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With aging, the risk of requiring emergency care increases. Elderly patients who need Emergency Medical Services (EMS) are often vulnerable and dependent, especially when their decision-making ability is reduced, which may intensify the risk of important ethical values being violated. Studies about paramedics’ views on elderly people’s self-determination within EMS settings are scarce. The aim of this study was to explore the attitudes and perceptions of paramedics in a US context regarding self-determination in elderly patients who need emergency care provided by EMS.

The study had an exploratory design, and data were collected using a Delphi technique. A panel of experts consisting of US paramedics was recruited to answer a questionnaire sent out in three rounds. The questionnaire comprised 108 items, derived from a Swedish study on the same topic, rated with a five-point Likert scale ranging from agree to disagree with a predetermined consensus level of 70%.

In total 21 experts agreed to participate, 15 completed all three rounds, leaving a total response rate of 71%. Finally, 87 out of 108 items reached consensus, of which 60 were “agree” and 27 were “disagree.”

The paramedic–patient relationship is a core in assessing and handling ethical challenges within an advanced practice influenced by the paramedics’ educational level and/or the patient’s physical/mental status. Within a “find it fix it” modus operandi, there is a need to increase paramedics’ competence in understanding and handling advanced ethical challenges in relation to ethical values such as autonomy and self-determination in elderly patients.

In order to shorten the response time, two part-time fire departments (FDs) in Sweden initialize a first incident person (FIP) assignment. This is done by alarming the crew manager as an FIP, responding in a separate emergency vehicle, and by arriving at the scene before rest of the crew. The purpose of this paper is to explore and describe experiences of the FIP assignment within an FD.

A multimethod design was used, influenced by Creswell and Plano Clark’s (2011) explanatory sequential mixed method design including emergency reports, a questionnaire and interviews.

The results show that the FIP assignment was a function that secured an early presence at the scene of an accident or emergency situations, which is beneficial for society in the form of a safety factor, for the firefighters in the form of early prior information on what to expect at the scene and for the patient in the form of early existential support and increased chances of survival.

In order to prevent full scenarios to happen and get the chance to save lives, an early response must be ensured. Hence, studies must be made in different settings, based on its unique conditions. This study indicates that by implementing FIP in FDs placed in a rural area, the FIP can break the chain of events and becoming a new link in the chain of survival.

The purpose of this study was to describe experiences of working as a paid part-time firefighter (PTF) in Swedish rural areas.

An inductive explorative design was used, based on interviews with 18 paid PTFs in Sweden. Data were analyzed using qualitative latent content analysis.

Three themes emerged from the interviews and describe paid PTFs’ experiences. The findings provide insights into how firefighters share a strong commitment, how support plays a crucial role, and how training and call-outs contribute to their experiences. Paid PTFs’ experiences are nuanced, ranging from personal limitations and challenges to satisfaction and the contrast with ordinary life.

The implications for fire and rescue service organizations are that they can encourage firefighters’ commitment and pride, as well as the commitment and support of their families and main employers. Further, highlighting the importance of support and facilitating flexibility when on call is crucial. Finally, acknowledging and promoting personal development and facilitating an inclusive culture are important factors for both motivation and satisfaction.

Paid PTFs are under-represented in the literature, despite the reliance on them in Sweden, and this study begins to address the knowledge gap. To improve retention, it is vital to understand paid PTFs work situation: what motivates them, what barriers they face, and how those challenges influence their experiences.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the competition antecedents and performance effects of firm product/customer scope, and the moderating role of market growth.

The theoretical model follows the contingency perspective on strategy and draws on the strategy and competitive dynamics literature. A questionnaire was used to gather the quantitative data for testing the hypotheses using regression analyses. The questionnaires were completed by executives of 432 Swedish industrial firms serving business customers. The firms offering clean technology products operate in growing markets while the firms offering miscellaneous products operate in mature markets.

Competition is an antecedent of firm product/customer scope. The more competitive the action of the main competitor, the more limited the customer scope of the firm if it operates in a mature market. The impact of the main competitor's scope is robust across all market contexts. Furthermore, the broader the product scope of the firm, the better the financial performance if the firm operates in a growing market.

The study contributes theoretically, as it extends our knowledge of crucial relationships of firm product/market scope. A firm must be aware of its main competitor's scope and action, and adapt its scope to the level of market growth.

The theoretical model and the tests go beyond those used in previous research. Another key value is the analysis of perceptual data gathered from executives. Earlier studies of competition assume equal perceptions among competing firms and do not acknowledge that market contexts are ambiguous realities.

Competition and cooperation co‐exist in various sub‐fields of organizational strategies, while a research gap remains in the links between how managers perceive their cognitive relations with rival partners and how they choose a strategy. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how different focuses of competition and cooperation are put in core and supportive strategic importance based on business manager's individual perception toward a particular rivalling cognition.

A conceptual model is developed composed by several hypotheses. An empirical study is conducted by analysing data collected from 89 pharmacies, including public hospital pharmacies and community service, private chain retailing pharmacy, and independent pharmacies, out of hundreds of outlets in a capital city in China to test hypotheses. By using factor analysis and correlation analysis, several hypotheses are supported in linking competitive cognition with either core marketing strategies or supportive marketing strategies.

Observational results indicate that large and small pharmacies, motivated by relational perceptions among competitors, tend to rely selectively on some strategic tools of competition and cooperation in terms of their different business nature.

These results are valuable for business managers in the healthcare industry, enabling them to rethink their relations with strategic partners and their strategies.

The paper's findings enrich understanding of how a competing environment influences strategic orientation of competition and cooperation under a collaborative marketing framework.

This chapter provides an ethnographic account of the interaction between a professional marketing consulting firm and its client. The interaction is analysed as a ‘narrative archipelago’ or complex of discursive practices by which professionalism is constructed. In this case three narratives predominate: the narrative of instrumental reason, of neo-liberalism and consumer protection. The analysis demonstrates the microprocesses by which wider concepts of professionalism are recreated in daily interactions between professionals and clients.

The purpose of this paper is to test the validity and reliability of a META‐RELQUAL construct in Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish business relationships.

A total of 1,500 companies were involved. The Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish sampling frames each consisted of the 500 largest companies based upon revenue across multiple industries. The response rate was 38 percent.

The goodness‐of‐fit measures of the tested measurement model of the META‐RELQUAL construct were all found to be satisfactory within the recommended guidelines. The recommended guidelines for convergent, discriminant and nomological validity, as well as for construct reliability, were all well met. It is concluded that the measurement properties of the META‐RELQUAL construct applied in Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish business relationships indicate acceptable validity and reliability.

The tested META‐RELQUAL construct appears accurate for those Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish business relationships studied, but only further testing and comparisons will verify whether it can be seen as a valid, reliable measurement for other countries and their companies’ business relationships. Suggestions for further research are provided.

This international study is of managerial interest to executives since it provides a framework of constructs to be considered in corporate efforts to maintain satisfactory levels of relationship quality in Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish business relationships. It may also be applicable in other business relationships and in other countries.

This Nordic comparative study of a META‐RELQUAL construct contributes to theory since it outlines a higher‐order construct and measurement instrument benefitting other researchers and practitioners. It appears unique in making an international comparison of a tested measurement model of the META‐RELQUAL construct.

The purpose of the paper is to estimate the effect of rapid intervention vehicles (RIVs)’ impact on fire department (FDs)' response time.

The study employed multivariate regression analysis of changes in response times before and after introducing RIVs into the FD task force, controlling for expected travel time. Response time analysis based on the database of all emergency fire responses in Norway from 2016 to 2021 was carried out.

Introducing RIVs into the FDs' task force reduced response times by 53 s on average for every call where an RIV is being deployed, given an average driving length of an emergency call of 6.4 kilometers. The response time is reduced to approximately 37 s independently of driving length, and this effect increases with 2.5 s per km.

Precise estimation of the expected reduced response time was calculated by introducing the first RIV into the FD's task force based on advanced statistical analysis on complete emergency register data. The analysis shows that RIVs have a positive impact on response time in both urban and rural areas, while particularly strong for urban areas.