Andrea Brambilla, Göran Lindahl, Marta Dell'Ovo and Stefano Capolongo
Several healthcare quality assessment tools measure the processes and outcomes of the care system. The actual physical infrastructure (buildings and organizational) aspects are…
Abstract
Purpose
Several healthcare quality assessment tools measure the processes and outcomes of the care system. The actual physical infrastructure (buildings and organizational) aspects are, however, rarely considered. The purpose of this paper is to describe the process of validation and weighting of an evidence-informed framework for the quality assessment of hospital facilities from social, environmental and organizational perspectives to complement other assessments.
Design/methodology/approach
Sustainable High-quality Healthcare version 2 (SustHealth v2) is the updated version of an existing framework composed of three domains (social, environmental and organizational quality). To validate and establish a relevant weighting, interviews were conducted with 15 professionals within the field of healthcare planning, design, research and management. The study has been conducted through semi-structured interviews and the application of the Simon Roy Figueras (SRF) procedure for the elicitation of weights criteria. The data collected have been processed through the DecSpace web platform.
Findings
Among the three domains, the organizational qualities appear to be the most important (W = 49%), followed by the environmental (W = 29%) and social aspects (W = 22%). Relevant indicators such as future-proofing, wayfinding and users’ space control emerged as the most important within each macro-area. Those results are confirmed by the outcome of the interviews that highlight user/patient-centeredness, wayfinding strategies and space functionality as the most important concepts to foster in existing healthcare facilities improvement.
Practical implications
The study highlights important structural and organizational aspects that hospital managers and planners can consider when dealing with healthcare facilities’ quality improvement.
Originality/value
The use of the SRF multicriteria method is novel in this context when used to weight an assessment tool with a focus on hospital built environment.
Details
Keywords
Leonor Domingos, Maria José Sousa, Ricardo Resende, Bernardo Pizarro Miranda, Susana Rego and Rúben Ferreira
This study proposes an assessment framework for improving smart building performance in the broader context of smart city development, considering dimensions like environmental…
Abstract
Purpose
This study proposes an assessment framework for improving smart building performance in the broader context of smart city development, considering dimensions like environmental sustainability, building characteristics, intelligence, computation management and analytics. The framework is crafted to guide future research, aligning with the growing emphasis on sustainability and intelligence in evolving urban landscapes within smart cities.
Design/methodology/approach
In the initial phase, the concepts of “Smart City” and “Smart Buildings” are analyzed through a systematic literature review, considering the impact of governance on city sustainability and growth, along with the role of public policies in transforming buildings and cities. The empirical research evaluates innovation levels in small and medium-sized European cities, proposing a new framework with validated dimensions and sub-dimensions. This validation involves input from international experts through a Focus Group.
Findings
The key research findings validate the new proposed assessment framework for smart buildings within smart city development. The experts’ insights align with and support the dimensions identified in the bibliographic research, providing a comprehensive understanding of the role of smart buildings in sustainable urban development.
Originality/value
This framework not only provides insights for a new model with specific dimensions and sub-dimensions but also serves as a guide for formulating strategies and policies to enhance innovation in these settings. The value of this approach is strengthened by the validation and consolidation process involving international experts in the field.
Details
Keywords
Wieland Schwinger, Werner Retschitzegger, Andrea Schauerhuber, Gerti Kappel, Manuel Wimmer, Birgit Pröll, Cristina Cachero Castro, Sven Casteleyn, Olga De Troyer, Piero Fraternali, Irene Garrigos, Franca Garzotto, Athula Ginige, Geert‐Jan Houben, Nora Koch, Nathalie Moreno, Oscar Pastor, Paolo Paolini, Vicente Pelechano Ferragud, Gustavo Rossi, Daniel Schwabe, Massimo Tisi, Antonio Vallecillo, Kees van der Sluijs and Gefei Zhang
Ubiquitous web applications (UWA) are a new type of web applications which are accessed in various contexts, i.e. through different devices, by users with various interests, at…
Abstract
Purpose
Ubiquitous web applications (UWA) are a new type of web applications which are accessed in various contexts, i.e. through different devices, by users with various interests, at anytime from anyplace around the globe. For such full‐fledged, complex software systems, a methodologically sound engineering approach in terms of model‐driven engineering (MDE) is crucial. Several modeling approaches have already been proposed that capture the ubiquitous nature of web applications, each of them having different origins, pursuing different goals and providing a pantheon of concepts. This paper aims to give an in‐depth comparison of seven modeling approaches supporting the development of UWAs.
Design/methodology/approach
This methodology is conducted by applying a detailed set of evaluation criteria and by demonstrating its applicability on basis of an exemplary tourism web application. In particular, five commonly found ubiquitous scenarios are investigated, thus providing initial insight into the modeling concepts of each approach as well as to facilitate their comparability.
Findings
The results gained indicate that many modeling approaches lack a proper MDE foundation in terms of meta‐models and tool support. The proposed modeling mechanisms for ubiquity are often limited, since they neither cover all relevant context factors in an explicit, self‐contained, and extensible way, nor allow for a wide spectrum of extensible adaptation operations. The provided modeling concepts frequently do not allow dealing with all different parts of a web application in terms of its content, hypertext, and presentation levels as well as their structural and behavioral features. Finally, current modeling approaches do not reflect the crosscutting nature of ubiquity but rather intermingle context and adaptation issues with the core parts of a web application, thus hampering maintainability and extensibility.
Originality/value
Different from other surveys in the area of modeling web applications, this paper specifically considers modeling concepts for their ubiquitous nature, together with an investigation of available support for MDD in a comprehensive way, using a well‐defined as well as fine‐grained catalogue of more than 30 evaluation criteria.
Details
Keywords
Qi Wang, Andrea Appolloni and Junqi Liu
Carbon reduction in the construction industry is related to the achievement of carbon emission peaks and carbon neutrality targets. Therefore, exploring the influence of current…
Abstract
Purpose
Carbon reduction in the construction industry is related to the achievement of carbon emission peaks and carbon neutrality targets. Therefore, exploring the influence of current carbon reduction policies on the construction industry is necessary. China’s low-carbon pilot (LCP) policy has been extensively studied, while LCPs mechanism and effectiveness on carbon reduction in the construction industry remain to be explored.
Design/methodology/approach
This study selected four provincial LCP regions as case studies and adopted the grounded theory method for case studies to analyze the implementation mechanism of the LCP policy on carbon reduction in the construction industry. Then, this study adopted the propensity score matching and difference-in-differences regression (PSM-DID) approach to evaluate the influence of the LCP policy on carbon intensity (CI) in the construction industry by using panel data taken from 30 provinces in China between 2008 and 2017.
Findings
The authors found that (1) the LCP policy promotes carbon reduction in the construction industry through the crossing implementation mechanism of five vertical support approaches and five horizontal support approaches. (2). The LCP policy can significantly reduce CI in the construction industry.
Originality/value
The study not only explored how is the LCP policy implemented, but also examined the effectiveness of the LCP policy in the construction industry. The policy implications of this study can help policy-makers better achieve low-carbon development targets in the construction industry.
Details
Keywords
Bharath Rajan and Sujatha Natarajan
Value creation in management education has been argued to happen throughout an academic programme. This study adopts a learner-centric value-perspective approach that advances the…
Abstract
Value creation in management education has been argued to happen throughout an academic programme. This study adopts a learner-centric value-perspective approach that advances the view that value creation is not a unitary occurrence but accrues in different forms in each phase of the learner journey process. As learners progress through a management programme, we focus on four key phases in the learner’s journey – pre-admission, pre-programme commencement, programme duration, and post-programme completion. These phases correspond to the learner’s transitioning from a prospect to having secured admission to actively attending classes to having graduated. Accordingly, in each phase of the learner journey in an Indian management education programme, this study (a) maps the institute’s actions, (b) identifies the learner touchpoints, and (c) evaluates the potential learner engagement levels from the respective touchpoints. This study categorizes the emergent value in each phase in the learner journey as the exploration of value, the commencement of value, the formation and augmentation of value, and the accrual of value. The study then concludes with identifying future research areas. Such an approach to deconstructing value can aid management institutions in nurturing talented and engaged learners.
Details
Keywords
Vincenzo Formisano, Andrea Moretta Tartaglione, Maria Fedele and Ylenia Cavacece
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the quality of banking services provided in support of small- and medium-sized enterprises' (SMEs) internationalization from the customers'…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the quality of banking services provided in support of small- and medium-sized enterprises' (SMEs) internationalization from the customers' perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
Customer satisfaction of 50 Italian SMEs with the banking services provided for international activities has been evaluated by adopting the Kano model's continuous and discrete analyses.
Findings
Results show which banking services provided for business internationalization are necessary to satisfy customers' expectations, which services customers like having and dislike not having and which services are unexpected by customers creating a high increase in satisfaction when provided.
Research limitations/implications
This work shows the value of the Kano model in evaluating the non-linear relationship between customer satisfaction and quality of banking services for the international activities of companies. The main limitation of this work is the limited geographical context of the investigation.
Practical implications
This research suggests banks to transform their role in the relationship with SMEs from mere financiers to active partners committed to their growth abroad by offering a wide range of services not just financial, but also counselling and care professional, thus achieving mutual benefits.
Originality/value
Previous works on banking services and business internationalization are focussed on the transaction costs, information asymmetries and the impact of online banking. This work advances available knowledge by analysing the customer's point of view, evaluating the satisfaction of SMEs which, although more dependent on banks for their expansion abroad than large listed companies, are mostly ignored by literature.
Details
Keywords
Andreas Mladenow, Christine Bauer and Christine Strauss
The paper aims to provide the necessary basis for a novel interdisciplinary research field. Various types and implementations of crowdsourcing have emerged in the market; many of…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to provide the necessary basis for a novel interdisciplinary research field. Various types and implementations of crowdsourcing have emerged in the market; many of them are related to logistics. While we can identify plenty of crowd logistics applications using information technology capabilities and information sharing in practice, theories behind this phenomenon have received only limited attention. This paper accounts for filling this research gap by analyzing the crowd’s contributions in logistics of goods and information.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is part of an ongoing research endeavor in the field of location-based crowdsourcing. It represents conceptual work that builds on a literature review enriched with an in-depth analysis of real-world examples in the field of crowd logistics. Using a scoring method, we provide an example how a company may evaluate the alternatives of crowd logistics. The main approach is an analysis of variants of how the social crowd may be integrated in logistics processes. The work is conceptual in its core. Thereby, we use real-world examples of crowdsourcing applications to underpin the evaluated variants of crowd logistics.
Findings
The paper presents relevant theoretical background on crowd logistics. The authors differentiate between variants of crowd logistics with their flow of materials, goods and information. Thereby they zoom in the type, significance and process flow of the crowd’s contributions. They discuss potential advantages and challenges of logistics with the performing crowd and deeply discuss opportunities and challenges from a business and from an individual’s perspective. Finally, they highlight a route map for future research directions in this novel interdisciplinary research field.
Research limitations/implications
As this work is conceptual in its core, generalizations may be drawn only with great care. Still, we are in a position to propose a route map for further research in this area in this paper. Also the integration of an analysis of a scale of real-world applications allows us to highlight our research’s practical relevance and implications.
Originality/value
The main contribution of this paper is an in-depth analysis and consolidation of innovative crowd logistics applications to provide an overview on recent implementations. The authors propose a categorization scheme and contribute with a route map for further research in the field of crowd logistics.
Details
Keywords
Jing Han Beh, Ming Kun Yew, Kok Hong Tan and John Patrick Rayner
Therapeutic landscapes can be beneficial for patients recovering from cognitive and behavioural impairments. The therapeutic garden in the Royal Talbot rehabilitation centre…
Abstract
Purpose
Therapeutic landscapes can be beneficial for patients recovering from cognitive and behavioural impairments. The therapeutic garden in the Royal Talbot rehabilitation centre (RTRC) located in Kew, Melbourne is a precedent for its nature design outdoor spaces and horticultural therapy (HT) program for patients with cognitive impairments due to brain and spinal cord injuries. There have been no studies into the physical design of the RTRC therapeutic garden.
Design/methodology/approach
This case study unveils the critical design themes, and dominant physical elements of the RTRC therapeutic garden through site observation and analysis over the course of two months, a semi-structured interview with a key staff, and graphical representations using integrated photography and collaborative digital tools of AutoCAD and Adobe Photoshop.
Findings
Seven critical design themes are identified for the RTRC garden: (1) space layout and organization, (2) physical and visual access, (3) pathway and facility, (4) multisensory vegetation, (5) amenity, wayfinding and seasonal interest, (6) cognitive stimulation, (7) utility and HT. Qualitative and quantitative data analysed in visual and descriptive format reveal multisensory vegetation, amenity, wayfinding and seasonal interest, and utility and HT are the top three most pivotal critical design themes in the RTRC therapeutic garden.
Research limitations/implications
The findings of this case study can be used to impart knowledge about the design of therapeutic landscape settings for cognitive impairments to design professionals and the public.
Originality/value
There is no case study has been conducted for this precedent of therapeutic garden in the Royal Talbot rehabilitation centre that targets for cognitive impairment patients. With the increasing awareness in medical and healthcare environments, this case study would help to inject mutual understanding, generate knowledge and design awareness among design professionals and public, and to cultivate more good quality healthcare settings.
Details
Keywords
Luca Mainetti, Roberto Paiano, Davide Bolchini and Andrea Pandurino
Rich Internet Application (RIA) technologies offer designers the opportunity to experiment with novel interaction grammars, whose implications for conceptual modeling still need…
Abstract
Purpose
Rich Internet Application (RIA) technologies offer designers the opportunity to experiment with novel interaction grammars, whose implications for conceptual modeling still need to be fully understood. An open problem is the ability to characterize the fluid, smooth and organic nature of the user interaction and navigation in ways that allow web engineers to share through a common vocabulary, as well as sketch, explore and specify design decisions in the light of usability requirements and stakeholder's goals. The purpose of this paper is to address this problem.
Design/methodology/approach
To meet this challenge, the authors extend IDM (Interactive Dialogue Model), a dialogue‐based approach focusing on the conceptual dialogue flow with the user, codifying a set of key modeling constructs in order to describe the new dialogue features of RIAs.
Findings
The approach, called Rich‐IDM demonstrated some relevant features: expressiveness to capture interactive features at a high level of abstraction, semi‐formality to facilitate the establishment of a common ground between designers and web engineers, and traceability of the design to important usability requirements.
Research limitations/implications
The paper proposes a simple way to fill the gap between hypermedia design and user experience design for RIAs, which is an open issue, both from the web engineering point of view and the human‐computer interaction point of view.
Practical implications
The authors have described how Rich‐IDM can help designers to capture and cope with some RIA interface flaws. In this case, the benefits of the approach are directly related to the semantics of its primitives.
Originality/value
The authors' proposal is the first, consolidated step of a promising research avenue.