Organizational Choice in UK Marine Insurance

From the eighteenth century British marine insurance developed via a wide range of organizational forms, including individual and syndicated underwriters, mutual associations, chartered corporations, unchartered stock companies, and protection and indemnity clubs. At times the issue of what was the best vehicle to deliver marine insurance became a hotly debated topic. This chapter explores why these different organizational forms emerged and what were the relative advantages and disadvantages that explain their subsequent performance. It points to the importance of historical contingency, such as specific financial and political circumstances, to the search to control asymmetric information problems, to the role of specialization, local knowledge, and niche markets, and to the entrepreneurial qualities of individual managers and promoters

Exploring the expectations and experiences of first year students undergoing a tailored transition initiative

Successful transition for students commencing university is a focus of increasing institutional interest and resourcing to optimise student success and retention. Investigation of student expectations of university commencement and their lived experience provides an opportunity for identification of a potential mismatch which has received less scrutiny. The Bachelor of Sport Development has an integrated transition initiative with an employability and academic skill development focussed curriculum, designed to support students\u27 successful transition into university. The transition initiative was informed by the Five Senses of Success and First Year Curriculum Principles. This article reports student expectations in week one and at the completion of the first semester after experiencing the transition initiative. Students reported changes in their expectations, assessment concerns, and the assistance they expected from lecturers over this period. Students’ early exposure to employability-focused curriculum provided valuable insights into their future profession, consequently reinforcing their long-term goal of employment in the sport sector. Results highlight the effectiveness of the supportive, student focused strategies embedded within the tailored transition initiative in the first semester of study

Sandwich - The 'Completest Medieval Town in England'

To the casual visitor of today, Sandwich appears as simply a small inland market town on the bank of a modest river. But locals and historians have long known that in the Middle Ages it was a strategic and commercial seaport of great significance, trading with northern Europe and the Mediterranean and growing prosperous on this business. The medieval fabric of the town has been preserved to a remarkable extent, but historians and archaeologists have never agreed on quite where the first settlement was located. Nor has there been close study of what the surviving medieval buildings can tell us about Sandwich's development. As well as providing a great amount of detail on the houses, churches and defences of medieval Sandwich, the authors apply the material evidence in order to draw out important social, economic and cultural facets in the evolution of the town. Maps, plans and photographs, all in full colour, supplement the text and graphically underline many of the conclusions

Assessing fatigue in adults with Axial Spondyloarthritis : a systematic review of the quality and acceptability of patient-reported outcome measures

Objective Evaluate the quality and acceptability of patient-reported outcome measures used to assess fatigue in patients with Axial Spondyloarthritis. Methods A two-stage systematic review of major electronic databases (1980-2017) to: 1) Identify measures; and 2) Identify evaluative studies. Study and measurement quality was evaluated following international standards. Measurement content was appraised against a conceptual model of RA-fatigue. Results From 387 reviewed abstracts, 23 articles provided evidence for nine fatigue-specific measures: six multi-item and three single-item. No axSpA-fatigue specific measure was identified. Evidence of reliability was limited, but acceptable for the Multi-dimensional Fatigue Inventory (internal consistency, test-retest) and Short Form 36-item Health Survey Vitality subscale (SF-36 VT) (internal consistency). Evidence of construct validity was moderate for the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue and 10cm visual analogue scale, limited for the SF-36 VT, and not available for the remaining measures. Responsiveness was rarely evaluated. Evidence of measurement error, content validity or structural validity was not identified. Most measures provide a limited reflection of fatigue; the most comprehensive were the Multi-dimensional Assessment of Fatigue (MAF), MFI-20, FACIT-fatigue and Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS). Conclusion The limited content and often poor quality of the reviewed measures limits any clear recommendation for fatigue-assessment in this population; assessments should be applied with caution until further robust evidence is established. Well developed, patient-derived measures can provide essential evidence of the patient’s perspective to inform clinical research and drive tailored healthcare. The collaborative engagement of key stakeholders must seek to ensure that future fatigue assessment is relevant, acceptable and of high quality

Strategic problem solving in the community college : an analytic model

The purpose of the study was to determine if a model could be created which would describe and prescribe a superior method for strategic problem solving in the community college. A review of the literature in business and industry was used to extrapolate a model which might describe the decision making process. The hypothesized model was used to analyze the problem solving process in two case studies at two Oregon community colleges. The case studies dealt with the problem of creating a marketing approach for each college and in working through the budget creation process. Though the model derived from business and industry proved adequate in describing the process, it did not give a complete picture of where the process failed, nor did it suggest how the process could be strengthened. Socioscientific literature was examined and certain additional steps were included in a new model. A second model was then hypothesized combining the best aspects found in the business and socioscientific literature. This new model was examined using the case studies of the institutions and proved superior to the business/industrial model. The dissertation pinpoints where the process broke down or failed. The evidence suggests that the model can be used beneficially for strategic problem solving