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The purpose of this paper is to prepare a kind of novel multi‐layer core‐shell latex, and to evaluate the effect of the preparation methodology.

Core‐shell poly(siloxane)/polystyrene/polymethyl methacrylate (PSi/PSt/PMMA) latex particles were prepared by seeded‐emulsion polymerisation with three stages. The core of cured PSi was prepared with octamethyl cyclotetrasiloxane (D4) and tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) by co‐condensation. Using vinyltriethoxysilane (VTEOS) as coupling agent, functional PSi particles with vinyl groups on surfaces were prepared by hydrolysis and condensation of VTEOS in core formation stage. Then, the functional PSi particles were used as seeds to copolymerise with styrene and methyl methacrylate sequentially in shell stage I and stage II to form PSi/PSt/PMMA latex particles.

FTIR, TEM, DSC and XPS showed that the PSi/PSt/PMMA latex particles had multi‐layer core‐shell structure with cured PSi as core, PSt as shell I and PMMA as shell II.

In the present work, PSi/PSt/PMMA latex particles having multi‐layer core‐shell structure with cured PSi as core, PSt as shell I and PMMA as shell II were prepared. This methodology can be employed to prepare new functional materials for various applications.

Multi‐layer core‐shell particles offer a new area of material science that has wide applications in coatings or modified polymer materials production.

The method developed in the study reported in this paper provides a new strategy to develop new types of core‐shell materials with multi‐layer structure.

Despite the increasing attention given to product-service integration (PSI), little is known about this innovation strategy from a key decision-maker’s perspective. To address this gap, our study draws from personality psychology and decision-making (DM) logics theory to better understand why and how companies’ decision-makers strategize for PSI.

Using an abductive, empirics-first approach, we identify the study’s theoretical building blocks, followed by an exploratory quantitative analysis to generate new theory. We propose a fit-as-mediation conceptual framework suggesting that (1) specific personality traits [i.e. honesty-humility (H), emotionality (E), extraversion (X), agreeableness (A), conscientiousness (C) and openness to experience (O) (HEXACO)] make decision-makers more likely to include PSI in their company’s strategy and (2) depending on their personality, they apply different DM logics (i.e. causation or effectuation) to do so. To empirically examine this, we use data from 289 SMEs’ decision-makers.

We report several meaningful relationships among our key theoretical constructs. For instance, we find that conscientious decision-makers are more likely to develop a PSI strategy via causation, whereas extravert decision-makers are more likely to do so via both causation and effectuation.

This service study is the first to apply the well-established HEXACO Personality Inventory to companies’ key decision-makers. Moreover, it contributes to the microfoundations of PSI strategy and DM logic theories.

This study examines factors influencing viewers' impulse buying intention in live streaming. The authors draw upon the value theory to theorize how the product (i.e., local presence) and para-social interaction (PSI) in live-streaming shopping improve customers' shopping values and how these values subsequently influence their urge to buy impulsively. In addition, the authors examine value differences in live-streaming shopping through gender differences and previous shopping experiences.

An online survey was conducted in this study. Members with browsing or shopping experience of live-streaming shopping sites were invited. The structural equation model was used to conduct confirmative factor analysis (CFA) to assess the convergent validity (item loadings), internal consistency (reliability), discriminant validity, causality hypotheses, and mediating effects.

Utilitarian value appears more important than hedonic value in influencing consumers' urge to buy impulsively. Moreover, PSI with the co-viewers is more influential than PSI with the streamer on utilitarian and hedonic values. Finally, gender differences and prior live-streaming shopping experience moderate the relationship between shopping values and the urge to buy impulsively.

The authors extend the concept of PSI from a celebrity (the streamer) to co-viewers and find that PSI with co-viewers is crucial to impulse buying in live streaming. Additionally, the authors’ finding reveals that consumers with individual differences may react differently to the same set of perceived values in determining the level of their impulse shopping intention.

This paper examines the implementation of the Public Sector Information (PSI) directive in two Swedish municipalities amidst a changing information management landscape impacted by e-government development. Government information is currently looked upon as a “gold mine” and “raw material” to be explored by interested parties. The PSI directive grants European citizens a right to access government information flows (PSI) in order to develop new electronic services. The Swedish government implemented its PSI directive in July 2010. Swedish municipalities have to embrace the directive and make the PSI available to the general public. The literature review highlighted a number of critical issues that should be addressed if PSI initiatives are to succeed. This study revealed that the two municipalities had different resource capacities, and the levels of e-government development varied. This meant that the implementation of the PSI directive also varied. The bigger municipality with a bigger budget had implemented the PSI directive and was publishing data sets on its website, while the smaller municipality with a smaller budget only published a few documents. This paper, therefore, argues that the municipalities should have the same capacity if the PSI is to be a democratic endeavor to serve all citizens. Good quality PSI will also require the municipalities to embrace a records and information continua thinking, which highlights the necessity to proactively and holistically manage the information for pluralization in different contexts.

This paper builds on interviews that were conducted with four municipal officers. The number of respondents is quite small because the focus was specifically on people who were responsible for the implementation of the PSI directive in the municipalities. The respondents were identified through their fellow colleagues and they also recommended each other. Pickard refers to this kind of approach as a snow-bowling approach. Through interviews and observation, one participant advises on issues that need further inquiry and, hence, directs the researcher to another person who might offer more answers. A general interview guide approach was used to solicit answers to issues such as the implementation of the PSI directive, guidelines for PSI publication, if terms such as big data and open data were being used in the municipalities, if the municipalities had an information governance plan and how it was understood, if the information systems were well aligned to meet with the requirements of the PSI directive, how e-government development affected information management and information security and if the municipalities had information security guidelines.

The Swedish government requires its administrations to engage in e-government development. This development has led to increased amounts of information that the municipalities have to effectively manage and make available to the general public. However, the municipalities operate under different conditions. Municipalities that are financially stronger are better placed to invest in measures that will lead to better quality PSI. All municipalities are, however, expected to implement the PSI directive. The two municipalities that were the subjects of this study had different information management environments and the capacity to invest in information management systems that would facilitate the management of their information resources. The budgetary constraints faced by smaller municipalities might impact the implementation of the PSI directive and, hence, hinder the publication of the PSI. e-Government is meant to be an inclusive project, and the PSI is meant for all citizens with innovative ideas. There is a risk that citizens who belong to poorer municipalities might not be equally privileged compared to those living in resourceful municipalities. This poses a democratic challenge that should concern all people interested in an open and inclusive society.

Little research has so far been published on the implementation process of the PSI directive. The discourses that have started to emerge discuss the challenges of open data without paying much attention to the creation, capture and the management aspects of the PSI. The originality of this paper, therefore, lies in the application of the records and information continua thinking, which highlights dimensions that enhance information management and the democratic challenges that will be caused by the data divide, as municipalities have different capabilities when it comes to the publication of the PSI.

For Internet celebrities, self-disclosure (SD) is a crucial step in building relationships with their followers who perceive this communication as para-social interaction (PSI), which facilitates socialization among followers. Normative commitment (NC) is critical for creating bonds among community members that are strengthened through socialization. However, research on the predictive relationships among SD, PSI and NC has been insufficient. This paper aims to investigate the effects of two facets of Internet celebrity SDs (i.e. private life and opinion) and two facets of PSI (i.e. companionship and following) on NC. The mediating role of PSI on the effects of SD on NC was also analyzed.

People who follow at least one Internet celebrity on a social networking site were recruited to participate in this study, and 494 valid questionnaires were collected for examination. The collected data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM).

The results revealed that both private-life and opinion SDs have positive effects on companionship and following PSI, which consequently influence NC. A mediation test revealed that companionship and following PSI mediate the effects of private-life and opinion SD on NC. This study's findings also revealed that NC is influenced more by following PSI than it is by companionship PSI. Furthermore, opinion SD was determined to be the more influential factor in following PSI, whereas private-life SD was the more influential factor in companionship PSI.

This paper is useful for understanding the influence mechanism of the SD of Internet celebrities on PSI and NC.

Psychosocial interventions (PSI) have been recognised as an important and valuable treatment for individuals with a serious mental health problem and their families. Over the past decade, PSI has gained national recognition through training courses such as the Thorn programme. However, despite NHS provider organisations investing time and money in the training of mental health practitioners in Thorn‐based PSI, implementing this training in practice has been inconsistent and difficult. Current literature focuses mainly on the efficacy of Thorn‐trained practitioners and on their attempts at transferring skills into practice. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a cross‐educational practice meeting in assisting Thorn graduates to implement PSI into clinical practice. Fifteen participants from a specialist mental health trust (including eight Thorn graduates) who participated in this type of meeting were interviewed. Six core themes were identified: framework for implementation; organisational drivers; Thorn graduates' position; service achievements; reforms to the process and threats to implementation. These themes indicate that a cross‐educational practice meeting can be a valuable framework for assisting Thorn graduates in implementing a range of PSI in clinical practice. This type of meeting can also make an impact on the culture of an organisation through facilitating change towards evidence‐based psychosocial practice.

This paper aims to address the recent trends and developments relating to the re‐use of public sector information (PSI) and open government data.

It starts from the European Commission's Digital Agenda, which stressed the importance of opening up access to content to promote the single market. While the 2003 PSI directive has contributed to this, barriers to the re‐use of PSI still remain, often based on a lack of awareness with public sector data holders and users. Some of these barriers are currently being challenged by the open government data (OGD) movement. While this movement has comparable objectives to the PSI directive, it is based on different arguments. This raises the question of how the two approaches relate.

The paper argues that the proponents of the re‐use of PSI and OGD should join forces to promote the availability of public sector data.

In this way, the public sector can be encouraged to rethink its information policy and move to a more coherent view on how data can be used to increase the benefits for the information society and the market for digital content.

The purpose of this paper is to explore whether and how changes in the management control systems (MCS) of post-secondary institutions (PSIs) in Western Canada can be described and explained in terms of formal and informal MCS; and whether and how changes in the MCS of PSIs in Western Canada can be described and explained in terms of an integrative contingency-based framework of MCS based on regulatory accountability systems, competitive markets and organizational culture?

The empirical research was undertaken with an exploratory mixed design. The first phase involved descriptive univariate and bivariate statistics as well as non-parametric statistics computed on data from annual reports and financial statements of 46 PSIs in Western Canada to quantitatively explore MCS. The second phase involved the grounded theory (GT) analysis of annual reports of 46 PSIs in Western Canada to qualitatively explore formal MCS in relation to changes in contingencies. The third phase involved the GT analysis of 20 semi-structured interviews of senior managers from PSIs in Western Canada to qualitatively explore informal MCS in relation to formal MCS and changes in contingencies.

The research showed that emphasis on formal MCS in Western Canadian PSIs resulted in biased compliance within informal MCS. The exploratory research also demonstrated that the distinction between formal and informal MCS was better understood in a wider framing of MCS in terms of regulatory accountability systems, competitive markets and organizational culture.

This research led to the elaboration of an exploratory theoretical framework to subsume the distinction between formal and informal MCS into an integrative contingency-based framework of MCS.

The purpose of this study is to explore the use of patient safety initiatives (PSIs) at the US hospitals. These PSIs include such approaches as open discussion of errors, education and training, and system redesign. In particular, the paper seeks to examine factors that influence the implementation of PSIs as well as the benefits realized from their implementation.

The paper draws on the TQM and medical safety literatures to develop a conceptual framework for improving patient safety. Extensive survey data were gathered from 252 hospitals throughout the US to test McFadden et al.'s model of the factors influencing successful implementation of PSIs.

Certain barriers (lack of top management support, lack of resources, lack of incentives and lack of knowledge) significantly impeded implementation while other factors (perceived importance of PSIs) facilitated implementation. It was also found that implementation of PSIs was associated with benefits to the hospital in areas such as medical error reduction, cost reduction, and patient satisfaction.

The use of a single respondent represents a possible limitation. Future research will explore organizational culture and its relationship to patient safety.

The findings provide direction for implementing more effective PSIs at hospitals.

The paper contributes to the literature on patient safety and medical errors by testing specific mechanisms that are associated with successful implementation of PSIs.

The widespread provision of evidence‐based psychosocial interventions (PSI) for people who experience psychosis and their families requires that the mental health workforce has access to educational and training programmes in these treatment approaches. Such training has been available in England since 1992 when the first PSI programmes were established at The Institute of Psychiatry, London and The University of Manchester. While training is now more widely available (Brooker, 2002), little is known about the extent and distribution of training across England, or of the detail of individual programmes. To remedy this, the NIMHE National PSI Implementation Workgroup conducted a survey of university accredited PSI education/training in January 2006.Twenty‐six courses were represented in the returns from the eight regions served by CSIP regional development centres. This paper presents the findings of this survey and discusses the current provision of PSI training in England in 2006.