Environmental factors that influence the community participation of adults with aphasia: The perspective of service industry workers

Background: The loss of language and the inability to communicate effectively as a result of aphasia often affects community participation. Within the World Health Organisation International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, disability is recognised as a dynamic interaction between the individual's health condition, such as aphasia, and his or her personal and environmental factors. There has been little research identifying the environmental facilitators and barriers to participation for people with aphasia in the community, and no research focusing on the perspective of service industry workers. Aims: This study aimed to identify barriers and facilitators to community participation for adults with aphasia from the perspective of service industry workers. Methods & Procedures: Eight focus groups were conducted with 24 service industry employees. Transcripts of the focus group discussions were analysed using qualitative content analysis procedures, and barriers to and facilitators for participation of people with aphasia were identified. Outcomes & Results: Results revealed that the participation of people with aphasia in the community can be affected by many environmental factors within three broad categories: (1) people environmental factors, (2) physical environmental factors, and (3) business or organisational environmental factors. Conclusions: Service industry employees were able to identify a range of factors that would act as barriers and facilitators for people with aphasia. Some of the more significant findings include the lack of other people's awareness about aphasia, the willingness of service industry workers at the individual level to accommodate people with aphasia, and the difficulty in making the necessary system, policy, and procedural changes at the organisational level. Speech pathologists are encouraged to assist service industry providers to be more aphasia-friendly through education and training, in addition to assisting people with aphasia to become self-advocates.

Perceptions of technological change : the attitude of managers towards group technology in the United States food equipment industry

In the center of today's continued and rapid technological change and ever competitive environment of the next millennium, manufacturers must realize that unless they are ready to consider and evaluate new technologies brought onto them, they may fail to adequately respond to the challenges that lie ahead of them. This research was designed to determine the consistency of the perceptions of technical and non-technical administrators, in manufacturing environment, towards technological change and group technology as an advanced manufacturing system. This research has included a review of literature with references to technological change, justification and implementation processes, and various manufacturing systems including group technology and its benefits. This research has used the research method of empirical analysis (quantitative) and case studies (qualitative) to research perceptions of technical and non-technical administrators towards technological change and group technology. Sixty-four (64) technical and fifty-one (51) nontechnical administrators from fifty (50) manufacturing organizations in the United States of America responded to the mail survey questionnaire used in this research. Responses were analyzed using the Repeated Measures ANOVA procedure to compare mean responses of each group. Two correlation analyses, Cronback Coefficient Alpha and Pearson Correlation Coefficient, were also performed to determine the reliability of the questionnaire as well as the degree of correlation of perceptions between these two groups. This research, through the empirical analysis, has found that perceptions of the technical and non-technical administrators towards group technology were not consistent. In other words, they did not perceive the benefits of group technology in the same manner to the overall organizational performance. This finding was significant since it provided the first clear and comprehensive view of the technical and non-technical administrators' perception towards group technology and technological change, in Food Equipment Manufacturer Industry, in United States of America. In addition, a number of cases were analyzed and the results have supported those of the quantitative analysis. Therefore, this research not only has provided basic data, which was unavailable prior to this investigation, but it also provided a basis for future studies.

Patterns and Drivers of the Agri-Food Intra-Industry Trade of European Union Countries

This paper investigates the drivers of agri-food intra-industry trade (IIT) indices in the European Union (EU-27) member states during the period from 2000–2011. The increased proportion of IIT in matched two-way agri-food trade of the EU-27 member states is consistent with economic integration and economic growth. When export prices were at least 15% higher than the import prices, high-vertical IIT, increased for most member states. This finding suggests that quality improvements occurred when comparing agri-food exports to similar imports of agri-food products. The IIT indices for both horizontal and vertical IIT are positively associated with higher economic development levels, new EU membership and EU enlargement. Additionally, as higher levels of economic development decreases, the size of the economy and marginal IIT increases the effects of agri-food trade liberalization on the costs of the labor market adjustment. Understanding how improvements in agri-food trade quality impact agribusiness and managerial competitiveness reveal significant policy implications.

Solid Waste Disposal: Independent Food Service Practices

Solid waste disposal is a major concern today. This study seeks to identify the current practices and attitudes of managers of independent food services toward solid waste management and the characteristics of food services which were most likely to be involved with a solid waste management program

Contracted School Food Service: Advantages, Disadvantages, and Political Concerns

Schools have evolved to be providers of education as well as suppliers of ancillary services to the population that they serve. This article examines one of these ancillary services, food service, in order to provide some awareness of the political aspects of the decision-making process in choosing whether or not to contract this service, as well as the pros and cons of the situation.

Industry Education: The Merger Continues

In the discussion - Industry Education: The Merger Continues - by Rob Heiman Assistant Professor Hospitality Food Service Management at Kent State University, the author originally declares, “Integrating the process of an on-going catering and banquet function with that of selected behavioral academic objectives leads to an effective, practical course of instruction in catering and banquet management. Through an illustrated model, this article highlights such a merger while addressing a variety of related problems and concerns to the discipline of hospitality food service management education.” The article stresses the importance of blending the theoretical; curriculum based learning process with that of a hands-on approach, in essence combining an in-reality working program, with academics, to develop a well rounded hospitality student. “How many programs are enjoying the luxury of excessive demand for students from industry [?],” the author asks in proxy for, and to highlight the immense need for qualified personnel in the hospitality industry. As the author describes it, “An ideal education program concerns itself with the integration of theory and simulation with hands-on experience to teach the cognitive as well as the technical skills required to achieve the pre-determined hospitality education objectives.” In food service one way to achieve this integrated learning curve is to have the students prepare foods and then consume them. Heiman suggests this will quickly illustrate to students the rights and wrongs of food preparation. Another way is to have students integrating the academic program with feeding the university population. Your author offers more illustrations on similar principles. Heiman takes special care in characterizing the banquet and catering portions of the food service industry, and he offers empirical data to support the descriptions. It is in these areas, banquet and catering, that Heiman says special attention is needed to produce qualified students to those fields. This is the real focus of the discussion, and it is in this venue that the remainder of the article is devoted. “Based on the perception that quality education is aided by implementing project assignments through the course of study in food service education, a model description can be implemented for a course in Catering and Banquet Management and Operations. This project model first considers the prioritized objectives of education and industry and then illustrates the successful merging of resources for mutual benefits,” Heiman sketches. The model referred to above is also the one aforementioned in the thesis statement at the beginning of the article. This model is divided into six major components; Heiman lists and details them. “The model has been tested through two semesters involving 29 students,” says Heiman. “Reaction by all participants has been extremely positive. Recent graduates of this type of program have received a sound theoretical framework and demonstrated their creative interpretation of this theory in practical application,” Heiman says in summation.

Manager-Customer Relationship in Food Service Commissary Operations

Documented reports of day-to-day decision-making in food service tend to emphasize technical aspects. However, this view does not represent completely the decision-making process managers go through. The author reports on the effect of the manager-customer relationship in decision-making by managers.

Food service Contracts That Win: Essentials in the Development of a Food service Agreement

The authors provide tips for institutions wanting to place a contract for operation of their food service and for companies and/or individuals in the business of managing food service operations for a fee.

Correlates of Non-Institutional Food Service Turnover

The high rate of restaurant employee turnover, particularly of the non-supervisory employee, is a continuing problem. The authors assess the possible correlates of this turnover and their relative strengths, ranking and comparing working hours, quality of supervision, chance for promotion, on-the-job training, pay, work of others, employees' attitudes, and management's interest in employees to present possible solutions for the high rate of turnover.

Fresh Food Vending Trends and Practices

Fresh food vending represents $1.5 billion in sales each year in the United States. The implications for a better understanding of fresh food vending are significant in terms of profitability and improved market share for vending operators. Of equal importance is a better understanding of the significance of the route driver on the overall fresh food vending operation. Developing a better understanding of this area of the food service industry will help vending operators increase profits and provide better product choices to consumers

Gauging Employee Theft and Other Unacceptable Behaviors in Food Service Operations

Unacceptable employee behavior ultimately results in higher prices for consumers. Members of the Indiana Hospitality and Restaurant Association were surveyed about the practices being used to safeguard their assets and control employee deviance in food service. They were also asked to estimate the losses that result from employee theft. This information was used to investigate whether certain policies and procedures were more effective than others in limiting their losses.

Characterizing Poor Performance in For-Profit and Not-for-Profit Food Service Operations

In this article the authors explore the performance-related employee behaviors that are the most troublesome in food service. Four subsegments of food service were surveyed and differences in profit and not-for-profit operations analyzed. Significant differences were found between the two groups, with for-profit operations indicating more severe problems in all but one behavior category.

Personal Style of On-Site Food Service Managers

Myers-Briggs Type Indicators (MBTI) assess preferences based on Carl Jungs theory of psychological types. They are widely used in organizational development, management and leadership training, and team building. This study examines MBTl of food service managers in a single organization to determine whether food service managers have a typical personal style and whether this style varies.

Food Service and the Older Worker: Opportunity and Challenge

While there has been frequent research into the area of older workers in other industries, the food service field has not been examined in detail. The author explores the potential role of older workers in food services and offers suggestions toward formulating policy for such individuals.

Recruiting and developing technicians for hotel food service operations

The thesis which follows is a study of recruiting and developing skilled workers for Hotel Food Service Operations in the Miami area. The aim of the study is to bring to the attention of personnel management the role of recruiting and training in providing the skilled people needed for their operation in the short and long run as well. The study was done as a case study of the medium and large size hotels which have a minimum of 250 units each in the Miami area. However, the study has been generalized where it is possible, and when data permitted. The primary data was collected by the use of the questionnaire survey method composed of key questions about recruiting, training and sources of skilled people, turnover reasons, etc. Eight tables have been constructed, analyzed and interpreted. A personal opinion was mentioned in the interpretation of each table's data. It was found that personnel management should provide a better recruiting and developing procedures in order to attract more qualified people, particularly among the youngsters who are potential skilled workers for the future. It was concluded that the quality of work life, the benefits, and the opportunities for advancement in the food and beverage operations play a significant role in an employee's decision to stay with a particular job, and to acquire the necessary skills.