Robert Shapiro, Rose Laignel, Caitlin Kowcheck, Valerie White and Mahreen Hashmi
Previous studies indicate adherence to pre-operative antibiotic prophylaxis guidelines has been inadequate. The purpose of this paper is to determine adherence rates to current…
Abstract
Purpose
Previous studies indicate adherence to pre-operative antibiotic prophylaxis guidelines has been inadequate. The purpose of this paper is to determine adherence rates to current perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis guidelines in gynecologic surgery at a tertiary care, academic institution. As a secondary outcome, improving guidelines after physician re-education were analyzed.
Design/methodology/approach
A retrospective chart review (2,463 patients) was completed. The authors determined if patients received perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis in accordance with current guidelines from the America College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Data were obtained before and after physician tutorials. Quality control was implemented by making guideline failures transparent. Statistical analysis used Fisher’s exact and agreement tests.
Findings
In total, 23 percent of patients received antibiotics not indicated across all procedures. This decreased to 9 percent after physician re-education and outcome transparency (p<0.0001). Laparoscopy was the procedure with the lowest guideline compliance prior to education. The compliance improved from 52 to 92 percent (p<0.0001) after re-education.
Practical implications
Gynecologic surgeons overuse antibiotics for surgical prophylaxis. Physician re-education and transparency were shown to enhance compliance.
Originality/value
Educational tutorials are an effective strategy for encouraging physicians to improve outcomes, which, in turn, allows the healthcare system a non-punitive way to monitor quality and mitigate cost.
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In a speech to a business conference organised recently by Greenpeace, Robert Shapiro, the head of Monsanto, the US biotech company, ruefully acknowledged that his group had lost…
Abstract
In a speech to a business conference organised recently by Greenpeace, Robert Shapiro, the head of Monsanto, the US biotech company, ruefully acknowledged that his group had lost the battle to persuade people about the possible merits of genetically modified food. ‘Because we thought it was our job to persuade,’ Mr Shapiro admitted, ‘too often we forgot to listen.’ As the old millennium draws to a close, it is worth examining the context in which these remarks were made and the implications for corporate communications practitioners.
Explains (using a model and cases) how companies that lack a capability for continual strategic innovation can bring one into existence.
Abstract
Purpose
Explains (using a model and cases) how companies that lack a capability for continual strategic innovation can bring one into existence.
Design/methodology/approach
Author developed histories of how continual innovation emerged or failed to emerge in six firms, drew conclusions based on what worked in the successes.
Findings
Strategic innovation gets started with a five‐step process that involves improvising initial innovation processes, then learning from what was improvised.
Research limitations/implications
Though the companies studied were selected to represent different industries and kinds of strategic innovation, the number was relatively small. Findings should be replicated in studies of more firms.
Practical implications
Instead of using standard organizational change models that call for clear goals that leaders can manage to, firms seeking repeated strategic innovation should create inspiring but necessarily vague goals, improvise first steps toward them, and encourage emergence of innovation routines based on what was improvised.
Originality/value
Provides an evidence‐based model of how to bring Continual Strategic Innovation into existence.
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Lynn M Shore, Lois E Tetrick, M.Susan Taylor, Jaqueline A.-M Coyle Shapiro, Robert C Liden, Judi McLean Parks, Elizabeth Wolfe Morrison, Lyman W Porter, Sandra L Robinson, Mark V Roehling, Denise M Rousseau, René Schalk, Anne S Tsui and Linn Van Dyne
The employee-organization relationship (EOR) has increasingly become a focal point for researchers in organizational behavior, human resource management, and industrial relations…
Abstract
The employee-organization relationship (EOR) has increasingly become a focal point for researchers in organizational behavior, human resource management, and industrial relations. Literature on the EOR has developed at both the individual – (e.g. psychological contracts) and the group and organizational-levels of analysis (e.g. employment relationships). Both sets of literatures are reviewed, and we argue for the need to integrate these literatures as a means for improving understanding of the EOR. Mechanisms for integrating these literatures are suggested. A subsequent discussion of contextual effects on the EOR follows in which we suggest that researchers develop models that explicitly incorporate context. We then examine a number of theoretical lenses to explain various attributes of the EOR such as the dynamism and fairness of the exchange, and new ways of understanding the exchange including positive functional relationships and integrative negotiations. The article concludes with a discussion of future research needed on the EOR.
The purpose of this paper is to provide a retrospection on the importance, origins and development of the research programs in the author’s career.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a retrospection on the importance, origins and development of the research programs in the author’s career.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses an autobiographical approach.
Findings
Most of the articles, research monographs and books that constitute this research and publishing efforts can be categorized into seven distinct, but related, research programs: channels of distribution; marketing theory; marketing’s philosophy debates; macromarketing and ethics; relationship marketing; resource-advantage theory; and marketing management and strategy. The value system that has guided these research programs has been shaped by specific events that took place in the author’s formative years. This essay chronicles these events and the origins and development of the seven research programs.
Originality/value
Chronicling the importance, origins and development of the seven research programs will hopefully motivate and assist other scholars in developing their own research programs.
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The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the market entry strategies for companies which are involved with Chemicals in Foods, Agriculture, Irrigation aspects, which equally…
Abstract
Purpose
The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the market entry strategies for companies which are involved with Chemicals in Foods, Agriculture, Irrigation aspects, which equally have cultural effects in different regions.
Design/methodology/approach
The case contains a careful analysis of the literature about the Monsanto Company, articles and journals have been reviewed to supply the information on the problems being faced by Monsanto.
Findings
The analysis or the suggestions are the view points of the author, basically involving the Transnational approach for such companies. The suggestions or opinions are the responses like “What it could or would have done”, “This should be implemented” and so on so forth.
Research limitations/implications
Since this paper is associated with the suggestions by the author, the only limitation can be personal judgments.
Practical implications
In this respect, the paper combined various aspects of TNCs, Strategy and apply these concepts to the company to proceed in not only home country but also in host countries.
Originality/value
There have been few articles already written with respect to Monsanto, but sole aim of all these articles was to identify the problems faced by Monsanto and criticisms faced by it. But the articles conducts a company analysis, identifies problems and provides possible theoretical solutions in order to overcome the problems.
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Evaluates changes in the welfare system in Sweden, the UK and the USA over a decade, basing arguments on the divergence of economic globalization and domestic forces. Presents…
Abstract
Evaluates changes in the welfare system in Sweden, the UK and the USA over a decade, basing arguments on the divergence of economic globalization and domestic forces. Presents brief economic snapshots of each country, stating quite categorically that the welfare state is an impediment to capitalist profit‐making, hence all three nations have retrenched welfare systems in the hope of remaining globally economically competitive. Lays the responsibility for retrenchment firmly at the door of conservative political parties. Takes into account public opinion, national institutional structures, multiculturalism and class issues. Explores domestic structures of accumulation (DSA) and refers to changes in the international economy, particularly the Bretton Woods system (Pax Americana), and notes how the economic health of nations mirrors that of the US. Investigates the roles of multinationals and direct foreign investment in the global economy, returning to how economic policy affects the welfare state. Points out the changes made to the welfare state through privatization, decentralization and modification of public sector financing. Concludes that the main result has been an increase in earnings inequality and poverty.
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The purpose of this paper is to describe the author’s serendipitous career and provide some lessons that might be of value to those pursuing the academic mission: teaching…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the author’s serendipitous career and provide some lessons that might be of value to those pursuing the academic mission: teaching, research and service.
Design/methodology/approach
The method involves primary sources; mainly the author’s CV to jog recall of events and dates, some of his articles and the teachings and writings of many others that influenced or inspired various aspects of the author’s career.
Findings
The author’s experiences affirm that to achieve any degree of success in the professoriate, in addition to having some talent it is also helpful to be lucky. There is a lot to navigate at a university. Opportunities exist at every turn, some noticed some missed. When recognized, be prepared. Being a professor is not what you do, it is who you are. Preparation for an academic career involves becoming a self-improvement project (essentially, a life-long student learning lessons). It requires developing expertise (preferably excellence) in some field of study, as well as resourcefulness, resilience and perseverance.
Originality/value
Each individual’s story is unique. The author’s path seems to have included more twists and turns than most. Consequently, he tried to highlight the experiences with lessons learned in most sections, some obvious some less so, which he expects (at least hopes) will prove valuable to future educators.
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Robert Mittelman and Leighann C. Neilson
Child sponsorship programs have been accused of representing children in the developing world in a manner described as “development porn”. The purpose of this paper is to take an…
Abstract
Purpose
Child sponsorship programs have been accused of representing children in the developing world in a manner described as “development porn”. The purpose of this paper is to take an historical approach to investigating the use of advertising techniques by Plan Canada, a subsidiary of one of the oldest and largest child sponsorship‐based non‐governmental development agencies, Plan International, during the 1970s. This time period represents an important era in international development and a time of significant change in the charitable giving and advertising industries in Canada.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conduct a content analysis on an archival collection of 468 print advertisements from the 1970s.
Findings
A description of the “typical” Plan Canada fund‐raising ad is presented and shown to be different, in several aspects, from other advertisements of the time period. It was determined that Plan Canada's advertisement did not cross the delicate line between showing the hardship and realities of life in the developing world for these children and what became known as “development porn”.
Originality/value
There has been little previous research which focuses specifically on the design of charity advertisements. This paper presents a historically contextualized description of such ads, providing a baseline for further research. It also raises important questions regarding the portrayal of the “other” in marketing communications and the extent to which aid agencies must go to attract the attention of potential donors.
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Kerstin A. Aumann and Cheri Ostroff
In recent years, theory and research have been increasingly devoted to understanding organizational behavior in cross-cultural and global contexts, with particular attention being…
Abstract
In recent years, theory and research have been increasingly devoted to understanding organizational behavior in cross-cultural and global contexts, with particular attention being paid to the appropriateness of various human resources management (HRM) practices because practices that may be effective within one cultural context may not be effective in other cultural contexts. This chapter argues that a multi-level perspective is needed to explain the interplay between HRM practices and employee responses across cultural contexts. Specifically, the multi-level framework developed in this chapter elucidates the importance of fit between HRM practices, individual values, organizational values, and societal values. Societal values play a key role in the adoption of HRM practices, and the effectiveness of these HRM practices will depend largely on “fit” or alignment with the values of the societal culture in which the organization is operating. HRM practices also shape the collective responses of employees through organizational climate at the organizational level and through psychological climate at the individual level. For positive employee attitudes and responses to emerge, the climate created by the HRM practices must be aligned with societal and individual values. Building on these notions, the strength of the societal culture in which the organization is operating serves as a mechanism that links relationships between climate, value fit, and attitudes across levels of analysis. The chapter concludes with some recommendations for future research and implications for practice.