Although there are contradictory reports in regard to the tinned meat scandal in America, there is not the least doubt that an appalling condition of things prevails, and to the…
Abstract
Although there are contradictory reports in regard to the tinned meat scandal in America, there is not the least doubt that an appalling condition of things prevails, and to the ordinary person who knows little or nothing of the extent to which food adulteration and other such malpractices exist in this country as well as elsewhere, such revelations as those which have recently been made by the daily press must come as a shock. To those whose duty it is to acquaint themselves with the nature and quality of the food supply of the people, the revelations are not so startling. The layman would hardly believe that the cases of obscure poisoning which repeatedly occur, sometimes resulting in death, and sometimes producing more or less severe attacks of illness, are largely due to the use of bad tinned foods. According to various reports from reliable sources, some of the practices in vogue at the Chicago packing houses are too disgusting to be given publicity to, but the malpractices which have been revealed in connection with the manufacture of tinned meat products, such as the use of diseased carcases, filthy offal and sweepings, putrid and decomposed meat artificially coloured and preserved with boric acid or some other chemical preservative, of potted ham made from mouldy flesh, of sausages made from the sweepings of the packing houses where it is the habit of the employees to expectorate freely on the floor, will tend to make people refuse to purchase any kind of tinned food, and unfortunately the manufacturer of good and wholesome products is sure to suffer. As might have been anticipated, denials as to the allegations made have been put forward and circulated, no doubt at the instance of persons more or less interested in the maintenance of the practices referred to. It has been alleged that protection is afforded to the consumer by certain labels, which read, “Quality Guaranteed, Government Inspected,” but it appears from recent official reports that this statement in reality means nothing at all, and affords no guarantee whatever—which is precisely what we should have expected. The absurdity and criminality of permitting the admixture of chemical preservatives with articles of food are well illustrated by these exposures, and we have more justification than ever in asking that our own Government authorities will make up their minds to take the action which has so long and so forcibly been urged upon them with respect to this form of adulteration.
In the continuing war against corrosion the careful selection of a suitable coating system becomes ever more important. The cost of applying coating systems continues to increase…
Abstract
In the continuing war against corrosion the careful selection of a suitable coating system becomes ever more important. The cost of applying coating systems continues to increase, necessitating great care in the control of the application with mandatory inspection at several stages.
High voltage generators are used universally for the detection of pin holes or “holidays” in protective coatings. Such coatings may range from those applied externally to pipes to…
Abstract
High voltage generators are used universally for the detection of pin holes or “holidays” in protective coatings. Such coatings may range from those applied externally to pipes to protect them from the elements, to those such as glass, ptfe and rubber applied internally to protect pipes and vessels from their contents.
Several years ago, under the leadership of the late Mr. G. H. Cox, the Research Instrumentation and Engineering Section of I.C.I. Paints Division, Slough, carried out a design…
Abstract
Several years ago, under the leadership of the late Mr. G. H. Cox, the Research Instrumentation and Engineering Section of I.C.I. Paints Division, Slough, carried out a design study on instrumentation for the determination of minimum film forming temperature of latexes for waterborne surface coatings.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the results of an effort to use social media generated data for measuring patient satisfaction with medical care services. Traditionally…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the results of an effort to use social media generated data for measuring patient satisfaction with medical care services. Traditionally, scientifically designed patient satisfaction surveys are used to provide such measurements. The goal here is to evaluate the possibility of supplementing patient satisfaction surveys with social media generated patient satisfaction measurements such that the later can be used either as validation or replacement for the former. Although surveys are scientifically designed to yield dependable results, recent studies have revealed multiple factors relating to the methods currently used for survey data collection, that may be contributing to the limitations of many survey results. In light of such criticisms, this study explored the possibility of using the increasing popular and proactively generated consumer ratings through the pervasive social media as data source for satisfaction measurement. The average satisfaction scores created from such data are then used to compare levels of satisfaction among five types of health service businesses.
Design/methodology/approach
The data used in this research are garnered from the consumer review social media site called “Yelp!”. Ratings and reviews that are related to health and medical services were extracted from the “Yelp!” database. The types of services that are identified by consumers are standardized to typologies that are traditionally used in health service research. Five types of services were targeted – general practice physician offices, physician specialty services, dentists, hospitals and physical therapy services. The “five-star” rating systems were re-coded to form a five-point ordinal scale variable to represent “satisfaction score”.
Findings
The Yelp! data-based measurement of patient satisfaction produced an overall satisfaction score of 3.8 (SD=1.7) for the sampled services. The average satisfaction score per type of service ranged from 3.16 (SD=1.83) for specialty physicians to 4.52 (SD=1.57) for physical therapists. In general, dentists and physical therapists received higher average satisfaction scores as compared to the other medical services.
Research limitations/implications
Because this study was meant to evaluate the utility of social media generated data to measure satisfaction, in general, the estimates cannot be construed as representative of any underlying geographically defined population. They, however, do have a “cohort” interpretability. This limitation is not inherent to the use of the data source. If some geographically identifiable representation of the measurement data is desired, identifiable business data can be generated from the Yelp! system to specifically target relevant populations following the method that are tested in this study.
Practical implications
Under certain circumstances, such as the size and maturity of the gathered data, social media generated data can be a useful as a “fortuitous” alternative to satisfaction surveys for evaluating patient satisfaction with medical care. This is propitious as there have been some indication by studies that the advent of communication media in the twenty-first century may be undermining the reliability of scientifically designed surveys.
Originality/value
The use of social media generated data as “alternative” or “secondary” data source for research use is currently being widely investigated. To the author’s knowledge, this is the only paper that evaluated the use of “Yelp!” data as a possible source for population-based formal satisfaction measurement for healthcare services.
Details
Keywords
Following the reorganisation of Diamond Shamrock's UK operation, Diamond Shamrock Process Chemicals Ltd, Leeds, has appointed Mr. Richard J. Fletcher as sales manager. Prior to…
Abstract
Following the reorganisation of Diamond Shamrock's UK operation, Diamond Shamrock Process Chemicals Ltd, Leeds, has appointed Mr. Richard J. Fletcher as sales manager. Prior to taking up this appointment, Mr. Fletcher was commercial manager of Duolite International Ltd, the ion exchange company owned by the Diamond Shamrock Corporation.
Chia-Wen Chang, Ting-Hsiang Tseng and Arch G. Woodside
– This empirical study aims to explore sufficiency conditions for patient loyalty to a hospital.
Abstract
Purpose
This empirical study aims to explore sufficiency conditions for patient loyalty to a hospital.
Design/methodology/approach
The study collected 645 self-administered questionnaires from patients in a major medical center in Taiwan and applied fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fs/QCA) to explore the sufficiency conditions for patient loyalty.
Findings
The findings support the conclusion that the three conditions (patient satisfaction, patient participation in the process of diagnosis, and patient participation in treatment decision-making) in combination are sufficient for high patient loyalty to the hospital but high patient satisfaction alone is insufficient. While the three conditions in configural algorithm are sufficient, this expression is not necessary, which means the findings do not reject possible alternative conditions for high patient loyalty.
Research limitations/implications
The study applies a relatively new method, fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fs/QCA) to test the sufficiency proposition of the theory. This method enables researchers to focus on examining sufficient conditions without worrying about various confounding factors and informs this study ' s conclusion that patients exhibiting high scores in all three conditions mentioned above constitute a near-perfect subset of highly loyal patients. Hospitals thus should provide their satisfied patients opportunities to share a role in the process of diagnosis and treatment decision-making.
Originality/value
Along with patient satisfaction, this study clearly identifies two important stages of patient participation (i.e., participation in the process of diagnosis and treatment decision-making) that are important in forming patient loyalty to a hospital. Prior studies do not present empirical evidence to this proposition.
Details
Keywords
Diana Londoño-Correa, Juan Carlos Lopez-Diez and Jairo Campuzano-Hoyos
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to thecomprehension of management education in the Global South, focusing on how contextual specificities, exemplified in the Colombian…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to thecomprehension of management education in the Global South, focusing on how contextual specificities, exemplified in the Colombian case, have driven curricular reforms. These reforms harmonize traditional practical training with a substantial emphasis on humanities education. to
Design/methodology/approach
Using a historical approach, this study conducts a heuristic and hermeneutic analysis of historical primary documents from archives, secondary sources and interviews.
Findings
The curricular reforms in Eafit’s Business Administration program responded to the need to diverge from a model borrowed from the United States. This departure leads to organic transformations that empower the inclusion of humanities for holistic professional manager education. This holistic approach was aimed to equip graduates to address organizational challenges and unique local issues, transcending conventional boundaries of education.
Research limitations/implications
This research serves as an initial exploration of a Global South case, laying the groundwork for future analyses of analogous cases. Comparative studies may eventually provide a more comprehensive understanding of management education beyond the Global North.
Originality/value
This work pioneers a relatively unexplored area of literature by investigating the history, unique aspects of business administration curricula and the role of curricular reforms within specific contexts. It is particularly pertinent in understanding the distinctive characteristics of business schools in the Global South. These institutions initially took inspiration from well-established American counterparts and literature reflecting Northern Global settings. However, they introduced innovations tailored to their local demands. This study spotlights the distinctive character of management education in Latin America, emphasizing a robust humanistic component.
Details
Keywords
D. Papandreou and F. Athanassiadou
This paper seeks to present the current evidence on maternal diet, birth weight, breastfeeding and antioxidants with regard to pediatric leukemia and to show the potential role of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to present the current evidence on maternal diet, birth weight, breastfeeding and antioxidants with regard to pediatric leukemia and to show the potential role of specific nutrients in the nutrition management of a child with cancer.
Design/methodology/approach
The most up‐to‐date literature on various aspects of nutrition in pediatric leukemia have been considered and included in this report.
Findings
One of the most common pediatric cancers is leukemia. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is the most common childhood malignancy, with a cure rate of 80 per cent. Maternal diet, breastfeeding and weight of child may play a significant role in the development of leukemia. Antioxidants and non‐antioxidants nutrients also appear to be important contributors in decreasing the risk of leukemia.
Originality/value
Information on the role of diet in pediatric leukemia is presented for expert dietitians.
Details
Keywords
Matti Haverila, Kai Christian Haverila and Jenny Carita Twyford
This study assesses the impact of marital status towards customer-centric measures in a Canadian ski resort using the importance-performance map analysis (IPMA) as the analytical…
Abstract
Purpose
This study assesses the impact of marital status towards customer-centric measures in a Canadian ski resort using the importance-performance map analysis (IPMA) as the analytical framework. For the purpose of this paper, the three groups that were assessed included singles, partnership without children and partnership with children as marital status indicators. From the theoretical and especially managerial point of view, knowing the importance and the performance of the relevant ski resort-related customer-centric perceptions is of key importance.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey was completed to assess customer-centric measures including customer satisfaction, repurchase intent, value for money, willingness to recommend, overall performance in terms of meeting expectations, relationship quality and skiing service quality. An IPMA was conducted with partial least square-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to assess the importance-performance perceptions of the three marital status groups.
Findings
The results indicated that for five of the seven customer-centric measures, there were significant differences between the marital status groups. Overall, singles appeared to have the lowest values in customer-centric measures, whereas respondents living in partnership with children had the highest. This was also the case with the value for money perceptions, although the cost for the ski resort visit was likely to be the highest for the respondents living in partnership with children. There were also differences between the marital status groups in terms of the importance-performance evaluations.
Originality/value
Results of this research have implications for ski resort management as the three marital status groups appear to perceive the customer-centric measures quite differently in the IPMA framework.