Study on workloads of human care worker with the introduction of IT system - the characteristics of work loads by observational research and the suggestions for KAIZEN

The purpose of this study was to clarify the characteristic of workloads on human care worker with the introduction of IT system, and suggested the support measures for KAIZEN in Japan. The investigation method is workflow line and hearing with a focus on work observation. The objects were 8 human care workers of the acute hospital that introduced an electronic system. By the introduction of the electronic chart, the nurse station sojourn time decreased, sickroom sojourn time increased, and time about direct nursing care to a patient increased. In addition, access to patient information became easy, and the offer of the health care service based on correct information came to be possible in real time. By The point of workflow line, it was effect that moving lengths decreased in order to install the electronic chart in patients' rooms. Though, it was a problem that it hasn't formed where to place the instruments such as sphygmomanometer, clinical thermometer and others.     

A decision support methodology for strategic planning in maritime transportation

This paper presents a decision support methodology for strategic planning in tramp and industrial shipping. The proposed methodology combines simulation and optimization, where a Monte Carlo simulation framework is built around an optimization-based decision support system for short-term routing and scheduling. The simulation proceeds by considering a series of short-term routing and scheduling problems using a rolling horizon principle where information is revealed as time goes by. The approach is flexible in the sense that it can easily be configured to provide decision support for a wide range of strategic planning problems, such as fleet size and mix problems, analysis of long-term contracts and contract terms. The methodology is tested on a real case for a major Norwegian shipping company. The methodology provided valuable decision support on important strategic planning problems for the shipping company.     

International new ventures and governance structures—are international entrepreneurs strategic or entrepreneurial?

Born Global firms have attracted significant research interest over the past decade and one of the recurring research questions is how Born Global firms are able to overcome resource limitations to establish effective international sales and marketing channels so rapidly. Several qualitative studies have been performed in order to investigate this question and most conclude that Born Global firms do it by using entrepreneurial hybrid structures to govern their international activities. This study offers a quantitative analysis on whether there are significant differences between the international activities of small international firms and seeks to determine whether Born Global firms are more ‘entrepreneurial’ in terms of governance of their international activities and resources than other small international firms. The study adopts Aspelund and Moen’s (2005) classification of small international firms according to their time to internationalization and share of foreign sales and investigates differences in characteristics and governance of international activities. As expected, the study found differences in a broad range of characteristics between the firms that had adopted the different internationalization strategies. More surprisingly, the study fails to identify any differences between the firms on international governance structures for international operations. This a very intriguing result as it opposes a lot of qualitative work over the past decade and it also implies that Born Global firms are strategic in deciding their governance structures for international marketing activities regardless of their resource situation. Implications of the findings are discussed and alternative venues for further research are proposed.     

Family policy,economic development and infant mortality: a longitudinal comparative analysis

Ferrarini T, Norström T. Family policy, economic development and infant mortality: a longitudinal comparative analysis Int J Soc Welfare 2010: ??: ??–??© 2010 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and International Journal of Social Welfare. In the present study, the impact of family policy legislation and economic development on infant mortality was estimated. Time series analyses indicate that economic growth decreased infant mortality in the earlier part of the 20th century, while the postwar period showed a zero or even a reversed correlation between economic development and child health. The results from fixed effects modelling of data for 18 welfare democracies for the period 1970–2000 are in line with the hypothesis that the more generous the earnings‐related parental leave benefits, the lower the infant mortality.     

Home equity lending,credit constraints and small business in the US

We use Texas's constitutional amendment in 1997 that expanded the scope of home equity loans as a source of exogenous variation to estimate the effects of relaxing credit constraints on small businesses. We find, using standard panel data methods and restricted-use microdata from the US Census Bureau, that the Texas amendment increased the use of home equity finance by small businesses, increased new business and job creation and reduced firm exit and job loss. The effects are larger and significant for businesses with fewer than 10 employees.     

Prevalence Estimates of Gambling Participation and Problem Gambling among 16–18-year-old Students in Iceland: A Comparison of the SOGS-RA and DSM-IV-MR-J

The aim of this study was to estimate gambling participation and problem gambling among Icelandic adolescents. Participants were 750 16–18-year-old students, 371 girls and 379 boys. The rate of problem gambling was estimated with the SOGS-RA and DSM-IV-MR-J. Results indicated that 96% of adolescents had gambled in their lifetime, 79% at least once in the preceding year and about 10% gamble at least once a week. A psychometric evaluation of the two screening scales revealed satisfactory reliabilities and factor structures for both scales. The DSM-IV-MR-J identified 2% of the participants as problem gamblers while SOGS-RA identified 2.7%, and problem gambling was more common among boys than girls. It was concluded that problem gambling among adolescents is an area of concern for the Icelandic community that needs to be further investigated.     

Real wages,alcohol consumption and mortality in Sweden, 1861–1913

This paper addresses the decline in the Swedish mortality rate for adult men during the latter part of the nineteenth century. According to a recent study, the relationship between mortality and changes in real wages observed in previous stages of the demographic transition was non-existent in this period. By contrast, other findings suggest that the fluctuations in wages did have palpable consequences for people — emigration as well as crime (theft) were markedly affected. One hypothesis of the present study maintains that the shrinking consumption of alcohol is a partial explanation of the decline in mortality. Is is further suggested that a positive relationship between changes in real wages and alcohol consumption may conceal the wage effect on mortality. These hypotheses were empirically supported by time-series analyses of annual data covering the period 1861–1913. Real wages as well as alcohol consumption per capita had a statistically significant effect on male mortality. When the alcohol predictor was omitted in the model, the wage effect did not reach statistical significance. The decline in male mortality during the study period was, on the average, about one per cent per year. According to the results, a good half of this decrease is attributable to the trends in real wages and alcohol consumption.