Browsing by Author "Bam, Louzanne"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Considering the need for alternative intervention strategies for the management of diabetic policy formulation in South Africa
    (South African Institute for Industrial Engineering, 2018) Thomas, Victoria Val; De Kock, Imke H.; Bam, Louzanne
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The increasing prevalence of diabetes in South Africa, alongside other non-communicable diseases, places a heavy burden on the health care system; especially when faced with the significant difference in quality of care between private and public health care, and the increased burden of disease. This paper analyses various diabetic policies already implemented in South Africa, and considers the need to investigate alternative policies and intervention strategies to manage diabetes in South Africa. Due to the complex nature and non-linear interactions which exist within the health care system, a system dynamics-based approach is suggested as a useful analysis tool to evaluate and understand the dominant factors that influence the effective management of diabetes to potentially inform more effective and efficient diabetic policy formulation.
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    Developing a challenges landscape relating to drug safety, provision, and distribution in resource-limited settings for the case of HIV/AIDS
    (Southern African Institute for Industrial Engineering, 2018-11-09) Huysamen, Biance; De Kock, Imke H.; Bam, Louzanne
    ENGLSH ABSTRACT: Since 2010, pharmaceutical organisations have begun to provide drug patents in sub-Saharan Africa through the UN Medicine Patent Pool. This initiative allows any pharmaceutical manufacturer to access these patents and manufacture the drugs, thereby aiming to decrease the associated lead times and costs. The participation of numerous manufacturers, some of whom may not have well-established quality control systems in the market, intensifies the need for effective drug quality monitoring. Research indicates that it is often the case that these ‘niche drug provision systems’ face many challenges with the quality of new-generation drugs and the implementation of effective pharmacovigilance (PV)1 systems for the reporting of adverse drug reactions. The lack of resource efficiency in adverse drug reaction reporting within the sub-Saharan context is also a growing concern.
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    Foundational elements of a managerial framework to support team creativity in engineering organisations: Organising and expanding the body of knowledge.
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-12) Bam, Louzanne; Vlok, P. J.; De Stobbeleir, K. E. M.; Schutte, C. S. L.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Industrial Engineering.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Creativity plays a role throughout the engineering design process, and therefore in the problem-solving activity that lies at the root of engineering work. Due to the complex interaction between creativity and the range of factors that influence it, engineering organisations cannot simply be assumed to be conducive environments for creative activity. The research presented in this dissertation seeks to lay the foundation for the development of a managerial framework to support team creativity in engineering organisations, primarily by organising and expanding the body of knowledge on antecedents and outcomes of team creativity. A key perspective that is adopted in the research is that creativity in itself is not a desirable outcome for organisations to pursue. A framework should, therefore, include information on boundary conditions that cause team creativity to lead to positive outcomes that are meaningful to the organisation, rather than to negative outcomes. The large body of empirical research on antecedents of team creativity is deemed sufficiently mature to support the development of a framework. Hence, a metaanalysis is conducted to determine the construct-level relationship between team creativity and various antecedents that have been proposed in literature. The body of empirical research on the outcomes of team creativity is limited, with notable gaps including a lack of research on potential negative outcomes. Consequently, this body of research is deemed not to be sufficiently mature to support the development of a framework. A number of contributions to the body of knowledge on the outcomes of team creativity is offered in this research, including: the outcomes that have been studied are summarised into an extension of an organising framework for knowledge on antecedents of team creativity; and empirical research is conducted on a potential negative outcome, namely unethical behaviour by the team. The findings of the empirical study indicate that, when team members experience increased levels of either challenge or hindrance stressors, team creativity can lead to unethical behaviour by the team. The mechanism of moral disengagement which facilitates this unethical behaviour differs, based on the type of stressor that is experienced. Specifically, increased levels of hindrance stressors lead to unethical behaviour by the team through a process of displacement of responsibility, while increased levels of challenge stressors lead to unethical behaviour by the team through a process of both moral justification and displacement of responsibility. Seven elements of a managerial framework to support team creativity in engineering organisations are also recommended, based on the systems perspective on creativity, namely: person; process; place; product; leadership; persuasion; and potential.
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    Incorporating product categorization to improve the performance of SA’s public healthcare supply chain : a research agenda
    (South African Institute for Industrial Engineering, 2018) Mapowo, Newton; Bam, Louzanne; De Kock, Imke H.; Van Eeeden, Joubert
    In an influential publication from the late 1990’s, Marshall Fisher argued that many of the challenges in supply chains could be traced back to a lack of alignment between the type of product and the type of supply chain. Subsequently, the idea of tailoring supply chain management practices and policies to the characteristics of the products being supplied has received significant research attention, and various researchers have worked on modifying the premise as well as on its application to diverse sectors, with promising findings. The South African National Department of Health is in the process of rolling out the Visibility and Analytics Network (VAN) reference framework, with the aim of ensuring sustained availability of and access to commodities. At present, the VAN strategy does not incorporate a product categorization element. This paper proposes a research agenda for determining how product categorization could be incorporated into the VAN strategy to enable supply chain practices and policies to be tailored to the characteristics of products.
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    Towards a more efficient and effective pipeline of tuberculosis medication : the value of identifying trends and influencing factors
    (South African Institute for Industrial Engineering, 2018) Hanekom, Nicola; Bam, Louzanne; De Kock, Imke H.
    Tuberculosis poses a significant risk to global health with estimated 1.7 million deaths worldwide in 2016. One key issue in tuberculosis management relates to the drug pipeline, with drug development not keeping pace with the rate at which the disease expands and changes. Identifying and addressing factors that inhibit tuberculosis research and development is essential. Research to identify trends in the drug pipeline and evaluate the relations between these trends and other influencing factors will strengthen the existing body of knowledge, enabling improved decision-making on investment in drug research and development, and structuring incentives to encourage investment.