Use of Emoji in Pain Level Assessment in Pediatric Dental Patients

USE OF EMOJI IN PAIN LEVEL ASSESSMENT IN PEDIATRIC DENTAL PATIENTS Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of a pain scale with Emoji images in comparison to the commonly used Wong-Baker FACES® pain scale. Methods: Healthy, English-speaking patients aged 4-17 presenting to the VCU Pediatric Dental clinic and the operating room and presenting to the MCV Pediatric Emergency Room were asked to rate their pain using the Wong-Baker FACES® and Emoji scales. These patients were then asked to select which pain scale they preferred. Results: A total of 151 children were enrolled in the study. The proposed Emoji scale was preferred by 86% of enrolled children (n=151). Children rated their pain the same on the two scales 78% of the time indicating a weak overall agreement between the two scales as defined by Cohen’s Kappa (k=0.5863, 95% CI: 0.47-0.70). In the instances of disagreement, 82% were within one image on the pain scale. There was a roughly even split between which scale corresponded to the higher pain level (56% Wong-Baker was higher and 44% Emoji was rated higher). Conclusions: A majority of the patients surveyed presented with no pain. The Emoji scale showed moderate agreement with the Wong-Baker FACES scale. A majority of the patients preferred the Emoji scale demonstrating the strong communicative utility of Emoji

The impact of Indian SMEs managers/owners on adopting green supply chain practices

Purpose: Green supply chain management (GSCM) is an increasingly important aspect in today’s supply chain practices. Meeting environmental concerns in industrial operations has evoked interest among environmentalists, government bodies, academics and business organisations in recent years. However, current research indicates that SMEs are often focusing more on making profits than on saving the environment by adopting GSC practices. The purpose of this research is to investigate the current GSC practices in Indian SMEs, the drivers for SMEs to adopt GSC practices, the barriers faced by the SMEs in implementing such practices, and the impact of Indian SME managers/owners on adopting GSC practices. Research Approach: The investigation used literature review approach to determine the current status of implementation of GSCM in Indian SMEs, and associated aspects of the same. Literature pertaining to the subject in context of Indian SMEs has been studied for the purpose of developing the paper. However, the research will be qualitative in nature using face-to-face interviews to collect the main data. Findings and Originality: The study shows the initial investigation done through secondary data, which involved extensive literature review of the topic area. Since this is a work-in-progress research, the empirical data collection is in process by semi-structured interviews. Initial findings of the study show that in general, Indian SMEs have not done much in the adoption and implementation of GSC practices. Research Impact: The main purpose of the research is to develop a conceptual framework for GSCM with a focus on the adoption of GSC practices of the Indian SME managers/owners in their firms. However this research will help increasing awareness among the Indian SME managers/owners about adopting GSCM practices in their organisations. Practical Impact: Findings from this study could help SME employers not only in India, but also in other countries have a better understanding of the benefits of GSC practices and their impact on the performance of their firms. This paper contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence on various aspects of GSCM in India

Green supply chain management – practices and trends in developing countries

Purpose - The emergent issue of green supply chain management (GSCM) has been rapidly evolving, matched by the growth in the number of academic publications in this field. GSCM that incorporates environmental thinking into the supply chain management activities has gained popularity across the world, but mainly in the developed countries though the trend is noticeable in developing countries as well. The purpose of this research is to explore the existing studies in the field of GSCM in developing countries via a comprehensive systematic literature review (SLR) and compare the findings to those of the developed countries. Thus, this research aims to present the GSCM research from a comprehensive point of view and analyse the trend of growth in the last two and a half decades using the SLR method. Design/Methodology/Approach – This study uses the SLR approach to explore the present status of GSCM research in developing countries. Journal articles pertaining to GSCM in developed countries has also been studied for the purpose of comparing the results with the developing countries. For this review, Scopus and web of science database have been searched for papers published between 1990 and 2018 using the keywords ‘green supply chain management’ and ‘GSCM’. Articles identified were further reviewed and categorized under different attributes namely year, journal, geographical regions, research design, research methodology, and finally research issues. The classifications enabled the identification of crucial gaps in the literature for further research. Expected Outcomes – One of the main findings is that the research in GSCM has been dominated by quantitative study with mathematical modeling and surveys as the most commonly used methods to study GSCM issues. The full chapter will reveal the present status of GSCM research in developing countries in comparison with that in the developed countries. Thus, the results should improve the understanding of GSCM research in both developed and developing countries and highlight the opportunities that still need further investigation. Originality/Value - This study is original. The SLR method graphically illustrates the evolution of publications in developing countries over last quarter of a century in comparison to that with those in developed countries. This research has identified the gaps and directions that should be useful to guide researchers and practitioners in this area

Investigating employee attitudes towards adopting green supply chain practices in Indian SMEs

 Green supply chain management (GSCM) is an increasingly important aspect in today’s supply chain practice. Meeting environmental concerns in industrial operations has evoked interest among environmentalists, government bodies, academics and business organisations in recent years. However, current research indicates that industries are sometimes focusing more on making profits using green supply chain (GSC) practices rather than on saving the environment. To understand this aspect more clearly, this research aims to investigate the current drivers for Indian SMEs to adopt GSC practices in their businesses, the barriers they are facing in implementing these practices, and the attitudes of the SME employees’ towards adopting such practices. This is an on-going PhD research that highlights literature review and methodology that has been carried out so far. The research will be qualitative in nature, combining a multiple case study strategy with face-to-face semi-structured interviews to collect the main data. Data analysis will be conducted using thematic analysis, as this is considered the most appropriate approach to organise and analyse this class of qualitative data. The main contribution of the research will be to develop a conceptual framework of GSCM with a focus on Indian SME employee attitudes towards GSC practices. A future paper will discuss the research findings once the investigative part of this research has been completed. In addition, it is expected that this research will point out other relevant issues that were not considered in this study, but may be worthy of future investigation.