Explaing users’ technology acceptance through national cultural values in the hospital context

Background: Current research demonstrates that health information technology can improve the efciency and quality of health services. However, many implementation projects have failed due to behavioural problems associated with technology usages, such as underuse, resistance, sabotage, and even rejection by potential users. Therefore, user acceptance was one of the main factors contributing to the success of health information technology implementation. However, research suggests that behavioural models do not universally hold across cultures. The present article considers national cultural values (power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism/collectivism, masculinity/femininity, and time orientation) as individual diference variables that afect user behaviour and incorporates them into the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as moderators of technology acceptance relationships. Therefore, this research analyses which national cultural values afect technology acceptance behaviour in hospitals. Methods: The authors develop and test seven hypotheses regarding this relationship using the partial least squares (PLS) technique, a structural equation modelling method. The authors collected data from 160 questionnaires completed by clinicians and non-clinicians working in one hospital. Results: The fndings show that uncertainty avoidance, masculinity/femininity, and time orientation are the national cultural values that afect technology acceptance in hospitals. In particular, individuals with masculine cultural values, higher uncertainty avoidance, and a long-term orientation infuence behavioural intention to use technology. Conclusion: The bureaucratic model still decisively characterises the Italian health sector and consequently afects the choices of frms and workers, including the choice of technology adoption. Cultural values of masculinity, risk aversion, and long-term orientation afect intention to use through social norms rather than through perceived utility

Corporate governance and sustainability in water utilities. The effects of decorporatisation in the city of Naples, Italy

The recent economic literature has largely investigated sustainability in the provision of public utilities, highlighting the role of governance models in the determination of economic results. Little attention however has been devoted to the social and environmental dimensions of sustainability. In Italy, a long‐lasting debate on governance structures in the water sector has been fuelled by scholars and policymakers for more than 30 years, whereas the first (and unique) experiment involving the return of full public management in water provision is taking place in the city of Naples. The present work analyses this peculiar case study, aiming to assess the effects of a major governance shift that occurred in the early 2010s—that is, decorporatisation—in terms of economic, social and environmental sustainability. We resort to a bundle of qualitative and quantitative techniques to address the research question and our exploratory results suggest that decorporatisation was overall beneficial: Although little changed in terms of economic sustainability, the social and environmental dimensions benefitted from the shift in governance

Propene Polymerization Promoted by C2-Symmetric Metallocene Catalysts: From Atactic to Isotactic Polypropene in Consequence of an Isotope Effect

We studied the polymerization of propene-2-d promoted by the prototypical isotactic-specific catalyst system rac-ethylenebis(4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-1-indenyl)ZrCl2/MAO. In this communication, we report the results of our investigation, documenting a large isotope effect on the balance between polyinsertion and epimerization and, therefore, on the stereospecificity. The mechanistic implications of such results are also discusse

Innovazione e controllo delle performance nell'azienda agro-alimentare

Il lavoro si propone di indagare la complessità dei sistemi di misurazione e controllo delle performance economico-finanziarie e non solo nelle aziende agro-alimentari e come gli stessi si modifichino profondamente con scelte strategiche ed operative fortemente innovative. Nella prima parte si è dunque proceduto ad un primo tentativo di adattamento dei tradizionali sistemi operativi citati alle aziende del comparto esaminato, al fine di evidenziarne limiti ed opportunità. Successivamente si è osservato come l'innovazione (strategica, organizzativa e tecnologica) influenza i sistemi di controllo, orientandoli ad un progressivo cambiamento radicale

Intangibles e capitale economico: l’approccio della valutazione “strategica”

The objective of this work is to propose a reflection on the composition of the category of intangibles in evaluating the companies’ economic capital. In fact, this component is always the most important element in estimating the company’s value and this is true especially in an economic downturn like the current one, in which tangible assets are imitated by competitors and the differential component of the company’s value is represented by its intangibles. For this reason the literature has developed various assessment methods for the intangible assets, which are well established, however, with reference to those “specific” (trademarks, patents, etc.) that are anyway already present in the balance sheet. Less attention has been paid to “generic” intangible assets, that without an accounting evaluation are more difficult to detect, although they are usually the starting point for the companies evaluation. Often “generic” intangibles are enclosed in the category of goodwill, and this contributes to the difficulty of measuring the same. In this respect, therefore, with the support of the literature, and an exploratory cases study, this paper aims to stimulate reflection about an evaluation methodology called “strategic”, which, according to us, is able to focus precisely on those “generic” intangibles, such as synergies and options, determinant and fundamental to the definition of company value. In particular, case study refers to different companies characterized by bad performance (loss companies) that operate in public transport sector

La valutazione strategica delle aziende dei trasporti pubblici locali

Le aziende dei servizi pubblici locali sono state caratterizzate negli ultimi anni da profondi riassetti normativi ed istituzionali, che, pur in un quadro contraddittorio di luci ed ombre, hanno avuto l’obiettivo di migliorarne la gestione, recuperando efficienza ed efficacia e riducendo gli sprechi spesso legati alla “mano” pubblica. In vista dell’apertura dei mercati regolamentati, la competizione in tali settori si sposta quindi a livello globale, spingendo sempre più tali realtà a forme di aggregazione e sviluppo, nazionale ed internazionale, mediante fusioni, acquisizioni, accordi. Questi procedimenti richiedono necessariamente l’attivazione di processi di valutazione economica del capitale. A partire dall’elevata frequenza di simili operazioni anche in Italia, si è proceduto, dunque, all’analisi delle variabili che possono caratterizzare le modalità di creazione di valore per queste aziende, incidendo, così, in maniera decisiva, sulle formule valutative che meglio si adattano ad essere impiegate in siffatti contesti. Il lavoro ha avuto come focus teorico ed empirico le aziende dei servizi di trasporto pubblico locale, afflitte strutturalmente da gravi situazioni economico-finanziarie, ma al contempo “appetite” da rilevanti competitor internazionali. Lo studio di diversi casi di acquisizione ha evidenziato la presenza di peculiari modalità di creazione di valore che, pur in contesti difficili caratterizzati dalla presenza di istanze sociali solo apparentemente contrapposte a quelle economiche in senso stretto, possono contribuire ad orientare la gestione ed il risanamento pre e post-acquisizione di tali realtà, nonché la formula valutativa