Exploring value co-creation within networks : actor-to-actor service provision within a public transport service system

Purpose: This study explores how value co-creation occurs at a network level in a service system comprising representatives of business, consumer, and community actors. The research centres on the following questions: 1) what kind of operand and operant resources are contributed and integrated in the value co-creation process? 2) What value-in-use is experienced by actors? 3) What factors facilitate service-system functionality and value cocreation? Drawing on service-dominant logic, IMP literature and a qualitative case study the paper provides new insights into value co-creation at a network/system-level. Methodology: A case study approach is employed to examine a unique partnership between a public transport provider and community groups who are invited to ‘adopt’ railway stations in Scotland. The ‘adopt a station’ scheme allows community users to utilize unused space within the station free of charge in order to provide services or facility improvements to benefit the community. The case represents a service-system where value co-creation occurs within Actor to Actor interactions in the interplay of C-to-C, B-to-C and B-to-B context, involving consumers, members of the community, rail staff and governmental organisations. Findings: The study describes resource contribution and integration involving a range of actors. In the Adopt a Station case, organizational actors contributed principally operand (financial and physical) resources, and the community actors and rail operator become in themselves the operant resources that integrate resources, promote the network and build relationships through their drive and passion to make the adopt project a success. The provision of resources was motivated by the value-in-use each actor anticipates gaining from involvement in the service-system. Four critical prerequisites for value co-creation within the service-system were identified: the provision of access and nature of that access; the level of ownership taken by adopters; user empowerment, and an increased level of support from other actors in the service-system. Contribution: The study of value creation within service systems comprising of relationships between a range of actors (both business and consumer) represents an interesting research gap in both S-D logic and IMP literature. This paper addresses calls for research to increase understanding of value co-creation at the service system and network level. The paper contributes by illustrating a) resources contributed and integrated at network-level and b) the value-in-use experienced by multiple actors c) the prerequisites for successful value co-creation. We suggest that firms should explore the potential for engaging versatile stakeholders and their networks of relationships around a common cause and make use of organically emerging service systems

Factors Contributing to Community-Associated Carbapenem Resistant Enterobacteriaceae Infections in the United States

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) health care acquired infections are a serious public health threat due to a high mortality rate, economic burden, and depletion of last resort CRE antimicrobials. CRE infections have emerged as community-associated type infections in the United States. For CRE to now have that type of potential is cause for immediate and extensive action. The prevalence of CRE infection cases that were reported as community-associated CRE and health care acquired CRE by examining specific clinical characteristics between 4 selected states that were reported to respective state health departments and the Centers for Disease Control were explored in this study. The theoretical framework most appropriate for this study was the One Health foundation. Two research questions were formulated to address the association of the CRE clinical characteristics (organism identification, specimen source, medical facility type, and laboratory detection method) and the health care acquired Carbapenemase gene mechanism between 4 selected states (Colorado, Illinois, West Virginia, and South Dakota). For this quantitative retrospective study, secondary data was used with the Goodman and Kruskal’s lambda analysis. For the 1st time a significant relationship for the clinical characteristics of organism identification and lab gene detection method between the 4 selected U.S. states were established in this study. No relationships were established for the other 3 characteristics but provided insight for future studies. The positive social implication from this study was being able to formulate CRE predictive knowledge that could contribute to the reduction of CRE cases and provide vision to possible reasons why CRE has emerged as community-associated in the United States

The solar wind structures associated with cosmic ray decreases and particle acceleration in 1978-1982

The time histories of particles in the energy range 1 MeV to 1 GeV at times of all greater than 3 percent cosmic ray decreases in the years 1978 to 1982 are studied. Essentially all 59 of the decreases commenced at or before the passages of interplanetary shocks, the majority of which accelerated energetic particles. We use the intensity-time profiles of the energetic particles to separate the cosmic ray decreases into four classes which we subsequently associate with four types of solar wind structures. Decreases in class 1 (15 events) and class 2 (26 events) can be associated with shocks which are driven by energetic coronal mass ejections. For class 1 events the ejecta is detected at 1 AU whereas this is not the case for class 2 events. The shock must therefore play a dominant role in producing the depression of cosmic rays in class 2 events. In all class 1 and 2 events (which comprise 69 percent of the total) the departure time of the ejection from the sun (and hence the location) can be determined from the rapid onset of energetic particles several days before the shock passage at Earth. The class 1 events originate from within 50 deg of central meridian. Class 3 events (10 decreases) can be attributed to less energetic ejections which are directed towards the Earth. In these events the ejecta is more important than the shock in causing a depression in the cosmic ray intensity. The remaining events (14 percent of the total) can be attributed to corotating streams which have ejecta material embedded in them

UTJECAJ PROMJENA U STRUKTURI PROJEKTNIH TIMOVA NA TIMSKU USPJEŠNOST

Structuring a project team is highly sensitive task, so numerous methods which address the problem have emerged. One of the most effective methods is structuring teams by the team members’ affinities and talents presented as team roles. In this paper, we applied Belbin’s Self-Perception Inventory in order to investigate the following questions: Which are the most engaged team roles? How does the absence of the most engaged team members affect the team’s efficiency? How does this change of the team environment affect the member? Our results show that, even in small project teams, changes in team structure will surely have a negative effect on the team’s organizational culture in a short run, and even more importantly they decrease the team’s overall productivity. Also, the changes had a negative effect at the individual level; teams had trouble integrating new members, and individuals had trouble integrating themselves in new teams.Važnost strukturiranja projektnih timova u građevinarstvu danas se često zanemaruje zbog razvoja i afirmacije novih koncepata i metoda informatičke tehnologije koji se primjenjuju u projektnom menadžmentu. Strukturiranje projektnog tima izuzetno je zahtjevan zadatak i kao takav treba precizan i dobro organiziran sustav i upravljanje. Postoji nekoliko metoda koje se bave tim problemom. Strukturiranje tima prema afinitetima i talentima njegovih članova, koje se naziva timskim ulogama, dobro je poznata i provjereno učinkovita metoda. Autori su u istraživanju predstavljenom ovim radom primijenili Belbin metodu timskih uloga kako bi istražili koje su najangažiranije timske uloge, kako izostanak najangažiranijih članova utječe na učinkovitost tima te kako ta promjena timske okoline utječe na članove. Rezultati su pokazali da, čak i u malim timovima, promjene timske strukture sigurno imaju negativan utjecaj na organizacijsku kulturu tima već u kratkom roku, ali što je još važnije, dugoročno smanjuju cjelokupnu učinkovitost tima. Promjene su imale negativan učinak i na nivou pojedinca, reflektirajući se u činjenici da su se novi članovi teško integrirali u svoje nove timove, odnosno drugi članovi su teško prihvaćali novog

Twenty-first semiannual report to Congress, 1 January - 30 June 1969

Manned space flights, satellite observations, space sciences, and air traffic control - NASA report to Congress for 1 Jan. to 30 June 196

A stochastic simulation model to determine the sample size of repeated national surveys to document freedom from bovine herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1) infection

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>International trade regulations require that countries document their livestock's sanitary status in general and freedom from specific infective agents in detail provided that import restrictions should be applied. The latter is generally achieved by large national serological surveys and risk assessments. The paper describes the basic structure and application of a generic stochastic model for risk-based sample size calculation of consecutive national surveys to document freedom from contagious disease agents in livestock.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In the model, disease spread during the time period between two consecutive surveys was considered, either from undetected infections within the domestic population or from imported infected animals. The @Risk model consists of the domestic spread in-between two national surveys; the infection of domestic herds from animals imported from countries with a sanitary status comparable to Switzerland or lower sanitary status and the summary sheet which summed up the numbers of resulting infected herds of all infection pathways to derive the pre-survey prevalence in the domestic population. Thereof the pre-survey probability of freedom from infection and required survey sample sizes were calculated. A scenario for detection of infected herds by general surveillance was included optionally.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The model highlights the importance of residual domestic infection spread and characteristics of different import pathways. The sensitivity analysis revealed that number of infected, but undetected domestic herds and the multiplicative between-survey-spread factor were most correlated with the pre-survey probability of freedom from infection and the resulting sample size, respectively. Compared to the deterministic pre-cursor model, the stochastic model was therefore more sensitive to the previous survey's results. Undetected spread of infection in the domestic population between two surveys gained more importance than infection through animals of either import pathway.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The model estimated the pre-survey probability of freedom from infection accurately as was shown in the case of infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR). With this model, a generic tool becomes available which can be adapted to changing conditions related to either importing or exporting countries.</p

Realist evaluation of the impact of paediatric nurse practitioner clinics, specialist paediatric nurses, and a children’s community nursing team in deflecting attendance at emergency departments and urgent care centres by children with long-term conditions

In 2018, the Greater Manchester Children’s Health and Wellbeing Board developed a 10-point strategy to achieve its objectives, the sixth of which was to reduce unnecessary hospital attendances and admissions for children with long term conditions such as asthma, diabetes and epilepsy. Funding was secured from Manchester Academic Health Science Centre to commission an exploration of the impact of the Paediatric Nurse Practitioner Clinic within the context of the Family Services Model and the impact that the service was having on reducing attendance at urgent care centres or admission to hospital. Alternatives to taking children to the ED/UCC can be a preference. An integrated system, with elements able to book directly into others, with rapid access, information, health promotion, and follow-up were essential to success. Extra consultation time for proactive intervention, with sufficient nurses to provide a seven-days service were valued. Advertisement of the service to the public and to professionals is vital for uptake by professionals and the public

ACT Family Violence Intervention Program review

This paper reports on a review of the Australian Capital Territory’s Family Violence Intervention Program, which provides an interagency response to family violence matters. The scope of the review was to analyse the program’s activities and outcomes using 2007–08 data provided by participating agencies, supported by in-depth interviews with key stakeholders including victims whose matters had been finalised in court. After the completion of this report, additional data from 2008–09 and 2009–10 was made available by some Family Violence Intervention Program (FVIP) participating agencies. Although not within the scope of this evaluation, these data pointed to some preliminary improvements in the FVIP