Intertextuality, rhetorical history and the uses of the past in organizational transition

This paper draws upon archival and oral history research on organizational transition at Procter &amp; Gamble (1950–2009), during which P&amp;G evolved from a multinational to a global enterprise. Intertextuality, the ways in which texts appropriate prior works to produce new texts, illuminates the practical workings of rhetorical history, accentuating interpretive agency. The uses of the past at P&amp;G involved an authorized historical account relating to socialization, invented tradition, and lessons from past experience, facilitating change within continuity. We show that in transforming from multinational to global enterprise, recognition of the value of history to strategy intensified, engendering rhetorically intense variations on time-honoured themes. Our main contribution to theory is to demonstrate how sensitivity to intertextuality casts light on the nature of organizational history as historically constructed through language, subject to the agency of skilful interpretive actors who engage in intertextual adaptation in pursuit of strategic change as purposes and contexts evolve.</p

Living up to the past? Ideological sensemaking in organizational transition

publication-status: Acceptedtypes: ArticleAuthor's postprint version.This article builds upon archival and oral history research on organizational change at Procter & Gamble (P&G) from 1930 to 2000, focusing on periods of transition. It examines historical narrative as a vehicle for ideological sensemaking by top managers. Our empirical analysis sheds light on continuities in the narratives they offer, through which the past emerges as a recurrent lever of strategic manoeuvres and re-orientations. This reveals that while organizational history is sometimes regarded as a strategic asset or intrinsic part of collective memory, it is also re-enacted as a shared heritage, implying responsibilities. Executives (re)interpret the past and author the future, maintaining the historical narrative while using interpellation to ensure ideological consistency over time. The interpellative power of rhetorical narrative helps to recast organizational members as participants in an ongoing drama. In this way executives claim their legitimate right to initiate and manage organizational transition

Collisional cross sections and momentum distributions in astrophysical plasmas: dynamics and statistical mechanics link

We show that, in stellar core plasmas, the one-body momentum distribution function is strongly dependent, at least in the high velocity regime, on the microscopic dynamics of ion elastic collisions and therefore on the effective collisional cross sections, if a random force field is present. We take into account two cross sections describing ion-dipole and ion-ion screened interactions. Furthermore we introduce a third unusual cross section, to link statistical distributions and a quantum effect originated by the energy-momentum uncertainty owing to many-body collisions, and propose a possible physical interpretation in terms of a tidal-like force. We show that each collisional cross section gives rise to a slight peculiar correction on the Maxwellian momentum distribution function in a well defined velocity interval. We also find a possible link between microscopical dynamics of ions and statistical mechanics interpreting our results in the framework of non-extensive statistical mechanics.Comment: 8 page

Исследование методов государственного регулирования цен и издержек системы здравоохранения на лекарственные препараты в Великобритании

Objective: analysis of state regulation of prices and costs for the purchase of medicines (drugs) in the United Kingdom (UK), and proposal development to improve the processes of state regulation of manufacturers’ marginal registered prices of medicines included in the list of vital and essential drugs approved in the Russian Federation.Material and methods. Analysis of the structure of state regulation of prices and costs for the procurement of drugs was carried out based on information contained in the regulatory legal documents of the UK Government, health services and technical regulation, and data provided in systematic reviews and articles.Results. A key feature of regulation in the UK is maximizing the efficiency of health care costs based on the principles of digitization, long-term planning and health technology assessment in pricing. Government regulation of costs is focused on the patent-protected drug segment. Providers of such medicines fall under the Voluntary or Statutory Scheme and are required to make payments in the form of a fixed percentage of sales to the Department of Health and Social Care. Certain drug segments are exempt from payments to stimulate innovative development of the pharmaceutical industry and accelerate market access for new therapies. As practice shows, the Voluntary Scheme is more profitable for most companies. Regulation in the segment of reproduced drugs is carried out by free-market mechanisms and the antimonopoly service.Conclusion. The analysis revealed the mechanisms and key features of the methods of state regulation of prices and costs of the health care system for the procurement of drugs, identified best practices that are promising for adaptation to improve the state regulation of prices in the Russian Federation. Цель: анализ государственного регулирования цен и издержек на закупку лекарственных препаратов (ЛП) в Великобритании, а также разработка предложений по совершенствованию процессов государственного регулирования предельных зарегистрированных цен производителей на препараты, включенные в перечень жизненно необходимых и важнейших ЛП, утвержденный в Российской Федерации.Материал и методы. Анализ структуры государственного регулирования цен и издержек на закупку ЛП проведен на основании сведений, содержащихся в нормативных правовых документах Правительства Великобритании, служб здравоохранения и технического регулирования, а также информации, представленной в систематических обзорах и статьях.Результаты. Ключевой особенностью регулирования в Великобритании является максимизация эффективности издержек здравоохранения на основе принципов цифровизации, долгосрочного планирования и оценки технологий здравоохранения при ценообразовании. Государственное регулирование издержек сконцентрировано на сегменте ЛП, находящихся под патентной защитой. Поставщики таких препаратов подпадают под действие Добровольной или Принудительной схемы доступа на рынок и обязаны осуществлять платежи в виде фиксированного процента продаж в пользу Департамента здравоохранения и социального обеспечения. Отдельные сегменты лекарств освобождены от платежей с целью стимулирования инновационного развития фармацевтической отрасли и ускорения доступа на рынок новых видов терапии. Как показывает практика, Добровольная схема выгоднее для большинства компаний. Регулирование в сегменте воспроизведенных ЛП осуществляется механизмами свободного рынка и антимонопольной службой.Заключение. В результате анализа выявлены механизмы и ключевые особенности методов государственного регулирования цен и издержек системы здравоохранения на закупку ЛП, определены лучшие практики, перспективные для адаптации с целью совершенствования подходов государственного регулирования цен в Российской Федерации

Обзор методик расчета, процедуры регистрации и перерегистрации цен производителей лекарственных препаратов в странах Евразийского экономического союза

Aim. To analyze the methods of the state regulation of prices for the manufacturers of pharmaceutical drugs in the Eurasian Economic Community counties (EAEC).Materials and Methods. The comparison of the aspects of the price regulation was presented as short characteristics of the regulating impact of the key normative legal acts (NLA) in the sphere of price formation on pharmaceutical drugs in the EAEC. The study included the following stages: the analysis of NLA in the Russian Federation, Republic of Belarus, Republic of Kazakhstan, Republic of Moldova, Republic of Armenia, and the Kyrgyz Republic, the comparison of the list of reference countries, and decreasing coefficients.Results. The authors revealed the differences in the procedure of the registration, re-registration, referencing of prices, and decreasing coefficients for the generics. The authors highlighted the drawbacks of the existing procedure of the registration of prices in Russia in terms of the formation of the list of the referent countries, the re-registration of drugs with an increase in price, and limited economic efficiency.Conclusion. The performed analysis showed that the differences in the methods of the state regulation of prices on pharmaceutical drugs in the EAEC countries do not allow for the formation of a unified approach. However, the creation of supranational method of price formation is an essential condition for the functioning of the united market of pharmaceutical drugs.Цель. Анализ методов государственного регулирования цен производителей лекарственных препаратов в странах-участницах Евразийского экономического союза (далее – ЕАЭС, Союз).Материалы и методы. Сопоставление аспектов ценового регулирования представлено в виде краткой характеристики регулирующего воздействия ключевых статей нормативных правовых актов (далее – НПА) в сфере ценообразования на лекарственные препараты в странах ЕАЭС. Исследование включало следующие этапы: анализ НПА в Российской Федерации, Республике Беларусь, Республике Казахстан, Республике Молдова, Республике Армения, Киргизской Республике; сравнение перечня референтных стран, понижающих коэффициентов.Результаты. Выявлены различия в процедурах регистрации, перерегистрации, реферирования цен, величине понижающих коэффициентов для воспроизведенных препаратов, выделены недостатки существующего порядка регистрации цен в России в части формирования перечня референтных стран, перерегистрации цены производителя в сторону увеличения, ограничения рентабельности.Заключение. По результатам анализа сделан вывод о том, что различия в методах государственного  регулирования цен на лекарственные препараты в странах ЕАЭС на данный момент не позволяют  сформировать универсальный подход, однако создание наднациональной методики ценообразования  является необходимым условием для функционирования единого рынка лекарственных средств

Pharmacy Compounding Regulation in the German Pharmaceutical Market. Part 1. Basic Regulatory Provisions (Review)

SCIENTIFIC RELEVANCE. There is a need to move towards an appropriate system of quality assurance in pharmacy compounding. At the same time, the development of a Russian regulatory system for pharmacy compounding requires a broad understanding of international experience.AIM. This study aimed at analysing the basic principles of pharmacy compounding regulation in the Federal Republic of Germany in order to identify best practices and determine ways to improve the legal and regulatory framework for compounding pharmacies in the Russian Federation.DISCUSSION. According to German law, pharmacies may dispense compounded medicinal products on an oral request from a patient. The German regulatory framework provides a mechanism delineating medicinal products compounded by pharmacies and those manufactured by pharmaceutical companies. The geographical and quantitative restrictions combined with the neutral pricing policy for pharmacies facilitate the establishment of a highly effective pharmaceutical supply system. In practice, this system helps set uniform prices for medicinal products throughout Germany while preventing pharmacy chains from monopolising the pharmaceutical market. These regulations can be considered regulatory mechanisms operating at the regional (land) level. Moreover, it is of key importance that German legislation divides compounded medicinal products into stock and extemporaneous preparations.CONCLUSIONS. German pharmaceutical practice features a number of innovations that can be borrowed for Russian pharmaceutical practice. Russian pharmaceutical legislation may benefit from adopting the concept of a “request from an individual” for dispensing compounded medicinal products that do not contain prescription-only active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). In order to improve the efficiency of the use of pharmaceutical-quality raw materials, including APIs, it is necessary to identify cases in which regular pharmacies can receive or purchase compounded medicinal products from compounding pharmacies and cases in which compounding pharmacies can purchase APIs from other compounding pharmacies. The authors recommend considering the possibility of defining the role, functions, and powers of self-regulating professional pharmacy organisations at various levels of governance in this social sphere of activity. Furthermore, the authors recommend creating a Russian mechanism to mitigate the risks of stock shortages and/or limited supply of medicinal products that would be similar to the German “standard authorisation” system and would encompass compounding pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies

Bridging the gap between global models and full fluid models : a fast 1D semi-analytical fluid model for electronegative plasmas

Analytical and numerical models allow investigation of complicated discharge phenomena and the interplay that makes plasmas such a complex environment. Global models are quick to implement and can have almost negligible computation cost, but provide only bulk or spatially averaged values. Full fluid models take longer to develop, and can take days to solve, but provide accurate spatio-temporal profiles of the whole plasma. The work presented here details a different type of model, analytically similar to fluid models, but computationally closer to a global model, and able to give spatially resolved solutions for the challenging environment of electronegative plasmas. Included are non-isothermal electrons, gas heating, and coupled neutral dynamics. Solutions are reached in seconds to minutes, and spatial profiles are given for densities, fluxes, and temperatures. This allows the semi-analytical model to fill the gap that exists between global and full fluid models, extending the tools available to researchers. The semi-analytical model can perform broad parameter sweeps that are not practical with more computationally expensive models, as well as exposing non-trivial trends that global models cannot capture. Examples are given for a low pressure oxygen CCP. Excellent agreement is shown with a full fluid model, and comparisons are drawn with the corresponding global model

Нормативное правовое регулирование изготовления лекарственных препаратов аптечными организациями: опыт североамериканского фармацевтического рынка

In order to improve regulation of socially significant type of activity in the field of compounding pharmacy production, the review summarizes the technological, organizational and regulatory requirements for ensuring quality and safety of compounding drugs, as well as historical and technical analysis of the compounding pharmacy regulation in North American pharmaceutical market. The main imperatives are identified and the best practices recommended for implementation into the current state of the pharmaceutical market in the Russian Federation. С целью совершенствования подходов к регулированию особого и социально значимого вида деятельности – изготовления лекарственных препаратов (ЛП) аптечными организациями – в обзоре обобщены технологические, организационные и регуляторные требования по вопросам обеспечения качества и безопасности изготовления экстемпоральных ЛП, а также проведен историкотехнический анализ развития регулирования изготовления ЛП аптечными организациями на примере североамериканского фармацевтического рынка. Выявлены основные императивы и описана система надлежащих практик, элементы которой могут быть рекомендованы для внедрения в текущую систему регулирования деятельности аптечных организаций по изготовлению ЛП на территории Российской Федерации.

Модели анализа включений лекарственных средств в ограничительные перечни (на примере ЖНВЛП) 2016 г.

Background: In 2014 we firstly analyzed the formalized system (points and expert opinions) of drug inclusion and exclusion into the reimbursement lists in Russian Federation. The liner mathematical model of decision making was developed and adopted.Aim. Update the existing model using the results of reimbursement procedures acting from 2106.Material and methods. The linear models developed and adopted in 2014 were used. In 2015 we included data on 141 drug dossiers. We analyzed the decision of the expert body, chief Ministry of Health expert and the final committee decision.Results. 43 new drugs were included into the reimbursement lists acting from 2016. The model of expert body decision had an error 7,09% (12,4% in 2014). The model of chief Ministry of Health expert decision had an error – 7% (10% in 2014). The above mentioned experts became more experienced in the formalized procedure of decision making. The model of final decision had an error about 42% (35% in 2014). Conclusion. Linear models are working tools for modelling reimbursement system decisions. At the mean time the existing system of decision making needs more formalization.Актуальность. В 2014 г. в Российской Федерации был проведен первый опыт включения (исключения) лекарственных средств в ограничительные списки на формализованном принципе (балльная система, независимые заключения). На основании опубликованных данных за 2014 г. авторами были разработаны и апробированы математические линейные модели.Цель. Построение модели по данным анализа перечней на 2016 г.Материалы и методы. Использованы ранее разработанные и принятые линейные модели. В анализ было включено 141 досье на лекарственные препараты. Анализировали заключение экспертной организации, главного специалиста и окончательное решение.Результаты. В 2016 г. в ограничительный перечень жизненно необходимых и важнейших лекарственных препаратов (ЖНВЛП) было включено 43 лекарственных препарата. В результате показано, что модель заключения для экспертной организации давала ошибку 7,09% (в 2014 г. – 12,4%). Для главных внештатных специалистов – 7% (2014 г. – 10%). Отмечается «обучение» формализованному подходу указанных выше лиц, учитывая явную положительную динамику. Модель для окончательного решения междисциплинарной комиссии давала ошибку около 42% (ранее 35%).Заключение. Линейные модели являются действующим инструментом прогнозирования включения лекарственных препаратов в ограничительные перечни. В то же время действующая система по-прежнему требует формализации