Public Procurement of Innovation Diffusion: Exploring the Role of Institutions and Institutional Coordination

The role of the public agency as a pacer of private sector innovation has been emphasised over the recent years, especially in the context of the EU. The general ambition has been to encourage public agencies to actively stimulate private sector innovation by requesting innovation instead of procuring currently existing products. This has also triggered an increased interest among researchers and practitioners to identify examples of best practice where public agencies have successfully procured innovation. Rather than addressing this demand-oriented perspective this paper focuses on the public agency as an adopter of private-sector innovation, and how this mechanism can contribute to innovation in general. The theoretical point of departure is diffusion theory, with an emphasis on the role of institutions as identified in systemic approaches to innovation studies. A particular concern of this paper is those institutions that hinder or enable adoption of an innovation in an organisational context. The paper draws on an explorative case study looking at the introduction of a new catheter into the English National Health Service supply chain and its diffusion among NHS trusts in England. Different institutional factors are identified which have had an affect on the adoption and diffusion.public procurement; innovation diffusion; institutions; England

Enhancing climate change communication: strategies for profiling and targeting Australian interpretive communities

Abstracthis research aimed to provide practical information about how to design communications on climate change adaptation and target these to the Australian population.   This was achieved by: (1) identifying and increasing awareness of different climate change audiences in Australia, and (2) evaluating how each audience responds to different types of climate change messages. Phase 1 of the study used audience segmentation analysis to identify the main climate change interpretive communities within Australia; that is, groups of Australians who share similar views and understandings about climate change.   A nationwide sample consisting of 3,096 Australian residents (aged 15 to 108 years, 47% male and 53% female) completed an online survey assessing a broad range of psychological and behavioural factors related to climate change.   Latent profile analysis applied to the psychological variables suggested that this Australian sample consists of five distinct interpretive communities: Alarmed (26%), Concerned (39%), Uncertain (14%), Doubtful (12%), and Dismissive (9%). Validation analyses revealed that these groups differed in terms of how they responded to perceived climate change threats, and also in their support for particular climate change mitigation and adaptation policies.   Phase 2 of the project examined how Australian interpretive communities respond to climate change adaptation messages and identified the specific message attributes that drive these responses. 1,031 Australian residents (aged 18 to 66 years, 49.8% male, 50.2% female) completed an online survey assessing a similar set of psychological and behavioural responses to climate change to those assessed in Phase 1.   Respondents subsequently viewed six climate change adaptation messages that were randomly allocated from a pool of 60 messages sourced from the internet.   Messages were pre-coded on 10 communication cues (e.g., language complexity, normative influence), and respondents rated them on four judgement dimensions: perceived threat, perceived efficacy, fear control (message rejection), and danger control (message acceptance).   Latent profile analysis applied to the psychological variables identified three climate change interpretive communities in this sample: Alarmed (34.4%), Uncommitted (45.2%), and Dismissive (20.3%).   Judgement analysis methodology (Cooksey, 1996) found that the three interpretive communities based their threat and efficacy evaluations on unique combinations of communication cues, and that high perceived threat and high perceived efficacy were related to message acceptance for all communities.   Effective messages for Dismissive respondents used simple language and did not emphasise descriptive social norms.   Uncommitted audience members responded positively to messages that focused on preventing losses and had a strong emotional component.   Alarmed respondents preferred messages that focused on local issues and had a collectivist frame. Providing specific adaptation advice in messages was found to be effective for all communities. The results largely support the Extended Parallel Processing Model of risk communication (Witte, 1992), and suggest that message attributes should be adjusted to effectively communicate with different climate change interpretive communities within Australia.Please cite this report as:Hine, D, Phillips, W, Reser, J, Cooksey, R, Marks, A, Nunn, P, Watt, S, Ellul, M 2013 Enhancing climate change communication: Strategies for profiling and targeting Australian interpretive communities, National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility, Gold Coast, pp. 95.his research aimed to provide practical information about how to design communications on climate change adaptation and target these to the Australian population.   This was achieved by: (1) identifying and increasing awareness of different climate change audiences in Australia, and (2) evaluating how each audience responds to different types of climate change messages. Phase 1 of the study used audience segmentation analysis to identify the main climate change interpretive communities within Australia; that is, groups of Australians who share similar views and understandings about climate change.   A nationwide sample consisting of 3,096 Australian residents (aged 15 to 108 years, 47% male and 53% female) completed an online survey assessing a broad range of psychological and behavioural factors related to climate change.   Latent profile analysis applied to the psychological variables suggested that this Australian sample consists of five distinct interpretive communities: Alarmed (26%), Concerned (39%), Uncertain (14%), Doubtful (12%), and Dismissive (9%). Validation analyses revealed that these groups differed in terms of how they responded to perceived climate change threats, and also in their support for particular climate change mitigation and adaptation policies.   Phase 2 of the project examined how Australian interpretive communities respond to climate change adaptation messages and identified the specific message attributes that drive these responses. 1,031 Australian residents (aged 18 to 66 years, 49.8% male, 50.2% female) completed an online survey assessing a similar set of psychological and behavioural responses to climate change to those assessed in Phase 1.   Respondents subsequently viewed six climate change adaptation messages that were randomly allocated from a pool of 60 messages sourced from the internet.   Messages were pre-coded on 10 communication cues (e.g., language complexity, normative influence), and respondents rated them on four judgement dimensions: perceived threat, perceived efficacy, fear control (message rejection), and danger control (message acceptance).   Latent profile analysis applied to the psychological variables identified three climate change interpretive communities in this sample: Alarmed (34.4%), Uncommitted (45.2%), and Dismissive (20.3%).   Judgement analysis methodology (Cooksey, 1996) found that the three interpretive communities based their threat and efficacy evaluations on unique combinations of communication cues, and that high perceived threat and high perceived efficacy were related to message acceptance for all communities.   Effective messages for Dismissive respondents used simple language and did not emphasise descriptive social norms.   Uncommitted audience members responded positively to messages that focused on preventing losses and had a strong emotional component.   Alarmed respondents preferred messages that focused on local issues and had a collectivist frame. Providing specific adaptation advice in messages was found to be effective for all communities. The results largely support the Extended Parallel Processing Model of risk communication (Witte, 1992), and suggest that message attributes should be adjusted to effectively communicate with different climate change interpretive communities within Australia

A brief report on an action learning group exploration of how older people adapt to change in later life

In collaboration with Age Concern UK, older people were invited to participate in action learning groups to explore how they adapt to change. Themes for discussion were initially identified using a nominal focus method. Discussions identified actual and desired methods of coping with changes in later life. A series of weekly meetings with three cohorts of urban, rural and sheltered accommodation participants with an average age of 81 years revealed that they were concerned with having to cope with and adapt to a wide range of experiences. These included the loss of sharing and reduced sociability, reduced mobility, bereavement, physical changes, having to move house order to cope with these experiences, participants engaged in a range of activities that centred on aspects of communication and social networking. Participants talked to each other socially and informally, exchanging information and advice. When able, they also participated in more structured but non-specific social events during which time they also had the opportunity more formal social networking and information exchange opportunities

Shifting logics: Limitations on the journey from 'state' to 'market' logic in UK higher education

© Policy Press 2018. Our study of UK higher education institutions (HEIs) offers insights into the role of institutional logics in the adoption of organisational practices - specifically outsourcing. We identify two logics prevalent within HEIs: a public service 'state logic' and a 'market logic'. While adherence to the market logic supports commercial-based practices such as outsourcing, organisations enact competing logics in complex ways. Outsourcing is mainly limited to peripheral activities segmented from the core while a nascent cooperative solution is emerging as HEIs co-opt practices and discourse of outsourcing to justify hybrid relationships that marry competing logics in a process of selective coupling

The impact of pre-diabetes diagnosis on behaviour change: an integrative literature review

Type 2 diabetes is a growing global problem that not only affects individuals but also has an impact upon the economic health of countries. The number of people developing type 2 diabetes can be reduced by up to by 80%; this can be achieved by targeting those who are ‘at risk’. This reduction can be achieved by appropriate lifestyle changes to diet and physical activity. It is not known what the impact of being informed of a diagnosis of pre-diabetes has on an individual’s motivation to make appropriate lifestyle changes. The aim of this study was to assess whether having the diagnosis of pre-diabetes encourages or empowers people to make appropriate lifestyle changes to prevent progression to a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. Employing a systematic approach, an integrative literature review was undertaken using a standard retrieval and appraisal method. The studies demonstrated that pre-diabetes was found to be a challenging concept by patients and nurses alike. Lack of knowledge and support, along with patients’ perceived barriers, had an impact upon the various motivation and self-efficacy behaviours towards lifestyle changes. The integrative review found that more education and support are required to motivate lifestyle change in the person with pre-diabetes. This, however, does not need to be medicine led; use of peer and community based programmes could be not only cheaper, but also have the ability to provide potentially long-term support for people, and would provide continued reduced risk. Intervention needs to ensure that it is provided at an appropriate level to account for cultural, social and gender needs. Innovative approaches need to be considered to reduce the number of people who are diagnosed with pre-diabetes from progressing to type 2 diabetes and its associated potential complications

Television sitcom production at the BBC 1973-1984 : an integrated approach

Between 1973 and 1984 BBC Television produced and transmitted a number of popular situation comedies. These were designed to be light-hearted, inoffensive entertainment, but they nevertheless explored, reflected and reinforced changing public attitudes to private sexual behaviour. Central to the emergence of these series at this time was the ethos of the BBC's Light Entertainment Department under the successive leadership of Bill Cotton and James Gilbert. They espoused and developed attitudes of creative excellence, competitive success and benevolent patronage, and took a liberal, non-polemical, middle-brow approach to material. The thesis adopts a multi-faceted approach to reveal the relationships between the individual contributors and the public feedback for four of the most successful series: Are You Being Served (1973-1985), The Good Life (1975-1978), Butterflies (1978- 1983) and The Young Ones (1982-1984). It concludes that their central creative impulse initially came from the four writer-producer teams: David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd; John Esmonde, Bob Larbey and John Howard Davies; Carla Lane, Sydney Lotterby and Gareth Gwenlan; and Rik Mayall, Lise Mayer, Ben Elton and Paul Jackson. These four series offered audiences a range of comedic situations, namely: a fading department store, an ecologically-aware suburban household, a more traditional suburban household and a student flat in a large metropolitan city. Audiences had several points of identification with the various characters and were able to adjust their own individual attitude to the private sexual behaviour of the characters, thus allowing the public as a whole to reach a new consensus about emerging changes in public attitudes. Particularly noticeable was the positive public response to the portrayal of two characters who challenged traditional gender norms: Mr Humphries (John Inman) and Margo Leadbetter (Penelope Keith), which for a short while gave both actor and character a life beyond each series. Other notable developments were the public acceptance of a more open portrayal of sexual desire in women, the decline of innuendo and a more public discussion of deviant sexual behaviour, the open acceptance of pre-marital sexual relationships and the tentative recognition of extra-marital sexual relationships.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

A case of a traumatic chyle leak following an acute thoracic spine injury: successful resolution with strict dietary manipulation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Chylothorax is a rare form of pleural effusion that can be associated with both traumatic and non-traumatic causes. Thoracic duct ligation is often the treatment of choice in postsurgical patients; however the optimal treatment of this disease process after traumatic injury remains unclear <abbrgrp><abbr bid="B1">1</abbr></abbrgrp>. We present a rare case of a thoracic duct injury secondary to a blunt thoracic spine fracture and subluxation which was successfully treated non-operatively.</p> <p>Case Presentation</p> <p>A 51 year old male presented as a tier one trauma code due to an automobile versus bicycle collision. His examination and radiographic work-up revealed fractures and a subluxation at the third and fourth thoracic spine levels resulting in paraplegia. He also sustained bilateral hemothoraces secondary to multiple rib fractures. Drainage of the left hemothorax led to the diagnosis of a traumatic chylothorax. The thoracic spine fractures were addressed with surgical stabilization and the chylothorax was successfully treated with drainage and dietary manipulation.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This unusual and complex blunt thoracic duct injury required a multidisciplinary approach. Although the spine injury required surgical fixation, successful resolution of the chyle leak was achieved without surgical intervention.</p