Hospital Governance During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multiple-Country Case Study.

In response to the disruptions caused by COVID-19, hospitals around the world proactively or reactively developed and/or re-organized their governance structures to manage the COVID-19 response. Hospitals' governance played a crucial role in their ability to reorganize and respond to the pressing needs of their staff. We discuss and compare six hospital cases from four countries on different continents: Brazil, Canada, France, and Japan. Our study examined how governance strategies (e.g., special task forces, communications management tools, etc.) were perceived by hospital staff. Key findings from a total of 177 qualitative interviews with diverse hospital stakeholders were analyzed using three categories drawn from the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies framework on health systems resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic: 1) delivering a clear and timely COVID-19 response strategy; 2) coordinating effectively within (horizontally) and across (vertically) levels of decision-making; and 3) communicating clearly and transparently with the hospital's diverse stakeholders. Our study gleaned rich accounts for these three categories, highlighting significant variations across settings. These variations were primarily determined by the hospitals' environment prior to the COVID-19 crisis, namely whether there already existed a culture of managerial openness (including spaces for social interactions among hospital staff) and whether preparedness planning and training had been routinely integrated into their activities.

The Politics of School Reopening During COVID-19: A Multiple Case Study of Five Urban Districts in the 2020–21 School Year

Purpose: Nearly all schools in the United States closed in spring 2020, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyze traditional public and charter school reopenings for the 2020–21 school year in five urban districts. We provide a rich and theoretically grounded description of how and why educational leaders made reopening decisions in each of our case districts. Research Methods: We used data from a multiple-case study from March 2020 to July 2021. The research team conducted 56 interviews with school, district, and system-level leaders;triangulated with publicly available data;and also drew on interview data from a subsample of parents and guardians in each of our sites. We analyzed these data through qualitative coding and memo writing and conducted detailed single- and cross-case analyses. Findings: School system leaders in our case sites generally consulted public health authorities, accounted for state-level health and educational guidance, and engaged with and were responsive to the interests of different stakeholders. Districts' adherence to and strategic uses of public health guidance, as well as a combination of union-district relations and labor market dynamics, influenced reopening. Parents, city, and state lawmakers, and local institutional conditions also played a role, helping to explain differences across cases. Implications: In contrast to the "politics or science” framing that has dominated research and public discourse on school reopening, we show that local pandemic conditions and local political dynamics both mattered and in fact were interrelated. Our findings have some implications for how educational leaders might navigate future crises. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Educational Administration Quarterly is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Social Enterprises Response to COVID-19 – The Case of Romania

SEs, which are found in various forms, are business models that have both social and financial purposes, in the way in which they operate on the market offering products and/or services. The added value of this paper is given by the presentation of the way in which the SEs in Romania reacted to the situation given by the COVID-19 pandemic, the method used to be multiple case study. The aim of the research is to identify how the SEs in Romania have worked during the COVID-19 pandemic, their reactions to the new situation and the organizational resilience strategies adopted. The research is a qualitative one, using the multiple case study, and analyses the activity of five SEs in Romania. The case studies are carried out following desk research, which includes the literature review, various reports, public documents, annual activity reports, websites, other published papers, and so on. A conclusion of this research is that at the level of the studied SEs, the reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic can fall into two main directions, one that assumes an immediate response, focused on the new needs arising on the market and the other one, which consists of continuing the activity, the target being to fulfill the assumed social mission, as well as the financial one. Another conclusion is that at the level of the organizational resilience strategies, two out of the five studied SEs were oriented towards the adoption of new products (to respond to new market needs) targeted to address the new market segments. The analysis carried out leads us to the conclusion that the five SEs studied can be seen as a good example of organizational resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic and that they managed to return to their plans (defined before March 2020) and to do important steps towards new directions. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Bouncing forward or bouncing back? How family firms enact resilience in times of crisis

PurposeThe study aims to develop theoretical understanding about how family-run businesses navigate unexpected and highly disruptive events by examining how family-based resilience capacity is variously transformed into an organizational capability.Design/methodology/approachThe study relies on a qualitative comparative case study design to explore how Croatian family-run businesses navigated market and operational disruptions brought on by the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Drawing on semi-structured interviews and organizational data, this study compares how family-run businesses operating in different industries experienced and coped with disruptions. Using inductive qualitative coding methods, patterns across codes were identified and aggregated into dimensions that describe two broad approaches for leveraging family social capital in the enactment of organizational resilience.FindingsThe analysis shows that family-run businesses may employ family social capital in retrospective and prospective ways. A retrospective approach involves targeted and conservative uses of family social capital, wherein the aim is to maintain organizational functioning and return to "business as usual”. In contrast, a prospective approach employs these resources in a more strategic and flexible way to adapt to a "new” future. While both approaches can enable firms to successfully navigate crises, these approaches differ in terms of their temporal orientation and implications for marketing flexibility.Originality/valueThe study contributes to a better understanding of how family social capital can be differentially leveraged in times of crises, and how these differences may stem from having temporal orientations that focus on either preserving the past or adapting to new conditions. The study advances theorizing at the intersection of organizational resilience and family business by deepening understanding of the heterogeneity of ways in which family businesses manage change for long-term business continuity. For owners and managers of family-run business, the study provides insights into how unexpected disruptions can be managed and how businesses might respond to fast-changing market conditions.

Academic experiences of "Zoom-fatigue" as a virtual streaming phenomenon during the COVID-19 pandemic

This phenomenological exploratory multiple-case study design was conducted at an open distance e-learning university and a traditional contact residential university, and it was found that the participants viewed video conferencing under the COVID-19 lockdown period as an exhausting experience. A second major finding revealed that the participants were empowered with digital literacy skills to use video conferencing effectively. The current findings add to a growing body of literature on video conferencing with a focus on Zoom fatigue. Further research might explore the lived Zoom experiences of administrators, students, and a larger group of faculties over a longer period. The study findings must be considered when planning and implementing video conferencing for academics and students in open distance e-learning contexts. This study showed that video conferencing is one tool in the emergence of a digital zoom revolution that has radically changed the workspace. The evidence from this study suggests that Zoom fatigue is a reality check for work-related health management. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Digital innovation and organizational changes in the healthcare sector: Multiple case studies of telemedicine project implementation

Over the past two decades, different drivers have prompted institutional players to adopt digital innovations in healthcare systems. Telemedicine represents a digital innovation solution to guaranteeing the continuity of care, and patient and personnel safety. However, despite its potential benefits (such as improving care access in rural areas, reduction in hospitalization stay, and saving time for patients and healthcare professionals) and its rapid acceleration in use during the Covid-19 pandemic, the diffusion of telemedicine services remains limited and uneven across Europe. Adopting an explorative approach, this paper analyzes the implementation of telemedicine projects, investigating not only the factors but also the ways in which the analyzed organizations, in order to move from the design to implementation phase, managed the change needed to overcome barriers and to leverage enabling factors. Our research focus is on Southern Italy;a disadvantaged area in comparison to other Italian and European regions. The goal of the paper is to shed light on the characterization of leverages and barriers, as well as the related managerial actions for change implemented in a context whereby the diffusion of telemedicine remains limited. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd

Nursing management for temporary lodging facilities in Japan in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic: A multiple-case study.

AIM: Temporary lodging facilities which were non-medical facilities were established to secure beds for severely and moderately ill patients with COVID-19, as well as for isolation, non-contact observation, and care of mildly ill and asymptomatic patients in Japan. This study aims to understand nursing management practices adopted in these facilities by examining cases of their establishment and operation. METHODS: A multiple-case study design was used. Interviews for qualitative data collection were conducted from August to October 2020. After analyzing the nursing management practices in four temporary lodging facilities, common points were collated and integrated. RESULTS: For the establishment and operation of temporary lodging facilities, a three-layer structure based on disaster management methods was adopted: headquarters at the helm as overseers, field supervisors in the middle, and frontline nursing staff at the base. The structure had clear roles, facilitated information exchange, and provided efficient and effective nursing care. Field supervisors mainly provided psychological and clinical support for staff and served as information and interprofessional hubs. CONCLUSION: It is recommended that temporary lodging facilities should be organized based on principles of the division of labor. The workforce should comprise nursing staff, and experienced nursing professionals should be recruited to the higher echelons.

Ambidextrous strategies in turbulent times: the experience of manufacturing SMEs during the COVID-19 pandemic

PurposeThe paper refers to the framework of ambidexterity to explain the strategic paths of manufacturing SMEs in turbulent times, by investigating SMEs' strategic reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThe authors adopted an inductive approach methodology. Using a qualitative research method, Italian manufacturing SMEs in different industries were interviewed to outline how they have faced the negative effects of the COVID-19 by considering the strategies implemented during the pandemic.FindingsThe study identifies three ambidextrous strategies for manufacturing SMEs to positively overcome the COVID-19 crisis: (1) playing different roles within the same market (business-to-business and business-to-consumer) simultaneously, (2) simultaneous entrance and management of multiple markets and (3) exploiting manufacturing knowledge for exploring product and business model innovation (simultaneous learning processes).Research limitations/implicationsResults enrich the theoretical discussion on ambidexterity and SMEs, by stressing the strategic dimension of ambidexterity and including a more fine-grained analysis of the different firm' strategic paths in times of crisis.Practical implicationsThe paper provides practical suggestions for manufacturing SMEs on how they can react during turbulent times and crises by implementing ambidextrous strategies also thanks to the use of digital technologies.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to outlining the conditions for SMEs' resilience in the international competitive context by highlighting the perspective of ambidexterity based on the analysis of multiple case studies from manufacturing industries.

A Tale of Two Teacher Trajectories: Analysing Change in Teachers' Beliefs on Technology Integration during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Existing research on teachers' beliefs remains majorly focused on cognitive aspects, while lesser attention has been paid to affect and context. In the present study, we use the lens of the cognitive-affective model of conceptual change, to understand how teachers' beliefs about technology integration changed when they were compelled to move to online teaching as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We present findings from a multiple-case study of two secondary school teachers in Kerala, India. Contrary to expectations, the teacher who had low training and low self-efficacy showed stronger belief change towards effective integration of technology, compared to a teacher who was skilled in using technology for physical classroom activities. Motivation, context and situational resources played a crucial role in understanding the difference. The findings have implications for learning sciences researchers working on effective integration of technology-focused solutions in the classroom and in designing TPD programs. © ISLS.

Medical Staff Shortages and the Performance of Outpatient Clinics in Poland during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Unlike many industries, healthcare was simultaneously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in two opposite ways. On the one hand, the industry faced shortages and overload of many medical representatives such as nurses and infectious disease professionals, but on the other, many medical professionals such as dentists were left with considerably reduced demand. The objective of this paper is to study the efficiency of medical staff allocation and the performance of small and medium sized outpatient clinics in Poland during the COVID-19 pandemic. Owing to the contemporaneity of this problem, we have employed a multiple case study approach. Our sample comprises 5 small and medium-sized outpatient clinics located in Poland in the 3-year period 2019-2021. The results indicate a considerable percentage of medical staff employed in small and medium-sized outpatient clinics remained outside the pandemic, despite their potential provision of healthcare services. Four of the five clinics studied remained passive towards the pandemic. In view of future pandemics, the indications we provide have practical implications for outpatient clinics executives and public health policymakers.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN THE PROCESS OF ADAPTING TO DISTANCE EDUCATION: A MULTIPLE-CASE STUDY

In this study, we address the issue of adaptation to distance teaching at the elementary school level during the first school lockdown in spring 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The data was collected from five elementary schools. According to the data analysis, the key point of the whole adaptation process was the school leader's decision of whether there would be unity in the conception of educational processes for the whole school or if the teachers could design their own educational processes. We refer to these approaches as decisions about centralism vs. autonomy. We observed that if a school leader decided that the school would favor centralism and simultaneously arranged the necessary support for the teachers, the responsibility was distributed. School leaders were responsible for conceptual, organizational, and technical levels of education;teachers were responsible for their professional development in terms of digital competence and changes in curricula. On the school level, teachers in these schools gradually reached stability in their distance teaching. © 2022 Masaryk University, Faculty of Arts. All rights reserved.

Bouncing forward or bouncing back? How family firms enact resilience in times of crisis

Purpose: The study aims to develop theoretical understanding about how family-run businesses navigate unexpected and highly disruptive events by examining how family-based resilience capacity is variously transformed into an organizational capability. Design/methodology/approach: The study relies on a qualitative comparative case study design to explore how Croatian family-run businesses navigated market and operational disruptions brought on by the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Drawing on semi-structured interviews and organizational data, this study compares how family-run businesses operating in different industries experienced and coped with disruptions. Using inductive qualitative coding methods, patterns across codes were identified and aggregated into dimensions that describe two broad approaches for leveraging family social capital in the enactment of organizational resilience. Findings: The analysis shows that family-run businesses may employ family social capital in retrospective and prospective ways. A retrospective approach involves targeted and conservative uses of family social capital, wherein the aim is to maintain organizational functioning and return to “business as usual”. In contrast, a prospective approach employs these resources in a more strategic and flexible way to adapt to a “new” future. While both approaches can enable firms to successfully navigate crises, these approaches differ in terms of their temporal orientation and implications for marketing flexibility. Originality/value: The study contributes to a better understanding of how family social capital can be differentially leveraged in times of crises, and how these differences may stem from having temporal orientations that focus on either preserving the past or adapting to new conditions. The study advances theorizing at the intersection of organizational resilience and family business by deepening understanding of the heterogeneity of ways in which family businesses manage change for long-term business continuity. For owners and managers of family-run business, the study provides insights into how unexpected disruptions can be managed and how businesses might respond to fast-changing market conditions. © 2022, Lucija Mihotić, Mia Raynard and Dubravka Sinčić Ćorić.

Key strategies for managing nursing care under the COVID-19 pandemic: A multiple-case study of nursing directors.

AIM: We aim to identify measures implemented by hospital nursing directors early in the COVID-19 pandemic and enabling factors. BACKGROUND: Managerial factors affect nurses' physical and mental health and willingness to work, especially early in a pandemic. METHOD: We used multiple-case study of 15 hospitals, comparing management approaches by interviewing 28 nursing directors and their assistants from August to December 2020. RESULTS: Hospitals that accepted COVID-19 patients and hospitals that unexpectedly experienced clusters underwent a nursing provision system organization phase, followed by an adjustment phase to maintain nursing organization function. Two factors aided measure implementation: an emergency system and staff protection policies. CONCLUSION: Early epidemic management strategies apply across contexts. The hospital's basic attitude is key to effective implementation of the strategies. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: The results suggest that hospitals, nursing directors and nurses can each prepare for future emerging infectious disease epidemics.

Education leadership preparation and special education: A multiple case study of female beginning school-based administrators

The purpose of this qualitative, multiple case study, was to investigate female beginning school-based administrators' perceptions of their roles and responsibilities in regard to special education and how their university-based preparation influenced their knowledge, skills, and practices in providing administrative support to special education teachers. Multiple data sources including semi-structured interviews, focus group, electronic correspondence, and documents were coded and analyzed using Braun and Clarke's (2006) six phase thematic analysis process. Each participant was considered a single case and data was analyzed individually through three within-case analyses, as well as through a cross-case synthesis. Findings from the cross-case synthesis yielded two areas of divergence: (a) the role of data to inform instructional practices and support and (b) Education Leadership cohort as a community of practice and four main areas of convergence: (a) female and white school-based administrators in a male dominated profession, (b) education landscape of COVID-19 and roles and responsibilities of school-based administrators, (c) job experience and Education Leadership on preparation and practice, and (d) recommendations for Educational Leadership program. Elaboration of the Conceptual Model is presented. Implications for education leadership programs and school districts are presented and areas of future research are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

The impact of leadership on perceived work-related stress in healthcare facilities organisations

Purpose Employees in the private, public, and third sectors have experienced an increase in stress over the years. Amongst the sectors, people working in hospitals and other healthcare facilities were put under severe stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, the World Health Organisation has clearly stated that defending people's mental health at this particular time of restless pandemic growth is an absolute necessity. The purpose of this article is to assess the perceived work-related stress (WRS) of healthcare workers (HCWs) as a result of the spread of COVID-19, as well as how a leadership role can help to reduce WRS. Design/methodology/approach Based on a multiple case study approach applied to two Italian health-care facilities, the questionnaire results were subjected to a regression analysis. Findings The results show an association in HCWs between the perception of supportive leadership and the perception of negative psychosocial risks whose exposure can lead to manifestation of WRS during COVID-19 pandemic. Originality/value The study addresses the role that the perception of supportive leadership can play in reducing exposure to occupational psychosocial risks in a sample of healthcare professionals.

The Covid 19 Pandemic and its Effects on Agile Software Development

Companies worldwide have enabled their employees to work remotely as a consequence of the Covid 19 pandemic. Software development is a human-centered discipline and thrives on teamwork. Agile methods are focusing on several social aspects of software development. Software development teams in Germany were mainly co-located before the pandemic. This paper aims to validate the findings of existing studies by expanding on an existing multiple-case study. Therefore, we collected data by conducting semi-structured interviews, observing agile practices, and viewing project documents in three cases. Based on the results, we can confirm the following findings: 1) The teams rapidly adapted the agile practices and roles, 2) communication is more objective within the teams, 3) decreased social exchange between team members, 4) the expectation of a combined approach of remote and onsite work after the pandemic, 5) stable or increased (perceived) performance and 6) stable or increased well-being of team members. © 2022 ACM.

Cloud Computing-based Higher Education Platforms during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Cloud computing has become the infrastructure that supports people's daily activities, business operations, and education delivery around the world. Cloud computing-based education platforms have been widely applied to assist online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper examines the impact and importance of cloud computing in remote learning and education. This study conducted multiple-case analyses of 22 online platforms of higher education in Chinese universities during the epidemic. A comparative analysis of the 22 platforms revealed that they applied different cloud computing models and tools based on their unique requirements and needs. The study results provide strategic insights to higher education institutions regarding effective approaches to applying cloud computing-based platforms for remote education, especially during crisis situations. © 2022 ACM.

COVID-19-Related Challenges in Business Information Systems Education: Experiences from Slovenia

Universities have encountered numerous difficulties and challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. They used various approaches to deal with these challenges. Unfortunately, these experiences are not widely discussed. Therefore, this study provides preliminary insights on how the business information systems department at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of Maribor managed to overcome different challenges and executed the study process completely online in the COVID-19 pandemic. Experiences of conducting several courses at the bachelor and master level are reported in the paper. We also provide some suggestions on how to overcome specific challenges faced by students and lecturers. In the future, we wish to conduct a multiple case study including the viewpoints of lecturers, support staff, and students. © 2022, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Understanding the robotic restaurant experience: a multiple case study

Purpose>The purpose of this study is to investigate the robotic restaurant experience of travellers around the world and understand the components of robotic restaurant experience.Design/methodology/approach>Travellers who had experienced a robotic restaurant were purposefully selected as a sample group for the study. As the robotic restaurants are limited around the world, multiple case study method has been chosen to gather richer data. A user-generated content technique which is a form of qualitative case study method has been benefited to gather data from travellers’ reviews.Findings>The results reveal a model of components of robotic restaurant experience that include six main themes: attraction for kids, robotic system, memorable experience, ambience related attributes, food related attributes (economic value and gastronomic aspects) and deficiencies (in robotic system, in ambience related attributes and in food related attributes).Originality/value>This paper is one of the first to investigate the robotic restaurant experience of travellers around the world. Moreover, it contributes to the research on restaurant experience and offers a model of components of the robotic restaurant experience.

Does resilience reduce food waste? Analysis of Brazilian supplier-retailer dyad

Food waste negatively impacts the three dimensions of sustainability. Environmentally and financially, it represents a waste of natural resources and increases the cost respectively. Socially, it represents an ethical issue as about 800 million people are suffering from hunger worldwide. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore if and how resilience contributes to food waste reduction in fruits and vegetables distribution in the Brazilian market. Multiple case studies were conducted in the supplier-retailer dyad of four retail chains. Results have shown that resilience plays the role of both enabler and barrier to food waste reduction. On the positive side, collaboration, communication, flexibility, innovation, knowledge management, leadership, security technologies and supply chain design contributed to food waste reduction;especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. On the negative side, financial health and redundancy increased the level of food waste. Additionally, it was observed that flexibility can reduce or increase food waste. Our findings have implications for academics and practitioners as the developed framework summarizes the role of resilience to food waste reduction. As a social impact, the implementation of food waste reduction initiatives by non-governmental organizations and retailer associations can result in increased communication, knowledge diffusion, and training about how to build resilience and improve food waste reduction practices among different agents. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first empirical study that explores the relationship among elements of resilience and food waste. Thus, it advances the current literature by operationalizing resilience to reduce food waste. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd