Scope Clarity Research Articles

Clarity of Scope and Focus: The Rearview Mirror is Always Clearer than the Windshield

Clarity of Scope and Focus: The Rearview Mirror is Always Clearer than the Windshield

Analisis Faktor Kunci Keberhasilan Implementasi Last Planner System untuk Peningkatan Kinerja Waktu pada Proyek Bendungan

Infrastructure development is crucial to the development of a nation’s economy. Based on data from the 2021 World Competitiveness Yearbook, Indonesia's infrastructure is ranked 57th out of 64 countries and one of the assessment criteria is related to water resources. Water resource management in Indonesia is still faced with fundamental challenges, including the limited water storage capacity in Indonesia so alternative water resources development is needed, among which is through the construction of dams. In practice, dam projects are very vulnerable to time delays. One of the solutions to this problem is the application of the last planner system method. The implementation of the last planner system can help create major improvements in project planning, increase workflow and productivity, and reduce project time and site accidents. This research has an update regarding the implementation of the last planner system method on a dam project and analyzing the key success factors using SEM-PLS. According to the study's findings, the key success factors of the implementation of the last planner system method on dam projects are budget plan, work schedule, clarity of scope of work, work plan, planning process, and weekly plan

Promoting the systematic use of real-world data and real-world evidence for digital health technologies across Europe: a consensus framework.

Despite the acceleration in the use of digital health technologies across different aspects of the healthcare system, the full potential of real-world data (RWD) and real-world evidence (RWE) arising from the technologies is not being utilised in decision-making. We examine current national efforts and future opportunities to systematically use RWD and RWE in decision-making in five countries (Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom), and then develop a framework for promotion of the systematic use of RWD and RWE. A review assesses current national efforts, complemented with a three-round consensus-building exercise among an international group of experts (n1 = 44, n2 = 24, n3 = 24) to derive key principles. We find that Estonia and Finland have invested and developed digital health-related policies for several years; Germany and Italy are the more recent arrivals, while the United Kingdom falls somewhere in the middle. Opportunities to promote the systematic use of RWD and RWE were identified for each country. Eight building blocks principles were agreed through consensus, relating to policy scope, institutional role and data collection. Promoting post-market surveillance and digital health technology vigilance ought to rely on clarity in scope and data collection with consensus reached on eight principles to leverage RWD and RWE.

Evaluation of a family liaison officer role introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed methods study.

The restrictions to hospital visiting for carers and relatives during the pandemic were unprecedented. To ensure patients could stay in touch with their relatives and carers new liaison roles were introduced. The aim of this study is to report on the evaluation of a Family Liaison Officer (FLO) role to understand the rationale for introducing the role along with the challenges and benefits of its implementation. A concurrent mixed methods design was used, triangulating both semi structured interviews and online surveys. Data were collected during 2021 from postholders, patients/relatives and key stakeholders. The family liaison officer role occupies a key brokering role between clinical teams and patients/relatives. All participants agreed the importance of the role particularly in relation to communication. Postholders noted issues around clarity of scope of practice. Patients reported the social benefits of the FLOs particularly in relation to technology. There was also key learning in terms of induction, training and line management of this nonprofessional role. There is limited research that evaluates emerging nonprofessional roles that connect clinical teams and patients/relatives. This evaluation study although limited to one organisation provides important insights to the strategic and operational learning to introducing a family liaison officer role during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Characteristics and quality of clinical practice guidelines addressing acupuncture interventions: a systematic survey of 133 guidelines and 433 acupuncture recommendations

ObjectiveTo systematically summarise acupuncture-related Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs)’s clinical and methodological characteristics and critically appraise their methodology quality.DesignWe summarised the characteristics of the guidelines and recommendations and evaluated their methodological...

Образование как событие: со-бытийная природа университетской корпоративности

In the article the conceptual issues of the educational philosophy are presented. The aim of the research is to explore the specific character of contemporary education ontology in the whole and the particularities of the university education as a part of it. In addition authors make an attempt to consider the education being as its betweenness in the world, to identify its historical and philosophical transformations closely connected with traditionally obtained corporative university form. Originally, the university was founded as a corporation, but state-of-the-art conditions of its functioning forced the development of its cultural model and structure. Authors stand on the position that the classical ontological university particularities - the wholeness of a being and the absoluteness of criteria - at the moment are displaced by the ontological eventness. Event ontology supposed to obtain ordinary disunification, plurality and conditions singularity. The university educational ontology transformation leads to the corporate culture ontology changing processes. A contemporary university corporate culture has event nature and it is supposed to illuminate itself in the postclassical cultural university identity. The main methods of the investigation are the philosophical and cultural critics (critical analysis) and the comparative research of the classical university education (presented in the unity of its being) and its current condition status represented by the event existence. The novelty of the authors' position is in argumentation of ontological term “event” applied to the contemporary university and relative to it, also event ontology based, corporativity. Eventness of the current cultural processes, including educational ones, is an element, deconstructing being in its entity and wholeness. Being in existent modernity obtains the features of eclecticism, fragmentarity, as a consequence, the key characteristics development of the social institutes is required. The classical university in its students' and professors' unity of scientific investigations has to expand its functions in accordance with the educational market demand. Essentially, a university transforms into a business corporation with the high standard of culture. The authors' position is based on the deconstructive processes within the present day philosophical thinking, distinguishing the classical scope clarity. The position mentioned above give a possibility to consider the modification of ontology of being in entity of its particularities, the education being and the university being alongside its corporate culture. The position explored can be identified as event ontology and it is the result of liquid modernity requirements challenging a contemporary university. The classical university model and the unipolar culture are displaced by the multiple identity and the complementarity of corporate and academic cultures as a vital condition of the university existence.

Procurement of Maintenance Management for Public High Rise Residential Buildings

In response to the Malaysian housing shortage, various interventions introduced. However, while the housing gap is widening, problems relating to the performance and condition of the buildings on account of defects and poor maintenance is increasing unabated. This study investigated the selection criteria of maintenance procurement methods for public high-rise residential buildings through a survey involving eight (8) maintenance managers of PRIMA housings. The five (5) main selection criteria are working relationship intuition and experience, quality level, condition of the existing building, and clarity of scope. The research prompts a need for strategic defect management for public housing. Keywords: PR1MA housing, low-cost housing, AHP, outsourcing eISSN: 2398-4287© 2021. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v6i17.2882

Defining the Scope of Digital Public Health and Its Implications for Policy, Practice, and Research: Protocol for a Scoping Review.

BackgroundThere has been rapid development and application of digital technologies in public health domains, which are considered to have the potential to transform public health. However, this growing interest in digital technologies in public health has not been accompanied by a clarity of scope to guide policy, practice, and research in this rapidly emergent field.ObjectiveThis scoping review seeks to determine the scope of digital health as described by public health researchers and practitioners and to consolidate a conceptual framework of digital public health.MethodsThe review follows Arksey and O’Malley’s framework for conducting scoping reviews with improvements as suggested by Levac et al. The search strategy will be applied to Embase, Medline, and Google Scholar. A grey literature search will be conducted on intergovernmental agency websites and country-specific websites. Titles and abstracts will be reviewed by independent reviewers, while full-text reviews will be conducted by 2 reviewers to determine eligibility based on prespecified inclusion and exclusion criteria. The data will be coded in an iterative approach using the best-fit framework analysis methodology.ResultsThis research project received funding from the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control Foundation for Population and Public Health on January 1, 2020. The initial search was conducted on June 1, 2020 and returned 6953 articles in total. After deduplication, 4523 abstracts were reviewed, and 227 articles have been included in the review. Ethical approval is not required for this review as it uses publicly available data.ConclusionsWe anticipate that the findings of the scoping review will contribute relevant evidence to health policy makers and public health practitioners involved in planning, funding, and delivering health services that leverage digital technologies. Results of the review will be strategically disseminated through publications in scientific journals, conferences, and engagement with relevant stakeholders.International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)DERR1-10.2196/27686

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Residency Quality Improvement and Research Curriculum: Design and Implementation.

Physical medicine and rehabilitation residency programs do not demonstrate a uniform level of training and mentorship for resident scholarly activities related in part to variable utilization of standardized curricula. The aim of this study was to design, develop, implement, and evaluate a structured Quality Improvement and Research Curriculum for a physical medicine and rehabilitation residency program in academic year 2015 using standardized methodology. A combination of five-phase project-lifecycle and six-step medical-curriculum development methodologies was used to integrate existing resources into five institutional domains: (1) Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Program; (2) Research Mentorship Program; (3) Rehab in Review; (4) Publication and Presentation Resources, and (5) Research and QI Lecture Series. Dedicated resident-faculty teams were created for individual domains and for the overall curriculum. Written materials developed included scope documents, reporting forms, and tracking tables. A dedicated webpage on the department website served as an accessible resource. A bimonthly Updates newsletter highlighted ongoing resident achievements. Program and resident outcome metrics were evaluated at the mid and end of academic year 2015. Excellent resident and good faculty participation in the curriculum was observed. Resident publication and presentation productivity improved. Time was the biggest barrier to success. Key factors for success included phased implementation, dedicated teams, scope clarity, accessible resources, personnel support, resident champions, and faculty mentorship.

Modeling success factors for public construction projects with the SEM approach: engineer’s perspective

Purpose The study of the success factors of a project is a means of improving the effectiveness of the project. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to identify various determinants and validate their effects on the success of public construction projects in Ethiopia. Design/methodology/approach The study uses a questionnaire survey to collect data and structural equation modeling (SEM) to empirically examine the effect of determinants, namely, project manager’s competence, owner’s competence, management support and updates, scope clarity (SC), effective partnering, and monitoring and feedback on success of public construction projects which has been measured by performance on cost, schedule, quality and no-dispute parameters. Out of 407 questionnaires distributed among the selected respondents, a total of 200 completed questionnaires were received. The response rate was 49.1 percent. Findings The results depict that the investigated factors have a significant positive influence on the success of public construction projects with path coefficient of 0.82, the model is substantial in representing the relationship of the factors on the success of public construction projects and the factor “SC” plays a decisive role in the success of a project as it has a path coefficient of 0.98, and it is followed by “effective partnership, and owner’s competency” having equal path coefficients of 0.96. Research limitations/implications The proposed model was validated by collecting data from many senior construction executives in Ethiopia only, hence may induce certain bias in the outcome of the study. Practical implications The significance of six constructs is highlighted to help the project manager in understanding the role of various constructs in public construction projects. The results would enable researchers and industry practitioners to focus on a few factors to take proactive measures and get the optimum result in the successful delivery of public construction projects. Utilization of SEM in the understanding of the significance of various success determinants is an important contribution to the body of theoretical literature in construction management. Since the model includes constructs, SEM has been used for construct validation. Social implications The implications of this study are not limited to researchers and construction industry practitioners alone. The Ethiopian Government could adopt the results of this study to reduce/avoid additional cost incurred due to the poor performance of public construction projects which results in poor utilization and increased social and economic costs. Furthermore, the study may also help the government efforts to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in the use of public funds for construction projects which are an ongoing concern of government and of the international development community. Originality/value This work is original and has neither been published nor under consideration for publication elsewhere. This study can add value to the construction professional in public construction project management as well as the Government of Ethiopia.

Study of Significant Factors Affecting Construction Productivity Using Relative Importance Index in Indian Construction Industry

The construction industry of India is the second-largest contributor to the GDP and provides employment to a large population in the country. Its contribution to the GDP is about 8-10% on an average in the last decade. The objective of this study is to identify and analyze the significant factors affecting construction productivity using relative importance index method with a special focus on the Indian construction industry. A structured questionnaire survey method is used to collect the data from the primary stakeholders of the Indian construction industry including but not limited to consultants, architects, civil contractor, developer, PMC, and academia people. Total of 201 valid responses were received with a response rate of 32%. The value of reliability analysis is above 0.95, which is considered highly reliable for data-based studies. The findings of the study provide a ranking of factors affecting construction productivity. Most significant factors affecting construction productivity are availability of resources, contractual disputes, scope clarity of the project, design capability, and frequent design changes having the value on relative importance index scale 0.801, 0.799, 0.790, 0.785, and 0.776 respectively. This research paper concludes that the productivity can be achieved by changing the work culture and reviewing the management process for execution. Which suggests the implementation of best practices and motivation towards achieving the goal of having higher productivity by looking at the factor and analyzing how to promote productivity improvement.

Commentaries on health services research

Commentaries on health services research

Critical factors affecting cost performance: a case of Ethiopian public construction projects

ABSTRACTA striking feature of public construction projects worldwide has been the occurrence of cost overrun, and the Ethiopian construction industry is no exception. The purpose of this study is to determine the factors responsible for impacting the cost performance of Ethiopian public construction projects. For this purpose, 35 attributes responsible for impacting performance of the projects were identified and presented to Ethiopian construction professionals in the form of structured questionnaire and responses were collected. The factor analysis conducted on success attributes and failure attributes separately resulted in seven success factors and six failure factors. Further analysis using stepwise multiple regression indicates that scope clarity and project manager's competence have positive impact on cost performance. On the other hand, conflict among project participant, and project manager's ignorance and lack of knowledge have negative impact on cost performance of Ethiopian public construction projects. The findings are expected to assist researchers and practitioners to gain better understanding of the critical success and failure factors and helping them to take proactive measures to improve project cost performance.

Concepts of poverty and social exclusion in Europe

This paper provides a critical analysis of the concepts of poverty and social exclusion in three parts. First, it examines the relationship between poverty and social exclusion, a distinction that has been the subject of analysis, debate and controversy. Second, the concepts of poverty and social exclusion as used in the European policy discourse are analysed, and how changes in terminology, links to the economic growth agenda, and emphasis on employment as a response can be noticed. The recognition of the ‘territorial dimension’ of poverty and social exclusion has been an increasingly important feature of EU discourse and actions. Third, the paper explores the inherent territoriality of poverty and social exclusion, which has paved the way for localised spatial responses. The authors argue that economic concerns have triggered a continuous tendency to narrow down the focus of definition and action, in order to offer clarity of scope to researchers and policy makers, but that such narrowing could also undermine our ability to address a complex multi-dimensional process. In particular, prioritising economic dimensions to the neglect of the other aspects of social exclusion is problematic in dealing with major social problems.

An examination of factors that influence the number of information security policy violations in Qatari organizations

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate factors that impact the number of information security policy violations in Qatari organizations and to examine the moderating effect of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions on the relationships between the independent factors and the number of information security policy violations. Design/methodology/approach – Grounded in related theories from the fields of criminology, behavioral psychology and theory of planned behavior, two components that affect the number of information security policy violations were identified. A quantitative approach was used by developing a questionnaire survey to collect the data. The research model was tested using 234 employees from different Qatari organizations. Findings – The results of the study indicate that trust, the impact of implementing information security policy on work environment and the clarity of the scope of the information security policy were significant factors in predicting the number of information security policy violations. The findings also reveal that cultural dimensions such as uncertainty avoidance and collectivism moderate the relationships between trust, clarity of policy scope and impact of information security policy on work environment and the number information security policy violations. Research limitations/implications – The generalizability of the results is limited because the sample of the study was drawn from only one developing country. Therefore, a plausible future research could be testing the proposed model in many developing and developed countries. Practical implications – The paper includes practical implications for developing and implementing security measures and policies in diversified work environments. Originality/value – This study fulfils a gap in investigating the factors that influence the number of information security policy violations and the moderating effect of cultural dimensions in developing countries such as Qatar.

Humanizing Organizations: Researchers as Knowledge Brokers and Change Agents

Competitive pressures and more empowered customers have made customer experience a critical strategic imperative for every industry and every company. The need for research about people, their experience, and how they define value has increased as businesses change to become more customercentric. Researchers must become more than purveyors of insight; they must also act as knowledge brokers and change agents. This paper describes how research combined with user-centered design and facilitation techniques bring benefits to business beyond customer understanding, including alignment on complex, multifunctional teams, project scope clarity, and a strategy for risk mitigation in a world exploding with change.

Identification and evaluation of success factors for public construction projects

Achieving success in public construction projects is difficult because it requires economy, efficiency, quality, fairness and transparency. Such projects are taken up on the requisition of owners/clients and almost always involve multiple entities and are also accountable to external financial audit and vigilance agencies. Identification of the success factors is considered the key to achieving success in these projects. Through an extensive literature review, 36 success attributes were identified and a questionnaire-based survey was undertaken to elicit views of professionals on these success attributes. The responses from 105 professionals with an average of 22 years of experience in public construction projects in India were collected and analysed. The factor analysis yielded four success factors: awareness of and compliance with rules and regulations; pre-project planning and clarity in scope; effective partnering among project participants; and external monitoring and control. These four success factors were also used in multivariate linear regression in order to explore their relative significance for overall performance, and compliance with anti-corruption and financial norms. The most significant factor for overall performance is awareness of and compliance with rules and regulations. The results would be helpful to public construction project professionals in taking proactive measures for successful completion of public projects.