Shared services--a recipe for cost-cutting in hospitals

This article is derived from a study the authors conducted during 1978–1979 to determine the extent of shared services participation by a group of metropolitan hospitals, the problems that occurred, and the recommendations that appeared realistic. It appeared from a survey of the literature that most writers on shared services had merely introduced the concept and some of its possible applications. Little had been done to study the actual incorporation of shared services into the management structure of the organization. This study is an attempt to look closer at the real, long-term acceptance of the idea by hospital administrators and to provide a clearer picture of the way in which shared services are being used or misused.     

NONVERBAL RECIPROCITY IN NONDISTRESSED MARITAL PARTNERS: AN EXAMINATION OF BASE RATE CHANGE*

The present study sought to incorporate recent suggestions for reciprocity research into an experimental design which could use behavioral base rate change as a method for determining nonverbal reciprocity in nondistressed couples. This study examined reciprocity by surreptitiously manipulating the touching behavior of one spouse, and monitoring responses of the other spouse. Forty couples were randomly assigned to either an experimental or control group. Couples were videotaped engaging in an assigned task which permitted interaction. During the interaction, positive touches, smiles, and headnods were monitored. Following instruction to do so, selected spouses in the experimental group increased their rate of touches. Results indicated that, in response, naive spouses subsequently increased their rate of touches. The results of this experiment provide supportive evidence for the lawful nature of reciprocity. The implications of these findings, and suggestions for subsequent reciprocity research, are forwarded.     

On adaptive Metropolis–Hastings methods

This paper presents a method for adaptation in Metropolis–Hastings algorithms. A product of a proposal density and K copies of the target density is used to define a joint density which is sampled by a Gibbs sampler including a Metropolis step. This provides a framework for adaptation since the current value of all K copies of the target distribution can be used in the proposal distribution. The methodology is justified by standard Gibbs sampling theory and generalizes several previously proposed algorithms. It is particularly suited to Metropolis-within-Gibbs updating and we discuss the application of our methods in this context. The method is illustrated with both a Metropolis–Hastings independence sampler and a Metropolis-with-Gibbs independence sampler. Comparisons are made with standard adaptive Metropolis–Hastings methods.     

George Thompson,transatlantic abolitionism,and Britain in the American Civil War

The British abolitionist George Thompson was an unequalled public face of the Northern states in Britain during the American Civil War. Capitalising on his reputation from decades of anti-slavery activism stretching back to the 1830s, Thompson lectured convincingly to a variety of British audiences on the emancipationist potential of the war, encouraging them to lend their support to the Northern cause. Revealing his continuing intellectual debt and personal connections to the American abolitionists around William Lloyd Garrison, this article uses Thompson’s activism to emphasise the continuing importance of transatlantic Garrisonian ideology and networks in a period that historians have previously characterised as a ‘rupturing’ in the movement.     

Multilevel relationships between organizational-level incivility,justice and intention to stay

Abstract

This study extends incivility theory and research by applying multilevel theory and analysis to explain the effect of group-level incivility on intention to remain. Previous research has shown that experiencing workplace incivility is associated with adverse individual well-being and behaviour, such as turnover intentions, but the majority of research has been at the individual level of analysis. Consequently it is unknown whether incivility is also a group-level phenomenon, and what the effects of group-level incivility are on the individual. Results from over 34,000 employees working in 179 organizations across Australia and New Zealand showed that target reports of incivility could be aggregated to the level of the organization to form a shared stressor, incivility environment, which affected employees’ intention to remain over and above their personal experience of incivility. This shared or environmental incivility also had a cross-level interaction effect on the negative relationship between individual incivility and intention to remain, highlighting the importance of context on targets of incivility. The role of interactional justice climate was also examined and the data are consistent with justice having a mediating effect on the cross-level relationship between environmental incivility and intention to remain. The findings are relevant to studies of bullying and harassment.     

Documentation in evaluation research: Managerial and scientific requirements

Documentation in evaluation research consists of written material, in human- or machine-readable form, pertaining to the plans, activities, and results of the project. It is argued here that good documentation is essential for effective management of evaluations, and for responsible reporting of the research procedures and findings. Documentation relating to electronic data processing activity is especially important. The purpose of this paper is to stimulate consideration and discussion of documentation, and to emphasize its importance in evaluation research. The role of documentation in the planning and control functions of project management is reviewed, and the importance of documentation in the assessment of research quality with respect to objectivity, validity, and replicability is discussed. Reasons for poor documentation are considered. An outline of documentation required in different phases of research projects is provided, and recommendations for improving the quality of documentation are presented.     

Clinical expert systems versus linear models: do we really have to choose?

This article deals with decision subsystems at the level of the organism. In recent years there has been debate as to whether linear models or clinical expert systems make clinical decisions more effectively. Previous articles in this journal have favored linear models. This article argues the opposite case. We show that expert systems are not necessarily more expensive or less accurate than linear models and that, in theory at least, they can perform many tasks that are beyond the scope of linear models. Indeed, while a linear model may serve as a subsystem of a human or computer expert system, an expert system cannot be seen as a subsystem of a linear model. We conclude that clinical expert systems and linear models are not interchangeable and users should not be forced to choose between them.     

Modeling market information processing in new product development: An empirical analysis

This research explores the antecedents and consequences of market information processing during the development process of new high-tech products. To this end, we develop and test a conceptual model for market information processing in three generic stages of the new product development (NPD) process (predevelopment, development and commercialization). In addition, we explore the relationships between market information processing, its antecedents, and product advantage and success. We test our model with responses from 166 NPD-managers in Dutch high-tech firms. The findings show that the market information processing variables are related differentially to new product outcomes, even when controlling for product advantage and product newness to the market. In addition, we found that companies can enhance market information processing for new high-tech products by influencing project priority and flexibility to new products, and by reducing interdepartmental conflict.