Can firms employing 100, 80 or 50 people benefit from TQM? This article examines the issues, based upon experience gained through the UK Department of Trade and Industry's Quality…
Julian King, Johnny Dow and Brendan Stevenson
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the clinical outcome data collected as part of an 18-week, abstinence-based residential therapeutic community (TC) programme, Higher Ground…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the clinical outcome data collected as part of an 18-week, abstinence-based residential therapeutic community (TC) programme, Higher Ground Drug Rehabilitation Trust (Higher Ground) in New Zealand. Lessons and implications for routine collection of clinical outcome data are identified.
Design/methodology/approach
Higher Ground collects longitudinal data on all consenting clients using a battery of validated psychometric tools, with repeated measures at up to nine points in time from first presentation through to 12-month post-discharge follow up. Data analysis covered clients who entered Higher Ground between 1 July 2012 and 2 June 2015 (n=524).
Findings
Clients presented with histories of addiction which often had significant negative associations with their physical and psychological health, their relationships, work, accommodation and criminal behaviour. By the time they exited the programme, clinically and statistically significant improvements were seen across multiple indicators including: substance use and abstinence; symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety and stress; and a range of social indicators.
Research limitations/implications
Attrition in follow-up research is a significant challenge, with people completing the TC programme being more likely to participate than those who do not. This limits generalizability in post-discharge data. There was no control group, making causal attribution a challenge. Identifying suitable benchmarks from the literature is challenging because of the variety of outcome measures and research methodologies used.
Practical implications
Tracking client outcomes longitudinally using psychometric tools is potentially valuable for TCs and their funding bodies, as it provides insights into patterns of client recovery that can inform ongoing service improvements and resource allocation decisions. However, significant challenges remain.
Originality/value
The study demonstrates the value, and practical challenges, of collecting high-quality outcome data in a TC setting.
Details
Keywords
RETIRING prime ministers are customarily offered an earldom. Because this often involves a change of name and historical oblivion, some of the greatest among them, men like Pitt…
Abstract
RETIRING prime ministers are customarily offered an earldom. Because this often involves a change of name and historical oblivion, some of the greatest among them, men like Pitt and Gladstone and Churchill, have declined the honour. They understood that it is not names which give confidence in things, but things which give confidence in names. What would an Earl Chartwell of Westerham mean to future generations compared with the clarion voice we know as Churchill?
I suppose that most noticeable of all the changes in our profession since I came into it has been the multiplicity of the methods by which one can become a librarian. A. E…
Abstract
I suppose that most noticeable of all the changes in our profession since I came into it has been the multiplicity of the methods by which one can become a librarian. A. E. Standley says in a recent article in the L.A.R., in 1970: “The term librarian includes the Library Association chartered librarian, the graduate with a degree in librarianship, the scholar librarian, the information and intelligence officer, the translator, the abstracter, the non‐library‐qualified subject expert”.
The following is an introductory profile of the fastest growing firms over the three-year period of the study listed by corporate reputation ranking order. The business activities…
Abstract
The following is an introductory profile of the fastest growing firms over the three-year period of the study listed by corporate reputation ranking order. The business activities in which the firms are engaged are outlined to provide background information for the reader.
Ho Huy Tuu, Svein Ottar Olsen and Le Chi Cong
The purpose of this paper is to discuss and test the combined effects of openness to experience (OE) and power, and the moderator effects of social norms (SN) and perceived…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss and test the combined effects of openness to experience (OE) and power, and the moderator effects of social norms (SN) and perceived resources on the choice of luxury attributes for branded products in Vietnam.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a self-administered survey data of 207 Vietnamese consumers, a structural equation modeling approach for moderator analysis with latent constructs is used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
OE and power have both direct and interactive positive influences on the choice of luxury product attributes. In particular, the effect of OE is weakened by the negative moderator effect of SN, but the effect of power is strengthened by the positive moderator effect of perceived resources. The inclusion of interactions increases the explained variance of the choice of luxury product attributes from 24.8 to 35.8 percent.
Research limitations/implications
Future studies would benefit to investigate other personality traits (e.g. extroversion or agreeableness), personal values (e.g. achievement), SN (e.g. descriptive norms) and resources (e.g. time).
Practical implications
The study findings suggest that brand managers should attend the how individual and social factors interacts in explaining the choice of luxury product attributes.
Originality/value
This study is the first discussing, testing and finding empirical evidence supporting the combined effects of OE and power on the choice of luxury product attributes as well as moderator effects in these relationships.