Business Process Re-Engineering and Balanced Scorecard in Swedish Public Sector Organizations: Solutions for Problems or Problems for Solutions?

This article analyzes and discusses the adoption and implementation of Business Process Re‐Engineering (BPR) at a hospital and Balanced Scorecard (BSC) at a local government. At the hospital, BPR was adopted as a solution to problems, but became de-coupled from operations, and later used for legitimacy reasons. At the local government, without having identified clear problems, BSC was adopted as an attractive solution but became coupled, rather than de-coupled, to operations. Our study shows that de-coupling does not follow the path proposed by neo-institutional theory, and that legitimacy from popular management concepts can be obtained both by coupling and by de-coupling the concepts from operations.     

Discussion Content and Perception of Deliberation in Western European Versus American Juries

Jury research has dealt almost exclusively with the American system wherein 6-12 laypersons decide verdicts under a unanimity or non-unanimity rule. However, most Western European countries follow the escabinado system, in which laypersons and judges together decide verdict and sentence, under a non-unanimous rule. We experimentally compared the processes and outcomes of both types of juries. Under the guise of a Student Judicial panel, seven undergraduate students in Spain comprised 10 juries, whereas five undergraduates and two fifth-year Law students comprised 10 escabinado juries. We assessed pre- and post-discussion verdict, penalty, and confidence, discussion content, and subjective reactions to the discussion and outcome. Escabinado jury deliberations were driven by the imbalance of power between trained and lay jurors. Escabinado and lay juries differed in their perception of the deliberation but not in their outcomes. Implications for the impact of cultural differences and task requirements in jury decision-making are drawn.     

Mighty Morphin’ age progression: how artist,age range,and morphing influences the similarity of forensic age progressions to target individuals

When children go missing, authorities sometimes release age progressed images that are intended to approximate the person's current appearance. The current studies measured the influence of the range between the time when the child went missing and the age portrayed in the age progression on the similarity between the progressions and current images of the targets. Experiment 1 examined whole face images and Experiment 2 examined internal features only. Eight artists were recruited to produce progressions at three age ranges. Also included were averaged (morphed) images made of progressions of the same individual at a given range by different artists. Progressions across shorter ranges produced images more similar than those across longer ranges, and target comparisons yielded higher similarity ratings than foil comparisons. Although there was much variability among artists, the morphed images performed better than the average rating given to all age progressions.     

The cognitive interview: A survey of its forensic effectiveness

Abstract

The cognitive interview has been shown to have the potential to enhance witness recall. Consequently, it has been adopted by all police forces in England and Wales. The present paper surveyed 96 police officers trained in the cognitive interview and 65 untrained police officers, using a questionnaire. Officers rated how frequently they used and how useful they found components of the cognitive interview. Trained officers were significantly more likely to use instructions to mentally reinstate context, use different orders, change perspectives and imagery. Amongst trained officers there was a consensus that some components of the cognitive interview were used more frequently and were believed to be more useful than others. Rated as most useful and most frequently used were establish rapport, report everything, encourage concentration, witness compatible questioning, and mental reinstatement of context. Rated as less useful and less frequently used were recall in different orders, imagery, change perspectives and transfer control. Further responses indicated that the cognitive interview was generally perceived to be a useful procedure that increases correct recall, although officers were still aware that incorrect information can also be generated. However, a major problem for many officers was that they do not have the time to conduct a full cognitive interview.     

Is overpunishment fairer than underpunishment? Perceptions of deviations from equity

Abstract

Three studies are presented which test hypotheses derived from Equity Theory, Prospect Theory and the principle of Diminishing Marginal Value with regard to preferences for overpunishment and underpunishment in the assignment of penalties to offences of varying severity. The first two studies showed that, with different subject samples, offences, and kinds of punishments, subjects indicated a marked preference for over-punishment rather than underpunishment, when both over punishment and under-punishment deviated from ideal, or equitable, punishment to the same degree. However, the effect was only apparent for serious offences. A third study showed that the overpunishment preference for a serious offence existed even when the overpunishment deviated 30% more from ideal punishment than underpunishment, but again no preference was shown' for the less serious offence. As the results cannot be readily explained in terms of any of the three explanatory principles, a possible explanation in terms of concept of negative reciprocity is advanced.     

Morphometry of latent palmprints as a function of time

In many crimes, the elapsed time between production and collecting fingermark traces is crucial. and a method able to detect the aging of latent prints would represent an improvement in forensic procedures. Considering that as the latent print gets older, substantial changes in the relative proportion of individual components secreted by skin glands could affect the morphology of ridges, morphometry could be a potential tool to assess the aging of latent fingermarks. Then, considering the very limited research in the field, the present work aims to evaluate the morphometry of latent palmprint ridges, as a function of time, in order to identify an aging pattern. The latent marks were deposited by 20 donors on glass microscope slides considering pressure and contact angle, and then were maintained under controlled environmental conditions. The morphometric study was conducted on marks developed with magnetic powder in 7 different time intervals after deposition (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30 days); 60 ridges were evaluated for each developed mark. The results showed that: 1) the method for the replacement and mixing of skin secretions on the palm was appropriate to ensure reproducibility of latent prints, and 2) considering the studied group, there was a time-dependent reduction in the width of ridges and on the percentage of visible ridges over 30 days. Results suggest the possibility of using the morphometric method to determine an aging profile of latent palmprints on glass surface, aiming for forensic purposes.     

Return to Work for Healthcare Professionals with Substance Use Disorders: Clinical, Legal, and Ethical Challenges

Occupational health providers (OHPs) and other clinicians who assess readiness to work have a difficult task in assessing return to work for healthcare professionals (HCPs) with substance use disorders (SUDs). About 10 to 15 % of HCPs will misuse drugs or alcohol at some time in their career, yet they are often reluctant to seek help. This paper reviews the clinical challenges of assessing SUDs in HCPs, including risk factors, prognosis, and limited evidence base for work restrictions. Furthermore, ethical and legal challenges throughout the return to work process are reviewed for stakeholders such as HCPs with SUDs, OHPs, other providers, employers, and the public at large. Suggestions are made for stakeholders, particularly for OHPs and other providers, who are navigating this complex environment.