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The aim of this paper is to analyze and measure the effects of intellectual capital (IC), i.e. human capital (HC), relational capital (RC) and structural capital (SC), on healthcare industry organizational performance and understanding the role of data analytics and big data (BD) in healthcare value creation (Wang et al., 2018). Through the assessment of determined variables specific for each component of IC, the paper identifies the guidelines and suggests propositions for a more efficient response in terms of services provided to citizens and, specifically, patients, as well as predicting effective strategies to improve the care management efficiency in terms of cost reduction.

The study has a twofold approach: in the first part, the authors operated a systematic review of the academic literature aiming to enquire the relationship between IC, big data analytics (BDA) and healthcare system, which were also the descriptors employed. In the second part, the authors built an econometric model analyzed through panel data analysis, studying the relationship between IC, namely human, relational and structural capital indicators, and the performance of healthcare system in terms of performance. The study has been conducted on a sample of 28 European countries, notwithstanding the belonging to specific international or supranational bodies, between 2011 and 2016.

The paper proposes a data-driven model that presents new approach to IC assessment, extendable to other economic sectors beyond healthcare. It shows the existence of a positive impact (turning into a mathematical inverse relationship) of the human, relational and structural capital on the performance indicator, while the physical assets (i.e. the available beds in hospitals on total population) positively mediates the relationship, turning into a negative impact of non-IC related inputs on healthcare performance. The result is relevant in terms of managerial implications, enhancing the opportunity to highlight the crucial role of IC in the healthcare sector.

The relationship between IC indicators and performance could be employed in other sectors, disseminating new approaches in academic research. Through the establishment of a relationship between IC factors and performance, the authors implemented an approach in which healthcare organizations are active participants in their economic and social value creation. This challenges the views of knowledge sharing deeply held inside organizations by creating “new value” developed through a more collaborative and permeated approach in terms of knowledge spillovers. A limitation is given by a fragmented policymaking process which carries out different results in each country.

The analysis provides interesting implications on multiple perspectives. The novelty of the study provides interesting implications for managers, practitioners and governmental bodies. A more efficient healthcare system could provide better results in terms of cost minimization and reduction of hospitalization period. Moreover, dissemination of new scientific knowledge and drivers of specialization enhances best practices sharing in the healthcare sector. On the other hand, an improvement in preventive medicine practices could help in reducing the overload of demand for curative treatments, on the perspective of sharply decreasing the avoidable deaths rate and improving societal standards.

The authors provide a new holistic framework on the relationship between IC, BDA and organizational performance in healthcare organizations through a systematic review approach and an empirical panel analysis at a multinational level, which is quite a novelty regarding the healthcare. There is little research focussed on healthcare industries' organizational performance, and, specifically, most of the research on IC in healthcare delivered results in terms of theoretical contribution and qualitative analyzes. The authors even contributed to analyze the healthcare industry in the light of the possible existence of synergies and networks among countries.

According to Fee (2009), e-learning systems have three components: technology, learning content and e-learning design. Few studies have examined e-learning design as an educational process, although universities are increasingly using e-learning as they become more entrepreneurial. This article aimed to investigate how universities approach e-learning design.

The study used a mixed methods approach. First, the authors carried out a quantitative analysis of the websites of the top 100 European universities in the Quacquarelli Symonds Ranking. The authors then moved to a qualitative approach, analyzing a pilot case and three case studies. Semistructured interviews were conducted with managers of e-learning services at the chosen European universities.

The 100 best European universities in the Quacquarelli Symonds Rankings all use e-learning methods. The case study universities were selected from this list. The semistructured interviews with managers of e-learning services highlighted the importance of the design of e-learning courses. However, most focused on the professional figures involved, rather than the process for e-learning and the overall design of the course.

The article provides a detailed study of e-learning design in an educational context. The analysis of multiple case studies allowed the authors to identify how the selected universities carry out didactic design activity through the use of technology. It therefore contributes to knowledge of cases of digital academic entrepreneurship.

The aim of the paper is the study of information systems as mechanisms to manage existing and widespread knowledge in health care organizations; this is a platform that supports the processes of communication and knowledge sharing. The paper seeks to focus on the electronic medical record (EMR) as a tool to manage the integration of knowledge and operational information among health care through the coordination of the interdependencies.

The paper develops a methodology characterized by a mixed theoretical and analyzing the key documents on the context and literature on health information systems and an empirical part based on the use of semi‐structured interviews and questionnaires to the working group responsible for the project “medical records”.

The contributions of research can be found in the descriptive analysis obtained by the process of implementation of integrated medical records (IMRs) within the structures investigated. This can lead to highlight possible areas for improvement in the management of the construction and operation of the EMR.

The originality lies in the possibility of verifying the conditions of effective integration of knowledge to manage health problems, through the use of IMR as a mechanism for additional information. Possible value added is the description and encoding of knowledge available within the health departments.

This editorial of the special issue of Measuring Business Excellence is devoted to introduce and discuss a knowledge‐based perspective of innovation and performance improvement in health care (HC).

The approaches, evidences and insights discussed in this introduction are based on the discussion of the topics of the conference “International Forum on Knowledge Assets Dynamics” organised in June 2012 in Matera, Italy. After a brief analysis of the importance of the HC for research and practice related to the reform of HC sector that encompassed most OECD countries in the last 15 years and the diffusion of the new public management philosophy, the article presents a rationale explaining the roots and the meanings of a knowledge‐based perspective of innovation and performance improvement in HC. The model of the innovation cycle is introduced and discussed. Finally, the article provides an overview of the papers of the special issue.

At the conference, leading experts discussed the importance of identifying and managing new key‐value drivers in order to face emergent competitive scenarios, and research and management practices for addressing complexity, uncertainty and changes of today's business landscape. This article as well as all the contributions to the special issue provide useful implications both for research and practice. In particular they support the analysis about the resources, the assets, the processes, the factors and the contingency conditions playing a role in determining the improvement of the innovative capacity and consequently the global performance of the HC organisations.

This article – and the contributions to the special issue – deal with different aspects which are important in the discussion about how fostering innovation and performance improvement in HC organisations exploiting knowledge‐based factors. The articles also deal with the approaches, tools, methods and techniques that disentangle the mechanisms by which different knowledge‐based factors, separately or interdependently, contribute to improve HC organisations' innovation dynamics and organisational performance.

The purpose of this paper is twofold. The first objective is to outline the main theoretical framework on the conflict style phenomenon; the second purpose is to understand the conflict style in a sample of Medical Health Manager.

The authors based this research on qualitative-quantitative analysis. This study starts with a survey questionnaire as a method to collect quantitative data. Therefore, the authors conducted a survey on the style of conflict management of hospital managers with subordinates. A modified version of the Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory II (ROCI II) (Rahim, 1983) – Module B is used. This instrument is composed of 28 entries.

The results of this study offer a double perspective. From a theoretical point of view, the results highlight the main theoretical references related to conflict management. In particular, the main currents of study and the results of empirical evidence have been identified within organizational theory. The empirical part of this study, instead, offers a survey, carried out through the administration of the ROCI II – module B questionnaire.

This paper offers interesting food for thought on conflict management. In particular, it offers theoretical references on the subject and on the validation of the ROCI II - Form B model, in health organizations.

This study aims to understand how healthcare social media offer nonmedical psycho-social support for pediatric oncology patients and their care community and how social media can be exploited for healthcare knowledge management.

Social media capabilities were identified and categorized based on psycho-social support services for pediatric oncology patients, caregivers and their community of care. Data were collected from 187 service sites representing more than 100 organizations. These broadly defined capabilities in trusted care organizations were analyzed to understand use of social media in providing psycho-social support.

Analysis revealed resource guides, stories and in-person support at clinics as the most prevalent forms of technology-guided psycho-social support. Privacy, security and information integrity rose as technical challenges for interactive social media platforms. Medical community trust is inconsistent, leading to immature adoption of critical psycho-social support as a knowledge management source. Findings further indicate the not-for-profit support sector provides robust social media capabilities compared to the healthcare sector.

Future research may extend to maturing healthcare and not-for-profit sector services and to private sector products such as mobile applications and other technologies.

Survivor and caregiver quality of life depend on psycho-social support communities and services delivered via social media.

Child protection social implications require significant attention due to sensitivity of security, privacy concerns and longevity of digital footprints for pediatric patients.

Research demonstrates opportunity for medical provider, healthcare organization, not-for-profit sector, patient and caregiver cooperation using social media. Data indicate healthcare technology systems leveraging social media can extend knowledge management capability beyond organization boundaries.

To improve the performance both in terms of patient safety and quality of treatments, this research studies one of the most delicate processes of health organizations, that is to say, the clinical risk management in maternal and child pathway. This paper aims to analyze the accidents that occurred in a complex health facility through the standard mapping of this pathway included in the CartoRisk, i.e. a risk assessment tool for the a priori analysis.

The research uses the case study methodology, as it explores a complex process in which a lot of variables and actors are involved. It analyzes the accidents occurred in the largest health facility at national and European level.

After a presentation of the regulatory framework and the studied health organization, the research analyzes the accidents occurred in maternal and child pathway from 2014 to 2018. It showed the main risks according to the standard mapping of the maternal and child pathway. Furthermore, it identified 11 new risks mainly associated with physiologic birth and Caesarean birth.

This study presents the regulatory framework, the health facility and the accidents of a health organization. Moreover, besides the accident analysis, the research integrates further risks into the standard mapping adopted to carry out this study and proposes a risk management approach. Therefore, the value of the research for operators will consist of the integration of the standard mapping used for a priori analysis to be reused in the hospitals where they work, while for researchers it will represent a deep knowledge of a real case.

The purpose of this paper is to gauge the health-care services from a patient’s perspective in five private hospitals in the Syrian capital Damascus.

The five dimensions-SERVQUAL model (tangibility, empathy, assurance, reliability and responsiveness) was implemented to measure the gap between patient’s perception and expectation in health-care service quality.

The SERVQUAL tool proved to be reliable and valid in assessing service quality in Syrian health-care setting. The assessment of the service quality from a patient’s perspective shows that all SERVQUAL dimensions were negative except for tangible element that scored (+0.57) gap. Based on patient’s expectation, empathy scored the highest score with (4.37), followed by responsiveness (4.17), reliability (3.90), tangibility (3.82) and assurance (3.45). The widest negative gaps among the 22 SERVQUAL items were related to listening skills of hospital staffs (−1.52) and for spending enough time with patient (−1.81). This study indicated that tangible dimension plays a significant role in balancing the deficiency in other service quality dimensions. In addition, communication skills of medical and paramedical staff should be improved to ameliorate patient’s perception about health-care services.

This study provides valuable insights into the patient’s perception, but the feedback from hospital staffs (doctor, nurses) and hospital’s senior managers also considered potential rich information sources. This survey is conducted in the capital, and future research should include replication of this study in the other 13 Syrian governorates before generalizing the findings of this research.

Hospital administrator could use SERVQUAL model to improve their operational performance as well as to benchmark their behavior against other competitors in the health-care market in Damascus. This paper provides valuable information to policymakers and top hospital management to understand patient-centered care and to improve health-care system in Syria. Besides, this research provides a marketing insight to realize what patient expects and how she/he assesses the care service.

To the author’s knowledge, this is one of very few studies conducted to assess service quality in private health-care sector in Damascus. The main contribution of this study is providing the empirical evidence that the five dimensions-SERVQUAL scale proved to be reliable and valid instrument for measuring and analyzing health-care service quality in Syria.

Due to the evolution of the health-care scenario and the growing role of the primary care setting, the distribution processes of health technologies will be more and more in demand in the near future. This paper aims to investigate this theme, analyzing the performance, strengths and weaknesses of the current distribution practices, with the ultimate overarching aim to improve the provision of the primary care services.

The research framework is twofold. First, a tool to monitor the economic/quantitative performance of the distribution models was designed; second, the tool was applied to measure the performance of distribution models of absorbent devices for incontinence adopted by Local Health Authorities (LHA) in Lombardy Region (Italy). Quantitative data were collected by LHAs (from 2012 to 2016) and compared through data-benchmarking. Qualitative data from interviews and focus groups complemented the outcomes.

Two main distribution models were investigated: distribution through pharmacies and home delivery. Results show that there is no winning/preferable model in terms of economic/quantitative performance and service quality level, but a counterbalanced combination of strengths and weaknesses exists. Moving from the highlighted weaknesses and building on the strengths, an alternate distribution model is proposed for testing.

The present study approaches the theme of primary care services with a holistic approach, filling a literature gap. It also provides practitioners with a tool of performance analysis and management and real data, applicable also in international contexts. The collected real-world data also gives insights on the area of the quality of care, with particular reference to the patients’ experience. As a lesson learned, policymakers and the National Healthcare Service should re-think their current distribution models/practices in the light of the highlighted criticisms and opportunities for improvement.