scholarly journals How Can Clients Improve the Quality of Transport Infrastructure Projects? The Role of Knowledge Management and Incentives

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abukar Warsame ◽  
Lena Borg ◽  
Hans Lind

The aim of this paper is to argue for a number of statements about what is important for a client to do in order to improve quality in new infrastructure projects, with a focus on procurement and organizational issues. The paper synthesizes theoretical and empirical results concerning organizational performance, especially the role of the client for the quality of a project. The theoretical framework used is contract theory and transaction cost theory, where assumptions about rationality and self-interest are made and where incentive problems, asymmetric information, and moral hazard are central concepts. It is argued that choice of procurement type will not be a crucial factor. There is no procurement method that guarantees a better quality than another. We argue that given the right conditions all procurement methods can give good results, and given the wrong conditions, all of them can lead to low quality. What is crucial is how the client organization manages knowledge and the incentives for the members of the organization. This can be summarized as “organizational culture.” One way to improve knowledge and create incentives is to use independent second opinions in a systematic way.

Author(s):  
H. Ensaff

Populations' diets typically fall short of recommendations. The implication of this on ill health and quality of life is well established, as are the subsequent health care costs. An area of growing interest within public health nutrition is food choice architecture; how a food choice is framed and its influence on subsequent food selection. In particular, there is an appeal to manipulating the choice architecture in order to nudge individuals' food choice. This review outlines the current understanding of food choice architecture, theoretical background to nudging and the evidence on the effectiveness of nudge strategies, as well as their design and implementation. Interventions emphasising the role of nudge strategies have investigated changes to the accessibility, availability and presentation of food and the use of prompts. Empirical studies have been conducted in laboratories, online and in real-world food settings, and with different populations. Evidence on the effectiveness of nudge strategies in shifting food choice is encouraging. Underpinning mechanisms, not yet fully explicated, are proposed to relate to salience, social norms and the principle of least effort. Emerging evidence points to areas for development including the effectiveness of choice architecture interventions with different and diverse populations, and the combined effect of multiple nudges. This, alongside further examination of theoretical mechanisms and guidance to engage and inspire across the breadth of food provision, is critical. In this way, the potential of choice architecture to effect meaningful change in populations' diets will be realised.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (07) ◽  
pp. 882-906
Author(s):  
Payel Basu ◽  
◽  
Rani Somani ◽  
Deepti Jawa ◽  
Shipra Jaidka ◽  
...  

Cleft lip and palate is one of the most common congenital anomalies requiring multidisciplinary care. Such anomaly is associated with many problems such as impaired feeding, defective speech, hearing difficulties, malocclusion, dental abnormalities, gross facial deformity as well severe psychological problems. Cleft of the lip and palate is one of the complex conditions that occur at a functionally potential area in the orofacial region and also at such a crucial time that strategic interventions at the right age by the concerned specialists becomes the need of the hour. Pediatric dentist is an integral part of the cleft rehabilitative process right from the neonatal period upto the phase of permanent dentition. Being well versed with a childs growth and development, both physical and mental, a Pedodontist helps in restoring function and esthetics in a cleft child, in a most empathetic way. This article describes the enormous challenges faced by these innocent souls and the vital role played by a Pedodontist, to provide comprehensive cleft care, be it preventive, restorative, or interventional care, in order to achieve the best possible outcome and meaningfully improve their quality of life.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-42
Author(s):  
Nadia Sasmita Wijayanti

Sejumlah brand sukses menempatkan diri di hati konsumen, namun banyak pula yang gagal. Keberhasilan brand memikat hati customer berarti sukses menjalin hubungan dengan customer. Perlu cara dan startegi yang tepat agar brand mampu memikat kosumen dan keluar sebagai market leader. Dalam menjalankan bisnis dan memberikan pelayanan konsumen perlu memperhatikan keinginan konsumen. Di era serba modern dan informasi tanpa batas, bermunculan marketplace dan perusahaan eksponensial, menyebabkan keinginan konsumen untuk dilayani serba cepat dan ringkas. Kualitas jasa layanan online yang maksimal akan menciptakan customer loyalty yang berujung pada customer engagement. Kata kunci: E-servqual, Kualitas layanan jasa online, customer loyalty, customer engagement.  Abstract: The Role of E-Servqual in Customer Engagement. A number of brands successfully place themselves in the hearts of consumers, but many also fail. The success of the brand captivates the customer means successful relationship with the customer. Need the right way and strategy so that the brand can attract consumers and come out as the market leader. In running a business and providing customer service, it is necessary to pay attention to consumer desires. In the modern era and unlimited information, emerging marketplaces and exponential companies, cause consumers to be served quickly and concisely. The maximum quality of online services will create customer loyalty which leads to customer engagement. Kata kunci: E-servqual, Online Service Quality, customer loyalty, customer engagement.


2006 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torleif Ruud ◽  
Nils Lindefors ◽  
Anne Lindhardt

AbstractThe aim of the paper is to provide an overview of some of the most important issues faced by acute inpatient facilities in three Scandinavian countries, including reflections and critical remarks for discussion in this field. Information was drawn from scientific articles and official reports published in recent years, as well as the authors' own knowledge of acute facilities in their home countries. Acute inpatient facilities, including General Hospital Psychiatric Units (GHPUs), in all Scandinavian countries have several issues and problems in common, which include the organisation and capacity of acute services, the assessment of dangerousness and suicidality, the use of coercion and efforts to reduce coercion, the need to define and improve the quality of acute services, and the necessity to improve collaboration and continuity between acute services and other services. Although the emphasis some of these issues receive can vary across the three countries, Scandinavian mental health professionals (and policy makers) have begun to systematically share their experiences in developing a growing spirit of collaboration. Despite the role of welfare state and the deployment of substantial resources in Scandinavian countries, mental health practitioners are struggling to implement best practices in acute wards, to develop differentiated forms of acute services, and to reach the right balance and coordination between acute services and other services.


Author(s):  
Timothy Besley ◽  
Torsten Persson

This chapter focuses on the productive role of government in improving the environment for doing business. Improvements in the performance of government are measured as total factor productivity and differences in income across countries can be explained by differences in the quality of their economic institutions. This makes it essential to understand why some countries make the right investments in legal institutions and deploy such legal capacity effectively. A running theme of the chapter is the possibility of a complementarity between the extractive (taxation) and the productive (supporting markets) roles of government. This is at the heart of the empirical observation that market development and state development move hand in hand. But the key insight from this is that we have to understand the incentives of a government to make investments to improve the workings of the economy.


2015 ◽  
Vol 123 (6) ◽  
pp. 1401-1404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillaume Herbet ◽  
Gilles Lafargue ◽  
Fabien Almairac ◽  
Sylvie Moritz-Gasser ◽  
François Bonnetblanc ◽  
...  

The authors report the first case of a strikingly unusual speech impairment evoked by intraoperative electrostimulation in a 36-year-old right-handed patient, a well-trained singer, who underwent awake surgery for a right fronto-temporo-insular low-grade glioma. Functionally disrupting the pars opercularis of the right inferior frontal gyrus led the patient to automatically switch from a speaking to a singing mode of language production. Given the central role of the right pars opercularis in the inhibitory control network, the authors propose that this finding may be interpreted as possible evidence for a competitive and independent neurocognitive subnetwork devoted to the melodically intoned articulation of words (normal language-based vs singing-based) in subjects with high expertise. From a more clinical perspective, such data may have implications for awake neurosurgery, especially to preserve the quality of life for singers.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 287-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Maximiliano Senci ◽  
Hipólito Hasrun ◽  
Rodrigo Moro ◽  
Esteban Freidin

In most bribery games in the literature, there is no mention of rights and duties associated to participants’ roles. Authors have hitherto relied on loaded frames, negative externalities, and the possibility of sanctions to implicitly signal prescriptive norms. We argue that participants’ interpretation of these factors may not be univocal. In this study, a participant in the role of a common citizen either did or did not acquire the right to obtain a monetary benefit and could offer a bribe to an associated participant in the role of public official. This participant, in turn, had an explicit duty of providing the benefit only if the citizen acquired the right to it. Conditions with/without the acquisition of the right were crossed with the presence/absence of negative externalities associated with transgressions of the official’s duty. One last (fifth) condition mimicked other bribery games in the literature which rely on loaded frames and negative externalities but no information on rights and duties. We found that both the presence of externalities and information about rights were effective bribery deterrents, and that bribe offers and acceptances were most discouraged with their synergic effect. Interestingly, officials followed prescriptive information even when it was inefficient to do so (when there were no externalities), and implied choosing against their material self-interest (by rejecting a bribe), and not reciprocating bribe offers. We conclude by highlighting the limits of making generalizations from results without explicit normative information and the relevance of present findings as anti-corruption behavioral insights.


Author(s):  
Mbako Mbo ◽  
Charles Adjasi

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine empirical evidence on factors that influence performance of state owned enterprises (SOEs). With a focus on power utilities, the paper investigates how such several factors interact with each other to influence ultimate performance. Design/methodology/approach Data on the SOEs constituting the sample is predominantly obtained from the audited annual financial statements and other publicized reports of entities for a 20-year period spanning from 1994 to 2013. The audited annual financial statements provide quantitative data whilst the rest of qualitative information is available from narratives in the annual reports. The study takes liquidity, board strength, extent of stakeholder presentation on board and government’s involvement in pricing as proxy variables for resource-based agency, stakeholder and public choice theories, respectively. Using performance as the dependent variable, the study variables are modeled in a regression model. Findings The paper finds that good SOE performance could be explained in terms of the agency and resource-based theories, where the authors found strong boards and good liquidity profiles to be positively related to good performance. A wider stakeholder representation on SOE boards correlates negatively with performance. Similarly, the higher the level of government involvement in the tariff setting process the weaker the performance results. Based on the results, the paper concludes that SOEs performance is underpinned by a plethora of organizational issues: agency, public policy, stakeholder and resource-based issues. These issues must therefore inform the appointment of SOE management and also their performance contracts. Practical implications The study suggests that SOE governance structures should be centered around four main unifying themes; agency, stakeholders, resources and shareholder engagement. From an agency perspective, board appointments should first be based on merit and stakeholder representation comes in as a subset. Resources availability should be paired with objective imperatives and engagement with political leadership should be limited to matters of policy through a regulatory and legal framework. Originality/value This study provides some practical insights from both an administration and policy perspective. First, it reveals the importance of and a linkage between both adequate resources and strong boards, but also the need to find the right balance in managing stakeholder interests SOEs face. The study does not necessarily support the popular view of completely eliminating government interference in SOE affairs, but rather advances optimal political influence through regulatory and legal frameworks without giving up ownership rights.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-86
Author(s):  
Papawadee Tanodomdej

The Tallinn Manuals (the Manuals) attempted to clarify how to apply existing international law to cyber operations. Though the Manuals are non-binding instruments, the Group of International Experts claimed that they reflected the lex lata applicable to cyber operations. However, this claim is questionable due to the dominating role of a few Western states in the drafting process and the linked neglect of the practice of “affected states” in cyber operations. This article examines the quality of the Manuals’ drafting process and the composition and impartiality of the experts involved. It focuses on the issue of the prohibition of the use of force. The aim of this examination is not to discuss whether the Manuals provided the right answer to the question of how international law applies to cyber operations. Rather, they function as a case study of how legal scholarship may affect the making of international law. The article concludes that certain rules in the Manuals are marked by NATO influence and overlook the practice of other states engaged in cyber operations. Therefore, the Manuals disregard the generality of state practice, which should be the decisive factor in the formation of customary international law. As far as “political activism” may be involved, the article argues that the role of legal scholars as assistants to the cognition of international law could be compromised.


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