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The central feature of energy saving performance contracting (ESPC) in Hong Kong in the past decade has been the introduction of a new concept of energy management through a performance-based competitive approach applied in hospitals. / The literature review indicated that there seemed to be little coherent knowledge of the ESPC in hospital from the unique and integrated perspective of the healthcare sustainability, energy management to the application of ESPC in Hong Kong. It suggested the need for research to address the issue by examining how these key issues could be managed. / The purpose of the research was to generate framework of energy management process within various dynamics in the context of public and private sector of health care settings. The aims were to uncover the main concerns in hospitals with particular focus on the key issues of sustainable development, development of facilities management, energy management and application of ESPC. / A qualitative approach to the collection and analysis of data was adopted through the use of case study in various healthcare settings, namely public general acute hospital, private general hospital, sub-acute hospital and hospices and palliative care hospital. The research has contributed knowledge relevant to practitioners in the substantive area by identifying the main concerns, intrinsic risks and essential ingredients in managing ESPC in hospitals. / The research produced conclusive findings. First, it provided empirical evidence to support the integrated platform to consider the application of ESPC in hospitals. Second, through the synthesis of integrated model of framework, it identified the performance outcomes of substantive reduction of energy use, environmental pollution and maintenance cost. Finally, the research pinpointed the unsatisfactorily prevailing condition of ESPC without a generally approved list of competent energy service providers, lack of standardization of contract, and too complicated protocol of measurement and verification of energy saving. / It also identified opportunities for further research that may significantly progress the continually evolving understanding of the dynamics of ESPC in hospitals towards sustainable development in the use of energy and resources. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2008.

The hospital industry operates in a very competitive environment, where differentiation strategies play a very important role to out perform rivals. Corporate reputation is an intangible asset of immense value and probably the only sustainable competitive advantage that any hospital can possess. This research therefore has as its objective, the identification of the factors affecting the corporate reputation of hospitals. / The concept of reputation hinges upon the perceptions and beliefs of stakeholders. Perceptions and beliefs are intrinsically hard to manage. It is also hard to measure corporate reputation unless the parameters of reputation are known. Many of the current measures of reputation in the literature were found to be lacking in rigour. A search of the literature failed to find any comprehensive studies on identifying the factors affecting corporate reputation for the hospital industry. Therefore, the aim of this exploratory research was, to fill this gap in the understanding of corporate reputation of hospitals, from the Singapore perspective. / Thesis (PhDBusinessandManagement)--University of South Australia, 2007.

It has consistently been documented in many countries and sectors that there are difficulties in implementing public policy effectively. A priori, the Australian health care system is no exception to this general proposition. While governments issue directives with particular goals in mind these goals are not always met, because of the modifications, interpretations or lack of uptake by targeted populations. However it is not clear the extent to which these difficulties occur in the public hospital sector, and we lack clear empirical data on this phenomenon. This thesis investigates the effects of a state government directive on the development and implementation of elective admission policies in New South Wales public hospitals. It did this by three separate but related studies that examined the impact of the directive at the hospitals??? management and staff levels. The first two studies were quantitative and qualitative surveys of hospital managers and admission staff. The management survey aimed to ascertain the extent to which managers responded to the directive in terms of developing and implementing hospital policies. The staff survey sought to investigate staff awareness and knowledge of the developed policies. The third study was a qualitative analysis of the policy contents to determine the extent to which they reflected the aims and objectives of the government directive guidelines. All three studies found a general lack of relevance and applicability of the government directive and its guidelines to individual hospital organisations. The manager survey showed a disconnection between the central government office responsible for implementing the directive and hospital managers??? perspectives. This was apparent by the lack of response to the directive by many hospitals and the fact that managers often passed on the task of implementing the directive and its guidelines to other hospital staff. The findings of the qualitative analysis of policies showed evidence of hospital strategies to manage pressures created by the directive. These difficulties were corroborated by the surveyed staff that reported difficulties in translating the directive???s requirements (as reflected by the hospital policy), into the reality of their daily work; a lack of organisational commitment to policy enforcement; and a suspicion regarding the directive???s political motives. The findings of this thesis show that, as with other public service sectors effective policy implementation in the public hospital arena is problematic, with government agendas frequently not aligned with the requirements of stakeholders, and inadequate understanding of implementation barriers. Recommendations are made regarding methods to improve the synchronicity of political directives with organisational realties in the public hospital sector.

The hospital industry operates in a very competitive environment, where differentiation strategies play a very important role to out perform rivals. Corporate reputation is an intangible asset of immense value and probably the only sustainable competitive advantage that any hospital can possess. This research therefore has as its objective, the identification of the factors affecting the corporate reputation of hospitals. / The concept of reputation hinges upon the perceptions and beliefs of stakeholders. Perceptions and beliefs are intrinsically hard to manage. It is also hard to measure corporate reputation unless the parameters of reputation are known. Many of the current measures of reputation in the literature were found to be lacking in rigour. A search of the literature failed to find any comprehensive studies on identifying the factors affecting corporate reputation for the hospital industry. Therefore, the aim of this exploratory research was, to fill this gap in the understanding of corporate reputation of hospitals, from the Singapore perspective. / Thesis (PhDBusinessandManagement)--University of South Australia, 2007.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, 2006. / Abstract. Includes bibliographic references.

Thesis (M. P. H.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Also available in print.