Sleep Disturbance in Patients with Advanced Cancer

As cancer detection and treatment improves, people with cancer diagnoses are living longer. Cancer as a chronic illness has led to new demands to manage the side effects of the disease. In cancer patients, one of the most common symptoms is sleep disturbance and fatigue. Sleep is critical for providing restorative, protective, and energy-conserving functions that are imperative for human life. The purpose of this study is to be able to describe sleep trajectories and symptom burden for hospitalized patients with advanced cancer over time. The Unpleasant Symptom Theory was used to explain how distressing symptoms, for example sleep disturbances, are a result of various factors. This study is a secondary analysis of a multi-site, prospective, observational study of palliative care consults in hospitalized patients with advanced cancer. Participants in this study included patients 18 years or older admitted to an acute care unit with advanced cancer that did not fit any of the exclusion criteria. The Condensed Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (CMSAS) was used to assess sleep disturbances in study participants as well as co-occurring symptoms of pain, worry, nervousness, sadness, and lack of energy. We reviewed 12 adults that had complete data. Sleep disturbance was present in 90% of days measured and the patients endorsed an average of 5.5 concurrent symptoms when sleep disturbance was endorsed. Results from this study are consistent findings with others involving patients with cancer.No embargoAcademic Major: Nursin

The consumer scam: an agency-theoretic approach

Despite the extensive body of literature that aims to explain the phenomenon of consumer scams, the structure of information in scam relationships remains relatively understudied. The purpose of this article is to develop an agency-theoretical approach to the study of information in perpetrator-victim interactions. Drawing a distinction between failures of observation and failures of judgement in the pre-contract phase, we introduce a typology and a set of propositions that explain the severity of adverse selection problems in three classes of scam relationships. Our analysis provides a novel, systematic explanation of the structure of information that facilitates scam victimisation, while also enabling critical scrutiny of a core assumption in agency theory regarding contract design. We highlight the role of scam perpetrators as agents who have access to private information and exercise considerable control over the terms and design of scam relationships. Focusing on the consumer scam context, we question a theoretical assumption, largely taken for granted in the agency literature, that contact design is necessarily in the purview of the uninformed principal

Reframing the Moral Limits of Markets Debate: Social Domains, Values, Allocation Methods

What should and what should not be for sale in a society? This is the central question in the Moral Limits of Markets (MLM) debate, which is conducted by a group of business ethicists and liberal egalitarian political theorists. These MLM theorists, which we will dub ‘market moralists,’ all put forward a specific version of the argument that while the market is well suited to allocate some categories of goods and services, it is undesirable for the allocation of other such categories. We argue that the current MLM debate is too much framed in terms of a market/non-market dichotomy. Moreover, authors tend to distinguish insufficiently between values such as freedom, equality, and efficiency, and allocation methods such as the market, the queue, and rationing. We introduce a new conceptual scheme consisting of societal domains, values, and allocation methods to provide a better structure for this debate. The argument is illustrated from the education and healthcare domains

The Market Performance of Socially Responsible Investment during Periods of the Economic Cycle - Illustrated Using the Case of FTSE

The debate about socially responsible investment (SRI) portfolio performance compared with its non-SRI counterparts remains inconclusive. This paper contributes to the debate by adding a new approach, examining the issue of a full economic circle through economic boom, recession and recovery. We compare stock performance of two value-weighted investment portfolios: FTSE4Good (SRI portfolios) and FTSE 350 (conventional portfolios) from 2004 to 2011 including 2007 to 2009 financial crash. The results indicate the SRI portfolio performed better and recovered its value quicker in post-crisis than the non-SRI portfolio, indicating that SRI portfolios are more resilient to economic turmoil and market shocks

The problem of unilateralism in agency theory: towards a bilateral formulation

Some business ethicists view agency theory as a cautionary tale – a proof that it is impossible to carry out successful economic interactions in the absence of ethical behaviour. The cautionary-tale view presents a nuanced normative characterisation of agency, but its unilateral focus betrays a limited understanding of the structure of social interaction. This article moves beyond unilateralism by presenting a descriptive and normative argument for a bilateral cautionary-tale view. Specifically, we discuss hat swaps and role dualism in asymmetric-information principal-agent relationships and argue that the norm of reciprocity can function as a moral solution to agency risks in adverse-selection and moral-hazard problems. Our novel bilateral cautionary-tale formulation extends the normative boundaries of the asymmetric-information stream of agency theory, while leaving the fundamental economic assumptions of agency theory intact

The Paradox of Power in CSR: A Case Study on Implementation

Purpose Although current literature assumes positive outcomes for stakeholders resulting from an increase in power associated with CSR, this research suggests that this increase can lead to conflict within organizations, resulting in almost complete inactivity on CSR. Methods A single in-depth case study, focusing on power as an embedded concept. Results Empirical evidence is used to demonstrate how some actors use CSR to improve their own positions within an organization. Resource dependence theory is used to highlight why this may be a more significant concern for CSR. Conclusions Increasing power for CSR has the potential to offer actors associated with it increased personal power, and thus can attract opportunistic actors with little interest in realizing the benefits of CSR for the company and its stakeholders. Thus power can be an impediment to furthering CSR strategy and activities at the individual and organizational level

Conceptualizing Social Responsibility in Operations via Stakeholder Resource-Based View

We seek to conceptualize social responsibility for operations management (OM) research to develop a social responsibility lens through which to view operations. To do so, we first consider the corporate social responsibility, sustainability, as well as the bottom-ofthe-pyramid and shared value approaches and identify three challenges to developing such a lens: selecting the level of analysis, tackling the huge multitude of objectives, and developing theoretical underpinnings. We then propose a ‘stakeholder resource-based view’ (SRBV) building on resource-based view, stakeholder theory, and utility theory to address these challenges. Under SRBV, all stakeholders are treated on a par with each other. These different stakeholders are all presumed to seek maximizing their respective (expected) utility, with different drivers shaping their preferences and do so they use their respective resources, routines and dynamic capabilities. SRBV provides (a) a descriptive framework for qualitative research, (b) an instrumental framework for empirical research, and (c) a normative framework for analytical research. It enables tackling many opportunities for OM research to do with social responsibility and we outline some of these in each of the three types of research methodologies

Under positive pressure: how stakeholder pressure affects corporate social responsibility implementation

This study tests a model that links stakeholder pressure to the implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and market performance. Stakeholder groups and competitors might exert pressure on companies to implement CSR, which could lead to positive effects on market performance. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), the authors find that stakeholders and competitors exert pressure differently. The effect of CSR implementation on market performance is moderated by market dynamism: It affects market performance more in dynamic environments. The authors discuss implications for both companies and stakeholders