Alicia Mason, Lynzee Flores, Pan Liu, Kenzie Tims, Elizabeth Spencer and T. Gabby Gire
The purpose of this paper is to understand the crisis communication strategies used by the Caribbean medical tourism industry in the 2017 hurricane season, and also evaluate the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand the crisis communication strategies used by the Caribbean medical tourism industry in the 2017 hurricane season, and also evaluate the quality of the disaster communication messages delivered via digital mediums.
Design/methodology/approach
This study includes a comprehensive, qualitative content analysis of 149 risk and crisis messages from 51 healthcare organizations distributed through digital media. The medical tourism providers (MTPs) include hospitals, medical tourism facilitators, practitioners/private physicians, specialty clinics, and dental and cosmetic providers.
Findings
Nearly half of the MTPs included in the data set delivered no post-disaster information to external audiences. The most prominent post-disaster message strategy utilized was conveying operational messages. Furthermore, an unexpected finding was the sheer magnitude of unrelated health-oriented and promotional destination marketing content disseminated before, during and after these events.
Research limitations/implications
This analysis excludes internal organizational channels of communication which may have been used to communicate risk and crisis messages during these events (i.e. employee e-mails, announcements made through intercom systems, etc.). Our analysis does not include content disseminated through medical tourism forums (i.e. Realself.com, Health Traveler’s Forum, FlyerTalk Forum).
Practical implications
Small-scale MTPs can improve on any weaknesses through proactive planning and preparation by creating organizational goals to complete basic crisis communication training courses and in doing so support the applied professional development of disaster and crisis responders in the Caribbean region. Second, MTPs exposed to similar risks of natural disasters may use these findings for comparative analysis purposes to support their own organizational planning. Finally, this study supports the continued utility of the National Center for Food Protection & Defense guidelines for analyzing and evaluating organizational performance.
Originality/value
Currently much of the academic scholarship of applied disaster communication narrowly focuses on the response strategies of one organization, or analyzes one social media platform at a time (i.e. Twitter). A strength of this analysis is the inclusion of an organizational sector (i.e. Caribbean medical tourism providers) and the range of platforms from which the content was captured (e.g. websites, org. blogs and social media networks).
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K.A. Chatha and I. Butt
A literature review within the manufacturing strategy (MS) discipline with a focus on thematic developments is provided. Based on recent studies, a set of challenges posed to…
Abstract
Purpose
A literature review within the manufacturing strategy (MS) discipline with a focus on thematic developments is provided. Based on recent studies, a set of challenges posed to manufacturing enterprise of the future are summarized, and thematic areas are analyzed in relation to meeting those challenges. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a select set of 506 articles published in top-ranked refereed international journals in the discipline of operations management, major and subthemes are identified and the publication trends in these themes are provided with time and across geographical regions, namely: North America, Europe, and other parts of the world.
Findings
MS literature is predominantly focussed on the economic objectives of firms without a due focus on the social and environmental perspectives. MS literature covers 11 major thematic areas, namely: MS components and paradigms, manufacturing capabilities (MCs), strategic choices (SCs), best practices (BPs), the strategy process (SP), supply-chain management (SCM), performance measurement, transnational comparisons, global manufacturing, environmental/green manufacturing, and literature reviews. The research in two areas – SCs, and MCs – has been in decline, while the research in BPs, the SP, and transnational comparisons is growing (in absolute figures). Various research opportunities for future studies are identified.
Research limitations/implications
The literature review is limited in its selection of articles and journals, however, the identified trends clarify the state of research by the MS research community at large.
Practical implications
For researchers, multiple new research directions are identified in order to advance knowledge in the field of MS. The publication trends also highlight thematic areas where most of the MS body of knowledge is currently available and can be utilized by practitioners.
Originality/value
The paper’s novelty comes from: first, a broader and deeper review of thematic areas that has not been researched before, second, trends in thematic areas by time, across geographical regions, and including time-region dyads, and third, coverage provided by MS literature in meeting challenges posed to manufacturing enterprise of the future.
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Tim Lawrence, Ian Wilding and Balvinder Chowdhary
This paper outlines the current position of water based no‐clean liquid fluxes for wave soldering. The primary differences between these and “traditional” alcohol based liquid…
Abstract
This paper outlines the current position of water based no‐clean liquid fluxes for wave soldering. The primary differences between these and “traditional” alcohol based liquid fluxes are explored using wetting balance methods. Reduced wetting capability (of the flux onto the PCB) can be addressed by using various surfactant additives; improved solderability is due to enhanced acid activator dissociation resulting from increased solvent polarity. Regarding implementation in a production environment, there is only minor impact. A slightly increased preheat capability is required, and foam application demands tight control of the feed gas flow rate. More generally, in addition to the “headline” environmental benefit of reduced VOC emissions, water based liquid fluxes confer significant handling advantages, for example zero flammability and low odour/evaporation at room temperature. Against this background, it is suggested that water based liquid fluxes will become ever more popular.
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Morton International Inc. have purchased Hoechst AG's printed circuit materials business including their Ozatec dry film and liquid primary imaging photoresists, Ozatec liquid…
Abstract
Morton International Inc. have purchased Hoechst AG's printed circuit materials business including their Ozatec dry film and liquid primary imaging photoresists, Ozatec liquid photoimageable solder masks and related process equipment. Concurrently, Hoechst and its US subsidiary Hoechst Celanese Corporation purchased Morton's semiconductor photoresist business. Completion of these transactions was effective from 4 August 1993.
There can have been few periods in the history of the electronics soldering industry when the introduction of new technologies was so widespread and prevalent. Many of these…
Abstract
There can have been few periods in the history of the electronics soldering industry when the introduction of new technologies was so widespread and prevalent. Many of these changes have the objective of improving the efficiency of the process, and examples of this might be nitrogen soldering and the new developments in reflow soldering. Other changes, however, are being forced upon the industry by the impact of environmental legislation, and examples in this case include the ban on the use of CFCs and the growing pressure to replace lead‐containing solders with non‐toxic alternatives. The content of the soldering session reflected these concerns, with papers on nitrogen soldering, developments in reflow soldering and environmental issues.
Jaco Lok, W. E. Douglas Creed and Rich DeJordy
The concept of (self-)identity has become increasingly central to institutional theory’s microfoundations, yet remains relatively underdeveloped. In this chapter, the authors use…
Abstract
The concept of (self-)identity has become increasingly central to institutional theory’s microfoundations, yet remains relatively underdeveloped. In this chapter, the authors use an autobiographical interview with a gay Protestant minister in the US to explore the role of narrative conventions in the construction of self-identity. The analysis of this chapter offers the basis for a new understanding of the relation between institutions, self-identity, and agency: how we agentically engage institutions depends not only on who we narrate ourselves to be, but also on how we narrate ourselves into being. This suggests that narration as a specific modality of micro-institutional processes has important performative effects.
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Jenny Lawrence and Tim Herrick
The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact and value of a scholarship of teaching and learning-led (SoTL) professional development in higher education (HE), with a focus…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact and value of a scholarship of teaching and learning-led (SoTL) professional development in higher education (HE), with a focus on practitioner wellbeing.
Design/methodology/approach
The research was a small-scale mixed-methods design, surveying 21 participants and interviewing 3 current students or recent graduates from a UK-based MEd in Teaching and Learning in HE. Data were mapped against an evidence-based framework for wellbeing.
Findings
A SoTL-led form of professional development, an MEd in Teaching in Learning in HE, offers participants opportunity to exercise the “Five Ways to Wellbeing in HE”, which has positive outcomes for staff and students.
Research limitations/implications
The research project was not designed to explore the programme’s impact on wellbeing, but to explore its impact and value on individuals and institutions. Reading data against the “Five Ways to Wellbeing in HE” was retrospective, and individual wellbeing was not measured. However, the theoretical implications are that wellbeing is an additional benefit, which adds to the value of SoTL-led professional development in HE, and that further research is required to explore this more fully.
Practical implications
The wellbeing framework outlined in this research and applied to HE can be used as a model for shaping SoTL-led professional development, to the benefit of the entire learning community.
Originality/value
This paper proposes a connection between wellbeing, SoTL-led professional development and the SOTL.