Living Innovation Laboratory Model Design and Implementation

Living Innovation Laboratory (LIL) is an open and recyclable way for multidisciplinary researchers to remote control resources and co-develop user centered projects. In the past few years, there were several papers about LIL published and trying to discuss and define the model and architecture of LIL. People all acknowledge about the three characteristics of LIL: user centered, co-creation, and context aware, which make it distinguished from test platform and other innovation approaches. Its existing model consists of five phases: initialization, preparation, formation, development, and evaluation. Goal Net is a goal-oriented methodology to formularize a progress. In this thesis, Goal Net is adopted to subtract a detailed and systemic methodology for LIL. LIL Goal Net Model breaks the five phases of LIL into more detailed steps. Big data, crowd sourcing, crowd funding and crowd testing take place in suitable steps to realize UUI, MCC and PCA throughout the innovation process in LIL 2.0. It would become a guideline for any company or organization to develop a project in the form of an LIL 2.0 project. To prove the feasibility of LIL Goal Net Model, it was applied to two real cases. One project is a Kinect game and the other one is an Internet product. They were both transformed to LIL 2.0 successfully, based on LIL goal net based methodology. The two projects were evaluated by phenomenography, which was a qualitative research method to study human experiences and their relations in hope of finding the better way to improve human experiences. Through phenomenographic study, the positive evaluation results showed that the new generation of LIL had more advantages in terms of effectiveness and efficiency.Comment: This is a book draf

An exploratory study of honesty in managerial performance reporting: evidence from Ghana

This exploratory study examines the concept of Honesty (H) in Managerial Performance Reporting (MPR) developing the concept of Honest Managerial Performance Reporting (HPR). It identifies the level of honesty in manager’s performance reporting behaviour and how HPR influences aspects of Firm Performance (FP). The work of Yang (2009) and Evans et al. (2001) provide academic consideration of this area, including insights into how this area may be studied. Practical, real-world examples of such issues are numerous, but the ‘Enron case’ is probably the most well-known (Ndofor et al. 2015). The study utilises datasets of managers, managerial performance reports and companies (Ghana Club 100) in its work and applies a mixed method approach using a variety of research instruments. Several theoretical approaches provide the bedrock for this study and a lens for examining different dimensions of the concept of honesty in MPR. These are Classical agency theory (Jenson & Meckling, 1976), a multi-actor stakeholders model that emanates from Stakeholder theory (Freeman 1984, Yang, 2009), Impression Management (Goffman, 1959), Legitimacy (Deegan, 2002) and Institutional (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983) theories. The thesis explores the level of and factors that influence honesty in managerial performance reporting (HPR). It also determines if HPR has any implication on Firm Performance (FP). From this, four areas of endeavour are formulated, and hypotheses developed to address the issues in each area, and the quest for answers and conclusions to these specifications are pursued. Specifically, the study uses 1) Four experimental constructs to test manager’s voluntary preference for HPR. 2) 265 structured questionnaires to explore the variables affecting HPR. 3) Statistical analysis to examine the relationships between HPR and FP. 4) Vignettes to document HPR practices among Ghana Club 100 companies. The results are the outcomes of the hypotheses and in turn, address the research issues that answer the primary research question leading to conclusions such as: - a) Regarding levels of honesty, managers are partially honest in MPR. b) HPR is affected by a range of factors that include environmental, organisational, economic and individual variables. c) The nature and level of relationship of HPR on FP is that HPR has a significant positive relationship with FP. The clear contribution of this study is that: - a) It uses managers rather than students in HPR studies confirming that managers voluntarily prefer HPR. b) It confirms that HPR is mainly influenced by factors within the control of ‘decision-active’ stakeholders. c) It demonstrates that HPR can be improved if the pay-off for performance related bonuses is deferred rather than paid immediately. d) It provides evidence that HPR has a significant and positive effect on FP. These contributions provide new insight into Managerial Performance, MPR, HPR and the relationship with firm performance, while recognising some limitations. It also makes worthy contributions to our understanding of new contexts

A Quantitative Analysis of Ownership-Induced Quality Gaps in The Long-Term Care Sector: Influences of Ownership Conversions, Self-Reporting, Regulatory Reforms, and the Covid-19 Pandemic

This dissertation presents a quantitative analysis of the association between ownership types and quality of services in the long-term care sector in the United States. The study employs dynamic difference-in-differences models to investigate the effects of for-profit ownership conversions on nursing home quality indicators by drawing on national-level panel data for the years between 2013 and 2021. Additionally, the adverse effects of information asymmetries are examined by comparing changes in government-inspected quality measures with changes in self-reported quality measures following a for-profit conversion of a nursing home. Furthermore, the impact of the recent regulatory changes implemented at the end of 2016 in the nursing home sector and the facility-level factors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic outcomes in nursing homes are examined with respect to the quality trends and differences in quality by ownership types. Lastly, this study explores the relationship between ownership and quality in assisted living facilities in the State of Georgia using state inspection data. Overall, this dissertation finds that for-profit ownership status is associated with worse quality outcomes among nursing homes and assisted living facilities, including adverse outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the analyses show that the recent regulatory reforms had little to no effect on improving the quality of nursing homes over time. The findings are discussed to help policymakers formulate new policies and effective regulations to improve the quality of long-term care