What makes a motorsports event enjoyable? The case of Macau Grand Prix

This article aims to identify the key product attributes that make a motorsport event enjoyable. Using data collected in the 2010 Macau Grand Prix, a factor analysis was conducted on 15 variables that spectators were asked of their level of agreement to how these elements constitute an enjoyable event. The analysis returned four major variables of a product that spectators believe will make an enjoyable motorsport event, specifically, event amenities, event aesthetics, event ambience, and event tickets. This study contributes to the understanding of event product attributes.     

Cost effectiveness of a 92-gene assay for the diagnosis of metastatic cancer

Objectives:

To estimate the clinical and economic trade-offs involved in using a molecular assay (92-gene assay, CancerTYPE ID) to aid in identifying the primary site of difficult-to-diagnose metastatic cancers and to explore whether the 92-gene assay can be used to standardize the diagnostic process and costs for clinicians, patients, and payers.

Methods:

Four decision-analytic models were developed to project the lifetime clinical and economic impact of incorporating the 92-gene assay compared with standard care alone. For each model, total and incremental costs, life-years, quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), incremental cost–effectiveness ratios (ICERs), and the proportion of patients treated correctly versus incorrectly were projected from the payer perspective. Model inputs were based on published literature, analyses of SEER (Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results) data, publicly available data, and interviews with clinical experts.

Results:

In all four models, the 92-gene assay increased the proportion of patients treated correctly, decreased the proportion of patients treated with empiric therapy, and increased quality-adjusted survival. In the primary model, the ICER was $50,273/QALY; thus, the 92-gene assay is therefore cost effective when considering a societal willingness-to-pay threshold of $100,000/QALY. These findings were robust across sensitivity analyses.

Conclusions:

Use of the 92-gene assay for diagnosing metastatic tumors of uncertain origin is associated with reduced misdiagnoses, increased survival, and improved quality of life. Incorporating the assay into current practice is a cost-effective approach to standardizing diagnostic methods while improving patient care. Limitations of this analysis are the lack of data availability and resulting modeling simplifications, although sensitivity analyses showed these to not be key drivers of results.     

Gender and agricultural productivity: implications of the Farm Input Subsidy Program in Malawi

Alleviating gender differences in agricultural productivity is vital for poverty reduction. While numerous studies suggest that gender differences in agricultural productivity are a result of female farmers having limited access to resources, few studies investigate the role of agricultural interventions in alleviating the constraints to input use and subsequently the gender gap in productivity. This study investigates whether there are gendered gains in agricultural productivity from participating in an input subsidy program and if these gains help reduce the gender gap. Using nationally representative data that is disaggregated at the plot level, this study analyzes the large‐scale voucher‐based Farm Input Subsidy Program in Malawi. Focusing on the total value of output per hectare, relationships are identified using weighted estimators, where the weights are constructed from propensity scores, and spatial fixed effects, to address the unobservable factors that may confound the relationship between program participation and productivity. The findings suggest that participation in the program improves agricultural productivity for both male and female farmers but it does not provide disproportionate help to female famers to overcome gender disparities in agricultural productivity. This suggests that female farmers face additional constraints to productivity apart from nonlabor input use.     

ATTITUDES TOWARDS ECONOMIC RISK AND THE GENDER PAY GAP

This paper examines the links between gender differences in attitudes towards economic risk and the gender pay gap. Consistent with the literature on the socio-economic determinants of attitudes towards economic risk, it shows that females are much more risk averse than males. It then extends this research to show that workers with more favorable attitudes towards risk are associated with higher earnings, and that gender differences in attitudes towards economic risk can account for a small, though important, part of the standardized gender pay gap.     

Structuring stakeholder participation in New Zealand's water resource governance

International experience has shown that extensive, systematic and structured stakeholder engagement is important in modern water resource governance. Through two case studies in the Canterbury Region, we investigate the emergence of structured and deliberative participatory processes for decision-making in New Zealand. We particularly focus on the use of evaluative criteria and weightings in providing structure for stakeholder deliberations and clarity and transparency in decision-making processes. Some of the benefits of using criteria weightings to reflect individuals' priorities include their ability to bring out the various perspectives and preferences to start the deliberations and increase the understanding of other people's points of views and their knowledge to all of the stakeholders. We consider particular aspects of the New Zealand context, including the development of criteria specific to Maori interests. These case studies lead us to conclude that stakeholder participation in decision-making is beneficial and increasingly necessary to resolve the problems and tensions around the governance of Canterbury's water resources. They also demonstrate that there are numerous practical and systemic barriers that must be overcome if the potential is to be fully realised. We provide recommendations on how such participatory processes can be successfully implemented to produce meaningful and effective outcomes.     

The teacher–community of practice–student interaction in the New Zealand technology classroom

This research investigated how secondary school technology teachers planned and implemented units that enabled students to access authentic technological practice through their contact with a community of practice (CoP). It was found that when teachers plan to access a community of practice for their students a complex dance-style relationship develops between the three parties involved. Unplanned interactions can have a significant effect on the planned teaching unit. If teachers are reflexive to the demands of the student and the CoP representative, there is the potential for the development of teaching programmes with technological outcomes that reflect authentic technological practice.     

The ambidextrous CEO

Although most managers publicly acknowledge the need to explore new businesses and markets, the claims of established businesses on company resources almost always come first, especially when times are hard. When top teams allow the tension between core and speculative units to play out at lower levels of management, innovation loses out. At best, leaders of core business units dismiss innovation initiatives as irrelevancies. At worst, they see the new businesses as threats to the firm's core identity and values. Many CEOs take a backseat in debates over resources, ceding much of their power to middle managers, and the company ends up as a collection of feudal baronies. This is a recipe for long-term failure, say the authors. Their research of 12 top management teams at major companies suggests that firms thrive only when senior teams lead ambidextrously--when they foster a state of constant creative conflict between the old and the new. Successful CEOs first develop a broad, forward-looking strategic aspiration that sets ambitious targets both for innovation and core business growth. They then hold the tension between innovation unit demands and core business demands at the very top of the organization. And finally they embrace inconsistency, allowing themselves the latitude to pursue multiple and often conflicting agendas.     

Qualitative Research in Management: A Decade of Progress

Approximately 10 years ago, Lee et al. reviewed the qualitative methods published during 1979–99 in the major US journals in the organizational sciences. This ten‐year follow‐up review of 198 qualitative articles assesses the progress made in qualitative research in management by specifically considering: (1) the strength and legitimacy of recent publications that challenge any positivistic stigmatizations of qualitative research; (2) the methodological advances in qualitative methods, including the use and elucidation of novel techniques; and (3) the general contribution of qualitative research to the accumulation of management knowledge. By encompassing both US and European journals in our review, we also compare and contrast the qualitative research published on both sides of the Atlantic, stressing what each can learn from the other. We highlight exemplary articles and procedures and make recommendations for the next decade of qualitative research in management.