Purnendu Mandal

Purpose: This study analyzes the reasons for satisfaction or dissatisfaction among people with public health mitigation policies, particularly with focus on human values. Recent studies reveal that the citizenry of various nations reacted to government policy measures differently when asked if they are satisfied with government handling of COVID-19. Human values such as openness-to-change and conservation might influence the acceptance of pandemic mitigation measures. Design/methodology/approach: A structural equation model (SEM) is proposed, which incorporates mitigation strategies and human value variables. National health survey data of the COVID-19 pandemic in Great Britain and Italy is used to test several hypotheses. Findings: The model analysis suggests that prioritizing public health, monitoring and tracking people, border closures and restricting people’s movement played important roles in the satisfaction of government handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Individuals with a high conservation value are more likely to have a higher probability of dissatisfaction with the government’s handling of COVID-19 pandemic. During a pandemic, the citizens are more willing to trade a good economy for public health. They are also more willing to sacrifice privacy in the government’s efforts to track the spread. Originality/value: This is a unique study which combines human value variables and mitigation policies in determining acceptance of government policies among citizenry during national health crisis. A SEM modeling framework is presented to analyze empirically several hypotheses.

COVID-19 pandemic brought up issues with healthcare costs, national economic development and welfare of the society in forefront. Nations across the globe followed different approaches to deal with COVID-19, such as zero tolerance, herd immunity, containment to build treatment capability. National healthcare became a contentious sociopolitical issue involving healthcare costs, technologies and societal health. In the United States even during the COVID-19 pandemic, the government approach was pursuing a sustainable improvement in patient care through adoption of medical and information technologies. The national healthcare policies are framed around technological interventions with the assumption that deployment of technologies could keep healthcare costs under control and at the same time improve health outcomes. However, evidences show that the healthcare costs are in the rise even with impressive progress in technological deployment. This article highlights some of the recent trends in healthcare costs, technological preparedness, medical technology developments in managing COVID-19 pandemic. The US government mandated electronic health record (EHR) systems implementation and assess its impact on healthcare costs and health outcomes. This article emphasizes the need for understanding the interconnectedness of costs, technology and societal health.

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Presents findings from a study that investigated the propagation of quality management practices among Indian manufacturing companies over a period of 16 years from 1980 to 1996. Reports the findings of a mail questionnaire survey conducted on 500 selected companies from 14 manufacturing sectors. The extent to which quality management practices have been implemented is reported and the obstacles to adoption are identified. The spread of quality initiatives in various functional areas is analysed and discussed. The paper will be of particular interest to practicing managers as it identifies a number of policies that governments may use to stimulate the adoption of quality management concepts in developing countries.