Exploring the potential of big data on the health care delivery value chain (CDVC): a preliminary literature and research agenda

Big data analytics (BDA) is emerging as a game changer in healthcare. While the practitioner literature has been speculating on the high potential of BDA in transforming the healthcare sector, few rigorous empirical studies have been conducted by scholars to assess the real potential of BDA. Drawing on the health care delivery value chain (CDVC) and an extensive literature review, this exploratory study aims to discuss current peer-reviewed articles dealing with BDA across the CDVC and discuss future research directions

Agenda Setting on the Supreme Court of the United States in 1960, 1977, and 1992

This dissertation adds to Supreme Court of the United States agenda-setting research by exploring the following overarching research question: How does the Supreme Court of the United States decide which cases it will review? In addition, this study addresses three gaps in the agenda-setting research by considering types of petitions for writ of certiorari that are often ignored by other studies, analyzing the Court’s case-selection process as a two-step process, and studying the Court’s agenda-setting trends over time. To explore these gaps in the research, an original dataset was created by collecting data on a random sample of petitions for writ of certiorari to the Court during its 1960, 1977, and 1992 terms. Selection models were then used to analyze the data and a low-cost, low-value and high-cost, high-value cue theory framework was applied to the results of the models to determine the factors that influence the likelihood a petition for writ of certiorari is discussed by and selected for review during the Court’s case-selection process. The results of this study show that different factors significantly influence the Court’s case-selection process across the terms studied and have varying impact during one or both stages of the case-selection process (which include the selection of petitions for the Court’s discuss list and the selection of petitions from the discuss list for review). This study has implications for future scholarly work on the Supreme Court’s agenda-setting process as it highlights the importance of considering all types of certiorari petitions, the two-step nature of the case-selection process, and changing agenda-setting patterns over time. The findings in this dissertation may also assist potential litigants who hope to have their cases considered by the Supreme Court

How does innovation emerge in a service ecosystem?

To advance the study of innovation in complex settings, this study integrates the innovation, institutional theory, philosophy, and service-dominant logic literatures. Exploring the emergence of innovation and service ecosystem dynamics, researchers take an abductive approach anchored in over 4 years of case study data regarding a high technology solution in an Internet-of-Things setting. By framing innovation as a systemic process, the study reveals that (1) institutional reconciliation is an overlooked phase of innovation, (2) ideas are refined by four types of institutional reconciliation pressures (tensions, divergences, expected value, and service), and (3) innovation is influenced by plasticity in four ways (recursivity, temporality, complementarity, and continuity). Based on these findings, the authors outline a research agenda regarding four principles of innovation as a systemic process. The findings suggest that managers should nurture norms, rules, and beliefs through a systemic process that facilitates the emergence of innovation

Linking value, confirmation and satisfaction to predict behavioural intention : examining alternative models in a service environment

University of Technology, Sydney. UTS Business School.The rapid advancement of the services sector has recently led to significant changes in the global economic structure. Consequently, academic researchers and service practitioners are focusing on better delivery of consumer value and increasing consumers’ purchase intentions. Unfortunately, services marketing and consumer behaviour literature has been restricted to models for replication or model development rather than alternate model comparison. To fill this gap, this study has examined three alternate models in a service environment to advance the knowledge of behavioural intention determinants from the consumer perspective. This study proposes value-based features and an expectancy–confirmation theoretical framework in a model which it compares with two prior classic models. Unlike most prior studies, this study reconceptualizes the perceived value construct from the multi-dimensional perspective for its proposed model. The Best–Worst Scaling (BWS) method is applied to measure this construct filling existing knowledge’s methodological deficiency. Due to the importance of tangible and intangible features in the restaurant environment, the Australian restaurant services sector has been considered an ideal research setting for exploring inherent utilitarian and hedonic value dimensions. For data collection, this study used a web-based survey by an online research organization, and structural equation modelling (SEM) with AMOS software was chosen as the major data analysis tool. The empirical findings confirmed Alternate Model 2 as a better model in predicting consumers’ behavioural intention and found increased acceptability of this model, originally tested in information systems, in services marketing and consumer behaviour literature. An unexpected result concerned the ipsative data problem (a common score for all individuals) of the BWS method resulting in a poorer model fit for the proposed model; however, this study’s methodological contribution involved exploring the BWS method’s hidden data problem. This study also explored the importance of situational impacts on consumer behaviour in model testing. Finally, due to the proposed model’s poorer fit, hierarchical cluster analysis was run on the personal values and perceived value constructs (important constructs of the proposed model): results confirmed that consumers can be segmented based on their personality measures and value preferences. Moreover, multi-group analysis using different clusters explored the significance of developing path-by-path hypotheses in future across different consumers. Despite its limitations, the findings of the study are expected to have substantial implications for academics/researchers and practitioners in service-providing firms: specifically, this study may conceivably produce an agenda for industry-specific improvements in restaurant performance

Disability, values and quality : a case study in Derbyshire

Cultural representations of disability reveal a cultural value system which characterises the disadvantage experienced by disabled people in terms of personal tragedy, the impaired body and otherness. The reproduction of these disabling values in the dominant discourses of British policy making have resulted in a mode of welfare production based on 'care', individualism and segregation. More recently, implementation of the 1990 NHS and Community Care Act has tended to consolidate rather than challenge this policy tradition. By contrast, the emergence of a strong disabled peoples' movement offers significant forms of resistance to dominant policy discourses through the development of social models of disability. In particular, Centres for Independent/Integrated Living have promoted an alternative agenda for enabling community support systems based on the values of participation, social integration and equality. Disabled people's organisations in Derbyshire were at the forefront of these developments in Britain. Their attempts to implement integrated living solutions within the policy framework of community care demonstrate significant conflicts over the definition of quality in service processes and outcomes. The study employs co-participatory methods to involve local service users and disabled people's organisations in exploring these issues within an emancipatory research paradigm. The data from this research highlights specific barriers to policy change and suggests that effective self-organisation within a cohesive social movement is a necessary pre-requisite for the liberation of disabled people. Ultimately, the agenda for change promoted by the disabled peoples' movement challenges not only attitudes and values but also the social relations of production and reproduction within a capitalist economy

Accounting, accountability, social media and big data: Revolution or hype?

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to outline an agenda for researching the relationship between technology-enabled networks â such as social media and big data â and the accounting function. In doing so, it links the contents of an unfolding area research with the papers published in this special issue of Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal. Design/methodology/approach: The paper surveys the existing literature, which is still in its infancy, and proposes ways in which to frame early and future research. The intention is not to offer a comprehensive review, but to stimulate and conversation. Findings: The authors review several existing studies exploring technology-enabled networks and highlight some of the key aspects featuring social media and big data, before offering a classification of existing research efforts, as well as opportunities for future research. Three areas of investigation are identified: new performance indicators based on social media and big data; governance of social media and big data information resources; and, finally, social media and big dataâs alteration of information and decision-making processes. Originality/value: The authors are currently experiencing a technological revolution that will fundamentally change the way in which organisations, as well as individuals, operate. It is claimed that many knowledge-based jobs are being automated, as well as others transformed with, for example, data scientists ready to replace even the most qualified accountants. But, of course, similar claims have been made before and therefore, as academics, the authors are called upon to explore the impact of these technology-enabled networks further. This paper contributes by starting a debate and speculating on the possible research agendas ahead

Background Report: Right or Wrong? What Values Inform Modern Impact Evaluation?

This background report supported an event hosted in January 2015 by the Centre for Development Impact (CDI) – a joint initiative between the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), Itad and the University of East Anglia (UEA) – with the objective of opening up the debate on ethics and exploring how it can become more relevant to the field of impact evaluation. In doing so, it provided the setting for discussion around key themes: outlining definitions of ethics; the landscape of official ethical guidance in evaluation; and shortcomings of ethical guidance. For more details of this event please refer to the event report (IDS Evidence Report 139). In this Evidence Report, we discuss some of the limitations of current ethical debates in the field of impact evaluation, and evaluation more broadly, reflected in the interview data reported. Firstly, we argue that evaluation is different to research, being inherently about resource use decisions, and often politicised in some way because significant interests are at stake (a point we discuss at length in Section 6). An approach that is primarily about the ‘protection of the subject’ – as borrowed from research – underplays the potential role of ethics in the value judgements made by evaluators, as well as evaluation’s broader ethical role in society (such as accountability to citizens, or the moral obligation to make data available for re-analysis). And secondly, we argue that the reality of evaluation ethics is ultimately achieved through a series of value judgements that are ‘situated in practice’ and are not guided solely by ethical principles. This report goes on to conclude that a new ethical agenda is needed to broaden the debate so that ethical practice within evaluation is not limited to complying with procedures borrowed from medical research where the moral imperative is the protection of the subject.UK Department for International Developmen

New STEM knowledge; emerging through collaboration

Set within the context of secondary age phase education in England and Wales, this paper presents preliminary findings from the early stages of a larger research project. The work builds upon the premise that as an educational construct, Design and Technology (D&T) is not fully understood by those working outside of compulsory education, and as a result it struggles to achieve the recognition and status held by its counterpart STEM subject disciplines. Following a brief outline STEM education from a United Kingdom (UK) perspective, this paper moves to discuss the origins of D&T, and subsequently its value both within the English and Welsh school curriculum when positioned within the STEM agenda. Exploring the attitudes of practising D&T teachers, this work investigates how knowledge and understanding of STEM education is developed; how new knowledge is gained, and through collaboration how it evolves and is subsequently shared. Participants are encouraged to relate the positioning of D&T within the area of STEM education, and situate D&T learning within the wider social and economic context, and in doing so support participants, working within the structure of functionalist educational policy to become agents of change. Constructivist grounded theory is the adopted research method, and empirically grounded data is used to elicit stakeholder viewpoints, and emergent findings are discussed in relation to D&T?s purpose, value and place both within the curriculum, and also in terms of its potential contribution to the advancement of a STEM-literate society

Strategic Learning in English local authorities: the influence of Labour's modernisation agenda 1997–2010

This research explores the English local government modernisation agenda of the 1997–2010 Labour government with reference to its promotion of, and effects on, organisational learning. It does this by examining the concept of learning to learn, as constructed by local authority Chief Executives. A synthesised analytical framework is developed by exploring the commonalities of three approaches to the exchange of knowledge: organisational learning; policy transfer, and change management. Utilising this framework, local government modernisation is examined within the broader modernisation agenda and its historical context. This, and an examination of Best Value, the Beacon Council Scheme and the Comprehensive Performance and Area Assessments, exposes the links between modernisation and organisation learning that underpin a central contention of this research; that the success of local government modernisation relied on local authorities being better able to learn from each other. Analysis of the data unique to this research, obtained largely through interviews with local authority Chief Executives, illuminates the way in which they construct their views of learning, modernisation and central-local relations. The major conclusions concern the significance of networks, differences and trust and how views of each are constructed. Also important is trust within central-local relations. Modernisation consolidated the acceptance of other local authorities as sources of learning and enhanced particular characteristics conducive to learning. However, through the mechanisms utilised, modernisation also inhibited instances of learning and was less successful at embedding the concept of learning to learn within local government. Original contributions to knowledge are made in this under-researched area through innovative use of exiting approaches to the analysis of change and learning; synthesising these provides a useful tool for the analysis of those matters. Additionally, such analysis sheds new light on the way in which local authority Chief Executives construct the world-views that shape their actions

Visual and interactive exploration of point data

Point data, such as Unit Postcodes (UPC), can provide very detailed information at fine scales of resolution. For instance, socio-economic attributes are commonly assigned to UPC. Hence, they can be represented as points and observable at the postcode level. Using UPC as a common field allows the concatenation of variables from disparate data sources that can potentially support sophisticated spatial analysis. However, visualising UPC in urban areas has at least three limitations. First, at small scales UPC occurrences can be very dense making their visualisation as points difficult. On the other hand, patterns in the associated attribute values are often hardly recognisable at large scales. Secondly, UPC can be used as a common field to allow the concatenation of highly multivariate data sets with an associated postcode. Finally, socio-economic variables assigned to UPC (such as the ones used here) can be non-Normal in their distributions as a result of a large presence of zero values and high variances which constrain their analysis using traditional statistics. This paper discusses a Point Visualisation Tool (PVT), a proof-of-concept system developed to visually explore point data. Various well-known visualisation techniques were implemented to enable their interactive and dynamic interrogation. PVT provides multiple representations of point data to facilitate the understanding of the relations between attributes or variables as well as their spatial characteristics. Brushing between alternative views is used to link several representations of a single attribute, as well as to simultaneously explore more than one variable. PVT’s functionality shows how the use of visual techniques embedded in an interactive environment enable the exploration of large amounts of multivariate point data