Strategic facilities management system in relation with building performance; the significance and relationship

Healthcare design frequently involves complex concepts that are difficult to measure and evaluate because the building require a modern, quality, functional and therapeutic environment. For this specific reason, facilities management has become a very important support system to ensure smoothness in healthcare business. Facilities management in healthcare building is a complicated system involving multiple layers of administrative division and sub-divisions. Building performance such as building impact, function and quality prove to have significant impact on strategic facilities management. This paper will do an extensive review of strategic healthcare business management as a holistic approach and examine how facilities management can effectively manage their division with consideration and understanding of building performance. The correlation between strategic facilities management and building performance will be identified and a framework for strategic FM system with regards to building performance will be developed.

The relationship between knowledge management strategic orientation and business strategic orientation among SMEs

Little is known about how Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) practise Knowledge Management (KM) from both a theoretical and empirical perspective. Some research has been conducted in this field but from a western cultural perspective. Research on KM and SMEs in developing countries such as Saudi Arabia is limited. The research reported in this paper investigated KM strategic orientations and business strategic orientations in Saudi Arabian SMEs. The research involved the development of a theoretical framework relating to KM strategies and business strategies. Three KM strategies were proposed: aggressive, conservative and balanced and were linked to Miles and Snow’s typology: prospectors, defenders and analysers respectively. The empirical research involved a survey of Saudi Arabian SMEs. A total of 143 SMEs, participated in the survey. The results indicate that the proposed classifications and relationships between KM strategic dimensions were valid. It further shows that there was an association between business strategy and KM strategy exists and the proposed linkage between: prospectors and aggressive KM strategy, defenders and conservative KM strategy and analysers and balanced KM strategy were mostly confirmed but with some inconsistency regarding knowledge breadth dimensions.

Business relationship development and management in China

The Australian Government's White Paper on Australia in the Asian Century, released in October 2012, is based on the premise that the transformation of the Asian region into the world's economic powerhouse is not only unstoppable, it is gathering pace. Asia's extraordinary ascent has already changed the Australian economy, society and strategic environment. Within a few years, Asia will be the world's largest producer of goods and services, as well as the largest consumer market and the home of the majority of the world's middle class. The White Paper notes that thriving in the Asian century requires the Australian nation to have a clear plan to seize the economic opportunities and manage the strategic challenges that will arise, by taking a farsighted approach focused on fairness. To do so, Australians must be Asia-literate and Asia-capable, with a thorough understanding of Asian cultures and languages. These capabilities are needed to build stronger connections and partnerships across the region. Australia's commercial success in the region requires that highly innovative, competitive Australian firms and institutions develop collaborative relationships with others m the region. Australian firms need new business models and new mind-sets to operate and connect with Asian markets. Against this backdrop, this chapter discusses several important issues relating to Australian firms developing and managing their business relationships in China, in the context of urban planning, architecture, civil engineering and construction. The chapter examines the Chinese business environment, in terms of guanxi, business opportunities, risks and strategies, in a case study of the successful partnerships established to manage the 'Water Cube' for the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008.

The relationship between market orientation, brand orientation and perceived benefits in the non-profit sector: a customer-perceived paradigm

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between ‘market orientation’, ‘brand orientation’ and ‘perceived benefits’ in the non-profit sector from the perspective of the customers. Data were collected from a number of church organizations in Australia using a self-administered questionnaire. The tests for construct reliability, validity and research hypotheses were conducted using structural equation modelling. Findings reveal that ‘market orientation’ is significantly associated with both ‘perceived brand orientation’ and ‘perceived benefits’. An alternative model also reveals significant relationship between ‘brand orientation’ and ‘perceived benefits’ through ‘market orientation’ as the mediating variable. The study contributes to the body of literature and provides practical implications for non-profit managers and church leaders alike. An organization that endeavours to build a strong brand and deliver relevant benefits to its members should ensure that it has sufficient understanding of its members and utilizes the various resources of the organization to deliver superior values to its existing and prospective members.

Relationship between corporate governance initiatives and earnings management

This cross-sectional study investigates the contribution of Australian listed companies’ compliance levels with Australian Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations (CGPR) towards explaining the level of discretionary accruals. The findings will be of interest to CG regulators, as they contribute empirical evidence of the CGPR collective and individual role on mitigating earnings management practices.

Does self-efficacy mediate the cross-sectional relationship between perceived quality of health care and self-management of diabetes? Results from Diabetes MILES - Australia

OBJECTIVE: Quality of health care (QoC) and self-efficacy may affect self-management of diabetes, but such effects are not well understood. We examined the indirect role of diabetes-specific self-efficacy (DSE) and generalised self-efficacy (GSE) in mediating the cross-sectional relationship between self-reported QoC and diabetes self-management.

DESIGN: Diabetes MILES-Australia was a national survey of 3,338 adults with diabetes. We analysed data from 1,624 respondents (Age: M=52.1, SD=13.9) with type 1 (T1D; n=680) or type 2 diabetes (T2D; n=944), who responded to a version of the survey containing key measures.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Self-reported healthy eating, physical activity, self-monitoring of blood glucose frequency, HbA1c, medication/insulin adherence. RESULTS: We used Preacher and Hayes' bootstrapping method, controlling for age, gender and diabetes duration, to test mediation of DSE and GSE on the relationship of QoC with each self-management variable. We found statistically significant but trivial mediation effects of DSE and of GSE on most, but not all, variables (all effect sizes <0.06).

CONCLUSION: Support for mediation was weak, suggesting that relationships amongst these variables are small and that future research might explore other aspects of self-management in diabetes.

Customer-focused CRM: a marketing challenge for organizations

The article explains that CRM is all about building longterm business relationships with customers. It is best described as the blending of internal business processes: sales, marketing and customer support with technology. Research indicates that poor project planning, weak and
incomplete business cases, cost and complexity of the technology, lack of.technological skills, lack of system integration and lack of senior management involvement in the CRM process are among the many factors that inhibit the successful adoption ofCRM in companies. The article presents a framework for customer centric CRM.

The relationship between TQM practices, quality performance, and innovation performance: An empirical examination

This empirical study examines the relationship between total quality management (TQM) and innovation performance and compares the nature of this relationship against quality performance. The empirical data were obtained from a survey of 194 managers in Australian industry encompassing both manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors.

The role of management consultation, support, and coping on nurses` health during the stress of restructuring

This study examined the impact of hospital restructuring moves on a sample of Australian nurses' health. The role of organizational support, assessed via levels of consultation with staff, social support, and nurses coping were examined as further contributors or mediators of the relationship between the impact of restructuring and nurses' health. Data from 201 hospital nurses indicated that the factors in the model explained 41% of the variance in nurses' health. “Top-down” communication style by management contributed negatively to nurses' health and increased their perceptions of the impact of restructuring. Support from peers, supervisors, and family together with seeing the demands of impact of restructuring as a challenge, contributed positively to nurses' health and reduced the level of avoidance strategies used. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Pharmacological management of challenging behavior of individuals with intellectual disability

In many Westernized countries, including Australia, concerns about the use of psychotropic drugs to manage the challenging behavior of individuals with intellectual disability have resulted in the development of legislative and procedural controls. Although these constraints may limit indiscriminate use, employing medication remains a common practice. This study examined information about 873 individuals (566 males, 307 females) who were the subjects of reports to the Intellectual Disability Review Panel in March 2000 concerning the use of chemical restraint. A high proportion of people with intellectual disability were reported to have received drugs for purposes of behavioral restraint. The range of drugs was extensive, although those from the antipsychotic class were the most frequently reported. Many individuals concurrently received more than one type of drug or more than one drug from the same drug class. More males than females and more older than younger individuals were administered medication. A relationship between gender and age was apparent, with younger males but older females dominating. The use of drugs to mange the behavior of people with intellectual disability may at times be warranted. However, it is important that the extent and type of drug use, as well as the characteristics of those who are medicated, be subject to ongoing scrutiny.

The Relationship between TQM Practices and Quality Performance and the Role of Formal TQM Programs: An Australian Empirical Study

This article presents the findings from an empirical study examining the relationship between total quality management (TQM) practices and quality performance in Australian organizations. A comparison is made between organizations that have adopted formal TQM programs and organizations without a formal program in place. It was recognized that the lack of a formal program did not necessarily mean TQM principles were not being practiced. The findings show that the firms adopting formal TQM programs implement several TQM practices at a higher level than those that do not have TQM programs. This difference, however, is not apparent in the case of quality performance. Furthermore, the findings show the strong links between TQM practices and quality performance, and there is no significant difference between organizations implementing formal TQM programs and those organizations simply adopting TQM practices. This suggests that it is the adoption of quality practices that matters rather than formal programs per se.

Body mass index and parent-reported self-estem in elementary school children: evidence for a causal relationship.

OBJECTIVE: To clarify relationships between body mass index (BMI) and self-esteem in young children at a population level. To assess whether low self-esteem precedes or follows development of overweight/obesity in children. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study in elementary schools throughout Victoria, Australia. Child BMI and self-esteem were measured in 1997 and 2000. SUBJECTS: Random sample of 1,157 children who were in the first 4 y of elementary school (aged 5-10 y) at baseline. MEASURES: BMI was calculated from measured height and weight, then transformed to z-scores. Children were classified as nonoverweight, overweight or obese based on international cut-points. Low child self-esteem was defined as a score below the 15th percentile on the self-esteem subscale of the parent-reported Child Health Questionnaire. RESULTS: Overweight/obese children had lower median self-esteem scores than nonoverweight children at both timepoints, especially at follow-up. After accounting for baseline self-esteem, higher baseline BMI z-score predicted poorer self-esteem at follow-up (P=0.008). After accounting for baseline BMI z-score, poorer baseline self-esteem did not predict higher BMI z-score at follow-up. While nonoverweight children with low baseline self-esteem were more likely to develop overweight/obesity (OR=2.1, 95% CI=1.2, 3.6), this accounted for only a small proportion of the incidence of overweight. CONCLUSIONS: Our data show an increasingly strong association between lower self-esteem and higher body mass across the elementary school years. Overweight/obesity precedes low self-esteem in many children, suggesting a causal relationship. This indicates that prevention and management strategies for childhood overweight/obesity need to begin early to minimise the impact on self-esteem.

Relationship orientation : towards an antecedent model of trust in marketing relationships

With the advent and the increasing use of the concept of Relationship Marketing as a basis for marketing strategy, it has become evident that a lack of empirical knowledge exists as to the operational basis of the concept. Information regarding the conceptual basis of Relationship Marketing and a possible new orientation toward the concept may be of substantial value to both practitioners and scholars of relationship marketing. This paper considers the emergence of a Relationship Orientation within the marketing literature and proposes an antecedent model of Trust as a basis. The role of Ethics as a possible antecedent to Trust is emphasised and identified as a gap within the relationship marketing literature. Based on previous exploratory work and a review of the literature of relationship marketing, exchange theory, general marketing theory, marketing ethics and sales management, four key antecedent dimensions of Trust are identified: Ethics, Bonding, Empathy and Reciprocity. Additional possible antecedents are suggested. Future empirical research is proposed in order to validate the model.

Relationship marketing and pay TV: satisfaction, complaining behavior, service recovery, and repurchase

The aims of this research included demonstrating the detenninants of Pay TV subscriber satisfaction, and displaying the relationships between key aspects of relationship marketing, such as perceptions of value, satisfaction, customer complaint behavior and service recovery, and the intention to repurchase. A survey of 171 Australian respondents suggested that the perceived quality of the variety of the programs available and the perceived quality of the monthly program guide were major contributors to value, and that value was the main driver of overall satisfaction, which in tum was the main driver of the likelihood of disconnection from the Pay TV service. Those respondents who reported having a problem but not complaining directly about it were significantly more likely to have the intention to disconnect in the future, but they were not significantly different in tenns of their value perceptions or overall satisfaction.