Search results for: health sector

Authors: Adel Fatima Zohra, Guendouz Abdelkader

Abstract:

The solitary sector seems to appear nowadays as a third sector along the private and public ones, because of their ineptitude to take in charge the social exigency of the society regarding the lack in their local assets and the weakness of their financial institutions. The role of this sector is promoting a set of activities in the field of the charity, without aiming neither the individual profit nor a power practice. With the rise in the need of domestic resources, it is possible to count on the Zakat funding to realize some investment projects in order to develop the local society in many sectors as health, agriculture … etc. In the Islamic financial system, the Zakat is likely one of the most important instruments in financing the local development with the respect of the “Charia” rules: the amount of the Zakat is 2.5% of a wealth equivalent of each 85 gr of gold possessed since one year at least. In Algeria a fund of Zakat, was created since 2003 as an alternative to the public finding of development. This fund is a religious and social institution under the supervision of the ministry of religious affairs. This supervision covers two tasks: the first is traditional witch concern the distribution and the forwarding of the zakat to the poor people, and the second is modern concerning the financing of microcredits in the aim to enhance social and economic development. In this paper, we try to highlight the main role of the Zakat fund and its impact on the both social and economic development in Algeria.

Keywords: dogmatic instrument, solidary sector, zakat fund, micro project

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Authors: Abdul Ganiyu Iddrisu

Abstract:

Digitization is the process of transforming analog material into digital form, especially for storage and use in a computer. Significant development of information and communication technology (ICT) over the past years has encouraged many researchers to investigate its contribution to promoting economic growth, and reducing poverty. Yet compelling empirical evidence on the effects of digitization on economic growth remains weak, particularly in Africa. This is because extant studies that explicitly evaluate digitization and economic growth nexus are mostly reports and desk reviews. This points out an empirical knowledge gap in the literature. Hypothetically, digitization influences financial sector development which in turn influences economic growth. Digitization has changed the financial sector and its operating environment. Obstacles to access to financing, for instance, physical distance, minimum balance requirements, low-income flows among others can be circumvented. Savings have increased, micro-savers have opened bank accounts, and banks are now able to price short-term loans. This has the potential to develop the financial sector, however, empirical evidence on digitization-financial development nexus is dearth. On the other hand, a number of studies maintained that financial sector development greatly influences growth of economies. We therefore argue that financial sector development is one of the transmission mechanisms through which digitization affects economic growth. Employing macro-country-level data from African countries and using fixed effects, random effects and Hausman-Taylor estimation approaches, this paper contributes to the literature by analysing economic growth in Africa focusing on the role of digitization, and financial sector development. First, we assess how digitization influence financial sector development in Africa. From an economic policy perspective, it is important to identify digitization determinants of financial sector development so that action can be taken to reduce the economic shocks associated with financial sector distortions. This nexus is rarely examined empirically in the literature. Secondly, we examine the effect of domestic credit to private sector and stock market capitalization as a percentage of GDP as used to proxy for financial sector development on 2 economic growth. Digitization is represented by the volume of digital/ICT equipment imported and GDP growth is used to proxy economic growth. Finally, we examine the effect of digitization on economic growth in the light of financial sector development. The following key results were found; first, digitalization propels financial sector development in Africa. Second, financial sector development enhances economic growth. Finally, contrary to our expectation, the results also indicate that digitalization conditioned on financial sector development tends to reduce economic growth in Africa. However, results of the net effects suggest that digitalization, overall, improves economic growth in Africa. We, therefore, conclude that, digitalization in Africa does not only develop the financial sector but unconditionally contributes the growth of the continent’s economies.

Keywords: digitalization, economic growth, financial sector development, Africa

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Authors: Dalia Almaghaslah, A. Alsayari, R. Asiri, N. Albugami

Abstract:

The aim of this study was to evaluate the pharmacy workforce in Saudi Arabia in terms of supply, geographical distribution, nationality and gender distribution, as well as to assess the employment rate. A retrospective cross-sectional approach was used to address these objectives. Relevant data was identified and retrieved from the latest version of the Health Statistical Yearbook— Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2016; Saudi Commission for Health Specialties publications, 2018; and national pharmacy organisation websites. In general, the exponential increase in the number of pharmacy schools has helped to produce more pharmacists in the rural areas of the country, but inequitable distribution of the workforce still exists. The reliance on non-indigenous pharmacists, especially in the private sector, is substantial. Male pharmacists outnumber females, mainly due to the cultural and social factors that limit the participation of women in community pharmacy, which is the largest employment sector. The employment rate shows limited opportunities for Saudi pharmacists at the Ministry of Health (MOH) as they have already Saudised almost all pharmacy positions at the MOH healthcare facilities. However, the private sector needs to assume responsibility for their share of the re-nationalisation of the profession in order to provide jobs for local pharmacists. Regular, more detailed profiling of the pharmacy workforce is an essential step to achieving effective pharmacy workforce planning. Currently, a large gap exists in our knowledge of the workforce in the country, especially regarding their supply and demand and employment prospects.

Keywords: employment prospects, pharmacy workforce, Saudi Arabia, supply and demand

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Authors: Shabeer Khan

Abstract:

The main objective of Islamic Finance is to promote social justice thorough financial inclusion and redistribution of economic resources between rich and poor. The approach of Islamic finance is more comprehensive in nature and covers both formal and informal sectors of the economy, first, through reducing the gap between both sectors, and second by using specific Islamic values to reallocate the wealth between formal and informal sectors. Applying Generalized Method of Movements (GMM) to the annual data spanning from 1995-2015 for 141 countries, this study explores the determinants of informal business sector in Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries and then compares with Non-OIC countries. Economic freedom and institutions variables as well as economic growth and money supply are found to reduce informal business sector in both OIC and Non-OIC nations while government expenditure are found to increase informal business sector in both group of nations. Informal Business sector remain the same in both types of countries but still the majority Muslim population in OIC economies create main difference between both groups of nations and justify the potential role of Islamic Finance in informal business sector in OIC nations. The study suggests that institutions quality should be improved and entrepreneurs’ friendly business environment must be provided. This study refines the main features of informal business sector and discuss their implications on policy designing and implementation, particularly in the context of Islamic finance fight against poverty, inequality and improving living standards of informal sector participants in OIC countries.

Keywords: Islamic finance, informal Business Sector, Generalized Method of Movements (GMM) and OIC

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Authors: Siti Indati Mustapa, Hussain Ali Bekhet

Abstract:

Global CO2 emission and increasing fuel consumption to meet energy demand requirement has become a threat in recent decades. Effort to reduce the CO2 emission is now a matter of priority in most countries of the world including Malaysia. Transportation has been identified as the most intensive sector of carbon-based fuels and achievement of the voluntary target to meet 40% carbon intensity reduction set at the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) means that the emission from the transport sector must be reduced accordingly. This posed a great challenge to Malaysia and effort has to be made to embrace suitable and appropriate energy policy for sustainable energy and emission reduction of this sector. The focus of this paper is to analyse the trends of Malaysia’s energy consumption and emission of four different transport sub-sectors (road, rail, aviation and maritime). Underlying factors influencing the growth of energy consumption and emission trends are discussed. Besides, technology status towards energy efficiency in transportation sub-sectors is presented. By reviewing the existing policies and trends of energy used, the paper highlights prospective policy options towards achieving emission reduction in the transportation sector.

Keywords: CO2 emissions, transportation sector, fuel consumption, energy policy, Malaysia

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Authors: Nelson Kimeli Kemboi Yego, Juma Kasozi, Joseph Nkruzinza, Francis Kipkogei

Abstract:

The study investigated the low uptake of health insurance in Kenya despite efforts to achieve universal health coverage through various health insurance schemes. Unsupervised machine learning techniques were employed to identify patterns in health insurance uptake based on sociodemographic factors among Kenyan households. The aim was to identify key demographic groups that are underinsured and to provide insights for the development of effective policies and outreach programs. Using the 2021 FinAccess Survey, the study clustered Kenyan households based on their health insurance uptake and sociodemographic features to reveal patterns in health insurance uptake across the country. The effectiveness of k-prototypes clustering, hierarchical clustering, and agglomerative hierarchical clustering in clustering based on sociodemographic factors was compared. The k-prototypes approach was found to be the most effective at uncovering distinct and well-separated clusters in the Kenyan sociodemographic data related to health insurance uptake based on silhouette, Calinski-Harabasz, Davies-Bouldin, and Rand indices. Hence, it was utilized in uncovering the patterns in uptake. The results of the analysis indicate that inclusivity in health insurance is greatly related to affordability. The findings suggest that targeted policy interventions and outreach programs are necessary to increase health insurance uptake in Kenya, with the ultimate goal of achieving universal health coverage. The study provides important insights for policymakers and stakeholders in the health insurance sector to address the low uptake of health insurance and to ensure that healthcare services are accessible and affordable to all Kenyans, regardless of their socio-demographic status. The study highlights the potential of unsupervised machine learning techniques to provide insights into complex health policy issues and improve decision-making in the health sector.

Keywords: health insurance, unsupervised learning, clustering algorithms, machine learning

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Authors: Abdul Ganiyu Iddrisu, Bei Chen

Abstract:

Digitization is the process of transforming analog material into digital form, especially for storage and use in a computer. Significant development of information and communication technology (ICT) over the past years has encouraged many researchers to investigate its contribution to promoting economic growth and reducing poverty. Yet the compelling empirical evidence on the effects of digitization on economic growth remains weak, particularly in Africa. This is because extant studies that explicitly evaluate digitization and economic growth nexus are mostly reports and desk reviews. This points out an empirical knowledge gap in the literature. Hypothetically, digitization influences financial sector development which in turn influences economic growth. Digitization has changed the financial sector and its operating environment. Obstacles to access to financing, for instance, physical distance, minimum balance requirements, and low-income flows, among others can be circumvented. Savings have increased, micro-savers have opened bank accounts, and banks are now able to price short-term loans. This has the potential to develop the financial sector. However, empirical evidence on the digitization-financial development nexus is dearth. On the other hand, a number of studies maintained that financial sector development greatly influences growth of economies. We, therefore, argue that financial sector development is one of the transmission mechanisms through which digitization affects economic growth. Employing macro-country-level data from African countries and using fixed effects, random effects and Hausman-Taylor estimation approaches, this paper contributes to the literature by analysing economic growth in Africa, focusing on the role of digitization and financial sector development. First, we assess how digitization influences financial sector development in Africa. From an economic policy perspective, it is important to identify digitization determinants of financial sector development so that action can be taken to reduce the economic shocks associated with financial sector distortions. This nexus is rarely examined empirically in the literature. Secondly, we examine the effect of domestic credit to the private sector and stock market capitalization as a percentage of GDP as used to proxy for financial sector development on economic growth. Digitization is represented by the volume of digital/ICT equipment imported and GDP growth is used to proxy economic growth. Finally, we examine the effect of digitization on economic growth in the light of financial sector development. The following key results were found; first, digitalization propels financial sector development in Africa. Second, financial sector development enhances economic growth. Finally, contrary to our expectation, the results also indicate that digitalization conditioned on financial sector development tends to reduce economic growth in Africa. However, results of the net effects suggest that digitalization, overall, improve economic growth in Africa. We, therefore, conclude that, digitalization in Africa does not only develop the financial sector but unconditionally contributes the growth of the continent’s economies.

Keywords: digitalization, financial sector development, Africa, economic growth

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Authors: Razul Ikmal Ramli

Abstract:

Successful implementation of innovation is a key success formula of a great organization. Innovation will ensure competitive advantages as well as sustainability of organization in the long run. In public sector context, the role of innovation is crucial to resolve dynamic challenges of public services such as operating in economic uncertainty with limited resources, increasing operating expenditure and growing expectation among citizens towards high quality, swift and reliable public services. Acknowledging the prospect of innovation as a tool for achieving high-performance public sector, the Malaysian New Economic Model launched in the year 2011 intensified government commitment to foster innovation in the public sector. Since 2011 various initiatives have been implemented, however little is known about the performance of public sector innovation in Malaysia. Hence, by applying the national innovation system theory as a pillar, the formulated research objectives were focused on measuring the level of innovation capabilities, wider public sector condition for innovation, innovation activity, and innovation performance as well as to examine the relationship between the four constructs with innovation performance as a dependent variable. For that purpose, 1,000 sets of self-administrated survey questionnaires were distributed to heads of units and divisions of 22 Federal Ministry and Central Agencies in the administrative, security, social and economic sector. Based on 456 returned questionnaires, the descriptive analysis found that innovation capabilities, wider sector condition, innovation activities and innovation performance were rated by respondents at moderately high level. Based on Structural Equation Modelling, innovation performance was found to be influenced by innovation capability, wider sector condition for innovation and innovation activity. In addition, the analysis also found innovation activity to be the most important construct that influences innovation performance. The implication of the study concluded that the innovation policy implemented in the public sector of Malaysia sparked motivation to innovate and resulted in various forms of innovation. However, the overall achievements were not as well as they were expected to be. Thus, the study suggested for the formulation of a dedicated policy to strengthen innovation capability, wider public sector condition for innovation and innovation activity of the Malaysian public sector. Furthermore, strategic intervention needs to be focused on innovation activity as the construct plays an important role in determining the innovation performance. The success of public sector innovation implementation will not only benefit the citizens, but will also spearhead the competitiveness and sustainability of the country.

Keywords: public sector, innovation, performance, innovation policy

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Authors: Pallavi Kishore, Mariam Aslam

Abstract:

The sharp decline in oil prices that started in 2014 affected most economies in the world either positively or negatively. In some economies, particularly the oil exporting countries, the effects were felt immediately. The Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC henceforth) countries are oil and gas-dependent with the largest oil reserves in the world. UAE (United Arab Emirates) has been striving to diversify away from oil and expects higher non-oil growth in 2018. These two factors, falling oil prices and the economy strategizing away from oil dependence, make a compelling case to study the financial performance of various sectors in the economy. Among other sectors, the insurance sector is widely recognized as an important indicator of the health of the economy. An expanding population, surge in construction and infrastructure, increased life expectancy, greater expenditure on automobiles and other luxury goods translate to a booming insurance sector. A slow-down of the insurance sector, on the other hand, may indicate a general slow-down in the economy. Therefore, a study on the insurance sector will help understand the general nature of the current economy. This study involves calculations and comparisons of ratios pre and post the fall in oil prices in the insurance sector in the UAE. A sample of 33 companies listed on the official stock exchanges of UAE-Dubai Financial Market and Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange were collected and empirical analysis employed to study the financial performance pre and post fall in oil prices. Ratios were calculated in 5 categories: Profitability, Liquidity, Leverage, Efficiency, and Investment. The means pre- and post-fall are compared to conclude that the profitability ratios including ROSF (Return on Shareholder Funds), ROCE (Return on Capital Employed) and NPM (Net Profit Margin) have all taken a hit. Parametric tests, including paired t-test, concludes that while the fall in profitability ratios is statistically significant, the other ratios have been quite stable in the period. The efficiency, liquidity, gearing and investment ratios have not been severely affected by the fall in oil prices. This may be due to the implementation of stronger regulatory policies and is a testimony to the diversification into the non-oil economy. The regulatory authorities can use the findings of this study to ensure transparency in revealing financial information to the public and employ policies that will help further the health of the economy. The study will also help understand which areas within the sector could benefit from more regulations.

Keywords: UAE, insurance sector, ratio analysis, oil price, profitability, liquidity, gearing, investment, efficiency

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Authors: Frank Hespeler, Giuseppe Loiacono

Abstract:

We propose measures for systemic risk generated through intra-sectorial interdependencies in the hedge fund sector. These measures are based on variations in the average cross-effects of funds showing significant interdependency between their individual returns and the moments of the sector’s return distribution. The proposed measures display a high ability to identify periods of financial distress, are robust to modifications in the underlying econometric model and are consistent with intuitive interpretation of the results.

Keywords: hedge funds, systemic risk, vector autoregressive model, risk monitoring

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Authors: Valentine Seymour

Abstract:

Environmental volunteering organisations use questionnaires to explore the relationship between environmental volunteers and their health. To the author’s best knowledge, no one has explored volunteers’ health perception, which could be considered when designing a health impact measurement tool used to increase effective communication. This paper examines environmental volunteers' perceptions of health, knowledge which can be used to design a health impact measurement tool. This study uses focus group interviews, content analysis, and a general inductive approach to explore the health perceptions of volunteers who engage in environmental volunteering activities from the perspective of UK charity The Conservation Volunteers. Findings showed that volunteer groups presented were relatively similar in how they defined the term health, with their overall conceptual model closely resembling that of the World Health Organization 1948 definition. This suggests that future health impact measurement tools in the environmental volunteering sector could base their design around the World Health Organization’s definition.

Keywords: health perception, impact measurement, mental models, tool development

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Authors: Bruno Valverde Chahaira, Matheus Jeronimo Low Lopes, Marta Beatriz Tanaka Ferdinandi

Abstract:

This paper proposes to dissect the meanings and / or directions of the State, in order, to present the State models to elaborate a conceptual framework about its function in the legal scope. To do so, it points out the possible contracts established between the State and the Society, since the general principles immanent in them can guide the models of society in force. From this orientation arise the contracts, whose purpose is by the effect to modify the status (the being and / or the opinion) of each of the subjects in presence - State and Society. In this logic, this paper announces the fiduciary contracts and “veredicção”(portuguese word) contracts, from the perspective of semiotics discourse (or greimasian). Therefore, studies focus on the issue of manifest language in unilateral and bilateral or reciprocal relations between the State and Society. Thus, under the biases of the model of the communicative situation and discourse, the guidelines of these contractual relations will be analyzed in order to see if there is a pragmatic sanction: positive when the contract is signed between the subjects (reward), or negative when the contract between they are broken (punishment). In this way, a third path emerges which, in this specific case, passes through the subject-third sector. In other words, the proposal, which is systemic in nature, is to analyze whether, since the contract of the welfare state is not carried out in the constitutional program on fundamental rights: education, health, housing, an others. Therefore, in the structure of the exchange demanded by the society according to its contractual obligations (others), the third way (Third Sector) advances in the empty space left by the State. In this line, it presents the modalities of action of the third sector in the social scope. Finally, the normative communication organization of these three subjects is sought in the pragmatic model of discourse, namely: State, Society and Third Sector, in an attempt to understand the constant dynamics in the Law and in the language of the relations established between them.

Keywords: access to justice, state, social rights, third sector

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Authors: Pramoda Karunarathna, Hemamalie Gunatilaka

Abstract:

This study is based on experiences of Sri Lankan lesbian and gay workers’ career in the corporate sector, which include both manufacturing and service sectors. The study has started with the intention of shedding light on a grey area to observe the negative effects on lesbian and gay workers and their experiences while they are employed in the Sri Lankan corporate sector. In order to understand the experiences of lesbian and gay workers while they are at work within the corporate sector, the study seeks to address four questions. First research question is about the challenges faced by lesbian and gay workers while they are at work, and the second research question looks at their career patterns. Third research question seeks to address the behavior at work, and the fourth research question looks at the influence of class, religion, and cultural aspects on the career of lesbian and gay workers. Methodologically, the research was based on semi-structured interviews with nine participants (five gay men and four lesbian women) having work experience in the corporate sector and residing in Colombo, the capital city of Sri Lanka. The research found that the participants have gone through the process of developing sexual identity; gay men possess more feminine characteristics, while lesbian women possess more masculine characteristics. Further, their identity gets revealed in different ways, such as through the curriculum vitae, at the interviews, through the attire and behavior, and with the use of social media. The study also found that lesbian and gay workers experience discrimination due to violation of hierarchical power difference by other employees and marginalization, verbal and nonverbal abuse by other men at work are common experiences. Another finding is that lesbian and gay workers adopt strategies for survival at work, and they prefer the NGO sector to the corporate sector. In contrast, even within the corporate sector, advertising is preferred by lesbian and gay workers. Some of the Sri Lankan corporate sector organizations, especially multinational organizations, have initiated diversity training, and it might lead to making these organisations lesbian and gay-friendly workplaces in the future. It is also found that nearly 44 percent of the participants do not have a religion, and it is due to the rejection of deviant behaviours by most of the religions. In conclusion, lesbian and gay workers experience discrimination at work in the Sri Lankan corporate sector with an exception to the companies relating to advertising and non-governmental organisations is the sector that these workers prefer the most.

Keywords: lesbian workers, gay workers, Sri Lankan corporate sector, discrimination

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Authors: Dilsad Akal

Abstract:

Aim: Companies communicate with each other and with their costumers via call centers. Call centers are defined as stressful because of their uncertain working hours, inadequate relief time, performance based system and heavy workload. In literature, this sector is defined as risky as mining sector by means of health and safety. The aim of this research is to enlight the relatively dark area. Subject and Methods: The collection of data for this study completed during April-May 2015 for the two selected call centers in different parts of Turkey. The applied question mostly investigated the health conditions of call center workers. Electromagnetic field measurements were completed at the same time with applying the question poll. The ratio of employee accessibility noted as 73% for the first call center and 87% for the second. Results: The results of electromagnetic field measurements were as between 371 V/m-32 V/m for the first location and between 370 V/m-61 V/m for the second. The general complaints of the employees for both workplaces can be counted as; inadequate relief time, inadequate air conditioning, disturbance, poor thermal conditions, inadequate or extreme lighting. Furthermore, musculoskeletal discomfort, stress, ear and eye discomfort are main health problems of employees. Conclusion: The measured values and the responses to the question poll were found parallel with the other similar research results in literature. At the end of this survey, a risk map of workplace was prepared in terms of safety and health at work in general and some suggestions for resolution were provided.

Keywords: call center, health and safety, electromagnetic field, risk map

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Authors: Tania Breton, Dorina Simeonov, Shauna MacEachern

Abstract:

Ontario’s 10 Year Mental Health and Addictions Strategy has included the establishment of 18 Service Collaborative across the province; cross-sector tables in a specific region coming together to explore mental health and addiction system needs and adopting an intervention to address that need. The process is community led and supported by implementation teams from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), using the framework of implementation science (IS) to enable evidence-based and sustained change. These justice initiatives are focused on the intersection of the justice system and the mental health and addiction systems. In this presentation, we will share the learnings, achievements and challenges of implementing innovative practices to the mental health and addictions needs of Ontarians within the justice system. Specifically, we will focus on the key points across the justice system - from early intervention and trauma-informed, culturally appropriate services to post-sentence support and community reintegration. Our approach to this work involves external implementation support from the CAMH team including coaching, knowledge exchange, evaluation, Aboriginal engagement and health equity expertise. Agencies supported the implementation of tools and processes which changed practice at the local level. These practices are being scaled up across Ontario and community agencies have come together in an unprecedented collaboration and there is a shared vision of the issues overlapping between the mental health, addictions and justice systems. Working with ministry partners has allowed space for innovation and created an environment where better approaches can be nurtured and spread.

Keywords: implementation, innovation, early identification, mental health and addictions, prevention, systems

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Authors: Hugo Manoel Olivera Da Silva, Ricardo Silva Thé Pontes

Abstract:

In this work, is presented an analysis of the Brazilian regulation on human exposure to electromagnetic fields, which provides limits to electric fields, magnetic and electromagnetic fields. The regulations for the electricity sector was in charge of the Agência Nacional de Energia Elétrica-ANEEL, the Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency, that made it through the Normative Resolution Nº 398/2010, resulting in a series of obligations for the agents of the electricity sector, especially in the areas of generation, transmission, and distribution.

Keywords: adverse effects, electric energy, electric and magnetic fields, human health, regulation

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Authors: Galih Imaduddin

Abstract:

Knowledge has been viewed as one of the most important resources in organizations, including those that operate in the healthcare sector. On that basis, Knowledge Management (KM) is crucial for healthcare organizations to improve their productivity and ensure effective utilization of their resources. Despite the growing interests to understand how KM might work for healthcare organizations, there is only a modest amount of empirical inquiries which have specifically focused on the tools and initiatives to share knowledge. Hence, the main purpose of this paper is to investigate the way healthcare organizations, particularly public sector ones, utilize knowledge sharing tools and initiatives for the benefit of patient-care. Employing a qualitative method, 13 (thirteen) Community Health Centers (CHCs) from a high-performing district health setting in Indonesia were observed. Data collection and analysis involved a repetition of document retrievals and interviews (n=41) with multidisciplinary health professionals who work in these CHCs. A single case study was cultivated reflecting on the means that were used to share knowledge, along with the factors that inhibited the exchange of knowledge among those health professionals. The study discovers that all of the thirteen CHCs exhibited and applied knowledge sharing means which included knowledge documents, virtual communication channels (i.e. emails and chatting applications), and social learning forums such as staff meetings, morning briefings, and communities of practices. However, the intensity of utilization was different among these CHCs, in which organizational culture, leadership, professional boundaries, and employees’ technological aptitude were presumed to be the factors that inhibit knowledge sharing processes. Making a distance with the KM literature of other sectors, this study denounces the primacy of technology-based tools, suggesting that socially-based initiatives could be more reliable for sharing knowledge. This suggestion is largely due to the nature of healthcare work which is still predominantly based on the tacit form of knowledge.

Keywords: knowledge management, knowledge sharing, knowledge sharing tools and initiatives, knowledge sharing inhibitors, primary health care organizations

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Authors: Vivian W. L. Tsang, Karen Lockhart, Samuel Spiegel, Annalee Yassi

Abstract:

Background: Workers in the informal economy often incur exposure to well-documented occupational health hazards. Insufficient attention has been afforded to rigorously evaluating intervention programs to reduce the risks, especially in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM). Objectives: This systematic review, conducted as part of the World Health Organization’s Global Plan of Action for Workers’ Health, sought to assess the state of knowledge on occupational health programs and interventions for the informal artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) sector, an occupation which directly employs at least 50 million people. Methods: We used a comprehensive search strategy for four well-known databases relevant to health outcomes: PubMed, Engineering Village, OVID Medline, and Web of Science, and employed the PRISMA framework for our analysis. Findings: Ten studies met the inclusion criteria of a primary study focused on assessing the impact of interventions addressing occupational health concerns in ASGM. There were no studies evaluating or even identifying comprehensive occupational health and safety programs for this sector, although target interventions addressing specific hazards exist. Major areas of intervention –education and introduction of mercury-reducing/eliminating technology were identified, and the challenges and limitations of each intervention taken into the assessment. Even for these, however, there was a lack of standardization for measuring outcome or impact, let alone long-term health outcomes for miners and mining communities. Conclusion: There is an urgent need for research on comprehensive occupational health programs addressing the array of hazards faced by artisanal and small-scale miners.

Keywords: informal economy, artisanal and small-scale gold mining, occupational health, health and safety, workplace safety

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Authors: N. R. N. Mendis, S. N. Silva

Abstract:

Introduction: Patient satisfaction of services provided by primary care health services depends on many factors. One key factor in this depends on is the nursing services received in primary care. Since majority of the primary care in Sri Lanka is provided by the private sector, it is important to assess patient satisfaction on this. Objective: To assess the satisfaction among the public on nurses working in dispensaries in Sri Lanka. Methods: A descriptive study was done on 200 individual selected using convenient sampling among dispensaries in Gampaha district, Sri Lanka. Results: 59.3% of the sample had long term illnesses or disabilities and all of them preferred speaking to a nurse. 70.9% of the sample used to make appointments with nurses while 57.8% out of them were comfortable in discussing their health concerns. 98.9 % agreed that they get individual attention by the nurses. Majority of the sample that is 34.2% spends around 20 minutes with the nurse without even making any pay. Significantly, the whole sample believes that the nurses are professional and admits that the care given is of high quality. All 100% of the sample said that the nurses could understand their concerns while 93.5% admitted that it was very useful in their recovery. Conclusions: Majority of the public were very much satisfied with the nurses and their practice at the dispensaries.

Keywords: health education, nurses practices, patient satisfaction, primary care

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Authors: Nithra Kitreerawutiwong, Sunsanee Mekrungrongwong, Artitaya Wongwonsin, Chakkraphan Phetphoom, Buaploy Phromjang

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Background: Thailand has implemented a district health system based on the concept of primary health care. Since 2014, Family Care Team (FCT) was launched to improve the quality of care through a multidisciplinary team include not only the health sector but also social sector work together. FCT classified into 3 levels: district, sub-district, and community. This system now consists of 66,353 teams, including 3,890 teams at district level, 12,237 teams at the sub-district level, and 50,326 teams at the community level. There is a report regarding assessment the situation and perception on FCT, however, relatively few examined the operationality of this policy. This study aimed to explore the perception of district manager on the process of the implementation of FCT policy and the factors associating to implement FCT in the district health system. Methods/Results: Forty in-depth interviews were performed: 5 of primary care manager at the provincial medical health office, 5 of community hospital director, 5 of district administrative health office, 10 of sub-district health promoting hospital, and 10 of local organization. Semi-structure interview guidelines were used in the discussions. The data was analyzed by thematic analysis. This policy was formulated based on the demographic change and epidemiology transition to serve a long term care for elderly. Facilitator factors are social capital in district health systems such as family health leader and multidisciplinary team. Barrier factors are communication to the frontline provider and local organization. The output of this policy in relation to the structure of FCT is well-defined. Unanticipated effects include training of FCT in community level. Conclusion: Early feedback from healthcare manager is valuable information for the improvement of FCT to function optimally. Moreover, in the long term, health outcome need to be evaluated.

Keywords: family care team, district health system, primary care, qualitative study

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Authors: I. K. Norziaton, M. D. Ridhuan, A. N. Nur Adura

Abstract:

Assets misappropriation is becoming a major concern in organizations. Over the years, the Malaysian Auditor General has reported high occurrences of assets misappropriation at the federal, state and even local governments. It is surprising that assets misappropriation is not the only major concern in the public sector but it has also indicates a common sight in private sector. The current situation is rather disconcerting because employees are accountable to perform their jobs at the interest of the organizations. Various researches in the past has found that the incidence of assets misappropriation occurs when employees used the official vehicles, internet connection, computers, stationery and facilities for personal and family benefits. The issue of assets misappropriation has continue to be a major concern for organizations and its impact on the reputation and financial health can be enormous. Even though the issue seems to be trivial, yet, if it is left untreated, the symptoms will become an incurable disease that it will cause major leakages to the organizations. Hence, this paper highlights the common practices of assets misappropriation in public and private sectors. It also discusses why the acts of assets misappropriation occurs. Using the data through questionnaire survey, a total of 250 questionnaires were distributed to the private and public sectors employees. However 173 (69.2%) were returned and usable. This paper concludes that it is vital to promote awareness to the public and private sectors employees on issues of assets misappropriation. Assets misappropriation could have been avoided provided that the officers in charge are more vigilant, competent and practice high level of integrity in discharging their responsibilities towards the organizations.

Keywords: assets misappropriation, fraud, public sector, private sector

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Authors: Abhilash Balan Paleri

Abstract:

Hand woven fabric embellishes an exceptional identity in the social milieu of Kerala; still, the artisans and handloom sector is undergoing crisis due to various reasons. The hand woven school uniform initiative of Govt. of Kerala launched in 2016 aims at enhancing the sector, ensuring sustainability at artisan and end-user levels. The Kerala Government already distributed 23 lakhs meters of cloth (for shirting, suiting, and skirting) woven by 4085 artisans in their traditional looms covering 4.5 lakhs of students in the public education sector which covers cover 3,701 schools in the state. The 2019-20 year production is expected to be 42 Lakhs meters of hand woven clothing catering 8.6 lakhs of students in the primary sector. This particular investigation unveils the upshots of the initiative, and the observations are derived through systematic enquiry with artisans, authorities, and end-users. The findings show a remarkable positive impact in the livelihood of artisans and the entire handloom sector.

Keywords: handloom school uniform initiative of Kerala, hand woven fabric, sustainability, handloom weavers

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Authors: Anushree S. Panikkassery

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The paper analyses the pattern and trend of maternal health care in south Indian states. It studies the interstate disparities in terms of maternal health care. It also compares the trends in terms of achieving the target of sustainable development Goal is related to maternal health. The maternal health care (MHC) development is one of the key indicators for the development of health sector in the country and assumes significance from the socioeconomic and developmental perspectives. Maternal health care mainly consists of composite care during pregnancy, child birth as well as postpartum period. Antenatal care, identification, referral and management of high risk pregnancies, safe and healthy child birth and early postnatal care are some of the important issues pertaining to maternal health. Data is collected from national family health survey 1992-93, 1998-99, 2005-06, and 2015-16. A concentration index is used to study the disparities in equity of maternal health among south Indian states. The study shows that there has been an improvement in maternal health care in south Indian states with Kerala topping among the states. But there exist disparities among the south Indian states.

Keywords: antenatal care, disparities, equity, maternal health

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Authors: Simiso Fisokuhle Nyandeni

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Climate change has turned out to be a pandemic that has drawn the attention of many countries’ households around the globe, especially those whose livelihood and economic status depend on agricultural productivity. Hence, the agricultural sector is regarded as the sector that is most dependent on climate conditions for its productivity/harvest, yet in recent years this sector has been experiencing drought. However, adaptation seems to be a tool that every farmer looks upon as a solution to their challenges as their productivity keeps on being vulnerable to climate effects. Thus, exposure/access to the market seems to be a major challenge that faces especially small-scale farmers. We, therefore, examine the small-scale farmers’ constraints or challenges towards getting access to the market for them to get proper sales of their farming products. As a result, the adaptation capacity of every farm household varies on the financial status.

Keywords: climate change, small-scale farming, agriculture sector, adaptation

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Authors: Eti Mizrahi, Gizem İntepe

Abstract:

The geographical location of Turkey that stretches from Asia to Europe and Russia to Africa makes it an important logistics hub in the region. Although logistics is a developing sector in Turkey, the stock market representation is still low with only two companies listed in Turkey’s stock exchange since 2010. In this paper, we use the daily values of these two listed stocks as a benchmark for the logistics sector. After modeling logistics stock prices, an empirical examination is conducted between the existing logistics indices and these stock prices. The paper investigates whether the measures of logistics stocks are correlated with newly available logistics indices. It also shows the reflection of the economic activity in the logistics sector on the stock exchange market. The results presented in this paper are the first analysis of the behavior of logistics indices and logistics stock prices for Turkey.

Keywords: forecasting, logistic stock exchange, modeling, Africa

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Authors: Nasir Baba Ahmed, Nicolas Daclin, Marc Olivaux, Gilles Dusserre

Abstract:

The Mobile field hospital is critical in terms of managing emergencies in crisis. It is a sub-section of the main hospitals and the health sector, tasked with delivering responsive, immediate, and efficient medical services during a crisis. With the aim to prevent further crisis, the assessment of the cyber assets follows different methods, to distinguish its strengths and weaknesses, and in turn achieve cyber resiliency. The work focuses on assessments of cyber resilience in field hospitals with trends growing in both the field hospital and the health sector in general. This creates opportunities for the adverse attackers and the response improvement objectives for attaining cyber resilience, as the assessments allow users and stakeholders to know the level of risks with regards to its cyber assets. Thus, the purpose is to show the possible threat vectors which open up opportunities, with contrast to current trends in the assessment of the mobile field hospitals’ cyber assets.

Keywords: assessment framework, cyber resilience, cyber security, mobile field hospital

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Authors: Parisa Afshin, Terje Grønning

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Norway, similar to many other countries, has set the focus of its policies in creating new strong and highly innovative sectors in recent years, as the oil and gas sector profitability is declining. Biotechnology sector in Norway has a great potential, especially in marine-biotech and cancer medicine. However, Norway being a periphery faces especial challenges in the path of creating internationally well-known biotech sector and an international knowledge hub. The aim of this article is to analyze the progress of the Norwegian biotechnology industry, its pathway to build up an innovation network and conduct collaborative innovation based on its initial conditions and its own advantage and disadvantages. The findings have important implications not only for politicians and academic in understanding the infrastructure of biotechnology sector in the country, but it has important lessons for other periphery countries or regions aiming in creating strong biotechnology sector and catching up with the strong internationally-recognized regions. Data and methodology: To achieve the main goal of this study, information has been collected via secondary resources such as web pages and annual reports published by the officials and mass media along with interviews were used. The data were collected with the goal to shed light on a brief history and current status of Norway biotechnology sector, as well as geographic distribution of biotech industry, followed by the role of academic and industry collaboration and public policies in Norway biotech. As knowledge is the key input in innovation, knowledge perspective of the system such as knowledge flow in the sector regarding the national and regional innovation system has been studied. Primary results: The internationalization has been an important element in development of periphery regions' innovativeness enabling them to overcome their weakness while putting more weight on the importance of regional policies. Following such findings, suggestions on policy decision and international collaboration, regarding national and regional system of innovation, has been offered as means of promoting strong innovative sector.

Keywords: biotechnology sector, knowledge-based industry, national innovation system, regional innovation system

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Authors: Emel Kızılkaya Aydogan, Mihrimah Ozmen, Yılmaz Delice

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In recent days, there is a change and the ongoing development of the telecommunications sector in the global market. In this sector, churn analysis techniques are commonly used for analysing why some customers terminate their service subscriptions prematurely. In addition, customer churn is utmost significant in this sector since it causes to important business loss. Many companies make various researches in order to prevent losses while increasing customer loyalty. Although a large quantity of accumulated data is available in this sector, their usefulness is limited by data quality and relevance. In this paper, a cost-sensitive feature selection framework is developed aiming to obtain the feature reducts to predict customer churn. The framework is a cost based optional pre-processing stage to remove redundant features for churn management. In addition, this cost-based feature selection algorithm is applied in a telecommunication company in Turkey and the results obtained with this algorithm.

Keywords: churn prediction, data mining, decision-theoretic rough set, feature selection

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Authors: M. Chavleishvili

Abstract:

The paper presents the analysis of the current situation of agricultural development in Georgia. The investment environment that supports development of the agricultural sector is evaluated and the key priorities are identified. The analysis of the projects already implemented with state and EU support, as well as those that are being currently implemented is presented. The policy and the programs supporting development of agricultural sector are analyzed. Based on an analysis of the evaluations of experts and the primary accounting documents, the outcomes of investment programs, their advantages and disadvantages, are studied. Through identifying investment programs in the agricultural sector of Georgia, corresponding conclusions are made, based on which some recommendations are developed.

Keywords: agriculture, investments, investment programs, projects

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Authors: Edgard Barki, Tânia Modesto Veludo-de-Oliveira, Felipe Zambaldi

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The social enterprise sector can be characterized as organizations that aim to solve social problems with financial sustainability and using market mechanisms. This sector has shown an increasing interest worldwide. Despite the growth and relevance of the sector, there is still a gap regarding the assessment of the social impact resulting from the initiatives of the organizations in this field. A number of metrics have been designed worldwide to evaluate the impact of social enterprises (e.g., IRIS, GIIRS, BACO), as well as some ad hoc studies that have been carried out, mainly in the microcredit sector, but there is still a gap to be filled in the development of research in social impact evaluation. Therefore, this research seeks to evaluate the social impact of two social enterprises (Terra Nova and Vivenda) in the area of housing in Brazil. To evaluate these impacts and their dimensions, we conducted an exploratory research, through three focus groups, thirty in-depth interviews and a survey with beneficiaries of both organizations. The results allowed us to evaluate how the two organizations were able to create a deep social impact in the populations served. Terra Nova has a more collective perspective, with a clear benefit of social inclusion and improvement of the community’s infrastructure, while Vivenda has a more individualized perspective, improving self-esteem, sociability and family coexistence.

Keywords: Brazil, housing, social enterprise, social impact evaluation

Procedia PDF Downloads 405