scholarly journals Eliminating medicine waste in a Finnish university hospital — a qualitative study

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Teijo Peltoniemi ◽  
Reima Suomi
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Information Systems ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Economic Loss ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Pharmacy Staff ◽  
Medicine Supply ◽  
Medicine Waste

Abstract Background Medicine waste in hospitals leads to severe economic loss. This waste emerges for a number of reasons. Medicines are often ordered in too large quantities, which leads to stock expiring without being dispensed. Wastage can also be a consequence of poor management practices. Technical aids, such as automatic dispensers, have been suggested to reduce waste, but they too have shortcomings. Information systems can arguably contribute to waste reduction, but this area has not been widely researched. In this exploratory case study, we scrutinized the management of medicines waste in a hospital from an information systems perspective and examined how information systems are used to manage the medicine supply chain and medicine waste. Our research case was a Finnish university hospital, its central pharmacy, and, more widely, the medicine supply chain within the hospital. Methods This is a qualitative case study, based on data gathered through interviews and a survey and a review of other information sources, including annual reports and other relevant collateral. The study participants included pharmacy staff members and other hospital staff involved in medicine supply. The interviews were conducted in two rounds, first capturing the main themes and then exploring them further in the later study stages. Results The findings outline a picture of unfit technology and inconsistent and unreliable information. This is compensated for by manual practices and processes that cause an excessive administrative burden and ultimately increased wastage. An infrequent ordering process combined with the lack of recycling practices increase the wastage even more. Conclusion Medicine supply and waste management remain a manual administrative task. Inconsistent information and unfit information systems make this task challenging, and the process relies on the medicine supply staff’s experience and assumptions.

scholarly journals The idea of transport independence in the Russian Arctic

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (9) ◽  
pp. 913-930 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonina Tsvetkova ◽  
Britta Gammelgaard
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Core Competencies ◽  
Strategy Implementation ◽  
Institutional Factors ◽  
Russian Arctic ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Supply Chain Strategy

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore how supply chain strategies emerge and evolve in response to contextual influence.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative single-case study presents the journey of a supply chain strategy, conceptualised as the idea of transport independence in the Russian Arctic context. Data from 18 semi-structured interviews, personal observations and archival materials are interpreted through the institutional concepts of translation and editing effects.FindingsThe study reveals how supply chain strategies evolve over time and can affect institutional factors. The case study further reveals how contextual conditions make a company reconsider its core competencies as well as the role of supply chain management practices. The findings show that strategy implementation through purposeful actions can represent a powerful resistance to contextual pressures and constraints, as well as being a facilitator of change in actual supply chains and their context. During the translation of the idea of transport independence into actions, the supply chain strategy transformed itself into a form of strategic collaboration and thereby made supply chains in the Russian Arctic more integrated than before.Research limitations/implicationsMore empirical studies on strategy implementation in interaction with contextual and institutional factors are suggested. An institutional process perspective is applied in this study but the authors suggest that future research should include a human dimension by an exploration of day-to-day routines and challenges that employees face when strategising and the actions they take.Originality/valueThe study provides an understanding of how a new supply chain strategy emerges and how it changes during implementation. In this process-oriented study – merging context, process and strategy content – it is further shown that a supply chain strategy may affect the context by responding to contextual and institutional challenges.

Social Responsibility and Sustainability of Fast Fashion Retail Companies in the Textile Sector

2020 ◽  
pp. 303-324
Author(s):  
Javier Sierra-Sánchez ◽  
Luis Mañas-Viniegra
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Emerging Countries ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Fast Fashion ◽  
Lack Of Control ◽  
Sustainability Reports ◽  
Textile Sector

Social and environmental sustainability in the supply chain has been a major concern over the last decade as public opinion has placed responsibility on the shoulders of retail companies for their lack of control over suppliers that go beyond the first tier, which are usually located in emerging countries with regulations far below international standards. The objective of this research is to identify the variables through which retail companies are building their brand equity with a fast fashion business model in the textile sector. An analysis has been carried out regarding the content of annual reports, as well as CSR and sustainability reports, of the main retail companies in the textile sector: The TJX Companies, Inditex, and H&M. Inditex, the company with the highest level of compliance, can be identified and considered as a case study.

scholarly journals Benchmarking supply chain management practices in a South African confectionery manufacturing organisation

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Orestes Peristeris ◽  
Peter J. Kilbourn ◽  
Jacobus Walters
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chain Management ◽  
South African ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Business World ◽  
Chain Management ◽  
High Level ◽  
Practice Framework

Background: In an increasingly competitive business world, businesses need to be able to measure the effectiveness of their supply chain management process practices against proven best practice frameworks. A number of these frameworks exist internationally but have to be used within the context of knowing the relative strengths and weaknesses of potential benchmarking frameworks. Two such frameworks were identified in the research and a case was made to use one such framework, the Global Supply Chain Forum (GSCF) framework, to measure the effectiveness of the supply chain practices of a leading confectionery manufacturing company in South Africa.Objective of the research: The purpose of the research was to identify an international best practice framework, which could be used by South African manufacturing organisations to benchmark their supply chain management (SCM) practices.Methodology: The methodology followed was a literature review of the existing SCM frameworks to identify a framework, which would be the most suited to the objective of the study, followed by a case study of a leading manufacturing organisation’s SCM practices benchmarked against those found in the framework.Results and conclusions: The main finding of the case study was that there is a high degree of adherence between the case study organisation’s SCM practices and those found in the SCM framework. There was also generally a high level of importance ascribed by respondents to the best practices contained by the GSCF framework. It was therefore concluded that the GSCF framework proved to be a useful instrument for a comprehensive analysis of supply chain management processes and practices for a manufacturer in the fast moving consumer goods industry, with potential for applications by organisations in the supply chains of other industries.

scholarly journals Crop Protection and Its Effectiveness against Wildlife: A Case Study of Two Villages of Shivapuri National Park, Nepal

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sudip Pandey ◽  
Siddhartha Bajra Bajracharya
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
National Park ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Crop Protection ◽  
Buffer Zone ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Economic Loss ◽  
Crop Damage

A complex relationship between the residents and protected areas continue to be an obstacle to successful conservation of protected areas. Conflicts between park authority and people living around the park pose a threat to conservation. Moreover, crop depredation due to wildlife incurs a severe economic loss to communities living in the close vicinity of the park, affecting the livelihood and well-being of locals. Many studies have been carried out emphasizing the identification and quantification of crop damage, but studies highlighting the means used for the crop protection and their effectiveness are limited. This paper examines frequency of the crop damage by wildlife and efficacy of utilized management practices in Shivapuri National Park (SNP). Altogether 132 households were visited in two buffer zone villages namely, Sikre and Jhor Mahankhal of Shivapuri National Park, Nepal. The study suggested that crop depredation by wildlife was a function of several factors, namely, distance of the farmland from the park, size of the crop raiding animals, frequency of their attacks on the farmland, and the type of crops. Five different measures were identified by the communities which they regularly used to prevent crop damage. Both traditional as well as modern means were used by households to guard crops from invading wild animals. The means of crop protection from wildlife differed according to the type of animal and crop being protected. Biofencing and trenches were effective for the small animals. Watch tower “Machans” and throwing flaming sticks and making noises were the most effective and safest means of crop guarding from all kind of animals. Though crop guarding was intensive, no means were found to be able to prevent crop damage completely. Thus, site specific management strategies as well as technical and financial support from donor organizations would be most useful to minimize crop loss.Nepal Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 16, No.1 (2015) pp. 1-10

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