Extreme Candidates as the Beneficent Spoiler? Range Effect in the Plurality Voting System

How does the entrance of radical candidates influence election results? Conventional wisdom suggests that extreme candidates merely split the votes. Based on the range effect theory in cognitive psychology, we hypothesize that the entrance of an extreme candidate reframes the endpoints of the ideological spectrum among available candidates, which makes the moderate one on the same side to be perceived by the voters as even more moderate. Through two survey experiments in the United States and Taiwan, we provide empirical support for range effect in the vote choice in the plurality system. The results imply that a mainstream party can, even without changing its own manifesto, benefit from the entrance of its radical counterpart; it explains why the mainstream party may choose cooperation strategically. Our findings also challenge the assumption in regression models that the perceived ideological positions of candidates are independent of each other

Aggregated impact of allowance allocation and power dispatching on emission reduction

Climate change has become one of the most important issues for the sustainable development of social well-being. China has made great efforts in reducing CO2 emissions and promoting clean energy. Pilot Emission Trading Systems (ETSs) have been launched in two provinces and five cities in China, and a national level ETS will be implemented in the third quarter of 2017, with preparations for China’s national ETS now well under way. In the meantime, a new round of China’s electric power system reform has entered the implementation stage. Policy variables from both electricity and emission markets will impose potential risks on the operation of generation companies (GenCos). Under this situation, by selecting key variables in each domain, this paper analyzes the combined effects of different allowance allocation methods and power dispatching models on power system emission. Key parameters are set based on a provincial power system in China, and the case studies are conducted based on dynamic simulation platform for macro-energy systems (DSMES) software developed by the authors. The selected power dispatching models include planned dispatch, energy saving power generation dispatch and economic dispatch. The selected initial allowance allocation methods in the emission market include the grandfathering method based on historical emissions and the benchmarking method based on actual output. Based on the simulation results and discussions, several policy implications are highlighted to help to design an effective emission market in China

Dynamic capabilities and performance improvement of private hospitals in China on the basis of resource-based theory: A case study of Foshan Chancheng Central Hospital (FCCH)

Based on the resource based view, and by applying a dynamic capabilities theory, this thesis explains and illustrates how enterprises adapt to the changing environments, identify and discover opportunities and threats. The effective coordination and integration of internal and external resources enable enterprises to form a long lasting and rapid resource model that can make enterprises to be adaptive to the changes in external environment, create more value with resources, and thus bring unique dynamic capabilities to enterprises to have sustainable competitive advantages. Dynamic capabilities can transform the old knowledge of enterprises to new knowledge or create new knowledge adapted to the new environment within the enterprise, thus changing the original capability structure of the enterprise and making the enterprise step forward. Dynamic capabilities are effective means for enterprises to obtain sustainable competitive advantage, which can only be obtained by the possession of dynamic capabilities. Taking the reform, development, strategy implementation and resource integration practice of Foshan Chancheng Hospital as an example, the research has important enlightenment significance for Chinese private hospitals to explore effective integration of internal and external resources and how to build their dynamic capabilities to improve competitive advantages and obtain good performance.Com base numa visão baseada em recursos, na teoria das capacidades dinâmicas, esta Tese pretende mostrar como as empresas se adaptam a ambientes em mudança, identificando oportunidades e ameaças no ambiente e reconstro em recursos internos e externos. A coordenação e integração eficazes de recursos internos e externos permitem que as empresas formem uma configuração de recursos rápida e duradoura que pode fazer com que as empresas se adaptem às mudanças no ambiente exter no, criem mais valor com os recursos e, assim, tragam capacidades dinâmicas exclusivas dando aso a vantagens competitivas sustentáveis. Capacidades dinâmicas podem transformar o conhecimento antigo das empresas em novo conhecimento ou criar novos conhecime ntos adaptados ao novo ambiente dentro da empresa, mudando assim a estrutura de capacidade original da empresa e fazendo a empresa dar um passo à frente. Capacidades dinâmicas são meios eficazes para as empresas obterem vantagem competitiva sustentável, qu e só pode ser obtida pela posse de capacidades dinâmicas. Tomando o desenvolvimento, a implementação da estratégia e a prática de integração de recursos do Hospital Foshan Chancheng como exemplo, a Tese discute ainda as formas fundamentais para os hospitai s privados chineses integrarem efetivamente recursos internos e externos, construindo assim capacidades dinâmicas para sustentar vantagens competitivas

Student Research Colloquium Proceedings 2010

2010 Student Research Colloquium proceedings include the following: explanation of the Student Research Colloquium passport\u27, a schedule of the day\u27s events, acknowledgement of research sponsors, conference presentation abstracts, formal paper competition participants; poster presentation competition participants; student presenter index, research sponsor index, planning committee, poster and paper presentation judges, registration desk, sponsors, and donors, map of Atwood Memorial Center. Keynote Speaker: Michael (Mick) D. Bower, Security Columnist, Linux Journal, Infrastructure Security Architecture Team Lead, Wells Fargo: Notes from the Trenches: Information Security in the So-Called Real World. In this talk, Mick Bauer will tell war stories from his adventures helping to secure one of our nation\u27s largest banks against the best attack efforts of devious hackers, credit-card scammers, organized crime cartels and the scariest type of adversary which information security professions routinely encounter, the enthusiastic businessperson. In so doing, he will illustrate in thrilling, name-dropping detail how his education, comprised of a Masters in Computer Science from St. Cloud State University and a BFA in Music Education, grounded him in the scientific method, a preference for facts over aspirations and an affinity for lecturing and constructing very long but grammatically coherent sentences, has served him well in what has been an unpredictable but very cool career thus far

Global Risks 2014, Ninth Edition.

The Global Risks 2014 report highlights how global risks are not only interconnected but also have systemic impacts. To manage global risks effectively and build resilience to their impacts, better efforts are needed to understand, measure and foresee the evolution of interdependencies between risks, supplementing traditional risk-management tools with new concepts designed for uncertain environments. If global risks are not effectively addressed, their social, economic and political fallouts could be far-reaching, as exemplified by the continuing impacts of the financial crisis of 2007-2008

Improvement of outpatient service processes based on BRP theory and information technology: a case study of the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital

JEL Classification: M15 – IT Management, I12 – Health ProductionCurrently, due to some irrational allocation of medical and healthcare resources, a considerable proportion of state-of-the-art medical equipment and talented medical personnel are concentrated in large urban hospitals. This situation is particularly common in 3A hospitals (3A hospitals are hospitals which are equipped with more than 501 beds, can provide medical and healthcare services with high-level specialty to various regions and with scores higher than 900 according to the grading standard), which are often crowded with patients. According to the normal outpatient process, patients need to undergo a prolonged procedure from registration, treatment, laboratory test, diagnosis to drug dispensing. Often patients have to spend a long time waiting for treatment, receiving tests and paying for medical care. The congestion of patients at certain time-consuming processes allows doctors little time to check and treat patients thoroughly. As a result, doctors are often unable to make accurate and comprehensive diagnosis. Considered the window of a hospital, outpatient service is extremely important. Whether the design of its process is reasonable and whether its management is able to maximize interests for patients will directly affect the hospital’s medical level, and even its social benefits and reputation. Therefore, it has become a major issue for a hospital achieves to optimize the business process of its outpatient service. Outpatient process, as a core business process of a hospital, is critical to improving the quality of its medical service, upgrading its performance and minimizing its operating costs. Therefore, re-designing the outpatient process of a hospital can help enhance its comprehensive strength by endowing it with a core competence. In addition, the hospital will be impelled to provide patients with more convenient medical services with higher quality and lower price. This work conducts a case study on The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital (HKU-SZH), which was the first to implement an outpatient appointment registration system. This thesis gives an anatomy of the outpatient process of the hospital through various methods and theories, such as literature review, field research, expert consultation, Business Process Reengineering Theory and Information technology, aiming to identify objectives and strategies of the case hospital in improving its outpatient process. The study consists of: - An investigation into the current situation of HKU-SZH’s outpatient registration process: through questionnaires and structured interviews, the defects and weak links in the hospital’s appointment registration model were analyzed. A structural equation model for existing outpatient processes was established and the influence of different variables on patients’ satisfaction level as well as the correlation between these variables was analyzed by means of a simulation model. - Research on outpatient process reengineering: with the needs and satisfaction of patients as a goal, this thesis reexamines the strategic goals and internal and external environment of HKU-SZH on the basis of Business Process Reengineering Theory, Queuing Theory, Six Sigma Theory and Information technology. This thesis improves HKU-SZH’s registration process, using methods of order modification, integration, simplification and automation and materializes the process by network technology and outpatient information system. - An empirical study on outpatient process: this thesis conducts a systemic and empirical analysis in a functional integration of registration and payment, process reengineering research through information technology (development of new functions of appointment system) and an empirical study on queuing theory. - Research on local adaptation of outpatient process: this thesis explores solutions and suggestions for HKU-SZH with the objective of optimize its outpatient process through the perspectives of hospital organizational structure, information technology, human resources, building of outpatient culture and optimization of waiting cost. By means of outpatient process reengineering, this thesis aim to increase the case hospital’s efficiency and raise its patients’ satisfaction so that the hospital may enhance its comprehensive competence. In addition, an effective and operable methodology will be generated, which is expected to serve as a reference for other hospitals to improve their operation and their management.Atualmente, devido a alguma atribuição irracional dos recursos médicos e de saúde, uma proporção considerável de modernos equipamentos médicos e pessoal médico talentoso estão concentrados em grandes hospitais urbanos. Esta situação é particularmente comum em hospitais 3A (hospitais 3A são os hospitais que estão equipados com mais de 501 camas, e que podem fornecer serviços médicos e de saúde com alto nível de especialidade para diversas regiões e com pontuações superiores a 900 de acordo com o padrão de classificação), que são frequentemente sobrelotados com pacientes. De acordo com o processo ambulatório normal, os pacientes precisam passar por um procedimento prolongado desde o registo, tratamento, análise laboratorial, diagnóstico, até à distribuição de medicamentos. Muitas vezes os pacientes têm de passar um longo tempo de espera para tratamento, para receber testes e para pagar por cuidados médicos. O congestionamento de pacientes em determinados processos demorados, leva a que os médicos tenham pouco tempo para verificar e tratar os pacientes completamente. Como resultado, os médicos são muitas vezes incapazes de fazer um diagnóstico preciso e abrangente. Considerado a montra de um hospital, o serviço ambulatório é extremamente importante. Se o desenho do seu processo é razoável e se a sua gestão é capaz de maximizar os interesses dos pacientes, irá afetar diretamente o nível médico do hospital, e até mesmo os seus benefícios sociais e reputação. Portanto, tornou-se um importante problema para um hospital conseguir otimizar o processo do seu serviço ambulatório. O processo ambulatório, como um processo de negócio nuclear de um hospital, é fundamental para melhorar a qualidade do seu serviço médico, aumentar o seu desempenho e minimizar seus custos operacionais. Portanto, reprojetar o processo ambulatório de um hospital pode ajudar a aumentar a sua força global dotando-o de uma competência essencial. Além disso, o hospital será impelido a oferecer aos pacientes serviços médicos mais convenientes com maior qualidade e menor preço. Este trabalho apresenta um estudo de caso sobre o Hospital da Universidade de Hong Kong-Shenzhen (HKU-SZH), que foi o primeiro a implementar um sistema de registo de consulta externa. Esta tese apresenta uma análise do processo ambulatório do hospital através de vários métodos e teorias, como a revisão de literatura, pesquisa de campo, consultas a especialistas, teoria da reengenharia de processos e tecnologias da informação, com o objetivo de identificar os objetivos e estratégias do hospital na melhoria do seu serviço ambulatório. O estudo consiste em: - Investigação sobre a situação atual do processo de registo ambulatório de HKU-SZH. Através de questionários e entrevistas estruturadas, foram analisados os defeitos e pontos fracos no modelo de registro de consultas do hospital. Um modelo de equações estruturais para os processos ambulatórios existentes foi estabelecido, e a influência de diferentes variáveis sobre o nível de satisfação dos pacientes, bem como a correlação entre essas variáveis foi analisada por meio de um modelo de simulação. - Investigação sobre a reengenharia do processo ambulatório. Tendo as necessidades e satisfação dos pacientes como objetivo, esta tese reexamina as metas estratégicas e o ambiente interno e externo de HKU-SZH com base na Teoria da Reengenharia de Processos, Teoria das Filas, Teoria Six Sigmae Tecnologias da Informação. Esta tese melhora o processo de registro de HKU-SZH, usando métodos de modificação, integração, simplificação e automação e materializa o processo através de tecnologias de rede e um sistema de informação para o processo ambulatório. - Estudo empírico sobre o processo ambulatório. Esta tese conduz uma análise sistémica e empírica sobre a integração funcional de inscrições e pagamentos, a pesquisa de reengenharia de processos através de tecnologias da informação (desenvolvimento de novas funções do sistema de consultas) e um estudo empírico sobre a teoria das filas. - Investigação sobre a adaptação local do processo ambulatório. Esta tese explora soluções e sugestões para o HKU-SZH para otimizar seu processo ambulatório através das perspetivas de estrutura hospitalar organizacional, tecnologias da informação, recursos humanos, construção da cultura do ambulatório e otimização do custo de espera. Por meio do processo de reengenharia do serviço de ambulatório, esta tese visa aumentar a eficiência do processo de internamento e aumentar a satisfação dos seus pacientes para que o hospital possa aumentar a sua capacidade global. Além disso, foi gerada uma metodologia eficiente e operacionalizavel, a qual se espera possa servir como referência para outros hospitais, para melhorar o seu funcionamento e a sua gestão

IIMA in HealthCare Management: Abstract of Publications (2000-2010)

The Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA), was established in 1961 as an autonomous institution by the Government of India in collaboration with the Government of Gujarat and Indian industry. IIMA’s involvement in the health sector started with the establishment of the Public Systems Group in 1975. In the initial period, our research focused on the management of primary healthcare services and family planning. We expanded our research activities to include the management of secondary healthcare services in the 80s and to tertiary healthcare services in the 90s. Currently our research interests focus on the governance and management issues in the areas on Rural Health, Urban Health, Public Health and Hospital Management. In June 2004, IIMA Board approved the setting up of a Centre for Management Health Services (CMHS) in recognition of IIMA’s contributions to the health sector in the past and the felt need to strengthen the management of health sector in the context of socio-economic developments of our country. The overall objectives of CMHS are to address the managerial challenges in the delivery of health services to respond to the needs of different segments of our population efficiently and effectively, build institutions of excellence in the health sector, and influence health policies and wider environments. All our research projects are externally funded and we have developed research collaborations with 15-20 international universities in USA, UK, Europe, and Asia. CMHS has also established strong linkages with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare at the national and state government levels, particularly in the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Orissa, and Bihar. This working paper is a compilation of the abstracts of all our publications in the last 10 years, which include 40 referred journal articles, 54 Working Papers, 19 Chapters in Books and 18 Case Studies.