Effective Information-sharing Research Articles

Achieving supply chain sustainability: enhancing supply chain resilience, organizational performance, innovation and information sharing: empirical evidence from Chinese SMEs

PurposeThis study aimed to explore the relationship between supply chain resilience (SCR) and organizational performance (OP), with innovation (INN) serving as a mediator and information sharing (IS) acting as a moderator.Design/methodology/approachThe study comprehensively examined the connections between SCR, OP, INN and IS. An exploratory approach and quantitative methods were employed. The data were collected from small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises of three cities Xian, Hainan and Guangzhou of China via online questionnaire surveys conducted through Emails and WeChat. SmartPLS-4 was used for data analysis.FindingsThe findings indicated that SCR has a positive effect on sustainability efforts. Additionally, INN and effective IS both mediated and moderated this relationship, playing crucial roles in improving sustainability within the supply chain.Practical implicationsThe study offered practical insights for businesses to enhance their sustainability efforts. Managers can use these findings to develop strategies that improve SCR, foster INN and encourage effective IS, ultimately resulting in a more sustainable supply chain.Originality/valueThis study enriched the existing knowledge base by investigating the intricate relationships among SCR, OP, INN and IS, all within the context of achieving sustainability. By exploring these elements holistically, the research introduced originality and highlighted effective strategies for sustainable supply chain management.

The Dilemma of International Cooperation in Global Governance: The Case of Amazon Forest Conservation in Brazil

The Amazon Forest is an essential ecosystem that provides numerous services and supports millions of livelihoods. Despite conservation efforts that began in the 1960s with the Brazilian government and international agencies joining the cause, economic and political pressures still pose significant challenges. Governance of the Amazon Forest involves three main actors: sovereign states within and outside the region and NGOs. Brazil, with 60% of the worlds largest tropical forest, is the most critical intra-regional governance actor. However, conflicting interests, the governments lack of environmental governance capacity, and negative attitudes toward international cooperation impede governance in the region. Aid from outside sovereign states can be influenced by political factors, leading to the mismanagement of funds, while NGOs cannot play a substantial role due to government policies. To address these challenges, the author recommends finding consensus among different subjects, resource integration, and cooperation, construction of coordination mechanisms, information-sharing platforms, and monitoring mechanisms. Effective information-sharing and assessment mechanisms can enhance collaboration, and trust, and reduce conflicts, leading to common governance goals achievement.

Building Situation Awareness and Team Cohesion through Effective Information Sharing in a Distributed Team-Based Command and Control Scenario

Within complex command and control domains, where teams are often geographically distributed and heterogeneous in expertise, the formulation of a course of action depends upon effective information sharing between teammates. The communication and development of situation awareness (SA) may both depend upon and help foster trust and cohesion among teammates. However, distributed and heterogeneous environments present challenges for the development of trust and cohesion. This study investigated the relationship between information sharing, SA, trust, and team cohesion in a distributed team-based emergency management scenario. Participants played the role of humanitarian aid experts, public health experts, and migration and social services experts responding to a potential outbreak of cholera following a natural disaster. The results of exploratory analyses provide preliminary support for a complex relationship between effective information sharing, the convergence of higher-level SA, and the development of team cohesion, and propose a roadmap for further exploration of this rich dataset.

Determinants of Effective Information Sharing in Publicly Funded Infrastructure Projects: A Scoping Review

Using qualitative (content) analysis, we provide a framework highlighting the determinants of effective inter-organization information sharing in developing infrastructure projects. We examined the determinants of effective inter-organization information sharing in publicly funded physical infrastructure projects, focusing mainly on health, education, and transportation projects. The literature search identified 2,330 citations. A review of these abstracts led to the retrieval of 86 full-text articles, of which 40 met the inclusion criteria. Coordination and collaboration were identified as two of the most important inter-organization processes required for the successful development of transportation, health, and education infrastructure projects. These two processes are enabled by several elements of inter-organization information sharing such as human resources and expertise; incentives and rewards; and effective contract management and record-keeping. Our review also demonstrated that for organizations to effectively implement the determinants of inter-organization information sharing, they must first ensure they form effective interpersonal and intra-organization information sharing.

Lived Experience Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic among Arabic-, Russian- and Somali-Speaking Migrants in Finland.

Increasing research shows that migrants are disproportionately exposed to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, little is known about their lived experience and related meaning-making. This qualitative study maps COVID-19-related experiences among respondents from three migrant groups living in Finland: Somali-, Arabic- and Russian-speakers (N = 209). The data were collected by telephone interviews over four weeks in March and April 2020. Using inductive thematic analysis, we identified seven themes that illustrate respondents’ multifaceted lived experiences during the first phase of pandemic. The themes depict respondents’ difficulties and fears, but also their resilience and resources to cope, both individually and collectively. Experiences varied greatly between individuals and migrant groups. The main conclusion is that although the COVID-19 pandemic may be an especially stressful experience for migrant populations, it may also provide opportunities to deepen cooperation and trust within migrant communities, and between migrants and their country of settlement. Our analysis suggests that cooperation between local authorities and migrants, trust-building and effective information-sharing can foster positive and functional adaptations to disease-related threats and changing social environments.

Perspectives of primary school staff who work with children with additional needs: Insights that may help to improve support for visually impaired children

Educational support for children with visual impairments (VIs) at school relies on effective information-sharing between hospital eye services and schools. There may be delays in this process which impede school staff’s efforts to help affected children. As part of a programme of work aiming to improve outcomes for children with cerebral visual impairments (CVIs), this study carried out qualitative interviews to understand the views of primary school staff about receiving and using external specialist advice in general. These data can be used to inform and improve information-sharing aimed at supporting children in primary school who have VI. Views of primary school teachers and staff with responsibility for supporting children with additional needs were elicited in nine interviews, across three mainstream primary school settings in Gloucestershire, UK. Interviews were carried out in October 2017. Participants were asked about their experiences of working with children with additional needs and engaging with outside specialist providers. Thematic analysis was used to look for patterns in the data. Interviews revealed four major themes: understanding the condition (including training, individual differences, and understanding the aim of the strategy); translating reports into action (including adaptations to recommendations, team working, and communication formats); follow-up (including feedback and measuring progress); and barriers and opportunities for accessing support (including systematic barriers, going private, and ideal scenarios). This small study provides insights into how teachers and school staff perceive the relationship with external specialists. Services for children with VI in primary schools may be enhanced if they provide information about the impact of VI; about the underlying conditions if known, training and awareness activities for staff and offer a route for follow-up or enquiries. These insights can be used to inform service design and policy.

The link between hearing impairment and child maltreatment among Aboriginal children in the Northern Territory of Australia: is there an opportunity for a public health approach in child protection?

BackgroundInternational studies provide evidence of an association between child disabilities, including hearing impairment (HI), and child maltreatment. There are high prevalences of ear disease with associated HI, and child maltreatment among Australian Aboriginal children, but the link between HI and child maltreatment is unknown. This study investigates the association between HI and child maltreatment for Aboriginal children living in the Northern Territory (NT) of Australia.MethodsThis was a retrospective cohort study of 3895 Aboriginal school-aged children (born between 1999 and 2008) living in remote NT communities. The study used linked individual-level information from health, education and child protection services. The outcome variables were child maltreatment notifications and substantiations. The key explanatory variable, HI, was based on audiometric assessment. The Kaplan–Meier estimator method was used in univariate analysis; Cox proportional hazards regression was used in multivariable analysis.ResultsA majority of the study cohort lived in very remote (94.5%) and most disadvantaged (93.1%) regions. Among all children in the study cohort, 56.1% had a record of either HI or unilateral hearing loss (UHL), and for those with a history of contact with child protection services (n = 2757), 56.7% had a record of HI/UHL (n = 1564). In the 1999–2003 birth cohort, by age 12 years, 53.5% of children with a record of moderate or worse HI had at least one maltreatment notification, compared to 47.3% of children with normal hearing. In the 2004–2008 cohort, the corresponding results were 83.4 and 71.7% respectively. In multivariable analysis, using the full cohort, children with moderate or worse HI had higher risk of any child maltreatment notification (adjusted Hazard Ratios (adjHR): 1.16, 95% CI:1.04–1.30), notification for neglect (adjHR:1.17, 95% CI:1.04–1.31) and substantiation (adjHR:1.20, 95% CI:1.04–1.40), than children with normal hearing. In the 2004–2008 birth cohort, children with moderate or worse HI had higher risk of a substantiated episode of physical abuse (adjHR:1.47, 95% CI:1.07–2.03) than children with normal hearing.ConclusionOur findings demonstrate the urgent need for HI and child maltreatment prevention strategies through raised community awareness and inter-agency collaboration. Effective information-sharing between service providers is a critical first step to a public health approach in child protection.

Speaking the same language: Navigating information-sharing in the youth justice sphere

Introduction: Qualitative research was undertaken to explore professionals’ experiences of cross-sector information-sharing about the mental health needs of young people in youth justice residences in Aotearoa New Zealand. Methods: Eight focus groups (N = 36) were conducted across Aotearoa New Zealand. Half of these were with case leaders from each of the four Oranga Tamariki – Ministry for Children – youth justice residences. The other half were with youth forensic service (YFS) clinicians who provide mental health services in each youth justice residence. Findings: The findings showed positive cross-sector relationships, despite a lack of policy around information-sharing in this context. Themes from case leaders included the practicalities of the residential environment (including restriction on young people’s freedoms and managing group safety), and case leaders’ brokerage role between competing theoretical frameworks in residence. Themes from YFS clinicians included the importance of cross-sector information-sharing for the assessment and discharge phases of mental health input. Overall themes included the impact of relationships on information-sharing, and the importance of including residential care team staff within information-sharing practices. A proposed model of information-sharing in this context has been developed.Conclusions: Effective information-sharing in youth justice residences is imperative to ensure that young people receive appropriate mental health input in residences, and that residence staff are supported to provide the best care for these young people. Social work has an important role within information-sharing practices with use of systems theory, translation of clinical jargon, and advocacy for the needs of young people involved in multiple systems.

Information-sharing with respite care services for older adults: a qualitative exploration of carers' experiences.

Respite services play an important role in supporting older adults and their carers. When an older person is unable to fully represent themselves, provision of respite care relies on effective information-sharing between carers and respite staff. This study aimed to explore, from carers' perspectives, the scope, quality and fit of information-sharing between carers, older people and respite services. An explorative, cross-sectional qualitative study involving a purposive sample of 24 carers, recruited via carer support groups and community groups in voluntary organisations, was undertaken in North East Scotland. Data were collected from August 2013 to September 2014, with participants taking part in a focus group or individual interview. Data were analysed systematically using the Framework Approach. The multiple accounts elicited from carers identified how barriers and facilitators to information-sharing with respite services changed over time across three temporal phases: 'Reaching a point', 'Trying it out' and 'Settled in'. Proactive information-sharing about accessibility and eligibility for respite care, and assessment of carers' needs in their own right, were initially important; as carers and older people moved on to try services out, time and space to develop mutual understandings and negotiate care arrangements came to the fore; then, once shared expectations had been established, carers' chief concerns were around continuity of care and maintaining good interpersonal relationships. The three temporal phases also impacted on which modes of information-sharing were available to, and worked best for, carers as well as on carers' perceptions of how information and communication technologies should be utilised. This study highlights the need for respite staff to take proactive, flexible approaches to working with carers and to make ongoing efforts to engage with carers, and older people, throughout the months and years of them utilising respite services. Information and communication technologies have potential to enhance information-sharing but traditional approaches will remain important.

Cognition to Collaboration: User-Centric Approach and Information Behaviour Theories/Models

Aim/Purpose: The objective of this paper is to review the vast literature of user-centric in-formation science and inform about the emerging themes in information behaviour science. Background: The paradigmatic shift from system-centric to user-centric approach facilitates research on the cognitive and individual information processing. Various information behaviour theories/models emerged. Methodology: Recent information behaviour theories and models are presented. Features, strengths and weaknesses of the models are discussed through the analysis of the information behaviour literature. Contribution: This paper sheds light onto the weaknesses in earlier information behaviour models and stresses (and advocates) the need for research on social information behaviour. Findings: Prominent information behaviour models deal with individual information behaviour. People live in a social world and sort out most of their daily or work problems in groups. However, only seven papers discuss social information behaviour (Scopus search). Recommendations for Practitioners : ICT tools used for inter-organisational sharing should be redesigned for effective information-sharing during disaster/emergency times. Recommendation for Researchers: There are scarce sources on social side of the information behaviour, however, most of the work tasks are carried out in groups/teams. Impact on Society: In dynamic work contexts like disaster management and health care settings, collaborative information-sharing may result in decreasing the losses. Future Research: A fieldwork will be conducted in disaster management context investigating the inter-organisational information-sharing.

DIO: Development of a Mobile Application for Effective Information Sharing and Collaboration among Co-Located People

Since social activities of the modern people have increased continuously in recent year, many people frequently communicate with each other online and/or offline, exchanging a variety of information. Thanks to the development of smartphones and a wide range of mobile applications helping social activities of people, people can communicate more easily beyond their time and space. But, there are not many mobile applications specially designed for effective communication and collaboration among co-located people, most of the existing applications only provide limited functions. In this paper, we present an android mobile application DIO specially designed for co-located people to collaborate in a rich way. DIO enables users to share and exchange their profiles, favorite photos, musics, videos and documents according to one of the three open levels - public, business and community level. In addition, through DIO, co-located people can chat, vote, and survey. DIO is implemented on the top of AllJoyn platform - an open source IoT platform developed by the AllSeen Alliance. So, it can be easily done to extend DIO to communicate with other smart things running on the same platform.

Supply Chain Information Sharing

The purpose of this paper is to present an approach for modeling the barriers of information sharing (IS) in supply chain (SC) by developing the relationship between various information sharing barriers (ISBs). Using interpretive structural modeling (ISM), the result shows a hierarchy-based model and the mutual relationships among the ISBs. The result shows that there is a group of ISBs having high driving power and low dependence which requires maximum attention and of strategic importance while another group consists of those ISBs which have high dependence and are the resultant actions. This categorization provides an important guideline to top management to differentiate between independent and dependent ISBs and their mutual relationships which are playing the role of roadblocks for effective IS in SC.

Information sharing in supply chain: modelling the enablers

The purpose of this paper is to present an approach for effective information sharing (IS) in supply chain (SC) by understanding the relationship between various information sharing enablers (ISEs). Using interpretive structural modelling (ISM), the research presents a hierarchy-based model and the mutual relationships among the ISEs. The research shows that there is a group of ISEs having a high driving power and low dependence which requires maximum attention and is of strategic importance while, another group consists of those ISEs which have high dependence and low driving power which requires the resultant actions. This categorisation provides a useful tool to top management to differentiate between independent and dependent ISEs and their mutual relationships which would help them to focus on those key ISEs that are most significant for effective IS enablement of SC.

Medical Records for Effective Information Sharing in Rehabilitation

Medical Records for Effective Information Sharing in Rehabilitation

Old age mental health services in England: implementing the National Service Framework for Older People

There is much variation in the services provided for older people with mental health problems. In England, the National Service Framework for Older People (NSFOP) sought to address these inconsistencies and improve care. This study describes the situation three years after its publication. A postal survey of old age psychiatrists collected data on the NSFOP mental health model: the range of specialist mental health provision, the nature of the specialist:generic service interface and the degree of interdisciplinary/interagency working. Three hundred and eighteen (72%) consultants responded. Considerable differences existed in the deployment of key professionals within community teams, with more than a third lacking ring-fenced social work time. Few services had dedicated rehabilitation beds and nearly a third lacked separate facilities for people with organic and functional illnesses. Increasing numbers of consultants had access to a memory clinic and there was some suggestion that liaison services were developing, but little indication of increased support for care homes. Several services had yet to agree protocols with primary care, or to implement measures promoting effective information-sharing and integrated care, and there was little evidence that the introduction of the Single Assessment Process (SAP) had significantly changed practice. Although just over half of consultants reported that mental health services were improving, less than a quarter considered community provision adequate. Three years after the publication of the NSFOP there remained significant gaps in services for older people with mental health problems and substantial variation in provision between districts.