Choosing an organisational form: the case of collaborative procurement initiatives

This paper deals with different organisational forms of collaborative procurement and provides insight into when to use which form. Different forms from the literature are compared with empirical examples to give an overview of forms, which are then described in terms of strategy, skills and organisation. Whilst acknowledging variations, the paper distinguishes between two main forms: virtual networks and third-party organisations. Using empirical data and four theoretical perspectives (transaction cost economics, resource-based view, contingency theory, agency theory), the paper reflects on when which form can be used and presents an overall framework to help choose an organisational for

M&V in ESPC: The U.S. Federal Experience and Implications for Developing ESPC Markets

The United States Federal Government has been conducting guaranteed savings energy savings performance contracts for over 20 years and now relies on ESPC for the majority of its energy efficiency work. Along with a related financed project type, these deals resulted in $4.2 billion of project investment in the five years ending in 2016, a pace that has even accelerated since. Measurement and verification (M&V) on the projects is the key to assuring savings realization and persistence. Perceived as a weakness or burdensome added cost in the early years of the program, M&V has become a strength. All energy conservation measures (ECMs) have some form of measurement – defined as a measured baseline establishment followed by at least one measurement of the main energy-saving parameter taken in the performance period for each ECM. The government’s in-house energy consulting office, the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP), now recommends measurement of these “Option A” M&V ECMs throughout the contract term, usually annually. Moreover, a significantly higher percentage of projects are now characterized by more ambitious M&V, including Option B (all parameter measurement) for most generation (including renewable) and some efficiency measures, and more frequent Option C (whole facility utility bill analysis) for “deep retrofit” projects with multiple, interactive ECMs. Coincident with this progress in M&V has been a much greater embracing of ESPC by the federal agencies, resulting in the enormous rate of projects now executed. This paper traces the evolution of M&V in federal ESPC and argues that the heightened credibility of the savings has contributed significantly to the procurement vehicle’s long-term viability. This focus on savings integrity via M&V has been learned over two decades for U.S. federal ESPC, but countries with developing ESPC markets would be wise to emphasize it as their markets emerge, allowing them to avoid some of the “growing pains” experienced in the U.S

Fenestration: Bird-building Collisions An Installation of Painting and Collage

The city of Toronto is located on a flight path used by millions of migratory birds. It is estimated that, “1 to 10 birds will hit each building, each year, in North America alone. In Toronto, that amounts to between 1 to 10 million migrating birds lost every year.”1 Although these collisions account for more bird deaths every year than anything else, this knowledge is not widespread or collectively seen as a need for concern. The overall objective of this interdisciplinary project is to expose this issue through collage. The project aims to increase people’s awareness of bird-building collisions and avian perception, and to lead to new questions for future interdisciplinary research

RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF A QUESTIONNAIRE TO ASSESS CARBOHYDRATE COUNTING SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE OF HEART-HEALTHY FOODS, AND NUTRITION LABEL-READING SKILLS IN ADULTS WITH DIABETES

Diabetes mellitus affects the metabolism of carbohydrates, thus patients should monitor carbohydrate intake and eat a heart-healthy diet using nutrition labels. To assess carbohydrate counting skills, knowledge of heart-healthy diet, and nutrition label-reading skills the Heart-Healthy Carb Quiz (HHCQ) was developed and assessed for its validity and reliability in adults with diabetes. Data were analyzed for 55 subjects; average age was 41.7 ± 17.6 years and 29 participants were women. Thirty-six participants had type 1 diabetes and 19 had type 2; average duration of diabetes was 14.3 ± 12.3 years. Average HbA1c was 8.0% ± 2.0%. HHCQ total scores correlated significantly with CarbQuiz total scores (r=0.39, p = 0.003) and the HHCQ demonstrated good stability in the test-retest measure (r=0.74, p = 0.001) (both assessed using a Pearson product-moment correlation). Cronbach alpha was 0.70; inter-item total correlation was 0.45. This study supports the validity and reliability of the HHCQ

Conceptualising multiple conditions in Australia: First steps to systemic change to meet the needs of people with serious long-term illnesses

Since the 1970s greater numbers of people are now living with several serious long term illnesses. These include rarer genetic conditions and ‘lifestyle conditions’ as well as those of an idiopathic nature. This article examines the growing need for new terms and concepts that reflect the changes in the lives of people living with long-term serious illnesses. Members of the Chronic Illness Alliance attended a workshop where they presented their experiences and views of living with multi-morbidities. Consumers were concerned about treatment side-effects, polypharmacy, adverse events and the need for coordinated care. Following this workshop, the Chronic Illness Alliance undertook a literature review using the principles of meta-synthesis to explore the consumer perspective in literature on multi-morbidities. This method aims to systematise qualitative concepts and it provided the means to identify whether the concerns raised by consumers were recognised in the literature. The risks identified by consumers were used both as search terms and analytical terms. While the consumer perspective appeared absent in the literature, many authors showed similar concern about the tardiness of health systems to acknowledge the impact of multi-morbidities for consumers and the associated risks. More importantly the literature review demonstrated that problems associated with concepts, definitions and data collection impact on health care and service delivery. This in turn dictates how consumers receive their health care services and ultimately influences the safety and quality of their health care. The article discusses the concepts of co-morbidity and multi-morbidity in relation to data collection, definitions and treatment guidelines and their implications for consumers with regard to treatments, side-effects, polypharmacy, adverse events and coordinating care. There is a pressing need to develop and employ concepts that better reflect consumers’ needs and experiences in order to improve safety and quality of health care. The article argues that the adoption of better concepts is a first step to achieving systemic change on behalf of people with multiple conditions

THE THROWING PERFORMANCE AND TRUNK KINEMATICS OF QUARTERBACKS DURING A FOOTBALL THROW WHILE WEARING RIB

The purpose of this study was to determine if hard and soft rib protector garments have an effect on trunk kinematics and throw performance (accuracy and speed) of experienced quarterbacks during an overhand football pass. Eight quarterbacks completed 10 throws during each of three rib protector conditions (no rib, soft, hard). Protector conditions were compared using non-inferiority testing. None of the rib protectors displayed performance or kinematics conclusively inferior to the control condition. However, the CIs of the rib protectors for two variables overlapped the noninferiority margin. In addition, among individual participants, mixed results were demonstrated. Overall, for performance and kinematics, we recommend the soft rib protector, as it did not negatively affect any throw performance variables analyzed