A lesson in business: cost-effectiveness analysis of a novel financial incentive intervention for increasing physical activity in the workplace

Background: Recently both the UK and US governments have advocated the use of financial incentives to encourage healthier lifestyle choices but evidence for the cost-effectiveness of such interventions is lacking. Our aim was to perform a cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) of a quasi-experimental trial, exploring the use of financial incentives to increase employee physical activity levels, from a healthcare and employer’s perspective.

Methods: Employees used a ‘loyalty card’ to objectively monitor their physical activity at work over 12 weeks. The Incentive Group (n=199) collected points and received rewards for minutes of physical activity completed. The No Incentive Group (n=207) self-monitored their physical activity only. Quality of life (QOL) and absenteeism were assessed at baseline and 6 months follow-up. QOL scores were also converted into productivity estimates using a validated algorithm. The additional costs of the Incentive Group were divided by the additional quality adjusted life years (QALYs) or productivity gained to calculate incremental cost effectiveness ratios (ICERs). Cost-effectiveness acceptability curves (CEACs) and population expected value of perfect information (EVPI) was used to characterize and value the uncertainty in our estimates.

Results: The Incentive Group performed more physical activity over 12 weeks and by 6 months had achieved greater gains in QOL and productivity, although these mean differences were not statistically significant. The ICERs were £2,900/QALY and £2,700 per percentage increase in overall employee productivity. Whilst the confidence intervals surrounding these ICERs were wide, CEACs showed a high chance of the intervention being cost-effective at low willingness-to-pay (WTP) thresholds.

Conclusions: The Physical Activity Loyalty card (PAL) scheme is potentially cost-effective from both a healthcare and employer’s perspective but further research is warranted to reduce uncertainty in our results. It is based on a sustainable “business model” which should become more cost-effective as it is delivered to more participants and can be adapted to suit other health behaviors and settings. This comes at a time when both UK and US governments are encouraging business involvement in tackling public health challenges.

Institutional maintenance work and power preservation in business exchanges: Insights from industrial supplier workshops

This paper aims to offer new theoretical and empirical insights into power dynamics in an industrial supplier workshop setting. Theoretically, it advances an institutional perspective on supplier workshops as an important venue in managing, preserving and instituting industrial market power. Based on a detailed ethnographic analysis of an industrial workshop setting, this article investigates the institutional maintenance work of Retail Co. in preserving the power dynamics of market dominance in business exchanges and market structures. Our findings revealed three previously unreported insights into the subtle, but nonetheless pervasive power from institutional maintenance work in an industrial workshop setting. First, the institutional workshop work comprised a cultural performance; constituting socialization practice through a performance game, the power of numbers in field comprehension and an award ceremony. Second, the institutional workshop work mobilized projective agency, stipulating, directing and appealing for the instituting of distinct market rules and collective identities. Finally, the institutional workshop work increases supplier docility and utility via the regulative technologies-of-the-self to enhance business planning, operations and market decision-making practice, without necessarily being seen to be disciplinarian.

Information professionals in business context: new professionals, old skills

This communication aims to present some reflections regarding the importance of information in organizational context, especially in business context. The ability to produce and to share expertise and knowledge among its employees is now a key factor in the success of any organization. However, it’s also true that workers are increasingly feeling that too much information can hurt their performance. The existence of skilled professionals able to organize, evaluate, select and disseminate information in organizations appears to be a prerequisite for success. The skills necessary for the formation of a professional devoted to the management of information and knowledge in the context of business organizations will be analysed. Then data collected in two focus group discussion with students from a graduate course in Business Information, from Polytechnic Institute of Porto, Portugal, a will be examined.

The role of information systems in business process redesign : a case of Turkish electricity market

This study is specifically concerned with the effect of the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) on the Business Process Redesign (BPR). Researcher’s experience and the investigation on previous researches imply that BPR and ERP are deeply related to each other and a study to found the mentioned relation further is necessary. In order to elaborate the hypothesis, a case study, in particular Turkish electricity distribution market and the phase of privatization are investigated. Eight companies that have taken part in privatization process and executed BPR serve as cases in this study. During the research, the cases are evaluated through critical success factors on both BPR and ERP. It was seen that combining the ERP Solution features with business processes lead the companies to be successful in ERP and BPR implementation. When the companies’ success and efficiency were compared before and after the ERP implementation, a considerable change was observed in organizational structure. It was spotted that the team composition is important in the success of ERP projects. Additionally, when the ERP is in driver or enabler role, the companies can be considered successful. On the contrary, when the ERP has a neutral role of business processes, the project fails. In conclusion, it can be said that the companies, which have implemented the ERP successfully, have accomplished the goals of the BPR.

Raising the Level of Moral Thinking among Managers Will Not Help. Kohlberg's Conventionality and Systemic Ethical Flaws in Business

Business ethicists often assume that unethical behavior arises when individuals deviate from the norms and responsibilities that are institutionalized to frame economic activities. People's greed motivates them to violate the rules of the game. In Kohlberg's terms, it is assumed that such actors make decisions in a preconventional way and act opportunistically. In this article, we propose an alternative interpretation of deviant behavior, arguing that such behavior does not result from a lack of conventional moral guidance but rather from the fact that characteristics attributed to preconventional morality by Kohlberg - the purely incentive and punishment driven opportunistic morality - have become the conventionalized morality. The prevailing norms that economic actors have internalized as their yardstick are those of the preconventional Homo economicus. Not the deviation from, but the compliance with the rules of the game explains many forms of harmful and illegal decisions made in corporations.

Asymmetries in Business Cycles

Esta disertación busca estudiar los mecanismos de transmisión que vinculan el comportamiento de agentes y firmas con las asimetrías presentes en los ciclos económicos. Para lograr esto, se construyeron tres modelos DSGE. El en primer capítulo, el supuesto de función cuadrática simétrica de ajuste de la inversión fue removido, y el modelo canónico RBC fue reformulado suponiendo que des-invertir es más costoso que invertir una unidad de capital físico. En el segundo capítulo, la contribución más importante de esta disertación es presentada: la construcción de una función de utilidad general que anida aversión a la pérdida, aversión al riesgo y formación de hábitos, por medio de una función de transición suave. La razón para hacerlo así es el hecho de que los individuos son aversos a la pérdidad en recesiones, y son aversos al riesgo en auges. En el tercer capítulo, las asimetrías en los ciclos económicos son analizadas junto con ajuste asimétrico en precios y salarios en un contexto neokeynesiano, con el fin de encontrar una explicación teórica de la bien documentada asimetría presente en la Curva de Phillips.

Innovation, entrepreneurship and outsourcing: essays on the use of knowledge in business environments

Innovació, emprenedoria i subcontractació són els pilars temàtics de la present tesi doctoral. L'ús del coneixement per part de les empreses representa l'element comú d'aquestes temàtiques. Les evidències empíriques provenen principalment del món empresarial, però es complementen amb les del món acadèmic com a principal proveïdor de coneixement a la societat actual, la finalitat de la qual és crear riquesa i benestar socioeconòmic. L'objectiu principal d'aquesta tesi doctoral és contribuir a les diferents àrees de recerca. La primera, gestió de la innovació, més concretament innovació organitzativa, reflexionant sobre la seva importància i monitorització a través d'enquestes. Tot seguit, un exemple d'innovació organitzativa -treball en equip- s'analitza en profunditat, així com també els seus determinants. La segona, analitza el procés de transició d'una universitat tradicional cap a una universitat emprenedora, començant per la fase de disseny fins a l'actualitat contemplant la seva funcionalitat i eficiència en el marc de les institucions públiques de recerca d'Europa. I la tercera, descriu les barreres que les empreses han de fer front a l'hora de cooperar, en general, i amb universitats, en particular. La mateixa mostra d'empreses gasela també serveix per analitzar la decisió de fer-o-comprar. El resum d'aquests resultats, les conclusions, així com les futures línies de recerca finalitzen el treball.

The role of the sponsor in business change

Successful business change programmes require a holistic approach covering processes, people, information and technology. Yet many current IT-related initiatives rely heavily on a systems development lifecycle and too early use of structured project management methodologies. This is exacerbated by limited or unclear definitions of what constitutes success. The IT-enabled business change lifecycle has been developed as an antidote to this narrow view. It stresses the importance of alignment in fuzzy situations with a continued focus on benefits management throughout the lifecycle. This paper reports on business change in large enterprises describing the results of an exemplar case study using the IT-enabled change lifecycle. There are different challenges at each stage of the lifecycle with implications for the skills needed. The paper considers these stages from the perspective of the sponsor, a role which is often misunderstood, and assesses what is required for successful stewardship and leadership of change. It concludes with practical recommendations for sharing learning on success and failure throughout the enterprise.