Pooling,unpooling/specialization,and discretionary task completion are typical operational strategies in queueing systems that arise in healthcare,call centers,and online sales.These strategies may have advantages and...Pooling,unpooling/specialization,and discretionary task completion are typical operational strategies in queueing systems that arise in healthcare,call centers,and online sales.These strategies may have advantages and disadvantages in different operational environments.This paper uses the M/M/1 and M/M/2 queues to study the impact of pooling,specialization,and discretionary task completion on the average queue length.Closed-form solutions for the average M/M/2 queue length are derived.Computational examples illustrate how the average queue length changes with the strength of pooling,specialization,and discretionary task completion.Finally,several conjectures are made in the paper.展开更多
The reorganization of the global production network and the increased mobility of urban-rural elements have accelerated the differentiation of rural spaces,resulting in a trend towards specialization in rural areas.Th...The reorganization of the global production network and the increased mobility of urban-rural elements have accelerated the differentiation of rural spaces,resulting in a trend towards specialization in rural areas.This paper focuses on the concept of specialization,and takes a renowned bonsai specialized village in Guangzhou City,China as a typical case to explore its transformation and development process,action logic and coupling mechanism with the social governance.The results show that:1)the development of rural specialization in Ruiling Village is shaped by several key actors,such as local governments,grassroots organizations,villagers,social organizations,policies,markets and infrastructure.The transfer of these key actors and the reconstruction of actor-networks in different stages have an important influence on the transformation and realization of rural development goals.2)Through subjects-driven,organization management and resource connection,social governance supports the specialization of rural industrial organization,operation,technology and mode.The governance structure shifts from decentralization to networking,refinement and integration.A coupling community of social governance and specialization is created by the social governance system of‘local government-grassroots organizationseconomic cooperatives-villagers’,which links industries,industrial chains and cooperatives.3)Social governance integrates into the value chain extension process of rural specialized development with a central,multi-level organizational structure.It promotes the construction of the whole value chain through organizational planning,resource integration and image shaping,thus realizing the value,branding and organization of the industry,as well as the integration of rural sustainable development and governance mechanism.Social governance has a profound impact on the development of rural specialization in terms of subject,structure and mode,and participates in the construction of the whole value chain of rural areas.This paper provides a new perspective for understanding the coupling effect of social governance in the rural development transformation,and promotes the rural sustainable development and governance.展开更多
Background: Many countries across the world are facing an ongoing shortage of midwife practitioners due to several reasons such as increased workload, working overtime, poor-quality midwifery care, low staff morale, s...Background: Many countries across the world are facing an ongoing shortage of midwife practitioners due to several reasons such as increased workload, working overtime, poor-quality midwifery care, low staff morale, stress and burnout, lack of opportunity for training, lack of management support, financial issues and lack of recognition and compromised autonomy. Purpose: To explore the reasons behind nurses’ hesitance to apply for midwifery specialization. The objectives of this study were to understand the challenges that lie in front of Omani nurses and the motivational factors to apply for a midwifery programme. Method: Exploratory qualitative study was conducted at the largest tertiary hospital in Oman. Purposive sampling was applied for participant recruitment. Face-to-face interviews and focus group discussions were used as data collection methods. The study included general nurses, nurses in charge working in the maternity unit as well as nurses whose applications were accepted for midwifery education. Qualified midwives were excluded. The data collection process yielded twenty-five nurses. The interview protocol highlighted the impact and perception of the midwifery specialization on nurses’ careers. Thematic analysis was employed for data analysis. Results: Three over-arching major themes were identified. These are 1) nurses’ perceptions about the nature of work in maternity wards, the nurses have positive perception toward working in maternity wards and labor room because of working exclusively with female patients and their babies 2) factors influencing the decision to study midwifery specialization, work overload, stress, lack of support from administration were the most common reason behind the nurses not to apply for midwifery specialization and 3) support and recommendations required for midwives, the nurses mentioned that their identity, promotions and support from the administration will encourage them to apply for midwifery specialization. Conclusion: One of the main reasons that hindered nurses from applying to midwifery specialization is the false belief that midwives cannot work outside the delivery suite (DS). The second reason was the stress that midwives encounter at DS, and this was perceived by general nurses who did not work at DS. These challenges could be mitigated by leadership support, midwifery profession identity, as well as financial recognition for the midwives.展开更多
文摘Pooling,unpooling/specialization,and discretionary task completion are typical operational strategies in queueing systems that arise in healthcare,call centers,and online sales.These strategies may have advantages and disadvantages in different operational environments.This paper uses the M/M/1 and M/M/2 queues to study the impact of pooling,specialization,and discretionary task completion on the average queue length.Closed-form solutions for the average M/M/2 queue length are derived.Computational examples illustrate how the average queue length changes with the strength of pooling,specialization,and discretionary task completion.Finally,several conjectures are made in the paper.
基金Under the auspices of National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.42171193)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities,Sun Yat-sen University(No.22lgqb13)。
文摘The reorganization of the global production network and the increased mobility of urban-rural elements have accelerated the differentiation of rural spaces,resulting in a trend towards specialization in rural areas.This paper focuses on the concept of specialization,and takes a renowned bonsai specialized village in Guangzhou City,China as a typical case to explore its transformation and development process,action logic and coupling mechanism with the social governance.The results show that:1)the development of rural specialization in Ruiling Village is shaped by several key actors,such as local governments,grassroots organizations,villagers,social organizations,policies,markets and infrastructure.The transfer of these key actors and the reconstruction of actor-networks in different stages have an important influence on the transformation and realization of rural development goals.2)Through subjects-driven,organization management and resource connection,social governance supports the specialization of rural industrial organization,operation,technology and mode.The governance structure shifts from decentralization to networking,refinement and integration.A coupling community of social governance and specialization is created by the social governance system of‘local government-grassroots organizationseconomic cooperatives-villagers’,which links industries,industrial chains and cooperatives.3)Social governance integrates into the value chain extension process of rural specialized development with a central,multi-level organizational structure.It promotes the construction of the whole value chain through organizational planning,resource integration and image shaping,thus realizing the value,branding and organization of the industry,as well as the integration of rural sustainable development and governance mechanism.Social governance has a profound impact on the development of rural specialization in terms of subject,structure and mode,and participates in the construction of the whole value chain of rural areas.This paper provides a new perspective for understanding the coupling effect of social governance in the rural development transformation,and promotes the rural sustainable development and governance.
文摘Background: Many countries across the world are facing an ongoing shortage of midwife practitioners due to several reasons such as increased workload, working overtime, poor-quality midwifery care, low staff morale, stress and burnout, lack of opportunity for training, lack of management support, financial issues and lack of recognition and compromised autonomy. Purpose: To explore the reasons behind nurses’ hesitance to apply for midwifery specialization. The objectives of this study were to understand the challenges that lie in front of Omani nurses and the motivational factors to apply for a midwifery programme. Method: Exploratory qualitative study was conducted at the largest tertiary hospital in Oman. Purposive sampling was applied for participant recruitment. Face-to-face interviews and focus group discussions were used as data collection methods. The study included general nurses, nurses in charge working in the maternity unit as well as nurses whose applications were accepted for midwifery education. Qualified midwives were excluded. The data collection process yielded twenty-five nurses. The interview protocol highlighted the impact and perception of the midwifery specialization on nurses’ careers. Thematic analysis was employed for data analysis. Results: Three over-arching major themes were identified. These are 1) nurses’ perceptions about the nature of work in maternity wards, the nurses have positive perception toward working in maternity wards and labor room because of working exclusively with female patients and their babies 2) factors influencing the decision to study midwifery specialization, work overload, stress, lack of support from administration were the most common reason behind the nurses not to apply for midwifery specialization and 3) support and recommendations required for midwives, the nurses mentioned that their identity, promotions and support from the administration will encourage them to apply for midwifery specialization. Conclusion: One of the main reasons that hindered nurses from applying to midwifery specialization is the false belief that midwives cannot work outside the delivery suite (DS). The second reason was the stress that midwives encounter at DS, and this was perceived by general nurses who did not work at DS. These challenges could be mitigated by leadership support, midwifery profession identity, as well as financial recognition for the midwives.
