Applying efficiency concepts to management in the social services
Efficiency became established as a key concept in service management during the 1980s, yet its definition within the social services remains problematic. This article defines a ratio which equates inputs with costs, and outputs with measured quality of care as an efficiency indicator in residential care for the elderly. Such a conversion ratio (as constructed) revealed clear differences in efficiency between the local authority, voluntary and private sectors of residential care. The causes of these variations are analysed and their implications for the management of services are drawn out. The inherent difficulties in defining unambiguous efficiency measures in this area are also discussed.
Private nursing homes: Providing good value?
The well‐documented expansion in the supply of residential and nursing home care over the past decade has been fuelled by public funds. About half of the patients receiving care in private homes are receiving income support towards their fees. There is now growing concern that the substantial amounts involved should represent value for money.
Negotiating the cultural and economic outcomes of sport heritage attractions: the case of the National Baseball Hall of Fame
ABSTRACT Contemporary museums must balance their roles as commercial entities and repositories of various, and often dissonant, heritages and histories. Sports museums in particular often have clear commercial and nostalgic aims, particularly through tourist visitation, though the extent to which they represent more challenging narratives remains unclear. This paper examines how one of the most famous sports museums in the world, the National Baseball Hall of Fame (NBHF) in Cooperstown, New York, balances its dual role as tourist attraction and repository of baseball's sometimes checkered past. It was found that different sections of the museum provide greater or lesser degrees of engagement with more controversial issues, although the commercial outputs and appeal of the museum remains clear throughout. Utlimately, the NBHF demonstrates that balancing veneration and critique in collections can be commercially prosperous, and can provide a template for other sport and popular culture museums who may be wary of incorporating more challenging narratives in their exhibits. Furthermore, the symbiotic relationship between the Hall of Fame and the village of Cooperstown, particularly in creating and maintaining cultural and economic outputs, requires further exploration.