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The purpose of the paper is to investigate the potential relationships between emergency-care flow, patient mortality and healthcare costs using a patient-flow model.

The researchers used performance data from one UK NHS trust collected over three years to identify periods where patient flow was compromised. The delays’ root causes in the entire emergency care system were investigated. Event time-lines that disrupted patient flow and patient mortality statistics were compared.

Data showed that patient mortality increases at times when accident and emergency (A&E) department staff were struggling to admit patients. Four delays influenced mortality: first, volume increase and mixed admissions; second, process delays; third, unplanned hospital capacity adjustments and finally, long-term capacity restructuring downstream.

This is an observational study that uses process control data to find times when mortality increases coincide with other events. It captures contextual background to whole system issues that affect patient mortality.

Managers must consider cost-decisions and flow in the whole system. Localised, cost-focused decisions can have a detrimental effect on patient care. Attention must also be paid to mortality reports as existing data-presentation methods do not allow correlation analysis.

Previous studies correlate A&E overcrowding and mortality. This method allows the whole system to be studied and increased mortality root causes to be understood.

This paper aims to understand how a fast moving luxury good like whisky is typically positioned within South Africa’s discounted retail environment and how this positioning could be improved. So doing this paper introduces an econometric valuation model to establish the relative efficacy of contending extrinsic cues in the explanation of whisky prices.

An ordinary least squares regression model is developed from a data set of 122 whiskies drawn from the 2014 festive-season catalogues of two large South African discount retailers. In estimating the whisky pricing function, the hedonic contribution of the following input variables is estimated: age in respect of blended whiskies and single premium malts, in-store supply, claims of retail exclusivity, branding, country-of-origin and packaging formats.

Age effects as they relate to single malts, and mass produced grain whiskies offer the greatest explanation of price, while scarcity effects are observed, along with claims of retail exclusivity which are found to reduce product value significantly. Country-of-origin and packaging however have low to negligible effects.

To producers and marketers of whisky, these findings offer insight as to which extrinsic factors could be better amplified, modified or excised if the product is to be optimally positioned. Implications are explored.

The importance of innovations in business management is a widely accepted hypothesis. Lately the research on innovation has widened to include consideration of the impact of social networks on the innovation. This paper aims to contribute to research on this approach by suggesting a framework for studying the social aspects of economic innovations.

The paper discusses economic innovation as a product of organizational competencies, highlighting the importance of social network.

This paper has three goals: we clarify the concept of economic innovation, we present the essential questions for studying the economic innovation process, and we present a proposal for an empirical approach and address problems in collecting data about economic innovations.

The paper opens a new, socio‐psychological approach to studying the innovation processes. It proposes a holistic approach to the phenomenon by combining these with the material aspects of an organization. The paper provides a scientific framework for a new research program.

This paper aims to explore the effectiveness of parental counseling in developing self‐esteem in children with neurological conditions.

Data were gathered via 92 questionnaires and 20 semi‐structured interviews with self‐selecting participants. Qualitative data were analysed through Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.

The research evidences a correlation between self‐esteem of parents and child. Counselling can help create positive cycles which impact upon a child's self‐esteem. Four over‐arching themes were identified by parents and these take the reader through a process of living with neurological conditions.

Limitations of the research include a lack of differential between types of neurological conditions and/or identification of families of children who are born with neurological conditions as opposed to children who acquire them. Suggestions for future research include conducting similar research with a more specific cohort. The role of counselling in addressing trauma experienced by parents when a child acquires a neurological condition was also identified as a future research area.

It is suggested that counselling needs to be de‐stigmatised and made more understandable. Accessibility of counselling for parents, who sometimes find it difficult to leave the home, also needs to be addressed.

Issues of socialising are explored which could help raise awareness of the impact of public attitudes upon parental/child self‐esteem.

Research on the self‐esteem of children with neurological conditions is limited, as is research into the impact of parental counselling on offspring. This paper explores these under‐researched areas and as such is of value to parents and relevant health professionals.