Designing new business models: blue sky thinking and testing

© 2016, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Purpose: In what is going to be an uncertain and rapidly evolving global economic landscape, it is clear that firms will have to become more adaptive and responsive to changes within their marketplace. To do this, businesses will not only need to engage in business model experimentation but also look to embrace business model innovation as a core competency and a means for sustained competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach: This paper outlines how a design process of experimenting and prototyping can apply to the design of business models through the case study of hypothetical luggage company Packright. Findings: Five meta-models with differing foci are illustrated as an accessible and provoking framework that provides a new logic to classifying, experimenting and prototyping business model designs. Practical implications: These five meta-models provide a tangible starting point from which a business can begin to explore different perspectives and gain insights into the internal and external capabilities of their company. Originality/value: This paper builds upon the emerging research and exploration into the importance and relevance of dynamic, design-driven approaches to the creation of innovative business models

Coming of Age: Tracking the Progress and Challenges of Delivering Long-Term Services and Supports in Ohio

16 years of tracking utilization trends for institutional and home-based services and supports shows that Ohio has made considerable changes i its approach to delivering long-term services and supports. For example, in 2009 mor than four in ten older people receiving Medicaid long-term care received assistance in a non-institutional setting

Capturing the pattern of physical activity and sedentary behavior: exposure variation analysis of accelerometer data

Background: Capturing the complex time pattern of physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) using accelerometry remains a challenge. Research from occupational health suggests exposure variation analysis (EVA) could provide a meaningful tool. This paper (1) explains the application of EVA to accelerometer data, (2) demonstrates how EVA thresholds and derivatives could be chosen and used to examine adherence to PA and SB guidelines, and (3) explores the validity of EVA outputs. Methods: EVA outputs are compared with accelerometer data from 4 individuals (Study 1a and1b) and 3 occupational groups (Study 2): seated workstation office workers (n = 8), standing workstation office workers (n = 8), and teachers (n = 8). Results: Line graphs and related EVA graphs highlight the use of EVA derivatives for examining compliance with guidelines. EVA derivatives of occupational groups confirm no difference in bouts of activity but clear differences as expected in extended bouts of SB and brief bursts of activity, thus providing evidence of construct validity. Conclusions: EVA offers a unique and comprehensive generic method that is able, for the first time, to capture the time pattern (both frequency and intensity) of PA and SB, which can be tailored for both occupational and public health research

An exploration of familial associations in spinal posture defined using a clinical grouping method

The primary aim of this study was to examine familial associations in spinal posture, defined using postural angles and a clinical classification method. A secondary aim was to investigate the reliability of clinical postural classification. Postural angles were calculated from sagittal photographs, while two experienced clinicians made use of standing sagittal images to classify participants into one of four postural groups (sway, flat, hyperlordotic, neutral). Parent-child associations in postural angles and postural groups were evaluated using Pearson\u27s correlation and Fisher\u27s exact test, respectively. Inter-rater reliability was expressed using percentage agreement and Kappa coefficients (K). Daughters whose father or mother had a hyperlordotic posture were 4.0 or 3.5 times, respectively, more likely to have a hyperlordotic posture than daughters whose parents did not have a hyperlordotic posture. These participants in the hyperlorotic group had a significantly higher body mass index than members of the other postural groups (p \u3c 0.03). Percentage agreement between clinicians was 63.5% (K = 0.48). These results provide preliminary evidence of a familial association in the hyperlordotic posture and support the use of postural classification. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Multimorbidity is common among young workers and related to increased work absenteeism and presenteeism: results from the population–based Raine Study cohort

Objectives This study aimed to determine the extent of both multimorbidity and work productivity loss among young adults with paid work and to analyze their association. Methods We included 604 participants from a follow-up of the Raine Study that comprised a cohort who were 22 years at the time (Gen2-22). Information on 36 health conditions, grouped into 10 condition categories, was collected through questionnaires and physical assessments (for body mass index only). Quarterly questionnaires about work productivity, including total absenteeism, sickness absenteeism, and total presenteeism, were distributed electronically over the subsequent 12 months. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the prevalence of health conditions, condition categories, multimorbidity, and work productivity. Zero-inflated negative binomial regression analyses were used to assess the association of multimorbidity with productivity loss. Results Multimorbidity prevalence was substantially higher in females (63%) compared to males (41%). Productivity loss increased as the number of condition categories increased. For example, total absenteeism was associated with an increase in the number of health condition categories in males [incidence rate ratio (IRR) 1.20, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.05–1.36] and females (IRR 1.13, 95% CI 1.04–1.24). Similar results were found for sickness absenteeism and presenteeism. The highest burden of productivity loss was found for musculoskeletal disorders (42 444 hours/1000 workers/year), sleep problems (33 581 hours/1000 workers/year), mental and neurological conditions (15 650 hours/1000 workers/year), and ‘other’ medical conditions (22 519 hours/1000 workers/year). Conclusions Multimorbidity appears to be highly prevalent among young adults with paid work and is strongly related to work productivity loss. Therefore, young workers should be targeted in interventions aiming to reduce multimorbidity and its impact on work productivity

Effects of muscle strength and endurance on blood pressure and related cardiometabolic risk factors from childhood to adolescence

Objective: This study aimed to examine the evolution of relationships between measures of muscle strength and endurance with individual cardiometabolic risk factors from childhood to late adolescence in a prospective population-based cohort. Methods: Participants from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study at ages 10, 14 and 17 were analysed, using longitudinal linear mixed model analyses. Results: Handgrip strength after adjusting for the confounding effects of BMI was positively associated with SBP, but not DBP. The association between handgrip strength and SBP was stronger in men than women at all time points [coefficient (women): 0.18, P < 0.001; sex × handgrip strength coefficient: 0.09, P = 0.002]. The association was strongest at 10 years and significantly attenuated over time (year × handgrip coefficient from 10 to 14 years: −0.11, P = 0.003; year × handgrip coefficient from 10 to 17 years: −0.19, P ≤ 0.001). After the inclusion of BMI as a confounder, handgrip strength was significantly negatively associated with homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein over time in both sexes. Back muscle endurance was positively associated with SBP, but not DBP, after adjustment for the confounding effects of BMI (coefficient: 0.01, P = 0.002). There were small, albeit significant, inverse associations between back muscle endurance and log homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance and log high-sensitivity C-reactive protein. Conclusion: The positive association between handgrip strength and back muscle endurance with SBP throughout childhood and adolescence contrasts with beneficial effects on other related traditional cardiometabolic risk factors. Mechanisms underlying these paradoxical effects on SBP warrant further investigation

The impact of workplace ergonomics and neck-specific exercise versus ergonomics and health promotion interventions on office worker productivity: A cluster-randomized trial

Objectives: Using an employer’s perspective, this study aimed to compare the immediate and longer-term impact of workplace ergonomics and neck-specific exercise versus ergonomics and health promotion information on health-related productivity among a general population of office workers and those with neck pain. Methods: A prospective one-year cluster randomized trial was conducted. Participants received an individualized workstation ergonomics intervention, combined with 12 weeks of either workplace neck-specific exercises or health promotion information. Health-related productivity at baseline, post-intervention and 12-months was measured with the Health and Work Performance Questionnaire. Intention-to-treat analysis was performed using multilevel mixed models. Results: We recruited 763 office workers from 14 organizations and allocated them to 100 clusters. For the general population of office workers, monetized productivity loss at 12 months [AU$1464 (standard deviation [SD] 1318) versus AU$1563 (SD=1039); P=0.023]; and presenteeism at 12 months [2.0 (SD 1.2) versus 2.4 (SD 1.4); P=0.007] was lower in the exercise group compared to those in the health promotion information group. For office workers with neck pain, exercise participants had lower sickness absenteeism at 12 months compared to health promotion information participants [0.7 days (SD 1.0) versus 1.4 days (SD 3.1); P=0.012], despite a short-term increase in sickness absenteeism post-intervention compared to baseline for the exercise group [1.2 days (SD 2.2) versus 0.6 days (SD 0.9); P&lt;0.001]. Conclusion: A workplace intervention combining ergonomics and neck-specific exercise offers possible benefits for sickness presenteeism and health-related productivity loss among a general population of office workers and sickness absenteeism for office workers with neck pain in the longer-term

The association of adolescent spinal-pain-related absenteeism with early adulthood work absenteeism: A six-year follow-up data from a population-based cohort

Objectives Spinal (ie, back and neck) pain often develops as early as during adolescence and can set a trajectory for later life. However, whether early-life spinal-pain-related behavioral responses of missing school/work are predictive of future work absenteeism is yet unknown. We assessed the association of adolescent spinal-pain-related work or school absenteeism with early adulthood work absenteeism in a prospective population-based cohort. Methods Six year follow-up data from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) study were used (N=476; with a 54% response rate). At age 17, participants reported spinal pain (using the Nordic questionnaire) and adolescent spinal-pain-related work/school absenteeism (with a single item question). Annual total and health-related work absenteeism was assessed with the Health and Work Performance questionnaire distributed in four quarterly text messages during the 23rd year of age. We modelled the association of adolescent spinal-pain-related absenteeism with work absenteeism during early adulthood, using negative binomial regression adjusting for sex, occupation and comorbidities. Results Participants with adolescent low-back or neck pain with work/school absenteeism reported higher total work absenteeism in early adulthood [148.7, standard deviation (SD) 243.4 hours/year], than those without pain [43.7 (SD 95.2) hours/year); incidence rate ratio 3.4 (95% CI 1.2-9.2)]. Comparable findings were found when considering low-back and neck separately, and when considering health-related absenteeism. Conclusions We found a more than three-fold higher risk of work absenteeism in early adulthood among those with adolescent spinal-pain-related absenteeism, compared to those without. These findings suggest that, to keep a sustainable workforce, pain prevention and management should focus on pain-related behaviors as early as in adolescence

Australia and Other Nations are Failing to Meet Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines for Children: Implications and a Way Forward

BACKGROUND: Australia has joined a growing number of nations which have evaluated the physical activity and sedentary behaviour status of their children. Australia received a 'D minus' in the first Active Healthy Kids Australia Physical Activity Report Card. METHODS: An expert subgroup of the Australian Report Card Research Working Group iteratively reviewed available evidence to answer three questions: 1) What are the main sedentary behaviours of children?, 2) What are the potential mechanisms for sedentary behaviour to impact on child health and development? and, 3) What are the effects of different types of sedentary behaviours on child health and development? RESULTS: Neither sedentary time nor screen time are homogeneous activities likely to result in homogenous effects. There are several mechanisms by which various sedentary behaviours may positively or negatively affect cardiometabolic, neuro-musculoskeletal, and psycho-social health, though the strength of evidence varies. National surveillance systems, and mechanistic, longitudinal and experimental studies are needed for Australia and other nations to improve their grade. CONCLUSIONS: Despite limitations, available evidence is sufficiently convincing that the total exposure and pattern of exposure to sedentary behaviours are critical to the healthy growth, development and wellbeing of children. Nations therefore need strategies to address these common behaviours