1,720,975 research outputs found
Economies of scale, scope, and density in the Italian water sector: A two-stage data envelopment analysis approach
No full textPublic utilities could improve their efficiency by pursuing specific strategies, such as growth, diversification of investments, or serving mainly high densely areas. For example, in the water sector, economies of scope and scale both appear possible, but extant literature does not offer clear or consensual findings. To address this lack of clarity, this article investigates
the potential for efficiency improvement in the diverse Italian water sector, which comprises utilities of various sizes, operating in areas with various population densities and organized as mono- or multi-utilities. Technical and financial data from 64 different utilities were collected and then analyzed with a two-stage data envelopment analysis approach to reveal the impacts of different operational and exogenous variables on efficiency, including firm size, the degree of investment diversification, and customer density. The results obtained confirm the existence of all three types of economies (scale, scope and density), albeit with different impacts for each DEA score
La progettazione del sistema di programmazione e controllo negli atenei
No full textIl capitolo tratta delle fasi del processo di progettazione del sistema di controllo, della definizione dei suoi obiettivi, del sistema degli indicatori e cruscotti direzionali e del sistema di rilevazione delle informazioni e della contabilità analitic
La balanced scorecard e i cruscotti direzionali dell'Università di Verona
No full textIl capitolo presenta processo e articolazione del sistema di KPI dell'Università di Verona e della relativa Balanced Scorecard
Processo e strumenti di gestione delle performance nelle aziende ospedaliere universitarie integrate
No full textFactors affecting the performance of water utility companies
No full textPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to carry out an analysis of Italian water utility companies to
determine whether their performance was related to certain relevant variables that have been broadly
discussed in the existing literature. Among these are ownership structure, size and diversification. In
addition, the paper considers another variable – the geographical location.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviewed the annual financial statements of 80 Italian
water utility companies between 2004 and 2008. It also obtained data regarding tariffs, volumes
supplied and population served from Conviri, the Italian national authority for water. Finally, the
paper discusses the significant differences among clusters, using parametric statistic methods.
Findings – It was found that ownership structure, size, diversification and geographical location had
an impact on the performance of water utility companies, although with different degrees of significance.
Research limitations/implications – Further studies are necessary in order to improve the way
that performance of water utilities is assessed. First of all, it might be helpful to improve our data
categories, adding financial data, tariffs, volumes supplied and population served for more than one
year and obtaining segmental reports for multi-utilities. In addition, it would be interesting to apply
other methods, such as DEA analysis, to confirm our research findings.
Practical implications – For a local authority it is convenient to entrust water services to publicly
owned companies because they apply lower tariffs and make higher investments pro capita on the pipe
network. Moreover, since economies of scale and scope exist, a company’s growth and diversification
should be encouraged.
Social implications – In Italy the water industry is currently the focus of a vast political debate. As
a matter of fact, a recent law (n. 133/2008 article 23-bis modified in November 2009) encourages private
administration of this industry. The results led to an improvement in the debate on the strategic
choices and organizational structure of water utilities, giving helpful suggestions to policy makers and
local authorities for developing future strategies.
Originality/value – The research findings improve the existing literature on performance
assessment regarding water utilities, for the first time focusing on the Italian context, where
companies with different features coexist: public and private utilities, small, medium and large
companies as well as mono and multi-utilities
Il Ruolo Della Logistica Ospedaliera Per Il Miglioramento Delle Performance Operative E Del Livello Di Servizio Al Paziente
Full text linkLa necessità di migliorare le performance operative dei sistemi sanitari
sono oggetto di numerosi studi nella letteratura scientifica che si focalizzano sul paziente, sulla gestione dei materiali, sull’organizzazione
delle attività operative e aziendali. L’ambito logistico risulta di notevole
interesse alla luce del peso che tali attività possono avere sulla struttura
dei costi di una unità ospedaliera che può arrivare fino al 50% del totale
dei suoi costi. Nonostante ciò la gestione della
logistica risulta essere ancora tra le funzioni aziendali più trascurate: ad
esempio, talvolta accade che un farmaco sia ordinato in un certo punto della
supply chain nonostante esso sia di fatto già presente in altro punto della
stessa
Da qui nasce l’esigenza di tenere sotto controllo i consumi, di organizzare,
formalizzare e digitalizzare le informazioni di consumo dei reparti e
di evitare acquisti sovradimensionati, con conseguente eccessivo immobilizzo
di scorte e rischio di obsolescenza dei beni.La mission di una azienda sanitaria pubblica non può che essere quella
di soddisfare il bisogno di salute e sicurezza del cittadino offrendogli un
servizio tempestivo, efficace e qualitativamente adeguato alle aspettative,
utilizzando per tale preciso fine le risorse economiche pubbliche messe a
disposizione dagli organi territoriali, adibiti ad una loro efficiente e parsimoniosa
emissione. Ne consegue che la gestione ospedaliera presuppone l’interazione tra ambiti disciplinari molto differenti quali l’ambito medico,
economico, manageriale, organizzativo e sociale
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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