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The purpose of this paper is to examine the full opportunity cost of population policies by contrasting standard models of optimal population, which consider individuals to be homogeneous laborers, with a view that considers individuals' capacity for entrepreneurship. This paper therefore examines this relationship between population and economic growth with entrepreneurship considered.

The paper draws on James Buchanan's dichotomy of the organismic theory of government finance vs the individualistic theory and applies this dichotomy to population planning. This framework reveals entrepreneurial capacity is only compatible with the open-ended individualistic view. Lastly, the paper utilizes considers the number of potential entrepreneurs lost to China's one child policy and considers the case of Jack Ma as a concrete example of the potential opportunity cost of policies which seek to curb population growth.

The analysis shows it is impossible for either natural scientists or economists to determine a welfare-enhancing population policy. Creative and entrepreneurial individuals contribute to the economy in ways not captured by standard models. The implication is policies seeking to curb population growth may inhibit economic growth by reducing potential entrepreneurs. Politicians cannot measure the opportunity cost of forgone entrepreneurs, and therefore the costs of such policies are unseen.

While economists have examined the potential gains from creativity, this contribution is unique in that it highlights the inherent open-endedness involved in entrepreneurship means the opportunity cost of a forgone individual cannot be know because market conditions created by entrepreneurs do not exist absent the entrepreneurs.

When original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) examine whether to implement a reverse supply chain (RSC) for their products, oftentimes the motive is cost savings or regulatory compliance. However, a frequently overlooked but equally important benefit is the possibility for creating new revenue. The purpose of this paper is to examine which revenue streams the RSC enables for OEMs to utilize and how these streams are utilized in industrial practice.

First, the paper identifies the RSC-enabled revenue streams that are available to OEMs using a literature-based conceptual modeling approach. Second, using a set of eight cases the paper explores these streams’ utilization pattern and develops a set of propositions that explain the pattern.

Results show a set of 12 distinct RSC-enabled revenue streams within three categories: new revenue through sales of used items, new revenue through sales of recovered items, and new revenue through added sales of virgin products. Six of these 12 streams are utilized in industrial practice. Among the propositions that explain the utilization pattern are the degree of component customization, product life-cycle longevity, and the value gap between used and recovered products.

While extant literature concerning the relation between the RSC and the firm’s revenue is scarce, this paper contributes to the understanding of RSCs’ revenue generation potential and thus to the stream of literature that views the RSC as a value creator rather than a costly nuisance. Furthermore, the paper provides managers with a broad view of how their firm’s RSC can increase revenue from existing markets as well as create revenue from new markets.

Although manufacturers have traditionally viewed reverse supply chain (RSC) activities as a costly nuisance, more recent research has found that the RSC can contribute to the firm’s financial performance. The purpose of this paper is to identify how the RSC can contribute to the firm’s financial performance and examine the exogenous contingency factors decisive for the contribution’s size. Because the exogenous factors are outside the control of the firm’s operations and supply chain management, the factors influence the RSC’s financial contribution irrespective of managerial policies and design decisions.

The paper applies a systematic literature review using the sequence of planning the review, searching and screening literature, extracting information from the selected literature, and synthesizing and analyzing findings. In total, 112 papers were included.

The study has identified 15 distinct opportunities for RSC-contribution to the firm’s financial performance. The study has identified 56 contingency factors. These are related to market segmentation, customer behavior, product design, and the firm’s distributor network. The study includes an interrelationship network between factors and the RSC’s contribution.

For managers, the paper shows how the RSC can increase the firm’s financial performance and which contingency factors determine whether operating a RSC will be financially viable if implemented.

While extant literature includes several reviews about RSC-related managerial policies and design decisions, this paper contains the very first collection of RSC-contribution opportunities available to manufacturers as well as the first review of exogenous contingency factors.

The purpose of this paper is to refine and expand technology adoption theory for a healthcare logistics setting by combining the technology–organization–environment framework with a business process management (BPM) perspective. The paper identifies and ranks factors impacting the decision to implement instances of technologies in healthcare logistics processes.

A multiple case study is carried out at five Danish hospitals to investigate the bed logistics process. A combined technology adoption and BPM lens is applied to gain an understanding of the reasoning behind technology adoption.

A set of 17 factors impacting the adoption of technologies within healthcare logistics was identified. The impact factors perceived as most important to the adoption of technologies in healthcare logistics processes relate to quality, employee work conditions and employee engagement.

This paper seeks to understand how managers can use knowledge about impact factors to improve processes through technology adoption. The findings of this study provide insights about the factors impacting the adoption of technologies in healthcare logistics processes. Differences in perceived importance of factors enable ranking of impact factors, and prioritization of changes to be implemented. The study is limited to five hospitals, but is expected to be representative of public hospitals in developed countries and applicable to similar processes.

The study contributes to the empirical research within the field of BPM and technology adoption in healthcare. Furthermore, the findings of this study enable managers to make an informed decision about technology adoption within a healthcare logistics setting.

This paper aims to present an approach by which to assess the potential of branding a particular type of place resource or feature.

A review was conducted to analyse three key periodicals (Journal of Brand Management, Place Branding and Public Diplomacy and Journal of Place Management and Development) in the field of branding and place branding between 2000 and 2011. These three periodicals are recognized as the three leading periodicals of place branding, and they followed the clear establishment and development of the field of place branding.

Familiarity, favourability and uniqueness are the three dimensions that give a quick indication of the level of place brand equity, and in turn they represent the level of place brand potential.

In the literature, brand potential is not well conceptualized. This paper identifies this knowledge gap through a review of place branding studies, and it closes the gap by connecting brand potential with place brand equity.

This paper suggests practical and research directions by which to study these three dimensions to generate valuable brands for places.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for health care performance evaluation that enables decision makers to identify areas indicative of corrective actions. The framework should provide information on strategic pro-/regress in an operational context that justifies the need for organizational adjustments.

The study adopts qualitative methods for constructing the framework, subsequently implementing the framework in a Danish magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) unit. Workshops and interviews form the basis of the qualitative construction phase, and two internal and five external databases are used for a quantitative data collection.

By aggregating performance outcomes, collective measures of performance are achieved. This enables easy and intuitive identification of areas not strategically aligned. In general, the framework has proven helpful in an MRI unit, where operational decision makers have been struggling with extensive amounts of performance information.

The implementation of the framework in a single case in a public and highly political environment restricts the generalizing potential. The authors acknowledge that there may be more suitable approaches in organizations with different settings.

The strength of the framework lies in the identification of performance problems prior to decision making. The quality of decisions is directly related to the individual decision maker. The only function of the framework is to support these decisions.

The study demonstrates a more refined and transparent use of performance reporting by combining strategic weight assignment and performance aggregation in hierarchies. In this way, the framework accentuates performance as a function of strategic progress or regress, thus assisting decision makers in exerting operational effort in pursuit of strategic alignment.

The purpose of this study is to first create an overview of relevant factors directly influencing employee absence in the healthcare sector. The overview is used to further investigate the factors identified using employee satisfaction survey scores exclusively. The result of the overall objective is a management framework that allows managers to gain insight into the current status of risk factors with high influence on employee absence levels.

The research consists of a quantitative literature study supported by formal and semi‐formal interviews conducted at the case organisations. Employee satisfaction surveys were applied to analyse the development over time of selected factors correlated with concurrent employee absence rates. Checking for causal results, comparisons with the included published literature findings were also carried out.

Four major clustered factors, three of which constitute the term “social capital”, showed a high degree of connection with employee absence rates. The factors are general satisfaction, fairness, reliance and co‐operation. Integrating the four elements in a management framework will provide valuable and holistic information about the determinants with regard to current levels of employee absence. The framework will be a valuable support for leaders with the authority to alter the determinants of employee absence.

Since a great part of the empirical material is supplied from the healthcare sector, the results obtained could be restricted to this sector. Inclusion of data from Arbejdsmarkedets Tillægspension (ATP) showed no deviation from the results in the healthcare sector.

The product of the study is a decision support tool for leaders to cope with levels of employee absence. The framework is holistic and can prove to be a valuable tool to take a bearing of where to focus future initiatives.

Gathering former observational studies in a complete overview embracing many relevant factors that influence sickness absence has not yet been attempted. Hospital management is provided with valuable information when given insight into the factors that control employee absence behaviour. Having this insight will enable the managers to promote a healthy working environment, thus lowering employee absence rates to a minimum.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how the psychological constructs volition and motivation influence successful and unsuccessful weight maintainers’ experiences during the difficult period following an intensive lifestyle intervention.

Post lifestyle intervention semi-structured interviews with 11 successful and four unsuccessful weight maintainers were conducted.

The eight themes that emerged and the differences between successful and unsuccessful maintainers were theoretically explained applying the self-determination theory (motivation) and the personal systems interaction (volition).

The study validates and coheres with previous findings on the importance of self-regulation and autonomous motivation for weight loss maintenance. Additionally, the study’s findings expand the literature by explaining both empirically and theoretically how the quality of motivation concerning an activity influences the level of volitional intensity needed when wanting to either engage in goal oriented or refrain from goal opposing activities.

Developing effective obesity interventions has become essential, as obesity is a growing health threat in most countries in the world. However, there is a gap in the literature with regards to qualitative psychological studies with a clear theoretical framework informing intervention development.