Measuring Regulatory Restrictions in Logistics Services

This study measures the extent of restrictions on trade in logistics services in the ASEAN+6 economies by constructing a logistics regulatory restrictiveness index for each economy that quantifies the extent of government regulations faced by logistics service providers. This is the first study of its kind to construct a regulatory index of the entire logistics sector, which includes the main modes of international transport and customs restrictions. The indices show that large differences exist in the logistics regulatory environment of ASEAN+6 economies. Many of these economies are open to trade in logistics services, while others are relatively restrictive. Malaysia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, the Philippines and Vietnam are the most restrictive economies of logistics services in this region. Relatively, Singapore and Australia are the most open economies for trade in logistics services, along with Japan and New Zealand. Preliminary investigations find evidence of negative relationships between logistics regulatory restrictiveness and logistics sector performance, as measured by the World Bank's Logistics Performance Index and its sub-components. These findings support that notion that a less restricted trade environment results in better performance for the logistics sector.Logistics, Transport, Government Regulation, Trade, East Asia

The impact of student engagement within a university setting: a social exchange perspective

The growing significance of the Australian tertiary education sector (Ibisworld, 2010) has created a number of managerial challenges facing higher learning institutes. This manuscript provides a conceptual framework encapsulating how student-university relationships can be modeled and the impact this is likely to have upon the range of outcomes stemming from the relationship. By drawing upon social exchange theory (Thibaut & Kelly, 1959) and in particular tapping emotional value (Barlow & Maul, 2000) it is proposed that current student interactions with the university can predict future intentions. By drawing upon these conceptual areas this research outlines a potential new direction for research into how services marketing literature within the context of the higher education sector can be modeled. This has a wide number of managerial and scholarly implications and a number of these are discussed

Development of a HERT Trained Interprofessional Student Decontamination Team for Hospital Mass Casualty Response

Introduction: FEMA’s Hospital Emergency Response Training (HERT) prepares healthcare workers to decontaminate patients during a mass casualty incident. This depletes the emergency department (ED) staff when they are needed most though. Developing an interprofessional student composed HERT team to screen and decontaminate affected populations will allow ED staff to handle more medically complex situations during a mass casualty event. Methods: Likert scale surveys were conducted among ED physicians and nurses at Jefferson Hospital and HERT trained medical and nursing students at Jefferson University. These were to evaluate the training program and ED staff opinions of utilizing a student HERT team to respond to a mass casualty events compared to standard ED practices without student involvement. The survey results were tabulated and averaged in Excel. Results: Between February and September 2019, 46 students and 26 ED staff completed the HERT training. The student evaluation of the program was excellent (4.9/5) as was the value of the student decontamination team for mass casualty response (4.95/5). Discussion: These findings suggest that the ED staff highly values the involvement of a student HERT team in the disaster plan. It also supports student interest in HERT and that HERT trained students feel prepared to respond if necessary. This is essential to establish the effectiveness and efficacy of utilizing a student HERT team to ensure adequate staff is available in the case of a mass casualty event. This model is one that should be considered for academic centers that are affiliated with nursing and medical schools

The impact of organic certification information on consumer's perceptions of organic products

The Australian organic food industry is extremely dynamic in nature. From a consumer marketing perspective, an important area requiring further research is in the impact of organic certification on consumer product perceptions. This study examined the impact of organic certification, through the use of an experimental design, to measure consumer product perceptions derived from exposure to different levels of organic certification information on product labels. The analysis revealed organic certification information does impact ultimate consumer product perceptions - in particular with regards to the product's impact on the environment and its health benefits. Recommendations from this study include the importance of properly educating Australian consumers about organic certification, and developing consumer confidence in organic certification information

The moderating role of perceived risk on trust in e-banking

The purpose of this research is to investigate whether a consumer?s perception of risk in transacting on the internet (Perceived Risk) would have an influence on their trust of a bank?s e-banking website (Specific Trust) and their willingness to use e-banking. The results showed that Perceived Risk has a direct influence on a consumer?s willingness to use e-banking and Specific Trust has a positive moderating influence on the relationship between Perceived Risk and a consumer?s willingness to use e-banking. Consumers who have low perceived risk of transacting on the internet are generally more willing to use e-banking. Their willingness to use e-banking was also shown to be more pronounced in cases where the consumer also trust their bank?s e-banking website. These findings are of particular relevance to banks. It highlights that a consumer?s willingness to use e-banking primarily depends on their perception of risk in transacting on the internet; trust of the specific e-banking website was secondary. This suggests the need for banks to not only employ mechanisms to build trust for their specific e-banking website, but that banks should first take measures to educate their customers and manage general consumer perceptions of the risks of transacting on the internet

Re-examining Students’ Perception of E-Learning: An Australian Perspective

Purpose – Australian tertiary institutions are increasingly incorporating technologies, such as social media and Web 2.0 tools into teaching in response to changing student needs. The purpose of this paper is to revisit a fundamental question, frequently asked in marketing, “what do our ‘customers’ [students] think now?” This will help determine the effectiveness of application of these technologies in courses and teaching programs in a changing competitive educational environment. Design/methodology/approach – Using a mixed method approach, data were collected through 31 qualitative interviews and a survey of 231 university marketing students. Quantitative techniques included summary statistics, factor analysis and t-test. Findings – Results indicate while students’ perceived flexibility and better learning outcomes as positive aspects of e-learning, they have concerns about flexibility for self-paced learning, self-motivational issues, lack of human interaction and fostering teamwork. Research limitations/implications – The study is limited to one Australian university operating in domestic and international markets. However, the study needs to be replicated for better generalizability across the sector. Practical implications – The findings question the effectiveness of e-learning as an alternative approach to face-to-face learning pedagogy. However, regular review of current e-learning tools is needed to help match student and tertiary institution expectations. Originality/value – This study re-investigates students’ perception in relation to the benefits that e-learning is expected to yield. It is one of the few studies questioning whether these promised benefits are valued by the tertiary student fraternity

The influence of traditional service quality and bank size on trust in e-banking

This paper examines the role of situational normality cues (online attributes of the e-banking website) and structural assurance cues (size and reputation of the bank, and quality of traditional service at the branch) in a consumer?s evaluation of the trustworthiness of e-banking and subsequent adoption behaviour. Data were collected from a survey and a usable sample of 202 was obtained. Hierarchical moderated regression analysis was used to test the model. Traditional service quality builds customer trust in the e-banking service. The size and reputation of the bank were found to provide structural assurance to the customer but not in the absence of traditional service quality. Website features that give customers confidence are significant situational normality cues.Bank managers have to realise that good service at the branch is an opportunity to promote e-banking. They cannot rely on the bank?s size and reputation to ?sell? e-banking. This is the first study that examines how traditional service quality and a bank?s size and reputation influence trust in e-banking

What happens after an NHS Health Check? A survey and realist review

Background: The National Health Service Health Check in England aims to provide adults aged 40 to 74 with an assessment of their risk of developing cardiovascular disease and to offer advice to help manage and reduce this risk. The programme is commissioned by local authorities and delivered by a range of providers in different settings, although primarily in general practices. This project focused on variation in the advice, onward referrals and prescriptions offered to attendees following their health check. Objectives: (1) Map recent programme delivery across England via a survey of local authorities; (2) conduct a realist review to enable understanding of how the National Health Service Health Check programme works in different settings, for different groups; (3) provide recommendations to improve delivery. Design: Survey of local authorities and realist review of the literature. Review methods: Realist review is a theory-driven, interpretive approach to evidence synthesis that seeks to explain why, when and for whom outcomes occur. We gathered published research and grey literature (including local evaluation documents and conference materials) via searching and supplementary methods. Extracted data were synthesised using a realist logic of analysis to develop an understanding of important contexts that affect the delivery of National Health Service Health Checks, and underlying mechanisms that produce outcomes related to our project focus. Results: Our findings highlight the variation in National Health Service Health Check delivery models across England. Commissioners, providers and attendees understand the programme’s purpose in different ways. When understood primarily as an opportunity to screen for disease, responsibility for delivery and outcomes rests with primary care, and there is an emphasis on volume of checks delivered, gathering essential data and communicating risk. When understood as an opportunity to prompt and support behaviour change, more emphasis is placed on delivery of advice and referrals to ‘lifestyle services’. Practical constraints limit what can be delivered within the programme’s remit. Public health funding restricts delivery options and links with onward services, while providers may struggle to deliver effective checks when faced with competing priorities. Attendees’ responses to the programme are affected by features of delivery models and the constraints they face within their own lives. Limitations: Survey response rate lower than anticipated; review findings limited by the availability and quality of the literature. Conclusions and implications: The purpose and remit of the National Health Service Health Check programme should be clarified, considering prevailing attitudes about its value (especially among providers) and what can be delivered within existing resources. Some variation in delivery is likely to be appropriate to meet local population needs, but lack of clarity for the programme contributes to a ‘postcode lottery’ effect in the support offered to attendees after a check. Our findings raise important questions about whether the programme itself and services that it may feed into are adequately resourced to achieve positive outcomes for attendees, and whether current delivery models may produce inequitable outcomes. Future work: Policy-makers and commissioners should consider the implications of the findings of this project; future research should address the relative scarcity of studies focused on the end of the National Health Service Health Check pathway. Study registration: PROSPERO registration CRD42020163822. Funding: This project was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health Services and Delivery Research programme (NIHR129209)

Improved reperfusion following alternative surgical approach for experimental stroke in mice

Background: Following ischemic stroke, recanalisation and restoration of blood flow to the affected area of the brain is critical and directly correlates with patient recovery. In vivo models of ischemic stroke show high variability in outcomes which may be due to variability in reperfusion. We previously reported that a surgical refinement in the middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model of stroke, via repair of the common carotid artery (CCA), removes the reliance on the Circle of Willis for reperfusion and reduced infarct variability. Here we further assess this refined surgical approach on reperfusion characteristics following transient MCAO in mice.Methods: Mice underwent 60 min of MCAO, followed by either CCA repair or ligation at reperfusion. All mice underwent laser speckle contrast imaging at baseline, 24h and 48h post-MCAO.Results: CCA ligation reduced cerebral perfusion in the ipsilateral hemisphere compared to baseline (102.3 ± 4.57 %) at 24h (85.13 ± 16.09 %; P [less than] 0.01) and 48h (75.04 ± 12.954 %; P [less than] 0.001) post-MCAO. Repair of the CCA returned perfusion to baseline (94.152 ± 2.44 %) levels and perfusion was significantly improved compared to CCA ligation at both 24h (102.83 ± 8.41 %; P [less than] 0.05) and 48h (102.13 ± 9.34 %; P [less than] 0.001) post-MCAO. Conclusions: Our findings show CCA repair, an alternative surgical approach for MCAO, results in improved ischemic hemisphere perfusion during the acute phase