Information Improves Provider Behaviour: A Replication Study of a Community-Based Monitoring Programme in Uganda

In ‘Power to the People: Evidence from a Randomised Field Experiment on Community-Based Monitoring in Uganda’ (2009), Björkman and Svensson show that a relatively simple intervention – providing community-level health service delivery information and guidance on community-based monitoring – improved provider behaviour, health care utilisation, and health outcomes. In this paper we conduct a pure replication of the original study and extend the original analysis. Overall, we find that the intervention modified healthcare provider behaviours and utilisation, but that the results surrounding the programme’s impact on health outcomes appear less robust.     

A tough act to follow: traumatic executive departure and the post-transformational context

After turning their organizations around, transformational leaders often move on, taking new roles outside or even within the organization. Sometimes these changes occur in abrupt and traumatic circumstances, raising an important question: what is the impact on an organization when the transformational leader suddenly exits? This article examines the factors that shape the “post-transformational context” facing the successor to a transformational figure. These factors are seen to affect the organization's identity and followers' commitment to it. A framework and research propositions are presented, focusing on: antecedent conditions in the organization; the nature of the leader's departure; the emotional responses characterizing such situations; and the effects on organizational systems. These dynamics are examined in an illustrative case, and suggestions are made for further research.     

Toward the year 2000: Issues and strategies for federal labor-management relations

The 1990s are bringing new challenges to the federal labor-management relations process. Unions and management alike are being forced to confront changes in the demographics of the workforce, fiscal constraints and a conservative political climate. This article reports the results of a survey of federal labor relations professionals. The survey was designed to gauge their perceptions of the strategies and structures of the labor relations program in the 1990s. It revealed marked agreement about the issues that are emerging, and optimism about the program's ability to adapt, but showed some disagreement in strategies needed to meet these challenges.     

Does Training and Documentation Improve Emergency Department Assessments of Domestic Violence Victims?

This study aimed to determine whether training and documentation led to improved assessment of female victims of assault due to domestic violence presenting to an emergency department. Eighty clinical records were audited using a valid and reliable audit tool over four time periods for variables including history, risk assessment, and examination. Documentation differed across the four groups (p?=?0.011). Between group analysis found there was a difference (p?=?0.055) between Groups 1 (before training) and 2 (after training), and Group 3 (with a specialist form in place), and there was a difference (p?=?0.009) between Groups 1 and 4 (8 years later). Training alone did not lead to change. Introducing specialist documentation with training was associated with an improvement in the standard of clinical assessment of female victims of assault due to domestic violence and this change increased over time.     

Variation is the Norm: A Landscape Analysis of Weighted Student Funding Implementation

School districts increasingly rely on weighted student funding (WSF), yet there is little research on this allocation model. This study collects more than 70 measures on each of 19 districts using WSF in 2018 for a landscape analysis of formula features and implementation practices. While districts report common reasons for adopting WSF (equity, flexibility, and transparency), we find no standard WSF model. Homegrown formulas and nonformula features and exemptions reflecting local context are the norms, resulting in substantial differences. Nearly all districts continue to budget with average salaries (likely limiting equity) but grant principals flexibility on staffing, stipends, and contracts.     

Examining the relationship between a childhood history of sexual abuse and later dissociation, breast-feeding practices, and parenting anxiety

The purpose of this study is to compare Mexican American adolescent mothers with and without childhood sexual abuse (CSA) histories to examine the influence of CSA on dissociation, selection of infant feeding method, and intimate parenting anxiety. Participants are 78 English-speaking adolescents between 15 and 19 years of age and recruited from the southwestern United States. Nearly one third of the sample ( n = 24, 30.77%) reports CSA histories. There is no correlation between CSA history and intimate parenting anxiety, no difference between breast-feeding and formula-feeding mothers in CSA severity, and intimate parenting anxiety does not predict dissociation. These findings are inconsistent with previous research. Supportive resources may explain the inconsistency and play a role in adolescent mothers' responses to CSA. Further research is necessary to explore these possibilities.     

The battle over global drug markets: enforcement of pharmaceutical patents in the United States, Europe and Japan

Legal context: Pharmaceutical patent litigation is on the rise. The focal pointof this increasingly contentious area of litigation is the surgein pharmaceutical patent challenges mounted by generic drugmanufacturers. Pharmaceutical companies need to identify viableenforcement strategies that can survive these challenges andeffectively manage the life cycle of their pharmaceutical productsaround the world. Key points: The degree to which pharmaceutical companies can capitalizeupon the value of their second generation patents to extendthe protection given to existing drug products depends in parton the patent landscape, country by country, and also on theregulatory landscape for generic drug products and their entryinto the marketplace.This paper will examine the patent laws,drug approval regulations, and court decisions on the validityand enforceability of later stage or second generation patentsdirected to combination compounds, selection inventions, andnew indications, in three major jurisdictions: The United States,Europe/UK, and Japan. Practical significance: Successful pharmaceutical companies can maintain a competitiveadvantage in the global pharmaceutical industry by evaluatingand strengthening the way existing drug products are protectedand, in many cases, changing the nature of protection underthe patent laws by improving upon the pharmaceutical productitself.     

"The red zone": temporal risk for unwanted sex among college students

The "red zone" usually refers to the first few weeks of the first semester at college, when female students are believed to be at greatest risk for experiencing unwanted sex. We tested this notion using data from a survey study of 207 first-and second-year students (121 women, 84 men) at a small, liberal arts university. Results demonstrated only one significant elevation in incidence rates of first- and second-year women's unwanted sexual experiences (sexual touching, attempted and completed anal, oral, and vaginal sex), between the end of the first month and fall break (mid-October) during the second year at school. Previous research and local information about the relevant behaviors of sorority and fraternity members is discussed in light of these findings to provide heuristic material for further empirical testing. Because risk may involve both temporal and situational factors, systematic collection and dissemination of local data are recommended.     

Exhibitionism: findings from a Midwestern police contact sample

This study used a police sample to examine offense characteristics, recidivism rates, and other types of sexual offending among individuals suspected of exhibitionism. The sample consisted of 202 incidents of indecent exposure perpetrated by 106 identified individuals. Demographic information showed that one quarter of the sample had symptoms of a mental illness and one quarter had a history of substance abuse. More than 84% of the sample had other nonsexual criminal charges. Approximately 30% of the perpetrators were charged for more than one exposure incident. Masturbating during the offense, exposing to child victims, and speaking to the victim did not show any relationship to the occurrence of more sexually aggressive behaviors. However, individuals who had subsequent rape or molestation charges (16.9%) were more likely than those who did not to have had multiple exposure incidents and a history of physical assault charges.