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There is limited empirical literature on the effectiveness of leadership coaching in healthcare settings. The purpose of this paper is to explore the efficacy of leadership coaching for individuals implementing strategic change in the Australian public health system.

Using a within-subjects (pre-post) design, participants (n=31) undertook six one-hour coaching sessions. Coaching was conducted by professional leadership coaches. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected.

Participation was associated with significant improvements in goal attainment, solution-focused thinking, leadership self-efficacy, perspective-taking capacity, self-insight and resilience, and ambiguity tolerance. There were significant reductions in stress and anxiety. The benefits of coaching transferred from the workplace to the home. Many participants reported being able to use insights gained in coaching in their personal lives, and reported better work/life balance, less stress and better quality relationships at home.

Few studies have provided evaluation of leadership coaching in healthcare setting. Leadership coaching in the public health system may be an important methodology for facilitating goal attainment and fostering resilience in this vital social sector, benefiting workers in the health services, their families and ultimately their patients and the broader community.

To further our insight into the role of networks in health system reform, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how one agency, the NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation (ACI), and the multiple networks and enabling resources that it encompasses, govern, manage and extend the potential of networks for healthcare practice improvement.

This is a case study investigation which took place over ten months through the first author’s participation in network activities and discussions with the agency’s staff about their main objectives, challenges and achievements, and with selected services around the state of New South Wales to understand the agency’s implementation and large system transformation activities.

The paper demonstrates that ACI accommodates multiple networks whose oversight structures, self-organisation and systems change approaches combined in dynamic ways, effectively yield a diversity of network governances. Further, ACI bears out a paradox of “centralised decentralisation”, co-locating agents of innovation with networks of implementation and evaluation expertise. This arrangement strengthens and legitimates the role of the strategic hybrid – the healthcare professional in pursuit of change and improvement, and enhances their influence and impact on the wider system.

While focussing the case study on one agency only, this study is unique as it highlights inter-network connections. Contributing to the literature on network governance, this paper identifies ACI as a “network of networks” through which resources, expectations and stakeholder dynamics are dynamically and flexibly mediated and enhanced.

The co-location of and dynamic interaction among clinical networks may create synergies among networks, nurture “strategic hybrids”, and enhance the impact of network activities on health system reform.

Network governance requires more from network members than participation in a single network, as it involves health service professionals and consumers in a multi-network dynamic. This dynamic requires deliberations and collaborations to be flexible, and it increasingly positions members as “strategic hybrids” – people who have moved on from singular taken-as-given stances and identities, towards hybrid positionings and flexible perspectives.

This paper is novel in that it identifies a critical feature of health service reform and large system transformation: network governance is empowered through the dynamic co-location of and collaboration among healthcare networks, particularly when complemented with “enabler” teams of people specialising in programme implementation and evaluation.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the overall morbidity prevalence and their differentials among emigrants’ and non-emigrants’ wives in Kerala, India.

The study is based on the third round of The Kerala Migration Survey-2007 data. The third round of KMS was perhaps the first survey which has collected data on Indian emigration and morbidity scenario during 2007 at the household and individual level. Descriptive statistics, binary logistic regression models, and Oaxaca decomposition models were used to examine the disease differentials among emigrants’ and non-emigrants’ wives.

The paper shows that household size is negatively associated with chronic disease and incidence of morbidity is much lower among emigrants’ wives. The result also shows that among women, those who stay with a husband or whose husbands are elsewhere in India show a higher incidence of morbidity than those whose husbands are abroad, owing to the limited scope of activity as well as freedom in lifestyle and for taking independent decisions. Thus, it can be concluded that for women, the scope of activity and the freedom to live are important factors contributing to the level of morbidity. Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition results show that non-poor households and non-Muslim religion are in a disadvantageous position in terms of chronic morbidity.

This paper is based on the cross-sectional nature of data; this is an obvious limitation on the effect of emigration on morbidity differentials among emigrants’ and non-emigrants’ wives.

There are few or rare studies conducted so far to investigate the effect of migration on the health of the spouses or families left behind.

Corruption within the Indian police organization is not a new phenomenon and folklore has always associated police with extortion and brutality. At present, corruption exists in many forms and in every rank and has reached an alarming stage where some practices are not even considered deviant. This paper argues that such pervasive corruption is an expression of the organizational culture that has its roots in the British Raj. The paper, based upon an insider’s viewpoints, describe some unusual forms of corruption and suggest how these emanate from organizational practices that have continued unchanged for more than a 100 years.

This study aims to identify and prioritize the key practices and strategies for effective global sourcing and supply chain management (SCM).

The study uses a combination of Pareto analysis and multi-objective optimization based on ratio analysis research methodology to analyze and establish the relationships among the identified key practices and strategies. Pareto analysis enables organization to prioritize organizational efforts and resources by focusing on the most critical factors.

The study shows that the “eco-friendly sourcing strategy”, “lean manufacturing” and “tool cost analysis” are the top critical practices and strategy variables for global sourcing and SCM, whereas the “risk management”, “procurement strategy” and “leverage digital solutions” are the critical practices and strategy variables.

The findings of this research can also assist organizations in making informed decisions to optimize their global sourcing and supply chain operations.

By using these methods, this research paper gives valuable insights into the critical practices and strategies that can enhance efficiency, mitigate risks and drive success in global sourcing and SCM. The subjects and elements this study identified will serve as a framework and suggestions for further theoretical investigation and real-world implementations.

The police in India do not meet the standards of legitimacy. This chapter examines a significant question – why in the largest democracy police are deemed illegitimate and untrustworthy?

The chapter draws from the literature about police role and functioning in India. Data from the Crime in India and other publications is utilized to assess the nature of policing and interactions with the citizens. Since the police derive their legitimacy from that of the government, the nature of politics and its impact upon the police organization is assessed from various reports and publications.

There is significant evidence to suggest that in India, citizens distrust the police and fear the officers while the police too remain mired in corruption, brutality, violating the rights of citizens. Two arguments are made to explain the reasons for the illegitimacy of police system: first, that the police model is incompatible with the plural and diverse democratic framework of the country. Second, that the political leaders have vitiated the democratic polity itself, preventing the growth of independent public institutions that could hold them accountable. All these have serious consequences for the health and vitality of the largest democracy in the world.

This chapter provides evidence about incompatibility of colonial policing with liberal democratic order and argues that political leadership is largely responsible for the illegitimacy of police and other public institutions.

Fingerprints and blood samples are important for the identification of individuals and criminals. The present study aims to identify the predominant fingerprint patterns and the association between the fingerprint patterns and ABO–Rh blood groups in Omani population.

A cross-sectional study was conducted on 200 Omani individuals aged 18 years (104 males and 96 females). The imprints of all right and left-hand fingers were taken, and the types of the fingerprints were determined using a standard protocol. The blood group of all the subjects was recorded. Chi-square test was performed to identify the association between the fingerprint patterns and the ABO and Rh blood groups.

The loop fingerprint pattern was the most common in Omani subjects (49.4%), followed by whorl (44.9%) and arch (5.7%) pattern. A significant association (p < 0.001) was found between gender and fingerprint pattern. The loop was the highest occurring pattern in the females (54.6%), while the whorl was more in males (50.0%). The whorl pattern was the most common in the AB+ and O− groups. The loop was a predominant pattern in the A+, A−, B+, B− and O+ groups. The Chi-square test also revealed a significant correlation between different fingerprint patterns and blood groups of the subjects (p < 0.001).

The present study is an outcome of undergraduate student's research project thesis for the Doctor of Medicine (MD) program. The results of the present study may help in creating a data bank for biometrics, which can be useful for diagnosing associated diseases and also help in identification of individuals.

This research aims to evaluate the impact of barriers experienced by Brazilian companies in adopting Industry 4.0 (I4.0).

As a methodological approach, the survey method was used, adopting the use of the questionnaire for data collection. From the feedback of 99 companies (with an index of 80%), quantitative analyzes of the data were carried out with the aid of factor analysis and linear regression to validate the proposed structural model.

The barriers construct does not impact the I4.0 adoption construct. Directly evaluating the effect of the variables that make up the barriers construct in the I4.0 adoption construct, it was observed that three barriers affect effectively the adoption of I4.0: technological infrastructure; financial constraint and lack of understanding of the benefits of I4.0.

As a limitation, the research was conducted only in the Brazilian context, requiring the development of future studies in other countries that can strengthen the findings of this research.

In addition, the results achieved provide relevant insights into public policymakers and business managers, helping them to deeply understand the barriers that impact the adoption of I4.0. This facilitates the propagation of I4.0 concepts in the context of Brazilian companies and in the formulation of public policies adapted to each sector, allowing a more assertive action in the face of the types of barriers experienced by organizations during the adoption of I4.0.

The findings can help practitioners and policymakers to understand in detail this new industrial model and the difficulties that prevent its implementation.

From an extensive literature review, no studies were identified that statistically validate which barriers effectively affect the adoption of I4.0. This research is a pioneer in proposing a structural model to analyze the barriers experienced by workers during the adoption of I4.0, exploring Brazilian companies, from different economic sectors and sizes. It is noteworthy that the literature still focuses efforts on manufacturing companies.

Recent technological advancements, often linked to Industry 4.0, require organizations to be more agile and innovative. Blockchain technology (BT) holds immense potential in driving organizations to achieve efficiency and transparency in supply chains. However, there exist some insurmountable challenges associated with the adoption of BT in organizational supply chains (SC). This paper attempts to categorically identify and systematize the most influential challenges in the implementation of BT in SC.

This study resorts to an extensive literature review and consultations with experts in the field of supply chain management (SCM), information technology and academia to identify, categorize and prioritize the major challenges using VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) and Combined Compromise Solution method (CoCoSo).

The top three classes of challenges revealed in this study are privacy challenges (PC), infrastructure challenges (IC) and transparency challenges (TC). Maintaining a balance between data openness and secrecy and rectification of incorrect/erroneous input are the top two challenges in the PC category, integration of BT with sustainable practices and ensuring legitimacy are the top two challenges in the IC category, and proper and correct information sharing in organizations was the top most challenge in the TC category.

Future scholars and industry professionals will be guided by the importance of the challenges identified in this study to develop an economical and logical approach for integrating BT to increase the efficiency and outcome of supply chains across several industrial sectors.

Though academic study on the subject is still in its early stages, there is growing interest in using blockchain technology for transforming the supply chain. The academic literature is divided and yet only includes studies evaluating how the supply chain has changed organizations. To comprehend the new phenomena, this study aims to investigate the factors of blockchain technology in driving supply chain transformation. To be more precise, the authors developed from the literature the most prevalent criteria for determining if supply chain transformations are ready to be scaled up.

This study followed a combination of two multi-criteria decision making methods evaluation based on distance from average solution and complex proportional assessment) methodology in this research: planning, investigating, executing out, establishing a rating of the criteria and evaluating it.

The study shows that the “organizational driver” and the “technology driver” are the factors most important to the transformation of the supply chain, whereas the “financial driver” and the “regulatory driver” are less important. This study also makes some managerial recommendations to address the factors impeding the supply chain’s transformation. Each factor’s significance was explored, and a proposed study agenda was also presented.

Although the main forces behind the transformation of the supply chain have been recognized, further research into statistical correlation is required to confirm how the various elements interact.

This research aids decision-makers in comprehending the key forces behind supply chain transformation. Managers and decision-makers might better predict and allocate the necessary resources to start the road toward digitization and make well-informed choices once these aspects have been investigated and understood.

In light of the pandemic’s effects on the world and the increase in businesses embracing the digital economy, the supply chain transformation is more important than ever. Beyond blockchain deployment and the pilot studies on digital transformation, there is a gap. The topics and factors this study uncovered will operate as a framework and recommendations for more theoretical investigation and practical applications.