Difficulties and Hindrances Facing End Users of Electronic Information Exchange Systems in Design and Construction

Since information and communication technology (ICT) was introduced into the construction industry over a decade ago, the once fledging technologies have now been well developed. ICT has been commonly adopted, particularly in places where speedy construction is the norm, e.g., in Hong Kong. At the time when ICT is seemingly well developed, this paper aims at identifying the difficulties and hindrances facing the end users of such information exchange systems during design and construction and the consequential effects on project performance. Through literature review, a series of structured interviews, and a questionnaire survey, it is found that industry users welcomed the advancement of ICT, but that the necessary technical and psychological supports from their organizations were insufficiently provided. In addition, significant differences on the hindrances and their consequential effects have been identified between end users in the private sector and those in the public sector. The study findings have also highlighted factors impeding the smooth implementation of ICT systems at the end-user level, which would help organizations to formulate effective strategies to cope with ever-evolving communication technologies and changes in working style.     

Comparison of public/private health care insurance parameters for independent psychological practice.

Managed care cost-cutting strategies are more prevalent in the private (employer provided) than public (Medicare/Medicaid) health care sectors. The main organizational managed care strategy pertaining to the independent practice of psychology has been the separation of the administration of mental from medical health care though behavioral health carve-outs. These organizations typically offer lower reimbursement rates and have greater preauthorization requirements than non-managed care public plans for the same psychological service. Dispute resolution in the private sector involves lawsuits and state consumer protection programs while public plans utilize internal review and are subject to investigations of provider billing fraud and abuse. Behavioral health carve-outs have reduced mental health care utilization rates with unknown effects upon outcome. There is some evidence that psychologists have chosen to limit practice within the private sector, but national data on the overall effect is lacking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An analysis of managers' reactions to their own performance appraisal feedback.

Individuals' reactions to their performance appraisal interviews were examined in two analyses of managers who appraised their subordinates. We hypothesized that managers' reactions toward their own appraisal interview would be influenced by both supervisor satisfaction and favorability of the feedback they received. We also hypothesized that managers' reactions would be affected by system satisfaction (i.e., their attitudes toward the system's ability to document the performance of their subordinates). Questionnaires were administered to managers in eight colleges and universities in one state system. Results indicated that managers distinguished between satisfaction with their own appraisal and its value in improving performance. Appraisal satisfaction was predicted by supervisor satisfaction and the recollection of their rating, but not system satisfaction. In a follow-up analysis, results were confirmed with managers in the original sample. The appraisal's improvement value was associated with supervisor satisfaction, and inversely related with performance rating. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bonuses and performance in the public sector.

Examines a decision made by the Canadian Treasury Board to implement a system of bonus payments for outstanding senior managers in federal public service. The analysis is based on a review of the current performance appraisal system for senior managers and a summary of empirical studies of motivation largely drawn from the private sector and laboratory settings. The findings demonstrate the need for an improved system of appraising senior managers and for more relevant research on the motivation and attitudes of senior public-sector managers. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Congenital encephalocele of the medial skull base

Intensive case management for severely psychiatrically ill patients is a relatively new phenomenon in the private sector. The authors describe a comprehensive case management program designed at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts to meet the needs of the most severely ill psychiatric patients in a private managed care environment. The case management program emphasizes involvement of patients in creating comprehensive treatment plans; development of a relationship between case managers, patients and their families, and providers; and clinical coordination between the public and private sectors to create individualized treatment plans. The program's case managers are able to flex the benefit limitations of a managed care or indemnity plan to integrate public and private services and can enlist providers outside a managed care network. The paper describes service utilization by the first 33 patients who participated in the program for one year.     

Criteria for Selecting the Private-Sector Partner in Public–Private Partnerships

A critical issue in public–private partnerships (PPPs) in international infrastructure development is the selection of the right private-sector partner. This necessitates a best value source selection methodology in which the establishment of a set of appropriate selection criteria is a prerequisite. Various important selection criteria have been identified through a literature review of previous studies on critical success factors; experience drawing and lessons learning from international PPP practices; examination of selection criteria used in worldwide PPP projects; and interviews/correspondence with international PPP experts and practitioners. These identified criteria are classified into four evaluation packages for PPP projects in general: (1) financial, (2) technical, (3) safety, health, and environmental, and (4) managerial. The relative importance of these evaluation packages and the relative significance of the criteria within each package have been statistically analyzed based on a structured questionnaire survey of worldwide PPP expert opinions. These statistical analyses include validity and reliability analysis, Mann Whitney U tests, direct comparisons of mean criterion significance indexes and criterion rankings between respondents across public, private, and academic sectors, and a general rank agreement analysis across sectors for each evaluation package. These research outputs would facilitate the formulation of a multicriteria best value source selection methodology for PPP projects in general and the development of both objective and subjective evaluation criteria to select the right private-sector partner for a particular PPP project.     

The role of state policies and programs in buffering the effects of poverty on children's immunization receipt

OBJECTIVES: This study assessed the influence of public policies on the immunization status of 2-year old children in the United States. METHODS: Up-to-dateness for the primary immunization series was assessed in a national sample of 8100 children from the 1988 National Maternal and Infant Health Survey and its 1991 Longitudinal Follow-Up. RESULTS: Documented immunization rates of this sample were 33% for poor children and 44% for others. More widespread Medicated coverage was associated with greater likelihood of up-to-dateness among poor children. Up-to-dateness was more likely for poor children with public rather than private sources of routine pediatric care, but all children living in states where most immunizations were delivered in the public sector were less likely to be up to date. Poor children in state with partial vaccine replacement programs were less likely to be up to date than those in free-market purchase states. CONCLUSIONS: While state policies can enhance immunization delivery for poor children, heavy reliance on public sector immunization does not ensure timely receipt of vaccines. Public- and private-sector collaboration is necessary to protect children from vaccine-preventable diseases.     

Management styles associated with organizational, task, personal, and interpersonal contingencies.

Prior studies with subordinates and managers from public and private agencies resulted in the development of a 31-scale profile questionnaire conceptualized in a systems framework of input, transform, and output variables. In the present study, the profile was completed by 78 managers and 407 of their subordinates. Convergent and concurrent validity studies generally supported the validity of the scales. 5 management styles measured were found to be conceptually but not empirically independent. The styles--direction, negotiation, consultation, participation, and delegation--differentially correlated with organizational, task, intrapersonal, and interpersonal variables, as well as with measures of work-unit effectiveness and satisfaction. According to stepwise regressions, direction was most likely to appear with structure and clarity; negotiation with short-term objectives and authoritarian subordinates; consultation, with long-term objectives and intragroup harmony; participation, with clarity and warmth; and delegation, with warmth and lack of routine tasks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Improving Concessionaire Selection Protocols in Public∕Private Partnered Infrastructure Projects

A critical contributor to the success of a public∕private partnered (PPP) infrastructure project is the selection of the right private-sector partner, the concessionaire, who would provide the best overall deal throughout the build-operate-transfer (BOT)[build∕operate∕transfer] development process. This paper proposes a core concessionaire selection protocol that incorporates public procurement principles, best-value selection approach, competitive selection process, and multicriteria tender evaluation. Key pointers for an improved concessionaire selection protocol are discussed and analyzed by drawing experience and learning lessons from worldwide PPP practices. These include improved project brief and tender documents, formulation of a best-value selection methodology, determination of suitable criteria and methods for prequalification and tender evaluation, capital structure (equity-to-debt ratio), financial models, and potential improvements in different stages of the concessionaire selection process. Relevant results of a questionnaire survey of international PPP expert opinions on an enhanced concessionaire selection protocol are also presented.     

The choice of dental care sector by young adults before and after subsidization reform in Finland

This work is a part of a project, which aims at studying the utilization of dental care by young adults and the effects of subsidization reform (SR) on it. SR was introduced in 1986 for the Finnish population born after 1960 and comprised a decrease of about 50% in the out-of-pocket price for dental care both in the public and private sector. The copayments are paid by the National Health Insurance in the private and municipalities through taxation in the public sector. In this work, the choice of dental care sector (private or public) before and after the reform and the effect of the reform on the choice are examined. The choice was measured by revealed preference; i.e. by actual choice in a period of two years before and after the reform. A random sample was drawn at the end of 1985 (before) and 1987 (after) from the population of 19-26/27 years of age in four towns, in which the conditions of supply of dental services differed essentially (n = 2250 at both occasions). The data were gathered by using a self-administered questionnaire. The method of analysis was discrete logit analysis and applied Chow-test. The changes in choices between 1985 and 1987 were counted by estimated model by using means of independent variables. The change in the choice of sector caused by the subsidization reform was marginal. The probability of choosing public sector increased 3%-points in the target group of the reform (19-25 aged), but the relative importance of different factors explaining the choice did not change. However, changes in the relative importance of explanatory factors took place in the first age group left outside the reform, but no clear picture was obtained about a possible change in the probability of choosing public sector in this group.     

Dispositional effects on job and life satisfaction: The role of core evaluations.

Past research has suggested that dispositional sources of job satisfaction can be traced to measures of affective temperament. The present research focused on another concept, core self-evaluations, which were hypothesized to comprise self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy, locus of control, and nonneuroticism. A model hypothesized that core self-evaluations would have direct effects on job and life satisfaction. It also was hypothesized that core self-evaluations would have indirect effects on job satisfaction. Data were collected from 3 independent samples in 2 countries, using dual source methodology. Results indicated that core self-evaluations had direct and indirect effects on job and life satisfaction. The statistical and logical relationship among core evaluations, affective disposition, and satisfaction was explored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Job attitude and motivation differences between volunteers and employees from comparable organizations.

Data were collected from members of 8 organizations: volunteer- and employee-staffed newspapers, poverty relief agencies, family planning clinics, and fire departments. It was expected that volunteers would report greater intrinsic, social, and service motivation; greater job satisfaction; less intent to leave; it was also expected that their activities would be more praiseworthy than that of employees. ANOVAs confirmed the expectation for all variables except intrinsic motivation. Results are consistent with "sufficiency-of-justification" effects. Limitations of the present study and implications of the intrinsic-motivation exception for generalizations of laboratory findings to the workplace are discussed. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychotherapists in independent practice: Some findings and issues.

Notes that although professional psychologists' involvement in private sector health care delivery has grown at an unparalleled rate in the past decade, little is known about professional psychologists' composition, practices, or their views. This article describes the professional characteristics, clinical activities, theoretical perspectives, and training and career satisfaction of 210 doctoral-level psychotherapists (mean age 47.2 yrs) employed full-time in independent practice. More than 30 personal and professional variables were used to compare these private practitioners with 72 psychotherapists employed in the public sector. Results indicate that independent practitioners were significantly more likely to be older and more experienced, work fewer hours, do more marital therapy, and be more satisfied with psychotherapy as a career than their colleagues in institutional clinical settings. Contrary to expectations, there were no differences between the 2 groups in theoretical orientations or percentage of women. Several issues surrounding private practice are explored, and the sociopolitical and training implications of increasing numbers of psychotherapists entering independent practice are discussed. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Perceptions of Fair Interpersonal Treatment Scale: development and validation of a measure of interpersonal treatment in the workplace

The Perceptions of Fair Interpersonal Treatment (PFIT) scale was designed to assess employees' perceptions of the interpersonal treatment in their work environment. Analyses of the factor structure and reliability of this new instrument indicate that the PFIT scale is a reliable instrument composed of 2 factors: supervisor treatment and coworker treatment. It was hypothesized that the PFIT scale would be positively correlated with job satisfaction variables and negatively correlated with work withdrawal, job withdrawal, experiences of sexual harassment, and an organization's tolerance of sexual harassment. Results based on 509 employees in a private-sector organization and 217 female faculty and staff members at a large midwestern university supported these hypotheses. Arguments that common method variance and employees' dispositions are responsible for the significant correlations between the PFIT scale and other job-related variables were eliminated. The implications of these results are discussed.     

Strategic Management in Engineering Organizations

The traditional philosophy of management in organizations that focus on the built environment, both in the public and private sector, places great emphasis on the ability to plan and execute projects. In contrast, a similar emphasis on strategic management has received less attention in this context. This paper introduces a comparative study of the current strategic management practices in public and private organizations that are responsible for constructing the built environment. The paper introduces the areas that organizations must address to compete in the face of changing customer and competitor conditions. A summary of a comparative survey conducted on firms in the construction industry is documented together with the background research that prompted the investigation of these topics.     

Factor Analysis of Public Clients’ Best-Value Objective in Public–Privately Partnered Infrastructure Projects

Best value is the ultimate goal of the public client in infrastructure development through public–private partnerships (PPPs). A best-value approach necessitates a sound best-value source selection methodology, which encourages creativity and innovation from the private sector and allows the public sector to make a right tradeoff between cost and noncost criteria in tender evaluation. Through a factor analysis of the relative significance of the best-value contributing factors (BVCFs) based on a previous questionnaire survey of international PPP experts, this paper has determined the major common dimensions of the public clients’ best-value objective in infrastructure development and the key BVCFs that measure each of these dimensions. Statistical tests confirm the adequacy and quality of the survey, the soundness of the factor analysis and the internal consistency of the BVCFs, and they also indicate that the public, private, and academic sectors consider BVCFs rather similarly. The establishment of the best-value objective dimensions and the BVCFs that measure each of these dimensions would direct and concentrate the efforts of the private sector in crafting innovative project delivery models to offer the best value, the public sector in efficiently evaluating project proposals to award a defensible contract, and the consequently formed PPPs in continuously enhancing the best-value objective through long-term contractual arrangements.     

Collaboration between a state psychological association and a labor union for public-sector hospital privileges.

Until this year, laws concerning medical staff membership for psychologists were permissive in California. These laws also were applied differently in the public and private sectors. Psychologists practicing in state-run facilities were systematically excluded from membership, while their counterparts in private practice often were granted access. In the middle 1980s, public service psychologists began using organized labor to gain entry to medical staff in state-run facilities. When collective bargaining failed, some psychologists left organized labor and began working within the California Psychological Association to seek legislative recourse. The legislative route was ultimately successful but only after support was garnered from labor as well. The California experience shows that state psychological associations are vehicles to advance psychology in the public sector and that support from organized labor can be critical. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mental health services in the public and private sectors

Analysis of data on mental health service providers indicates that in 1971 the private sector accounted for 34% of inpatient days, 86% of outpatient visits, 44% of expenditures by source of funds, and 51% of expenditures by receipt of funds. The author believes that mental health professionals must familiarize themselves with the economic interests influencing national health insurance proposals and with public policy making processes if they are to help preserve appropriate roles for the public and private sectors in mental health service delivery.     

Managing dental care versus managed dental care: looking south from north of the 49th parallel

In the United States, aggregate expenditures on the largely private health care system, as a proportion of Gross National Product, exceed those of all other countries. Under private enterprise, the health care system in the United States grew as predicted by the underlying equation that more service volume equates to more revenue for hospitals and providers. Managed care is the response of for-profit health care organizations to meet the demands of U.S. corporations to contain the escalating costs of hospital, medical and other health care benefits for their employees. Managed health care has several models, but preferred provider organizations (PPOs) have been the model that has increased most rapidly. In contrast, managers of Canadian public dental programs plan, organize, direct and control more of the structures, processes and outputs to achieve desired outcomes for special groups. In Canada, the approaches to quality assurance, restraint of trade and the power of the professional lobby are different from the approaches in the United States. Nonetheless, the context of private dental care plans is very similar to the context that produced managed health care in the United States. Better management to meet demonstrated needs with evidence-based care can result in sustainable, adequately financed plans and avoid the deep-discount form of managed dental care.     

Drivers for Adopting Public Private Partnerships—Empirical Comparison between China and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

The private sector has long been involved in delivering public sector projects, whether its role has been as a partner or just as a contractor for the government. Over recent years the interest in adopting public private partnerships (PPPs) has increased internationally. Many research studies have presented positive reasons for the governments and the private sector to welcome this form of procurement, rather than continue adopting the traditional options. This paper aims to explore and compare the key drivers for adopting PPP in China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (referred to as Hong Kong from here onwards). An empirical questionnaire survey was conducted in both of these administrative systems and survey respondents were invited to rate their perceptions on the importance of 15 different drivers identified. Eighty-seven completed survey questionnaires were returned for analysis. The findings indicated that respondents from China rated economy-related drivers higher, whereas Hong Kong respondents tended to rate efficiency-related drivers higher. China’s demand for more public infrastructure and services has imposed great pressure on the government’s budget, and therefore economic drivers were rated higher. On the other hand, with adequate financial reserve in hand and budget surplus over recent years, Hong Kong has tended to prefer paying for projects upfront, and hence efficiency was regarded more significantly. Among the 15 drivers, both of the respondents from China and Hong Kong selected, “provide an integrated solution (for public infrastructure/services)” and “solve the problem of public sector budget restraint” to be within the top three drivers. Despite the general agreement on the ranking pattern, the results of independent two-sample t-test showed that China and Hong Kong shared very different views on the driver “reduce the total project cost.” This driver was ranked rather high by the mainland Chinese respondents, but much lower by the Hong Kong respondents. This finding can be construed that economic drivers are in general rated higher in China as compared to that in Hong Kong.