Service Delivery Network Research Articles

Commentary: Social Network Analysis and the Social Work Profession

T wo recent issues of the Journal of the Society for Research and Social Work (i.e., Vol. 5, No. 4; Vol. 6, No. 3) included four research articles dealing with current applications of social network analysis. These articles reflected diverse target populations of interest to the social work profession, including homeless youth (Barman-Adhikari, Rice, Winetrobe, & Petering, 2015), dually diagnosed adults (Henwood et al., 2015), incarcerated women (Kriegel, Hsu, & Wenzel, 2015), and service delivery networks for children with behavioral health problems (Bunger, Doogan, & Cao, 2014). Taken together, these articles illustrate the diversity of applications of social network analysis in social work research at the present time. This collection of articles also draws upon a long-standing focus in the social work profession on the reciprocal role of social networks as a reflection of the social environment in the development, maintenance, and amelioration of social problems—that is, social work’s person-in-environment perspective.

Unpacking the black box of successful ICT-enabled service transformation: how to join up the vertical, the horizontal and the technical

This paper aims to understand what goes on in the black box of successful, joined-up ICT-enabled service transformation, where complex interactions and integration must occur among the horizontal processes internal to a joined-up service delivery network, the vertical top-down processes of the organizations involved, and the change processes caused by using ICTs. A new conceptual framework is developed and applied to an illustrative case study of successful, joined-up service transformation in New Zealand.

Structural breaks and electricity prices: Further evidence on the role of climate policy uncertainties in the Australian electricity market

The primary objectives and the strategies of a national electricity market are the efficient delivery of network services and the electricity infrastructure to meet the long-term consumer's interests. Therefore, the objective of this study is to explore whether electricity prices across the six Australian States display instability. Such instability is closely associated with the presence of structural breaks in relevance to policy events on Australian carbon policies. The study makes use of weekly Australian wholesale electricity prices spanning the period from June 8th, 2008 to March 30th, 2014 along with linear and non-linear unit root testing methodologies. The results provide supportive evidence that the Australian electricity market can be described as a less stable electricity market, which implies that a high degree of market power is exercised by generators across regional markets. These findings are expected to have substantial consequences for the effectiveness of carbon dioxide mitigating policies, especially, when there is uncertainty as to whether the planned environmental policy is put in place for the lifespan of undertaken investments.

Predictors of Senior Center Attendance in Korea: Findings From a National Analysis

ABSTRACTPrevious research on senior center attendance has focused mainly on the differences between senior center users and nonusers. However, this study explored the predictors distinguishing 3 categories of senior center users: users, nonusers, and former users. The data for this study were drawn from the 2004 National Survey on Living Status and Social Needs of the Korean Older Population, conducted jointly by the Korea Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs. A total of 3,009 elderly persons aged 65 years and older living in the community were analyzed. Results showed there are significant predictors distinguishing both nonusers from users and nonusers from former users. However, no significant differences were found between former users and users. Overall, this study moderately supports the findings of previous studies and revealed contradictory results for gender, education, and location of residence variables. Older Koreans who are male, educated, socially active, and living in urban areas are more likely to attend senior centers. The Korean traditional family system and service delivery network are suggested as a partial cause of the contradictory results. More research is needed to specify why former users discontinued attending senior centers.

Assessment of the coordination of integrated health service delivery networks by the primary health care: COPAS questionnaire validation in the Brazilian context.

BackgroundHealth systems organized as networks and coordinated by the Primary Health Care (PHC) may contribute to the improvement of clinical care, sanitary conditions, satisfaction of patients and reduction of local budget expenditures. The aim of this study was to adapt and validate a questionnaire - COPAS - to assess the coordination of Integrated Health Service Delivery Networks by the Primary Health Care.MethodsA cross sectional approach was used. The population was pooled from Family Health Strategy healthcare professionals, of the Alfenas region (Minas Gerais, Brazil). Data collection was performed from August to October 2013. The results were checked for the presence of floor and ceiling effects and the internal consistency measured through Cronbach alpha. Construct validity was verified through convergent and discriminant values following Multitrait-Multimethod (MTMM) analysis.ResultsFloor and ceiling effects were absent. The internal consistency of the instrument was satisfactory; as was the convergent validity, with a few correlations lower then 0.30. The discriminant validity values of the majority of items, with respect to their own dimension, were found to be higher or significantly higher than their correlations with the dimensions to which they did not belong.ConclusionThe results showed that the COPAS instrument has satisfactory initial psychometric properties and may be used by healthcare managers and workers to assess the PHC coordination performance within the Integrated Health Service Delivery Network.

Measuring Risks of Organizational Failure in Contract Exchange Structures

Governmental agencies increasingly contract out service delivery, but have little understand- ing of the systemic risk associated with dependence on contractors in service delivery networks. In this study, affiliation network concepts are used to develop a structural index of government dependence on actors in service delivery networks without joint service delivery. Networks in- clude direct links to government funders and indirect links among contracted programs based on shared parent organizations. Understanding the structure of governance arrangements has practical implications for governance, in terms of understanding government dependence on a particular contractor and the risk associated with organizational failure of those contractors. Governance structures may also influence individual incentives to perform. This study makes two contributions to the governance literature. First, the study offers conceptualization of con- tracted programs as networked structures of exchange even where joint production does not oc- cur. Second, an index is proposed to capture the position of individual organizations in complex networks of exchange with government. This index can be used to determine the dependence of government on a specific actor in the service delivery network along with the risk to the network should a particular organization fail. This index can also be incorporated into statistical models of contract performance.

DRG data for better decision-making in Croatia: planning for a greater use of same-day surgical admissions

Background In 2006, Croatia implemented AR-DRGs with the aim of increasing hospital output transparency, incentivizing efficient resource use, and measuring hospital performance and quality. Despite the intentions of this initiative, up until very recently, the hospital payment system continued to be based on historical budgets, although hospitals have been reporting inpatient activity using the DRG classifications. Only now is transition to a DRGbased payment system being planned. In 2013-2014, a Hospital Master Planning Project was undertaken to rationalize the hospital service delivery network and to improve efficiency. The Project also sought to create incentives to encourage the greater use of same-day inpatient services and improve the organization of the delivery of rehabilitation and palliative care services. The Project reported that the Croatian Health Insurance Fund (HZZO) does not have a strategy to encourage the utilization of same-day admissions. These services are primarily counted as part of the total DRG output for all admitted cases. Croatia uses AR-DRG version 5.2, which provides for 20 designated same-day DRGs. In the case of same-day surgical cases, the HZZO pays hospitals through two parallel systems. The first is through DRGs, where there are only 2 are same-day surgical groups (C15B and C16B); the second is through the outpatient system, which has 17 same-day surgical case categories that, in terms of clinical activity, are replicated in the DRG system. The use of both systems and their uncoordinated pricing creates a situation in which hospitals do not have financial incentives to increase the use of same-day surgical procedures. Recognizing that the increased use of same-day admissions would improve hospital efficiency, the Master Planning Project recommended that these admissions should be increased by 20% to 40% over a 3-year period. It appears, however, that these recommendations were made in the absence of a detailed analysis of the types of same-day procedures currently provided by hospitals. The Project did not recommend how hospital could increase their volume of same-day inpatient services, describe individual hospitals’ capacity to do so, or analyze hospital waiting lists.

Atención Primaria en Salud y Redes Integradas en una institución de salud de primer nivel, Tauramena (Casanare, Colombia): propuesta de Mejoramiento

This article makes reflection and presents the proposal to improve Primary Health Care (PHC) and Integrated Health Service Delivery Networks (IHSDNs) in Tauramena (Colombia), as part of the training process in PHC and IHSDNs in Colombia 2014-15. The article begins with a theoretical review of PHC and IHSDNs and its relationship to specific legislation on health in Colombia, then describes the situation of Tauramena, generating a proposal to improve health, to finalize the conclusions and recommendations described of the proposal. The proposed to improve PHC in Tauramena was formulated in 7 axes: 1. Community diagnosis, 2. Community Participation, 3. Training in PHC and IHSDNs, 4. Leadership in health services, 5. Health services, 6. Monitoring and evaluation, and 7. Support of community and political leaders. Its concludes that Tauramena has the political conditions for promoting initiatives based on PHC, recommended strengthening the participation of the community, functional IHSDNs and integration of many actors for the optimal development of the PCH.

Opening the black box of metagovernance: The roles of central government in local multilevel networks – the case of the local job centers in Flanders

In this article, we use the concept of metagovernance to explore how local service delivery networks involving public and private partners are shaped and managed by different governments involved. We address the following questions: What is the governance mix in cases of centrally designed local networks, with different public authorities involved in the network and focused on coordinated service delivery? How does that governance mix match the concept of metagovernance as we know it? What does this complexity of relationships and governing styles tell us about the self-governing capacity of local service delivery networks? We bring in the case of the local job centers in Flanders to deal with these questions empirically. We demonstrate the governance instrument mix used by the metagovernors, how dominant one public actor actually is in the network, and the effect thereof on the network dynamics. We also conclude that we need to rethink the concept of metagovernance when analyzing local multilevel networks.

Effect of network risk management process on service delivery in Rwanda's Internet Service Providers: A case study of Broadband Systems Corporation

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Rwanda are engaged in the business of providing advanced Internet services based on broadband connectivity across Rwanda. Network risk management process is the process of identifying, assessing, and controlling risks arising from network operational factors and making decisions. The main objective of the study was to analyze the effect of network risk management process on service delivery using Broadband Systems Corporation Company as a case. For data collection, a questionnaire was administered to the 148 selected respondents, 13 of whom were BSC Staff and 135 of them BSC Customers. Sampling methodology was based on stratified random sampling of each stratum by using a table of random numbers. Collected data was analyzed using tables and multiple regression analysis. Findings indicated that 92.31% of the staff assessed effectively network risk monitoring, in addition 84.62% of the staff indicated that they put in place the mechanism for network risk mitigation. However, majority of BSC customers (83.71%) were satisfied with services provided by BSC. Multiple regression analysis was used to estimate the relationship between network risk management process and service delivery at BSC, thereby depicting a very strong, positive correlation between network risk management process and service delivery. Subsequently, recommendations for Rwanda ISPs with findings were suggested to enhance network risk mitigation.

Building Service Delivery Networks: Partnership Evolution Among Children's Behavioral Health Agencies in Response to New Funding.

Meeting the complex needs of youth with behavioral health problems requires a coordinated network of community-based agencies. Although fiscal scarcity or retrenchment can limit coordinated services, munificence can stimulate service delivery partnerships as agencies expand programs, hire staff, and spend more time coordinating services. This study examines the 2-year evolution of referral and staff expertise sharing networks in response to substantial new funding for services within a regional network of children's mental health organizations. Quantitative network survey data were collected from directors of 22 nonprofit organizations that receive funding from a county government-based behavioral health service fund. Both referral and staff expertise sharing networks changed over time, but results of a stochastic actor-oriented model of network dynamics suggest the nature of this change varies for these networks. Agencies with higher numbers of referral and staff expertise sharing partners tend to maintain these ties and/or develop new relationships over the 2 years. Agencies tend to refer to agencies they trust, but trust was not associated with staff expertise sharing ties. However, agencies maintain or form staff expertise sharing ties with referral partners, or with organizations that provide similar services. In addition, agencies tend to reciprocate staff expertise sharing, but not referrals. Findings suggest that during periods of resource munificence and service expansion, behavioral health organizations build service delivery partnerships in complex ways that build upon prior collaborative history and coordinate services among similar types of providers. Referral partnerships can pave the way for future information sharing relationships.

Tree construction algorithm for virtual content distribution network

Recently, the technology of multimedia content delivery is spotlighted due to many multimedia services. Specially, the needs of a huge content delivery technology is increasing because the period of huge multimedia content creation becomes shorter. The content delivery network (CDN) is a popular solution for distributing a multimedia content using physical resources. However, the CDN cannot provide a flexible service to content providers because of cost issue. In this paper, we aim to build a virtual content delivery network (VCDN) that each service provider own their independent service delivery and distribution network virtually. The proposed VCDN system uses a rateless codes for avoiding computational overhead and limits increase of the streaming delay. The proposed VCDN system builds a hierarchical tree structure that minimizes the time complexity of source nodes and reduces content distribution time by using rateless codes. The proposed VCDN system can support variety of social media services because its flexibility.

Commentary: Trust Is Key to Collaboration in Managed Care Health Service Delivery Networks

Commentary: Trust Is Key to Collaboration in Managed Care Health Service Delivery Networks

Analytical support for predicting cost in complex service delivery environments

Within larger and ever-more complex global service delivery networks, forecasting and managing cost becomes an increasing challenge. While manifold interdependencies and transactions between individual delivery centers can still be captured ex post, forecasting the spending and income and expense (I&E) impacts of management decisions becomes tedious. We propose a business-analytics-based approach—drawing on past spending and accounting patterns—to derive service delivery cost forecasts across virtually all elements of the delivery environment in an automated, consistent, and unbiased fashion. Using a set of time-series analyses, as well as multiple regression models, we predict individual spending lines as well as the cost impact accruing from spending lines based on accounting rules. The approach has been developed for a global IT (information technology) service delivery business and has been tested in simulations across several of its units—producing quality predictions able to beat alternative benchmarks.

The Aesop Approach for Semantic-Based End-User Service Optimization

The need to autonomically optimize end-user service experience in near real time has been identified in the literature in recent years. Management systems that monitor end-user service session context exist but approaches that estimate end-user service experience from session context do not analyze the compliance of that experience with user expectations. Approaches that optimize end-user service delivery are not applicable to arbitrary services; they either optimize specific service types or use general mechanisms that do not consider service experience. The lack of a holistic model for end-user service management is a barrier to autonomic end-user service optimization. This paper presents Aesop, an approach addressing autonomic optimization of end-user service delivery using semantic-based techniques. Its knowledge base uses the End-User Service Analysis and Optimization ontology, which models the end-user service management domain and partitions knowledge that varies over time for efficient access. The Aesop Engine executes an autonomic loop in near real time, which runs semantic algorithms to monitor sessions, analyze their compliance with expectations, and plan and execute optimizations on service delivery networks. The algorithms are efficient because they operate on small partitioned subsets of the Knowledge Base held as separate self-contained models at run time. An Aesop implementation was evaluated on a home area network test bed where compliance of service sessions with expectations when optimization was active was compared with compliance of an identical set of sessions when optimization was inactive. Significant improvements were observed on compliance levels of high priority sessions in all experimental scenarios, with compliance levels more than doubled in some cases.

Coordinating nonprofit children’s behavioral health services

Why organizational cliques are associated with better performance in service delivery networks has yet to be explained. Certain properties of cliques may account for improved performance including the composition of clique members and the quality of their relationships. The aim of this study is to offer insight into how organizations working through cliques improve network performance by exploring the complementarity of services provided by clique members and testing two hypotheses about trust and perceived benefits among clique members. Survey and archival data were collected from a regional network of 36 nonprofit children's mental health agencies that belong to a coalition. First, clique analyses and network visualization were used to identify cohesive subgroups. Second, the complementarity of services provided by the groups was explored by calculating scores for each group to reflect the level of differentiation in services and client population as reported in archival data. Third, ANOVA density models were used to test whether clique relationships are characterized by higher perceived trust and benefits compared with nonclique member relationships. Three groups were identified. These groups provide complementary services to similar client populations. Trust within all three cliques was higher than nonclique member relationships. Members of all three cliques perceived greater efficiency, and two of the three cliques also perceived greater access to care and service quality. Results support selecting clique partners based on service mix. To gain organizational benefits and improve network performance, partners should offer distinct services relative to one another but to similar clients.

Joint Policy Advocacy in Two Health and Human Services Delivery Networks

Networked health and human service providers increasingly join each other to collectively weigh in on policy deliberations. Little attention has been paid to how features of service delivery networks are associated with collaboration in policy advocacy. By developing a relational account of joint policy advocacy in service delivery networks, we propose that organizational participation in dyadic joint policy advocacy is associated with the number of shared third-party ties (Simmelian ties), tangibility of resources exchanged in resource-based networks, and multiplexity of Simmelain ties. We test these hypotheses on a U.S.-based mental health network and a community-based elderly care network in China. The results indicate strong support for the posited hypotheses across two study sites.

Service supply chain management: generalised and applied framework perspective

Despite service supply chain is emerging as a new research hot topic, the systematical theoretical framework of service supply chain management still remains unexplored. The intent of this research is to examine the research progress of service supply chain management, address some key problems of service supply chain management and propose new thinking and new ideas about service supply chain management research. Considering the feature of SSCM, a generalised conceptual framework model of service supply chain management (SSCM) based on multi-discipline theoretical perspective is first developed, The framework integrates service operations and service marketing activities, reflects the customer-oriented value creation based on four components (information flow, customer flow, cash flow and work flow) and four processes (service sourcing, service innovation and design, service network configuration and service delivery). Key activities of implementing SSCM derived from the framework model are discussed. As an application of the generalised framework, applied framework of tourism supply chain management (TSCM) is further studied. Research agenda, methods of TSCM are proposed. Finally, future research directors of SSCM are presented. The systematical managerial ideas and methods described in this paper will be very helpful for boosting the progress of service supply chain research.

The success of service delivery-networks: You can maximize your managerial efforts, but Governments set your frontiers

This paper explores the role that Government should play when networks are established for the provision of public services. Should Government leave and give overall autonomy to the networked organizations? Or should it stay and manage the network activity? In order to answer these questions, we employed the theoretical framework developed by Kort and Klijn (2011) for governance networks, and investigated which relations exist between autonomization, management and performance, as far as service delivery networks are concerned. The results show that in order to make service delivery networks succeed, managerial efforts are important, but autonomy from the Government is also paramount.

Collaboration, Co-Production, Networks: Convergence of theories

This article suggests a framework to study service delivery networks that draws on the theories of collaboration, co-production, and networks combined. We introduce four dimensions of co-production under ‘coproduction-oriented collaborations’. This framework allows us to ‘zoom in and zoom out’ when we study networks. Using the case method approach, the framework is applied to analyse four networks in Singapore. Findings suggest that network process, network structure, and characteristics of actors are crucial to a network’s performance and coproduction’s effectiveness. This article also offers implications for practice that in certain contexts the usage of these concepts is for managerial effectiveness and not for enhancing democratic values.