An international study of ethics

This study presents the results of a survey of graduate students from three cultural backgrounds. English, German, and American business students responded to an eleven-item survey designed to assess one's beliefs about what is necessary to succeed in graduate business programs. The results indicate that the attributes which students believe are required to succeed differ among cultures, with the greatest differences occurring between the American and European respondents.     

Hospital size determines department director policy

Early in 1990, the American College of Physician Executives undertook a survey of its hospital-based members to determine the extent to which hospitals had department directors and the roles, responsibilities, and compensation of those directors. The survey form was mailed to about 1,400 College members; responses were received from 734--approximately a 52 percent response rate. This article reports the results of the survey.     

Physician executives' characteristics and attitudes

This monograph reports on a survey of physician executives who are members of the American College of Physician Executives. The survey emphasized four areas--factors in an individual's move into management as a career choice; satisfaction with management as a career or as an element of a career; factors that prepare a physician to manage; and factors in future development of physician managers.     

No pattern seen in survey for overreader qualifications

A survey was conducted in the fall of 1989 to determine how hospitals handle the task of overreading of computer-generated electrocardiograms. All hospital-based members (1,451) of the American College of Physician Executives were sent questionnaires. Responses were received from 413 physician executives, a response rate of about 28 percent. The results of the survey are summarized in this article.     

QUANTITATIVE METHODS IN THE UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULA OF AACSB MEMBER INSTITUTIONS

Since the discipline of quantitative methods varies more widely from institution to institution than any other discipline, a survey was conducted to establish a profile of the undergraduate quantitative methods curricula. The survey was made among member institutions of the American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business in order to determine the current status of the structure and orientation of undergraduate programs in quantitative methods, faculty background and requirements, undergraduate course requirements for each of the major areas in business, and directions of future changes. This paper presents the survey results.     

Chinese and Americans Agree on What Is Fair,but Disagree on What Is Best in Societal Decisions Affecting Health and Safety Risks

Through surveys of students and junior professionals and interviews with business and government executives, we studied Chinese choices and fairness perceptions in risky health and safety decisions. The survey responses were compared with American responses from an earlier study by Keller and Sarin.The survey results show that the American and Chinese respondents had similar fairness perceptions, but the Chinese did not make decisions that were consistent with their fairness perceptions, whereas the Americans did. We found that the middle-age Chinese professionals tended to make choices that were more different from the Americans than were the choices of the young Chinese management students. It is likely that these discrepancies were caused by cultural differences, with the younger Chinese tending to face a stronger Western influence.The insights from the survey results were enriched by interviews that revealed fairness perceptions of Chinese business and government executives. A framework to interpret cultural influences on decision making was also proposed.     

New Zealand—a newcomer to planning

The geographic location of New Zealand and the relatively small size of the industrial sector frequently creates a lag in the adoption of what would normally be regarded as standard practice in European and American companies. This paper discusses the results of a survey of executive attitudes towards planning in 138 New Zealand companies. The main objective of the survey was to establish the state of development of Corporate Planning in New Zealand.     

Indications for the use of low-osmolar contrast agents.

The recent introduction of low-osmolar contrast agents for use in radiology procedures presents a dilemma for health care managers concerned about cost and quality. The new agents are reported to be safer and are better tolerated by patients, but they are very costly. Earlier this year, a survey was sent to hospital-based members of the American College of Physician Executives to determine what policy existed for the use of these agents. As a result of the survey, we have a better picture of the indications for low-osmolar contrast agents being used in clinical practice throughout the United States.     

Physician leaders see eye-to-eye

Late in 1990, the American College of Physician Executives conducted a survey of hospital-based physician executives and chiefs of staff. Each was asked to judge the performance of the other in a wide range of activities. The results show a surprising degree of mutual regard and agreement. The differences, however, are also telling.     

Work study techniques in UK manufacturing industry

This paper presents some of the results of a large survey on the usage of work study techniques in British manufacturing industry. Detailed comparisons are made between various sizes of companies, companies of different nationality of ownership—particularly American vs British—and the types of company surveyed. The results reveal that, in spite of available knowledge, industry in the UK makes surprisingly low use of work study and that usage is significantly higher in American owned companies than British ones. Comments are made with respect to the improvements required in the teaching of work study.     

Physician executives report high job satisfaction. Summary of findings from a survey of senior physician executives

The role of the senior physician executive is well established in American hospitals and health systems. There is little research, however, on overall physician executive job satisfaction, their perceptions of their organizational role and job performance, or their views of the medical staffs with which they work. A recent survey of physician executives examined these and other areas. It found physician executives to be quite satisfied with their jobs. What follows is a summary of the findings. An article based on the survey will be featured in a future issue of The Physician Executive.     

Role stress among physician executives

On the one hand, physician executives are clinicians who place value on professional autonomy. As clinicians, the best interests of the patient drive their decision making and their value system. On the other hand, as managers, physician executives serve as agents of an organization. Because of the differences in the two cultures, some physicians have called the physician executive position a "no man's land" To address these issues and answer the questions that surround them, the authors developed a survey that was mailed to a random sample of the membership of the American College of Physician Executives. Parts of the survey served in other studies of role conflict and role ambiguity. Parts of the survey are new, developed specifically to analyze the physician executive role. The findings are reported in this article.     

Physician executives and communication.

This article presents the results of a pioneering survey of American College of Physician Executives members' perceptions of just how skilled they are as communicators and where they feel the need for further training. Listening skills were rated most important and most in need of enhancement, but physician executives agree that managerial communication skills across the board are vital to the success of a health care organization.     

The compensation of physician executives.

In January of this year, the American Academy of Medical Directors and the Physician Executive Management Center mailed a survey questionnaire to the approximately 2,300 members of the Academy of record at that time. More than 1,000 responses were returned. The purpose of the survey was to begin to collect data and establish a reliable baseline of compensation information for the physician executive profession. Subsequent annual surveys will allow the two organizations to track the course of the profession, insofar as this can be done on the basis of compensation. In this article, we provide a summary of some of the findings of the survey as they relate to physician executives in a variety of nongovernment health care settings. Except for the summary of overall data, the report is limited to the responses of physicians who indicated full-time involvement (75 percent or more) in management. Later this year, the complete findings of the survey will be published in a monograph that will be available from the Academy and Center.     

GRADUATE EDUCATION IN QUANTITATIVE METHODS IN THE AACSB SCHOOLS

The status of Quantitative Methods in business education is perhaps less “standard” and less understood than any other field. This is probably even more true at the graduate than at the undergraduate level. Courses which are normally considered to be Quantitative Methods courses are often housed in a wide range of departments. Some courses which would normally be classified as Quantitative Methods courses are also housed in colleges other than Business Administration. In order to determine the current status of graduate quantitative methods curricula in schools of business, a survey was made of the member institutions of the American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business. This paper presents the survey findings.     

Management knowledge and skills required by U.K. and U.S. medical directors

A survey was undertaken of the medical directors of National Health Service trusts in the South Thames Regional Health Authority of the United Kingdom. The purpose of the survey was to ascertain medical directors' views regarding the importance of various areas of administrative practice, their preparedness in these areas of administrative knowledge prior to taking up their roles as medical directors, and their views as to the body of knowledge required for future medical directors. The study was compared with a similar study undertaken in the United States. While there were many areas of agreement between the English and the American medical administrators, there were also areas of significant differences of opinion. The need to develop a recognized training program in medical administration is acknowledged.     

Quality in K-12 education: Parameters for world class achievement

It is widely believed by the American public that quality education is an unattainable goal in American elementary and secondary schools. A recent survey of twelfth grade students in the thirteen leading developed countries showed that American students ranked thirteenth. Another recent survey concluded that 25 million of our citizens are functionally illiterate and that an additional 25 million have to update their skills and/or knowledge to remain competitive in today's marketplace. The federal government and some state governments have finally recognized the relatively poor condition of our present educational system and have set initiatives to corect the educational crisis that exists. The authors describe former President Bush's “America 2000: An Educational Strategy” and President Clinton's “GOALS 2000: Educate America”, both of which have desirable goals but lack an approach for reaching the target and fail to specify any type of accountability for non-achievement. The authors then compare the American education system to an industrial or service organization and attempt to define the “customer”. Once the “customer” is identified, Deming's principles for management are shown to apply to education as well as to manufacturing and other service organizations. In developing this paper, the authors focus on:

1. government, initiatives to improve the educational environment,
2. the views of leading experts on the applicability of total quality management concepts to education, and
3. the strides that have been made toward educational quality improvement by some schools.

A case study describing the benefits which have resulted from implementation of a total quality system at an inner-city suburban New York City K-12 school is then presented.     

Physician-hospital organizations and PHO executives. What lies ahead for the PHO?

The 1996/97 Profile of Physician-Hospital Organizations and PHO Executives, jointly conducted by the American Association of Physician-Hospital Organizations/Integrated Delivery Systems (AAPHO/IDS) and Tyler & Company, takes a closer look at the PHO and trends within the health care system. In examining contracting, enrollees, staff size and experience, compensation, incentives, and projected salary increase for CEOs, the survey found that the PHO is in the midst of transformation into an integrated delivery system. As physicians and hospitals form a team to deliver more efficient and cost-effective health care to patients, they are paving the way to the integrated delivery system. The survey also focuses on the details of the PHO and PHO executives, including an in-depth look at all aspects of compensation for the CEO.     

The hazards of strategic planning for global markets

Global strategic marketing planning has emerged as a key process in managing today's worldwide marketplace. This survey of 90 large American global corporations reveals that most are bottom-up planners. US firms appear to have distinct cost and numbers orientations. Industry and competitive analyses are used in many companies, although managers appear to lack suitable frameworks for SWOT analyses. Economic climate changes tend to be most disruptive to global planning efforts. When faced with non-achievement of goals, most firms reformulate both objectives and strategies.     

Decidedly Different: Expert and Public Views of Risks from a Radioactive Waste Repository

A questionnaire with items that had been used in a national survey of the general public was administered to persons attending an American Nuclear Society meeting. The items asked about risks associated with high-level nuclear waste (HLNW), trust in nuclear-waste program managers, costs and benefits of a repository project, and images of a HLNW repository. The results suggest that nuclear industry experts may have very different opinions from the general public about most of these items and their images of a repository indicate a vastly different conceptual framework within which their opinions are formed.