Arbeitszufriedenheit im internationalen Vergleich
The purpose of this paper is to compare the extent and determinants of employees’ job satisfaction on a European level. The underlying data originate from the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) 2005 covering 31 European countries. Beside detailed information about type of work and working conditions the data account for personal and household characteristics including objective and subjective income measures. The result from Ordered-probit regressions for all 31 countries as well as separate regressions for five groups of countries (clustered with respect to level of welfare and type of welfare state) indicate a diversified pattern of explanation of job satisfaction. For all analyzed countries except for countries in Scandinavia and continental Europe the employees’ subjective evaluation of income appears to have the strongest effect on job satisfaction. Considering the conflict of working hours with private life, the negative effect on job satisfaction is less distinctive in countries with a lower welfare level. Job security is found to have a stronger impact for UK and Ireland, whereas work autonomy is only found to be among the top ten influences for high level welfare states (UK, Ireland, continental Europe, and Scandinavia).
Associations between work satisfaction, engagement and 7-day patient mortality: a cross-sectional survey
Objective This study examines the association between profession-specific work environments and the 7-day mortality of patients admitted to these units with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), stroke and hip fracture. Design A cross-sectional study combining patient mortality data extracted from the South-Eastern Norway Health Region, and the work environment scores at the hospital ward levels. A case-mix adjustment model was developed for the comparison between hospital wards. Setting Fifty-six patient wards in 20 hospitals administered by the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority. Participants In total, 46 026 patients admitted to hospitals with AMI, stroke and hip fracture, and supported by 8800 survey responses from physicians, nurses and managers over a 3-year period (2010–2012). Primary and secondary outcome measures The primary outcome measures were the associations between the relative mortality rate for patients admitted with AMI, stroke and hip fractures and the profession-specific (ie, nurses, physicians, middle managers) mean scores on the 19 organisational factors in a validated cross sectional, staff survey conducted annually in Norway. The secondary outcome measures were the mean scores with SD on the organisational factors in the staff survey reported by each profession. Results The Nurse workload (beta 0.019 (95% CI0.009–0.028)) and middle manager engagement (beta 0.024 (95% CI0.010–0.037)) levels were associated with a case-mix adjusted 7-day patient mortality rates. There was no significant association between physician work environment scores and patient mortality rates. Conclusion 7-day mortality rates in hospital wards were negatively correlated with the nurse workload and manager engagement levels. A deeper understanding of the relationships between patient outcomes, organisational structure and their underlying cultural barriers is needed because they may provide a better understanding of the harm and death risks for patients due to organisational characteristics.
Complexity, Network-Decisions And Alternative Risk Premia: Some New Theories Of Structural Change And Portfolio Decisions.
Structural Change is the basis for many decisions such as government fiscal and monetary policies, government interventions, corporate-expenditure decisions, corporate strategic decisions, portfolio management decisions in finance; household allocation decisions, etc.. Structural change in industries and national economies is increasingly more difficult to detect partly because of the growth and dominance of Complex Systems and “Networks” in modern industries and economies – such Networks and Complex Systems include GVCs (global value chains), retail store networks; franchising networks; internet networks; services networks; credit-chains in industries; online social networks; etc.. The relationship between Complexity and Structural Change is well established in the physics, applied math and economic dynamics literatures. Traditional definitions and modeling of structural change have erroneously focused on changes in labor, technological progress, market share, and or capital – which are grossly inadequate in the new economy and post- global financial crisis (as confirmed by changes in the global retailing and housing industries and other industries). Also the modeling of structural change seems to be constrained by the availability of data, and often omits the relationship between structural change on one hand, and globalization, financial stability and international financial contagion. This article: i) introduces the Operations Strategy Model of structural change, explains how it differs from the Lewis Model of Structural Change; and explains the often omitted relationship between operations strategy (of companies and government agencies) and structural change; ii) introduces other new Complexity-based models/theories of Structural Change in industries; iii) reviews the relationships among Operations Research, Complexity and Structural Change; iv) explains the symbiotic relationship between structural change on one hand, and economic growth, financial stability, financial contagion and globalization; v) discusses the significant gap between academic research and practice and explains some issues and factors that should be considered in the development and testing of structural change models; vi) explains how alternative risk premia can be generated from new models of Structural Change.