Energy efficiency has gained a lot of prominence in recent debates on urban sustainability and housing policy due to its potential consequences for climate change. At the local, national and also international level, there are numerous initiatives to promote energy savings and the use of renewable energy to reduce the environmental burden. There is a lot of literature on energy saving and other forms of energy efficiency in housing. However, how to bring this forward in the management of individual housing organisations is not often internationally explored. An international research project has been carried out to find the answers on management questions of housing organisations regarding energy efficiency. Eleven countries have been included in this study: Germany, the United Kingdom (more specifically: England), France, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Austria and Canada. The state of the art of energy efficiency in the housing management of non-profit housing organisations and the embedding of energy efficiency to improve the quality and performance of housing in management practices have been investigated, with a focus on how policy ambitions about energy efficiency are brought forward in investment decisions at the estate level. This paper presents the conclusions of the research
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from the article: "Abstract The way in which construction logistics is organised has considerable impact on production flow, transportation efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions and congestion, particularly in urban areas such as city centres. In cities such as London and Amsterdam municipalities have issued new legislation and stricter conditions for vehicles to be able to access cities and city centres in particular. Considerate clients, public as well private, have started developing tender policies to encourage contractors to reduce the environmental impact of construction projects. This paper reports on an ongoing research project applying and assessing developments in the field of construction logistics in the Netherlands. The cases include contractors and third party logistics providers applying consolidation centres and dedicated software solutions to increase transportation efficiency. The case show various results of JIT logistics management applied to urban construction projects leading to higher transportation efficiencies, and reduced environmental impact and increased production efficiency on site. The data collections included to-site en on-site observations, measurement and interviews. The research has shown considerable reductions of vehicles to deliver goods and to transport workers to site. In addition the research has shown increased production flow and less waste such as inventory, waiting and unnecessary motion on site."
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Abstract Business Process Management (BPM) is an important discipline for organizations to manage their business processes. Research shows that higher BPM-maturity leads to better process performance. However, contextual factors such as culture seem to influence this relationship. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of national culture on the relationship between BPM-maturity and process performance. A multiple linear regression analysis is performed based on data from six different countries within Europe. Although the results show a significant relationship between BPM-maturity and process performance, no significant moderation effect of national culture has been found. The cultural dimension long term orientation shows a weak negative correlation with both BPM-maturity and process performance. Through a post-hoc moderation analysis on each dimension of BPM-maturity, we further find that long term orientation negatively moderates the relationship between process improvement and process performance. Three other moderation effects are also discovered. The results of this study contribute to insights into the role of culture in the field of BPM.
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During recent years the world has seen rapid changes such as globalization, the Internet, and the rise of new economies. To survive these changes organizations need to be in control of their processes, and be able to continuously improve the process performance. Therefore many organizations are increasingly adopting Business Process Management (BPM). However, it is not clear if the implementation of BPM(S) is really adding value to an organization. Consequently, in this paper, we try to answer the following research question: 'Does adoption of Business Process Management lead to a higher process performance?' Based on quantitative research we show that there is dependence between the performance of processes within an organization and the BPM maturity of that organization. As a result we conclude that improvement in process performance can be attained by increasing the BPM maturity of an organization.
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Airports have undergone a significant digital evolution over the past decades, enhancing efficiency, effectiveness, and user-friendliness through various technological advancements. Initially, airports deployed basic IT solutions as support tools, but with the increasing integration of digital systems, understanding the detailed digital ecosystem behind airports has become crucial. This research aims to classify technological maturity in airports, using the access control process as an example to demonstrate the benefits of the proposed taxonomy. The study highlights the current digital ecosystem and its future trends and challenges, emphasizing the importance of distinguishing between different levels of technological maturity. The role of biometric technology in security access control is examined, highlighting the importance of proper identification and classification. Future research could explore data collection, privacy, and cybersecurity impacts, particularly regarding biometric technologies in Smart Access Level 4.0. The transition from Smart Access Level 3.0 to 4.0 involves process automation and the introduction of AI, offering opportunities to increase efficiency and improve detection capabilities through advanced data analytics. The study underscores the need for global legislative frameworks to regulate and support these technological advancements.
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Aim: To evaluate healthcare professionals' performance and treatment fidelity in the Cardiac Care Bridge (CCB) nurse-coordinated transitional care intervention in older cardiac patients to understand and interpret the study results. Design: A mixed-methods process evaluation based on the Medical Research Council Process Evaluation framework. Methods: Quantitative data on intervention key elements were collected from 153 logbooks of all intervention patients. Qualitative data were collected using semi-structured interviews with 19 CCB professionals (cardiac nurses, community nurses and primary care physical therapists), from June 2017 until October 2018. Qualitative data-analysis is based on thematic analysis and integrated with quantitative key element outcomes. The analysis was blinded to trial outcomes. Fidelity was defined as the level of intervention adherence. Results: The overall intervention fidelity was 67%, ranging from severely low fidelity in the consultation of in-hospital geriatric teams (17%) to maximum fidelity in the comprehensive geriatric assessment (100%). Main themes of influence in the intervention performance that emerged from the interviews are interdisciplinary collaboration, organizational preconditions, confidence in the programme, time management and patient characteristics. In addition to practical issues, the patient's frailty status and limited motivation were barriers to the intervention. Conclusion: Although involved healthcare professionals expressed their confidence in the intervention, the fidelity rate was suboptimal. This could have influenced the non-significant effect of the CCB intervention on the primary composite outcome of readmission and mortality 6 months after randomization. Feasibility of intervention key elements should be reconsidered in relation to experienced barriers and the population. Impact: In addition to insight in effectiveness, insight in intervention fidelity and performance is necessary to understand the mechanism of impact. This study demonstrates that the suboptimal fidelity was subject to a complex interplay of organizational, professionals' and patients' issues. The results support intervention redesign and inform future development of transitional care interventions in older cardiac patients.
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In order for techniques from Model Driven Engineering to be accepted at large by the game industry, it is critical that the effectiveness and efficiency of these techniques are proven for game development. There is no lack of game design models, but there is no model that has surfaced as an industry standard. Game designers are often reluctant to work with models: they argue these models do not help them design games and actually restrict their creativity. At the same time, the flexibility that model driven engineering allows seems a good fit for the fluidity of the game design process, while clearly defined, generic models can be used to develop automated design tools that increase the development’s efficiency.
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De markt voor Business Process Management (BPM) software groeit razend snel. Voor 2010 wordt er een marktomvang voorspeld van tussen de 1 tot 6 miljard dollar, dit betekend dat deze markt sinds 2005 meer dan verdubbeld is. BPM krijgt ook in toenemende mate publiciteit in de markt echter dan gaat het veelal om wat BPM nu precies wel en niet is en niet over hoe het toegepast kan worden. Hetzelfde geldt voor BPM software, beter bekend als Business Process Management Systemen (BPMS). Het onderzoek beschreven in dit proefschrift focust op BPMS, het ontstaan, waar het naartoe gaat en wat er allemaal komt kijken bij de invoering en het gebruik ervan. De hoofdonderzoeksvraag in dit proefschrift is: Welke factoren en competenties bepalen het succes van de implementatie van Business Process Management Systemen in een specifieke situatie? Centraal in dit proefschrift staan de volgende onderzoeksvragen: 1. Wat zijn de succes factoren bij de implementatie van Business Process Management Systemen? 2. Welke competenties hebben stakeholders in een Business Process Management Systeem implementatie project nodig? 3. Hoe ziet een Business Process Management Systeem implementatie methodiek eruit welke rekening houdt met de omgevingsfactoren van een organisatie?
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Abstract: Due to rapidly aging human populations, frailty has become an essential concept, as it identifies older people who have higher risk of adverse outcomes, such as disability, institutionalization, lower quality of life, and premature death. The Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI) is a user-friendly questionnaire based on a multidimensional approach to frailty, assessing physical, psychologic, and social aspects of human functioning. This review aims to explore the efficiency of the TFI in assessing frailty as a means to carry out research into the antecedents and consequences of frailty, and its use both in daily practice and for future intervention studies. Using a multidimensional approach to frailty, in contexts where health care professionals or researchers may have no time to interview or examine the client, we recommend employing the TFI because there is robust evidence of its reliability and validity and it is easy and quick to administer. More studies are needed to establish whether the TFI is suitable for intervention studies not only in the community, but also for specific groups such as patients in the hospital or admitted to an emergency department. We conclude that it is important to not only determine the deficits that frail older people may have, but also to assess their balancing strengths and resources. In order to be able to meet the individual needs of frail older persons, traditional and often fragmented elderly care should be developed toward a more proactive elderly care, in which frail older persons and their informal network are in charge.
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Over the past forty years, the use of process models in practice has grown extensively. Until twenty years ago, remarkably little was known about the factors that contribute to the human understandability of process models in practice. Since then, research has, indeed, been conducted on this important topic, by e.g. creating guidelines. Unfortunately, the suggested modelling guidelines often fail to achieve the desired effects, because they are not tied to actual experimental findings. The need arises for knowledge on what kind of visualisation of process models is perceived as understandable, in order to improve the understanding of different stakeholders. Therefore the objective of this study is to answer the question: How can process models be visually enhanced so that they facilitate a common understanding by different stakeholders? Consequently, five subresearch questions (SRQ) will be discussed, covering three studies. By combining social psychology and process models we can work towards a more human-centred and empirical-based solution to enhance the understanding of process models by the different stakeholders with visualisation.
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