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Key Lessons (key + lesson)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Humanities and Social Sciences	35%
Medical Sciences	23%

Selected Abstracts

Six Sigma: 20 Key Lessons Learned,

QUALITY AND RELIABILITY ENGINEERING INTERNATIONAL, Issue 3 2005
G. J. Hahn
Abstract This paper discusses 20 key lessons learned about Six Sigma in the 20 years since its introduction. It was previously published in the May 2002 issue of Six Sigma Forum Magazine. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Resource and environmental management: connecting the academy with practice

THE CANADIAN GEOGRAPHER/LE GEOGRAPHE CANADIEN, Issue 2 2008
BRUCE MITCHELL
politique publique; recherche fondamentale et appliquée; évaluation et développement de politiques et de plans; gestion intégrée des ressources en eau; renforcement des capacités The rewards and challenges related to a research program that involves interactions between basic and applied research are shared. Specific experience is examined regarding integrated water resource management, capacity enhancement in developing countries and writing textbooks. Key lessons include the manner in which applied research and practice inform and enhance basic research, the role of theoretical and conceptual frameworks in guiding applied research, the need to understand the distinction between multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary models and the importance of facilitating evolution from visions, strategies and plans to action. La gestion des ressources et de l'environnement : établir des liens entre l'université et la pratique Cet article examine les récompenses et défis entourant un programme de recherche fondé sur l'interaction entre des éléments de recherche fondamentale et de recherche appliquée. Des expériences particulières en matière de gestion intégrée des ressources en eau, de renforcement des capacités dans les pays en voie de développement, et de rédaction de manuels sont abordées. Les principales leçons que l'on peut tirer comprennent notamment la manière dont la recherche appliquée et la pratique inspirent et mettent en valeur la recherche fondamentale, comment les cadres théoriques et conceptuels éclairent la recherche appliquée, la nécessité de comprendre les différences entre les modèles multidisciplinaires et interdisciplinaires, et l'importance de faciliter la progression des visions, stratégies et plans vers l'action. [source]

General health in Timor-Leste: self-assessed health in a large household survey

AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 4 2009
Jaya Earnest
Abstract Objective: Timor-Leste is one of the world's newest nations and became a democracy in 2002. Ranked 150 out of 177 in the 2007 UNDP Human Development Index, the country has the worst health indicators in the Asia-Pacific region. The objective of this study was to collect and analyse data on subjectively assessed general health, health service use, migration and mobility patterns. Methods: The data collection involved recording self-reported status of general health using a structured questionnaire. The survey was administered to 1,213 Timorese households in six districts using a multi-stage random cluster sampling procedure. Basic descriptive statistical analyses were performed on all variables with SPSS version 13. Results: More than a quarter (27%) of respondents reported a health problem at the time of the survey. Only approximately half of respondents assessed their health to be good (53%) or average (38%). Barriers reported in the uptake of healthcare services were no felt needed; difficulty in accessing services and unavailability of service. Conclusions: Results reveal that Timor-Leste needs a more decentralised provision of healthcare through primary healthcare centres or integrated health services. Trained traditional healers, who are familiar with the difficult terrain and understand cultural contexts and barriers, can be used to improve uptake of public health services. An adult literacy and community health education program is needed to further improve the extremely poor health indicators in the country. Implications: Key lessons that emerged were the importance of understanding cultural mechanisms in areas of protracted conflict and the need for integrated health services in communities. [source]

Using Evidence to Improve Reproductive Health Quality along the Thailand-Burma Border

DISASTERS, Issue 3 2004
Tara M. Sullivan
The Mae Tao Clinic, located on the Thailand-Burma border, has provided health services for illegal migrant workers in Thailand and internally displaced people from Burma since 1989. In 2001, the clinic launched a project with the primary aim of improving reproductive health services and the secondary aim of building clinic capacity in monitoring and evaluation (M&E). This paper first presents the project's methods and key results. The team used observation of antenatal care and family-planning sessions and client exit interviews at baseline and follow-up, approximately 13 months apart, to assess performance on six elements of quality of care. Findings indicated that improving programme readiness contributed to some improvement in the quality of services, though inconsistencies in findings across the methods require further research. The paper then identifies lessons learned from introducing M&E in a resource-constrained setting. One key lesson was that a participatory approach to M&E increased people's feelings of ownership of the project and motivated staff to collect and use data for programme decision-making to improve quality. [source]

Applied issues with predators and predation: editor's introduction

JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY, Issue 2 2002
S. J. Ormerod
Summary 1,The effects of predation are among the most pervasive in ecology. As parasitoids, parasites, grazers or top carnivores, predators have large influences on the distribution, density, dynamics and evolved traits of other organisms. Effects scale-up to influence community attributes such as species coexistence and ecosystems processes such as production or trophic cascades. 2,Increasingly, however, some of the largest predation issues fall clearly within the scope of applied ecology. They include instances where, due to their ecological attributes and trophic position: (i) predators are valuable to nature conservation, as biocontrol agents, as natural enemies, or as grazers used in rangeland or ecosystem management; (ii) natural or introduced predators are viewed negatively due to effects on conservation, agriculture, forestry, hunting or disease transmission; (iii) predators are affected by human activities such as resource exploitation, or from exposure to factors such as biomagnified pollutants and disturbance; (iv) predators are controversial because different groups view them as either desirable or undesirable. 3,In all these cases, ecologists have a pivotal rôle in facilitating appropriate management. For valued predators, this involves developing sufficient ecological understanding to optimize habitat, increase prey abundance or to reinforce, establish or reintroduce desirable species. For predators considered undesirable, management can involve direct control. In other cases, predation and its consequences can be mitigated by deterrent, exclusion, supplementary feeding, habitat management to favour prey, predator swamping, or by compensating losses financially. These latter strategies are often used where predators are themselves considered too valuable to remove or control. 4,This collection of seven papers illustrates many of these themes by examining contrasting aspects of the applied ecology of Eurasian lynx; by further probing the interaction between predatory birds and red grouse; by exploring the effects of weather on biocontrol; and by illustrating effects on plant species where grazing or seed predation play a dominant rôle. 5,A key lesson from these and other recent papers in the Journal of Applied Ecology is that the successful management of predators depends invariably on understanding adequately the exact ecological context in which predator,prey interactions take place and in which problems arise. With predator-related issues growing rather than diminishing, ecologists will need sufficient resources to maintain current research if they are to provide the understanding required to offer and evaluate sound management. [source]

Integrating climate forecasts and natural gas supply information into a natural gas purchasing decision

METEOROLOGICAL APPLICATIONS, Issue 3 2000
David Changnon
This paper illustrates a key lesson related to most uses of long-range climate forecast information, namely that effective weather-related decision-making requires understanding and integration of weather information with other, often complex factors. Northern Illinois University's heating plant manager and staff meteorologist, along with a group of meteorology students, worked together to assess different types of available information that could be used in an autumn natural gas purchasing decision. Weather information assessed included the impact of ENSO events on winters in northern Illinois and the Climate Prediction Center's (CPC) long-range climate outlooks. Non-weather factors, such as the cost and available supplies of natural gas prior to the heating season, contribute to the complexity of the natural gas purchase decision. A decision tree was developed and it incorporated three parts: (a) natural gas supply levels, (b) the CPC long-lead climate outlooks for the region, and (c) an ENSO model developed for DeKalb. The results were used to decide in autumn whether to lock in a price or ride the market each winter. The decision tree was tested for the period 1995,99, and returned a cost-effective decision in three of the four winters. Copyright © 2000 Royal Meteorological Society [source]

Sustainable development indicators for the transmission system of an electric utility

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2007
Cory Searcy
Abstract This paper presents a system of sustainable development indicators for the transmission system of a Canadian electric utility. The indicators were developed based on extensive consultations with internal experts at the case utility and external experts in the field of sustainable development indicators. A total of 98 indicators were incorporated into the system, with 70 being developed as a part of this process and 28 representing indicators previously developed by the company. Recognizing the difficulty of working with nearly 100 unstructured measures, four techniques were used to increase the utility of the indicators: (1) the indicators were clustered around eight key priority areas, (2) the indicators were organized according to a hierarchical approach linked to the business planning process, (3) the process of integrating the indicators with existing corporate initiatives was staggered over time and (4) a tiered aggregate was developed. The process of developing the indicators is discussed, with key lessons learned emphasized throughout the paper. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source]

Pathways to prevention: A training and technical assistance initiative to increase program capacity to address infant mental health issues in Early Head Start

INFANT MENTAL HEALTH JOURNAL, Issue 2 2007
Tammy L. Mann
This article provides an overview of a training and consultation program aimed at enhancing the capacity of Early Head Start (EHS) and Migrant and Seasonal Head Start (MSHS) programs to address infant mental health issues from a promotion, prevention, and treatment perspective. This program was implemented by the Early Head Start National Resource Center (EHS NRC), operated by ZERO TO THREE. The EHS NRC is funded by the Head Start Bureau to provide a diverse array of training and technical assistance support services to Early Head Start programs throughout the country. In the fall of 2001, ZERO TO THREE was funded to design and implement the Pathways Initiative. While ZERO TO THREE was not funded to test the efficacy of the Pathways Initiative as a research intervention similar to other papers described in this special issue, we worked creatively to identify resources that allowed us to engage an external evaluator to look at both process and outcome measures. This paper describes the consultation program, evaluation activities, and key lessons learned. [source]

Distribution-based anomaly detection in 3G mobile networks: from theory to practice

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NETWORK MANAGEMENT, Issue 5 2010
Alessandro D'Alconzo
The design of anomaly detection (AD) methods for network traffic has been intensively investigated by the research community in recent years. However, less attention has been devoted to the issues which eventually arise when deploying such tools in a real operational context. We designed a statistical based change detection algorithm for identifying deviations in distribution time series. The proposed method has been applied to the analysis of a large dataset from an operational 3G mobile network, in the perspective of the adoption of such a tool in production. Our algorithm is designed to cope with the marked non-stationarity and daily/weekly seasonality that characterize the traffic mix in a large public network. Several practical issues emerged during the study, including the need to handle incompleteness of the collected data, the difficulty in drilling down the cause of certain alarms, and the need for human assistance in resetting the algorithm after a persistent change in network configuration (e.g. a capacity upgrade). We report on our practical experience, highlighting the key lessons learned and the hands-on experience gained from such an analysis. Finally, we propose a novel methodology based on semi-synthetic traces for tuning and performance assessment of the proposed AD algorithm. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Public disclosure of comparative clinical performance data: lessons from the Scottish experience

JOURNAL OF EVALUATION IN CLINICAL PRACTICE, Issue 2 2003
Russell Mannion PhD
Abstract There is growing international interest in making information available on the clinical quality and performance of health care providers. In the United States of America, where public reporting is most advanced, comparative performance information in the form of ,report cards', ,provider profiles' and ,consumer reports' has been published for over a decade. In Europe, Scotland has been at the forefront of releasing clinical performance data and has disseminated such information since 1994. This paper reviews the Scottish experience of public disclosure and distils the key lessons for other countries seeking to implement similar programmes. It is based on the findings of the first empirical evaluation of a national clinical reporting initiative outside the United States. The study examined the impact of publication of Scottish (CRAG) clinical outcome indicators on four key stakeholder groups: health care providers, regional government health care purchasers, general practitioners and consumer advocacy agencies. We conclude that those responsible for developing clinical reporting systems should not only pay close attention to developing technically valid and professionally credible data which are tailored to the information needs of different end users, but should also focus on developing a suitable incentive structure and organizational environment that fosters the constructive use of such information. [source]

Competition or collaboration , the tensions within the purchaser provider relationship in nurse education

JOURNAL OF NURSING MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2006
LINDA M. BURKE BA
Aims, To explore the nature of the relationship between purchasers and providers from the perspectives of the key individuals involved in healthcare education in the late 1990s. To discuss the lessons that can be learned for nursing from their experiences. Background, Although the findings illustrate experiences of individuals at a specific time, the issues that arise have implications for contemporary health care, as contract use is increasing and, with the introduction of foundation trusts, contracts may replace Service Level Agreements. Method, The design was qualitative and the methods used were policy analysis and interviews. Interviews were conducted with a national, purposive sample of 70 participants. Results, The key finding was the amount of variation in effectiveness of relationships. Many purchasers and providers formed strong partnerships but a number had fraught relationships , a situation perceived as detrimental to productive working. A significant issue for current healthcare was the reasons why relationships worked well in some institutions and were ineffective in others. Conclusions, There are a number of key lessons that can be learned about the nature of the relationship between purchasers and providers and applied to contemporary health care. Notably: ,,the value of clear policy aims; ,,the importance of context and history in shaping the relationship; ,,the necessity of ensuring that individuals involved have the ability and commitment to make the relationship work; ,,the need to view the contracting relationship as a dynamic ,project' that must be worked on; ,,the value of sharing good practice. [source]

Strategic processes @ Nike,making and doing knowledge management

KNOWLEDGE AND PROCESS MANAGEMENT: THE JOURNAL OF CORPORATE TRANSFORMATION, Issue 1 2008
George Stonehouse
This paper contrasts theory with practice through a case study of strategic processes of knowledge management (KM) at Nike Incorporated. From its origins as a small specialist enterprise in 1972 to a multi-billion dollar global brand, the corporation has been continuously at the forefront of developments in management practice and business innovation. This case study has been compiled from interviews with senior managers and numerous secondary sources. The paper begins with a discussion of an insider perspective on the trajectory of the organization in terms of its strategic goals and decisions on markets, customers, products, services and business processes. It then goes on to explore and critique the dynamic interplay of the processes of strategizing, learning, creativity and innovation at Nike as the basis for its knowledge-based competitive advantage (CA). The case thus represents KM as a unique combination of processes in which learning; strategy and creativity are organized and strategically embedded within a large global organization. This has implications for future theorizing in KM, which, as we illustrate in this paper, demands a more integrative approach to research and practice. One of the key lessons for practice is that span of activity, as well as strategy, will influence the relationship between strategizing, organizing and learning and this interplay determines the success (or failure) of KM. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Anatomy of a failed knowledge management initiative: lessons from PharmaCorp's experiences

KNOWLEDGE AND PROCESS MANAGEMENT: THE JOURNAL OF CORPORATE TRANSFORMATION, Issue 1 2002
Ashley Braganza
On a sunny morning in July 1999, Samuel Parsons, Head of Knowledge Management at PharmaCorp, convened his regular Monday team meeting. He looked stressed. After dealing with a couple of administrative issues he said: ,Last Friday evening I was informed that Wilco Smith, Head of Pharma Global Order Handling Services, no longer wants knowledge management. His only question now is how to off-board the knowledge management staff.' Thus came to an end a three-year initiative that at the outset was considered to be ,the knowledge management showcase for the firm'. This paper is for managers who have an interest in operationalizing knowledge and want to avoid the traps others have fallen into. It examines the case of PharmaCorp, a global organization and one of the largest in its industry. The case provides managers with five key lessons. First, manage knowledge interdependencies across communities of practice; second, contextualize knowledge within natural groups of activities; third, avoid an over-emphasis on explicit knowledge; fourth, let knowledge management recipients determine tacit and explicit knowledge; and fifth, manage the input from external consultants. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Six Sigma: 20 Key Lessons Learned,

Continuing education meets the learning organization: The challenge of a systems approach to patient safety

THE JOURNAL OF CONTINUING EDUCATION IN THE HEALTH PROFESSIONS, Issue 4 2000
John M. Eisenberg MD Director
Abstract Since the release of the report of the Institute of Medicine on medical errors and patient safety in November 1999, health policy makers and health care leaders in several nations have sought solutions that will improve the safety of health care. This attention to patient safety has highlighted the importance of a learning approach and a systems approach to quality measurement and improvement. Balanced with the need for public disclosure of performance, confidential reporting with feedback is one of the prime ways that nations such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia have approached this challenge. In the United States, the Quality Interagency Coordination Task Force has convened federal agencies that are involved in health care quality improvement for a coordinated initiative. Based on an investment in a strong research foundation in health care quality measurement and improvement, there are eight key lessons for continuing education if it is to parlay the interest in patient safety into enhanced continuing education and quality improvement in learning health care systems. The themes for these lessons are (1) informatics for information, (2) guidelines as learning tools, (3) learning from opinion leaders, (4) learning from the patient, (5) decision support systems, (6) the team learning together, (7) learning organizations, and (8) just-in-time and point-of-care delivery. [source]

Developing Responsive Preventative Practices: Key Messages from Children's and Families' Experiences of the Children's Fund

CHILDREN & SOCIETY, Issue 2 2008
Katherine Pinnock
As part of the prevention and social inclusion agenda, the Children's Fund, set up in 2000, has developed preventative services for children at risk of social exclusion. Drawing on a large qualitative dataset of interviews conducted in 2004/05 with children, young people and their parents/carers who accessed Children Fund services, this article analyses key practices and approaches valued by children and parents. These included: specialist support tailored to individual support needs, family-oriented approaches, trusting relationships with service providers, multi-agency approaches and sustainability of services. Finally, the article draws out key lessons for the future development of preventative services. [source]

A sea change on the island continent: frameworks for risk assessment, prevention and intervention in child health in Australia

CHILDREN & SOCIETY, Issue 2 2005
Joanne Williams
This article overviews prevention and early intervention approaches focusing specifically on their relevance to the health of children and young people in Australia. Australian public health has a sound track record although concealed within the aggregate profile are a number of sub-populations with poorer health indicators. Recognition of this has increased efforts to improve the health of children and young people especially in exploring the impact of social environments within the communities where children are raised. This paper examines emerging research in this area drawing out key lessons and learning from Australian experience in the field of early intervention and prevention in community settings. [source]