IN 1991, GENERAL ELECTRICS AIRCRAFT ENGINES PLANT IN LYNN, Massachussets, needed new protective shields for its grinding machines. No problem, right? Find some outside vendor to…
Abstract
IN 1991, GENERAL ELECTRICS AIRCRAFT ENGINES PLANT IN LYNN, Massachussets, needed new protective shields for its grinding machines. No problem, right? Find some outside vendor to do the job and pay the price.
By diversifying its business to the global commercial market from domestic defense, Newport News Shipbuilding is repositioning for long‐term growth.
Gül Seçkin, Susan Hughes, Cassie Hudson, David Laljer and Dale Yeatts
Purpose: The aim of the study is to consider the use of the Internet as a potential facilitator of positive health-related perceptions. Specifically, we propose that online health…
Abstract
Purpose: The aim of the study is to consider the use of the Internet as a potential facilitator of positive health-related perceptions. Specifically, we propose that online health information seeking fosters positive perceptions of health. Using path modeling, we theorized several mechanisms through which information seeking could be conducive to positive health perceptions, which we conceptualized into the following four dimensions: (1) sense of empowerment in managing health, (2) self-reported ability to take better care of health, (3) sense of improved health-related quality of life, and (4) self-reported improvement of health.
Methodology: Our sample consisted of respondents who have used the Internet as a resource for health information (n = 710), drawn from the largest national probability-based online research panel. Our comparison subsample consisted of older respondents (age ≥ 60; n = 194). We used Internet-specific measures and employed structural equation models (SEM) to estimate the direct, indirect, and total effects of health-related use of the Internet on subjective health perceptions. Based on our review of the literature, competent health communication with healthcare providers and sense of empowerment in managing personal health were modeled as mediator variables. We assessed whether the proposed mediational relationships, if significant, differed across our indicators of positive health perceptions and whether any differential associations were observed among older adults. We run parallel models for each indicator of positive health perception.
Findings: Provider-patient communication informed by the Internet resources were perceived to impart a greater sense of empowerment to manage health among our respondents, which in turn, was associated with perceived contributions to better self-reported ability to provide self-care, increased health-related quality of life, and improvement in self-reported health. The SEM results revealed a good fit with our full sample and subsample.
Research Implications: Conceptualization of the multidimensional aspects of online health information seeking with separate multi-indicator analyses of the outcome variable is important to further our understanding of how technology may impact the pathways involved in influencing health perceptions and as a result health outcomes.
Details
Keywords
Since the 1980s the economic development of countries in East Asia has had a marked impact on the world port community, particularly in container transport. This paper analyses…
Abstract
Since the 1980s the economic development of countries in East Asia has had a marked impact on the world port community, particularly in container transport. This paper analyses changes in the competitive environment of the world container port sector using some standard tools of market concentration. Initially, this paper reviews the competitive position of world container port system and then examines the East Asian economic environment. Both ordinal and cardinal measures of port system inequality are used to demonstrate both the rankings and levels of container throughput have been diverging in the world's major economic blocs. Conversely, East Asian countries during the 1990s have shown a trend towards convergence. Measures of dispersion suggest that ports in East Asian countries have become more competitive in their levels of container throughput.
Details
Keywords
Davide Schaumann, Nirit Putievsky Pilosof, Michal Gath-Morad and Yehuda E. Kalay
This study aims to use a narrative-based simulation approach to explore potential implications of including or excluding a dayroom in the design of an internal medicine ward.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to use a narrative-based simulation approach to explore potential implications of including or excluding a dayroom in the design of an internal medicine ward.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach involved: collecting data in facilities using field observations and experts’ interviews; modeling representative behavior patterns in the form of rule-based narratives that direct collaborative behaviors of virtual occupants; simulating the behavior patterns in two alternative design options, one of which includes a dayroom; and analyzing the simulation results with respect to selected key performance indicators of day-to-day operations and spatial occupancy, including occupant density in corridors, number and locations of staff-visitor interactions and duration of a doctors’ round procedure.
Findings
Simulation results suggest that the presence of a dayroom reduces visitors’ density in corridors and diminishes the number of staff–visitor interactions that can delay the performing of scheduled medical procedures.
Research limitations/implications
A high level of uncertainty is intrinsic to the simulation of future human behavior. Additional work is required to systematically collect large volumes of occupancy data in existing facilities, model additional narratives and develop validation protocols to assess the degree of uncertainty of the proposed model.
Originality/value
A limited number of studies explore how simulation can be used to study the impact of building design on operations. This study uses a narrative-based approach to address some of the limitations of existing methods, including discrete-event simulations. Preliminary results suggest that the lack of appropriate spaces for patients and visitors to socialize may cause potential disruptions to hospital operations.