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Increasingly, healthcare providers are implementing lean practices to achieve quality results. Implementing lean healthcare practices is unique compared to manufacturing and other service industries. The purpose of this paper is to present a model that identifies and defines the lean implementation key success factors in healthcare organisations.

The model is based on an extant literature review and a case illustration that explores actual lean implementation in a major USA hospital located in a Midwestern city (approximately 300,000 people). An exploratory/descriptive study using observation and follow-up interviews was conducted to identify lean practices in the hospital.

Lean practice key drivers include growing elderly populations, rising medical expenses, decreasing insurance coverage and decreasing management support. Effectively implementing lean practices to increase bottom-line results and improve organisational integrity requires sharing goals and processes among healthcare managers and professionals.

An illustration explains the model and the study provides a sound foundation for empirical work. Practical implications are included. Lean practices minimise waste and unnecessary hospital stays while simultaneously enhancing customer values and deploying resources in supply systems. Leadership requires clear project targets based on sound front-end planning because initial implementation steps involve uncertainty and ambiguity (i.e. fuzzy front-end planning). Since top management support is crucial for implementing lean practices successfully, a heavyweight manager, who communicates well both with top managers and project team members, is an important success factor when implementing lean practices.

Increasingly, green orientation and sustainability initiatives are phrases that replaced lean practices. Effective results; e.g. waste reduction, employee satisfaction and customer values are applicable to bigger competitive challenges arising both in specific organisations and inter-organisational networks.

Healthcare managers are adopting business practices that improve efficiency and productivity while ensuring their healthcare mission and guaranteeing that customer values are achieved. Shared understanding about complex goals (e.g. reducing waste and enhancing customer value) at the front-end is crucial for implementing successful lean practices. In particular, this study shows that nursing practices, which are both labour intensive and technology enabled, are good candidates for lean practice.

In an age of globalisation and increased migration, intersectionality can help us to appreciate the complexity of various forms of structural inequality and the impact of divergent forms of oppression on a person over their lifetime. Focusing on some of the Chinese women who migrated to Britain in the 1950s and 1960s, we use the concept of intersectionality to understand how coalescing forms of structural inequality have affected the lives of many elderly Chinese immigrant women, and how these inequalities have put them at risk of poorer mental health. We acknowledge that many first‐generation Chinese immigrant women have had very different experiences from those of second‐ and third‐generation Chinese women and that each woman's life story is unique. None of the women is simply a victim of inequalities; all are active agents in their own lives, and many women will have found ways to negotiate their lives under pressure and build personal resilience. However, research suggests that many elderly Chinese women living in the UK have spent much of their lives in the borderlands of inequality and, as a result, are often unable to live the lives that they deserve in their old age.

The purpose of this study is to segment the university student casual apparel market based on clothing benefits sought and develop a profile of each segment in terms of attribute evaluations, shopping orientations, and repatronage behavior.

Questionnaires were distributed to 200 university students at Florida State University and 184 completed questionnaires were analyzed.

The results were as follows. First, analysis of consumer clothing benefits sought generated six factors and attribute evaluation produced two factor solutions and shopping orientation generated three factors. Second, three consumer groups – utilitarian benefit group, hedonic benefit group, composite benefit group – with different clothing benefits sought were identified. Third, the study found significant differences in consumers' hedonic and utilitarian attribute evaluation among the groups. The study also revealed significant differences in shopping orientations and brand repurchase intentions among the groups.

From these results, it is possible to identify that clothing repurchase intention was significantly different among three different groups with different clothing benefits sought. Furthermore, consumer classification according to clothing benefits sought in university students' casual wear purchase can be used by clothing marketers and managers to establish product plan and marketing strategy development.

The study has originality and value in that the relationship between clothing benefits sought and repurchase intention has not been studied very much in the clothing domain.

In a currently western-dominated body of literature, the purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the relationship between motivation, experience, and satisfaction through a structural equation model. This empirical examination was performed in the context of a mega-sporting event (i.e. Asian Games), while considering sample characteristics and the cultural setting of a Middle Eastern host country (i.e. Qatar).

A survey was disseminated to 12 competition and non-competition venues of the 15th Asian Games in Doha, Qatar. There was a convenience sample of 392 volunteers.

Three-factor identification for volunteer motivation (external, purposive, and event related) with 48.76 percent variance explained. One-factor identification for volunteer experience with 66.08 percent of the variance explained. Two-factor identification for volunteer satisfaction (recruitment and training, communication and support) with 68.93 percent of variance explained. The sport volunteer satisfaction model fit data well (root mean square error of approximation=0.04, non-normed fit index=0.98, comparative fit index=0.99, standardized root mean squared residual=0.03). Motivation was positively and significantly related to experience. In turn, experience was positively and significantly related to satisfaction.

Limitations included the utilization of a convenience and homogeneous sample (approximately 78 percent were Asian males), and the fact the retention construct was not included in the model. Results indicated the need to further the utilization of modeling approaches in examining psychometric properties of sport event volunteers, as well as expand the knowledge of how eastern cultures perceive the concept of volunteerism.

Volunteers at the Asian Games were satisfied due to the fact that their event-related motives were actually fulfilled. Participants’ overall satisfaction levels were high since their experience with the event was also positive. Initially, satisfied volunteers could encourage additional volunteer involvement. An extended community-based volunteer pool could be utilized for a plethora of events in Qatar, thus supporting the country’s aspiration for becoming a hub for international sport events.

The authors tested empirically the interrelationship between volunteer motivation, experience, and satisfaction through a structural equation model in a Middle Eastern mega-sporting event.

This concluding contribution draws together key issues discussed in the various chapters of the book and connects them with future trends for tourism education. It places task in the changing world of higher education in general, and discusses changes in knowledge acquisition, ways of learning, knowledge content, and the role of educators in the future. This coverage leads to new learning technologies and their impact on the learning spaces of the future. Finally, the chapter discusses how projected tourism education programs can be designed to address society’s needs at this critical juncture in the history of the mankind. Creating responsible leaders for this global industry is perhaps the most important goal of future tourism education.

This research aims to examine the effect of the two dimensions of technology readiness – motivator and inhibitor on behavioural intention to adopt a mobile agricultural finance app called e-AgriFinance app among the farmers in Sarawak, Malaysia.

Data were collected from 337 farmers who cultivated the 4 major crops in Sarawak – oil palm, rubber, cocoa and pepper using a face-to-face questionnaire survey. Collected data were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling with R plspm package.

The research found that both motivator and inhibitor dimensions of technology readiness predicted the farmers’ behavioural intention to adopt the e-AgriFinance app, with the former had a relatively stronger positive effect and the latter had a relatively weaker negative effect.

This research was conducted in the context of rural farmers in an emerging economy. As such, modern farmers in developed countries may have different adoption behaviour of mobile agricultural finance app. The data were collected from farmers of the four major crops – oil palm, rubber, cocoa and pepper, and thus it may not be representative of the whole population of farmers in Sarawak.

This research served as one of the few studies that focused on the relationship between technology readiness and mobile app adoption among farmers from the perspective of an emerging economy.

Partial least squares (PLS) path modeling is a variance-based structural equation modeling (SEM) technique that is widely applied in business and social sciences. Its ability to model composites and factors makes it a formidable statistical tool for new technology research. Recent reviews, discussions, and developments have led to substantial changes in the understanding and use of PLS. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This paper aggregates new insights and offers a fresh look at PLS path modeling. It presents new developments, such as consistent PLS, confirmatory composite analysis, and the heterotrait-monotrait ratio of correlations.

PLS path modeling is the method of choice if a SEM contains both factors and composites. Novel tests of exact fit make a confirmatory use of PLS path modeling possible.

This paper provides updated guidelines of how to use PLS and how to report and interpret its results.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the mid-career experience of female managers within a small higher education institution in the UK. It considers how managers manage “self” within this phase of career.

This study takes an ethnographic approach to the exploration of experiences in mid-career. Using a relational approach it was possible to draw together new insights deriving from the data. A narrative approach provided the framework from which deeper insights were captured through detailed participant stories told in situ.

This study offers a deep analysis of the constructs of management experience as these are negotiated within mid-career. The priority of female managers in this study is directed towards the balance of home and work. There is less evidence of a desire for upward progression, instead the focus now shifts to the achievement of authenticity and balance.

This study was conducted in the higher education sector in the UK which is noted for its increasing commercialisation agenda and low staff turnover. Undertaking comparable research in other sectors will provide further insights into the generalisability of findings. Managers in this study were wholly white, middle class and most are still working in the region in which they were born. A more diverse cohort may be studied to ascertain the importance attributable to balance of work and life across different groups.

This study presents some important areas of consideration for those involved in the support and advancement of female managers. Indeed, for those engaged in cognitive and developmental work this study provides rich and in-depth qualitative data that may prove helpful when formulating policy. It is of significance to senior managers within organisations and encourages attention towards executive development and organisational culture, both of which support the retention of talent within the organisation.

This paper provides insights into middle and senior management practice that may be of use by policy makers in the wider higher education sector context, as well as in general management good practice discussions more widely. This study may also be of interest to aspiring female managers and those relatively new to their roles as they seek to position themselves to achieve a sense of authenticity within their organisations.

This study provides an empirical contribution to the study of female managers working within a small higher education institution in the UK. It provides deep insights into management practice at mid-career within the workplace and the way in which this is conceived in situ.

The relationship between robots and spirituality in the workplace is an interesting and evolving area of research that could provide important insights into the role of technology in promoting human well-being and personal growth. Robots are becoming increasingly common in the workplace and their functions in the business world are increasing. The use of robots in the workplace can affect people's spiritual values. Spiritual values such as being successful in their work, providing a sense of purpose and satisfaction, and feeling valued and important are important. The use of robots in the workplace may cause some people to take over many of the tasks that their jobs once did. In this case, employees may feel that their work no longer makes sense and may experience a loss of motivation. The fact that robots don't need the skills and experience of humans can make people feel inadequate in their jobs. However, the use of robots in the workplace can also support people's spiritual values. When robots work with humans, they have responsibilities such as interacting with them, showing empathy, respecting coworkers, and treating humans appropriately. This is important for people's mental and emotional health in the workplace. This approach will help people in the workplace work successfully and happily with robots. The use of robots in the workplace raises moral and ethical questions. In this section, research on the production of artificial intelligence-equipped robots and other intelligent technological machines and their use in organizations is evaluated within the framework of spirituality.