Interview schedule development for a Sequential explanatory mixed method design: complementary-alternative medicine (CAM) study among Indonesian psychologists

Sequential explanatory mixed method design is the most frequently applied in both health and social sciences literature. It is denoted by ‘QUAN → qual’ which represents the quantitative study occurs first and has greater weight in addressing the study’s aims, and the qualitative study follows to explain quantitative results. Despite the extensive use of sequential explanatory design, there are limited references to this design. Therefore, this methodological paper attempts to fill the gap by providing an illustration in developing a sequential explanatory interview schedule based on complementary-alternative medicine (CAM) study among clinical psychologists in Indonesia. The most important step to develop sequential explanatory interview schedule was the construction of aspects and questions that were immensely grounded on the most notable quantitative results. In this study, eight aspects of interview schedule were constructed after analyses of the nationwide survey. The interview schedule then piloted among participants with fairly similar characteristics to the participants in the main interviews. This process enhanced the quality of questions through feedback from participants and improved the interviewer’s skills through familiarization with questions. It is expected that this reflection report could be adopted as a practical guideline in developing interview schedule for sequential explanatory mixed method design, particularly in the field of psychology.     

Psychological Effects of Unemployment on Workers and Their Families

This paper reviews findings from a panel study of Boston area unemployed men and their families. Psychological effects of unemployment on workers and their wives are summarized, particularly for the first half year of joblessness. Family responses to job loss are also examined, including the role of the marital relationship in buffering workers' stress. Finally, policy and service implications of this research are discussed. Consideration is given not only to the mental health needs of workers, but to frequently overlooked qualities of efficacy and resilience among the unemployed.     

Innovation and design approaches within prospective ergonomics

In this conceptual article the topic of "Prospective Ergonomics" will be discussed within the context of innovation, design thinking and design processes & methods. Design thinking is essentially a human-centred innovation process that emphasises observation, collaboration, interpretation, visualisation of ideas, rapid concept prototyping and concurrent business analysis, which ultimately influences innovation and business strategy. The objective of this project is to develop a roadmap for innovation, involving consumers, designers and business people in an integrative process, which can be applied to product, service and business design. A theoretical structure comprising of Innovation perspectives (1), Worldviews supported by rationalist-historicist and empirical-idealistic dimensions (2) and Models of "design" reasoning (3) precedes the development and classification of existing methods as well as the introduction of new ones.     

Entrepreneurial orientation and social ties in transitional economies

Recent research suggests that entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has a more complex effect on performance (i.e. non-linear instead of linear) than previously considered. We extend this view by examining the non-linear effect of each individual dimension of EO (i.e. innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk-taking) on firm performance in the context of a transitional, collectivist economy. Drawing upon social capital theory, we also examine under which social capital conditions (i.e., business and political ties) each dimension of EO is most effective. Using survey data from 137 firms in Vietnam Top 500 Companies, this study shows that innovativeness and proactiveness have inverted U-shaped relationships with firm performance, while the effect of risk-taking on firm performance is also non-linear but in the form of increasing returns. Findings also show that social capital from business ties differentially moderates the effects of EO dimensions on performance. Similarly, social capital from political ties has different moderating effects on the innovativeness-performance and proactiveness-performance linkages. The findings urge managers of firms operating in transitional economies to take the levels of social capital from business ties and political ties into consideration when making their decision on which entrepreneurial strategy to pursue.     

Examining the Firm's Value Creation Process: A Managerial Perspective of the Firm's Value Offering Strategy and Performance

The primary pursuit of any business is to understand what customers value and to create that value for them. While customers are the final arbiter of value, it is the firm's role to explore, interpret and deliver value based on what they believe customers are seeking. Based on this premise we adopt the firm's perspective on value creation to extend both Bowman and Ambrosini's theoretical framework and the work of DeSarbo, Jedidi and Sinha and focus on two issues. The first is the strategic emphasis firms place on the design and delivery of their value offering. The second is the extent the firm's value offering explains performance differentials at the customer‐centric performance level. We present a conceptual model of how firms gain positional advantage via their value offering and the realized outcomes they achieve. We present two approaches to modelling the firm's value offering (type II and type IV models) and articulate the theoretical underpinnings and results for these models. Our results validate the conceptualization of the firm's value offering and suggest that creating superior value offerings enables firms to achieve superiority in customer‐centric performance.     

Health Status of Temporary Migrants in Urban Areas in Vietnam1

The rapid economic growth after economic reform, known in Viet Nam as “Doi Moi”, and the growing scope of urban migration raise specific questions for social policy, including migration and health policies. This paper compares issues of health status and its determinants as they affect temporary urban migrants versus permanent urban migrants and non‐migrants. The analyses utilize multivariate logistic regression and data from the 1997 Vietnam Migration and Health Survey. The results show that temporary migrants staying in guest houses are most vulnerable to health problems. Though most of them are initially healthier, their reported health deteriorates faster than other groups of urban residents. The findings also present important implications for the current migration and health policies in Vietnam: 1) A special attention should be given to temporary migrants in guest houses; 2) Different priorities in health policy should be applied to different groups of migrants and non‐migrants; 3) The current population management policy by registration system needs to be reviewed; 4) Providing clean water is one of the most important ways to improve health of temporary migrants; 5) Targeting educational investments and reducing unemployment would likely to improve overall health; 6) A higher priority on health policies targeting women would likely pay dividends, and; 7) Improving management and collaboration between government offices and interested partners is important to improving health status and reducing inequity.