Walk-in refrigerators are key to proper cold storage

Often overlooked as an important kitchen design element, properly sized refrigeration and freezing equipment is an important contributor to a kitchen's functionality. In many operations, particularly large-volume units, walk-in refrigerators are the anchors of a good cold-storage system. A walk through three different foodservice operations--a college, a hotel and a hospital--finds walk-ins at work.     

Don’t kill the messenger! Whistle-blowing in America — A review with recommendations

Whistle-blowing in America business and industry has increased as interest in ethical business behavior and the cost of unethical behavior have grown. Whistle-blowing plays the important role of helping to fill the gaps in the regulatory system that is designed to check the abuse of organizational power. However, the practice of whistle-blowing is controversial and whistle-blowers often pay a high price for their actions. Firms can engage in a number of actions to encourage whistle-blowing. Creating a climate that encourages employees to report organizational wrong doing and that protects the whistle-blower is critical. To create such a climate the organization must build trust and cooperation by educating employees in the benefits of ethical and legal behavior.     

Do the Merits Matter More? The Impact of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act

This article examines the effect of the Private Securities LitigationReform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) on stockholder lawsuits. We explorethe role of restatements, earnings forecasts, and insider tradingin the filing and resolution of lawsuits for a sample of hightechnology firms. Consistent with our predictions, there isa post-PSLRA shift away from litigation based on forward-lookingearnings disclosures. Conversely, there is a significantly greatercorrelation between litigation and both earnings restatementsand abnormal insider selling after the PSLRA. Finally, we finda post-PSLRA increase in the likelihood of settlement for casesinvolving earnings restatements.     

Evolution and Transformation of Innovation in the Global Automotive Industry

The automotive industry is an integral component of the global economy and is unique in that it encompasses every aspect of the value chain—from raw materials to design and development, manufacturing, sales and service, and even disposal. All of these value‐creating areas are undergoing significant innovative change as a result of environmental and competitive forces. In this issue, we explore some of the most salient topics related to innovation and product management in the context of the contemporary global automotive industry.     

What Plato Knew About Enron

This paper applies Plato’s cave allegory to Enron’s success and downfall. Plato’s famous tale of cave dwellers illustrates the different levels of truth and understanding. These levels include images, the sources of images, and the ultimate reality behind both. The paper first describes these levels of perception as they apply to Plato’s cave dwellers and then provides a brief history of the rise of Enron. Then we apply Plato’s levels of understanding to Enron, showing how the company created its image and presented information to support that image, and how the public eventually emerged from the cave to realize the truth about Enron’s actual accounting practices and financial state, which led to the corporation’s downfall. We find Plato’s allegory both useful in analyzing the relationship between Enron and the public and instructive about the power and moral responsibility of Enron’s executives.     

Impact of the economic downturn on nursing schools

The challenges posed by the economic downturn on baccalaureate nursing schools in the southeast as it relates to their perceptions of changes in the number of applicants, acceptance rates, employer recruitment efforts, and student clinical and job placement were explored. Responses from deans and program directors indicated nursing schools are experiencing negative effects of the economic downturn in the form of graduates having difficulty finding employment, decreased recruitment efforts from prospective employers, difficulty locating clinical placements for students, and no change in faculty applicants despite an increase in undergraduate student applicants as well as graduate student applicants. These multiple factors combined could signal the death knell for programs that are ill-prepared to deal with such a crisis. Programs need to be aggressive in their efforts to draw health care recruiters as well as qualified faculty applicants to their campuses. Nursing schools must be able to clearly show why their graduates are superior to other programs' graduates when competing for both highly qualified faculty applicants and prospective student employers.     

Healthy and tasty school snacks: suggestions from Brazilian children consumers

Children do not choose what to eat based on health issues alone, and the high availability of non‐nutritious food in the environment can be a barrier to the consumption of healthy foods. Brazilian children are consuming processed, savoury, rich in fat, sodium and refined carbohydrates rather than more nutrient‐dense foods. Foods offered in public school meals and those sold in private school canteens in Brazil are subject to regulation, but not the snacks brought from home. This study identified the suggestions of public and private school students about the characteristics that a snack should present in order to be considered both healthy and palatable. A qualitative exploratory study using focus groups was conducted with 128 primary school students aged 7–10 years old. Interviews were transcribed and content analysis was conducted, generating three categories: (1) foods actually consumed during snack breaks; (2) examples of foods considered healthy and/or tasty for consumption during snack breaks; and (3) desired characteristics of a healthy and tasty snack. Foods of high energy density and low nutritional value were mentioned as the most consumed snacks, usually brought from home or purchased within/near the schools. Consumption of meals offered by the National School Meal Program was reported by only one‐third of the public school students. Fruits, natural juices and vegetables were considered healthy foods; sweet‐tasting preparations containing fruits were considered tasty; while fruits and natural fruit juices were considered both healthy and tasty. Sweet‐tasting preparations containing fruits were mentioned as examples of snacks with the desired healthy/tasty characteristics. The disparity between what was actually consumed and what was reported as ideal leads us to question the availability in retail stores of healthy yet palatable foods that meet this population's desires.     

Joint effects of prior start-up experience and coping strategies on entrepreneurs’ psychological well-being

Drawing on theories from the coping and entrepreneurship literatures, we investigated the relationship between the entrepreneurs’ active and avoidance coping on psychological well-being (PWB) and the moderating role of prior start-up experience on this relationship. Data from 156 entrepreneurs indicate that the use of avoidance coping positively predicted immediate PWB for entrepreneurs with more start-up experience. Notably, this relationship was negative for entrepreneurs with less start-up experience. We also found that over the extended period, entrepreneurs who used avoidance coping had improved PWB only if they also used active coping. Theoretical and practical contributions to the entrepreneurship and coping research are discussed.     

Clinic visit and waiting: patient education and satisfaction

Teaching should be part of every patient's health care. Even though this study did not show that teaching improves patient satisfaction with the clinic visit, it did indicate that subjects who were taught by the nurse were more satisfied with the education received during that visit.$