Oscar Y. Moreno Rocha, Paula Pinto, Maria C. Consuegra, Sebastian Cifuentes and Jorge H. Ulloa
This study aims to facilitate access to vascular disease screening for low-income individuals living in remote and conflict areas based on the results of a pilot trial in…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to facilitate access to vascular disease screening for low-income individuals living in remote and conflict areas based on the results of a pilot trial in Colombia. Also, to increase the amount of diagnosis training of vascular surgery (VS) in civilians.
Design/methodology/approach
The operation method includes five stages: strategy development and adjustment; translation of the strategy into a real-world setting; operation logistics planning; strategy analysis and adoption. The operation plan worked efficiently in this study’s sample. It demonstrated high sensibility, efficiency and safety in a real-world setting.
Findings
The authors developed and implemented a flow model operating plan for screening vascular pathologies in low-income patients pro bono without proper access to vascular health care. A total of 140 patients from rural areas in Colombia were recruited to a controlled screening session where they underwent serial noninvasive ultrasound assessments conducted by health professionals of different training stages in VS.
Research limitations/implications
The plan was designed to be implemented in remote, conflict areas with limited access to VS care. Vascular injuries are critically important and common among civilians and military forces in regions with active armed conflicts. As this strategy can be modified and adapted to different medical specialties and geographic areas, the authors recommend checking the related legislation and legal aspects of the intended areas where we will implement this tool.
Practical implications
Different sub-specialties can implement the described method to be translated into significant areas of medicine, as the authors can adjust the deployment and execution for the assessment in peripheral areas, conflict zones and other public health crises that require a faster response. This is necessary, as the amount of training to which VS trainees are exposed is low. A simulated exercise offers a novel opportunity to enhance their current diagnostic skills using ultrasound in a controlled environment.
Social implications
Evaluating and assessing patients with limited access to vascular medicine and other specialties can decrease the burden of vascular disease and related complications and increase the number of treatments available for remote communities.
Originality/value
It is essential to assess the most significant number of patients and treat them according to their triage designation. This management is similar to assessment in remote areas without access to a proper VS consult. The authors were able to determine, classify and redirect to therapeutic interventions the patients with positive findings in remote areas with a fast deployment methodology in VS.
Plain language summary
Access to health care is limited due to multiple barriers and the assessment and response, especially in peripheral areas that require a highly skilled team of medical professionals and related equipment. The authors tested a novel mobile assessment tool for remote and conflict areas in a rural zone of Colombia.
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Ambara Purusottama, Togar Mangihut Simatupang and Yos Sunitiyoso
The growing discussion on blockchain and business models often falls short of demonstrating and evaluating systems consistently exposed to settings of dynamic complexity…
Abstract
Purpose
The growing discussion on blockchain and business models often falls short of demonstrating and evaluating systems consistently exposed to settings of dynamic complexity. Therefore, in practicing systems thinking, this study aims to provide a depiction of dynamic complexity in blockchain business models and develop policy-based scenarios to enhance blockchain-based systems behavior.
Design/methodology/approach
This study integrated the soft system dynamic (SD) methodology approach, which focuses on a situation analysis and SDs in policy design. This single case study chose a firm engaged in the content industry, where the adoption of blockchains is a solution to tackle the industry’s significant challenges. Data were collected using a qualitative approach and then adapted into a simulation model.
Findings
The study pinpointed key parameters significantly affecting the system through a sensitivity analysis. Then, this experimental study found that all improvement initiatives delivered better system performance. At the same time, the study also identified counterintuitive findings, where the interventions using multiple value subsystems had insignificant effects on the system compared to a single advent.
Originality/value
This study illuminates the growing field of blockchain and business models through system modeling and experimentation, using an integrative approach like soft system dynamics methodology. It also identifies and demonstrates value distribution and the dynamic complexity inherent in the blockchain business model.
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Jorge Alejandro Silva and María Antonieta Andrade
The purpose of this paper is to analyse how solar energy is harnessed and implemented in Mexico. This paper presents a diachronic analysis of the divergent literature presented…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse how solar energy is harnessed and implemented in Mexico. This paper presents a diachronic analysis of the divergent literature presented into the subject with the themes being divided substantially.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper used at least five methods in the identification of the studies with the first being the use of the SCImago Institution Ranking followed by the use of Scopus for journal evaluation. SCImago was used to determine the efficiency of the journals with the Newcastle Ottawa scale allowing for the evaluation of the different case study articles presented on Mexico. The fourth tool was a 21-item STROBE checklist after which the Web of Science was used to determine the authenticity levels of the identified articles.
Findings
The implementation of solar energy technologies is still novel in Mexico with private and public entities working together towards building sustainable options. In addition, it cites the divergent merits that might stem from the use of solar energy technologies.
Originality/value
A myriad of articles has been presented concerning solar energy in Mexico, but no attempt has been made to synthesize the evidence and arguments made in this significant body of research. The subsequent review is original with its findings being valuable for current and future research.
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Gustavo Adolfo Yepes-López, José Luis Camarena, Julián Mauricio Cruz-Pulido, Luz Jeannette Quintero-Campos, Virginia Lasio, Jorge Rodriguez, Jack Zambrano-Vera, Consuelo Adelaida García de la Torre, María Matilde Schwalb-Helguero, María Ángela Prialé, José Solís-Sierra, Maruzella Rossi-Undurraga, Roberto Carvajal-Ramos, Pedro Javier Martinez, Victoria González-Gutiérrez, Rogelio Sánchez-Reyna, Griselda Lassaga and Nicolás Beltramino
This article aims to report on the development and validation of a bribery measurement index for the business sector, which, based on institutional theory, seeks to overcome the…
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to report on the development and validation of a bribery measurement index for the business sector, which, based on institutional theory, seeks to overcome the limitations of traditional measurements, recognizing the dynamics that originate the phenomenon and identifying process components.
Design/methodology/approach
To construct the index, correlational and principal component analysis techniques were used, as well as rigorous statistical tests, validating the instrument in a sample of 2,963 companies in Latin America, including Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru.
Findings
The result was an instrument composed of two dimensions: (1) anti-bribery game rules, composed of regulations knowledge and anti-bribery efforts, and (2) bribery as a perceived habit, allowing an objective representation of reality due to its internal consistency, concurrent and discriminant validity.
Practical implications
This instrument is one of the few that focuses on measuring bribery in the business sector in terms of corrupt practices, applicable for both public and private institutions to promote game rules against bribery. Additionally, the proposed theoretical model can be used to measure other phenomena with similar characteristics.
Originality/value
This article empirically highlights different variables that make bribery possible. The results can be helpful in the design of strategies to prevent this type of behavior. It also highlights the importance of designing mechanisms to record information related to bribery and the different expressions of corruption in order to explain its different nuances.
Propósito
Este artículo informa sobre el desarrollo y validación de un índice de medición de soborno para el sector empresarial, que, basado en la teoría institucional, busca superar las limitaciones de las mediciones tradicionales, reconociendo las dinámicas que originan el fenómeno e identificando los componentes del proceso.
Diseño/metodología/enfoque
Para la construcción del índice se utilizaron técnicas de análisis correlacional y de componentes principales, así como rigurosas pruebas estadísticas, validando el instrumento en una muestra de 2.963 empresas de América Latina, entre ellas Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, México y Perú.
Hallazgos
El resultado fue un instrumento compuesto por dos dimensiones: (1) reglas de juego antisoborno, compuestas por conocimiento normativo y esfuerzo antisoborno (2) soborno como hábito percibido, permitiendo una representación objetiva de la realidad debido a su consistencia interna, validez concurrente y discriminante.
Originalidad/Valor
Este artículo pone en evidencia empírica diferentes variables que hacen posible el soborno. Los resultados pueden ser útiles en el diseño de estrategias para prevenir este tipo comportamiento, también destaca la importancia de diseñar mecanismos para registrar la información relacionada con la lucha contra el soborno.
Implicaciones prácticas
Este instrumento es uno de los pocos que se enfoca en medir el soborno en el sector empresarial en términos de prácticas de corrupción, útil para instituciones tanto públicas como privadas para promover mejores reglas de juego en contra del soborno. Adicionalmente el modelo teórico propuesto puede ser utilizado para medir otros fenómenos con características similares.
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Carlos Riojas and Angélica Basulto
This chapter's objective is to analyze, with a long-term perspective, the formation of an entrepreneurial culture in Mexico's Midwest, specifically in the state of Jalisco, in…
Abstract
This chapter's objective is to analyze, with a long-term perspective, the formation of an entrepreneurial culture in Mexico's Midwest, specifically in the state of Jalisco, in terms of the geographical environment, the culture in general, and the local economic institutions that, when viewed interconnectedly, will globally impact the practices, representations, and imaginaries of persons who at a given time have made the decision to undertake profitable economic activities – individual and collective entrepreneurs, in other words. To this end, we have divided the text into two sections. In the first, we conceptually review what we understand as entrepreneurial culture; in principle, we deconstruct its terms and then conjugate them from a social science perspective. We also emphasize the importance of studying the milieu as a scenario of action with different arenas, where a variety of agents have been involved. In the second part, without sidelining conceptual analysis, we present concrete empirical evidence of the role played by culture and local economic institutions that shape entrepreneurial culture in Midwestern Mexico over time, specifically in Jalisco. The text ends with some final considerations.
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Giang Phung, Ha Truong and Hai Hong Trinh
The development of financial markets as well as a country’s overall financial system plays a crucial role in the evolution of the world’s real economy. In developed countries like…
Abstract
The development of financial markets as well as a country’s overall financial system plays a crucial role in the evolution of the world’s real economy. In developed countries like the USA, UK, Japan, and European nations, the world’s financial centers are located for exchanging huge capital flows with well-established functioning. However, laying the foundation for a financial center can be a big challenge to developing markets whose financial systems are still in the early stages, since the formation of financial centers is determined by multiple factors. Motivated by that reason, this book chapter provides a comprehensive review of critical determinants in the formation of international financial centers, including (i) economic growth; (ii) governance and business environment; (iii) financial development; (iv) labor force; (v) infrastructure accessibility; and (vi) the country’s reputation and stability. In line with the reviewed literature, the study particularly highlights the recent political and technological developments in the world and their impacts on the future of different financial centers worldwide.
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Graham Heaslip, Tore Listou, Per Olof Skoglund and Ioanna Falagara Sigala
This study aims to question the psychiatric framework currently adopted by governments toward the traditional plants of great cultures, stigmatized by the paradigm of the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to question the psychiatric framework currently adopted by governments toward the traditional plants of great cultures, stigmatized by the paradigm of the unfounded psychiatric doctrine and to propose the need for a change of outlook.
Design/methodology/approach
Documentary research of the “black history” of coca. Documentary research on academic contributions to the revaluation of coca.
Findings
This brief chronicle of the coca leaf in history, duly documented, proves that its medicinal and energetic prestige was proven and praised by the naturalistic and experimental medicine of the 19th century, a precedent buried by the psychiatric pathologizing version that invented “drug addictions” without any experimental support.
Research limitations/implications
Psychiatry can be revealed as the authoritarian and unpunished inquisition of the 20th century, in its arbitrary pathologizing version of coca leaf consumption and in most of its professional work. A scientific revolution is taking place (Kuhn, 1962), given that the psychopathological paradigm does not respond to the facts surrounding coca leaf consumption and virtues. The medical perspective must replace the negative psychiatric perspective that the law maintains
Practical implications
The author concludes that the way out would be to denounce before the Social and Economic Council of the United Nations, with evidence in hand, the fraud in the 1950 UN Commission on Coca Report, due to concealment on information.
Social implications
Taking advantage of the hygienic and medicinal virtues of plants stigmatized by psychiatry, such as the coca leaf, would put an end to an omnipresent war and give way to peace in the producing areas.
Originality/value
The questioning of the psychiatric frame of reference adopted by governments to deal with coca leaf consumption has led to the “war on drugs.”
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Graça Miranda Silva and Paulo Jorge Gomes
Organizations are faced with increasing pressure to engage in sustainable development. There is an ongoing discussion on how to incorporate green thinking into lean management…
Abstract
Purpose
Organizations are faced with increasing pressure to engage in sustainable development. There is an ongoing discussion on how to incorporate green thinking into lean management systems. This study aims to investigate configurations of lean and green supply chain management (GSCM) practices associated with high environmental performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses survey data from a sample of Portuguese manufacturing firms and apply fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to examine the data. This configurational technique allows to capture the synergetic effect of lean and GSCM practices and identify distinct combinations leading to the outcome of interest.
Findings
Seven configurations of lean and green practices are associated with high environmental performance. The implementation of lean practices is required in all configurations. Analysis of alternative combinations reveals trade-offs between lean initiatives and environmental goals. Four configurations require low level of implementation of pull production. In one configuration, high environmental performance is achieved with low implementation of statistical process control and without lean employee involvement.
Research limitations/implications
This study expands the literature on lean management by identifying different strategies to integrate lean and GSCM practices to achieve high environmental performance.
Practical implications
The findings suggest different strategies to achieve high environmental performance. Managers need to selectively implement lean and green supply chain practices to achieve the desired combinatorial effect, which may require not to implement specific lean practices.
Originality/value
The study demonstrates the synergetic effects of lean and green practices on environmental performance using a configurational perspective. In addition, it identifies combinations that require a low level of implementation of specific lean practices.
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Swati Gupta, Shubham Gupta, Shifali Kataria and Sanjay Gupta
The purpose of this study is to recognise the role of information and communication technology (ICT) tools in different sectors like Education, Health Care, Business, FMCG and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to recognise the role of information and communication technology (ICT) tools in different sectors like Education, Health Care, Business, FMCG and Entertainment in the phase of social distancing. This study also attempts to provide a quantitative review of the scholarly literature on this topic.
Design/methodology/approach
A comprehensive literature evaluation was undertaken using a database encompassing 150 English-language papers with publication dates ranging from 2019 to 2021. The research profile and thematic analysis are presented through a comprehensive content analysis, resulting in four themes. The study reviews various research articles and reports related to social distancing and opens a discussion on the growing importance of ICT tools during this COVID-19 era.
Findings
ICT acts as a surviving tool for the economy by creating a virtual environment and helping people to stay socially connected during this pandemic. There is a lack of empirical evidence to support the facts so further research is required.
Research limitations/implications
There are two drawbacks to the current study. Firstly, this study established a rigorous review methodology in which the researchers opted to exclude any grey literature, non-peer-reviewed articles, books, notes and book chapters from consideration. These sources could have had pertinent literature. Secondly, even after protocol’s rigour and numerous rounds of checks by a team of academicians and researchers, an anomaly may have sneaked into the evaluation.
Originality/value
The current study contributes to the growing literature on ICT tools particularly in this phase of social distancing. This paper highlights the need for future research in this area supported by different statistics.