This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/14664100010361755. When citing the…
Abstract
This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/14664100010361755. When citing the article, please cite: Peter A. Gross, Barbara I. Braun, Stephen B. Kritchevsky, Bryan P. Simmons, (2000), “Comparison of clinical indicators for performance measurement of health care quality: a cautionary note”, British Journal of Clinical Governance, Vol. 5 Iss: 4, pp. 202 - 211.
Peter A. Gross, Barbara I. Braun, Stephen B. Kritchevsky and Bryan P. Simmons
The use of clinical performance data is increasing rapidly. Yet, substantial variation exists across indicators designed to measure the same clinical event. We compared indicators…
Abstract
The use of clinical performance data is increasing rapidly. Yet, substantial variation exists across indicators designed to measure the same clinical event. We compared indicators from several indicator measurement systems to determine the consistency of results. Five measurement systems with well‐defined indicators were selected. They were applied to 24 hospitals. Indicators for mortality from coronary artery bypass graft surgery and mortality in the perioperative period were chosen from these measurement systems. Analyses results and concludes that it is faulty to assume that clinical indicators derived from different measurement systems will give the same rank order. Widespread demand for external release of outcome data from hospitals must be balanced by an educational effort about the factors that influence and potentially confound reported rates.
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Yoko Akama, Vanessa Cooper and Bernard Mees
The purpose of this paper is to introduce and critique frameworks of communication in Australian bushfire management. Achieving bushfire preparedness is a complex process that…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce and critique frameworks of communication in Australian bushfire management. Achieving bushfire preparedness is a complex process that centres on meaningful communication and relationships between fire emergency agencies and the residents at risk. However, the practice of bushfire communication in Australia might better be described as bricoleur-like, applying and adapting whatever is at hand from the broader media panoply, rather than involving a more deliberative and comprehensively planned approach to preparedness.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper builds on different frameworks of communication, beyond the traditional transmission and power models, to establish alternative ways in which communication may take place in bushfire preparedness. It is built from coupling theoretical and social science approaches to communication and through interviews and fieldwork in four states across Australia. The aggregation of these data became the basis to examine how communication was taking place among these constituents.
Findings
Communication as transmission still remains dominant from the perspective where expertise is marshaled among fire agency specialists and disseminated to the public. Communication as power highlights that the persistence of the transmission process can reinforce power dynamics, diminishing empowerment, participation and capacity-building for change by the community. Recognising the importance for understanding audiences, communication as marketing pays closer attention to attitudes to influence behaviour. Finally, communication as community elaborates the conversational aspects of knowledge flow, through social networks, bringing a particular focus to bear on the greater need for community agency.
Originality/value
The authors put forward these frameworks as ways to analyse, critique and propose different ways that communication can, and does, occur, resulting in different kinds of interaction and impact. The authors argue that an awareness of such frameworks is significant in assisting the communities and fire authorities in bushfire preparedness.
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This paper examines the Random Walk Hypothesis (RWH) for aggregate New Zealand share market returns, as well as the CRSP NYSE‐AMEX (USA) index during the 1980‐2001 period. Using…
Abstract
This paper examines the Random Walk Hypothesis (RWH) for aggregate New Zealand share market returns, as well as the CRSP NYSE‐AMEX (USA) index during the 1980‐2001 period. Using several indices, we rely on the variance‐ratio test and find evidence to support the rejection of the RWH with some evidence of a momentum effect. However, we find evidence to suggest the behaviour of share prices to be time‐dependent in New Zealand. For example, we find the indices tested were closer to random after the 1987 share market crash. Further analysis showed even stronger results for periods subsequent to the passage of the Companies Act 1993 and the Financial Reporting Act 1993. We also find evidence that indices based on large capitalisation stocks are more likely to follow a random walk compared to those based on smaller stocks. For the USA index, we find stronger evidence of random behaviour in our sample period compared to the earlier period examined by Lo and Mackinlay (1988)
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Sandra A. Lawrence, Ashlea C. Troth, Peter J. Jordan and Amy L. Collins
Research in industrial and organizational psychology demonstrates that the regulation of negative emotions in response to both organizational stressors and interpersonal workplace…
Abstract
Research in industrial and organizational psychology demonstrates that the regulation of negative emotions in response to both organizational stressors and interpersonal workplace interactions can result in functional and dysfunctional outcomes (Côté, 2005; Diefendorff, Richard, & Yang, 2008). Research on the regulation of negative emotions has additionally been conducted in social psychology, developmental psychology, neuropsychology, health psychology, and clinical psychology. A close reading of this broader literature, however, reveals that the conceptualization and use of the term “emotion regulation” varies within each research field as well as across these fields. The main focus of our chapter is to make sense of the term “emotion regulation” in the workplace by considering its use across a broad range of psychology disciplines. We then develop an overarching theoretical framework using disambiguating terminology to highlight what we argue are the important constructs involved in the process of intrapersonal emotion generation, emotional experience regulation, and emotional expression regulation in the workplace (e.g., emotional intelligence, emotion regulation strategies, emotion expression displays). We anticipate this chapter will enable researchers and industrial and organizational psychologists to identify the conditions under which functional regulation outcomes are more likely to occur and then build interventions around these findings.
Nowadays it is — to a certain extent — popular to criticize international tourism to third world countries. These criticisms may base on widely divergent aspects of the…
Abstract
Nowadays it is — to a certain extent — popular to criticize international tourism to third world countries. These criticisms may base on widely divergent aspects of the phenomenon, ranging from for instance the economic impact to the environmental impact or the psychological impact. Without implicitly suggesting that the non‐economic effects of international tourism in developing countries are unimportant we will concentrate in the following on the economic impact. The reason for this is twofold:
A case study is given of International Distillers & Vintners(UK) Limited (IDV (UK)) and an assessment made of the viability oftranslating theory into practice in the real world �…
Abstract
A case study is given of International Distillers & Vintners (UK) Limited (IDV (UK)) and an assessment made of the viability of translating theory into practice in the real world – the importance of having a strategy, of strategic planning, and having a success factor as a key component of an organisation′s competitive advantage. Following the appointment of a new managing director at IDV (UK) in 1982, three goals were established: (1) to more than double profits within five years; (2) to increase return on capital employed by almost 50 per cent within five years; and (3) to be the outstanding wine and spirit company in the UK. A sound strategy was required to achieve these goals. The historic background of the organisation is given and the strategic position of IDV (UK) in relation to its competitors and market share is described. A review of the state of the market is given and possible areas for expansion discussed. The quality and pedigree of certain brands and the quality and strength of leadership are proposed as the success factors upon which IDV (UK) could build. Details are given of how the organisation built upon these factors to achieve strategic success; the lessons learned; and the level of achievement and success in the marketplace.
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A distinction must be drawn between a dismissal on the one hand, and on the other a repudiation of a contract of employment as a result of a breach of a fundamental term of that…
Abstract
A distinction must be drawn between a dismissal on the one hand, and on the other a repudiation of a contract of employment as a result of a breach of a fundamental term of that contract. When such a repudiation has been accepted by the innocent party then a termination of employment takes place. Such termination does not constitute dismissal (see London v. James Laidlaw & Sons Ltd (1974) IRLR 136 and Gannon v. J. C. Firth (1976) IRLR 415 EAT).
Presents a review on implementing finite element methods on supercomputers, workstations and PCs and gives main trends in hardware and software developments. An appendix included…
Abstract
Presents a review on implementing finite element methods on supercomputers, workstations and PCs and gives main trends in hardware and software developments. An appendix included at the end of the paper presents a bibliography on the subjects retrospectively to 1985 and approximately 1,100 references are listed.
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Domenico Piatti and Peter Cincinelli
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the quality of the credit process is sensitive to reaching a particular threshold level of non-performing loans (NPLs) and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the quality of the credit process is sensitive to reaching a particular threshold level of non-performing loans (NPLs) and, more importantly, whether higher NPLs ratios could make the monitoring activity ineffective.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical design is composed of two steps: in the first step, the authors introduce a monitoring performance indicator (MPI) of the credit process by combining the non-parametric technique Data Envelopment Analysis with some financial ratios adopted as input and output variables. As second step, the authors apply a threshold panel regression model to a sample of 298 Italian banks, over the time period 2006–2014, and the authors investigate whether the quality of the credit process is sensitive to reaching a particular threshold level of NPLs.
Findings
This paper finds that, first, when the NPLs ratio remains below the threshold value estimated endogenously, an increase in the quality of monitoring has a positive impact on the NPLs ratio. Second, if the NPLs ratio exceeds the estimated threshold, the relationship between the NPLs ratio and quality of monitoring assumes a positive value and is statistically significant.
Research limitations/implications
Due to the lack of data, the investigation of NPLs in the Italian industry across loan types combined with the monitoring effort by banks management was not possible. The authors plan to investigate this topic in future studies.
Practical implications
The identification of the threshold has a double operational valence. The first regards the Supervisory Authority, the threshold approach could be used as an early warning in order to introduce active control strategies based on the additional information requested or by on-site inspections. The second implication is highlighted in relation to the individual banks, the monitoring of credit control quality, if objective and comparable, could facilitate the emergence of best practices among banks.
Social implications
A high NPLs ratio requires greater loan provisions, which reduces capital resources available for lending, and dents bank profitability. Moreover, structural weaknesses on banks’ balance sheets still persist particularly in relation to the inadequate internal governance structures. This means that bank management must able to recognise in advance early warning signals by providing prudent measurement together with an in-depth valuation of loans portfolio.
Originality/value
The originality of the paper is twofold: the authors introduce a new proxy of credit monitoring, called MPI; the authors provide an empirical proof of the Diamond’s (1991) economic intuition: for riskier borrowers, the monitoring activity is an inappropriate instrument depending on the bad reputational quality of borrowers.