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1 – 10 of 64Because medical waste may present potential hazards to employees,waste handlers and the general public, all facilities generating thisform of waste should develop and implement a…
Abstract
Because medical waste may present potential hazards to employees, waste handlers and the general public, all facilities generating this form of waste should develop and implement a medical waste management strategy. This strategy should be prepared after conducting a survey to determine the types and estimated amounts of medical waste generated by the facility. The strategy should address medical waste handling, including segregation, packaging, in‐house transport and storage. The management plan must also prescribe appropriate treatment procedures for contaminated waste, and designate proper methods for final disposal of medical wastes and treatment residues. Finally, the facility must ensure the implementation and monitoring of this strategy.
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Simon Hudson, Karen Thal, David Cárdenas and Fang Meng
This study aims to examine the direct relationships between behavioral intention and factors driving the growth of the wellness tourism industry in the USA. Relationships were…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the direct relationships between behavioral intention and factors driving the growth of the wellness tourism industry in the USA. Relationships were hypothesized based on alternative explanations for the rise in popularity of wellness tourism in research streams.
Design/methodology/approach
Two models were estimated and tested using the theory of planned behavior (TPB), each incorporating two constructs – Life stress and involvement in health – in addition to theoretically stipulated precursors to Behavioral Intention.
Findings
Both constructs were found to be significant predictors of behavioral intention. However, involvement proved a much stronger predictor than life stress. Implications for the management and marketing of this subsector are discussed in the paper.
Originality/value
This study extends the understanding of travelers’ behavioral intentions in the context of wellness tourism by using an extended TPB, with life stress and involvement in health and wellness considered. The study compares general travelers with current/potential wellness travelers (excluding those whose sole purpose was wellness) and the factors that influence their travel behavior.
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Hillary J.D. Wiener, Karen E. Flaherty and Joshua Wiener
This paper aims to show that whether new customers respond well or poorly to small talk at the beginning of a service encounter depends on their relationship orientation, i.e. how…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to show that whether new customers respond well or poorly to small talk at the beginning of a service encounter depends on their relationship orientation, i.e. how exchange or communally oriented they are. The authors provide service providers with tactics to identify first-time customers’ relationship orientation or set customers’ small talk expectations and thus help them use small talk more effectively.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors examine the effect of small talk and relationship orientation on customer intentions to use a service provider in three experiments and one cross-sectional survey. The scenario-based experiments show causality and the effect in online and in-person scenarios. The survey replicates the effect among current customers of a small business.
Findings
Communally oriented customers respond positively to small talk, but exchange-oriented customers respond negatively to it. Mediation analyses reveal this occurs because small talk differentially leads to initial feelings of rapport and impatience for people high (versus low) in relationship orientation.
Practical implications
Service providers should consider customers’ relationship orientation before starting a conversation with small talk. The authors find providers can identify exchange-oriented customers by their choice of meeting format (in-person v. video chat). Managers can also use marketing materials to attract customers with a specific relationship orientation or to set customer expectations for small talk in the interaction.
Originality/value
Prior research has largely shown benefits to small talk, but the authors show significant downsides for some customers and to the best of the authors’ knowledge are the first to show process evidence of why these drawbacks occur.
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This study provides a meta-review of global virtual team (GVT)–related reviews, creating a resource that highlights dominant themes, research trends and shifts in topics over time…
Abstract
Purpose
This study provides a meta-review of global virtual team (GVT)–related reviews, creating a resource that highlights dominant themes, research trends and shifts in topics over time culminating in a summary of opportunities for future research. By analyzing and grouping the evidence presented in previous research, this meta-review provides key insights toward future research and managerial implications.
Design/methodology/approach
This meta-review identifies 35 existing GVT-related reviews across 32 publication outlets, providing a longitudinal and cross-disciplinary view of GVT research to date.
Findings
Results of the analysis reveal over time that there has been a largely adopted reconceptualization of the GVT paradigm toward a continuum of virtuality. There has been a shift in the view of the cross-cultural and global components of GVTs toward a recognition that a greater variance of dimensionality exists. Additionally, popular themes across the literature emerge, notably, virtuality, concepts of culture, trust, leadership and communication technology.
Originality/value
As a multidisciplinary GVT-focused meta-review, this study complements previous efforts by taking a tour across this wide topic and is dedicated to those who are researching, teaching, working and managing GVT-related strategies. The reviews selected represent work published across multiple literature streams, providing a comprehensive and forward thinking perspective.
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The purpose of this paper is to identify and describe, in a systematic way, the various academic discourses on the rationale for shared decision making (SDM) in mental health…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify and describe, in a systematic way, the various academic discourses on the rationale for shared decision making (SDM) in mental health care, and so provide a comprehensive account of the ways in which this emerging field is being conceptualised in the research literature.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is a systematic review of peer-reviewed papers presenting a rationale for SDM in mental health. Relevant databases were searched from inception to July 2016. Data were analysed using a thematic analysis which aimed to identify and describe different discourses on the rationale for SDM in mental health care. Data were extracted into a standardised data extraction form which contained fields representing the developing thematic framework, study information and research methodology.
Findings
An initial search returned returned 1,616 papers, of which 175 were eligible for inclusion in this review. The authors developed ten distinct but interrelated themes which capture the various academic discourses on the rationale for SDM and represent some compelling arguments for SDM from a range of different perspectives including ethical, clinical, “user” focussed, economic and political. Dominant narratives in the literature linked SDM to the recovery moment and person-centred care, and adherence and engagement with mental health services.
Research limitations/implications
The authors are unable to make any conclusions about the strength of evidence for these rationales. The review was restricted to peer-reviewed publications, published in English.
Practical implications
The findings could be a useful framework to support the selection of outcome measures for SDM evaluations.
Originality/value
There have been no systematic reviews published in this area previously.
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Richard Welsh, Sheneka Williams, Karen Bryant and Jami Berry
Conceptualizing schools as learning organizations provides a potential avenue to meet the pressing challenges of school improvement in the USA. District and school leaders play an…
Abstract
Purpose
Conceptualizing schools as learning organizations provides a potential avenue to meet the pressing challenges of school improvement in the USA. District and school leaders play an important role in creating and sustaining the conditions for a learning organization, yet little is known about how leadership responds to learning-resistant contexts in their mission to improve schools. This study aims to examine the relationship between the district and school leadership and schools as learning organizations. The focus is on the conceptualization of schools as learning organizations and the challenges involved in creating and sustaining conditions and processes in which to improve schools.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses semi-structured interviews with district and school leaders in the state of Georgia and data from completed dimensions of a learning organization questionnaire (DLOQ) study to analyze how district and school leaders conceptualize or make sense of schools as learning organizations and overcome challenges associated with creating and sustaining a learning organization in learning-resistant contexts.
Findings
The analysis find that participants perceive their school or district as a learning organization when the structure allows others to work together to learn and grow for the benefit of students.
Originality/value
This study is unique in that it adds to a growing number of studies that examine schools as learning organizations using the DLOQ and sheds light on the nature of learning-resistant contexts.
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The primary objective of this paper is to study the relationship between voluntary earnings disclosures and a combined set of corporate governance attributes in France. We use…
Abstract
The primary objective of this paper is to study the relationship between voluntary earnings disclosures and a combined set of corporate governance attributes in France. We use binary logit models to check our hypotheses. The results indicate significant negative associations between voluntary earnings disclosures and ownership concentration, and between voluntary earnings disclosures and a unitary leadership structure. The results also show that French firms providing voluntary earnings disclosures are more likely to have higher foreign institutional investor's ownership, and to offer stock option plans for their executives. These findings shed the light on the corporate governance features that enhance incentives for voluntary earnings disclosures and those affecting these incentives under high ownership concentration.
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The purpose of this paper is to propose and test a theoretical framework to identify the specific aspects of the guest experience at a wellness facility that contribute to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose and test a theoretical framework to identify the specific aspects of the guest experience at a wellness facility that contribute to well-being. Self-determination theory (SDT) is used as the theoretical framework. According to SDT, basic needs must be met in order for psychological well-being to be achieved. Thus, in addition to the services and amenities offered, the quality of interactions with staff and service providers are integral to wellness vacation outcomes or basic need fulfillment.
Design/methodology/approach
Psychological precursors, or basic needs, were estimated using structural equation modeling, and these precursors were significant with the model explaining considerable variation in the outcome variable, well-being.
Findings
The results suggest that guest experiences can be enhanced if management facilitates guest autonomy, helps guests develop a sense of mastery with respect to activities and encourages positive interactions between guests.
Research limitations/implications
Study limitations include the single venue used for data collection, sample size and a focus on exercise activities as a proxy for staff–guest interactions.
Practical implications
This study sheds light on an under-researched area, providing managerial guidelines for wellness tourism destinations with respect to service delivery.
Originality/value
This study extends the wellness tourism literature by suggesting a framework to assess the service product and optimize guest experiences within the niche wellness sector of the tourism and hospitality industry.
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Acts of evaluation—the assessment against implicit or explicit criteria of the value of individuals, objects, situations and outcomes—form the core of any high discretion job…
Abstract
Acts of evaluation—the assessment against implicit or explicit criteria of the value of individuals, objects, situations and outcomes—form the core of any high discretion job, where choices have to be made and decisions taken in a world of scarce resources. On a day‐by‐day basis informal evaluations pervade the job of any manager or administrator, but often this is supplemented by formal evaluation research studies—whether technology assessment, investment appraisal, the evaluation of markets and competitors, or in the case of personnel managers—the evaluation of training and development and of organisational change programmes generally. These formal studies include the evaluation studies conducted by “professional” evaluation researchers, such as those engaged in the evaluation of federally funded US social change programmes, those drawn from commercial consultancy agencies or occupying an internal consultant's role within a large company, and those applied social scientists, working in university departments and research institutions interested in issues concerning work system and organisational design . Many articles published in Personnel Review attest to this concern with evaluation research and, indeed, expertise in the conduct of formal evaluation studies has been identified as a major weapon in the armoury of personnel managers who adopt a “conformist innovator” approach to developing their power and influence.