Absence of effect of nasal continuous positive-airway pressure on the esophageal phase of nutritive swallowing in newborn lambs

Objectives: It is presently recommended that oral feeding be started in premature infants as soon as possible, often at an age at which nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) is still required for ventilatory support. Our previous data showed that application of nCPAP up to 10 cmH2O in full-term lambs had no deleterious effect on cardiorespiratory safety, feeding efficiency, or on nutritive swallowing-breathing coordination. Besides fear of swallowing-breathing coordination disturbances, esophageal motility disruption by nCPAP could be a reason to delay oral feeding. To our knowledge, no study has focused on the effects of nCPAP on esophageal motility in the neonatal period. The aim of the present study was therefore to further assess the effects of nCPAP on oral feeding by assessing its effects on the esophageal phase of nutritive swallowing (nutritive esophagodeglutition). Methods: Six full-term lambs, ages 2 to 3 days, underwent esophageal multichannel intraluminal impedance-pH monitoring. Lambs were bottle-fed under 2 randomized conditions, namely spontaneous breathing and nCPAP 6 cmH(2)O. Results: Beyond confirmation of unaltered feeding efficiency, analysis of multiple variables measured by impedance monitoring revealed that nCPAP 6 does not alter nutritive esophagodeglutition in any way (nCPAP vs spontaneous breathing, P > 0.1 for all variables). Conclusions: offering further support to neonatologists pleading for initiation of oral feeding in infants still on nCPAP, the present results set the foundations for similar clinical studies in preterm human infants to confirm the absence of effects of nCPAP on nutritive swallowing

Knowledge Management to Support Supply Chain Sustainability and Collaboration Practices

This exploratory research examined the contribution of knowledge management (KM) to sustainability and collaboration practices across a number of small to medium size Australian food and beverage exporters. A growing focus on sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) in global supply chains offers opportunities for organizations to create value and secure competitive advantage by employing strategic KM practices to support SSCM. Analysis of eight case study organizations revealed that KM contributes to SSCM across a number of areas, including strategic focus, protecting firm reputation and performance, risk management, innovation, collaboration and relationships with partners

The Role of Knowledge Management in Innovative Supply Chain Design

This exploratory research examined the contribution of knowledge management (KM) to supply chain management (SCM) and its specific role in supply chain design. Following a review of relevant literature, a conceptual model was developed to indicate the knowledge domains involved in an innovative approach to supply chain design. The contributions of KM are investigated and analyzed through a case study of supply chain design in the Australian beef industry. While KM supported supply chain design through various KM processes such as knowledge acquisition, sharing, dissemination and protection, the most significant contribution came from the process of knowledge integration. This indicates the significant potential of KM to play a major role in supporting the complex nature of contemporary supply chain design

Technology legitimation and strategic coupling: A cross-national study of floating wind power in Norway and Scotland

Building upon recent work in sustainability transitions studies and economic geography, this paper is concerned with the process of legitimation by which emerging technologies are aligned with broader societal rules and norms. Challenging the assumption of earlier research that legitimation occurs within regional and national borders, the paper views legitimation as set of transregional processes whereby the actors behind emerging technologies seek support from different regional and national organizations on an international basis. Inspired by the Global Production Networks (GPN) approach, the paper argues that technology legitimation can be understood as a trans-regional process of strategic coupling between the strategic needs of the industrial actors advancing new technologies and the efforts of national and regional organizations to promote their territories as leading nodes in emerging production networks. Empirically, the paper adopts a micro-level focus on the legitimation of a particular renewable energy technology: the Hywind floating wind power (FWP) technology, developed by the Norwegian energy firm, Equinor. The paper shows that the FWP technology was gradually legitimated in a pragmatic sense over the three stages of Hywind. The demonstration phase generated a temporary and conditional form of legitimacy at an intra-national scale, while the next phase, Hywind Scotland, generated a stronger and more durable form of legitimacy as the world’s first floating wind farm. This led to the internalisation of legitimacy from outside into the Norwegian energy regime (absorption) in the third stage of Hywind Tampen.publishedVersio

A systematic review of the evidence of how hospitals capture financial benefits of process improvement and the impact on hospital financial performance

Background: Governments, funders and hospital managers around the world are looking for ways to address the continual growth in expenditure by reducing the level of waste in the healthcare delivery system and improving the value of care provided to patients. Process improvement methods are applied to increase high value care, reduce low value care and remove waste from care processes. The purpose of this study is to review the literature to identify the methods used by hospitals to measure and capture financial benefits from PI initiatives to identify best practice. The review also pursues the way hospitals collate these benefits at the enterprise level to achieve improved financial performance. Methods: A systematic review was undertaken in line with the PRISMA process and employed qualitative research methods. Databases searched were Medline, Cochrane Library, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINHAL), Web of Science and SCOPUS. The initial search was conducted in in July 2021 with a follow up search conducted in February 2023 using the same search terms and databases to identify additional studies published in the intervening period. The search terms were identified through the PICO (Participants, Interventions, Comparisons and Outcomes) method. Results: Seven papers were identified that reported reduction in care process waste or improvement of the value of care using an evidence-based PI approach and included financial benefits analysis. Positive financial impact was measured for the PI initiatives but none of the studies reported how these financial benefits were captured or applied at the enterprise level. Three of the studies suggested that sophisticated cost accounting systems were required to enable this. Conclusion: The study demonstrates the paucity of literature in the field of PI and financial benefits measurement in healthcare. Where financial benefits are documented, they vary in terms of cost inclusions and the ‘level’ at which the costs were measured. Further research on best practice financial measurement methods is needed to enable other hospitals to measure and capture financial benefits arising from their PI programs

An Exploratory Study on IT Capability for Sustainable Innovations in Non-Profit Organizations

Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs) need to be adaptive to respond to constantly changing environments. Sustainable innovations, therefore, become critical for achieving their sustainability visions. IT capability is widely recognised as a critical enabler for sustainable innovations. However, research on IT capability for sustainable innovations in NPOs is currently lacking. Hence, this study aims to explore how NPOs manage IT capability to support sustainable innovations from a resource orchestration perspective. Our case study shows that an organization’s digital orientation complements its strong sustainable orientation and underpins IT capability management. In addition, a strong IT capability for sustainable innovations comprises flexible IT infrastructure, valued IT human and knowledge, and close IT-business partnership. Although our study has confirmed that IT is critical for sustainable innovations in a NPO, due to resource constraints, the IT department is more proactive in exploitative innovations while reactive in exploratory innovations. Ultimately, IT primarily serves as a supporting function

Psychological Contract in IT Outsourcing: A Systematic Literature Review

Recent IT Outsourcing (ITO) studies have highlighted the importance of a construct known as the Psychological Contract (PC) and its impact over the outcome of ITO agreements. However, there is still a lack of a consolidated view on the subject matter. To address this matter, we conducted a systematic review and analysis on the PC within ITO studies by examining the main themes, topics and methodologies that have been used in the research to date. Our findings suggest that despite the importance of the PC in ITO being well recognised, it is still an under explored concept with only 12 studies identified to date. Furthermore, subsequent analysis of these studies also highlighted several gaps caused by a lack of consistency over the definition, boundaries and application of the PC. To ensure that these gaps are addressed, we propose several recommendations that we encourage future studies take into consideration

ENHANCING THE APPLICATION AND MEASUREMENT OF RELATIONSHIP QUALITY IN FUTURE IT OUTSOURCING STUDIES

Studies have emphasised the importance of a strong relationship between a client and vendor to ensure positive IT Outsourcing (ITO) outcomes. To measure and assess this relationship strength, a construct known as Relationship Quality (ReQ) has been widely used in the ITO context. However, recent studies have highlighted the inconsistent and even contradictory application of this construct in previous studies raising concern over its validity. To address this matter, we conducted a critical literature analysis to systematically examine how ReQ has been applied in previous ITO studies. The findings from our review highlight three important knowledge gaps with the current ITO studies: 1) lack of rich qualitative studies investigating ReQ that is complex and subjective in nature; 2) inappropriate application of economic and strategic based theoretical lenses; 3) lack of differentiation between ReQ attributes. This study provides a number of recommendations to enhance the application and measurement of ReQ in future ITO studies. The next step of the study will address the three identified knowledge gaps. This study offers important implications to both theory and practice

Legitimation, institutions and regional path creation: a cross-national study of offshore wind

This paper assesses legitimation as a crucial dimension of industry emergence, addressing the neglect of institutional and political aspects of path creation in economic geography. It investigates how the legitimacy of emerging industries is built up over time and examines differences in legitimation across space. The paper focuses on the evolution of legitimation narratives in the context of national and regional differences in institutions, actors and assets. Based on a cross-national study of the offshore wind industry, the paper argues that cost reduction and value creation have made important contributions to legitimation in addition to climate change and energy security.acceptedVersio

Open Food Network: the Role of ICT to Support Regional Food Supply Chains in Australia

Many organizations have introduced various ICT-enabled innovations to improve economic, environmental and social performance. The Open Food Network (OFN) is an example of an ICT enabled innovation that has the potential to enhance the sustainability of regional food supply chain by improving farmers’ access to local and regional markets and consumers’ access to fresh local produce, as well as optimizing the regional food distribution and improving local community welfare. OFN has just been recently launched in Australia and currently there is a limited understanding of the actual impacts. This research-in-progress paper aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the OFN system in connecting and supporting the sustainability of regional food supply chain communities in Australia that will help devise strategies for expanding the use beyond Australia. The findings contribute to a longer term research program that investigates how ICT can support sustainability initiatives within organizations and supply chains