Health policy is a central preoccupation of many, if not all, developing countries. This innovative book presents a selection of ten studies illustrating that carefully conducted research can address common health policy issues.The studies included in this book exemplify the major gains to patients and citizens that can accrue from research efforts, stimulating research capacity in developing countries. Although many of the challenges confronting health systems are universal, it is often the case that research results derived from developed countries can be misleading when applied to low or middle-income settings. The authors also demonstrate the best examples of successful research on health policies and systems from diverse countries such as Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chile, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Sri Lanka and Taiwan. This insightful book will be a valuable research tool for academics, researchers and policymakers in economics and health. International agencies interested in applied research in health policy and economics will also find it a stimulating read.

Developing and Leading Emergence Teams describes a future business landscape that seems to be complicated, complex and chaotic, in almost equal measures. The variety and diversity of the environments within which large organizations will be seeking to operate, require a similar variety of systems, process and structures if they are to respond successfully to emerging opportunities. The established models of teamworking (matrix, cross-functional or transdisciplinary) can all adapt to this new environment but will only do so if the culture, leadership and management style of the business enables this. The authors describe a model of emergence teams; high-trust teams that exhibit exceptional affinity for knowledge sharing, sense making, and consensus building. They then explore the specifics of leading such a team, how the team leader should: design the team; interact and facilitate the team's development; understand the personal nature of each of the team members and the overall emotional regime that will affect trust, commitment and motivation. Peter Smith and Tom Cockburn draw on research and detailed case examples to provide techniques your organization can adopt in order to build and support the various teams capable of addressing complexity.

The use of formulae has become widespread in recent years across most developed countries. In the UK, a conservative estimate is that annually A150 billion of public service expenditure is distributed using formulae, in services such as health care, local government, social security and higher education. This book offers a comprehensive introduction to the theory and practice underlying the use of such formulae as a basis for funding public services.

The philosophy, design and economic consequences of funding formulae have become key policy issues worldwide. However, till now, there has been no text which brings together the economic, statistical and political issues underlying formula funding. This key book fills that gap.

Written by a leading international expert on the design of funding formulae, this important book includes empirical evidence from a range of countries and will be a valuable resource for all those involved in this field.

The use of formulae has become widespread in recent years across most developed countries. In the UK, a conservative estimate is that annually GBP150 billion of public service expenditure is distributed using formulae, in services such as health care, local government, social security and higher education. This book offers a comprehensive introduction to the theory and practice underlying the use of such formulae as a basis for funding public services. The philosophy, design and economic consequences of funding formulae have become key policy issues worldwide. However, till now, there has been no text which brings together the economic, statistical and political issues underlying formula funding. This key book fills that gap. Written by a leading international expert on the design of funding formulae, this important book includes empirical evidence from a range of countries and will be a valuable resource for all those involved in this field.

In a world where there is increasing demand for the performance of health providers to be measured, there is a need for a more strategic vision of the role that performance measurement can play in securing health system improvement. This volume meets this need by presenting the opportunities and challenges associated with performance measurement in a framework that is clear and easy to understand. It examines the various levels at which health system performance is undertaken, the technical instruments and tools available, and the implications using these may have for those charged with the governance of the health system. Technical material is presented in an accessible way and is illustrated with examples from all over the world. Performance Measurement for Health System Improvement is an authoritative and practical guide for policy makers, regulators, patient groups and researchers.

Developing and Leading Emergence Teams describes a future business landscape that seems to be complicated, complex and chaotic, in almost equal measures. The variety and diversity of the environments within which large organizations will be seeking to operate, require a similar variety of systems, process and structures if they are to respond successfully to emerging opportunities. The established models of teamworking (matrix, cross-functional or transdisciplinary) can all adapt to this new environment but will only do so if the culture, leadership and management style of the business enables this. The authors describe a model of emergence teams; high-trust teams that exhibit exceptional affinity for knowledge sharing, sense making, and consensus building. They then explore the specifics of leading such a team, how the team leader should: design the team; interact and facilitate the team's development; understand the personal nature of each of the team members and the overall emotional regime that will affect trust, commitment and motivation. Peter Smith and Tom Cockburn draw on research and detailed case examples to provide techniques your organization can adopt in order to build and support the various teams capable of addressing complexity.

In a world where there is increasing demand for the performance of health providers to be measured, there is a need for a more strategic vision of the role that performance measurement can play in securing health system improvement. This volume meets this need by presenting the opportunities and challenges associated with performance measurement in a framework that is clear and easy to understand. It examines the various levels at which health system performance is undertaken, the technical instruments and tools available, and the implications using these may have for those charged with the governance of the health system. Technical material is presented in an accessible way and is illustrated with examples from all over the world. Performance Measurement for Health System Improvement is an authoritative and practical guide for policy makers, regulators, patient groups and researchers.

With the healthcare sector accounting for a sizeable proportion of national expenditures, the pursuit of efficiency has become a central objective of policymakers within most health systems. However, the analysis and measurement of efficiency is a complex undertaking, not least due to the multiple objectives of health care organizations and the many gaps in information systems. In response to this complexity, research in organizational efficiency analysis has flourished. This 2006 book examines some of the most important techniques currently available to measure the efficiency of systems and organizations, including data envelopment analysis and stochastic frontier analysis, and also presents some promising new methodological approaches. Such techniques offer the prospect of many new and fruitful insights into health care performance. Nevertheless, they also pose many practical and methodological challenges. This is an important critical assessment of the strengths and limitations of efficiency analysis applied to health and health care.

Lieutenant Commander Takashige Egusa was one of the Imperial Japanese Navy's most skillful and influential dive-bomber pilots. He led an attack force against Pearl Harbor, calmly circling his special flame-red Aichi dive bomber before selecting his target. Assaults on the deadly gun batteries of Wake Island followed, as well as air support for the invasion of Ambon. Badly burned at Midway, Egusa return to duty, only to be killed on his final mission. As one Japanese officer said, He was the 'God of Dive-Bombing. Fully placed in historical context and backed by a wealth of detail from archives, family records, photographs, and memories of contemporaries, this full story of Egusa's bravery, leadership qualities and illustrious career come to life.

This book describes the extraordinary combat career of the American-built Vultee Vengeance dive-bomber in both the Royal Air Force and Indian Air Force service during the Burma Campaigns of 1942-45. This single-engine, all-metal aircraft was ordered by the Ministry of Supply during the darkest days of World War II when the lethal German combination of Junkers Ju.87 Stuka and Panzer tank forces had conquered most of Europe in a campaign that lasted a mere few weeks and the invasion of Britain was considered imminent. The RAF had invented the dive-bomber concept in 1917 but had consistently rejected it in the inter-war period with the obsession of heavy bombing predominating official thinking almost exclusively. By the time the Vengeance arrived a still-reluctant RAF was seeking a precision bomber to prevent a repeat of the Japanese Naval attacks in the Indian Ocean and six squadrons were set up to counter this threat. With the Japanese on the borders of Burma and India, these aircraft, no longer required for the original role, proved by far and away the most accurate bomber aircraft operated by the British up to that time. The Allied Armies on the ground, including Orde Wingate's Chindits, clamoured for their continued use and considered them essential, but in vain, and by 1945 all had been replaced. Their achievements have been ignored, falsified or scorned ever since but here, from eyewitness accounts and official records, is their full and true story.

HMS Eagle was already old when war was declared in September 1939 and her new Swordfish biplanes were soon flying escort to vital Australian troop convoys in the wastes of the Indian Ocean. This is a day-by-day account of her battles and actions as seen through the eyes of her former crew members.

The Mitsubishi Zero is one of the great legendary fighter aircraft ever to have graced the skies. Symbolic of the might of Imperial Japan, she represented a peak of developmental prowess in the field of aviation during the early years of the Second World War. Engineered with manoeuvrability in mind, this light-weight, stripped-back aircraft had a performance that left her opponents totally outclassed. The dogfights she engaged in with the Chinese, British, Dutch and American warplanes in the 1941-42 period are the stuff of aviation legend. The Zero fighter had four major assets - agility, long-range, experienced and war-blooded pilots and, most importantly of all, a total inability of the Allies, particularly in the Pacific Theatre of operations, to believe that Japan could produce such a machine. Despite a whole series of eyewitness reports from China, where she had swept the skies clean of all opposition, western minds were closed, and remained so until the brutal facts imposed themselves on their biased mindsets. All aircraft designs are a compromise of course, and the Zero had faults as well as strengths, two of which were to finally doom her; one was her lack of armour protection and the other was the inability of the Japanese to match the overwhelming production strength and innovation of Allied aircraft construction. Even so, she remained a potent threat until the end of the war, not least in her final role, that of a Kamikaze aircraft, in which she created as much havoc on the sea as she had done earlier in the air. Peter C. Smith takes the reader on a journey from inspired inception to the blazing termination of this unique aircraft, the first Naval fighter to be superior to land-based aircraft. It describes in detail the many victories that punctuated the early days of its operational career as well as the desperate dying days of the Second World War which witnessed her final demise. Smith also lists the preserved Zero aircraft on display today. This is a fast-paced and fascinating history of a fighter aircraft like no other.

Digital technology has transformed business and management methodology in the modern era. As technologies continue to evolve and change, designing a platform for business architecture requires flexibility and practicality. Organizational Leadership for the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Emerging Research and Opportunities provides the latest research on the approaches to dealing successfully with newly emerging digital technologies and the dynamic complexity leaders are facing now and in the future. While highlighting topics, such as business architecture, interactive planning, and strategic capital, this book explores the implications of technologies on business and leadership as well as the development of leadership methods and applications. This book is an important resource for professionals, practitioners, upper-level students, and managers seeking current research on leadership and business advancement in the digital era.

To be successful, business leaders should be familiar with the emerging digital technologies that are contributing to the global business environment. All leaders must develop fresh capabilities if they are to successfully direct their communities through the emerging era of social digital connectivity and global dynamic complexity. Impact of Emerging Digital Technologies on Leadership in Global Business combines relevant theoretical and practical frameworks with the latest research and best practices regarding emergent digital technologies. This book is an essential reference source for professionals, researchers, academics, and students who want to improve their understanding of the strategic role of emerging digital technologies in the success of global business.

The Fairchild-Republic A-10A Close Support aircraft has become a legend over its long front line life. Known as the Warthog due to her unusual appearance, this little aircraft has built up an awesome reputation in the specialised ground-attack role, where her accuracy and deadliness are widely recognised as the best of their kind. Hard lessons from the Second World War, that were reinforced by the bitter experience of the Vietnam War two decades later, showed that it was both impracticable and highly non-cost efficient to use supersonic fighter jets in the close air support mission. A requirement was therefore drawn up for an aeroplane capable of carrying a heavy and varied load of ordnance, which had good endurance and unprecedented manoeuvrability, and which could survive heavy ground fire - thus the A-10 was born. But, by the time it came into service her role had changed to that of a tank-buster in the defence of Western Europe in the face of the overwhelming numbers of Soviet battle armour. With her straight wing, twin tails and turbine engines mounted high on her rear fuselage, this single-seat aircraft certainly presented a unique appearance. But all these features served a vital role, as Peter C. Smith explains in this highly detailed study. Although the Warthog's expected missions on the plains of Germany did not materialise, she did destroy hundreds of Soviet-built tanks during the Gulf wars. The A-10 has also flown almost continuous missions over the Balkans, against the Taliban in Afghanistan, and ISIS in Iraq and Syria. In this beautifully-illustrated and comprehensive volume, Peter C Smith brings the A-10's incredible story right up to date.

During the Second World War, the Soviet Union's Petlyakov Pe-2 Peshka dive-bomber was unique in that it was as fast as most fighter aircraft. This was in a period when it was considered by the RAF that it was impossible for monoplane aircraft to conduct vertical bombing with any degree of success. During the war the Pe-2 was the principal dive- and light-bomber of Russia's air power across the vast Eastern Front and it continued in service until the early 1950s with the air forces of the Warsaw Pact countries and Yugoslavia. Conceived by a team of top aircraft designers whom Stalin had incarcerated in a prison camp on trumped-up political charges, the Pe-2 had originally been designed as a high-altitude twin-engine fighter plane, but, due to the outstanding success of the German Stukas in the Blitzkrieg, its role was quickly changed to that of a fast dive-bomber. The Pe-2 arrived in service around the time of the German attack on its hitherto ally. Although only a handful had reached front line units by the start of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, the Pe-2 soon became the main dive-bomber in both the Soviet VVS and Naval service. Mass production, by factories hastily moved back beyond the front, meant that numbers increased rapidly, and more than 11,000 of the type, including many variants, were built up to 1945. The Peshka became the mainstay of the Soviet counter-offensive that ultimately resulted in the fall of Berlin. Pe-2s also led the way in the brief but annihilating Manchurian campaign against Japan in the closing days of the war in 1945. Using official sources, including the official Pe-2 handbook, and numerous colour and black-and-white photographs made available to the author from both official and private sources and collections, this book is the definitive record of the Pe-2 - the dive-bomber supreme!

The era of the combat biplane is usually thought to have been between 1914 and 1938. By the outbreak of World War II, most of the advanced air forces of the world had moved on to monoplane aircraft for their front-line battle forces, both in bomber and fighter capacities. Yet despite this, many biplanes did still survive, both in front-line service and in numerous subsidiary roles, and not just as training machines but as fully operational warplanes. Thus in 1939 the majority of major European powers still retained some, albeit few, biplane aircraft. Sadly, and as an indictment of failed British Government defence policies, it was Great Britain who still had the bulk of such obsolescent combat aircraft, machines like the Gladiator, Swordfish, Walrus, Vildebeeste and Audax for example, while the inferior Albacore, meant to replace the Swordfish, was still yet to enter service! Germany had relegated most of her biplane designs to secondary roles, but they still managed to conduct missions in which biplanes like the He.50, He.51 and Hs.120 excelled. Both France and Italy had biplanes in active service, Mussolinis Regia Aeronautica attaching great importance to the type as a fighter aircraft as late as 1941, while the Soviet Union also retained some machines like the Po-2 in front-line service right through the war and beyond. In addition, a whole range of smaller nations utilised biplanes built for larger combatants in their own air forces. By the time Japan and the United States entered the war two years later, they had mainly rid themselves of biplanes but, even here, a few specialised types lingered on. This book describes a selection of these gallant old warriors of all nations. They represent the author's own personal selection from a surprisingly large range of aircraft that, despite all predictions, fought hard and well in World War II.

The Douglas Dauntless was a Second World War American naval scout plane and dive bomber that saw active service during the course of this conflict and beyond, before being retired in 1959. US Navy and Marine Corps SBD's (Small But Deadly) saw their first action at Pearl Harbour and went on to enjoy an illustrious career thereafter. The Battle of Midway was an important milestone in the career of the Dauntless; they delivered the crushing blows to the Japanese carriers in June 1942\. Action was also seen during the Guadalcanal Campaign, Operation Torch, the Battle of the Philippine Sea and the Pacific War. Peter C. Smith brings his many years of experience to this new publication, over the course of which the full history of the mighty Dauntless is relayed in exceptional detail.

As global business systems are becoming ever more complex and they continue to grow and expand, it is increasingly more difficult to stand out as an effective and efficient leader. Dynamic Leadership Models for Global Business: Enhancing Digitally Connected Environments describes various models on how to become an outstanding leader in today s rapidly growing global business environments. This book seeks to provide positive instruction which illuminates a practical path to becoming a successful leader in such large and competitive markets. The approach is consistent with any existing leadership development program, or it may be undertaken as an individual initiative.

Diving vertically at the target, in the same direction the bombs will take, was an incredible bombing technique developed by the British and put into action in World War II. Bombers would dive and release the bombs very close to the target at high speed, with high risk, to accurately bomb relatively small and/or moving targets with ease. This riveting and highly detailed account of high speed aerial combat is the result of 40 years of intensive research and provides a complete history of the formidable dive bombers from World War 2. Containing an unparalled collection of data on infamous aircraft like the German Stuka, the American Dauntless, the Japanese Aichi D3A1"Val," the Soviet PE-2, and numerous others, Dive Bomber is the ultimate guide to this daring machine, enhanced by numerous maps, photographs, tables and diagrams, providing he most accurate and comprehensive guide ever written on this subject.

Vaccinate children against deadly pneumococcal disease, or pay for cardiac patients to undergo lifesaving surgery? Cover the costs of dialysis for kidney patients, or channel the money toward preventing the conditions that lead to renal failure in the first place? Policymakers dealing with the realities of limited health care budgets face tough decisions like these regularly. And for many individuals, their personal health care choices are equally stark: paying for medical treatment could push them into poverty. Many low- and middle-income countries now aspire to universal health coverage, where governments ensure that all people have access to the quality health services they need without risk of impoverishment. But for universal health coverage to become reality, the health services offered must be consistent with the funds available and this implies tough everyday choices for policymakers that could be the difference between life and death for those affected by any given condition or disease. The situation is particularly acute in low- and middle income countries where public spending on health is on the rise but still extremely low, and where demand for expanded services is growing rapidly. What's In, What's Out: Designing Benefits for Universal Health Coverage argues that the creation of an explicit health benefits plan a defined list of services that are and are not available is an essential element in creating a sustainable system of universal health coverage. With contributions from leading health economists and policy experts, the book considers the many dimensions of governance, institutions, methods, political economy, and ethics that are needed to decide what's in and what's out in a way that is fair, evidence-based, and sustainable over time.

The Oxford Handbook of Health Economics provides an accessible and authoritative guide to health economics, intended for scholars and students in the field, as well as those in adjacent disciplines including health policy and clinical medicine. The chapters stress the direct impact of health economics reasoning on policy and practice, offering readers an introduction to the potential reach of the discipline. Contributions come from internationally-recognized leaders in health economics and reflect the worldwide reach of the discipline. Authoritative, but non-technical, the chapters place great emphasis on the connections between theory and policy-making, and develop the contributions of health economics to problems arising in a variety of institutional contexts, from primary care to the operations of health insurers. The volume addresses policy concerns relevant to health systems in both developed and developing countries. It takes a broad perspective, with relevance to systems with single or multi-payer health insurance arrangements, and to those relying predominantly on user charges; contributions are also included that focus both on medical care and on non-medical factors that affect health. Each chapter provides a succinct summary of the current state of economic thinking in a given area, as well as the author's unique perspective on issues that remain open to debate. The volume presents a view of health economics as a vibrant and continually advancing field, highlighting ongoing challenges and pointing to new directions for further progress.

In this brand new publication from eminent historian Peter C. Smith, we are regaled with the engaging and often incredibly disturbing history of the Kamikaze tradition in Japanese culture. Tracing its history right back to the original Divine Wind (major natural typhoons) that saved Japan from invaders in ancient history, Smith explores the subsequent resurrection of the cult of the warrior in the late nineteenth century. He then follows this tradition through into the Second World War, describing the many Kamikaze suicide attacks carried out by the Emperor's pilots against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign. These pilots were at the mercy of an overriding cultural tradition that demanded death over defeat, capture or perceived shame. Despite often being under-trained and ill-prepared psychologically for the sacrifices they were about to make, they were nonetheless expected to make them. The dedication of sacrifice for the Emperor and the Nation is explored by dissecting the traces left behind by these pilots. Smith provides a detailed look at the heartbreak of the pilot's families and the men themselves, the notes they left and the effects on those who did not share their philosophy. The views of individuals under attack are also included in this balanced history. Countless attacks carried out over the Philippine Islands (including the sinking of the St Lo) are analyzed and the Okinawa campaign is afforded particularly strong coverage, with the sinking of HMAS Australia explored in detail. The collective sacrifice is then summed up, with reflections from survivors on both sides appraising events in a humane historical context. A detailed appendices then follows, featuring units formed, sorties mounted, ships sunk and damages inflicted.