In the context of a European knowledge economy, the Dutch non-university institutions systematically develop research activities at a higher frequency than before. With this development, they have been accused of academic drift, of striving to receive a status comparable to traditional universities. This study considers the perceptions of both managers and lecturers in non-university higher education concerning the organisational aims for research activities. The intention is to add an empirical base to the debate of academic drift, especially to the potential of academic drift on the staff level. The results show a moderate indication of potential for academic drift on the staff level. In addition, managers have more positive perceptions regarding all aims for research than lecturers, but both groups prioritise that the results of research should, first and foremost, be directed towards improving the quality of education.
From the article: With increasing investments in business rules management (BRM), organizations are searching for ways to value and benchmark their processes to elicitate, design, accept, deploy and execute business rules. To realize valuation and benchmarking of previously mentioned processes, organizations must be aware that performance measurement is essential, and of equal importance, which performance indicators to apply to the performance measurement processes. However, scientific research on BRM, in general, is limited and research that focuses on BRM in combination with performance indicators is nascent. The purpose of this paper is to define performance indicators for previously mentioned BRM processes. We conducted a three round focus group and three round Delphi Study which led to the identification of 14 performance indicators. Presented results provide a grounded basis from which further, empirical, research on performance indicators for BRM can be explored.
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Background: Most studies on birth settings investigate the association between planned place of birth at the start of labor and birth outcomes and intervention rates. To optimize maternity care it also is important to pay attention to the entire process of pregnancy and childbirth. This study explores the association between the initial preferred place of birth and model of care, and the course of pregnancy and labor in low-risk nulliparous women in the Netherlands. Methods: As part of a Dutch prospective cohort study (2007–2011), we compared medical indications during pregnancy and birth outcomes of 576 women who initially preferred a home birth (n = 226), a midwife-led hospital birth (n = 168) or an obstetrician-led hospital birth (n = 182). Data were obtained by a questionnaire before 20 weeks of gestation and by medical records. Analyses were performed according to the initial preferred place of birth. Results: Low-risk nulliparous women who preferred a home birth with midwife-led care were less likely to be diagnosed with a medical indication during pregnancy compared to women who preferred a birth with obstetrician-led care (OR 0.41 95% CI 0.25-0.66). Preferring a birth with midwife-led care – both at home and in hospital - was associated with lower odds of induced labor (OR 0.51 95% CI 0.28-0.95 respectively OR 0.42 95% CI 0.21-0.85) and epidural analgesia (OR 0.32 95% CI 0.18-0.56 respectively OR 0.34 95% CI 0.19-0.62) compared to preferring a birth with obstetrician-led care. In addition, women who preferred a home birth were less likely to experience augmentation of labor (OR 0.54 95% CI 0.32-0.93) and narcotic analgesia (OR 0.41 95% CI 0.21-0.79) compared to women who preferred a birth with obstetrician-led care. We observed no significant association between preferred place of birth and mode of birth. Conclusions: Nulliparous women who initially preferred a home birth were less likely to be diagnosed with a medical indication during pregnancy. Women who initially preferred a birth with midwife-led care – both at home and in hospital – experienced lower rates of interventions during labor. Although some differences can be attributed to the model of care, we suggest that characteristics and attitudes of women themselves also play an important role.
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