Search results

Risk management is an essential cornerstone of any effective unit. The maternity dashboard has been found to be an efficient governance tool, but there is no such scorecard in gynaecology. The paper aims to conceptualise and implement an acute gynaecology dashboard in a teaching hospital over a period of two years and review the changes brought in practice as a result of the dashboard.

This acute gynaecology dashboard was designed in line with the existing maternity dashboard. Goals and benchmarks were determined on the basis of available national guidelines, expert opinions and local policies. The dashboard was prospectively implemented, updated monthly and presented in the relevant forums. A retrospective overview of the changes brought in the practice is presented in this paper.

Through the use of the dashboard significant problems related to workforce, training and clinical activity were identified. A number of changes were subsequently executed to improve patient management, service provision and training. This paper provides empirical insights about how positive changes in clinical practice could be brought in by the implementation of the acute gynaecology dashboard. The acute gynaecology dashboard was found to be a valuable governance tool to monitor performance and improve training and patient care.

The acute gynaecology dashboard can be used as an effective clinical governance tool to monitor performance and leads to improvement in clinical practice in other acute gynaecology units.

Though the maternity dashboard is widely in use, there has been no previous description of an acute gynaecology dashboard and this is the first paper in this area. With the increasing demand of acute gynaecology services, the dashboard becomes an essential tool for clinical governance.

The purpose of this paper is to give a comprehensive and updated analysis of the available literature on hospital dashboards.

A search of the current literature was performed by searching electronic databases, including Google Scholar, EBSCO and Medline, as well as books.

In all, 48 manuscripts consisting of peer reviewed articles, conference proceedings, case reports and text books were included in this review.

Despite the numerous advantages of performance dashboards, several authors have mentioned a number of challenges. It was evident from the literature that any setting requires significant effort, especially to ensure the quality of data being collected. In fact, significant investment, both in terms of financial and human resources, is required to achieve an effective dashboard. Furthermore, most of the studies available in the literature were individual case reports or anecdotal accounts rather than empirical studies. Thus, further research is required to ascertain the effectiveness of performance dashboards. In view of these findings, each organisation should make its own decisions whether or not to adopt performance dashboards.

Most of the literature is fragmented as it reports the use of different types of dashboards, namely strategic, tactical and operational, as separate tools. This literature review contributes to knowledge as it brings together the different types of dashboards and the cascading effect of one dashboard onto another in order to achieve and retain organisational alignment with the overall strategic goals.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse hospital dashboards’ visibility of information at different management levels to improve quality and performance in an acute general hospital.

Data were generated via 21 semi-structured interviews across different management levels.

All management levels had greater visibility of information, could make informed decisions, and registered performance improvement. Specifically, waiting time improved, however since introduction of hospital dashboards was work-in-progress at time of study, managers could not record improvement in terms of cost reductions, clinical effectiveness, patient safety and patient satisfaction. Different managerial levels had different visibility with top management having the greatest.

In single case studies, where only one context is used, the findings cannot be reproduced in different contexts; even though most of the results could be matched with the current literature.

The need to have balanced key performance indicators that take into account other facets of improvements, apart from time, has been emphasised. Furthermore, if middle and departmental managers have greater visibility, this would allow them to work towards a strategic fit between the departments that they manage with the rest of the hospital.

There is scant literature regarding performance dashboards’ enhancement of visibility of information at different management levels. Furthermore, according to the authors’ knowledge, no other paper has tried to identify and discuss the different levels of information, which should be visible from bedside to board namely to management, clinicians and public.

This paper aims to examine the differential effects of the type of gift (material vs experiential) offered on Snapchat and Instagram (Study 1) and how the impacts of gift type and message type (informational vs emotional) vary by the two different image-sharing social media platform in a business-to-consumer (B2C) gift-giving context (Study 2).

Study 1 used a two (social media: Snapchat vs Instagram) by two (gift type: material vs experiential) between-subject factorial design, whereas Study 2 used a two (social media: Snapchat vs Instagram) by two (gift type: material vs experiential) by two (message type: informational vs emotional) between-subject factorial design. A series of analyses of covariance was conducted to test the suggested hypotheses.

Study 1 demonstrated that the promotion of material gifts was more effective on Snapchat than on Instagram, while the promotion of experiential gifts was more effective on Instagram than on Snapchat. Study 2 showed that the impacts of gift type and message type varied by social media platform. The promotion of an experiential gift with an emotional ad appeal was found to be more effective on Instagram than on Snapchat, while the promotion of a material gift using an informational ad appeal was found to be more effective on Snapchat than on Instagram.

This research used a college student sample for the experiments. However, to extend the generalizability of the results, it is recommended that future experiments be conducted with nonstudent samples. Also, the current research manipulated the two different social media conditions, Snapchat vs Instagram, by enforcing participants to use their social media and then provided experimental stimuli in a different screen from their social media account. If the stimuli were distributed through participants’ real social media account, the external validity of this research could be enhanced. Finally, future research should apply this framework to other countries with different social media platforms to confirm the generalizability of the study’s findings.

This research can thus contribute to the development of new guidelines for planning social media marketing in the business gift-giving context. By leveraging findings that the fit effect of gift types and advertising appeals differs based on social media platform, practitioners can create a more effective social media plan for their advertising campaigns. Given that copywriting and media plans are among the most important and difficult work in the business of advertising, this study’s findings would assist advertising practitioners in planning and executing the most effective advertising campaigns.

The findings of this study provide valuable insights for the development of effective brand promotion strategies for B2C gift-giving via social media.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the ballistic impact response of square clamped fiber-metal laminates and monolithic plates consisting of different metal alloys using the ANSYS LS-DYNA explicit nonlinear analysis software. The panels are subjected to central normal high velocity ballistic impact by a cylindrical projectile.

Using validated finite element models, the influence of the constituent metal alloy on the ballistic resistance of the fiber-metal laminates and the monolithic plates is studied. Six steel alloys are examined, namely, 304 stainless steel, 1010, 1080, 4340, A36 steel and DP 590 dual phase steel. A comparison with the response of GLAss REinforced plates is also implemented.

It is found that the ballistic limits of the panels can be substantially affected by the constituent alloy. The stainless steel based panels offer the highest ballistic resistance followed by the A36 steel based panels which in turn have higher ballistic resistance than the 2024-T3 aluminum based panels. The A36 steel based panels have higher ballistic limit than the 1010 steel based panels which in turn have higher ballistic limit than the 1080 steel based panels. The behavior of characteristic impact variables such as the impact load, the absorbed impact energy and the projectile’s displacement during the ballistic impact phenomenon is analyzed.

The ballistic resistance of the aforementioned steel fiber-metal laminates has not been studied previously. This study contributes to the scientific knowledge concerning the impact response of steel-based fiber-metal laminates and to the construction of impact resistant structures.

The preliminary figures for the production of fruit in the United States of America for the year 1930 issued by the Department of Commerce, Washington, are as follows:—Apples, 163,543,000 bushel; grapes, 2,368,557 tons; peaches, 53,286,000 bushel; pears, 25,703,000 bushel; strawberries, 59,996,000 quarts; cranberries, 570,000 barrels. Assuming the bushel to be equal to fifty pounds weight (Av.), the weights of apples, peaches and pears produced are 3,650,000 tons, 1,189,000 tons, 574,000 tons respectively. The Department of Commerce has no means of intimating the proportions of fruits used for the raw, canning and preserve markets. The production of canned fruits is, however, high in the United States, a much larger proportion of the total crop of fruit being used for this purpose than is the case in this country. In the United States the fruit that is preserved is marketed either as jam, the fruit for this purpose being more or less in the form of pulp; or as preserved fruit when the fruit is whole or unbroken; or as fruit butter, which is fruit juice and fruit pulp evaporated till they form a semi‐solid homogeneous mass with or without the addition of sugar, spices, or vinegar; or as fruit jelly, which is the juice or water extract of fruit concentrated to a suitable consistency with the addition of sugar. In 1929, according to the Bureau of Census figures, the total value of the four products above named amounted to $44,073,809, or in round figures about £9,000,000. It appears that some two hundred firms are mainly engaged in the manufacture of these, a small and unknown amount being made as a kind of side line by certain wholesale grocers. It may be observed that (1) the fruit used is home grown; (2) the product, whether it be preserved fruit, jam, fruit butter or fruit jelly, has to be made in accordance with Federal or State definitions of these products; (3) the label on the pot or tin must truly describe the contents as to nature, quality and quantity; (4) that misleading statements or designs on such labels are forbidden by law. At the request of the National Preservers' Association the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce recently completed a survey of the preserving industry. The results are incomplete, as many firms did not make returns, but the figures obtained would appear to cover about 40 per cent. of those relating to the industry for the year 1929. These figures are at least useful for comparative purposes, and multiplication by 2½ is probably justifiable under the circumstances as affording some guide to the total amount. Thus the actual figures obtained by the Department for production by “major classification” are as follows:—Preserves and jams, 62,490,389 lbs.; jellies, 32,301,654 lbs.; fruit butters, 40,019,560 lbs.; citrus marmalade, 1,849,104 lbs. Total, 136,660,707 lbs. This total when multiplied by 2½ shows that something over 150,000 tons, of 2,240 lbs. to the ton, of the products mentioned above were made in 1929. If the population of the United States be 125 millions, it is certainly near that figure, the output is low compared with the output in this country; for preserves and jams very low. The deficiency in this item is offset by the high percentage compared with our figures of fruit jelly (235), and of fruit butters (30) produced. Much fruit grown in the United States is, however, absorbed by the canning industry which has been long established and has reached enormous dimensions; and also in the production of fruit juices as beverages. Again, anything but a numerical comparison, even if that be directly permissible, is to our disadvantage. For while the fruit grower in the United States finds a ready market for his crops in the markets for jam and its associated products, our fruit growers would seem to receive no such measure of encouragement from our jam makers, who purchase large quantities of cheap imported fruit pulp of questionable wholesomeness in many cases. As to the quality of the material it is safe to say that much of the jam made in the country at the present time would be refused entry into the United States. As to the kind of jam and preserve made in the United States, there are three kinds: Standard, Compound, and Imitation. In round figures 75 per cent. of the jam is of standard grade, 19 per cent. is compound, and 6 per cent. imitation. For jellies the figures are: 45·45 per cent. standard, 27 per cent. pectin and apple base, imitation 27 per cent. As to the kinds of fruit used in making jam, strawberry jam heads the list with 39 per cent. of the total; raspberry with 19 per cent. No other percentages run into double figures. The next highest is peach 8·74 per cent., the lowest is gooseberry 0·13 per cent. 78·5 per cent. by weight of the strawberry jam is of standard quality, 19 per cent. compound, 2·3 imitation; 75·5 per cent. of the raspberry jam is standard, 21 per cent. compound, 1·6 imitation. The average invoice values of these jams are as follows:—Standard strawberry jam, 17.64 cents per lb., say 9d. per lb.; compound strawberry, 7d.; imitation strawberry, 5d. The corresponding figures for raspberry being 7½d., 6½d., 5¼d. These figures being about the average invoice prices for all kinds of jams of the three qualities named. From these figures it would appear that it is possible in the United States to market strawberry and raspberry jam of a nature conforming to Dr. Johnson's definition at a fairly low price. In the United States of America there are two laws which govern the purity of the food supply. One is the Federal Law of 30th June, 1906. The Federal Law applies to the Federal District of Columbia and to Inter‐State Commerce, that is to say to goods which may be sent from one State of the Union to another State of the Union. The other laws are the State laws which have been passed by the legislatures of the various States. Before these laws were passed, manufacturers of adulterated food products were at liberty to make and sell such products in their State. These State laws are applicable only to the particular States for which they have been passed. As a general rule they are founded on the Federal Law or follow the wording of this law closely as a matter of expediency, but the various States responsible for these enactments are not bound in any way by the wording of the Federal enactments. The State Laws, however, are complementary to the Federal Law. The power of a State to protect itself against the ill‐effects of unsatisfactory food products manufactured in another and imported within its boundaries is extremely limited. This is a matter for the Federal authorities in the enforcement of the Federal Law. On the other hand the Federal Law has no power over goods manufactured in any given State for sale in that State. It is only when such goods pass from one State to another and thus become part of Inter‐State Commerce that the Federal Law has authority. Nevertheless the Federal and State officials are in close co‐operation, and a network of protective legislation covers the United States, and the laws and regulations are administered by keen and experienced legal and technical officers.

Now that the computer has taken over the office and, incidentally, has changed the structure, contours, and dynamics of the business world, there is urgent need for a dispassionate assessment of what has been going on for the past quarter century and what is ongoing now, with the fateful 1984 a flip of the calendar away and the turn of the century not far off. An assessment of that kind would not have been possible in 1960, when the Harvard Business Review first printed the article, “When the Computer Takes Over the Office”. (Subsequently, it was distributed under the aegis of the University of California's Institute of Industrial Relations as part of their reprint series.) At the time, electronic data processing was still in its infancy and regarded as a mere timorous technological step beyond tried‐and‐true Hollerith systems. Talk of “takeover” must have seemed like an egregious flying in the face of conventional wisdom. What, after all, could be so threatening about a fast abacus? All it was doing was, presumably, cutting down paper work or speeding up paper flow. Then, as now, the electronics industry was self‐conscious about its public image and welcomed only praise for its noble contributions to society's wellbeing. Any intimation that automation was not an unmitigated blessing for all people was regarded as a manifestation of an unfriendly predisposition against progress, perhaps even subversive and un‐American. One manufacturer went so far as to demand, in an open letter to the press, that the editors of the Harvard Business Review repudiate the Hoos article. A reply was in order and mine was simple: it is not my business to peddle nor to soft‐pedal automation.

Manipulation checks are a recommended for experimental accounting research. Usage of information gained by manipulation checks varies. In some studies, participants who failed the manipulation check are removed from the sample. Other studies report the results of the manipulation checks but still use the full sample. Some authors recommend removing participants who failed the manipulation check as a means to increase the power of the statistical analysis. Others warn that removing these participants endangers the randomization as a crucial precondition for gaining valid insights from experimental research. Until now, there is little research on how sensitive results react to exclusion of participants. The purpose of this paper is to study the effects of removing participants failing the manipulation checks on the evaluation of a hypothesis and the development of alternative usages of the information gained from manipulation checks.

Based on an analytical model and a simulation, the authors show how removing participants who fail the manipulation check affects experimental findings.

Simulations show that statistical results and conclusions drawn from an experiment differ substantially, depending on whether participants who failed the manipulation check are removed from the sample. As the participants who are removed are no random sub-sample, but share a certain property, the experimental results react strongly, typically showing significant results, where there are actually none.

This paper is, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the first to address the sensitivity of experimental results to removing participants who fail the manipulation check from the sample and the implications for the validity of conclusions drawn from experimental accounting research. This paper’s contribution is a better way of using information gained in the manipulation check in the statistical analysis of the experimental data.

This article presents the results of a survey of 202 male Taiwanese consumers. In this study, consumer judgements of two technological products varying in their level of complexity made in highly, moderately, and newly industrialised countries were obtained in a multi‐attribute context. The results show that the country‐of‐origin image of moderately and newly industrialised countries was less negative for technologically simpler products (i.e. a television) than they were for technologically complex products (i.e. a computer). It appears that the negative image of moderately and newly industrialised countries can be attenuated by making Taiwanese consumers more familiar with products made in these countries and/or by providing them with other product‐related information such as brand name and warranty. Newly industrialised countries were perceived more negatively as countries of design than as countries of assembly, especially in the context of making technologically complex products. The image of foreign countries as producers of consumer goods was positively correlated with education. The more familiar consumers were with the products of a country, the more favourable was their evaluation of that country. Consumer involvement with purchasing a technologically complex product such as a computer was positively associated with the appreciation of products made in moderately industrialised countries. Managerial and research implications are derived from these results.

With this number the Library Review enters on its ninth year, and we send greetings to readers at home and abroad. Though the magazine was started just about the time when the depression struck the world, its success was immediate, and we are glad to say that its circulation has increased steadily every year. This is an eminently satisfactory claim to be able to make considering the times through which we have passed.