Sustainability and health : supporting global ecological integrity in public health

Radical changes in the biosphere and human interaction with the environment are increasingly impacting on the health of populations across the world. Diseases are crossing the species barrier, and spreading rapidly through globalized transport systems. From new patterns of cancer to the threat of global pandemics, it is imperative that public health practitioners acknowledge the interdependence between the sustainability of the environment and the sustainability of the human species.* Why are issues of global and local sustainability of increasing importance to the public's health?* Why do issues of sustainability require new practices within the professions of public health?* How can future and current public health practitioners develop those new practices?Drawing on scientific evidence of global and local environmental changes, Sustainability and Health offers a thorough background and practical solutions to the overlapping issues in environment and health. It examines potential and existing responses to global and local environment and health issues, involving individuals, community, industry and government. The authors introduce a range of emerging conceptual frameworks and theoretical perspectives, link IT and epidemiology and explain how scoping can link program design, delivery, data collection and evaluation in projects from their very beginning. Public health practitioners need to be able to manage health issues that cut across environmental, economic and social systems and to develop the capacity for leadership in facilitating change. Incorporating learning activities, readings, international case studies and an open learning approach, this is a valuable resource for students of public and environmental health, as well as medical, environmental and health science professionals.

FM application in the hospitality sector

When applied to hotels, the terms “facilities management” and “hotel management” are in many ways synonymous. Certainly effective  management of the physical aspects in the hotel business is essential for maximum efficiency. This paper presents a research into facilities  management operations in medium sized hotels (11-50 rooms) in the UK. Medium sized hotels were selected for this research, since 90 per cent of UK hotels have fewer than 50 bedrooms. The key objective is to establish any trends that suggest a relationship between the application of facilities management techniques and the success of hotel businesses. Financial measures were not identified as being of critical importance and there seemed to be more of an interest in cost reduction than in income growth.

Discovering Web Page Communities

The rapid development of Web technologies has made the World Wide Web a huge information source. However, due to the lack of a well-defined underlying data model for Web documents, effectively and efficiently finding required information and managing Web data are usually tedious and difficult tasks when using conventional information retrieval and data management techniques. The Web page community, defined as a set of Web-based documents with its own logical and/or semantic structures, provides a flexible and effective approach to support Wed data management, information retrieval and applications. This book addresses using hyperlink information to discover Web page communities. The work establishes a uniform framework for hyperlink analysis and community construction. Algorithms, supporting mechanisms and data models are proposed in the book. This book should help shed some light on this new and exciting research and application area. It is useful to researchers and students in Web mining, Web data management and information retrieval, as well as to professionals who may be considering utilizing Web communities to improve their applications.

Monitoring and motivating outworkers : the case of the AMP and the sale of industrial life insurance 1905-1940

The development of labor management practices in the financial services sector provides an interesting insight into how problems associated with agency issues were overcome. Within financial institutions and other white collar occupations, the use of internal labor markets emerged as an effective means of both controlling and motivating employees. However such management techniques were only effective in cases where work tasks could be internalized. The business of some types of organizations necessitated a division of work tasks between those undertaken within the office and those undertaken outside the office. The management and sale of insurance products is a case in point. This paper explores the development of processes implemented to resolve a specific type of labor management issue, namely the control of workers under conditions of uncertainty. Using the example of the Australian Mutual Provident (Australia's largest life insurer), it analyses how and why particular work relations procedures were developed.

Using constructed-response and multiple-choice questions in undergraduate examinations

This paper looks at the use of constructed-response and multiple-choice questions in first year management examinations involving 2364 students over a three semester period in 2008-9. It also compares student’s performance in research and analytical assignments with their results in Multiple-Choice tests. The results show that students who perform poorly in non-multiple-choice tests are slightly advantaged by multiple-choice tests. However, students who display high distinction scores in other pieces of assessment do not receive any advantage from multiple-choice testing. Interestingly, the research also highlighted that female students perform better in their articulation of management techniques overall, but do not gain the same comparative advantage from multiple choice testing. The analysis of the assessment methods was extremely useful in predicting the level of failures for the unit in the subsequent year. Finding the right balance of assessment tasks in first year university business courses is extremely difficult, using multiple-choice tests can be useful tool as part of the assessment mix in management units.

Enhancing business intelligence traceability through an integrated metadata framework

The Business Intelligence (BI) system provides users with multi-dimensional information (so-called BI product) to support their decision-making. However, very often business users still could not fully understand the BI product, nor have a clear picture of the entire information manufacturing chain of the BI product. In response to this situation, this paper presents an integrated metadata framework (“BIP-Map”) to facilitate the traceability and accountability of a BI product following the design science research approach. Specifically, the salient modelling and management techniques from the business process modelling notation (BPMN), the information product map (IP-Map), and the metadata management are adapted to construct a three-layered integrated metadata framework enabling the business users to make timely and informed decisions. A BIP-Map informed prototype system has been developed in collaboration with online job recruitment firms. The authors conducted in-depth interviews with seven key BI stakeholders of the recruitment firms to evaluate the usefulness of the BIP-Map. It is envisaged that the metadata framework allows the technical personnel to understand the business processes that relate to certain information provided in the BI reports. Business users will also be able to gain insights into the logic behind any BI report.

Sustainability - the crucial challenge for the valuation profession

Valuation has a pivotal role in increasing the level of sustainability in the built environment. To date, sustainability has received limited attention in valuation practice, and as a result the relationship between sustainability and market value has not been clearly defined. As a consequence, the commercial investment community are hesitant to invest in sustainability beyond best practice management techniques. Valuers’ lack of acknowledgement of sustainability in valuation practice and its changing role in property investment in the built environment, has had a potentially detrimental impact by limiting investment in sustainability in commercial property. Consequently, this lack of acknowledgment and incorporation of sustainability in practice has the potential to cause chaos within the market in the future. It was found that valuers, per se, are inexperienced and have limited knowledge of sustainability in commercial property. Due to differences between generations of valuers, this paper examines whether ‘younger’ valuers’1 knowledge of sustainability, as a concept, measurement and any possible relationship with market value is more extensive than senior valuers. Or whether senior valuers experiences in the market are more sensitive to the change sustainability is having in the commercial property market. A key issue for the profession concerning sustainability and its effect on the market is the limited channels for knowledge development. The implications of this research are the need for increased curriculum in university education, so knowledge dissemination across the profession can be achieved. The development of knowledge of sustainability and its relationship in commercial property will progress the incorporation of sustainability in valuation practice. As a consequence, this will increase the investment in sustainability in the commercial property market.

Factors affecting capital program performance audit findings

Complex capital programs require specialized management techniques, in order to address the volatility, cost overruns, significant delays in completion, and failures with which such programs are typically associated. The need is greater than ever for careful oversight, especially for programs that expend public monies.

Audit is commonly a statutory or governance requirement on such programs, but traditional performance audit techniques and standards may be insufficient for certain types of programs and industries, providing a mere illusion of oversight adequacy instead of the assurance that is needed. In order to most appropriately define the performance audit scope, phrase the solicitation for services, select the audit team, and provide support to the auditors during the engagement, public and private sector entity auditees need to understand the factors that impact performance audit results and effectiveness. The question becomes one of how performance audit can be improved, and stakeholders satisfied regarding program achievements, accountability for resource use, transparency in operations, and risk management.

The author considered program complexity, governance, project controls, the history and evolution of the audit function, stakeholder expectations, assurance, and obstacles to audit, and used this information in conjunction with data from a large sample of 775 audit reports from complex construction programs, to derive questions and conclusions about performance audit results and effectiveness, and comparisons to expenditure audit results. The ultimate goal was to define key components in the execution of performance audits, based on theconclusions of the analysis, in order to improve performance audit findings and thus their applicability and usefulness.

While this study focused on program performance audit, it was also related to the field of program management. Although the data population was concentrated in the area of construction programs, conclusions from this research may also be applied to other complex, multifaceted or phased activities such as projects and programs in other industries (manufacturing, information technology), and also pursuits such as major event planning, company launch, mergers, and large program implementations or rollouts.

The research results clearly demonstrated that different types of findings were generated by different audit scopes. The author observed that typical audit findings focused on routine procedural, accounting, and controls errors. On average, contract expenditure audits questioned only 2.65% of expenditures, and performance audits of large complex programs questioned only 0.03% of expenditures. The majority (72.56%) of the performance audits in the sample yielded no findings or questioned costs.

There were significant positive correlations between: the number of expenditures tested and the number of qualitative findings, inclusion of construction experts on the audit team and the percentage of expenditures questioned, inclusion of construction experts on the audit team and the number of qualitative findings, broader audit scope and the percentage of expenditures questioned, and broader audit scope and the number of qualitative findings. Of these, auditor expertise and audit scope were the driving factors.

There were significant negative correlations between the application of agreed-upon procedures and the percentage of expenditures questioned, and the application of agreed upon-procedures and the number of qualitative findings. It was determined that the significant negative correlation between the application of audit standards and the number of qualitative findings was due to other factors, such as the application of agreed-upon procedures and the lack of construction experts on the audit team.

Other findings, resulting from review of the data, were unrelated to the research questions yet of considerable importance to industry. An extremely high percentage (81%) of the “performance audits” instead applied a very limited set of agreed-upon-procedures (AUP) in the engagement, According to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), AUP engagements could not be classified as audits. Thus, it was inappropriate for the accounting firms to apply AUP engagements in lieu of a performance audit, and it was especially egregious for them to state in their report that the engagements were conducted in accordance with audit standards, as AUP engagements and the specific audit standards were by their very nature mutually exclusive.

Conducting field research in a primary school setting : methodological considerations for maximizing response rates, data quality and quantity

Background: Schools are an ideal setting in which to involve children in research. Yet for investigators wishing to work in these settings, there are few method papers providing insights into working efficiently in this setting.

Objective: The aim of this paper is to describe the five strategies used to increase response rates, data quality and quantity in the TRansport Environment and Kids (TREK) project.

Setting: The TREK project examined the association between neighbourhood urban design and active transport in Grade 5–7 school children (n = 1480) attending 25 primary schools in metropolitan Perth, Western Australia during 2007.

Method: Children completed several survey components during school time (i.e. questionnaire, mapping activity, travel diary and anthropometric measurements) and at home (i.e. pedometer study, parent questionnaire).

Results: Overall, 69.4% of schools and 56.6% of children agreed to participate in the study and, of these, 89.9% returned a completed travel diary, 97.8% returned their pedometer and 88.8% of parents returned their questionnaire. These return rates are superior to similar studies. Five strategies appeared important: (1) building positive relationships with key school personnel; (2) child-centred approaches to survey development; (3) comprehensive classroom management techniques to standardize and optimize group sessions; (4) extensive follow-up procedures for collecting survey items; and (5) a specially designed data management/monitoring system.

Conclusion: Sharing methodological approaches for obtaining high-quality data will ensure research opportunities within schools are maximized. These methodological issues have implications for planning, budgeting and implementing future research.

Associations between psychological stress, eating, physical activity, sedentary behaviours and body weight among women: a longitudinal study

Background: 

Learning and concurrent engineering in the development of a high technology product/service system

This paper explores project management techniques that can support the development of novel product-service systems. Some observations from the development of an airborne earth properties measurement system are provided. The intellectual property and the data this system could potentially deliver was more important than the potential commercial value of the product itself. What was sought was a complete business service solution. A concurrent engineering approach was implemented linking both product development and survey data/analysis services. The blend of product and service was integrated using a function modeling technique. It was observed that the implementation of some functions required radical innovation whilst others could be implemented through incremental improvements to current practice. It is suggested in the paper that adapting production learning curve concepts that reflect the relative degrees of uncertainty involved in individual subsystems can enhance project management forecasting practice © 2013 The Authors and IOS Press.

Pesquisa exploratória empírica sobre o fenômeno das 'organizações de simbolismo intensivo'

Esta pesquisa pretende investigar a questão da "intensidade simbólica nas organizações". Organizações de Simbolismo Intensivo (OSI) são ambientes onde: (i) a liderança simbólica é predominante como estilo gerencial; (ii) líderes e liderados aplicam técnicas de gerenciamento da impressão; (iii) a inovação gerencial é tratada como evento dramatúrgico; e (iv) analistas simbólicos são predominantes na força de trabalho. Este trabalho busca evidências anedóticas e empíricas deste fenômeno.

O project finance no financiamento de empreendimentos em saneamento básico no Brasil

A situação atual dos sistemas de saneamento básico no Brasil, bem como o quadro regulatório e institucional do setor, são o resultado de conturbados antecedentes e de políticas descontínuas, determinadas por aspectos conjunturais e pela alternância entre momentos de maior e menor disponibilidade de recursos. A privatização e a concessão de serviços oferece perspectivas concretas de redefinição da trajetória de evolução do setor, com o estabelecimento de um padrão mais constante e regular de crescimento dos índices de cobertura e de modernização dos sistemas e das técnicas de gestão. A lógica do investimento privado implica na orientação pelo lucro e na configuração de estruturas de menor risco para os recursos comprometidos com o empreendimento. O project finance é uma técnica de financiamento que permite a repartição de riscos entre os participantes, reduzindo parcelas individuais e, conseqüentemente, agregando maior atratividade ao negócio. O presente estudo terá por objetivo analisar o setor de saneamento básico e o project finance, buscando identificar as possibilidades e os impactos presumíveis da introdução e difusão da técnica como alternativa de financiamento para o setor no Brasil.

Um caso de aprendizagem organizacional: exame conceitual e de aplicabilidade no contexto público

This research has a practice-oriented focus on the concept of Organizational Learning. The basic approach is a learning organization perspective, and some references to the concepts and concerns of organizational learning were included whenever necessary and proper. Organizational Learning is researched mainly from a management techniques and strategy point of view, with a smaller emphasis on the innovation and accumulation of technological capabilities and theoretical research points of view. A broad approach has been used, based mainly on the study of a successful case using action research in a private telecommunication company operating nationwide in Brazil. This study involved a small group, as it is common with pilot groups for learning organizations. The main purpose of this research is to provide a broad and updated survey about the idea of Organizational Learning. Results presented in the related literature are compared with findings from the field, and that literature is cited throughout the text. The interactions of Organizational Learning with the Brazilian context and with the public administration context are analyzed; important data, ranging from the historical origins and bases of the concept, to details of the activities in a real life learning organization, are shown. Some essential aspects, that should be considered or used when applying this type of management, are analyzed. The action research has shown a close proximity between Organizational Learning and a phenomenological perspective, servant leadership, and managerial model, respectively in the fields of philosophical approach, leadership, and management models.

Gestão da tramitação processual nas varas trabalhistas

Por meio deste trabalho, analisa-se a gestão da tramitação dos processos judiciais perante Varas do Trabalho como instrumento capaz de auxiliar no alcance da efetividade da atividade jurisdicional e da razoável duração do processo. Busca-se demonstrar o enquadramento da gestão entre as atribuições inerentes à função do juiz e a necessidade de sua adoção na condução da tramitação processual. Procura-se identificar momentos e atos da tramitação processual em que a adoção de técnicas de gestão pode produzir melhores resultados e sugerir práticas que conduzam à otimização dos recursos e legislação processual disponíveis, à maximização e, quando possível, supressão de atos, e à eliminação de “etapas mortas”. Para atingir tais propósitos, abordam-se, inicialmente, aspectos teóricos fundamentais relacionados à gestão das organizações e, de modo particular, à gestão judiciária em Varas do Trabalho. Num segundo momento, afirma-se a possibilidade de gestão do próprio processo (judicial), visando à redução do tempo de sua tramitação e à ampliação da utilidade do seu resultado, salientando-se as repercussões que essa ideia provoca sobre os deveres afetos ao juiz. Por fim, expõem-se propostas de aplicação prática de gestão processual em Varas do Trabalho, abrangentes de vários momentos e atos da tramitação processual e do seu correspondente controle.