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1 – 10 of 34Kristine Sørensen, Lars Steen Pedersen and Jakob Sander
New models of thinking, organization and governance are needed when health systems are under pressure. Inspired by a recent Danish community project called Your Health…
Abstract
Purpose
New models of thinking, organization and governance are needed when health systems are under pressure. Inspired by a recent Danish community project called Your Health, this paper sheds light on the nexus of health promotion, sport and well-being, and how an increased focus on synergies can improve public health capacity in the future.
Design/methodology/approach
The three areas of interests are presented, and challenges and opportunities are discussed along with the lessons learned from the Danish community project serving as an example of an integrated approach. The project was hosted by a sports club with the aim to enhance the health and well-being of new members, engage volunteers as health motivators and develop new activities in partnership with community organizations.
Findings
The discussion on creating synergies between sport, health promotion and well-being inspired a new model encouraging moving away from silo-thinking towards the sweet-spot where all three perspectives are represented. In this way, public health can be developed to the next level, in particular with regards to actions taking place outside the health sector.
Research limitations/implications
More research is warranted to develop the evidence that can push for a changed policy agenda and showcase the social and economic return on investments.
Practical implications
There is a growing interest to support health and well-being. Capacity building is needed to engage non-health stakeholders actively in the health agenda.
Originality/value
Despite the need for progress, research is still scarce. Thus, it is important to create a new momentum among relevant stakeholders to facilitate the integration of sport, health promotion and well-being to qualify and expand public health capacity, create better health for all and bridge inequity.
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Boo Svartbo, Lars Olov Bygren, Thomas Gunnarsson, Lars Steen and Martin Ribe
In Sweden, hospital stays, deaths, sick‐ listings and censuses have long been stored on electronic media. The purpose of the study was to apply post‐hospital survival…
Abstract
In Sweden, hospital stays, deaths, sick‐ listings and censuses have long been stored on electronic media. The purpose of the study was to apply post‐hospital survival measures to hospitals having differing degrees of specialization by linking existing data in censuses and in‐patient registers. In‐patient records totaling 3.6 million were collected. They were linked to the 1985 and 1990 censuses regarding patients’ background data, and the national insurance register. Results found that the survival was longer and the return to work quicker when hospitals were well staffed, had competent personnel and many specialties. In general, small hospitals were worse off in all aspects. Concludes that small hospitals should be given better support.
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Runo Axelsson, Susanna Bihari‐Axelsson and Lars Steen
As part of the preparations for the accession of Slovenia to the European Union, the National Health Insurance Institute has introduced a European model for quality…
Abstract
As part of the preparations for the accession of Slovenia to the European Union, the National Health Insurance Institute has introduced a European model for quality management. In this regard, a benchmarking has been carried out, comparing the Health Insurance Institute of Slovenia with the Accounts Office of Cumbernauld in the UK. This was a so‐called generic benchmarking between two public service organisations in different fields and it was made by third parties focusing on the quality of the processes of the two organisations. The results of the comparative analysis show that the health insurance institute has strong financial management, supported by a well‐developed model for partnership negotiations and advanced applications of information technology. There are, however, weaknesses in the management of human resources and quality improvements. To counteract these weaknesses requires a cultural change within the health insurance institute.
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Justin G. Davis and Miguel Garcia-Cestona
The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of chief financial officer (CFO) gender, board gender diversity and the interaction of both factors on financial…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of chief financial officer (CFO) gender, board gender diversity and the interaction of both factors on financial reporting quality (FRQ) proxied by restatements.
Design/methodology/approach
Restatements indicate inaccurate financial reporting. The authors use fixed effects conditional logistic regression models to compare firms with and without restatements matched by size, industry and year. The authors’ unique matched–pair sample consists of 546 listed US firms from the period 2005–2016.
Findings
The authors’ results provide evidence that restatements are less likely when the CFO is a woman and when a higher proportion of women serve on the board of directors (BOD). Considering the interaction effects, the authors find evidence that women on the BOD are more effective at reducing restatement likelihood when the CFO is also a woman. And that although female CFOs reduce restatement likelihood generally, they have no statistically significant effect on restatement likelihood when the BOD is all-male.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first that the authors know of to consider how FRQ is affected by the interaction effects of CFO gender and board gender diversity. The findings corroborate upper echelons theory and extend the understanding of the effects of managerial gender diversity at a time when firms face growing pressure to increase gender diversity at the highest levels. The unique sample, methodology and findings provide new insights into the impact of gender on FRQ that has important policy implications.
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The idea of Evidence-Informed Practice (EIP) was introduced in Denmark at a national policy level with the 2013 national school reform. After 10 years of gradual…
Abstract
The idea of Evidence-Informed Practice (EIP) was introduced in Denmark at a national policy level with the 2013 national school reform. After 10 years of gradual development towards an output-oriented, accountability-based school system, the school reform fully realized the idea of a school system, which was oriented towards learning objectives and based on capacity building and supporting professional capital. One element of professional capital was EIP, and this idea was supported financially both by the parliament and large private foundations (e.g. the Maersk Foundation). However, for different reasons, the national reform created a lot of resistance among teachers and the national teacher union, including a number of pedagogical researchers. Partly, the reform was underfunded, and partly it represented a qualitative change from understanding teaching as craft to observing it as a rational, research-informed professional practice. The result was that EIP was met with scepticism among many teachers. After 6–7 years of EIP development, the current status is that one can identify a small, yet statistical significant positive correlation between teachers' professional, evidence-informed collaboration, and their job satisfaction. However, there have been no significant changes to student achievement, well-being and teaching experiences. Part of the explanation seems to be that EIP has been introduced with a combination of high social regulation and low social cohesion, pointing towards a fatalist system approach. However, this is not an expression of an intentional approach, but rather the result of a lack of teacher acceptance. One important reason for this was that the reform was underfunded. Consequently, it was combined with a labour market conflict followed by an increase of teachers hours without an increase of salary. This resulted in a legitimation crisis, which negatively influenced the teachers' acceptance of the school reform, including the idea of EIP.
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Annica Kronsell and Dalia Mukhtar-Landgren
New forms of ‘smart’ mobility have emerged with the advance of information technology. From a public sector perspective, these ambitions have been framed both in terms of…
Abstract
New forms of ‘smart’ mobility have emerged with the advance of information technology. From a public sector perspective, these ambitions have been framed both in terms of innovation and sustainability. The development work of these technologies is in part being subsidised by public actors investing in and funding different types of pilots or experiments in order to ‘test’ these technologies in what is called a real-life environment. This is part of a larger trend of experimental governance in which smart mobility is an important and a possibly growing part. This chapter offers a conceptual analysis of experimental governance by analysing three underlying assumptions in literature and practice (1) the need for extraordinary solutions, (2) the importance of learning by doing and (3) the necessity of collaboration. These three assumptions are analysed in relation to smart mobility experiments in Sweden, and discussed in relation to public values. The concluding discussion elevates a number of normative implications of using experimental governance as a policy instrument for the development of smart mobility.
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Relating development control regulations to urban morphology analysis concepts is essential to deal with incremental change in existing contexts, relating urban morphology…
Abstract
Relating development control regulations to urban morphology analysis concepts is essential to deal with incremental change in existing contexts, relating urban morphology analysis to intangible factors of change such as land economics, human needs, politics and ideologies, helps protecting character and value of contexts from unguided change controlled by waves of political decisions, change of densities and land values. The first part of the paper discusses different approaches to urban morphology analysis, the need to development control regulations to protect character and value, the incremental nature of urban change, and urban morphology's non physical aspects effect on urban change. The second part of the paper reviews two case studies in France and Egypt to assess development control regulations in each case, how it affected urban change and area character, and examines whether urban morphology analysis was part of Development control regulations or not. It concludes with the evaluation of the second case, and the development of a frame work linking non physical factors affecting incremental change with morphological studies, showing the need to relate development control regulations to morphological analysis of town's form and non physical variables affecting form change to guide positively incremental change.
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Wim Wester man and Henk von Eije
Liberalisation and deregulation of financial markets, lower currency volatility and the introduction of the euro have reduced transaction and bankruptcy costs for…
Abstract
Liberalisation and deregulation of financial markets, lower currency volatility and the introduction of the euro have reduced transaction and bankruptcy costs for multinationals in Europe. Internal European transfers of cash have become easier and cheaper. This has enabled the centralisation of cash management activities. The centralisation at headquarters of multinational enterprises has also opened the road to financial disintermediation. These trends may have helped to create conglomerate benefits in Europe. The case of the cash management at the Netherlands‐based Royal Philips Electronics is used to illustrate these tendencies.
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Mette Morsing and Dennis Oswald
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how top managers seek to provide the necessary leadership inside an organisation when sustainability is a primary strategic…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how top managers seek to provide the necessary leadership inside an organisation when sustainability is a primary strategic objective, and the paper seeks to ask to what extent it is possible to influence sustainability at the operational level by contemporary management control systems as it proposes to integrate the perspective of organizational culture.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on a single case study of Novo Nordisk A/S.
Findings
The paper concludes by asking questions to managerial practice as well as to theory, concerning to what extent sustainability practices are measured by concurrent management control systems, and to what extent organizational culture perspective is a necessary prerequisite to manage and control sustainable leadership practice.
Research limitations/implications
Future research should engage in exploring informal and organizational cultural aspects of how managers control the integration of sustainability into business practice.
Practical implications
The paper is based on a single case study of a company internationally known for its high standards of sustainable leadership practice, and the conclusions therefore provide guidelines for other managers considering ways of integrating sustainability.
Originality/value
The paper brings new attention to the appropriateness of existing management control systems when managers attempt to control sustainability practices and it suggests the importance of organizational culture in an original case study of Novo Nordisk A/S.
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Jorun Solheim and Ragnhild Steen Jensen
The importance of family firms for the development of capitalism, both past and present, has in recent years become widely recognized. Today there is a fast increasing…
Abstract
The importance of family firms for the development of capitalism, both past and present, has in recent years become widely recognized. Today there is a fast increasing body of literature about forms of family business and variations in family capitalism. Despite this new interest, few of these studies have made the family itself the focus of enquiry – and how different types of family structures and cultural traditions may influence the strategies and development of the family firm. Such connections are explored by comparing and discussing two cases of family firms and their history, set in Norway and Italy, respectively. It is argued that these two cases may be seen as examples of quite different ‘modes of familism’, with different implications for the running of an economic enterprise. These differences concern, first and foremost, cultural conceptions of gender, forms of inheritance, and the role of marriage in constituting the family firm.
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