Thomas Round, Mark Ashworth, Tessa Crilly, Ewan Ferlie and Charles Wolfe
A well-funded, four-year integrated care programme was implemented in south London. The programme attempted to integrate care across primary, acute, community, mental health and…
Abstract
Purpose
A well-funded, four-year integrated care programme was implemented in south London. The programme attempted to integrate care across primary, acute, community, mental health and social care. The purpose of this paper is to reduce hospital admissions and nursing home placements. Programme evaluation aimed to identify what worked well and what did not; lessons learnt; the value of integrated care investment.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative data were obtained from documentary analysis, stakeholder interviews, focus groups and observational data from programme meetings. Framework analysis was applied to stakeholder interview and focus group data in order to generate themes.
Findings
The integrated care project had not delivered expected radical reductions in hospital or nursing home utilisation. In response, the scheme was reformulated to focus on feasible service integration. Other benefits emerged, particularly system transformation. Nine themes emerged: shared vision/case for change; interventions; leadership; relationships; organisational structures and governance; citizens and patients; evaluation and monitoring; macro level. Each theme was interpreted in terms of “successes”, “challenges” and “lessons learnt”.
Research limitations/implications
Evaluation was hampered by lack of a clear evaluation strategy from programme inception to conclusion, and of the evidence required to corroborate claims of benefit.
Practical implications
Key lessons learnt included: importance of strong clinical leadership, shared ownership and inbuilt evaluation.
Originality/value
Primary care was a key player in the integrated care programme. Initial resistance delayed implementation and related to concerns about vertical integration and scepticism about unrealistic goals. A focus on clinical care and shared ownership contributed to eventual system transformation.
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Rachappa Shette and Sudershan Kuntluru
This study aims to examine the impact of mandatory CEO/CFO certification introduced in the new Indian Companies Act (CA) 2013 on the earnings quality of reported annual and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the impact of mandatory CEO/CFO certification introduced in the new Indian Companies Act (CA) 2013 on the earnings quality of reported annual and quarterly net income of Indian listed companies.
Design/methodology/approach
Using rounding up of earnings as a proxy for earnings quality, the study is based on annual and quarterly reported net income of 4,128 sample companies during two years prior and two years after the CA 2013. The analysis of reported net income is based on the left-most second single digits with an emphasis on zero as the second single digit. The percentage difference between the actual and theoretical second single digits in reported net income is used for rounding up analysis. Benford’s Law is used to derive the theoretical percentage appearance of second single digits.
Findings
The existence of statistically significant deviation prior to CA 2013 and insignificant deviation post CA 2013 between the actual and theoretical percentage appearance of zero and nine of annual net income implies the increase in quality of earnings due to mandatory certification of annual financial statements. However, there is no improvement in the quality of earnings of quarterly net income as the certification of quarterly results is not mandatory.
Research limitations/implications
The authors recommend that CEO/CFO certification of quarterly financial results should also be made mandatory.
Originality/value
The positive impact of regulatory initiatives on the earnings quality of publicly listed companies operating in a weak enforcement environment within an emerging market is the contribution.
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Nathalie Kron, Jesper Björkman, Peter Ek, Micael Pihlgren, Hanan Mazraeh, Benny Berggren and Patrik Sörqvist
Previous research suggests that the compensation offered to customers after a service failure has to be substantial to make customer satisfaction surpass that of an error-free…
Abstract
Purpose
Previous research suggests that the compensation offered to customers after a service failure has to be substantial to make customer satisfaction surpass that of an error-free service. However, with the right service recovery strategy, it might be possible to reduce compensation size while maintaining happy customers. The aim of the current study is to test whether an anchoring technique can be used to achieve this goal.
Design/methodology/approach
After experiencing a service failure, participants were told that there is a standard size of the compensation for service failures. The size of this standard was different depending on condition. Thereafter, participants were asked how much they would demand to be satisfied with their customer experience.
Findings
The compensation demand was relatively high on average (1,000–1,400 SEK, ≈ $120). However, telling the participants that customers typically receive 200 SEK as compensation reduced their demand to about 800 SEK (Experiment 1)—an anchoring effect. Moreover, a precise anchoring point (a typical compensation of 247 SEK) generated a lower demand than rounded anchoring points, even when the rounded anchoring point was lower (200 SEK) than the precise counterpart (Experiment 2)—a precision effect.
Implications/value
Setting a low compensation standard—yet allowing customers to actually receive compensations above the standard—can make customers more satisfied while also saving resources in demand-what-you-want service recovery situations, in particular when the compensation standard is a precise value.
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DAVID G. PROVERBS, PAUL O. OLOMOLAIYE and FRANK C. HARRIS
The results of a model based survey of contractors' planning engineers in France and the UK suggest that planned completion times for constructing an identical high‐rise in situ…
Abstract
The results of a model based survey of contractors' planning engineers in France and the UK suggest that planned completion times for constructing an identical high‐rise in situ concrete framed structure are significantly and dramatically lower in France than in the UK. Average planned construction periods in France were 13 weeks, some 9 weeks faster than the UK average of 22 weeks. Since planned construction periods reflect past experience, French contractors apparently achieve superior levels of production performance whilst at the same time working fewer hours per week, utilizing directly employed workers and employing fewer supervisors. If such planned completion times are truly representative, the findings indicate comparatively poor UK contractor performance, and signify future problems for the British builder in the emerging European marketplace. The causes of such poor performance are complicated, but based on indicative French best practices: production is enhanced when scheduled overtime is avoided, a directly employed and mainly skilled workforce is engaged, and a maximum working time of 40 hours per week is the norm rather than the exception.
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The author reviews key developments in marketinggenerally including planning and strategy, production,marketing intelligence, product policy and new productdevelopment, services…
Abstract
The author reviews key developments in marketing generally including planning and strategy, production, marketing intelligence, product policy and new product development, services and services marketing, distribution and 1992.
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Columbus set out to prove the world was round. Today, Thomas Friedman posits the “world is flat.” The reversion reflects the complexity of today's world and an interdependent…
Abstract
Purpose
Columbus set out to prove the world was round. Today, Thomas Friedman posits the “world is flat.” The reversion reflects the complexity of today's world and an interdependent global economy. That complexity also relates to how we educate the citizens of tomorrow. The purpose of this commentary is to explore what is, what works, and what possibilities exist to address the complexities that surround education ‐ complexities of learning, complexities of educational systems, and complexities of determining positive outcomes of educational efforts. Related discussion includes comparing different educational systems from different countries and cultures.
Design/methodology/approach
The impetus for these perceptions arose from many years of professional practice and observation, most recently piqued by Glass's polemic, Fertilizers, Pills, and Magnetic Strips. Integral to the commentary is an overlay of the educational landscape in the USA.
Findings
The essay includes suggestions for change – adapting delivery styles, using more of what we know about learning and learners, and some jabs at holding too fast to tradition. Included are a suggestion to break away from the stale approaches that may not work anymore and an examination/re‐examination of some things that might yield salutary results – continuous progress, differentiated staffing, and matching teaching styles with learning preferences and motivational needs. (Also appended is a selected annotated bibliography of other perspectives and ideas.)
Originality/value
The urgency of examining what works and what is worth keeping must be balanced with considering the landscape of the educational environment. This essay is a gentle prodding to do just that, taken from the author's 45 years as a professional educator.
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Demonstrates the popularity of children’s magazines in the UK, and the power of licensed characters for children up to seven years old; magazines aid in children’s…
Abstract
Demonstrates the popularity of children’s magazines in the UK, and the power of licensed characters for children up to seven years old; magazines aid in children’s self‐development, they are an alternative to sweets and TV as a treat, they have a variety of content, and they give parents and children quality time together. Outlines the size of this highly competitive market, and its segments of preschool, comics (mainly aimed at boys), and girls, their retail profile, and market trends. Moves on to how these magazines fit into parents’ and children’s worlds, including case studies of four major licences: Disney, Barbie, Thomas the Tank Engine, and Clifford. Explains why these licences are so successful, and suggests how brands can use them to communicate with children and parents, through suitable advertisements, competitions and promotions.
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Before the appearance of our next issue, the Annual Meeting of the Library Association will have taken place. In many ways, as indicated last month, it will be an interesting…
Abstract
Before the appearance of our next issue, the Annual Meeting of the Library Association will have taken place. In many ways, as indicated last month, it will be an interesting meeting, largely because it is in the nature of an experiment. International conditions, the state of national and municipal finance, the absence of library workers with the colours, and the omission of social events, all tend to influence its character. It is possible, however, that these very circumstances may increase the interest in the actual conference business, especially as the programme bears largely upon the War. The programme itself is formidable, and it will be interesting to see how the section on the literature of the war, for example, will be treated. Probably the Publications' Committee have in mind the book symposia which are a feature of the meetings of various library associations in the United States. These consist of a few minutes' characterisation, by an opener, of a certain book or type of literature, and a discussion after it. The experiment was attempted in London last year at one of the monthly meetings, but owing to a misapprehension the speaker gave an excellent lecture on Francis Thompson of more than an hour's duration, when he had been expected to give a brief description of Francis Meynell's biography of that poet. If any gatherings for a similar purpose are arranged, we hope the speakers will be primed sufficiently to avoid that error. As for social events, their omission is less likely to be felt in London than anywhere else in the Kingdom. London is a perennial source of social amusement in itself, and the evenings can readily be filled there—“chacun à son goût”—really better than by attending pre‐arranged gatherings.