Corporate reputation, trait covariation and the averaging principle ‐ The case of the UK pensions mis‐selling scandal

2001 ◽  
Vol 35 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 387-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Bennett ◽  
Helen Gabriel
Keyword(s):  
Media Coverage ◽  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
Bad News ◽  
Insurance Companies ◽  
Averaging Principle ◽  
Media Criticism ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Uk ◽  
A Company

Presents the results of an empirical investigation into whether the attribution by members of the public of an unfavourable reputational trait (e.g. dishonesty) to a company covaries with other traits ascribed to the same enterprise. Additionally it examines whether people aggregate successive pieces of unfavourable information received about a business to form a continuously worsening impression of it; or whether they mentally average bad news, so that successive adverse items can actually improve the overall impression – provided the later messages are not as damaging as the earlier ones. The study is based on the UK pensions mis‐selling scandal, which generated severe, long‐term media criticism of the large UK insurance companies. Hence it analyses a unique reputational management situation in that the firms involved are subject to continuous and intense scrutiny, protracted and hostile media coverage, periodic public censure by regulatory authorities, and interference in day‐to‐day management by government agencies. The proposition that pensions are an “avoidance product” is also explored.

Chronic post-amputation pain & blast injury: An analysis of British First World War Veterans’ pension records, 1914-85

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Dixon Smith ◽  
David Henson ◽  
George Hay ◽  
Andrew S.C. Rice
Keyword(s):  
Blast Injury ◽  
First World War ◽  
World War ◽  
The Public ◽  
The First World War ◽  
Future Care ◽  
Medical Teams ◽  
The Uk ◽  
First World

LAY SUMMARY The First World War created the largest group of amputees in history. There were over 41,000 amputee Veterans in the UK alone. Recent studies estimate that over two thirds of amputees will suffer long-term pain because of their injuries. Medical files for the First World War have recently been released to the public. Despite the century between the First World War and the recent Afghanistan conflict, treatments for injured soldiers and the most common types of injuries have not changed much. A team of historians, doctors, and amputee Veterans have collaborated to investigate what happened next for soldiers injured in the war and how their wounds affected their postwar lives, and hope that looking back at the First World War and seeing which treatments worked and what happened to the amputees as they got older (e.g., if having an amputation put them at risk of other illnesses or injuries) can assist today’s Veterans and medical teams in planning for their future care.

scholarly journals Economic cost of congenital CMV in the UK

2018 ◽  
Vol 104 (6) ◽  
pp. 559-563 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Retzler ◽  
Nick Hex ◽  
Chris Bartlett ◽  
Anne Webb ◽  
Sharon Wood ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Vaccine Development ◽  
Cost Model ◽  
Financial Burden ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Economic Cost ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Uk

ObjectiveCongenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) is the most common infectious cause of congenital disability. It can disrupt neurodevelopment, causing lifelong impairments including sensorineural hearing loss and developmental delay. This study aimed, for the first time, to estimate the annual economic burden of managing cCMV and its sequelae in the UK.DesignThe study collated available secondary data to develop a static cost model.SettingThe model aimed to estimate costs of cCMV in the UK for the year 2016.PatientsIndividuals of all ages with cCMV.Main outcome measuresDirect (incurred by the public sector) and indirect (incurred personally or by society) costs associated with management of cCMV and its sequelae.ResultsThe model estimated that the total cost of cCMV to the UK in 2016 was £732 million (lower and upper estimates were between £495 and £942 million). Approximately 40% of the costs were directly incurred by the public sector, with the remaining 60% being indirect costs, including lost productivity. Long-term impairments caused by the virus had a higher financial burden than the acute management of cCMV.ConclusionsThe cost of cCMV is substantial, predominantly stemming from long-term impairments. Costs should be compared against investment in educational strategies and vaccine development programmes that aim to prevent virus transmission, as well as the value of introducing universal screening for cCMV to both increase detection of children who would benefit from treatment, and to build a more robust evidence base for future research.

‘What a skewed sense of values’: Discussing PreP in the British press

Sexualities ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (8) ◽  
pp. 1343-1361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharif Mowlabocus
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Gay Men ◽  
Male Body ◽  
The Public ◽  
Moral Conduct ◽  
British Press ◽  
Wonder Drug ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Exposure Prophylaxis

In this article I examine the public discussion of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in the UK and investigate how this treatment and its key beneficiaries were framed by the British press between 2012 and 2016. Drawing upon an archive of articles published in national newspapers, I identify the discursive transformation that PrEP underwent during this period, as it moved from being a ‘wonder drug’ that benefited the health of the general population, to a ‘promiscuity pill’ that threatened the lives of the most vulnerable. I illustrate how this transformation was accompanied by a shift in the representation of gay men – who were almost universally positioned as the future beneficiaries of PrEP in the UK. Utilizing critical discourse analysis methods, I explore how gay men went from being ‘upstanding citizens’ to ‘dangerous outsiders’, and how the British press mapped older stereotypes of the diseased gay male body onto newer homonormative representations of the ‘good gay’ and the ‘evil queer’. This analysis reveals the precarious status gay men occupy in ‘post-equalities’ Britain – a status that requires adherence to a particular code of sexual and moral conduct, and the disavowal of long-term health inequalities.

The public face of interest group lobbying on immigration: Who responds to and who ignores what they say

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 543-556
Author(s):  
Michael J Donnelly ◽  
Md Mujahedul Islam ◽  
Justin Savoie
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Interest Group ◽  
Immigration Policy ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Demographic Groups ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Unions ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Group Environments

A main avenue for influencing public policy available to unions and business is public opinion campaigning. As groups with substantial credibility in the minds of the public, unions and employers have the potential to move immigration attitudes and, thereby, have a long-term indirect influence on immigration policy. The article asks, first, who is (not) convinced by arguments from business or labour leaders and second, what messages are most convincing. We present the results of a survey experiment in three very different immigration regimes and interest group environments (Canada, the UK and Germany). The results suggest that the net effects of public arguments are small, but vary widely across demographic groups.

scholarly journals 2018: A watershed year for psychedelic science

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 205032451987228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob S Aday ◽  
Christopher C Davoli ◽  
Emily K Bloesch
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
The United States ◽  
Ballot Initiatives ◽  
The Public ◽  
Psychedelic Drugs ◽  
The Status ◽  
Regulatory Bodies ◽  
The Public Sphere

While interest in the study of psychedelic drugs has increased over much of the last decade, in this article, we argue that 2018 marked the true turning point for the field. Substantive advances in the scientific, public, and regulatory communities in 2018 significantly elevated the status and long-term outlook of psychedelic science, particularly in the United States. Advances in the scientific community can be attributed to impactful research applications of psychedelics as well as acknowledgement in preeminent journals. In the public sphere, Michael Pollan’s book How to Change Your Mind was a commercial hit and spurred thought-provoking, positive media coverage on psychedelics. Unprecedented psychedelic ballot initiatives in the United States were representative of changes in public interest. Finally, regulatory bodies began to acknowledge psychedelic science in earnest in 2018, as evidenced by the designation of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy to “breakthrough therapy” status for treatment-resistant depression by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In short, 2018 was a seminal year for psychedelic science.

Guidelines for Fixed Wing Air Ambulance Flights

1985 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 294-297
Author(s):  
R.J. Fairhurst ◽  
Captain D. Antrobus
Keyword(s):  
International Travel ◽  
Insurance Companies ◽  
Air Ambulances ◽  
Air Ambulance ◽  
The Public ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Legal Implications ◽  
Medical Transport ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Seriously Ill

The easy availability of small aircraft for charter, has been accompanied by increasing willingness on the part of insurance companies to pay the costs for the use of these air ambulances. Operators of aircraft in the United Kingdom and Europe were becoming increasingly worried about the moral, medical and legal implications of carrying seriously ill or injured passengers. In late 1980 the UK Air Taxi Operators Association (ATOA) began to formulate Guidelines for air ambulance operations, and in 1981 these were incorporated into the studies of the same subject by the International Business Aircraft Association (IBAA), Europe. This paper presents the Guidelines adopted by the ATOA and ratified by IBAA Europe. The Guidelines are designed not to hamper the development of aeormedical rescue, but to bring it within a proper medical aeronautical framework for the safety of the patients, and medical and aircraft crews.During the last 30 years development of the international travel market in Europe has resulted in many patients becoming ill or suffering injuries many miles from their own home. In the past these people would have remained in a local hospital and received treatment by the locally available facilities. There has been a revolution in the technology of medical transport, providing skills and equipment which allows the most seriously injured people to be transported over long distances. The public demand has pressed insurance companies to offer as part of travel packages the possiblity of medical repatriation. The number of new serious medical cases abroad reported to Europ Assistance in London, rose from 736 in 1978 to a projected 3,500 in 1983.

scholarly journals One issue, different stories: The construction of GMO issues on Chinese, American and British mainstream media portals

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 255-275
Author(s):  
Yiqin Ruan ◽  
Jing Yang ◽  
Jianbin Jin
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Genetically Modified Organisms ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
New York Times ◽  
The Public ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Uk

Biotechnology, as an emerging technology, has drawn much attention from the public and elicited hot debates in countries around the world and among various stakeholders. Due to the public's limited access to front-line scientific information and scientists, as well as the difficulty of processing complex scientific knowledge, the media have become one of the most important channels for the public to get news about scientific issues such as genetically modified organisms (GMOs). According to framing theory, how the media portray GMO issues may influence audiences’ perceptions of those issues. Moreover, different countries and societies have various GMO regulations, policies and public opinion, which also affect the way media cover GMO issues. Thus, it is necessary to investigate how GMO issues are covered in different media outlets across different countries. We conducted a comparative content analysis of media coverage of GMO issues in China, the US and the UK. One mainstream news portal in each of the three countries was chosen ( People's Daily for China, The New York Times for the US, and The Guardian for the UK). We collected coverage over eight years, from 2008 to 2015, which yielded 749 pieces of news in total. We examined the sentiments expressed and the generic frames used in coverage of GMO issues. We found that the factual, human interest, conflict and regulation frames were the most common frames used on the three portals, while the sentiments expressed under those frames varied across the media outlets, indicating differences in the state of GMO development, promotion and regulation among the three countries.

Metrics, Targets and Performance

2006 ◽  
Vol 197 ◽  
pp. 80-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Andrew Stevens ◽  
Lucy Stokes ◽  
Mary O'Mahony
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Performance Management ◽  
Performance Indicators ◽  
Acute Hospital ◽  
Performance Management System ◽  
The Public ◽  
Productivity Measure ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Uk

The setting and use of targets in the public sector has generated a growing amount of interest in the UK. This has occurred at a time when more analysts and policymakers are grasping the nettle of measuring performance in and of the public sector. We outline a typology of performance indicators and a set of desiderata. We compare the outcome of a performance management system — star ratings for acute hospital trusts in England — with a productivity measure analogous to those used in the analysis of the private sector. We find that the two are almost entirely unrelated. Although this may be the case for entirely proper reasons, it does raise questions as to the appropriateness of such indicators of performance, particularly over the long term.

Injury Prevention in Scotland — The Case for a National Strategy

2000 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 147-149
Author(s):  
D. Stone ◽  
R. Muir ◽  
J. Logan ◽  
D. Gorman
Keyword(s):  
Injury Prevention ◽  
Causes Of Death ◽  
Injury Incidence ◽  
National Strategy ◽  
The Public ◽  
Children And Young Adults ◽  
Injury Prevention Strategy ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Local Agencies

In children and young adults, injury overshadows other causes of death and is a major contributor to acute and long-term disability. Yet injury is more amenable to prevention than most other causes of ill health. The purpose of this paper is to present the case for the development and implementation of a national injury prevention strategy for Scotland. Systematic reviews of the evidence have identified a series of specific interventions that have been shown to reduce injury incidence, mortality or morbidity. Research suggests that over half of all traumatic deaths are avoidable in children. In addition to the responsibilities of individuals, parents, carers, schools and employers to prevent or to reduce the probability of injury, responsibility for injury prevention and the protection of the public from injury hazards lies with a range of national and local agencies in the UK. These vary across the country and are unco-ordinated. To reduce the number of deaths and disorders resulting from injury, and the costs associated with treating and caring for injured people and their families, we contend that the most pressing current need is to develop a national strategy for Scotland.

Back to basics: fighting fraud and austerity

2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-227
Author(s):  
Kwabena Frimpong
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Financial Crime ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Reference Guide ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Resource Capacity

Purpose – This article aims to focus on the impact of the current austerity measures on UK public sector anti-fraud and financial crime investigative resource capacity building initiative developed over the years to tackle fraud against the public purse. Design/methodology/approach – The article draws on secondary sources of data and available literature on fraud and financial crime. Findings – Fraud is a challenge in the UK public sector but the cut-back on anti-fraud and financial crime investigative resources, given the scale of public sector fraud, the growing emphasis on accountability and the time of austerity with public money more exposed to fraud is arguably a back-door/u-turn policy on zero-tolerance approach in tackling public sector fraud and financial crime. There is the potential of this encouraging more fraud and financial crime against the public sector in the long term if measures are not taken to devise strategies for enhancing anti-fraud and financial crime investigative resource capacity. Research limitations/implications – The research implication for this article is that it opens an avenue for future studies to examine post austerity strategies for strengthening public sector anti-fraud and financial crime investigative resource strategies to deal with emerging fraud threats to UK public sector. Practical implications – This article acts as a reference guide for policymakers to reflect on the long-term adverse impact of the austerity on anti-fraud and financial crime investigative resource capacity and capability in tackling fraud public sector fraud. Originality/value – The paper attempts to present an alternative lens to examining the scale of UK public sector fraud problem rather than relying on headline story of declining fraud in UK.

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