Using simulation games in the marketing curriculum.

While a substantial amount of research has been conducted into the use of simulation games in business and marketing education, little of this has focused on the student experience. In this project we undertake a comparative analysis of student experiences of the use of the same marketing simulation („The Marketing Game!‟) at two universities in the UK. The overall purpose of the study is to understand better how students perceive and respond to simulation games, in order to make more effective use of simulations in the curriculum. The design of the study enables us to analyse the comparative responses of different categories of students (different demographic categories, and other categories thought to be relevant including prior educational qualifications and work experience), thus providing advice to marketing educators on the likely responses to simulation games of different groups of students within a diverse student body

Student experiences of the use of a marketing simulation game.

While a substantial amount of research has been conducted into the use of simulation games in business and marketing education, little of this has focused on the student experience. In this project we conducted a survey of student experiences of the use of a marketing simulation (‘The Marketing Game!’) at two universities in the UK. The respondents to the survey questionnaire were final year marketing students who had recently completed a module in marketing strategy on which ‘The Marketing Game!’ was used. The overall purpose of the study is to understand better how students perceive and respond to simulation games, in order to make more effective use of simulations in the curriculum. The design of the study enables us to analyse the comparative responses of different categories of students (different demographic categories, and other categories thought to be relevant including prior educational qualifications and work experience), thus providing advice to marketing educators on the likely responses to simulation games of different groups of students within a diverse student body

Strengthening local governance arrangements for sanitation: case studies of small cities in Indonesia

Local governments in Indonesia have the primary responsibility for delivering sanitation (wastewater) services. However, in large part due to governance factors, local governments invest little in sanitation services and delivery of services is weak. This research adopted a participatory, case study approach to investigate governance and institutional arrangements for planning, budgeting and implementing sanitation services in small cities and towns in Sumatra, Indonesia. The research focused on the effectiveness of city/regency planning for sanitation, the effectiveness of pokja sanitasi (sanitation committees), the links between planning and investment, and local government roles and responsibilities. This paper presents the findings of three case studies. Barriers to effective delivery of sanitation services include: prescriptive local budgeting and approval systems; lack of local government ownership of assets; and policy, funding and technical arrangements that are biased against strategic delivery

Why does the adverse effect of inappropriate MRI for LBP vary by geographic location? An exploratory analysis

BACKGROUND: Early magnetic resonance imaging (eMRI) for nonspecific low back pain (LBP) not adherent to clinical guidelines is linked with prolonged work disability. Although the prevalence of eMRI for occupational LBP varies substantially among states, it is unknown whether the risk of prolonged disability associated with eMRI varies according to individual and area-level characteristics. The aim was to explore whether the known risk of increased length of disability (LOD) associated with eMRI scanning not adherent to guidelines for occupational LBP varies according to patient and area-level characteristics, and the potential reasons for any observed variations. METHODS: A retrospective cohort of 59,360 LBP cases from 49 states, filed between 2002 and 2008, and examined LOD as the outcome. LBP cases with at least 1 day of work disability were identified by reviewing indemnity service records and medical bills using a comprehensive list of codes from the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Edition (ICD-9) indicating LBP or nonspecific back pain, excluding medically complicated cases. RESULTS: We found significant between-state variations in the negative impact of eMRI on LOD ranging from 3.4 days in Tennessee to 14.8 days in New Hampshire. Higher negative impact of eMRI on LOD was mainly associated with female gender, state workers\u27 compensation (WC) policy not limiting initial treating provider choice, higher state orthopedic surgeon density, and lower state MRI facility density. CONCLUSION: State WC policies regulating selection of healthcare provider and structural factors affecting quality of medical care modify the impact of eMRI not adherent to guidelines. Targeted healthcare and work disability prevention interventions may improve work disability outcomes in patients with occupational LBP

Reducing or increasing inequalities? The role of private water enterprises in rural Viet Nam

Extreme inequalities are recognised as being detrimental to human rights and economic development (Stiglitz 2012), and in response, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has explicitly included addressing inequalities as one of the 17 Global Goals. In order to reduce inequalities an integrated approach across multiple dimensions of human development is required, including access to safe water. This research investigated stakeholder perceptions of rural piped water services in Viet Nam to better understand issues of equality, access and affordability. It asked the question: can poor households access piped water services provided by small scale private enterprises in rural Viet Nam? This question is important because little is known about whether or not poor households access piped water services, related issues of affordability of connection fees and tariffs, and other potential barriers. It is also important because private enterprises are increasingly providing piped water services in Viet Nam, supported by incentives from Government and international donors including some civil society organisations (CSOs

NGO Legitimacy: Four Models

The aim of this paper is to examine NGOs’ legitimacy in the context of global politics. In order to yield a better understanding of NGOs’ legitimacy at the international level it is important to examine how their legitimacy claims are evaluated. This paper proposes dividing the literature into four models based on the theoretical and analytical approaches to their legitimacy claims: the market model, social change model, new institutionalism model and the critical model. The legitimacy criteria generated by the models are significantly different in their analytical scope of how one is to assess the role of NGOs operating as political actors contributing to democracy. The paper argues that the models present incomplete, and sometimes conflicting, views of NGOs’ legitimacy and that this poses a legitimacy dilemma for those assessing the political agency of NGOs in world politics. The paper concludes that only by approaching their legitimacy holistically can the democratic role of NGOs be explored and analysed in the context of world politics

Combining statistics from two national complex surveys to estimate injury rates per hour exposed and variance by activity in the USA

BACKGROUND: A common issue in descriptive injury epidemiology is that in order to calculate injury rates that account for the time spent in an activity, both injury cases and exposure time of specific activities need to be collected. In reality, few national surveys have this capacity. To address this issue, we combined statistics from two different national complex surveys as inputs for the numerator and denominator to estimate injury rate, accounting for the time spent in specific activities and included a procedure to estimate variance using the combined surveys. METHODS: The 2010 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) was used to quantify injuries, and the 2010 American Time Use Survey (ATUS) was used to quantify time of exposure to specific activities. The injury rate was estimated by dividing the average number of injuries (from NHIS) by average exposure hours (from ATUS), both measured for specific activities. The variance was calculated using the \u27delta method\u27, a general method for variance estimation with complex surveys. RESULTS: Among the five types of injuries examined, \u27sport and exercise\u27 had the highest rate (12.64 injuries per 100 000 h), followed by \u27working around house/yard\u27 (6.14), driving/riding a motor vehicle (2.98), working (1.45) and sleeping/resting/eating/drinking (0.23). The results show a ranking of injury rate by activity quite different from estimates using population as the denominator. CONCLUSIONS: Our approach produces an estimate of injury risk which includes activity exposure time and may more reliably reflect the underlying injury risks, offering an alternative method for injury surveillance and research

Strengthening governance arrangements for small city and town sanitation in Sumatra, Indonesia – a selection of key themes for local governments and policy makers. A Briefing Paper.

This project brief summarises key themes from research that investigated local government governance and institutional arrangements for sanitation (wastewater) planning, budgeting and implementation in small cities and towns in Sumatra, Indonesia

Nonlinear Dynamics of Aeolian Sand Ripples

We study the initial instability of flat sand surface and further nonlinear dynamics of wind ripples. The proposed continuous model of ripple formation allowed us to simulate the development of a typical asymmetric ripple shape and the evolution of sand ripple pattern. We suggest that this evolution occurs via ripple merger preceded by several soliton-like interaction of ripples.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, corrected 2 typo