<p> Rising worldwide rates of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in the Middle East, principally Saudi Arabia, have put an increasing load on the health system and employers. Middle Eastern organizations have been slow to develop targeted health programs, which include an emphasis on employee productivity. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship, if any, between employee lifestyle and workplace productivity. Productivity is the amount of work produced based on the time and cost required to do so. The underlying theoretical foundations of this research were the socioecological health model and the human capital model. The quantitative, ex post facto design relied on secondary data from Saudi Aramco. Lifestyle data were collected from a health risk assessment including the Stanford Presenteeism Scale. Data analysis consisted of both a correlational and multiple regression analysis. Correlational results indicated that exercise, tobacco use, body mass index (BMI), and nutrition were significantly related to workplace productivity. Exercise and nutrition had a significant positive correlation with workplace productivity, while tobacco use and increasing BMI were negatively correlated with workplace productivity. Multiple regression analysis results explained 21% of the variance in the dependent variable, a sizable percentage with such a large sample. Overall, these results suggest a strong influence of health choices on productivity. Since this research was the first to explore the unique cultural context and draw attention to the increasing NCD burden, the results are notable. Implications of this research should resonate with organizational leaders in the Middle East, and provide a clear opportunity to improve organization and human performance. </p>

<p> Disaster management requires collaboration for effective and efficient outcomes. Current disaster management requires utilization of the National Incident Management&rsquo;s Incident Command System (ICS), which bases its fundamentals in command and control. The study examined the problem of misalignment in needed knowledge, skills and abilities for effective collaboration between the fire department and the local emergency management agency (EMA) as compared to the current edition of the National Incident Management System. The purpose of the study involved extending current collaboration theories into collaboration between the fire department and the local EMA, as well as, identifying differences in current ICS curricula. The qualitative multiple case study surveyed and interviewed 17 local EMA and fire department personnel within the original Urban Area Security Initiate areas in the State of Ohio and compared the findings of the interviews to the current ICS curriculum to determine gaps and contradictions. The study found communication, management of personnel and process, and trust as the leadership, management, and personal trait themes needed to enhance collaboration between the local EMA and the fire department. When compared to the ICS curricula only a small percentage (12%) of the collaboration themes existed within the curriculum. A recommendation for further research included expansion of the study to include all 50 states. Recommendations for practical application included the addition of a course in two-way communication within the ICS and fire administration higher education curriculums. </p>

<p> Mental health-related cases in the United States today are largely attributed to employment. Healthcare professionals in particular are at increased risk for mental health adversities due to stress, burnout, and chronic fatigue. As a result, healthcare workers become an occupational hazard and a hindrance to an organization&rsquo;s service delivery. The lack of adequate job resources and positive work climate and conditions have been found to contribute to employee stress and burnout. Organizations can then increase the health and wellness of their employees with the adoption of green and environmentally conscious workplace setting designs and expect a significant economic return annually. Having an all-inclusive green business plan such as that of GreenSpace, LLC&rsquo;s consulting company will supplement and fill in the gaps of existing research regarding the benefits of exposure to greenery and mental health in the healthcare workplace. GreenSpace, LLC, adopts the concept of green building by designing sustainable and health-conscious work spaces within the healthcare sector that seek to improve employee wellness, fuel environmental sustainability, and thus increase its clients&rsquo; profit. The company intends to distribute its services within the Orange County area; where over 10% of its working population belongs to healthcare, to the largest healthcare industries and employers. GreenSpace, LLC is poised for success and promises to target this industry. In what follows is GreenSpace, LLC&rsquo;s business plan which includes an analysis of the market, feasibility, SWOT, legal and regulatory issues, and assumptions for expenses under which the company will distribute its services.</p><p>

My research provides an insider’s view of how political consensus is formed within the business community. More specifically, my research sheds light on the sociological processes of political mobilization within the business community against the Clinton Health Security Act of 1994. In this study, I build off Jill Quadagno’s stakeholder thesis which largely attributes the defeat of the healthcare reform effort to the political mobilization of anti-healthcare business forces. I probe Quadagno’s thesis a bit deeper in this study by exploring how conflicting business forces resolved policy disagreements on the merits of healthcare reform in order to arrive at the position of unity necessary for its political mobilization against the effort.

Este trabalho pretende, sob a ótica das mais recentes descobertas no campo da identidade das nações, estudar como os conceitos de estereótipo e de reputação são observados e aplicados à realidade dos países, além de avaliar o papel que algumas organizações internacionais desempenham no processo cognitivo de construção do entendimento sobre regiões distantes e, por vezes, pouco conhecidas das pessoas. Para atingir este intento, o experimento realizado adota, como método, o instrumento de mensuração da imagem de países criado por Passow, Fehlmann e Grahlow. Às descobertas destes autores, foram introduzidas algumas modificações para possibilitar a inclusão de uma âncora. Objetiva-se conhecer a imagem desfrutada pelo Uruguai sob o ponto de vista de cidadãos franceses e a imagem desfrutada pela Letônia sob o ponto de vista de cidadãos brasileiros, bem como verificar se suas percepções sobre tais nações podem ser alteradas pela influência das âncoras Mercosul e União Européia. As análises do teste empírico dividem-se em três partes. As duas primeiras versam sobre a comparação, para um mesmo país, dos grupos que responderam o formulário com e sem a âncora, o que se viabiliza por meio de testes de igualdade de média e de variância e pela análise da participação porcentual de cada nota para o conjunto que compõe o retrato final desenhado pelos participantes da pesquisa. Por fim, é feito um cotejo entre o Uruguai e a Letônia, a fim de conhecer qual das nações goza de uma melhor imagem junto aos entrevistados nas dimensões: física, ambiente para negócios, econômica, liderança, cultural, social e emocional. O gerenciamento da imagem de um país, enfatizando seus aspectos positivos e amenizando os efeitos de pontos negativos, passa necessariamente pela sua detecção e entendimento, podendo lhe gerar como benefício uma melhora na qualidade dos relacionamentos com o resto do globo. / The scope of this paper is to study, from the perspective of the latest studies on national identity, how the concepts of stereotype and reputation are taken into account and applied to the countries reality, further assessing the role played by some international organizations in the cognitive process of acquiring knowledge of remote regions which may also be, occasionally, poorly known by the people. In order to attain this aim, the method adopted by the conducted experiment is the instrument for measuring countries image, developed by Passow, Fehlmann e Grahlow. Some modifications were introduced to these authors discoveries so that an anchor could be included. The purpose is to learn of Uruguays image from the point of view of French citizens and of Latvias image from the point of view of Brazilian citizens, as well as examine if their perception of such nations can be altered by the influence of Mercosur and European Union anchors. The analyses of the empirical test are divided in three parts: The first two deal with the comparison, for the same country, between the groups that responded to the form with and without the anchor, which is made feasible by means of mean and variance equality tests and by analyzing the percentage of relevance of each grade for the set which establishes the final panel drawn by the participants of this research. Finally, a comparison between Uruguay and Latvia is made by way of knowing which nation enjoys a better image in the respondents point of view in terms of: physical characteristics, environment for business, leadership, and economic, cultural, social and emotional aspects. Managing a countrys image, by emphasizing its positive features and mitigating the effects of negative subjects, is strictly related to the detection and understanding of such matters, what can bring as benefit the improvement of the nations relationships worldwide.

Este trabalho pretende, sob a ótica das mais recentes descobertas no campo da identidade das nações, estudar como os conceitos de estereótipo e de reputação são observados e aplicados à realidade dos países, além de avaliar o papel que algumas organizações internacionais desempenham no processo cognitivo de construção do entendimento sobre regiões distantes e, por vezes, pouco conhecidas das pessoas. Para atingir este intento, o experimento realizado adota, como método, o instrumento de mensuração da imagem de países criado por Passow, Fehlmann e Grahlow. Às descobertas destes autores, foram introduzidas algumas modificações para possibilitar a inclusão de uma âncora. Objetiva-se conhecer a imagem desfrutada pelo Uruguai sob o ponto de vista de cidadãos franceses e a imagem desfrutada pela Letônia sob o ponto de vista de cidadãos brasileiros, bem como verificar se suas percepções sobre tais nações podem ser alteradas pela influência das âncoras Mercosul e União Européia. As análises do teste empírico dividem-se em três partes. As duas primeiras versam sobre a comparação, para um mesmo país, dos grupos que responderam o formulário com e sem a âncora, o que se viabiliza por meio de testes de igualdade de média e de variância e pela análise da participação porcentual de cada nota para o conjunto que compõe o retrato final desenhado pelos participantes da pesquisa. Por fim, é feito um cotejo entre o Uruguai e a Letônia, a fim de conhecer qual das nações goza de uma melhor imagem junto aos entrevistados nas dimensões: física, ambiente para negócios, econômica, liderança, cultural, social e emocional. O gerenciamento da imagem de um país, enfatizando seus aspectos positivos e amenizando os efeitos de pontos negativos, passa necessariamente pela sua detecção e entendimento, podendo lhe gerar como benefício uma melhora na qualidade dos relacionamentos com o resto do globo. / The scope of this paper is to study, from the perspective of the latest studies on national identity, how the concepts of stereotype and reputation are taken into account and applied to the countries reality, further assessing the role played by some international organizations in the cognitive process of acquiring knowledge of remote regions which may also be, occasionally, poorly known by the people. In order to attain this aim, the method adopted by the conducted experiment is the instrument for measuring countries image, developed by Passow, Fehlmann e Grahlow. Some modifications were introduced to these authors discoveries so that an anchor could be included. The purpose is to learn of Uruguays image from the point of view of French citizens and of Latvias image from the point of view of Brazilian citizens, as well as examine if their perception of such nations can be altered by the influence of Mercosur and European Union anchors. The analyses of the empirical test are divided in three parts: The first two deal with the comparison, for the same country, between the groups that responded to the form with and without the anchor, which is made feasible by means of mean and variance equality tests and by analyzing the percentage of relevance of each grade for the set which establishes the final panel drawn by the participants of this research. Finally, a comparison between Uruguay and Latvia is made by way of knowing which nation enjoys a better image in the respondents point of view in terms of: physical characteristics, environment for business, leadership, and economic, cultural, social and emotional aspects. Managing a countrys image, by emphasizing its positive features and mitigating the effects of negative subjects, is strictly related to the detection and understanding of such matters, what can bring as benefit the improvement of the nations relationships worldwide.