1,720,989 research outputs found
Building a circular economy strategy in the healthcare organisations: the role of the group purchasing organisations
No full textThe UN strategy 2030 calls all actors to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals; among them the sustainability of healthcare systems represents a relevant target as they are considered responsible for 4%–5% of the emissions of greenhouse gases worldwide (Rodríguez-Jiménez et al., Journal of Advanced Nursing 79:2830–2844, 2023). In England, over 1.4% of supply chain emissions are due to single-use devices, some of which could be refurbished and reused, saving both carbon and money. The healthcare systems could reduce emissions from their supply chain in three ways: more efficient use of supplies; low-carbon substitutions and product innovation; and by ensuring our suppliers are decarbonising their own processes (Delivering a “Net Zero” National Health Services, Policy paper. https://www.england.nhs.uk/greenernhs.). To this regard, the extension of the lifetime of medical equipment and devices through practices like sharing, maintenance, repair, and refurbishment have been acknowledged (Wuyts, W. et al., 2020. Circular economy as a COVID-19 cure? Resources, Conservation and Recycling, Vol. 162, 105,016.). The healthcare industry is characterised by a complex supply chain; this is key to contribute to the overall performance of the industry and to support the successful implementation of circular economy (CE) strategies (Hazen et al., The International Journal of Logistics Management 32:510–537, 2021). In this context, the relationship
between the supply chain members is a key determinant of the healthcare system. The original equipment manufacturers and healthcare organisations often see a third actor in the group purchasing organisations, an intermediate entity responsible for specific functions. In the healthcare setting, a variety of authors have attempted to address how the CE practice may contribute to improve the environmental sustainability (Quintana-Gallardo et al., Polymers 15:1130, 2023). Nevertheless, the implementation of CE practices faces several challenges: for instance, recycling hazardous waste requires a huge revision of the collection infrastructure and logistics, accompanied
by a risk-cost–benefit and environmental impact analysis (Wuyts, W. et al., 2020. Circular economy as a COVID-19 cure? Resources, Conservation and Recycling, Vol. 162, 105,016.). Other barriers to the CE in healthcare include liability, costs, and complexity of developing and an in-house reprocessing infrastructure for single-use devices, obsolescence, and practices to discourage the disassembly by original equipment manufacturers, lack of clear standards for reusable devices reprocessing, lack of clarity on devices’ infection risks (MacNeill et al., Health Affairs 39:2088–2097,
2020). Consequently, fostering the transition of healthcare systems towards a circular economy requires collaboration among various stakeholders (MacNeill et al., Health Affairs 39:2088–2097, 2020). Based on the above premise the aim of the paper is to investigate the extent to
which specific green and CE practices could be extensively routed in the government funded healthcare system and the challenges experienced in the public sector. To this regard, a qualitative study has been designed and conducted in the Italian healthcare setting, where the healthcare system is government funded, diversified on a regional base, and highly regulated. Data have been collected through online semi-structured interviews to leading actors of purchasing intermediate entities in the sector. The interviews have been recorded and transcribed and analysed through deductive thematic analysis approach (Fereday and Muir-Cochrane, International Journal of Qualitative Methods 5:80–92, 2006) to provide an overview of the extent to which it is feasible for public healthcare system to adopt CE and greening actions to contribute, through their procurement process, more effectively to mitigate the climate change. The study contributes to the stream of literature about sustainability management providing a discussion of the type of CE practices relevant to enhance the contribution of the public healthcare system to the sustainable goals, from a managerial perspective
The Economic Integration Maturity of Romania and Bulgaria
Full text linkThe paper discusses the issue of integration maturity in the case of
Romania and Bulgaria. These countries joined the European Union in 2007 and since
then several economic issues and problems were revealed related to their accession.
The aim of this paper is to analyze the economic integration maturity of Romania
and Bulgaria at the time of their accession and since then. The paper suggests that
although these countries fulfilled the Copenhagen criteria were not fully prepared
to join the EU markets. The paper forms the hypothesis that Romania and Bulgaria
did not fulfill all the criteria of economic integration maturity and were not fully
ready to join the EU in 2007. However, by the time of their accession, their readiness
was appropriate to join. To prove this, the paper uses the methodology of economic
integration maturity. The concept of integration maturity is more complex than the
economic accession criteria since it shows how a candidate country is able to exploit
the benefits of membership and minimize its drawbacks before and after the accession. Based on data analysis and document analysis it can be examined how successfully these countries could exploit the economic stimulating effects of joining the
economic integration, how effectively took advantage in cohesion and convergence
to the other member states during their membership. In sum, it can be stated whether
Romania and Bulgaria were able to exploit the benefits of their membership and
minimize the drawbacks
Leadership and Motivation in the Greek Pharmaceutical Industry
Full text linkCC BY-NC-ND 4.0In today’s rapidly changing environment, leadership style and employee motivation
are considered as crucial factors for organizations to operate effectively and achieve their missions
and objectives. The pharmaceutical industry makes a major contribution worldwide, and in Greece
particularly, not only to public health and welfare but also to the economy and employment. The
annual turnover of pharmaceutical production in Greece was estimated over one billion euros for
the years 2018–2019 (Tsakanikas et al., 2020), and more than 23,300 employees were employed
in the sector in 2020, demonstrating a significant increase (9.8%) compared to the previous year
(SFEE-IOBE, 2020). In this study, leadership and motivation in the Greek pharmaceutical industry
is studied via an empirical analysis. The primary data, collected via questionnaires answered by
pharmaceutical industry employees located in Greece, aimed at identifying the impact that leaders,
communication, and motives have on employees’ performance in the context of the altered and volatile environment the COVID-19 pandemic – which unavoidably changed people’s attitude, needs,
and ways of communication – has shaped. A general framework was indeed identified (democratic
and transformational leadership); however, characteristics of other distinct leadership styles were
also observed. Managers’ opinions about themselves regarding their contribution to employees’ effectiveness were positive but did not achieve the highest grade. Subordinates were positive in this regard,
albeit with more tending to agree than strongly agree. Similar findings were extracted regarding motivation. Communication was affected by the new environment that the COVID-19 pandemic has
shaped. Face-to-face communication was considered more effective than distance communication;
however, employees had positive feelings when they worked remotely and felt more flexible. Finally,
according to the above, the overall outcome was positive, yet still indicates that there is room for
improvement or for adaptation to the new situation
Balkan and Eastern European Countries in the Midst of the Global Economic Crisis
No full textX, 174 p.online resource
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
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
- …
