length of stay.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used panel data (2007–2010) from 124 hospital corporations operating in Ontario, Canada. Imaging use focused on medical patients accounting for 25 percent of hospital discharges. Main outcomes were in-hospital mortality rates and average length of stay. A model for each outcome-technology combination was built, and controlled for hospital structural characteristics, market factors and patient characteristics.
Findings
In 2010, 36 and 59 percent of hospitals had adopted MRI machines and CT scanners, respectively. Approximately 23.5 percent of patients received CT scans and 3.5 percent received MRI scans during the study period. Adoption of these technologies was associated with reductions of up to 1.1 percent in mortality rates and up to 4.5 percent in length of stay. The imaging use–mortality relationship was non-linear and varied by technology penetration within hospitals. For CT, imaging use reduced mortality until use reached 19 percent in hospitals with one scanner and 28 percent in hospitals with 2+ scanners. For MRI, imaging use was largely associated with decreased mortality. The use of CT scanners also increased length of stay linearly regardless of technology penetration (4.6 percent for every 10 percent increase in use). Adoption and use of MRI was not associated with length of stay.
Research limitations/implications
These results suggest that there may be some unnecessary use of imaging, particularly in small hospitals where imaging is contracted out. In larger hospitals, the results highlight the need to further investigate the use of imaging beyond certain thresholds. Independent of the rate of imaging use, the results also indicate that the presence of CT and MRI devices within a hospital benefits quality and efficiency.
Originality/value
To the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to investigate the combined effect of adoption and use of medical imaging on outcomes specific to CT scanners and MRI machines in the context of hospital in-patient care.
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Professor Slawomir Magala is a full professor of Cross-Management at the Department of Organization and Personnel Management in Rotterdam School of Management (RSM), Erasmus…
Abstract
Purpose
Professor Slawomir Magala is a full professor of Cross-Management at the Department of Organization and Personnel Management in Rotterdam School of Management (RSM), Erasmus University (RSM, 2015). His education stems from Poland, Germany and the USA, and has taught and conducted research in China, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Croatia, Estonia, the United Kingdom and Namibia. He is a former Chair for Cross-Cultural Management at RSM and has achieved many things, from being editor-in-chief of the Journal of Organizational Change Management (JOCM), to receiving the Erasmus Research Institute in Management (ERIM) Book Award (2010), for The Management of Meaning in Organizations (Routledge, 2009). It has received honors for being the best book in one of the domains of management research. It was selected by an academic committee, consisting of the Scientific Directors of CentER (Tilburg University), METEOR (University of Maastricht) and SOM (University of Groningen). All these research schools are accredited by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a review of Professor Slawomir Magala’s contributions as editor of Journal of Organizational Change Management.
Findings
Slawomir (Slawek) Magala will be known for many contributions to social, organizational, managerial research, and it will be remembered that he has created a great legacy in the field of cross-cultural competence and communication on processes of sense making in professional bureaucracies. He has authored and co-authored many publications including articles, books, professional publications, book contributions and other outputs, and is an established professor of cross-cultural management at the Department of Organization and Personnel Management in RSM, Erasmus University. He will be known for his work as editor of Qualitative Sociology Review, and one of the founding members of the Association for Cross-Cultural Competence in Management, not to mention the Journal of Organizational Change Management. Many of his articles have appeared regularly in leading refereed journals, such as the European Journal of International Management, Public Policy, Critical Perspectives on International Business and Human Resources Development International. His greatest legacy is in the field of cross-cultural management, but branches out to many other management studies.
Research limitations/implications
The research is limited to his work in capacity of editor of Journal of Organizational Change Management.
Practical implications
This review provides a guide for positive role model of an excellent editorship of a journal.
Social implications
Magala’s legacy acknowledges this research and its power to create numerous papers and attract a lot of attention (Flory and Magala, 2014). Because of these conferences, these empirical findings have led to disseminating the conference findings with JOCM (Flory and Magala, 2014). According to them, narrative research has become a respectable research method, but they also feel that it is still burdened with a lot of controversies on with difficulties linked to applying it across different disciplines (Flory and Magala, 2014).
Originality/value
The review covers the creative accomplishment of Professor Magala as editor.
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