Efficiency evaluation for pooling resources in health care

Hospitals traditionally segregate resources into centralized functional departments such as diagnostic departments, ambulatory care centres, and nursing wards. In recent years this organizational model has been challenged by the idea that higher quality of care and efficiency in service delivery can be achieved when services are organized around patient groups. Examples include specialized clinics for breast cancer patients and clinical pathways for diabetes patients. Hospitals are struggling with the question of whether to become more centralized to achieve economies of scale or more decentralized to achieve economies of focus. Using quantitative Queueing Theory and Simulation models, we examine service and patient group characteristics to determine the conditions where a centralized model is more efficient and conversely where a decentralized model is more efficient. The results from the model measure the tradeoffs between economies of scale and economies of focus from which management guidelines are derived

On the Empty Miles of Ride-Sourcing Services: Theory, Observation and Countermeasures

The proliferation of smartphones in recent years has catalyzed the rapid growth of ride-sourcing services such as Uber, Lyft, and Didi Chuxing. Such on-demand e-hailing services significantly reduce the meeting frictions between drivers and riders and provide the platform with unprecedented flexibility and challenges in system management. A big issue that arises with service expansion is the empty miles produced by ride-sourcing vehicles. To overcome the physical and temporal frictions that separate drivers from customers and effectively reposition themselves towards desired destinations, ride-sourcing vehicles generate a significant number of vacant trips. These empty miles traveled result in inefficient use of the available fleet and increase traffic demand, posing substantial impacts on system operations. To tackle the issues, my dissertation is dedicated to deepening our understanding of the formation and the externalities of empty miles, and then proposing countermeasures to bolster system performance. There are two essential and interdependent contributors to empty miles generated by ride-sourcing vehicles: cruising in search of customers and deadheading to pick them up, which are markedly dictated by forces from riders, drivers, the platform, and policies imposed by regulators. In this dissertation, we structure our study of this complex process along three primary axes, respectively centered on the strategies of a platform, the behaviors of drivers, and the concerns of government agencies. In each axis, theoretical models are established to help understand the underlying physics and identify the trade-offs and potential issues that drive behind the empty miles. Massive data from Didi Chuxing, a dominant ride-sourcing company in China, are leveraged to evidence the presence of matters discussed in reality. Countermeasures are then investigated to strengthen management upon the empty miles, balance the interests of different stakeholders, and improve the system performance. Although this dissertation scopes out ride-sourcing services, the models, analyses, and solutions can be readily adapted to address related issues in other types of shared-use mobility services.PHDCivil EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163209/1/xzt_1.pd

Chapter Non-linear Paths in Transitions through the Labour Market

Entering a study course and the subsequent transition to the labour market is no longer the rule. In the past, routes were linear, today transitions are non-linear. The research undertook to contribute to studying the factors that promote university students’ transition to work. Some of the research activities have been devoted to a longitudinal study where the ways Educational Science graduates manage their own professionalization strategies have been investigated. It is a cluster for which in several countries the lowest return has been estimated in relation to higher education investment. If we manage to clarify the terms of non-linear transitions paths we can succeed in understanding the types of measures to be introduced, how to relate them to processes that will professionalize students, when to activate them, and how to evaluate their impac

Scaling operational risk management to leverage a firm’s value configuration and creation

Abstract: Operational risk management leverages a firm’s value configuration and creation. However, research on the scalability of operational risk management as a catalyser of value configuration and creation seems yet elusive in most of the contemporary management studies. To address such a gap, this research uses confirmatory factor analysis to test and validate the underpinning null hypothesis that operational risk management spawns value configuration and creation to spur a firm’s overall competitiveness and effective market performance. If strategically linked to the process of value configuration and creation, findings revealed it is during the consistent process of analysis, identification and mitigation of operational disruptions, errors and wastes that operational risk management enhances identification of new value drivers and the enrichment of the existing value drivers. Subsequently, all these were found to spur improved quality excellence, process efficiency and cost minimisation that in turn induce a firm’s improved competitiveness and its overall effective market performance. Basing on these findings, the study concludes with a framework that businesses can replicate when seeking to scale operational risk management to leverage the overall effectiveness of a firm’s value configuration and creation

Closer : the challenges of Evalyze´s future

Closer was a data science company with three business units – consulting, outsourcing and nearshoring. The company ultimate goal was to be on the edge of innovation. Consequently, a huge investment was made in a new product, Evalyze. Evalyze was a software using Artificial Intelligence algorithms, for the optimization of contact centers’ operations and with high levels of efficiency and productivity. Evalyze required a total investment of 4 million euros and was facing implementation challenges as clients had to be convinced to switch from the software they had installed. Therefore, Closer was facing the dilemma of continuing investing in Evalyze or divest the product and focus on its other business areas. If continuing investing in Evalyze, the company was confronted with the options of whether or not to obtain external funding and expand internationally. This Thesis aimed to analyze how Closer should manage its business portfolio, guaranteeing the sustainability of the company and Evalyze’s growth. For this purpose, besides the Case Study, the Dissertation includes a Literature Review, providing insights about the industry and different growth strategies, and a Teaching Note that addresses relevant issues for the analysis of the Case Study in strategic management courses.Closer era uma empresa de Data Science com serviços em 3 áreas – consultoria, outsourcing e soluções. Tendo como maior objetivo inovar, realizou um grande investimento num novo produto, Evalyze. O Evalyze era uma plataforma que usava algoritmos de Inteligência Artificial, destinado à otimização de operações em centros de contato e com elevados níveis de eficiência e produtividade. O Evalyze exigiu um investimento de 4 milhões de euros e estava a enfrentar desafios com a sua implementação, dado a necessidade de convencer os clientes a mudar das plataformas que já tinham instaladas. Desta forma, Closer enfrentava o dilema de continuar a investir no Evalyze ou desinvestir o produto e focar-se nas outras áreas de negócio. Adicionalmente, no caso de continuar a investir no Evalyze, a empresa teria que ponderar sobre obter financiamento externo e expandir internacionalmente. Esta Tese tem como objetivo analisar como deve a Closer gerir o seu portfólio de negócios, garantindo a sua sustentabilidade. Para este fim, para além do Caso de Estudo, esta Dissertação inclui uma revisão de literatura, com informações sobre a indústria e diferentes estratégias de crescimento e uma Nota Pedagógica, que aborda aspectos relevantes para a análise do Caso de Estudo no âmbito de disciplinas de gestão estratégica

Management, Technology and Learning for Individuals, Organisations and Society in Turbulent Environments

This book presents the collection of fifty papers which were presented in the Second International Conference on BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY 2011 - Management, Technology and Learning for Individuals, Organisations and Society in Turbulent Environments , held in Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal, from 22ndto 24thof June, 2011.The main motive of the meeting was growing awareness of the importance of the sustainability issue. This importance had emerged from the growing uncertainty of the market behaviour that leads to the characterization of the market, i.e. environment, as turbulent. Actually, the characterization of the environment as uncertain and turbulent reflects the fact that the traditional technocratic and/or socio-technical approaches cannot effectively and efficiently lead with the present situation. In other words, the rise of the sustainability issue means the quest for new instruments to deal with uncertainty and/or turbulence. The sustainability issue has a complex nature and solutions are sought in a wide range of domains and instruments to achieve and manage it. The domains range from environmental sustainability (referring to natural environment) through organisational and business sustainability towards social sustainability. Concerning the instruments for sustainability, they range from traditional engineering and management methodologies towards “soft” instruments such as knowledge, learning, and creativity. The papers in this book address virtually whole sustainability problems space in a greater or lesser extent. However, although the uncertainty and/or turbulence, or in other words the dynamic properties, come from coupling of management, technology, learning, individuals, organisations and society, meaning that everything is at the same time effect and cause, we wanted to put the emphasis on business with the intention to address primarily companies and their businesses. Due to this reason, the main title of the book is “Business Sustainability 2.0” but with the approach of coupling Management, Technology and Learning for individuals, organisations and society in Turbulent Environments. Also, the notation“2.0” is to promote the publication as a step further from our previous publication – “Business Sustainability I” – as would be for a new version of software. Concerning the Second International Conference on BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY, its particularity was that it had served primarily as a learning environment in which the papers published in this book were the ground for further individual and collective growth in understanding and perception of sustainability and capacity for building new instruments for business sustainability. In that respect, the methodology of the conference work was basically dialogical, meaning promoting dialog on the papers, but also including formal paper presentations. In this way, the conference presented a rich space for satisfying different authors’ and participants’ needs. Additionally, promoting the widest and global learning environment and participation, in accordance with the Conference's assumed mission to promote Proactive Generative Collaborative Learning, the Conference Organisation shares/puts open to the community the papers presented in this book, as well as the papers presented on the previous Conference(s). These papers can be accessed from the conference webpage (http://labve.dps.uminho.pt/bs11). In these terms, this book could also be understood as a complementary instrument to the Conference authors’ and participants’, but also to the wider readerships’ interested in the sustainability issues. The book brought together 107 authors from 11 countries, namely from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Serbia, Switzerland, and United States of America. The authors “ranged” from senior and renowned scientists to young researchers providing a rich and learning environment. At the end, the editors hope, and would like, that this book to be useful, meeting the expectation of the authors and wider readership and serving for enhancing the individual and collective learning, and to incentive further scientific development and creation of new papers. Also, the editors would use this opportunity to announce the intention to continue with new editions of the conference and subsequent editions of accompanying books on the subject of BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY, the third of which is planned for year 2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The role of social media in the luxury tourism business: a research review and trajectory assessment

The luxury tourism industry immediately conjures up thoughts of exclusivity, with access to it confined to a small and elite group of travelers often located within their own social bubble. Our systematic literature review seeks to understand how tourism scholarship has addressed the issue of luxury travel based on social media pronouncements and the areas of concentration in which earlier studies have been conducted. Literature was sourced using the following key terms "luxury tourism", "elite travel", "social media", and "sustainability" in various combinations using the OneSearch online platform, the Proquest Database, and Google Scholar. Only peer-reviewed journals were used for the critical analysis. Three main thematic areas were identified and reviewed: (1) the role of social media in luxury tourism; (2) the behavioral attributes of luxury travelers' when using social media; and (3) the methodologies employed in the extant literature, given the limitations of accessing specific data for the luxury tourism market. The selected period for the journals and articles reviewed was the last ten years, from March 2010 to March 2020. NVivo version 12 was used to decipher the themes and focus areas as well as quantify the significance of social media to luxury tourism. Drawing from these literature review outcomes, the study explores future research areas and issues that require new theoretical and methodological frameworks to further our understanding of the intersection between social media and the luxury tourism business