How emotions are shaped within services organizations: empirical studies among Portuguese nurses and physicians.

The management of emotions is an important component of the work of frontline employees, since more and more interactions between customers and employees are valued and affect their perceptions of service quality. In healthcare, the management of emotions takes greater proportions compared to other service organizations because of the proximity and frequency of relationships between customers and employees and the intensity of emotions. Aiming to contribute to the study of the management of emotions in healthcare, namely the positivity, perspectives and antecedents we developed three studies. The first qualitative study intends to study in a deeper way what physicians, nurses and patients think about the expression and suppression of emotions, that is, the management of emotions. Two different patterns have been found which represent what these individuals perceive as a quality service. Some participants are in favor of expressing emotions and maintaining close and lasting relationships - what we call “relational engagement”. While others are in favor of hiding or supressing emotions and keeping a distance - what we call "performative engagement". The second conceptual study proposes that there may be other alternative than engage in emotional labor. Employees are expected to supress or fake their emotions, because there is a presumption that employees inner feelings are not congruent with the emotions that the organization wants them to display. However, employees may also want to act authentically. With employee emotional empowerment employees have the power and ability to manage their emotions in a way they feel 10 more appropriate to the situation and the customer, minimizing feelings of burnout, stress and job turnover. The third quantitative study aims to analyze the impact that the work environment may have on the emotional labor performance. It is certain that during their working day healthcare professionals have to deal with intense emotional situations. This forces them to manage their emotions in a strategic way. Some factors are decisive for the management of emotions, such as the work environment. We found that when nurses perceive their work environment as positive they do not tend to adopt a deep acting strategy. With these studies we intend to clearer the management of emotions in a service context as special as healthcare

Exploring the attitudes and behaviors of the Portuguese towards intellectual property rights infrigement and copies

Exploring the Attitudes and the Perception of the Portuguese toward Property Right Infringement and Copies This study develops work on the Portuguese purchasing habits regarding Intellectual Property Infringement products and copies. Ahybrid research approach was used: both qualitative and quantitative insights were gathered. The main conclusions reached were that while counterfeits and pirated items are treated equally, they are different from copies in the consumer’s mind. This barrier lies in the legality of the matter. Being a seller of these articles is deemed more incorrect than being its purchaser. Two behaviors stand out: people who do not feel ashamed by practicing unlawful practices and showing, and decreased propensity to purchase if the intention is gifting others

How footwear companies can use online CX to WOW customers

Purpose: E-commerce has become an essential and highly competitive channel for e-retailers, who have felt the need to invest in the experience delivered to customers. Therefore, it becomes necessary to unveil the online customer experience so that brands can improve their offerings. In this study, the authors proposed a model that explores customer experience on websites, namely, what concerns the use of the latest technological developments such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality and virtual reality. Design/methodology/approach: The study offers a model to explore and compare the online consumer experience in e-commerce websites, considering eight dimensions that cover recent technological advances. A multiple case study that evaluated companies in the footwear industry was used to assess the model's applicability. The case study methodology considered two distinct segments, the high-price and low-price segments. Findings: The data collected by the websites' examination enabled us to confirm part of the suggested propositions. However, propositions concerning new technologies were not proved. Opportunities for improvement were identified, especially for high-price segment companies, since the results showed that these companies provide a less pleasant consumer experience than those of the opposing segment. Originality/value: This study extends the scope of the online consumer experience by introducing more contemporary dimensions. Additionally, the model allows an evaluation and comparison of the knowledge delivered by several online retailers, using the Portuguese footwear industry as a reference.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Emotional labor in healthcare: the role of work perceptions and personality traits

Using the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model as the theoretical framework, this study investigates how the perception of the work environment predicts the emotional labor strategies, and the moderating effect of personality traits on this relationship. Data were collected through the Portuguese Nurses Council, yielding 180 valid questionnaires. The perceptions of the work environment were measured through the Practice Environment Scale for Nurse Working Index (PES-NWI). Emotional labor strategies and the personality traits, in turn, were measured through the Emotional Labor Scale (ELS) and the Big Five Inventory Scale (BFIS) respectively. The hypothesized model was tested through a hierarchical multiple regression and bias-corrected bootstrap analyses (using 1000 bootstrap samples) with the PROCESS macros. The results reveal a negative relationship between perception of the work environment and the adoption of a deep acting strategy. This relationship happens when individuals score high in consciousness and openness and when individuals score low in extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. When healthcare institutions offer a good work environment, nurses try to do their utmost to make their emotions correspond with what is expected of them. Thus, healthcare managers need to better understand how organizational policies and practices are translated into the work environment.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

IMRT Beam Angle Optimization Using Non-descent Pattern Search Methods

https://thekeep.eiu.edu/commencement_spring2015/1304/thumbnail.jp

Predicting Xerostomia induced by IMRT treatments: A logistic regression approach

Radiotherapy is one of the main treatments used against cancer. Radiotherapy uses radiation to destroy cancerous cells trying, at the same time, to minimize the damages in healthy tissues. The planning of a radiotherapy treatment is patient dependent, resulting in a lengthy trial and error procedure until a treatment complying as most as possible with the medical prescription is found. Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) is one technique of radiation treatment that allows the achievement of a high degree of conformity between the area to be treated and the dose absorbed by healthy tissues. Nevertheless, it is still not possible to eliminate completely the potential treatments’ side-effects. In this retrospective study we use the clinical data from patients with head-and-neck cancer treated at the Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Coimbra and explore the possibility of classifying new and untreated patients according to the probability of xerostomia 12 months after the beginning of IMRT treatments by using a logistic regression approach. The results obtained show that the classifier presents a high discriminative ability in predicting the binary response “at risk for xerostomia at 12 months

Assessing the need for adaptive radiotherapy in head and neck cancer patients using an automatic planning tool

BACKGROUND: Unbiased analysis of the impact of adaptive radiotherapy (ART) is necessary to evaluate dosimetric benefit and optimize clinics’ workflows. The aim of the study was to assess the need for adaptive radiotherapy (ART) in head and neck (H&N) cancer patients using an automatic planning tool in a retrospective planning study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty H&N patients treated with adaptive radiotherapy were analysed. Patients had a CT scan for treatment planning and a verification CT during treatment according to the clinic’s protocol. Considering these images, three plans were retrospectively generated using the iCycle tool to simulate the scenarios with and without adaptation: 1) the optimized plan based on the planning CT; 2) the optimized plan based on the verification CT (ART-plan); 3) the plan obtained by considering treatment plan 1 re-calculated in the verification CT (non-ART plan). The dosimetric endpoints for both target volumes and OAR were compared between scenarios 2 and 3 and the SPIDERplan used to evaluate plan quality. RESULTS: The most significant impact of ART was found for the PTVs, which demonstrated decreased D98% in the non-ART plan. A general increase in the dose was observed for the OAR but only the spinal cord showed a statistical significance. The SPIDERplan analysis indicated an overall loss of plan quality in the absence of ART. CONCLUSION: These results confirm the advantages of ART in H&N patients, especially for the coverage of target volumes. The usage of an automatic planning tool reduces planner-induced bias in the results, guaranteeing that the observed changes derive from the application of ART.