Operational Staff Research Articles

Perspectives of managers and workers on the implementation of automated-guided vehicles (AGVs)—a quantitative survey

Automated-guided vehicles (AGVs) are considered as an advanced technology for improving intralogistics in manufacturing companies. However, diverging perspectives between management and operational staff on the implementation of AGVs in existing production environments can lead to a lack of employee acceptance and highlight the need for appropriate organizational change management initiatives. At present, there is a lack of knowledge about the success factors for deploying AGVs in manufacturing companies, including human factors such as worker acceptance. We therefore conducted a quantitative survey among production and logistics workers, project leaders, and managers (n = 89) in ten German companies that have already introduced AGVs in their production in order to investigate and compare their perspectives and to derive implications for successful AGV implementation projects. Our findings reveal that workers consider some of the most important acceptance factors as insignificantly addressed by the project management. In addition, we found significant differences in the perspectives of logistics and production workers on the implementation of AGVs, with logistics workers being less satisfied and significantly more concerned about job security. Furthermore, project leaders’ ability to accurately anticipate their employees’ perspective (perspective taking accuracy) positively influences employees’ satisfaction with the implementation of the AGV system. These findings have theoretical implications for research on organizational change and practical implications for AGV implementation projects.

VA Research and Operations Uniting to Combat COVID-19 Inequities.

As novel coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19) began to spread across the United States in early 2020, health care systems faced extreme demands on resources. As the country's largest single-payer health care system, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was uniquely positioned to study how the virus impacted different communities and work to improve care provided to all. Early on, a literature review of prior epidemics revealed that occupational exposures and an inability to socially distance could impact some groups more than others. The VA's Office of Health Equity leveraged a general sense of community to create a collaborative research space and a dedicated analytic space to inform pandemic operations. VA researchers and operations staff were able to quickly share information and respond to updates to produce accurate and reliable publications for medical professionals and the general public. Partnerships with VA Medical Centers and Veteran Service Organizations helped to increase communication across the nation and determine the most critical needs. Although COVID-19 was dynamic in nature, VA's intentional examination of social and structural factors was crucial in informing a more equitable approach. Moving forward, these inequities must be intentionally addressed in future pandemic responses.

Emergency Management Risks in MEM Region South–An Operational Perspective

Introduction:Distilling from the National Risk Assessment for Ireland, the Regional Working Group for Major Emergency Management Region South (Cork and Kerry) assessed threats in the region and 22 hazards were identified which were distributed over the natural, transportation, technological and civil categories. The hazards were plotted on an Interagency (Health, Police and Local Authority) Emergency Management Risk MatrixMethod:A three-hour ‘Introduction to Emergency Management’ educational program was developed in May 2022 with the aim of introducing frontline members of the Principal Response Agencies (Health, Police and Local Authority) across the Cork and Kerry region to the concept of emergency management. As part of this educational session, participants (N = 55) were given an overview of the regional risks as identified through the risk assessment process by the Regional Working Group for Major Emergency Management. As part of a breakout session, course participants were asked to identify their perspective on ‘worst case scenario’ risks.Results:An analysis of the operational risks identified by members of the Principal Response Agencies (Police, Health and Local Authority) were categorized into the four risk sub-headings: natural, civil, technical and transport and compared with the strategic regional risk assessment. The differences identified based on the comparative analysis, detailed that those holding operational portfolios identified that concurrent risks, as evidenced during the Cyberattack on the Health Service Executive in May 2021 during a wave of the global pandemic in Ireland were a perceived 'greater' risk that those traditional risks identified in the regional risk assessment.Conclusion:This study highlights the importance of engaging operational staff when developing regional emergency management risk assessments. The requirement to consider and incorporate concurrent emergency management risks is vital to ensure that the Cork and Kerry regions are prepared for future events.

Unravelling challenges of COVID-19 pandemic through risk and controls turnaround: the case of Dots & Lines

Research methodology The focused case is a “disguised case” developed based on a real-life apparel company in Sri Lanka. The authors have disguised the company name and have not revealed the identity of the key respondents and any data, which makes the firm obvious. However, the processes and practices reported represent the actual scenario of the company (gathered through interviews done mainly with the case protagonist, General Manager (GM) – Risk and Controls) and the authors have not fabricated any data. Case overview/synopsis Having established itself as a pioneer in the apparel industry in Sri Lanka, Dots & Lines reached the pinnacle of its performance in 2019. Following the outbreak of COVID-19, the situation turned unfavorable: global customers canceled orders by the end of the first quarter of 2020. It experienced settlement delays, increased freight charges and supply chain barriers. The virus spread among the operational staff, leading to health and safety issues and absenteeism. On April 2020, the executive committee gathered and decided to form a position titled “General Manager (GM) – Risk and Controls” and a team to turn around the company. Dots & Lines witnessed the harvest of the risk management turnaround measures pioneered by GM – Risk and Controls, from the first quarter of 2021 with impressive revenue and profit figures. It developed a pool of key strategic customers, while key performance indicators dashboards and the risk matrix provided vital insights in moving forward. Complexity academic level The case, Dots & Lines is written for use in undergraduate and graduate-level classes in business administration and management degree programs. The focus aligns with discussions on industry competition, controls and risk management. Of further importance, the case is applicable to discussions on topics in strategic management accounting courses.

The Influence of Strategic-Based View and Strategic Orientation on the Organizational Performance of the Indonesian Navy in Maintaining the Regional Security Stability in South China Sea Mediated by Strategic Coordinating Management

The main objective of this study is to analyze the strategic resources based view and strategic orientation of the organizational performance of the Indonesian Navy in maintaining the regional security stability in South China Sea mediated by strategic coordinating management. The sample in this study were the personnel of the Operations Staff and the Intelligence Staff of the Indonesian Navy Headquarters, the First Fleet Command Jakarta, The First Sea Battle Task Force, and Ranai Naval Base, as well as officers crew of the First Fleet Command’s Indonesian Warships. The first to occupy positions in the field of operational planning and carrying out operational tasks in the field were 231 people. The data obtained was analyzed using SEM (Structural Equation Modeling) with the SPSS program version 22.0 and Smart PLS version 3. The finding of this study show that the direct strategic resources based view, strategic orientation and strategic coordinating management hypotheses affect the organizational performance. The result of the study also shows that there is a correlation between strategic resources based view and strategic orientation towardsstrategic coordinating management. Meanwhile,the result of the indirect hypothesis also claims that strategic resource-based view and strategic orientation affect the organizational performance mediated by strategic coordinating management. The Strategic Resources Based View positively shows that the Tangible Assets of the Indonesian Navy are still able to support operational units in the Natuna Sea and the Intangible Assets of the Indonesian Navy, Competence, Credibility and Capabilities of the Indonesian Navy soldiers in protecting the waters of the Natuna Sea and the Indonesian Navy's Capability is still capable of maintaining state’s sovereignty in Natuna Sea which is also the main task of the Indonesian Navy.

The Effect of Knowledge Management System and Strategic Management Orientation on Organizational Tni Al Commitment in Ship Building Diving in the Land of Water Mediated by Dynamic Capabilities

The main objective of this study is to analyze the Knowledge Management System and Strategic Management Orientation on the Organizational Commitment of the Indonesian Navy in the Development of Submarines in the Country Mediated by Dynamic Capability. The samples in this study were First Officer strata, Middle to Senior Officers Planning Staff of the Indonesian Navy Headquarters, Operations Staff of the Indonesian Navy Headquarters, Indonesian Navy Materials Service, Indonesian Navy Procurement Service, Indonesian Ministry of Defense Barahan Staff, KRI Alugoro-405 Development Task Force and Koopskasel Officers. RI and Koarmada II Submarine Unit Officers, totaling 216 people. The data obtained were analyzed using SEM (Structural Equation Modeling) with the SPSS program version 22.0 and Smart PLS version 3. The findings of this study show that the direct Knowledge Management System and Strategic Management hypotheses Orientation influences the Indonesian Navy's Organizational Commitment in the Development of Submarines in the country. The results of the study also show that there is an influence of the Knowledge Management System, Strategic Management Orientation and Dynamic Capability on the Organizational Commitment of the Indonesian Navy in the Development of Submarines in the country. While the results of the indirect hypothesis also have an effect, namely the Knowledge Management System and Strategic Management Orientation have an effect on the Organizational Commitment of the Indonesian Navy in the Development of Submarines in the country which are mediated by dynamic capability. An important implication for the management of the Indonesian Navy is to prioritize knowledge and science to create soldier professionalism and high commitment in building submarines in the country.

Lessons Learned in Biofiltration

Key TakeawaysResearch and operational experience have proved biofiltration's success, answering many questions that utilities considering it for treatment may have.Determining treatment objectives is the best starting point for water providers that are new to biofiltration.Upon full‐scale implementation, operations staff should be familiar with maintenance strategies unique to biofiltration to prevent biological overgrowth.Understanding biofiltration's benefits and applications is an evolving process.

Health and correctional staff acceptability of depot buprenorphine in NSW prisons.

Provision of opioid agonist treatment (OAT) in custodial settings is resource-intensive and may be associated with diversion, non-medical use, and violence. A clinical trial of a new OAT, depot buprenorphine (the UNLOC-T study), provided the opportunity to obtain health and correctional staff perspectives regarding this treatment prior to widespread roll-out. Sixteen focus groups with 52 participants were conducted, including 44 health staff (nurses, nurse practitioners, doctors, and operational staff) and eight correctional staff. Key challenges to providing OAT identified as potentially being addressed by depot buprenorphine included 1) patient access, 2) OAT program capacity, 3) treatment administration procedures, 4) medication diversion and other safety issues and, 5) impact on other service delivery. The introduction of depot buprenorphine into correctional settings was considered to have the potential to increase safety for patients, improve staff / patient relations and advance patient health outcomes via expanded treatment coverage and efficiencies gained through enhanced health service delivery. Support was almost universal from both correctional and health staff participating in this study. These findings build on emerging research regarding the positive impact of more flexible OAT programs and could be used to engage support for the implementation of depot buprenorphine from staff in other secure settings.

Radiation exposure to staff during fluoroscopic endoscopic procedures.

Fluoroscopically guided procedures utilize ionizing radiation to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of the patient. The use of ionizing radiation is not without risk to the operator and other staff members present during endoscopic procedures. This study simulates radiation exposure during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography procedures under different shielded conditions and provides practical radiation safety recommendations, through easy-to-use visual guides. We obtained radiation exposure measurements at varying locations with different shielding setups surrounding a mobile C-arm fluoroscopic unit while imaging a patient equivalent phantom at different heights. Heat maps were generated for the various conditions to provide visual guides for radiation protection. Different heat maps detailing various shielding methods have been generated to assist in determining the dose rate at varying locations surrounding the patient. The use of appropriate radiation protection could decrease the staff dose by up to 98%. Although minor per procedure, the magnitude of radiation exposure will accumulate over the staff's working life. As such, it is recommended that precautions be taken during fluoroscopically guided endoscopy procedures to ensure radiation is kept as low as reasonably achievable.

Assessment of Team Dynamics and Operative Efficiency in Hip and Knee Arthroplasty

Surgical team communication is a critical component of operative efficiency. The factors underlying optimal communication, including team turnover, role composition, and mutual familiarity, remain underinvestigated in the operating room. To assess staff turnover, trainee involvement, and surgeon staff preferences in terms of intraoperative efficiency. Retrospective analysis of staff characteristics and operating times for all total joint arthroplasties was performed at a tertiary academic medical center by 5 surgeons from January 1 to December 31, 2018. Data were analyzed from May 1, 2021, to February 18, 2022. The study included cases with primary total hip arthroplasties (THAs) and primary total knee arthroplasties (TKAs) comprising all primary total joint arthroplasties performed over the 1-year study interval. Intraoperative turnover among nonsurgical staff, presence of trainees, and presence of surgeon-preferred staff. Incision time, procedure time, and room time for each surgery. Multivariable regression analyses between operative duration, presence of surgeon-preferred staff, and turnover among nonsurgical personnel were conducted. A total of 641 cases, including 279 THAs (51% female; median age, 64 [IQR, 56.3-71.5] years) and 362 TKAs (66% [238] female; median age, 68 [IQR, 61.1-74.1] years) were considered. Turnover among circulating nurses was associated with a significant increase in operative duration in both THAs and TKAs, with estimated differences of 19.6 minutes (SE, 3.5; P < .001) of room time in THAs and 14.0 minutes (SE, 3.1; P < .001) of room time in TKAs. The presence of a preferred anesthesiologist or surgical technician was associated with significant decreases of 26.5 minutes (SE, 8.8; P = .003) of procedure time and 12.6 minutes (SE, 4.0; P = .002) of room time, respectively, in TKAs. The presence of a surgeon-preferred vendor was associated with a significant increase in operative duration in both THAs (26.3 minutes; SE, 7.3; P < .001) and TKAs (29.6 minutes; SE, 9.6; P = .002). This study found that turnover among operative staff is associated with procedural inefficiency. In contrast, the presence of surgeon-preferred staff may facilitate intraoperative efficiency. Administrative or technologic support of perioperative communication and team continuity may help improve operative efficiency.

EMPLOYEES’ INNOVATION ON HOSPITALITY INDUSTRIES AS REVIEWED FROM THE IMPACT OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND LEARNING ORGANIZATION

Sudden disruption caused by Covid-19 and VUCA business environment has been a wake-up call for business organizations to change, adapt, and transform. Hospitality business organizations, as one of the impacted industries, require transformative leaders to create Learning Organization environment, and to set innovative organization members. This research investigates the relation between Transformational Leader­ship, Learning Organization, and Innovative Work Behavior particularly in Hospitality Industries (hotels and restaurants) in Surabaya. This research mainly explores theoretical gap left by the predecessor researches by adopting new scaling used especially to evaluate Transformational Leadership and Learning Organization, and methodological gap by utilizing multivariate data analysis towards the respondents’ groups. This research is designed as a descriptive quantitative study, in which data is collected through questionnaire towards the sample. This study points out that while Transformational Leadership does correlate positively with the creation of Learning Organization, it possesses no significant relationship with the establishment of Innovative Work Behavior among the leaders group. Learning Organization also does not mediate the effects between those two. Operational staff, nevertheless, still significantly and positively affected by relation as pointed out by multi­variate data analysis.

Do objectives and key results solve organizational performance measurement issues?

PurposeThis study aims to determine whether and how objectives and key results (OKRs) can be used to solve performance measurement issues encountered by organizations.Design/methodology/approachA total of 204 staff members from 26 Thai organizations that adopted OKRs were interviewed. Five senior executives and five operational staff members with experience using OKRs were selected from each organization. Content analysis was also performed.FindingsOKRs facilitate the acceptance of performance indicators and help solve issues of alignment between indicators and organizational strategies as well as improper target setting.Research limitations/implicationsThe results have limited generalizability because of the qualitative approach undertaken in the study. Further research can test whether the results hold true if OKRs are used for longer than six months.Practical implicationsThe results of this study can be used to help managers and employees set challenging targets, utilize their competencies and find a sense of relatedness, which can lead to organizational success.Originality/valueThis study is one of the first to thoroughly investigate the use of OKRs by adopting the self-determination theory (SDT) as the main theoretical framework.

Investigating the nexus between information technology capabilities, knowledge management, and green product innovation: evidence from SME industry.

The aim of this study to investigate the relationship between information technology capabilities (ITCs) and green product innovation (GPI). The information technology (IT) capabilities with multiple dimensions, such as IT competence, IT integration, and IT infrastructure, were used in this paper. Moreover, to verify the deep relationship between ITCs and GPI, we used knowledge management (KM) as a mediator. The data were collected through a questionnaire from the senior managers, middle-level managers, and operational staff associated with the small- and medium-sized production industry of Pakistan. We collect data in two waves between January 2022 and July 2022. The data were analyzed through the partial least square structural equation modeling through SmartPLS 3.2.2. The findings of this study conclude. First, in the direct relationship, two IT capabilities, such as IT competence and IT infrastructure, have a positive and significant direct relationship with green product innovation, but IT integration has an insignificant relationship with green product innovation. Second, the results show that three IT capabilities have positively influenced knowledge management. Third, the results confirm that KM has a significant positive effect on GPI. Finally, the outcomes confirmed that knowledge management positively and significantly mediates between all IT capabilities and GPI in the indirect relationship.

CL-MMAD: A Contrastive Learning Based Multimodal Software Runtime Anomaly Detection Method

Software plays a critical role in the infrastructure of modern society. Due to the increasing complexity, it suffers runtime reliability issues. Online anomaly detection can detect partial failures within the program based on manifestations exhibited internally or externally before serious failures occur in the software system, thus enabling timely intervention by operation and maintenance staff to avoid serious losses. This paper introduces CL-MMAD, a novel anomaly detection method based on contrastive learning using multimodal data sources. CL-MMAD uses ResNet-18 to learn the comprehensive feature spaces of software running status. MSE loss is used as the objective to guide the training process and is taken as the anomaly score. Empirical results highlight the superiority of MSE loss over InfoNCE loss and demonstrate CL-MMAD’s effectiveness in detecting both functional failures and performance issues, with a greater ability to detect the latter.

Assessment of the distribution and volume of air chambers around the inner auditory canal on high-resolution computed tomography scans of the temporal bone.

Assessment of the distribution and volume of air chambers around the inner auditory canal on high-resolution computed tomography scans of the temporal bone.

THE CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS OF PUBLIC-PRIVATE-PEOPLE PARTNERSHIPS (PPPPS) FOR EFFICIENT AND SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT IN THAILAND

Public-Private Partnership (PPP) is a commonly used arrangement to develop public infrastructures. Traditional PPP focuses primarily on the public sector as contracting agency and private sector as project company. This research explores a major gap observed in such setup, namely the lack of attention on the people sector who is the end-users or groups impacted by these public infrastructures. Based on literature review, qualitative analysis involving executive interviews, and quantitative analysis involving survey of operational staffs, this study recommends a new Public-Private-People Partnership strategic stakeholder institutional framework along with its components of critical success factors for both policy and operational regulating frameworks to enhance PPP practice, both in Thailand and beyond.

Staff burnout in the Children and Young People Secure Estate (CYPSE) in England

Staff working in secure settings tend to experience elevated levels of work stress and burnout, with most of the evidence emerging from studies conducted in adult prison settings in the United States. There is a general lack of research on staff working in the Children and Young People Secure Estate (CYPSE) in England. The present study examined levels of burnout in a range of staff groups across CYPSE settings using data collected between October 2018 and March 2019. Findings revealed moderate burnout levels across a sample of 383 staff from 17 sites. Frontline operational staff in Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) had significantly higher burnout levels than operational support staff, health staff, and non-disclosed staff, but their burnout profile did not significantly differ from residential, operational management, and education staff, according to the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI). Our findings indicate YOI frontline operational staff may be a particularly vulnerable group for whom workplace support is essential to reduce burnout rates, as are other frontline staff with a considerable amount of direct interaction with young people in secure settings, such as teachers and residential staff.

Administrative and legal forms of court evaluation in the conditions of reforming the judicial system of Ukraine

The article is devoted to the definition of administrative-legal forms of court evaluation in the conditions of reforming the judicial system of Ukraine. The content of the "form" category is revealed, as well as the doctrinal understanding of the concepts of "forms of management activity", "forms of state administration", "administrative-legal form", "administrative-legal form of evaluation". It has been found that scientists, revealing the content of the given definitions, pay attention to various subjects, including public administration agencies. It has been established that public administration borders on the functioning of the judicial branch, accordingly, subjects of judicial public administration are included in the recommended organizational structure for systematic court evaluation. The content and forms of exercising the powers of subjects of judicial public administration have been clarified. It is noted that the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine is authorized by law to analyze the activities of the courts on a quarterly basis in order the improvement the state of court cases consideration and the rational use of budget funds. It is emphasized that an important subject of the organizational structure for court evaluation is the working group, the minimum composition of which includes one judge and one employee of the court apparatus. It was concluded that the given organizational structure unreasonably bypasses the head of the court, who takes part in the organization of complex court evaluation and is interested in its effective functioning. It is emphasized that the head of the court organizes the maintenance of court statistics in the court, which indicates the existence of such an administrative-legal form of court evaluation as the collection and study of statistical information. The peculiarities of the survey of citizens, judges and employees of the court apparatus as an administrative and legal form of court evaluation are considered. It was noted that, taking into account the importance of the integrity of judges and court staff for the effective operation of the court, it is appropriate to single out the evaluation of corruption risks among the administrative-legal forms of court evaluation.

A Cross-Sequential Study of the Effect of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic on the Risk of Anxiety and Depression of Royal Flying Doctors Staff, an Australian Air Medical Organization

ObjectiveThis cross-sequential study examines whether the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic affected the mental health of staff working at an Australian air medical service, the Royal Flying Doctors Service South Eastern (RFDSSE) Section. MethodsThe risk of anxiety and depression was measured using a prospective anonymized online survey using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, which was answered by 119 employees. This cross-sequential study was completed in December 2021 with reference to 2 time points: now and the beginning of the pandemic. A high risk of anxiety was defined using a Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale score of 11 to 21 (low risk: 0-10). Chi-square testing was used to compare subgroups at single time points. McNemar testing was used to compare the risk of anxiety and depression between the beginning of the pandemic and December 2021. ResultsEmployees recalled a higher risk of anxiety at the beginning of the pandemic (29%) compared with December 2021 (16%) (P = .012). At the beginning of the pandemic, nonoperational staff members were more anxious than operational staff (P = .019). One third (31%) of operational staff members were concerned about dying at the beginning of the pandemic. ConclusionOur findings demonstrate that RFDSSE employees recalled higher levels of anxiety at the beginning of the pandemic compared with their risk in December 2021. Operational and nonoperational staff have different mental health needs; anxiety experienced by nonoperational staff during a pandemic should not be underestimated. The overall prevalence of anxiety and depression is high, suggesting health care staff in an air medical service may require extra psychological support. Other air medical organizations may reflect on our study findings and plan how to better support their own staff as a result.

Learning from Nursing Home Infection Prevention and Control Citations During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The devastating effects of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) highlight the critical need for effective infection prevention and control (IPC) practices in nursing homes. Nursing management and infection preventionists should be cognizant of the most common reasons underlying federal IPC citations during the pandemic. Analysis of IPC citation data from the first 7 months of the public health emergency identified that adherence to personal protective equipment (PPE) and mask use, appropriate transmission-based precautions, and hand hygiene were the most common reasons for COVID-19-related F880 citations, including those that placed a person at immediate risk for serious injury or death. More specific staff practices and other factors leading to a citation are also highlighted. Although nursing homes may have limited control over factors such as PPE supply and staffing resources, nursing management and infection preventionists can use these results to help ensure that operational mechanisms, staff training, and adherence monitoring efforts effectively address the areas most associated with COVID-19 IPC noncompliance. [Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 49(2), 36-42.].