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1 – 10 of 21David McBride, Nancy Porter, Kirsten Lovelock, Daniel Shepherd, Maria Zubizaretta and James Burch
The purpose of this paper is to describe risk and protective factors for symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) experienced over a 1.5-year period among both frontline…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe risk and protective factors for symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) experienced over a 1.5-year period among both frontline and “non-traditional” responders to the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Design/methodology/approach
A longitudinal survey administered to Christchurch workers with referents from the city of Hamilton at 6, 12 and 18 months after the 2011 earthquake. Potential risk and protective determinants were assessed by questionnaire items at baseline and over time, the outcome being PTSD as assessed by the PTSD Checklist-Civilian version. A longitudinal latent class analysis identified groups with similar trajectories of PTSD.
Findings
A total of 226 individuals, 140 (26 per cent) from Christchurch and 86 (16 per cent) from Hamilton, participated at baseline, 180 at 12 and 123 at 18 months, non-traditional responders forming the largest single group. Two latent classes emerged, with PTSD (21 per cent) and without PTSD (79 per cent), with little change over the 18-month period. Class membership was predicted by high scores in the Social Support and Impact of Events scale items, Health-related Quality of Life scores being protective. PTSD scores indicative of distress were found in females, and predicted by burnout risk, behavioural disengagement and venting.
Practical implications
Non-traditional responders should be screened for PTSD. Social support should be considered with the promotion of adaptive coping mechanisms.
Originality/value
The strength was longitudinal follow-up over an 18-month period, with demonstration of how the potential determinants influenced the course of PTSD over time.
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Junaid Aftab, Huma Sarwar, Anam Amin and Alina Kiran
Leadership has a decisive role in the success of all types of businesses and firms, including small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and the ethical behavior of leaders is a…
Abstract
Purpose
Leadership has a decisive role in the success of all types of businesses and firms, including small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and the ethical behavior of leaders is a key component which brings a sense of respect, fulfillment, trustworthiness and acceptance among the employees, which later become visible in their job performance (JP). This study aims to check the immediate effect of ethical leadership (EL) on employee’s JP (EJP) and also explore the indirect mediating effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on this EL and EJP nexus.
Design/methodology/approach
Primary data was obtained from the employees of manufacturing SMEs of Northern Italy using a cross-sectional design from the end of 2019 to the start of 2020. This paper circulated 450 self-administered questionnaires using simple random sampling, and 202 (44.88%) valid questionnaires were returned. The PROCESS macro was performed using statistical package for social sciences to ensure whether or not EL affects EJP and is there any mediation effect of CSR present in this nexus.
Findings
The results indicate that EL has a strong positive connection with EJP and CSR. Interestingly, CSR positively influences EJP. Furthermore, the results also report the strong mediating effect of CSR in the nexus of EL and EJP.
Originality/value
This scholarly work seeks to contribute not only to the literature of EL and EJP but also enriches the understanding of this EL-EJP association by highlighting the indirect effect of mediating variable CSR in the SME sector.
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Venesser Fernandes, Winnie Wong and Michael Noonan
During the COVID-19 crisis in Victoria, Australia the complexity of school leadership increased greatly for school principals. This study focused on the lived experiences of early…
Abstract
Purpose
During the COVID-19 crisis in Victoria, Australia the complexity of school leadership increased greatly for school principals. This study focused on the lived experiences of early career principals in the independent school sector from March to November 2020 in Victoria, Australia. It investigates transformative work that was undertaken by these leaders in leading their schools over a protracted crisis.
Design/methodology/approach
The study builds on constructs of crisis leadership, adaptive leadership, agile leadership and emotional intelligence, exploring the leadership approaches undertaken by twenty-two early career principals in Victoria, Australia. Using a narrative inquiry approach, across three temporal points in 2020, storied productions drawn from the findings present four emergent types of emotionally intelligent leadership approaches undertaken by these principals. These leadership approaches are presented as the commander-leader, the conductor-leader, the gardener-leader and the engineer-leader with each approach demonstrating both organisational leadership approaches as well as individual leadership styles used by these principals as they led their schools.
Findings
The findings have direct implications for professional development programs focusing on aspiring principals and early career principals with emphasis on the importance of developing emotionally intelligent skillsets in principals for use during periods of rapid change or high crisis in schools. The findings present insight into the support useful for early career principals in the first five years of principalship.
Originality/value
This study uses a unique emotional intelligence approach to understand school leadership during and after a crisis.
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Just Bendix Justesen, Pernille Eskerod, Jeanette Reffstrup Christensen and Gisela Sjøgaard
The purpose of this paper is to address a missing link between top management and employees when it comes to understanding how to successfully implement and embed workplace health…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address a missing link between top management and employees when it comes to understanding how to successfully implement and embed workplace health promotion (WHP) as a strategy within organizations: the role of the middle managers.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual framework based on review of theory is applied within an empirical multi-case study that is part of a health intervention research project on increased physical activity among office workers. The study involves six Danish organizations.
Findings
Middle managers play a key role in successful implementation of WHP, but feel uncertain about their role, especially when it comes to engaging with their employees. Uncertainty about their role appears to make middle managers reluctant to take action on WHP and leave further action to top management instead.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations included the middle managers’ low attendance at the half-day seminar on strategic health (50 percent attendance), the fact that they were all office workers and they were all from Denmark.
Practical implications
Middle managers ask for more knowledge and skills if they are to work with WHP in daily business.
Social implications
Implementing and embedding WHP as a health strategy raises ethical issues of interfering with employees’ health, is seen as the employee’s personal responsibility.
Originality/value
This study adds to knowledge of the difficulties of implementing and embedding WHP activities in the workplace and suggests an explicit and detailed research design.
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Sarfaraz Kamangar, N. Ameer Ahamad, N. Nik-Ghazali, Ali E. Anqi, Ali Algahtani, C. Ahamed Saleel, Syed Javed, Vineet Tirth and T.M. Yunus Khan
Coronary artery disease (CAD) is reported as one of the most common sources of death all over the world. The presence of stenosis (plaque) in the coronary arteries results in the…
Abstract
Purpose
Coronary artery disease (CAD) is reported as one of the most common sources of death all over the world. The presence of stenosis (plaque) in the coronary arteries results in the restriction of blood supply, leading to myocardial infarction. The current study investigates the influence of multi stenosis on hemodynamic properties in a patient-specific left coronary artery.
Design/methodology/approach
A three-dimensional model of the patient-specific left coronary artery was reconstructed based on computed tomography (CT) scan images using MIMICS-20 software. The diseased model of the left coronary artery was investigated, having the narrowing of 90% and 70% of area stenosis (AS) at the left anterior descending (LAD) and left circumflex (LCX), respectively.
Findings
The results indicate that the upstream region of stenosis experiences very high pressure for 90% AS during the systolic period of the cardiac cycle. The pressure drops maximum as the flow travels into the stenotic zone, and the high flow velocities were observed across the 90% AS. The higher wall shear stresses occur at the stenosis region, and it increases with the increase in the flow rate. It is found that the maximum wall shear stress across 90% AS is at the highest risk for rupture. A recirculation region immediately after the stenosis results in the further development of stenosis.
Originality/value
The current study provides evidence that there is a strong effect of multi-stenosis on the blood flow in the left coronary artery.
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Joanie Caron, Hugo Asselin, Jean-Michel Beaudoin and Doïna Muresanu
While companies in developed countries are increasingly turning to indigenous employees, integration measures have met with mixed results. Low integration can lead to breach of…
Abstract
Purpose
While companies in developed countries are increasingly turning to indigenous employees, integration measures have met with mixed results. Low integration can lead to breach of the psychological contract, i.e. perceived mutual obligations between employee and employer. The purpose of this paper is to identify how leadership and organizational integration measures can be implemented to promote the perceived insider status (PIS) of indigenous employees, thereby fostering fulfillment of the psychological contract.
Design/methodology/approach
A search for relevant literature yielded 128 texts used to identify integration measures at the level of employee–supervisor relationships (leader-member exchanges, inclusive leadership) and at the level of employee–organization relationships (perceived organizational support, pro-diversity practices).
Findings
Measures related to leadership included recruiting qualified leaders, understanding cultural particularities, integrating diverse contributions and welcoming questions and challenges. Organizational measures included reaching a critical mass of indigenous employees, promoting equity and participation, developing skills, assigning meaningful tasks, maintaining good work relationships, facilitating work-life balance, providing employment security, fostering support from communities and monitoring practices.
Originality/value
While PIS has been studied in western and culturally diverse contexts, it has received less attention in indigenous contexts. Yet, some indigenous cultural values are incompatible with the basic assumptions of mainstream theories. Furthermore, colonial policies and capitalist development have severely impacted traditional indigenous economic systems. Consequently, indigenous people are facing many barriers to employment in ways that often differ from the experiences of other minority groups.
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Lena Ansmann, Vera Vennedey, Hendrik Ansgar Hillen, Stephanie Stock, Ludwig Kuntz, Holger Pfaff, Russell Mannion and Kira Isabel Hower
Healthcare systems are under pressure to improve their performance, while at the same time facing severe resource constraints, particularly workforce shortages. By applying…
Abstract
Purpose
Healthcare systems are under pressure to improve their performance, while at the same time facing severe resource constraints, particularly workforce shortages. By applying resource-dependency-theory (RDT), we explore how healthcare organizations in different settings perceive pressure arising from uncertain access to resources and examine organizational strategies they deploy to secure resources.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional survey of key decision-makers in different healthcare settings in the metropolitan area of Cologne, Germany, on perceptions of pressure arising from the environment and respective strategies was conducted. For comparisons between settings radar charts, Kruskal–Wallis test and Fisher–Yates test were applied. Additionally, correlation analyses were conducted.
Findings
A sample of n = 237(13%) key informants participated and reported high pressure caused by bureaucracy, time constraints and recruiting qualified staff. Hospitals, inpatient and outpatient nursing care organizations felt most pressurized. As suggested by RDT, organizations in highly pressurized settings deployed the most vociferous strategies to secure resources, particularly in relation to personnel development.
Originality/value
This study is one of the few studies that focuses on the environment's impact on healthcare organizations across a variety of settings. RDT is a helpful theoretical foundation for understanding the environment's impact on organizational strategies. The substantial variations found between healthcare settings indicate that those settings potentially require specific strategies when seeking to address scarce resources and high demands. The results draw attention to the high level of pressure on healthcare organizations which presumably is passed down to managers, healthcare professionals, patients and relatives.
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Jie Zhang, Yuwei Wu, Jianyong Gao, Guangjun Gao and Zhigang Yang
This study aims to explore the formation mechanism of aerodynamic noise of a high-speed maglev train and understand the characteristics of dipole and quadrupole sound sources of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the formation mechanism of aerodynamic noise of a high-speed maglev train and understand the characteristics of dipole and quadrupole sound sources of the maglev train at different speed levels.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on large eddy simulation (LES) method and Kirchhoff–Ffowcs Williams and Hawkings (K-FWH) equations, the characteristics of dipole and quadrupole sound sources of maglev trains at different speed levels were simulated and analyzed by constructing reasonable penetrable integral surface.
Findings
The spatial disturbance resulting from the separation of the boundary layer in the streamlined area of the tail car is the source of aerodynamic sound of the maglev train. The dipole sources of the train are mainly distributed around the radio terminals of the head and tail cars of the maglev train, the bottom of the arms of the streamlined parts of the head and tail cars and the nose tip area of the streamlined part of the tail car, and the quadrupole sources are mainly distributed in the wake area. When the train runs at three speed levels of 400, 500 and 600 km·h−1, respectively, the radiated energy of quadrupole source is 62.4%, 63.3% and 71.7%, respectively, which exceeds that of dipole sources.
Originality/value
This study can help understand the aerodynamic noise characteristics generated by the high-speed maglev train and provide a reference for the optimization design of its aerodynamic shape.
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Grzegorz Bocewicz, Mukund Nilakantan Janardhanan, Damian Krenczyk and Zbigniew Banaszak
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the reference model of a grid-like supply network that enables formulation of delivery routing and scheduling problems in the context of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on the reference model of a grid-like supply network that enables formulation of delivery routing and scheduling problems in the context of the periodic vehicle routing problem.
Design/methodology/approach
The conditions for seamless (collision-free) synchronization of periodically executed local transport processes presented in this paper guarantee cyclic execution of supply processes, thereby preventing traffic flow congestion.
Findings
Systems that satisfy this characteristic, cyclic deliveries executed along supply chains are given and what is sought is the number of vehicles needed to operate the local transport processes in order to ensure delivery from and to specific loading/unloading points on given dates. Determination of sufficient conditions guaranteeing the existence of feasible solutions that satisfy these constraints makes it possible to solve the considered class of problems online.
Practical implications
The computer experiments reported in this paper show the possibilities of practical application of the proposed approach in the construction of decision support systems for food supply chain management.
Originality/value
The aim of the present work is to develop a methodology for the synthesis of regularly structured supply networks that would ensure fixed cyclic execution of local transport processes. The proposed methodology, which implements sufficient conditions for the synchronization of local cyclic processes, allows one to develop a method for rapid prototyping of supply processes that satisfies the time windows constraints given.
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The purpose of this paper is to review the current literature and summarises the benefits and limitations of having doctors in health management roles in today’s complex health…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review the current literature and summarises the benefits and limitations of having doctors in health management roles in today’s complex health environment.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper reviews the current literature on this topic.
Findings
Hospitals have evolved from being professional bureaucracies to being managed professional business with clinical directorates in place that are medically led.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations include the difficulty doctors have balancing clinical duties and management, restricted profession-specific view and the lack of management competencies and/or training.
Practical implications
The benefits of having doctors in health management include bottom-up leadership, specialised knowledge of the profession, expert knowledge of clinical care, greater political influence, effective change champions to have on-side, frontline leadership and management, improved communication between doctors and senior management, advocacy for patient safety and quality, greater credibility with public and peers and the perception that doctors have more power and influence compared to other health professionals can be leveraged.
Originality/value
Overall, there are more benefits than there are limitations to having doctors in health management but there is a need for more management training for doctors.
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