Service-Learning Projects Enhance Student Learning in Strategic Management Courses

Academia has been criticized for Its supposed isolation from society and its lack of emphasis on practical applications and hands-on experience. Institutions of higher education are responding to this criticism by incorporating experiential service-learning in their curricula. One business course which is particularly appropriate for integrating service-learning into the curriculum is Strategic Management

A new doubly discrete analogue of smoke ring flow and the real time simulation of fluid flow

Modelling incompressible ideal fluids as a finite collection of vortex filaments is important in physics (super-fluidity, models for the onset of turbulence) as well as for numerical algorithms used in computer graphics for the real time simulation of smoke. Here we introduce a time-discrete evolution equation for arbitrary closed polygons in 3-space that is a discretisation of the localised induction approximation of filament motion. This discretisation shares with its continuum limit the property that it is a completely integrable system. We apply this polygon evolution to a significant improvement of the numerical algorithms used in Computer Graphics.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figure

EXTENT OF HOSPITAL DIRECTOR INVOLVEMENT IN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT: DOES TENURE MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

Of particular interest to researchers and practitioners is the impact of board members\u27 composition and characteristics on corporate activities. With the exception of studies focusing on the gender of board members and the inside director-outside director dichotomy, much of the research tends to treat directors as a homogeneous group. This study seeks to determine whether a relationship exists between hospital directors\u27 length of tenure and their degree of involvement in the strategic management process. The results of a survey of 240 directors from twenty-one hospitals are analyzed. A MANOVA, followed by a series of ANOVAs revealed significant differences between the long- and short-tenure directors. In most areas those with relatively short board tenure tend to be less engaged than their longer-tenured counterparts. The latter are more involved in developing strategic alternatives, providing advice and counsel in discussions outside of board/committee meetings, and setting standards for and evaluating the performance of the hospital and management. However, both groups have very limited involvement in setting standards for rewarding top management and evaluating their performance. Short-tenure directors are more concerned with the interests of major stakeholders and promoting their goodwill and support. Also, they are more actively involved in financial matters. The results raise potentially important strategic dilemmas for hospitals and offer proponents of changes in board composition support for their normative suggestions. Longer-tenured members are not as concerned with financial matters as well as stakeholders\u27 interests and support as their short-tenured counterparts. Also, although longer-tenured members were more active in setting standards for rewarding top management and assessing their performance, it is important to note the limited involvement of both groups. The results show a reluctance by both groups to set performance standards for top management and to formally evaluate their performance

Extent Of Director Involvement In The Strategic Management Process: Does Occupational Background Make A Difference?

Propositions were tested with original survey data from 224 directors from nineteen hospitals to determine the extent of their involvement in the strategic management process. In most areas, board members whose occupational background is in health care tend to be less engaged than their counterparts whose background is not in health care. Significant differences were observed with respect to broad cross-functional strategic issues and overall hospital performance.  Both groups had limited involvement in setting standards for rewarding top management and evaluating their performance.  The results raise potentially important strategic and ethical dilemmas for hospitals and offer proponents of changes in board composition support for their normative suggestions.   &nbsp

District heating and cooling networks with decentralised energy substations: opportunities and barriers for holistic energy system decarbonisation

Decarbonisation of the thermal grid whilst ensuring affordability and security of supply, requires a holistic approach which relies on sector coupling and energy storage. District heating and cooling networks with decentralised energy substations featuring heat pumps and thermal energy storage could provide such holistic heat decarbonisation. However, the extent of sector synergies, technoeconomic and market uptake hurdles are still unclear. This paper evaluates the opportunities and barriers related to technoeconomic performance, sector coupling facilitation and market uptake of district heating and cooling networks with decentralised energy substations. It follows a systematic literature review process and integrates its findings with insights from interviews held with 18 stakeholders from leading academic and industrial institutions. Findings suggest that high seasonal demand co-occurrence is crucial to minimize operational costs. Networks with a low number of prosumers can avoid hydraulic instabilities and control complexities and offer grid stability through voltage and frequency regulation when correctly coordinated. Novel mechanisms on business models, asset ownership and tariff structure are vital for a widespread market uptake. Overall, the system needs to be viewed as a tool in the arsenal of decarbonisation solutions with further research required on beneficial operation boundaries, hydraulic operation standardisation and business structure redefinition

The use of HL7 as an interoperability framework in a regional healthcare system in Greece, Journal of Telecommunications and Information Technology, 2005, nr 4

The integration of information systems represents one of the most urgent priorities of a regional healthcare authority in order to meet its clinical, organizational and managerial needs. Current practice shows that the most promising approach to achieve a regional healthcare information system is to use a health level 7 (HL7) messagebased communication system implemented by an asynchronous common communication infrastructure between healthcare sites. The system is a complete and integrated information system at a regional level that comprises all types of healthcare levels, that includes interoperability issues, that covers most of the needed components, and that is able to work efficiently in a secure wide area network to ensure data privacy and confidentiality. Another important feature of the proposed solution is that it creates an interoperability framework that can be replicated from one healthcare institution to another. In that sense, common interoperability messages can be used to interconnect heterogeneous information systems. In response to this strategy, more than 10 different consortiums have submitted proposals to the Greek government and the proposed interoperability framework seems to be widely accepted as a solution to enhance information and communication technologies developments in the healthcare sector in Greece