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This study examines the social organizational structure of one early childhood education (ECE) center in Finland and the relationship between this structure and the roles and the responsibilities of the members of the organization.

The research is a qualitative case study with ethnographic features. Its variables for content analysis are based on Henry Mintzberg's theory of organizational design.

The study's results show that the organizational structure of the ECE center follows the organizational configuration of a Professional bureaucracy and that the multiprofessional teams follow the configuration of a Simple structure. The structures for centralization and decentralization are suitable for a professional bureaucracy, but the roles of the members of the organization and the processes for shared decision-making lack clarification. The shortage of qualified ECE teachers disrupts the function of the organization and the work of ECE leaders.

The educational background of subjects may have affected the findings.

The study uses Henry Mintzberg's organizational structure theory to evaluate how and why power is distributed and activities are coordinated at the ECE center. The results also show what parts of the organization pose challenges that most commonly disrupt the organization's operations. With these findings, it is possible to expand the understanding of roles and responsibilities in the currently reforming ECE environment and what ECE centers need to function effectively. The study is part of a larger research project and will be continued to examine the leadership culture of the ECE center.

The architecture, engineering and construction industry faces several challenges when performing life-cycle cost calculations. On the basis of activity theory, this study aims at improving our understanding of the current cost calculation in design practices as an activity system with a number of built-in contradictions.

Drawing on one of the authors’ practical experience from a design office, the research design comprises a paradigmatic case study of a Danish architecture firm, in which data are gathered through documents, observations, interviews and physical artefacts. Moreover, this paper applies a literature review on barriers for adopting life-cycle costing.

The paper identifies a number of primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary contradictions between practices of design, cost calculations and data management. Thus, hypotheses are formulated on how and to what extent these different contradictions shape cost calculations in design practices to obstruct or support the application of life cycle costing principles in design.

This study is part of an ongoing research project. Thus, additional analysis is required before the authors may conclude on final results.

This paper identifies a number of factors that obstruct or support the implementation of life cycle costing in current design practices.

This paper provides new insights into the various contradictions that shape data management in architectural offices as a prerequisite for improving life cycle design practices.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of extrinsic attributes and package design attributes on consumer preferences of high‐risk products.

An explorative conjoint analysis is conducted. A small‐scale sample, consisting of 18 consumers, conduct two conjoint tasks for two drug product types, i.e. painkillers and sore throat medicine.

The impact of the tested attributes varies according to the product type. The intrinsic attribute of taste is valued most in sore throat medicines, followed by colour and producer. Producer and colour are the most valued in painkillers. Colour is the most influential of the design attributes tested. Well‐known producer is perceived as more important in painkillers, whereas in sore throat medicine domestic producers are valued more.

The study is exploratory and limited due to the design with few statistical assumptions and to small‐scale sampling in one country only.

The health care marketers should recognize the impact of package design on consumers' preferences of high‐risk products, such as non‐prescription drug.

There has been little research on the impact of package design attributes such as package colours on consumers in health care marketing.

The purpose of this study is to identify building information modelling (BIM) input data sets within a BIM-embedded housing refurbishment process and enable construction professionals to use BIM as an information management platform for housing refurbishment projects.

A hypothetical case study using BIM tools for a housing refurbishment project is adopted to identify BIM input data sets to create a housing information model within a BIM system. Reliability of the research outcome is examined by conducting a comparative analysis between existing and simulated research outcomes.

This research identifies essential BIM input data sets during the early design phase. The importance of a well-integrated housing information model containing accurate as-built condition, cost and thermal performance information is essential to use BIM for housing refurbishment. BIM can be feasible for housing refurbishment when an information-enriched housing information model is constructed. Furthermore, the capability of BIM that can enable key project stakeholders to determine the most affordable refurbishment solution among various alternatives is identified as BIM can provide reliable cost estimations and thermal performance of refurbishment alternatives at the early design stage.

The examined refurbishment processes and input data sets are confined to the early design phases as BIM use for housing refurbishment is limited.

This research will contribute to use BIM for housing refurbishment by providing essential BIM input data sets and BIM-embedded refurbishment processes.

This research reveals primary housing information data sets and BIM-embedded refurbishment processes at the early design phase.

The purpose of this paper is to determine whether the implementation of building information modelling (BIM) concepts of the various processes involved in building surveying practice can lead to a reduction in waste. In turn leading to a synergy between BIM functionalities and lean production concepts.

To verify and validate the existence of this synergy between the two methods in building surveying, evidences were gathered from previous literature that supports these interactions. Next, a questionnaire was conducted for the purpose of identifying new interactions and providing further evidence to support existing interactions. Finally, based on the findings from previous literature and the results of the questionnaire, an interaction matrix was constructed linking the two concepts with the relevant evidence found.

The results of the questionnaire show that the BIM functionality with the highest interactions, maintenance of information integrity, had a high correlation with the reduction of variability, cycle time, batch size and promoting standardization of value flow. 4 D model-based scheduling, the second highest functionality, showed a high correlation with the reduction of variability, cycle time, batch size and an increase in the use of visual management. Finally, the results of the interaction matrix between the two concepts showed that the BIM functionalities with the most interactions were maintenance of information integrity, visualization of form and the automated generation of models and documents. The lean principles with the most interactions were reducing variability, cycle time, batch size as well as “enables visual management”. While most of these interactions were positive, negative interactions were also observed. These negative interactions were due to the fact that the level of competency and knowledge in BIM for building surveyors is at reduced levels which can lead to increased human errors.

The significance of this study is to provide the basis for building surveying organizations who wish to implement BIM and how this would lead to a synergy between BIM functionalities and lean principles. Both positive and negative interactions were considered to provide these organizations with different options for waste elimination.

This study aims to explore the perceptions of quality of life among older Thai adults with hypertension.

A descriptive qualitative design was used. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 40 older adults. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data.

The analyses were divided into six major themes: happiness in life; health and functionality; activity in social relationships; religion anchor; autonomy to manage their own life; and security in finances and environment.

The findings can guide health care professionals and policymakers when planning and implementing interventions and policies for improving the quality of life of older adults, particularly that of rural older adults with low incomes.

The findings showed minor differences between urban and rural older adults in financial security, where the rural participants expressed greater financial insecurity than the urban counterparts. However, no other major differences emerged.

This study identifies how self-employed older women experience and represent self-integrity – an element and source of meaningfulness – in their work, and how these experiences are intertwined with gendered ageing.

The authors used thematic analysis, influenced by an intersectional lens, to scrutinise qualitative data generated during a development project, with ten over 55-year-old self-employed women in Finland.

The study reveals three dominant practices of self-integrity at work: “Respecting one's self-knowledge”, “Using one's professional abilities”, and “Developing as a professional”. Older age was mostly experienced and represented as a characteristic that deepened or strengthened the practices and experiences of self-integrity at work. However, being an older woman partly convoluted that. Self-integrity as a self-employed woman was repeatedly experienced and represented in contrast to the male norm of entrepreneurship.

The authors contribute to the literature on gender and entrepreneurship by highlighting the processual dimensions – how integrity with self is experienced, created and sustained, and how being an older woman relates to self-integrity in self-employment. The results show a nuanced interplay between gender and age: Age and gender both constrain and become assets for older women in self-employment through older women's experiences of self-integrity.

This paper aims to explore how historical context influences the content and selection of rhetorical legitimation strategies. Using case study method, this paper will focus on how insurance companies and labor tried to defend their legitimacy in the context of enactment of Medicare in the USA. What factors influenced the strategic (rhetorical) decisions made by insurance companies and labor unions in their institutional work?

The study is empirically grounded in archival research, involving an analysis of over 9,000 pages of congressional hearings on Medicare covering the period 1958–1965.

The authors show that rhetorical legitimation strategies depend significantly on the specific historical circumstances in which those strategies are used. The historical context lent credibility to certain arguments and organizations are forced to decide either to challenge widely held assumptions or take advantage of them. The authors show that organizations face strong incentives to pursue the latter option. Here, both the insurance companies and labor unions tried to show that their positions were consistent with classical liberal ideology, because of high respect of classical liberal principles among different stakeholders (policymakers, voters, etc.).

It is uncertain how much the results of the study could be generalized. More information about the organizations whose use of rhetorics the authors studied could have strengthened our conclusions.

The practical relevancy of the revised paper is that the authors should not expect hegemony challenging rhetorics from organizations, which try to influence legislators (and perhaps the larger public). Perhaps (based on the findings), this kind of rhetorics is not even very effective.

The paper helps to understand better how organizations try to advance their interests and gain acceptance among the stakeholders.

In this paper, the authors show how historical context in practice influence rhetorical arguments organizations select in public debates when their goal is to influence the decision-making of their audience. In particular, the authors show how dominant ideology (or ideologies) limit the options organizations face when they are choosing their strategies and arguments. In terms of the selection of rhetorical justification strategies, the most pressing question is not the “real” broad based support of certain ideologies. Insurance company and labor union representatives clearly believed that they must emphasize liberal values (or liberal ideology) if they wanted to gain legitimacy for their positions. In existing literature, it is often assumed that historical context influence the selection of rhetorical strategies but how this in fact happens is not usually specified. The paper shows how interpretations of historical contexts (including the ideological context) in practice influence the rhetorical strategies organizations choose.

The purpose of this paper is to describe family caregivers’ experiences of providing care for older people with a tracheostomy during hospitalization.

A descriptive phenomenological approach was used in this study. A total of 40 family caregivers were interviewed face-to-face in medical-surgical wards. Data was analyzed using Giorgi’s phenomenological method.

Family caregivers described meanings of providing care, learning how to provide care, caring activities, impacts of caregiving, support needs and qualities of being a caregiver. Meanings included filial responsibility, spousal attachment and end of life care. Caring activities were varied. Impacts experienced were reported as physical, psychological, social and financial. Caregivers expressed the need for information from the nursing team and assistance from their relatives. Positive caregiver qualities that were described included loving to provide care for older people and confidence and sincerity in caregiving.

Although caring for older people with a tracheostomy was difficult and came with challenging impacts, family caregivers were willing to support their loved ones due to feelings of family responsibility.

The paper addresses family participation in providing care for people with a tracheostomy. They experience physical, psychological, social and financial consequences of caregiving. Therefore, health-care professionals should support family caregivers with education, training and awareness of supports and resources for dealing with problematic impacts and other expressed needs.