411 research outputs found

    Developing Process Model for Management of Knowledge-Intensive Organization – A Case Study of a Hospital

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    This study explores knowledge management practices in a Malaysian public healthcare organization. Knowledge management has gained much attention not only from business enterprises but also in other fields such as education, urban planning and development, governance as well as healthcare and has allowed for an enterprise-wide structure to be put in place to promote efficient and effective decision-making process. As a result, many organizations are now more serious about managing knowledge and embracing the concepts associated with knowledge management to remain competitive, or even to survive. Healthcare practitioners are a knowledge-based community that depend heavily on knowledge management activities. However, little study has explored the processes used by practitioners in managing knowledge as one of the intellectual assets of the business. Hence, this paper focuses on knowledge management practices among medical staffs particularly on how they build their knowledge schemes, scan for knowledge and use knowledge in their organizations. The paper\u27s primary goal is to examine how medical staffs employ knowledge management processes to the benefit of their clinical routines and ultimately to develop a knowledge management model for disease management. Theoretically, this study aims to provide a model that will add to the existing models on knowledge management processes; extend the initial model used in this study; examine the contribution of different knowledge workers to the model as well as guide practitioners in understanding, acquiring and applying knowledge effectively. By adopting an interpretive case study approach, two distinct roles of medical staffs were selected to reflect how knowledge management process is being practiced in their organization

    Knowledge Management Strategy - What Have We Learnt?

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    This paper picks up on the widely accepted personalisation and codification approaches to knowledge management strategy. It looks at the relationship between these knowledge management strategies and the competitive strategies that organisations have adopted, and by considering the strategy and manufacturing strategy literature, identifies a certain inconsistency between the discussions there and those in the knowledge management literature. It goes on to consider what examples in the literature have contributed to our knowledge of knowledge management strategies, and to highlighting the weaknesses in that knowledge, since these two "fundamental strategies" were first defined back in the 20th century. Aspects where the theory may benefit from being extended include: more precise consideration as to what a competitive position of "standardisation" really means, especially in the light of the expansion of so-called mass customisation; the three-way fit (or lack of it) between knowledge management strategy, competitive strategy and organisational culture, how these are developed, whether it is possible to change them if desirable, and if so, how; and the role of leadership in relation to different knowledge management strategies

    HUMAN RESOURCES AND THEIR POSSIBLE FORENSIC MEANINGS

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    Forensics (forensis – before the Forum) means the application of knowledge from different scientific fields in order to define facts in judicial and/or administrative procedures. Nowadays forensics, besides this, finds its application even in different economic processes. For example, forensics enters the commercial areas of business intelligence and of different security areas. The European Commission recognized the importance of forensics, and underscored the importance of development of its scientific infrastructure in member States. We are witnessing the rise of various tragedies in economic and other kinds of processes. Undoubtedly, the world is increasingly exposed to various forms of threats whose occurrences regularly involve people. In this paper we are proposing the development of a new approach in the forensic assessment of the state of human resources. We are suggesting that in the focus should be the forensic approach in the psychological assessment of awareness of the individual and of the critical infrastructure sector operator (CISO) in determining the level of actual practical, rather than formal knowledge of an individual in a particular field of expertise, or in a specific scientific field, and possible forensic meanings

    Predictors and outcomes of speech and language therapists' treatment decisions

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    This study investigated predictors of decisions made by speech and language therapists (SLTs) to offer intervention for pre-school children and the children's outcomes relative to that decision. The study uses data from 347 children who were first assessed aged under 3 years 6 months by community speech and language therapists in the UK. Of these, 158 were offered therapy, 189 were either discharged or offered only monitoring appointments. After adjusting for the child's age and gender, six variables were significantly associated with the therapist's original decision: being a quiet baby, not using two word utterances or making comments on their play, being unintelligible to strangers and the child's score on auditory comprehension and expressive language scales of the Preschool Language Scales (PLS-3). These show a focus on communication variables rather than broader demographic and medical variables. At follow-up, aged 7 - 9 years, 56% of the children were available for re-assessment. Therapists' decisions at initial assessment show a sensitivity of .85 and a specificity of .61 relative to children's outcomes. Of the 191 children seen at follow-up, 21 were deemed to have ongoing difficulties

    Improving the healthcare service quality in Chinese Public Class-A Hospitals: from frontline healthcare professional's perspectives

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    In a highly competitive market, healthcare service improvement is important to satisfy people’s increasing need for care and to maintain the sustainability of hospitals' competitive advantages. Although Public Class-A hospitals are the top hospitals in China, existing problems exert negative influences on service quality. This research aims to contribute to the improvement of Chinese Public Class-A hospitals by investigating the perspectives of healthcare professionals regarding service improvement. Using a qualitative approach, 16 professionals working for several Public Class-A hospitals were interviewed and expressed their views on the existing service quality, the factors influencing this service and made suggestions about how to improve it. The results of content analysis revealed that professionals view Chinese Public Class-A hospitals as having good medical ability, advanced equipment and reliable curative effect. The price of treatment is considered high but acceptable. According to professionals, the main problems were poor service attitude, lack of emotional support, communication problems, long waiting times, environmental problems, and administrative problems. The identified barriers to high-quality service delivery include professional pressure and burnout, patient factors, remuneration and promotion perspectives. Overall, more people-centered services were suggested, meaning that healthcare professionals should improve their service consciousness and humane care, while the whole society should give humane care to healthcare professionals as well. Other suggestions involved enhancing the hierarchical medical system, strengthening doctor-patient communication, optimizing the treatment processes, improving hospital environment and publicity, and dispensing health education. In short, addressing these themes can contribute to improve the service of Chinese Public Class-A hospitals.Num mercado altamente competitivo, a melhoria da qualidade dos serviços de saúde é importante para satisfazer as crescentes necessidades de cuidados da população e para a sustentabilidade das vantagens competitivas dos hospitais. Os hospitais públicos de Classe-A ocupam os lugares cimeiros na China, e os problemas neles existentes influenciam negativamente a qualidade do serviço que prestam. Este estudo tem por objetivo contribuir para a melhoria destes hospitais investigando as perspetivas dos profissionais sobre a melhoria do serviço. Com base numa abordagem qualitativa, 16 profissionais que trabalham em diversos hospitais públicos de Classe-A foram entrevistados e expressaram os seus pontos de vista sobre o nível de qualidade de serviço existente, os fatores que afetam este serviço e as sugestões para o melhorar. Os resultados da análise de conteúdo revelam que os profissionais vêm os hospitais chineses de Classe-A como tendo elevada capacidade médica, equipamento avançado e uma reposta curativa eficaz. O preço dos serviços é considerado relativamente elevado, mas aceitável. Segundo os profissionais, os principais problemas existentes nestes hospitais referem-se à existência de fraca atitude de serviço, falta de suporte emocional, problemas de comunicação, longas listas de espera, problemas ambientais e problemas administrativos. As barreiras à prestação de cuidados de maior qualidade identificadas pelos profissionais reportam-se à pressão e ao burnout dos profissionais, a fatores relacionados com os doentes, à remuneração e às perspetivas de promoção. Em geral, os profissionais sugerem um serviço mais centrado nas pessoas, ou seja, os profissionais deverão acentuar a prestação de cuidados mais conscienciosos e humanos, enquanto a sociedade deverá cuidar de forma também mais humana dos profissionais de saúde. Outras sugestões focam-se na melhoria do sistema hierárquico de saúde, no fortalecimento da comunicação ente o médico e o doente, na optimização dos processos terapêuticos, na melhoria do ambiente hospitalar e na prática de educação em saúde. Em suma, lidar com estes temas pode contribuir para a melhoria do serviço prestado pelos hospitais chineses de Classe-A

    Pediatric Brain Tumors & Subsequent Communication and Swallowing Disorders.

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    This study was designed to determine if there were speech, language, or swallowing disorders in a child with a brain stem glioma tumor or medulloblastoma tumor. It also was designed to determine if motor speech was more affected than swallowing in a child with a brain stem glioma tumor and in a child with a medulloblastoma tumor. Thirdly, this study investigated the incidence and treatment of speech, language, or swallowing disorders through survey. The surveys were sent through the United States Postal Service to speech-language pathologists (SLPs). The SLPs worked in pediatric hospitals or hospitals with pediatric floors. The purpose of the surveys was to gain information regarding the SLPs’ perceptions regarding prevalence of communication and/or swallowing disorders and type and duration of communication and/or swallowing disorders found following medical management. The researcher’s first hypothesis was that there were no diagnosed disorders of speech, language and/or swallowing in a child with a brain stem glioma tumor or medulloblastoma tumor. The researcher’s second hypothesis was that swallowing disorders were the primary communicative disorders identified and treated by SLPs in a child with a brain stem glioma tumor or medulloblastoma tumor. The results of this study showed the first hypothesis to be rejected due to the identification of speech, language and/or swallowing disorders in children with the two types of tumors. The results of this study also showed no significant difference between the number of SLPs who identified swallowing disorders and the number of SLPs who identified motor speech disorders in children with brain stem gliomas or medulloblastomas

    Speech pathology assessment of language and cognitive-communication following traumatic brain injury and developmental language impairment: a survey of international clinical practices

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    Cognitive communication disorders subsequent to a traumatic brain injury (TBI) or a developmental language impairment (DLI) are two cognitively and linguistically different disorders. Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) play a pivotal role in maximising the long-term educational, vocational, psychosocial, and social outcomes for the individual with such a disorder. Despite this acknowledgement, little is documented from an international perspective about the current assessment practices of SLPs in TBI or DLI. Assessment practices of SLPs in language and cognitive communication were compared across three clinical groups: adult TBI, paediatric TBI and DLI. Online survey methodology was utilised to investigate the SLPs’ use of communication assessments as well as their perceptions of the utility of communication assessments in clinical practice. Specific information was obtained from SLPs working in paediatric TBI and DLI about the use of one specific standardised developmental language assessment: the Clinical Evaluations of Language Fundamentals Fourth Edition (CELF 4). Results highlighted that SLPs working in adult TBI placed more focus on functional communication and tools for cognitive communication disorders whilst also using aphasia assessments incorporating word and sentence-level tasks. SLPs working in both paediatric TBI and DLI focused on receptive and expressive language. They also used the same tool e.g. the CELF 4, which specifically uses subtests measuring core, receptive and expressive language. There was little difference between SLPs working in either TBI or DLI populations in how the tests were used. Although discourse was not routinely assessed by any of the SLPs, when it was conducted, it was done informally via a conversation with the client and no data collection. The findings from the study highlight the need for standardised clinical guidelines in the assessment of language and cognitive communication disorders. Education about cognitive and linguistic difficulties specific to TBI is highlighted for SLPs with less clinical experience in this area. Additionally, assessment tools that target skills beyond traditional word and sentence-levels tasks are required in order to inform the SLP about the strengths and weaknesses of an individual’s communication skills
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