Competitive advantage as a legitimacy-creating process

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore how small firms in the tattooing industry actively shape institutional expectations of value for consumers in a changing industry. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws upon interviews with key actors in the firms under study to explore their experiences with consumers and other constituents in determining how competitive advantage is constructed in this environment. These data are complemented data with interviews with governmental representatives and material from secondary sources. Findings – The results reveal efforts of firms to construct and increase organizational legitimacy through the prominence of discourses of professionalism based on artistry and medicine/public health. These bases of competitive differentiation are not the clear result of exogenous pressure, rather they arise through the active efforts of the firm to construct value guidelines for consumers and other constituents. Practical implications – Strategic management in small firms is a complex and dynamic process that does not necessarily mirror that of large organizations. Constructing competitive advantage is an interacting process between key actors of small firms and various constituents. Originality/value – The paper extends the application of institutional theory in strategic management by illuminating the active role that firms play in creating industry norms, especially in industries where norms are not well established or no longer entrenched. Moreover, exploring an alternative site of study offers a means through which to see well-studied issues in new ways

Enhancing Hospital Service Quality and Patient Safety through the MIRACLE Model: A Partial Least Squares Equation Approach

Objective: Give a background why this model is worthwhile by briefly highlighting the current health system and how this study may help to improve this system. This study aims to assess the impact of the MIRACLE model onquality enhancement and patient safety within healthcare settings. Study Design: Employing a cross-sectional design, this research centers on four key variables and 19 corresponding indicators. Data were collected using a questionnaire distributed via Google Forms, targeting heads of work units at M. Djamil Central General Hospital in Padang, Indonesia. Method: The analysis utilizes the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) technique to evaluate variable relationships. The variables studied are Communitarian, Apprenticing Affinity, Managing, and Quality and Patient Safety, with indicators integrated into the questionnaire. Results: Communitarian and Apprenticing Affinity emerged as influential factors directly impacting quality of health servicesand patient safety, moderated by Managing variable. Research findings reveal a significant positive impact of the Apprenticing Affinity variable on Managing (p-value = 0.013), underlining its significance in hospital management. Moreover, Apprenticing Affinity significantly affects quality and patient safety (p-value = 0.00), highlighting its pivotal role in healthcare enhancement. Similarly, the Communitarian variable significantly influences Managing (p-value = 0.11), notably impacting quality and patient safety (p-value = 0.00). However, Managing alone does not significantly impact quality and patient safety (p-value = 0.15). Indirectly, the research unveils that the Managing-moderated Apprenticing Affinity variable lacks significant influence on quality and patient safety (p-value = 0.268). Similarly, Managing-moderated Communitarian influence does not substantially impact quality and patient safety (p-value = 0.411). Conclusion: This study highlights the substantial impact of Communitarian and Apprenticing Affinity, moderated by Managing, on quality and patient safety. Notably, Managing alone lacks direct influence. These findings underscore the significance of cultivating collaborative, learning-oriented environments, alongside effective management practices, to bolster healthcare quality and patient safety

Requirements elicitation: A survey of techniques, approaches, and tools

Requirements elicitation is the process of seeking, uncovering, acquiring, and elaborating requirements for computer based systems. It is generally understood that requirements are elicited rather than just captured or collected. This implies there are discovery, emergence, and development elements in the elicitation process. Requirements elicitation is a complex process involving many activities with a variety of available techniques, approaches, and tools for performing them. The relative strengths and weaknesses of these determine when each is appropriate depending on the context and situation. The objectives of this chapter are to present a comprehensive survey of important aspects of the techniques, approaches, and tools for requirements elicitation, and examine the current issues, trends, and challenges faced by researchers and practitioners in this field. © 2005 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

Exact Requirements Engineering for Developing Business Process Models

Process modeling is a suitable tool for improving the business processes. Successful process modeling strongly depends on correct requirements engineering. In this paper, we proposed a combination approach for requirements elicitation for developing business models. To do this, BORE (Business-Oriented Requirements Engineering) method is utilized as the base of our work and it is enriched by the important features of the BDD (Business-driven development) method, in order to make the proposed approach appropriate for modeling the more complex processes. As the main result, our method eventuates in exact requirements elicitation that adapts the customers' needs. Also, it let us avoid any rework in the modeling of process. In this paper, we conduct a case study for the paper submission and publication system of a journal. The results of this study not only give a good experience of real world application of proposed approach on a web-based system, also it approves the proficiency of this approach for modeling the complex systems with many sub-processes and complicated relationships.Comment: (IEEE) 3th International Conference on Web Researc

THICK SKIN: THE HISTORY OF THE BLACK TATTOO COMMUNITY IN ATLANTA

As a rapidly growing, multibillion dollar industry, tattooing is quickly becoming a mainstream art form and commodity. Although the ancient art form, originates from civilizations all over the world, the modern history in the United States has largely limited Black individuals from receiving the recommended training (apprenticeship) until about the last twenty-five years. The purpose of this study is to explore the history of the Black Tattoo Community in Atlanta. The following questions will guide the study: What is the history behind the Black Tattoo Community in the Atlanta area? What are the experiences of Black artists apprenticing and learning to tattoo? What are the differences, if any, when tattooing people of color? What impact has television, the internet, and social media had on the tattoo industry, and in particular on Black tattoo artists? This study utilizes an oral historical interview method to answer these questions

Clean Jobs Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania is home to more than 66,000 clean energy jobs. Four out of five of these jobs are in energy efficiency. To grow the clean energy sector even more, state and federal lawmakers can strengthen policies like Act 129, the state's renewable energy law, and implement the Clean Power Plan in a way that prioritizes renewables and energy efficiency

Effective communication in requirements elicitation: A comparison of methodologies

The elicitation or communication of user requirements comprises an early and critical but highly error-prone stage in system development. Socially oriented methodologies provide more support for user involvement in design than the rigidity of more traditional methods, facilitating the degree of user-designer communication and the 'capture' of requirements. A more emergent and collaborative view of requirements elicitation and communication is required to encompass the user, contextual and organisational factors. From this accompanying literature in communication issues in requirements elicitation, a four-dimensional framework is outlined and used to appraise comparatively four different methodologies seeking to promote a closer working relationship between users and designers. The facilitation of communication between users and designers is subject to discussion of the ways in which communicative activities can be 'optimised' for successful requirements gathering, by making recommendations based on the four dimensions to provide fruitful considerations for system designers

Communication issues in requirements elicitation: A content analysis of stakeholder experiences

The gathering of stakeholder requirements comprises an early, but continuous and highly critical stage in system development. This phase in development is subject to a large degree of error, influenced by key factors rooted in communication problems. This pilot study builds upon an existing theory-based categorisation of these problems through presentation of a four-dimensional framework on communication. Its structure is validated through a content analysis of interview data, from which themes emerge, that can be assigned to the dimensional categories, highlighting any problematic areas. The paper concludes with a discussion on the utilisation of the framework for requirements elicitation exercises

Mobile application to support pediatric medical practice

Dissertação de mestrado em Engenharia InformáticaThe objective of this project is to develop a mobile application in order to aid pediatricians performing their work. The necessity of this application was initially identified by a pediatrician working in Santo António Hospital of Oporto, after also verifying the interest of some of his coworkers. The bibliography also states some situations where mobile applications may be helpful, such as: errors in the administration of drugs or the difficulty pediatricians face in performing needed mathematical operations. It is made a review of pediatric applications, mobile mostly, in order to know what kinds of applications are already available for pediatricians. It is presented the analysis of 5 distinct applications, from medical calculators for emergency situations to decision support systems that given a set of clinical characteristics it is provided a list of diagnosis to consider. Following it is done a study of requirements elicitation and prioritization. Its objective is to know the techniques and tools already studied in the bibliography, as well as to identify the most appropriate ones for this project. Several elicitation and prioritization techniques were used in this project. It is also used a tool to register the requirements. In order to develop a mobile application that may run on the majority of smartphones in the market, it is made an analysis of the smartphone operating systems market share, as well as of market share projections for the next few years. After identifying the target operating systems for the app it is made a study of the mobile cross-platform development frameworks. The framework choice considered the elicited requirements and the operating systems with the greatest market share. After a learning period of the involved technologies, the pediatric app is developed using the gathered requirements and following the results of the requirements prioritization. The development of the application was always followed by a pediatrician, and as a result the application was tested and refined during that time. Finally, the application is released as well as a questionnaire to evaluate it.Este projecto tem o objectivo de criar uma aplicação para os dispositivos móveis que auxilie os médicos pediatras no exercício das suas funções. A necessidade desta aplicação foi inicialmente identificada por um médico pediatra que trabalha no Hospital de Santo António do Porto, após também verificar o interesse de alguns colegas de trabalho. A bibliografia também evidencia algumas situações em que as aplicações móveis podem dar o seu contributo, assim como: erros na administração de medicamentos ou dificuldades na realização de operações matemáticas necessárias. É feita uma análise a aplicações móveis na sua maioria, vocacionadas para pediatria por forma a conhecer o trabalho já realizado nesta área. É apresentada a análise de 5 aplicações diferentes, que vão desde calculadoras médicas para situações de emergência até sistemas de suporte à decisão em que é apresentada uma lista de possíveis diagnósticos dado um conjunto de características do paciente. De seguida é feito um estudo sobre a elicitação e priorização de requisitos. Este estudo teve por objectivo conhecer as técnicas e ferramentas já estudadas até ao momento, assim como identificar e aplicar as que melhor se adequam a este projecto. São aplicadas várias técnicas tanto de elicitação como de priorização de requisitos. É também utilizada uma ferramenta para o registo dos requisitos. Para desenvolver uma aplicação móvel que atinja a grande maioria dos dispositivos móveis, é realizada uma análise ao market share dos sistemas operativos móveis, assim como a previsões para os próximos anos. Depois de identificados os sistemas operativos preferenciais para o desenvolvimento da aplicação é feito um estudo das frameworks de desenvolvimento de aplicações móveis multiplataforma. A escolha da framework teve em conta os requisitos adquiridos e os sistemas operativos com mais peso no mercado. Passado um período de aprendizagem das tecnologias envolvidas neste projecto, é desenvolvida a aplicação em causa, utilizando os dados recolhidos na elicitação de requisitos e seguindo a ordem resultante da priorização dos requisitos. O desenvolvimento da aplicação foi sempre acompanhado por um médico pediatra, sendo a aplicação testada e refinada ao longo desse período. Por fim, a aplicação é lançada assim como um questionário que pretende avaliar a mesma