ABSTRACT
The Strategic Alliances Fieldbook: The Art of Agile Alliances is for technology and professional services practitioners and executives seeking faster value from their partnerships as traditional alliances are changing rapidly in form and tempo. Digitising customer channels and internal operations has been a long-running initiative for most companies, and the global COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the urgency and budgets associated with the digital transformations that technology and professional services companies support. The Strategic Alliances Fieldbook compiles a century of the authors’ experience of leading joint businesses to solve the problem of how to go fast and avoid common issues that delay alliances. The reader will get a detailed analysis of professional services companies and technology companies and how the dynamics of their collective culture and operating model are shaped when working in partnership. The book provides a ‘Blueprint’: a library of methods that includes 15 templates which can be applied to accelerate any alliance. The book also includes 19 case studies to illustrate real-life situations. This book is particularly relevant to executives involved in partnership initiatives, specifically in professional services and technology firms, and can be read in conjunction with The Strategic Alliance Handbook by Mike Nevin. © 2022 Gavin Booth, Mike Nevin and Jim Whitehurst.
ABSTRACT
Rationale Heterogeneous respiratory system static compliance (CRS) values and levels of hypoxemia in patients with novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) requiring mechanical ventilation have been reported in previous smallcase series or studies conducted at a national level.Methods We designed a retrospective observational cohort study with rapid data gathering from the international COVID-19 Critical Care Consortium study to comprehensively describe the impact of CRS on the ventilatory management and outcomes of COVID-19 patients on mechanical ventilation (MV), admitted to intensive care units (ICU) worldwide.Results We enrolled 318 COVID-19 patients enrolled into the study from January 14th through September 31th, 2020 in 19 countries and stratified into two CRS groups. CRS was calculated as: tidal volume/[airway plateau pressure-positive endexpiratory pressure (PEEP)] and available within 48h from commencement of MV in 318 patients. Patients were mean±SD of 58.0±12.2, predominantly from Europe (54%) and males (68%). Median CRS (IQR) was 34.1 mL/cmH2O (26.5-45.5) and PaO2/FiO2 was 119 mmHg (87.1-164) and was not correlated with CRS. Female sex presented lower CRS than in males (95% CI:-13.8 to-8.5 P<0.001) and higher body mass index (34.7±10.9 vs 29.1±6.0, p<0.001). Median (IQR) PEEP was 12 cmH2O (10-15), throughout the range of CRS, while median (IQR) driving pressure was 12.3 (10-15) cmH2O and significantly decreased as CRS improved (p<0.001). No differences were found in comorbidities and clinical management between CRS strata. In addition, 28-day ICU mortality and hospital mortality did not differ between CRSgroups.Conclusions This multicentre report provides a comprehensive account of CRS in COVID-19 patients on MV-predominantly males or overweight females, in their late 50s-admitted to ICU during the first international outbreaks. Phenotypes associated with different CRS upon commencement of MV could not be identified.