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The purpose of this paper is to describe research which investigated the interdependencies between facility management performance and costs, and primary processes in hospitals. Through the implementation of the German diagnosis related grouping (DRG) system and the resulting cost pressure, the need for optimized use and operation of the spatial resources in hospitals is growing. In the DRG system, the provision of ready to use infrastructure is treated as a fixed cost and is allocated to patient cases by a single cost driver. In reality, very different services are needed to provide ready to use functional space.

A primary activity based cost model for facility management (FM) services in relation to functional space units in the hospital is developed. Using process and cost data of an empiric research study from four German hospitals, a model is developed for a key functional space unit in the hospital, the operation unit. The relevant FM services structured by a product‐oriented approach are determined by real data. For these services, process figures are derived and implemented in a basic cost estimation model. The cost estimation model is compared to the cost approach of the DRG system.

In an explorative study, the model provides an approach for a patient focused cost allocation of FM services for the operation unit. Depending on the time spectrum of operations great differences between this approach and the legal cost allocation approached in Germany can be determined. One way for hospitals to face the consequences may be the determination and optimization of relevant FM services according to a primary process portfolio.

The activity based cost model should be developed for further space units in the hospital. Thus, a holistic approach to FM and strategic planning of space and FM services could be achieved. Further, the explorative study should be enlarged to a greater database for the development of general key figures for FM in relation to the primary processes.

The model can be used by hospitals for strategic planning of the FM costs and services in relation to the capacity and utilization of the operation unit. The impact of changes of the primary performance portfolio on the utilization of corresponding infrastructure can be simulated. Thus, cost data can be made available to support strategic decisions.

There is no existing cost model for the hospital considering FM in a holistic way in relation to the primary processes.

Since the development of the COVID-19 vaccinations, questions surrounding race have been prominent in the literature on vaccine uptake. Early in the vaccine rollout, public health officials were concerned with the relatively lower rates of uptake among certain racial/ethnic minority groups. We suggest that this may also be patterned by racial/ethnic residential segregation, which previous work has demonstrated to be an important factor for both health and access to health care.

In this study, we examine county-level vaccination rates, racial/ethnic composition, and residential segregation across the U.S. We compile data from several sources, including the American Community Survey (ACS) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) measured at the county level.

We find that just looking at the associations between racial/ethnic composition and vaccination rates, both percent Black and percent White are significant and negative, meaning that higher percentages of these groups in a county are associated with lower vaccination rates, whereas the opposite is the case for percent Latino. When we factor in segregation, as measured by the index of dissimilarity, the patterns change somewhat. Dissimilarity itself was not significant in the models across all groups, but when interacted with race/ethnic composition, it moderates the association. For both percent Black and percent White, the interaction with the Black-White dissimilarity index is significant and negative, meaning that it deepens the negative association between composition and the vaccination rate.

The analysis is only limited to county-level measures of racial/ethnic composition and vaccination rates, so we are unable to see at the individual-level who is getting vaccinated.

We find that segregation moderates the association between racial/ethnic composition and vaccination rates, suggesting that local race relations in a county helps contextualize the compositional effects of race/ethnicity.

At one of the European enlargement conferences the then Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs said “social policy, from education to health and safety, from social protection to labour law, is the foundation stone of the EU’s successful political and economic progress, as political democracies and as market economies.” This statement puts in a nutshell the significance of the EU’s social policy programme. Within that programme the important function of the social dialogue between the social partners, namely the representatives of employers and representatives of employees, cannot be under estimated. The two way dialogue between the autonomous and independent representatives of each side of industry, as well as, where relevant, with governments, is not only of importance but is a key element of a meaningful social policy. Social policy is a primordial feature in the improvement of economic performance of any Member State and is central to a nation’s economic progress. The social dialogue, an important feature of European social policy, has not been with out its problems and has not always been easy to effectuate. In many cases employers are uneasy with this process; are reluctant to carry out a dialogue with unions; or simply refuse to recognise a union for collective bargaining purposes. In spite of these setbacks, there has been some progress made in the social dialogue field at European level.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the effect of high-performance human resource practices on job satisfaction across four cultural regions – Asia, Europe, North America, and Latin America. High-performance human resource practices were used to predict job satisfaction for each region and then compared to determine significant differences. Hofstede's cultural dimensions were employed as a basis for structuring hypothesized differences across cultural regions.

Data were collected from a proprietary industry survey on employee work attitudes. The sample consisted of over 70,000 employees from four large multinational organizations with at least four offices in each of the four regions. Data were analyzed using regression analysis and comparison testing across models.

There are significant relationships between job characteristics and job satisfaction across all regions of the world, with a sense of achievement universally the most important driver. Although job characteristics impact job satisfaction across all regions, there are significant differences in the relative importance of job characteristics on job satisfaction, consistent with Hofstede's cultural dimensions.

The findings have implications for tailoring human resource management practices across locations within multinationals.

This research is believed to be the first cross-cultural study of human resource practices affecting job satisfaction using multiple organizations and industries.

The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of functional properties of the polysaccharide-based component and their application in developing edible film and coating for the food processing sector.

In this review study, approximately 271 research and review articles focusing on studies related to polysaccharide-based components and their film-forming properties. This article also focused on the application of polysaccharide-based edible film in the food sector.

From the literature reviewed, polysaccharide components and components-based edible film/coating is the biodegradable and eco-friendly packaging of the materials and directly consumed by the consumer with food. It has been reported that the polysaccharide components have excellent properties such as being nontoxic, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antifungal and with good nutrients. The polysaccharide-based edible film has lipid and gas barrier properties with excellent transparency and mechanical strength. In various studies, researchers worked on the development of polysaccharide-based edible film and coating by incorporating plant based natural antioxidants. This was primarily done for obtaining improved physical and chemical properties of the edible film and coating. In future, the technology of developing polysaccharide-based edible film and coating could be used for extending the shelf life and preserving the quality of fruits and vegetables at a commercial level. There is more need to understand the role of edible packaging and sustainability in the food and environment sector.

Through this review paper, possible applications of polysaccharide-based components and their function property in the formation of the edible film and their effect on fruits, vegetables and other food products are discussed after detailed studies of literature from thesis and journal article.