Proactive Indicators Research Articles

Network science indicators and their relationship with performance during disruptions: a case study

Interest in supply chain (SC) resilience has increased in the wake of the pandemic and other crises, including those related to political and environmental instability. The literature offers some contributions to proactive indicators to assess the resilience of a system before a disruption occurs. Other studies provide metrics to assess resilience from the reactive perspective after the onset or end of a disruption. This paper examines the application of some proactive indicators from network science to some post-disruption measure of resilience, especially how these measure evolves as a function of time. We examine this by testing different supply chain designs against disrupted scenarios and using data from a real-life industry. The focus is on service level as a performance metric. The tested indicators correlate well with performance loss but show a limited ability to correlate with metrics representing SC dynamics. The practical contribution of this paper is an approach to measure SC resilience as an inherent property of the system, which can aid in designing future SCs, rather than measuring resilience as a response to a disruptive event. The paper also provides theoretical contributions, including the further validation of certain indicators from the literature and the identification of research areas in need of new metrics.

The Influence of Psychological Empowerment on Workforce Agility of Office Staff Housing Provision Study Province of West Sulawesi

This study aims to find out how the effect of psychological empowerment on the workforce agility of the employees of the housing supply work unit in the province of West Sulawesi. This study uses a qualitative descriptive approach through data collection by interviews and documentation and analyzed by reducing data, presenting data, and drawing conclusions and verification. The results of this study illustrate that psychological empowerment has an influence on the workforce agility of the employees of the housing supply work unit in the province of West Sulawesi, but it is not significant because there is one indicator of psychological empowerment that is not fulfilled, namely self-determination. On this indicator employees are limited in determining their own way of working because they are bound by contracts and rules that apply in the workplace. The indicators of unfulfilled workforce agility are proactive indicators. While other indicators are met. Based on the results of the research above, it is known that psychological empowerment has an insignificant effect on workforce agility.

Developing speed‐related safety performance indicators from floating car data

AbstractIn the road traffic safety domain there is a need for using proactive (non‐crash‐based) indicators, known as safety performance indicators (SPIs). Traffic speed based on big data (floating car data [FCD]) could help develop network‐wide SPIs, but related knowledge and experience are insufficient so far. The authors attempted to fill this gap by using nationwide Italian FCD to develop speed‐related SPIs and validating their relationship to crashes to see their potential explanatory value. The authors calculated the coefficient of variance (CV), congestion index (CI), and the number of incidents as candidate SPIs. For validation, the authors used linear correlation, crash frequency model, and ranking consistency. Incidents turned out to be the best SPI, especially for motorways.

A Review of Safety Risk Theories and Models and the Development of a Digital Highway Construction Safety Risk Model

This study conducts a systematic review of safety risk models and theories by summarizing and comparing them to identify the best strategies that can be adopted in a digital ‘conceptual’ safety risk model for highway workers’ safety. A mixed philosophical paradigm was adopted (that used both interpretivism and post-positivism couched within inductive reasoning) for a systematic review and comparative analysis of existing risk models and theories. The underlying research question formulated was: can existing models and theories of safety risk be used to develop this proposed digital risk model? In total, 607 papers (where each constituted a unit of analysis and secondary data source) were retrieved from Scopus and analysed through colour coding, classification and scientometric analysis using VOSViewer and Microsoft Excel software. The reviewed models were built on earlier safety risk models with minor upgrades. However, human elements (human errors, human risky behaviour and untrained staff) remained a constant characteristic, which contributed to safety risk occurrences in current and future trends of safety risk. Therefore, more proactive indicators such as risk perception, safety climate, and safety culture have been included in contemporary safety risk models and theories to address the human contribution to safety risk events. Highway construction safety risk literature is scant, and consequently, comprehensive risk prevention models have not been well examined in this area. Premised upon a rich synthesis of secondary data, a conceptual model was recommended, which proposes infusing machine learning predictive models (augmented with inherent resilient capabilities) to enable models to adapt and recover in an event of inevitable predicted risk incident (referred to as the resilient predictive model). This paper presents a novel resilient predictive safety risk conceptual model that employs machine learning algorithms to enhance the prevention of safety risk in the highway construction industry. Such a digital model contains adaptability and recovery mechanisms to adjust and bounce back when predicted safety risks are unavoidable. This will help prevent unfortunate events in time and control the impact of predicted safety risks that cannot be prevented.

Initiatives for increased safety in the Swedish mining industry: Studying 30 years of improved accident rates

This article investigates safety-related developments in the Swedish mining industry over a 30-year period, from the 1980s to the 2010s. It studies what may have contributed to lowering the accident frequency rates and improvement of safety more broadly in the industry. On this basis, interviews were conducted with informants from mining companies. This material was supplemented with a workshop with mining health and safety representatives and documents relating to the subject. The results are divided into four main themes, showing that from the 1980s and onwards, lowered rates and general safety improvements followed in the wake of technology development. This was complemented by a more direct focus on organisational aspects of safety beginning in the early 2000s. Still the effectiveness of the individual measures is not clear; while they theoretically have an effect, causality is hard to show. In other words, the improvements may not necessarily depend on the specifics of these initiatives. Given this, the article discusses the different initiatives in-depth, and gives suggestions for future research and industry action. This includes recommendations for approaching safety holistically and the development of new proactive indicators.

Evaluation of Risk Management Maturity: Measurable Proactive Indicators Suitable for Chinese Small and Medium-Sized Chemical Enterprises

Implementing risk management in chemical industry may bring a number of benefits. Risk management maturity reflects risk management capability of an enterprise from various aspects. The aim of this article is to determine a group of measurable proactive indicators suitable for Chinese small and medium-sized chemical enterprises to evaluate risk management maturity. The article describes the development process of the measurable proactive indicators. Appropriate proactive indicators are extracted from literature and divided into four families based on their characteristics, named operation based indicators, management based indicators, individual based indicator, resources and technology based indicators. Typical measurement examples of proactive indicators are proposed according to risk characters of chemical enterprises. Sixteen small and middle-sized chemical enterprises from China provide risk management records on fourteen indicators. The analysis result show the proposed measurable proactive indicators are available for Chinese small and middle-sized chemical enterprises and could reflect the risk management maturity of an enterprise.

Corporate Governance Practices and Firms’ Financial Performance of Selected Manufacturing Companies in Lagos State, Nigeria

Nigerian companies adopted the code of best practice on corporate governance in 2003, through which private and public firms are mandated to operate accordingly. Many companies have complied while some have failed to so. This study examined corporate governance practices eight years after (2010), given the instability in the political and economic environment under which they operated. The study also examined the relationship between corporate governance practices and firms’ financial performance in the selected manufacturing companies in Lagos State, Nigeria. The study employed a comparative analysis to gauge the changes to corporate governance practice between the years 2003 to 2010 by manufacturing companies. The companies were selected based on availability of data from the stock exchange in terms of activities of trading and existence of reports on corporate governance in the companies’ annual reports. The study used both descriptive statistics and econometrics method of analysis, using E-views 7 statistical software. The Panel data of the ten companies for the 8 years was used, employing ordinary least square (OLS) method of analysis. Consequently, the results of the descriptive statistics show that majority of the companies implemented the code of conduct that emphasizes appropriate composition of the board of directors and forecast of operations. Further analysis shows that there was positive relationship between the return of equity and legal compliance, though the relationship is weak given the value of R as 0.197. Also, there were weak relationships between return on equity (ROE) and board compliance as R = -0.4430 and proactive indicators R as - 0.2345. These imply that while the companies obey the regulations in term of board composition, legal compliance and production projections, which are the major concerns of this study. Meanwhile, some other variables impacted more on ROE.

Does corporate governance influence the working capital management of firms: evidence from India

The study explores the impact of corporate governance on the working capital management of Indian firms. The investigation has been performed using balanced panel data procedures for a sample of 323 Indian non-financial firms listed in the Bombay Stock Exchange for the period 2007-2017. Findings of our study indicate that the CEO duality, one of the nine board indicators play a role in improving the working capital management of the sample firms. The default tax payment of the legal indicator and the additional information disclosure of the proactive indicators also have an effect on the working capital management of the Indian non-financial firms. This study is unique as it reveals the impact of corporate governance on the working capital management of Indian non-financial firms.

Does corporate governance influence the working capital management of firms: evidence from India

The study explores the impact of corporate governance on the working capital management of Indian firms. The investigation has been performed using balanced panel data procedures for a sample of 323 Indian non-financial firms listed in the Bombay Stock Exchange for the period 2007-2017. Findings of our study indicate that the CEO duality, one of the nine board indicators play a role in improving the working capital management of the sample firms. The default tax payment of the legal indicator and the additional information disclosure of the proactive indicators also have an effect on the working capital management of the Indian non-financial firms. This study is unique as it reveals the impact of corporate governance on the working capital management of Indian non-financial firms.

Corporate governance as a value driver for firm performance: evidence from India

Purpose–The study aims to examine corporate governance issues in India and establish the relationship between corporate governance and financial performance.Design/methodology/approach–The sample comprises 141 companies belonging to the “A” group stocks listed in the Mumbai Stock Exchange of India. Considering the institutional uniqueness in India, a composite measure of corporate governance is developed comprising three indicators – legal, board and proactive indicators. Data on the three indicators and financial performance were procured from secondary sources. In the step-wise multiple regression analysis, the influence of these three indicators and the composite measure of corporate governance was examined on firm performance after controlling the confounding effects of firm size.Findings–The board and the proactive indicators influence the firm performance significantly whereas legal compliance indicator does not do so. The composite corporate governance measure is a good predictor of firm performance.Originality/value–This study has two contributions: one, it proposes a composite measure of corporate governance considering the unique institutional characteristics of the Indian economy. Two, the study establishes the predictability of the new measure of corporate governance on firm performance as a tool to boost investors' confidence and financial health of firms.

Corporate Governance Practices and Firms’ Financial Performance of Selected Manufacturing Companies in Lagos State, Nigeria

Nigerian companies adopted the code of best practice on corporate governance in 2003, through which private and public firms are mandated to operate accordingly. Many companies have complied while some have failed to so. This study examined corporate governance practices eight years after (2010), given the instability in the political and economic environment under which they operated. The study also examined the relationship between corporate governance practices and firms’ financial performance in the selected manufacturing companies in Lagos State, Nigeria. The study employed a comparative analysis to gauge the changes to corporate governance practice between the years 2003 to 2010 by manufacturing companies. The companies were selected based on availability of data from the stock exchange in terms of activities of trading and existence of reports on corporate governance in the companies’ annual reports. The study used both descriptive statistics and econometrics method of analysis, using E-views 7 statistical software. The Panel data of the ten companies for the 8 years was used, employing ordinary least square (OLS) method of analysis. Consequently, the results of the descriptive statistics show that majority of the companies implemented the code of conduct that emphasizes appropriate composition of the board of directors and forecast of operations. Further analysis shows that there was positive relationship between the return of equity and legal compliance, though the relationship is weak given the value of R as 0.197. Also, there were weak relationships between return on equity (ROE) and board compliance as R = -0.4430 and proactive indicators R as - 0.2345. These imply that while the companies obey the regulations in term of board composition, legal compliance and production projections, which are the major concerns of this study. Meanwhile, some other variables impacted more on ROE.

Street prices of prescription opioids diverted to the illicit market: data from a national surveillance program

Prescription opioid abuse and diversion are major problems causing a wide range of health and socioeconomic consequences. There is a need to identify proactive indicators to better characterize prescription opioid abuse and diversion. A national surveillance program was implemented to monitor prescription opioid street price trends as an indicator of availability, demand, and abuse potential. Street prices of diverted prescription opioids were examined using surveillance data collected as part of the RADARS® System, which measures US rates of prescription opioid abuse and diversion.

Observation-based proactive OHS outcome indicators – Validity of the Elmeri+ method

A lack of effective proactive indicators is probably the single biggest problem faced in occupational safety and health management today. Most proactive indicators presented in OHS guides and research papers are, in fact, activity indicators; i.e. they indicate what is being done in the organisation. Use of activity indicators is common in bureaucratic management practices. In modern learning organisations the focus should be on results, so that employees can use their own innovativeness to achieve set targets. Real-time outcome indicators are needed in order to be able to monitor and improve the effectiveness of OHS activities. Standards observation is a promising alternative for monitoring the safety level of an organisation. The objective of this paper was to study the validity of the Elmeri+ observation method in predicting the accident risk of a workplace. The study material consisted of 128 companies within the mechanical engineering, the metal industry and the electronics industry. Five observation rounds were carried out in each company over 3years, and the results were compared with the aggregated accident figures during the same years. The study showed that the correlations between the Elmeri+ index and aggregated accident-based safety indicators were statistically significant and considerable in practice. The company groups with the worst index values, i.e. lower than 75%, lost 3–4 times more working hours per worker due to accidents than the best company groups, whose index values were higher than 90%. The paper also discusses the advances and limitations as well as the success factors of the development of observation-based monitoring tools.

Proactive Indicators To Control Risks in Operations of Oil and Gas Fields

Summary Because of the increased need for oil and gas, new and more-demanding oil fields must be explored in sensitive and challenging areas. Exploration of expert knowledge and new technology must be employed in these challenging situations. This collaboration and use of new technology introduces new ways of operating oil and gas fields. These new practices are often called "field of the future" or integrated operations (IO). These new practices are being implemented on the Norwegian continental shelf, leading to increased hydrocarbon recovery and changes in operations and maintenance. These practices may impact health, safety, and environment (HSE), but should not increase the risks of major accidents or influence HSE in a negative manner. In this paper, we are suggesting a set of proactive indicators to ensure that risks are controlled when IO is implemented and operated. A proactive indicator is used as a measure of risk, to be controlled in risk management. The indicators have been developed on the basis of analysis of accidents, exploration of theory, and interviews and discussions in collaboration with the oil and gas industry. Our suggested approach is to develop and explore indicators in close collaboration with key stakeholders to increase understanding and control of the relevant risks. Resilience and successful recoveries are not sufficiently explored in the reviewed accident reports, thus accident investigations should include reflections on reasons of successful recoveries and why the incident or accident did not have greater consequences. The three most important causal factors of incidents seem to be poor design and poor validation of equipment, poor risk analysis of critical operations, and deviations from established procedures. A causal factor important in remote operations is miscommunication between actors during critical operations. Several proactive indicators are suggested, among them the level of exploration of safety cases during design and risk perception among stakeholders involved in operations. The indicators of remote operations should be a measure of shared communication and a measure of shared risk perceptions when critical tasks are distributed. To validate the indicators, we are correlating the indicators with actual HSE levels. In addition, the indicators should be correlated to indirect measures (e.g., safety culture and risk perceptions) where appropriate.

A Proposed Multidisciplinary Approach for Identifying Feeding Abnormalities in Children With Cerebral Palsy

Children with neurodevelopmental disabilities, such as cerebral palsy, frequently have associated oral motor dysfunction, which leads to feeding difficulties, risk of aspiration, prolonged feeding times, and malnutrition with its attendant physical compromise. The authors propose a comprehensive multidisciplinary assessment, including neurological and dysphagia examination and ear, nose, and throat examination, to evaluate clinical indicators and severity of feeding impairment in children affected by neurodevelopmental disorders. A representative sample of 40 children with cerebral palsy (spastic, dyskinetic, or mixed), intellectual disability, and feeding problems was included in the study. A specific multidisciplinary evaluation and standardized mealtime observation in patients with cerebral palsy appear feasible and appropriate to recognize proactive indicators of dysphagia and to establish personalized programs of gastric and rehabilitative interventions.

An overview of contemporary project delivery methods for major gas infrastructure

Recent developments in both relationship contracting and non-traditional project delivery methods have had a substantial impact upon the way organisations within the Australian construction industry carry out their business to achieve successful project delivery. In the late 1980s, following a period of high-profile disputes, there was a trend towards a more co-operative and collaborative approach to contracting. It was during this time that the concept of partnering was introduced to Australia. Partnering in turn led to the development of relationship contracting. Relationship contracting has developed into a wide ranging concept which varies from informal agreements to work co-operatively for the success of the project, to the implementation of a pure alliance arrangement and, most recently, the use of ECI. The concept of relationship contracting brings with it a range of principles and concepts, which include: shared and common goals; pro-active objectives and key performance indicators; issue management and resolution processes; robust risk and opportunity management; probity and accountability; ongoing review and evaluation leading to continuous improvement and team building; plans and strategies for achieving stretched goals and outstanding performance; and, pain/gain or incentivised remuneration based on outcomes and performance. The need for relationship contracting in Australia has increased in recent years due to the substantial growth in construction activity, including a significant increase in the growth of gas sector work. Much of the construction activity has been carried out using a fast track approach in an environment where resources are limited. This presentation will discuss the development of relationship contracting and, in particular, will look at ECI arrangements and alliance delivery models for gas infrastructure delivery.

Measuring effectiveness of safety programmes in the Thai construction industry

Some safety programmes are more effective than others in improving safety performance at the project level. The effectiveness of safety programmes was evaluated by studying 70 construction projects in the Thai construction sector, examining the relationship between their actual status and associated site safety performance. The actual status was assessed by using an evaluation tool developed in compliance with Thai safety legislation and validated by safety experts. Safety performance was assessed by using reactive and proactive measures. Particularly, the accident rate was used as a reactive indicator, while the unsafe act index and the unsafe condition index were used as proactive indicators. The results demonstrated that safety performance was influenced by the nature of implemented safety programmes. First, safety programmes which positively affect accident rates include accident investigations, jobsite inspections, control of subcontractors and safety incentives. Secondly, five programmes, namely jobsite inspections, accident investigations, job hazard analysis, safety committees and safety record keeping, were found to have the most contributions to fewer unsafe acts. And thirdly, accident investigations, jobsite inspections, job hazard analysis, safety inductions and safety auditing were the most effective programmes in reducing unsafe conditions.

Incident Investigation and Analysis for Exploration and Production Operations

Summary Incident investigation and analysis in Shell E&P operations is part of performance monitoring in health, safety, and environment (HSE) management systems. The focus is on identifying underlying causes. A step-wise approach is given from immediate response through determining the level of investigation, coverage of investigation aspects, analysis, recording, and follow-up. The means to analyze incidents by application of the Tripod system, which is directed toward understanding underlying causes of incidents, are reviewed. Introduction HSE performance monitoring has been, and in some areas still is, based on reactive statistical indicators that can identify at best only that past decisions have resulted in unsatisfactory conditions or work climates. To understand how to improve HSE performance and which managerial aspects have to be changed, it is essential to have a meaningful system for assessing the underlying causes of incidents. The system needs to address not only accidents, where there is a measurable impact resulting from failures, but also situations where no adverse consequences occurred but the potential for loss or damage existed. To make a lasting effect on incident reduction requires a timely, balanced, and consistent approach to "blame-free" investigation of all incidents, identification of underlying factors, and correction of systemic causes. This paper addresses incident investigation and analysis as part of a structured approach to performance monitoring in HSE management systems. Incident investigation forms an essential part of the feedback loop in an ISO 9000 application to company management and is consistent with recent guidance issued by the U.K. Health & Safety Executive. In addition, we discuss the need to develop and use proactive monitoring systems and indicators. In 1993, Shell IntI. Petroleum Mij. produced a revised guidance document for Shell E&P operating companies. This paper addresses the changing approach to incident investigation in the E&P industry. The terms "accident" and "incident" have specific definitions in the context of this paper (see the Appendix).

Types, Tokens and Indicators

This paper discusses the role of latent human failures in the breakdown of complex, well-defended systems. It distinguishes between failure types and failure tokens, and argues that remedial measures must be directed at identifying failure types through the use of various proactive indicators. The paper concludes by considering the implications of this approach for the management of organizational safety.