125 research outputs found
Key success factors when implementing strategic manufacturing initiatives
Purpose – This paper reports the study of key success factors (KSFs) in the project management of the implementation of strategic manufacturing initiatives (SMIs). Design/methodology/approach – In order to gather the experience and knowledge of many industries, from different geographic locations, in a broad range of types and sizes of SMIs, a questionnaire-based survey of practitioners worldwide was selected as the most appropriate research method among those available. Findings – The identification of those tasks and activities that must be done well in order to succeed in the implementation of a SMI in practice. Practical implications – Practitioners focusing their attention on the KSFs identified are more likely to succeed. Once these factors have been identified, the value of benchmarking project management methodologies then comes from drawing attention to those tasks that are key to the success of the implementation of SMIs. Originality/value – The paper presents new thinking by bringing project management into the operations strategy implementation literature as an important mediating factor for success. In this context the factors that are required for successful implementation are identified
Climate Change – Refining the Impacts for Ireland: STRIVE Report (2001-CD-C3-M1) ISBN: 978-1-84095-297-1
International Context: As a mid-latitude country Ireland can expect its future
temperature changes to mirror quite closely those of
the globe as a whole.
Best estimates of global temperature change by the
end of the present century are currently in the region
1.8–4.0°C1. Regional Context: Weighted
Ensemble Downscaling from Global
Climate Models
Global climate models (GCMs) have greatly improved
in reliability and resolution as computing power has
increased and better inputs from earth observation
have become available. Despite this, they remain too
coarse in terms of their grid size to enable climate
scenarios at the scale necessary for impact analysis to
be achieved. This study employs a statistical
downscaling approach to overcome these difficulties
and also to provide new information on model
uncertainty with a view to reducing uncertainty in key
sectors such as water resource management,
agriculture and biodiversity
The Relationship between Therapeutic Alliance and Service User Satisfaction in Mental Health Inpatient Wards and Crisis House Alternatives: A Cross-Sectional Study
Background
Poor service user experiences are often reported on mental health inpatient wards. Crisis houses are an alternative, but evidence is limited. This paper investigates therapeutic alliances in acute wards and crisis houses, exploring how far stronger therapeutic alliance may underlie greater client satisfaction in crisis houses.
Methods and Findings
Mixed methods were used. In the quantitative component, 108 crisis house and 247 acute ward service users responded to measures of satisfaction, therapeutic relationships, informal peer support, recovery and negative events experienced during the admission. Linear regressions were conducted to estimate the association between service setting and measures, and to model the factors associated with satisfaction. Qualitative interviews exploring therapeutic alliances were conducted with service users and staff in each setting and analysed thematically.
Results
We found that therapeutic alliances, service user satisfaction and informal peer support were greater in crisis houses than on acute wards, whilst self-rated recovery and numbers of negative events were lower. Adjusted multivariable analyses suggest that therapeutic relationships, informal peer support and negative experiences related to staff may be important factors in accounting for greater satisfaction in crisis houses. Qualitative results suggest factors that influence therapeutic alliances include service user perceptions of basic human qualities such as kindness and empathy in staff and, at service level, the extent of loss of liberty and autonomy.
Conclusions and Implications
We found that service users experience better therapeutic relationships and higher satisfaction in crisis houses compared to acute wards, although we cannot exclude the possibility that differences in service user characteristics contribute to this. This finding provides some support for the expansion of crisis house provision. Further research is needed to investigate why acute ward service users experience a lack of compassion and humanity from ward staff and how this could be changed
Supplemental Material for: Multi-site evaluation of APEX for water quality: II. Regional parameterization
Model performance was assessed using Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiency (NSE), coefficient of determination (r2), and percent bias (PBIAS) as defined by Moriasi et al. (2007 and 2015). Threshold values indicating acceptable model performance based on these statistics are dependent on the spatial and temporal scales of the data, water quality constituents of interest, and the modeling objectives (Moriasi et al., 2015). Although some standard values have been suggested (Moriasi et al., 2007 and 2015), considerable variability exist in the published literature. For instance Ramanarayan et al. (1997) considered r2 \u3e0.5 and NSE \u3e0.40 as satisfactory for simulation of monthly surface water quality with the APEX model. Chung et al. (2002) defined r2 \u3e 0.5 and NSE \u3e 0.3 as satisfactory for monthly tile flow and NO3-N loss simulated with the Erosion Productivity Impact Calculator (EPIC) model. Wang et al. (2008) indicated r2 \u3e 0.5 and NSE \u3e 0.4 as acceptable for monthly runoff and nutrient concentrations using the APEX model. Moriasi et al. (2007) suggested NSE \u3e 0.5 with P-bias ±25% for streamflow, ±55% for sediment and ±70% for nitrogen and phosphorus for monthly values. They also indicated that NSE values can be relaxed for shorter time steps (daily events). Yin et al. (2009) reported NSE for event based runoff and sediment between 0.41-0.84 and r2 between 0.55 - 0.85. Mudgal et al. (2010) regarded r2 \u3e 0.5 and NSE \u3e 0.45 as threshold for satisfactory calibration and validation with event data
Climate Change: Scenarios & Impacts for Ireland (2000-LS-5.2.1-M1) ISBN:1-84095-115-X
The Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2001) is the most
authoritative assessment of global climate change to date.
Produced by several hundred leading scientists in various
areas of climate studies, its principal conclusions include
the following:
• Global average temperature has increased by
0.6 ± 0.2°C since 1860 with accelerated warming
apparent in the latter decades of the 20th century. A
further increase of 1.5–6.0°C from 1990 to 2100 is
projected, depending on how emissions of
greenhouse gases increase over the period.
• The 20th century was the warmest of the last
millennium in the Northern Hemisphere, with the
1990s being the warmest decade and 1998 the
warmest year. Warming has been more pronounced
at night than during the day.
• Reductions in the extent of snow cover of 10% have
occurred in the past 40 years, with a widespread
retreat also of mountain glaciers outside the polar
regions. Sea-ice thickness in the Arctic has declined
by about 40% during late summer/early autumn,
though no comparable reduction has taken place in
winter. In the Antarctic, no similar trends have been
observed. One of the most serious impacts on global
sea level could result from a catastrophic failure of
grounded ice in West Antarctica. This is, however,
considered unlikely over the coming century.
• Global sea level has risen by 0.1–0.2 m over the past
century, an order of magnitude larger than the
average rate over the past three millennia. A rise of
approximately 0.5 m is considered likely during the
period 1990–2100.
• Precipitation has increased over the land masses of
the temperate regions by 0.5–1.0% per decade.
Frequencies of more intense rainfall events appear to
be increasing also in the Northern Hemisphere. In
contrast, decreases in rainfall over the tropics have
been observed, though this trend has weakened in
recent years. More frequent warm-phase El Niño
events are occurring in the Pacific Basin.
Precipitation increases are projected, particularly for
winter, for middle and high latitudes in the Northern
Hemisphere and for Antarctica.
• No significant trends in the tropical cyclone
climatology have been detected.
These global trends have implications for the future
course of Ireland’s climate which it is judicious to
anticipate. This report presents an assessment of the
magnitude and likely impacts of climate change in
Ireland over the course of the current century. It
approaches this by establishing scenarios for future Irish
climate based on global climate model projections for the
middle and last quarter of the present century. These
projections are then used to assess probable impacts in
key sectors such as agriculture, forestry, water resources,
the coastal and marine environments and on biodiversity.
The purpose of the report is to firstly identify where
vulnerability to climate change exists in Ireland and what
adjustments are likely in the operation of environmental
systems in response to such changes. In some sectors, e.g.
agriculture, some new opportunities may arise. In other
instances, e.g. water resource management, long-term
planning strategies will be necessary to mitigate adverse
impacts. Long lead times for adjustment characterise
many sectors, e.g. forestry, and it is important to provide
as much advance warning of likely changes as possible to
enable adaptation to commence early. By anticipating
change it may be possible to minimise adverse impacts
and to maximise positive aspects of global climate
change
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