Interrelated Influences Research Articles

Kenyan health stakeholder views on individual consent, general notification and governance processes for the re-use of hospital inpatient data to support learning on healthcare systems

BackgroundIncreasing adoption of electronic health records in hospitals provides new opportunities for patient data to support public health advances. Such learning healthcare models have generated ethical debate in high-income countries, including on the role of patient and public consent and engagement. Increasing use of electronic health records in low-middle income countries offers important potential to fast-track healthcare improvements in these settings, where a disproportionate burden of global morbidity occurs. Core ethical issues have been raised around the role and form of information sharing processes for learning healthcare systems, including individual consent and individual and public general notification processes, but little research has focused on this perspective in low-middle income countries.MethodsWe conducted a qualitative study on the role of information sharing and governance processes for inpatient data re-use, using in-depth interviews with 34 health stakeholders at two public hospitals on the Kenyan coast, including health managers, providers and researchers. Data were collected between March and July 2016 and analysed using a framework approach, with Nvivo 10 software to support data management.ResultsMost forms of clinical data re-use were seen as an important public health good. Individual consent and general notification processes were often argued as important, but contingent on interrelated influences of the type of data, use and secondary user. Underlying concerns were linked to issues of patient privacy and autonomy; perceived risks to trust in health systems; and fairness in how data would be used, particularly for non-public sector re-users. Support for engagement often turned on the anticipated outcomes of information-sharing processes, as building or undermining trust in healthcare systems.ConclusionsAs reported in high income countries, learning healthcare systems in low-middle counties may generate a core ethical tension between supporting a public good and respecting patient autonomy and privacy, with the maintenance of public trust acting as a core requirement. While more evidence is needed on patient and public perspectives on learning healthcare activities, greater collaboration between public health and research governance systems is likely to support the development of efficient and locally responsive learning healthcare activities in LMICs.

Conceptualizing Family Influences on Children's Energy Balance-Related Behaviors: Levels of Interacting Family Environmental Subsystems (The LIFES Framework).

Healthy or unhealthy behavioral patterns develop and are maintained in a family context. The importance of the family environment for children’s and adolescents’ energy balance-related behaviors (EBRBs) has been shown previously. However, the way different family environmental factors are interrelated and interact with personal factors (e.g., motivation) are not well understood. Furthermore, the majority of studies have focused on the parent-child subsystem. However, there are family-level socialization dynamics that affect the development of a healthy lifestyle beyond the impact of parenting behaviors. The current paper aims to synthesize theoretical and empirical literature on different types of family influences. The Levels of Interacting Family Environmental Subsystems (LIFES) framework incorporates family influences on three levels (immediate, proximal, distal) and of three subsystems (individual, parent-child, family), relates them to each other and postulates potential paths of influence on children’s EBRBs. Several studies examining specific sections of the framework provide empirical support for LIFES’ propositions. Future studies should place their research in the context of the interrelationship of different family environmental influences. A better understanding of the interrelated influences would enhance the understanding of the development and maintenance of overweight and obesity among children and is crucial for the development of effective interventions.

Examining multi-category cross purchases models with increasing dataset scale – An artificial neural network approach

Cross purchase modeling (cross model) is a method to simultaneously analyze multiple product categories for their interrelated influences on consumers’ decisions to purchase each category. Traditional econometric modeling methods are hard to compute and complex in model specifications. This paper examines an artificial neural network (ANN) approach in this context. To understand ANN models’ performance in increasing data scale, this paper uses four datasets of 4, 8, 16 and 32 categories to train ANN models and make predictions. Results show that an ANN model of 12 hidden nodes can be trained in about 3 h and make 88% prediction hit rate for the 16-category dataset. In contrast, a traditional econometric model requires more than 300 h to finish computing for the 16-category dataset. A typical critique of ANN technique is that it hides learned knowledge inside its model structure. This is a major obstacle preventing ANN from being more frequently applied in business research and practices. The current study takes two approaches to address this issue, i.e., (1) customizing ANN components to allow prior knowledge plugging in, and (2) using the generalized weight technique to reveal knowledge that is embedded in ANN training results. Findings of this paper help managers understand applicability of ANN technique in cross purchase model. By demonstrating plugging in prior knowledge to ANN model training and extracting knowledge from ANN training results, this paper shows approaches for understanding ANN embedded knowledge.

Putting the Patient Back in Patient Care: Health Decision-Making from the Patient’s Perspective

This research explored health decision-making processes among people recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Our analysis suggested that diagnosis with type 2 was followed by a period of intense emotional and cognitive disequilibrium. Subsequently, the informants were observed to proceed to health decision-making which was affected by three separate and interrelated factors: knowledge, self-efficacy, and purpose. Knowledge included cognitive or factual components and emotional elements. Knowledge influenced the degree of upset or disequilibrium the patient experienced, and affected a second category, agency: the informants’ confidence in their ability to enact lifestyle changes. The third factor, purpose, summarized the personal and deeply held reasons people gave as they made decisions concerning their health, eating and exercising. We propose this model, grounded in informant stories, as a heuristic, to guide further inquiry. From these stories, the patient is seen as more active and the interrelated influences of knowledge, agency, and purpose, synergistically interact to explain changes in health behaviors.

Sustainable supply chain management practices in Indian automotive industry: A multi-stakeholder view

As one of the largest manufacturing sectors, the automotive industry has a deep impact on the society and environment. Automotive products provide mobility to millions and create jobs, but also threaten the environment. Consumer pressure, government regulations, and stakeholder demands for a competitive edge have forced the automotive industry to consider their environmental and social impacts in addition to their economic status. These pressures have led many automotive industry businesses to adopt Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) practices. Specific practices that are adopted into the traditional supply chain and that help an industry shift towards a sustainable supply chain are called SSCM practices. Firms have difficulty identifying the most useful practices and learning how these practices impact each other. Unfortunately, no existing research has studied the interrelated influences among these practices in the automotive industry, nor from an Indian perspective. The current study aims to give a better understanding of the interrelated influences among SSCM practices with a particular look at the automotive industry. Our research presents views from multiple stakeholders, including managerial, environmental, societal, and governmental associations. We propose a framework model, using the Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory method, to evaluate automotive industry SSCM practices specifically situated in the emerging economy of India. Through a questionnaire survey with the above-mentioned stakeholders, we find interinfluences and the prominence of the identified practices. A prominence causal relationship diagram is obtained depicting the cause groups and the effect groups of the practices. The differences and similarities between individual perspectives and combined stakeholder perspectives are identified. The results reveal that management commitment towards sustainability and incorporating the triple bottom line approach in strategic decision making are the most influential practices for implementing the sustainable supply chain management. This study provides a foundation for industrial managers to understand the inter influences among the practices and increases the probability of successful implementation of SSCM practices within the automotive industry.

The hidden Serengeti—Mycorrhizal fungi respond to environmental gradients

Abstract Mycorrhizas influence plant productivity, community composition, nutrient dynamics and soil structure, yet the factors determining the abundance and diversity of these symbioses in natural ecosystems are poorly understood. We studied arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi (Glomeromycota) in long-term grazed and un-grazed plots at eight sites forming natural gradients of soil properties and rainfall in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Four metrics of AM fungal abundance and diversity were examined: (1) abundance and species composition of spores, (2) standing crop of AM hyphae in the soil, (3) production of new AM hyphae in buried mesh bags and (4) a bioassay of AM fungal inoculum potential. Our first goal was to test the predictions of the Functional Equilibrium Model that AM fungi should be most abundant in grazed plots (because of increased nutrient demands caused by overcompensation) and at sites with the lowest soil phosphorus (P) and rainfall. Our second goal was to use multi-group structural equation models (SEMs) to investigate the interrelated influences of grazing, soil properties, rainfall and root biomass on the abundance and species composition of AM fungal communities. Two multi-group SEMs were generated: one to examine abundance patterns of AM fungi and another to examine patterns in the spores or auxiliary cells of different families of AM fungi. We observed an extremely high abundance and diversity of AM fungal spores. Only one prediction of the Functional Equilibrium Model was supported; production of new hyphae was highest in the lowest P soils. The abundance and species composition of AM fungi varied across sites but the only variable that responded to grazing was the abundance of Glomeraceae spores, with higher abundance in fenced (un-grazed) plots. Multi-group SEMs revealed that rainfall, total soil P, soil organic matter and soil texture were all important predictors, but the relative importance of each factor varied depending upon the AM metric or taxon observed. Our findings suggest niche differentiation among AM fungal taxa and demonstrate that climate and soil properties are important predictors of the abundance and community composition of these important, hidden components in the Serengeti ecosystem.

Examining English Language Arts Common Core State Standards Instruction through Cultural Historical Activity Theory

The English Language Arts Common Core State Standards and corresponding assessments brought about many changes for educators, their literacy instruction, and the literacy learning of their students. This study examined the day-to-day literacy instruction of two primary grade teachers during their first year of full CCSS implementation. Engestrӧm’s Third Generation Cultural Historical Activity Theory is utilized as both a theoretical framework and a method for analysis to provide a rich description of the complex environment in which literacy instruction and learning occur. The ELA standards functioned as the primary objects of literacy instruction and literacy learning activities are discussed within the context of the larger cultural framework where the teachers interpret and implement these standards. Findings from this study illuminate the complex and interrelated influences of ELA CCSS, and reveal the power of the individual teacher in constructing the literacy learning opportunities.

To Examine the Influence of Emotional Intelligence on Team Outcomes via the Mediating Mechanism of Transformational Leadership

The purpose of this paper is to examine the interrelated influences of managers’ emotional intelligence, leadershipstyles and team outcomes of: team performance, team communication, team cohesion and conflict management. Inparticular, this study explored the potential mediating effects of managers’ transformational leadership style on therelationships between managers’ emotional intelligence and those team outcomes. The results showed that managers’transformational leadership style fully mediates the relationship between managers’ emotional intelligence and teamperformance, team communication and conflict management. However, no mediating effect of managers’transformational leadership style is found on the relationship between managers’ emotional intelligence and teamcohesion.

MARKETINGOVÝ VÝZKUM A IMAGE MÍSTA

The paper deals with some problems of the image and identity of two towns (Brno and Zlín) as well as the whole country (Czech Republic). It starts with theoretical explanation of terms place image, identity and culture and its interrelated influences. Than own empirical marketing research of Brno image is presented and compared with theory of marketing communication, especially with the problems of place identity, unified visual style and logo.

Management accounting change and agency in embedded situations

Focusing on internal micro-processes, this study contributes to the management accounting change literature showing what conditions allow agency in embedded situations. We analyse a family company in the period 1904–1969 in that, after more than 50 years of ongoing reproduction of highly institutionalised management practice, the chief executive officer (CEO) fostered a radical institutional transformation in whose process the implementation of a cost accounting system was driven.As main conclusions, first, we argue that management accounting change drivers are strongly influenced by actors’ interests and by the perception and interpretation that actors make about institutional contradictions or external critical events and their effects on the organisation. Second, we shed light about the interrelated influences that institutions and individuals exert on meanings and roles attributed to management accounting in institutional change, even impelling the implementation of a completely new system to support it. Finally, we illustrate that both process and content of accounting change are moulded by normative influences intertwined with the cognitive schemes of actors involved.

Information security knowledge sharing in organizations: Investigating the effect of behavioral information security governance and national culture

This paper presents an empirical investigation on what behavioral information security governance factors drives the establishment of information security knowledge sharing in organizations. Data was collected from organizations located in different geographic regions of the world, and the amount of data collected from two countries – namely, USA and Sweden – allowed us to investigate if the effect of behavioral information security governance factors on the establishment of security knowledge sharing differs based on national culture.The study followed a mixed methods research design, wherein qualitative data was collected to both establish the study's research model and develop a survey instrument that was distributed to 578 information security executives. The results suggest that processes to coordinate implemented security knowledge sharing mechanisms have a major direct influence on the establishment of security knowledge sharing in organizations; the effect of organizational structure (e.g., centralized security function to develop and deploy uniform firm-wide policies, and use of steering committees to facilitate information security planning) is slightly weaker, while business-based information security management has no significant direct effect on security knowledge sharing. A mediation analysis revealed that the reason for the nonsignificant direct relation between business-based information security management and security knowledge sharing is the fully mediating effect of coordinating information security processes. Thus, the results disentangles the interrelated influences of behavioral information security governance factors on security knowledge sharing by showing that information security governance sets the platform to establish security knowledge sharing, and coordinating processes realize the effect of both the structure of the information security function and the alignment of information security management with business needs.A multigroup analysis identified that national culture had a significant moderating effect on the association between four of the six proposed relations. In Sweden – which is seen as a less individualist, feminine country – managers tend to focus their efforts on implementing controls that are aligned with business activities and employees' need; monitoring the effectiveness of the implemented controls, and assuring that the controls are not too obtrusive to the end-user. On the contrary, US organizations establish security knowledge sharing in their organization through formal arrangements and structures. These results imply that Swedish managers perceive it to be important to involve, or at least know how their employees cope with the decisions that have been made, thus favoring local participation in information security management, while US managers may feel the need to have more central control when running their information security function.The findings suggest that national culture should be taken into consideration in future studies – in particular when investigating organizations operating in a global environment – and understand how it affects behaviors and decision-making.

Beyond Compassion Fatigue: The Transactional Model of Physician Compassion

Physician compassion is expected by both patients and the medical profession and is central to effective clinical practice. Yet, despite the centrality of compassion to medical practice, most compassion-related research has focused on compassion fatigue, a specific type of burnout among health providers. Although such research has highlighted the phenomenon among clinicians, the focus on compassion fatigue has neglected the study of compassion itself. In this article, we present the Transactional Model of Physician Compassion. After briefly critiquing the utility of the compassion fatigue concept, we offer a view in which physician compassion stems from the dynamic but interrelated influences of physician, patient and family, clinical situation, and environmental factors. Illuminating the specific aspects of physicians' intrapersonal, interpersonal, clinical, and professional functioning that may interfere with or enhance compassion allows for targeted interventions to promote compassion in both education and practice as well as to reduce the barriers that impede it.

Regional economic and development problems and perspectives: Case study of Slavonia and Baranja (Croatia)

Slavonia and Baranja or Eastern Croatia is a physical-geo?graphical part of the Pannonian Basin and it is divided administratively into 5 counties: Virovitica-Podravina, Pozega-Slavonia, Slavonski Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baranja and Vukovar-Sirmium (which make nearly 20% of the state). Regarding functional organization, Slavonia and Baranja is a part of Osijek nodal region but with interrelated influences of other regional centres like Slavonski Brod, Vinkovci, Vukovar, Djakovo and Pozega. Analysis of this region consisting of 22 cities and 104 municipalities with 805,998 people (according to Census 2011) will be conducted according to several economic-geographic indicators: foreign trade exchange, number of employed people per 100 inhabitants, number of unemployed people per 100 inhabitants, economic structure of population as well as the share of people employed in agriculture and industry as the most important sectors in the regional economy. Demographic problems will also be analysed, because the population is one of the most important factors of economic and social development. The main problems of the analysed region are depopulation, aging and rural exodus as well as the fact that every city or municipality, except one, had the decline of population comparing to previous Census of 2001. These processes are accompanied by spatial population polarization which has also resulted in economic decline.

Personality, Emotional Adjustment, and Cardiovascular Risk: Marriage as a Mechanism

A variety of aspects of personality and emotional adjustment predict the development and course of coronary heart disease (CHD), as do indications of marital quality (e.g., satisfaction, conflict, strain, disruption). Importantly, the personality traits and aspects of emotional adjustment that predict CHD are also related to marital quality. In such instances of correlated risk factors, traditional epidemiological and clinical research typically either ignores the potentially overlapping effects or examines independent associations through statistical controls, approaches that can misrepresent the key components and mechanisms of psychosocial effects on CHD. The interpersonal perspective in personality and clinical psychology provides an alternative and integrative approach, through its structural and process models of interpersonal behavior. We present this perspective on psychosocial risk and review research on its application to the integration of personality, emotional adjustment, and marital processes as closely interrelated influences on health and disease.

A rising tide meets a perfect storm: new accountabilities in teaching and teacher education in Ireland

This paper examines the emergence of new accountabilities in teaching and teacher education in Ireland in the 15 years period 1997–2012. Framing accountability in terms of the three main approaches to it globally in education systems, that is, compliance with regulations, adherence to professional norms and attainment of results/outcomes, we identify significant changes, particularly, in compliance- and results-driven accountability. A ‘rising tide’ of accountability, due to the interrelated influences of the European higher education space, education legislation and professional self-regulation policies (i.e. Teaching Council), is evident since the late 1990s. This was punctuated by a ‘perfect storm’ in 2010 comprising ‘bad news’ from PISA 2009, the economic bailout and strategic leadership at a system level. The cumulative impact of the ‘rising tide’ and ‘perfect storm’ is evident in how they reframed both ‘to whom’ and ‘for what’ accountability in teacher education relates. Significantly, the new accountabilities in teaching and teacher education reflect a move towards the dominant global education reform movement (Sahlberg 2007) with its emphasis on standardisation, narrow focus on literacy and numeracy and higher stakes accountability.

Greening organizational behavior: An introduction to the special issue

SummaryEach of the six articles in this Special Issue on “Greening Organizational Behavior” offers a perspective that provides unique insight and enriches our understanding of organizational greening. As a set, the articles span all levels of analysis, from a study of individual differences to an investigation of leadership dynamics to the analysis of firms and their institutional environments. Taken together, these articles illustrate the complex nature of organizational greening and highlight the need for research that adopts a systems perspective. The embedded and nested nature of organizational greening behavior requires additional research that investigates the interrelated influences of greening behavior by individual employees, work groups, and organizations. By recognizing and appreciating these multi‐level dynamics, scholars of organizational behavior are poised to improve our understanding of effective organizational greening initiatives and thereby promote advancement toward environmental sustainability. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Institutional Theory and Management Accounting Research

This article discusses the use of institutional theory in management accounting research. Three different types of institutional theory are described and their use in studying management accounting change is explained: new institutional economics (NIE), new institutional sociology (NIS) and old institutional economics (OIE). Whereas NIE and NIS study how external economic and institutional (i.e., social and political) pressures influence the way organisations are structured and the nature of their management accounting and control practices, OIE focuses on the institutions (ways of thinking) within organisations and the internal pressures and constraints that shape management accounting practices. It is recognised that management accounting change is a complex and multi-dimensional process, and it is shown that institutional theory can highlight the different aspects of the ‘mish-mash’ of inter-related influences. Furthermore, it is explained how taken-for-granted ways of thinking within an organisation can have a direct and important impact on the success (or failure) of a programme of management accounting change.

Enhancing employee outcomes

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the interrelated influences of managers' emotional intelligence, leadership styles and employee outcomes. In particular, this study aims to explore the potential mediating effects of managers' transformational leadership style on the relationships between managers' emotional intelligence and employee outcomes of: employee performance, job satisfaction, organisational commitment and job stress.Design/methodology/approachThe study was conducted in two large organisations in Shanghai, China, on a sample of 323 participants, including both managers and subordinate employees. Emotional intelligence was measured by using the Wong Emotional Intelligence Scale (WEIS), and leadership style, using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ‐5x Short).FindingsThe results showed that managers' transformational leadership style fully mediates the relationship between managers' emotional intelligence and employee job satisfaction. However, no mediating effect of managers' transformational leadership style is found on the relationship between managers' emotional intelligence and employee performance, organizational commitment and job stress.Originality/valueThe results of this study contribute to current insights about the interrelationships on managers' emotional intelligence, leadership style and employee outcomes, showing that the power of managers' emotional intelligence on job satisfaction must be expressed through a third mediating variable, transformational leadership.

Selection of a Third‐Party Logistics Provider: Capturing the Interaction and Influence of Performance Metrics with the Analytical Network Process

ABSTRACTWhen a business decides to outsource its logistics operations to improve its performance, the organization will need to select a third‐party logistics provider (3PL) that shares common goals and satisfies service level requirements. In this paper, we identify a set of 3PL performance measures from the perspective of the supply chain and organize them into a time‐phased format, beginning with the post production stage and continuing through the delivery of the goods to the customer distribution center. The supply chain flow is presented as a Metrics Arrow. To integrate the performance metrics (PM) into one model, we propose an analytical network process (ANP) to capture all PM and to understand the interrelated influences among them. Additionally, to derive the weights for PM, the proposed ANP model offers managerial insight into the relative impact of each metric as well as warning signals or trigger points within the network of PM. The model provides a realistic framework to choose the 3PL that can help achieve the greatest improvements within the supply chain. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Meeting the basic needs of children: Does income matter?

We review existing research and policy evidence about income as a vehicle for meeting children's basic needs—that is, income represented as the purest monetary transfer for increasing the purchasing power of low-income families. Social scientists have made great methodological strides in establishing whether income has independent effects on the cognitive development of low-income children. Our review of that research suggests that a $1000 increase in income has positive, but small, effects on children, rarely exceeding 1/10th of a standard deviation change in outcomes for children. We argue that researchers are well-positioned for more rigorous investigations about how and why income affects children, but only first with thoughtful and creative regard for conceptual clarity, and for understanding income's potentially inter-related influences on socio-emotional development, mental, and physical health. We also argue for more focus on the effects of income transfers, including when conditional on employment, as compared to more targeted direct investments in children. We end with a description of two-generation and cafeteria-style programs as the frontiers of the next generation in income-enhancement policies, a call for more focus on policies than can address income volatility.