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Since the publication of the report “To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System” by the US Institute of Medicine in 2000, much has changed with regard to patient safety. Many of the more recent initiatives to improve patient safety target the behavior of health care staff (e.g., training, double-checking procedures, and standard operating procedures). System-based interventions have so far received less attention, even though they produce more substantial improvements, being less dependent on individuals’ behavior. One type of system-based intervention that can benefit patient safety involves improvements to hospital design. Given that people’s working environments affect their behavior, good design at a systemic level not only enables staff to work more efficiently; it can also prevent errors and mishaps, which can have serious consequences for patients. While an increasing number of studies have demonstrated the effect of hospital design on patient safety, this knowledge is not easily accessible to clinicians, practitioners, risk managers, and other decision-makers, such as designers and architects of health care facilities. This is why the Swiss Patient Safety Foundation launched its project, “More Patient Safety by Design: Systemic Approaches for Hospitals,” which is presented in this chapter.

With future robotic systems likely to hinge in part on the quality of their associated video image processing, a system has been evolved in which interior and exterior profiles of objects seen by a video camera can be computed in real time.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of budgeting in the monitoring functions of the Tanzanian Parliament, specifically the monitoring functions of the Parliamentary Budget Committee (PBC).

The paper uses Burchell et al.’s (1980) accounting “machines” framework and its development as a theoretical lens to interpret the research findings. Interviews, document analysis and observation were used for data collection.

The findings reveal that budget documents were used as learning and answering machines, as they served as the basis for questioning, for checking variances, for reviewing and for conducting monitoring visits. Budgeting procedures were utilized as ammunition machines, as they were used as the basis for expressing legislative officials’ positions and understanding the logic of executive officials’ actions.

The paper investigates the role of budgeting in a parliamentary setting. However, comparative analysis is missing. Nevertheless, the results provide a foundation for future studies and the opportunity to investigate the role of budgeting in the monitoring functions of other parliaments, especially in emerging economies.

The study has practical implications directed toward governments, especially in emerging economies. This study suggests that budgeting documents and procedures can be used to overcome the complexities of the PBC monitoring functions. Budgeting is, therefore, essential in the monitoring functions of the PBC, especially in emerging economies.

The study contributes to the understanding of the role of budgeting in monitoring functions in a parliamentary setting in emerging economies, where such research is lacking. The study also contributes by introducing an “ammunition” role to the theoretical literature on budget use (Simons, 1990, 1991; Abernethy and Brownell, 1999), which is argued to be relevant to politicians and organizations of a political nature, including parliaments.

The goal is to illuminate the requisites for the implementation of performance management reforms in a public bureaucracy.

The paper employs a configurational approach, qualitative comparative analysis, that identifies combinations of political and organizational conditions necessary and/or sufficient for success. The analysis applies the success factor identified in the literature in analyzing the experience of departments involved in a city-wide reform in Los Angeles. The analysis utilizes two rounds of survey data combined with case observations to evaluate the presence of these conditions. Cross-case comparisons employ Boolean logic to identify configurations associated with successful system implementation.

The analysis identifies several distinct configurations of conditions that appear in departments that implemented the reform. One emphasizes mayoral support, while others emphasize leadership in combination with other organizational capacities.

The analysis yields several insights for managers. First, no silver bullet such as strong leadership assures reform implementation. Second, there are multiple avenues to reform. An organization that lacks some prerequisites – such as leadership or metrics – may succeed in the presence of other features such as an innovative culture or external political support. Finally, the study provides a bracing council that even under favorable conditions, performance management reforms may fail to take root, for reasons that can be difficult to predict.

The paper highlights the importance of considering configurations of conditions rather than focusing on conditions independently. Also, it highlights the importance of equifinality, the notion that observed outcomes can have multiple causes, a perspective typically missing in correlational analyses.

The textile industry holds immense significance in the economy of any nation, particularly in the production of synthetic yarn and fabrics. Consequently, the pursuit of acquiring high-quality products at a reduced cost has become a significant concern for countries. The primary objective of this research is to leverage data mining and data intelligence techniques to enhance and refine the production process of texturized yarn by developing an intelligent operating guide that enables the adjustment of production process parameters in the texturized yarn manufacturing process, based on the specifications of raw materials.

This research undertook a systematic literature review to explore the various factors that influence yarn quality. Data mining techniques, including deep learning, K-nearest neighbor (KNN), decision tree, Naïve Bayes, support vector machine and VOTE, were employed to identify the most crucial factors. Subsequently, an executive and dynamic guide was developed utilizing data intelligence tools such as Power BI (Business Intelligence). The proposed model was then applied to the production process of a textile company in Iran 2020 to 2021.

The results of this research highlight that the production process parameters exert a more significant influence on texturized yarn quality than the characteristics of raw materials. The executive production guide was designed by selecting the optimal combination of production process parameters, namely draw ratio, D/Y and primary temperature, with the incorporation of limiting indexes derived from the raw material characteristics to predict tenacity and elongation.

This paper contributes by introducing a novel method for creating a dynamic guide. An intelligent and dynamic guide for tenacity and elongation in texturized yarn production was proposed, boasting an approximate accuracy rate of 80%. This developed guide is dynamic and seamlessly integrated with the production database. It undergoes regular updates every three months, incorporating the selected features of the process and raw materials, their respective thresholds, and the predicted levels of elongation and tenacity.

This paper applies the theory of loss aversion to public budgeting. It seeks to understand how loss aversion affects recommended budget amounts in two scenarios, one with explicit and one with implied risk levels. It also furthers the understanding of how the personality trait of risk propensity moderates recommended budget amounts in these scenarios.

Utilizing original data gathered from experimental vignettes, 339 US-based participants provided budget recommendations on two separate federal education programs. Participants were current budget professionals and master's-level students. One program utilizes a risky choice frame scenario while the other uses a goal frame scenario.

Participants are more likely to select a risky program option when the options are framed in terms of loss. Additionally, participants recommended larger budgets when they select the riskier program option. When presented with program goals, participants budget more when the goals are framed in terms of loss as opposed to gains. Results on participant risk propensity are mixed.

The discussion section includes multiple recommendations on how managers can approach budgeting with the intent of obtaining the most efficient budget allocation for the programs under their control.

The study is the first to examine framing and risk propensity in budgeting using two different types of framed messaging. Additionally, it is the only study to ask participants to recommend a budget amount after selecting a risky choice option. Therefore, results are more relevant to the entire process of public budgeting. Also, the study includes a mixture of participants with and without finance experience, providing insight into how different public employees allocate funds.

The aim of this study was to integrate the hierarchical model of the perceived service quality (PSQ) theory with the bottom-up theory of satisfaction. It was hypothesised that satisfaction with sporting events would mediate the relationship between PSQ and life satisfaction. Study 1 was conducted to translate the Perceived Service Quality questionnaire (PSQQ) (Brady & Cronin, 2011) into Chinese and to validate it for sporting events. Study 2 was conducted to examine the main hypothesis. The results indicated that satisfaction-withevent partially mediated the relationship between PSQ and life satisfaction. The results are discussed in terms of both the examined theories.

In August 2015, the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) adopted Statement 77, requiring government disclosure in audited financial reports of a particular type of tax expenditure, tax abatements. GASB's reporting standards move tax abatements from a budgetary environment to an accounting environment. This paper evaluates GASB 77's provisions to encourage an early and on-going dialogue about the Statement's prospects for achieving greater transparency compared to existing tax expenditure reporting efforts. We conclude that GASB 77 will be most beneficial to consumers of financial information in medium and large jurisdictions where there is no alternative tax abatement disclosure platform, or where the alternative offers less transparency than what can be achieved through financial reporting.

The purpose of this study is to refine and expand an emerging US government communication model, the government communication decision wheel, by testing the differences between the communication practices of US public sector communicators working for non‐elected officials versus those employed by elected officials.

Drawing from surveys of 781 US government communicators, the study compares the communication practices and influences of government communicators working for elected officials versus non‐elected officials.

The study identifies four significant differences and five similarities in how the public sector environment affects non‐elected and elected officials’ communicators’ public relations practices.

While the study and underlying model focus on US government communication, this study provides valuable theoretical insights. It supports the model's underlying premise that the public sector is unique from the private sector while also further refining the significant differences within the US government sector.

This study helps US government communicators identify unique environmental attributes that affect communication activities in the public sector. It helps identify how these attributes affect communication practices within individual and collaborative contexts. Finally, it helps non‐governmental communicators and communicators outside of the US to understand how the attributes may affect communication practices when they collaborate with government communicators from the four levels of US government as well as with those who work for elected and non‐elected officials.

Despite the critical importance of communication in the public sector, very little research focuses specifically on government communication outside of political communication. The findings provide valuable insights for practitioners and contribute to public relations theory development for the under‐researched public sector.

This paper aims to assess service quality in professional football and to examine the effects of service quality and ticket pricing on satisfaction and behavioural intention. Data were collected among football fans and the results of a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) supported the psychometric properties of the service quality model. A structural equation model (SEM) revealed that the service quality construct impacts both satisfaction and behavioural intention. Also, behavioural intention is influenced by ticket pricing and satisfaction. Managerial implications of these results are discussed and guidelines for future research are suggested.