Sriram Thirumalai, Scott Lindsey and Jeff K. Stratman
In the face of growing demand for care and tightening resource constraints, hospitals need to ensure access to care that is affordable and effective. Yet, the multiplicity of…
Abstract
Purpose
In the face of growing demand for care and tightening resource constraints, hospitals need to ensure access to care that is affordable and effective. Yet, the multiplicity of objectives is a key challenge in this industry. An understanding of the interrelationships (tradeoffs) between the multiple outcome objectives of care (throughput, experiential and financial performance) and returns to operational inputs (diversification of care) is fundamental to improving access to care that is effective and affordable. This study serves to address this need.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical analysis in the study builds on an output-oriented distance function model and uses a longitudinal panel dataset from 153 hospitals in California.
Findings
This study results point to key insights related to output–output tradeoffs along the production frontier. Specifically, the authors find that higher throughput rates may lead to significantly lower levels of experiential quality, and net revenue from operations, accounting for the clinical quality of care. Similarly, the authors’ findings highlight the resource intensity and operational challenges of improving experiential quality of care. In regards to input–output relationships, this study finds diversification of care is associated with increased throughput, improvements in service satisfaction and a corresponding increase in the net revenue from operations.
Originality/value
Highlighting the tradeoffs along the production frontier among the various outcomes of interest (throughput, experiential quality and net revenue from operations), and highlighting the link between diversification of care and care delivery outcomes at the hospital level are key contributions of this study. An understanding of the tradeoffs and returns in healthcare delivery serves to inform policy-making with key managerial implications in the delivery of care.
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Research studies have documented the proliferation of partnerships between universities and school districts in the Unites States. University faculty members in the School of…
Abstract
Research studies have documented the proliferation of partnerships between universities and school districts in the Unites States. University faculty members in the School of Education at a small regional campus located in the Midwest have partnered with one of the largest school districts in its service area to provide professional development (PD) to school staff on building Cultural Proficiency and providing Culturally Responsive Instruction. To date nearly 200 teachers, counselors, and administrators have attended PD workshops designed collaboratively with targeted school and district personnel and facilitated by university faculty. This chapter will chronicle the development of this partnership including PD topics, feedback from participants, and the future needs of the school district, pre-service and in-service teachers, and School of Education faculty.
Although special education was built upon the foundation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the discrimination that many racialized students receiving special education services…
Abstract
Although special education was built upon the foundation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the discrimination that many racialized students receiving special education services experience cannot be denied. Many culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diverse students receiving special education services encounter labels that perpetuate racism and ableism and lead to inequitable access to services and resources necessary for more positive postsecondary outcomes. By honoring intersectionality and dismantling the singular identity, educators can become change agents and shift the historic oppressive narrative to create a system of empowerment as these individuals transition from transitional kindergarten to age 21 special education programs (TK-21) schools into adulthood.
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Shaohua Yang, Murtaza Hussain, R.M. Ammar Zahid and Umer Sahil Maqsood
In the rapidly evolving digital economy, businesses face formidable pressures to maintain their competitive standing, prompting a surge of interest in the intersection of…
Abstract
Purpose
In the rapidly evolving digital economy, businesses face formidable pressures to maintain their competitive standing, prompting a surge of interest in the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital transformation (DT). This study aims to assess the impact of AI technologies on corporate DT by scrutinizing 3,602 firm-year observations listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges. The research delves into the extent to which investments in AI drive DT, while also investigating how this relationship varies based on firms' ownership structure.
Design/methodology/approach
To explore the influence of AI technologies on corporate DT, the research employs robust quantitative methodologies. Notably, the study employs multiple validation techniques, including two-stage least squares (2SLS), propensity score matching and an instrumental variable approach, to ensure the credibility of its primary findings.
Findings
The investigation provides clear evidence that AI technologies can accelerate the pace of corporate DT. Firms strategically investing in AI technologies experience faster DT enabled by the automation of operational processes and enhanced data-driven decision-making abilities conferred by AI. Our findings confirm that AI integration has a significant positive impact in propelling DT across the firms studied. Interestingly, the study uncovers a significant divergence in the impact of AI on DT, contingent upon firms' ownership structure. State-owned enterprises (SOEs) exhibit a lesser degree of DT following AI integration compared to privately owned non-SOEs.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the burgeoning literature at the nexus of AI and DT by offering empirical evidence of the nexus between AI technologies and corporate DT. The investigation’s examination of the nuanced relationship between AI implementation, ownership structure and DT outcomes provides novel insights into the implications of AI in the diverse business contexts. Moreover, the research underscores the policy significance of supporting SOEs in their DT endeavors to prevent their potential lag in the digital economy. Overall, this study accentuates the imperative for businesses to strategically embrace AI technologies as a means to bolster their competitive edge in the contemporary digital landscape.
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Joanna Mason, E. Lianne Visser, Lindsey Garner-Knapp and Tamara Mulherin
This opening chapter introduces key debates in relation to informality in policymaking, laying the theoretical and conceptual groundwork for the individual empirical chapters…
Abstract
This opening chapter introduces key debates in relation to informality in policymaking, laying the theoretical and conceptual groundwork for the individual empirical chapters, beginning with a provocation for how informality can alternatively be understood. Through illustrating where gaps in understanding within current literature exist for how informality acquires meaning, and the physical and material relevance for how it manifests across contexts, this chapter introduces the three thematic clusters that thread through the book’s chapters: boundaries, knowledge mastery and networks. In doing so, it briefly positions each chapter in relation to these flexible and overlapping categories, drawing attention to how each chapter presents a different understanding of informality. Key to this chapter is our contention that while informality escapes definition, without binary or fixed conceptualisations of this concept we are better able to take in its fluidity and envisage how it is interwoven in everyday policy work and its human and non-human enactment. Underpinning this contention is a key contribution of this work, a proposition for a re-conceptualising of informality and formality as in|formality. Methodologically, this chapter argues that informality is better ‘shown’ than ‘told’ – and that this can be achieved through interpretive and socio-material approaches woven through disciplines that foreground narrative, ethnographic and creative approaches to research.
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Fariza H. Rusly, James L. Corner and Peter Sun
This paper aims to propose a conceptual model for understanding the influence of change readiness on knowledge management processes and knowledge management effectiveness. It is…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to propose a conceptual model for understanding the influence of change readiness on knowledge management processes and knowledge management effectiveness. It is suggested that change readiness should be assessed as a multidimensional construct consisting of psychological and structural facets. Furthermore, as the process of managing organizational knowledge requires interaction among members of the organization, a holistic view of readiness at individual and organizational levels is presented.
Design/methodology/approach
A comprehensive literature review results in the development of the conceptual model that depicts potential relationships between change readiness and knowledge management processes. It also postulates the effects of different knowledge management processes on effective knowledge management implementation.
Findings
Potential implications of change readiness from both psychological and structural dimensions for knowledge acquisition, creation and sharing processes are put forward. Further, it offers possible fruitful areas for continuous research of knowledge management effectiveness from a change perspective.
Research limitations/implications
This article puts forward a number of potential relationships among the construct that are empirically testable to further understanding of multidimensional change readiness influences on the various types of knowledge management processes and its effective implementation.
Practical implications
Through a conceptualisation of the relationships between change readiness, knowledge management processes and knowledge management effectiveness, this paper offers a number of practical guidelines for the development of knowledge management policy and a road map from a change management perspective.
Originality/value
Previous literature on knowledge management focuses on understanding organizational readiness to promote successful knowledge management implementation in terms of the structural dimension. This paper proposes understanding of change readiness from a more comprehensive perspective comprising both psychological and structural readiness and its influences on knowledge management processes, which could affect overall effectiveness of knowledge management implementation.
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Zhanna Kremez, Lorelle Frazer, Scott Weaven and Sara Quach
The purpose of this paper is to provide an in-depth investigation of e-commerce strategy implementation in mature franchise organisations from both franchisor and franchisee…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide an in-depth investigation of e-commerce strategy implementation in mature franchise organisations from both franchisor and franchisee perspectives.
Design/methodology/approach
This research employed a multiple case study method where the e-commerce strategies of two mature franchise organisations were investigated in depth. Franchising experts were interviewed to provide an additional dimension to this study.
Findings
This research found that e-commerce must be integrated with the overall business strategy for optimal franchise performance. Since all parties to the franchising relationship are affected by the introduction of e-commerce, both the franchisees’ and the franchisor’s interests must be considered when the strategy is being developed. In addition, the consumer’s perspective is central to how e-commerce is structured, and franchisees are best placed to know their customers’ needs because they are directly involved in operating their business and interfacing with customers.
Practical implications
A preliminary model for e-commerce structures in service and retail franchising has been developed that depends on the nature of the business, the distribution arrangements and the order fulfilment arrangements. The two main avenues in e-commerce structuring were centralisation and decentralisation.
Originality/value
This study contributes to knowledge through an in-depth investigation of the internal process of e-commerce implementation in franchise networks from both franchisor and franchisee perspectives.