Bunching with the Stars: How Firms Respond to Environmental Certification

Voluntary environmental certification programs have been a popular tool used by governments, industry groups, and nonprofit organizations alike. A central question in the design of such programs is who should pay for them. In a context where firms respond strategically to a certification, the answer to this question is a priori ambiguous and, ultimately, empirical. This paper provides important insights on this question using ENERGY STAR, a voluntary certification program for energy-efficient products, as a case study. I show that firms are highly strategic with respect to this certification and extract consumer surplus associated with certified products via three mechanisms. They offer products that bunch at the certification requirement, differentiate certified products in the energy and nonenergy dimensions, and charge a price premium on certified products. I use these findings to motivate a structural econometric model with firms’ strategic behaviors with respect to product line and pricing decisions and to investigate the incidence of a certification licensing fee to fund the certification program. This paper was accepted by Juanjuan Zhang, marketing.

ENERGY CERTIFICATION AND ENERGY AUDIT OF HIGHER EDUCATION AS A METHODOLOGICAL TOOL TO IMPROVE THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF THE UNIVERSITY

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES. Improving the energy performance of buildings is one of the least expensive ways to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Building energy performance certification increases public knowledge about energy conservation and allows consumers and other decision makers to compare buildings based on their lifetime performance. In addition, energy performance certifications are an incentive for owners to improve the efficiency of existing buildings.METHODS. It is proposed to use in the process of energy certification and energy audit of university buildings collection and evaluation of basic information (including information about local climate, method of use, value of thermal conductivity coefficient and building envelope area, orientation) to determine the level of energy efficiency of the building on a generally accepted scale. In the Certificate of energy efficiency to take into account the calculated results from the assessment of the energy performance of the building.FINDINGS. It is suggested that the results of the energy certification of university buildings be presented in a simple, clear form, to ensure clarity, ease of use and comparability. For the energy certification of university buildings, a comparative labeling from A to G is proposed for use. The scale, on which the current national building standard is at "C," provides ample room for improving the rating of both new and existing buildings. If necessary, the scale should be expanded to add a label such as A1, A2, or A+, A++ when it comes to high-performance buildings.CONCLUSION. Accurate and reliable energy performance certification is a necessary foundation that will help ensure consumer confidence and the success of the certification program. The certification program must be clearly coordinated to ensure a smooth transition of the construction industry to the new rules.

Graduate Lean Leadership Education

A midwestern university in the USA implemented a Lean Leadership Graduate Certification Program in the 2018-2019 academic year for current and emerging leaders seeking to extend, enrich, or establish leadership knowledge, skills, abilities in the workplace. The purpose of this chapter is to share the results of an evaluation on the effectiveness of this Lean Leadership Graduate Certificate Program. The results from this case study on the Lean Leadership Graduate Certification Program indicated a need to market to a larger group of emerging leaders. Leadership development findings suggest the need to further advance knowledge development in Lean students and consideration for program goals that include strategies having a significant impact on Lean student's emotional well-being in meeting leadership challenges. A continuous need to reinforce Lean Leadership competencies as a core dimension of the program resulted in the largest impact of the program with the Lean Leadership students.

Responsibilities and Interests of Pediatricians Practicing Hospital Medicine in the United States

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In 2016, the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) approved pediatric hospital medicine (PHM) as the newest pediatric subspecialty. To characterize development of the field, this article aims to: (1) describe the responsibilities and practice settings of US pediatricians self-identifying as hospitalists; and (2) determine how exclusive PHM practice, compared with PHM practice in combination with general or subspecialty care, was associated with professional development interests. METHODS: Pediatricians enrolling in the 2017-2018 American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) Maintenance of Certification program were offered a voluntary survey about their responsibilities, interests, and practice settings. Logistic regression was employed to characterize associations between exclusive PHM practice and: (1) interest in quality improvement (QI) leadership; (2) intention to take the PHM certifying exam; (3) satisfaction with allocation of professional time; and (4) intention to maintain more than one ABP certification. RESULTS: The survey response rate was 70.0%; 1662 (13.1%) self-reported PHM practice. Four hundred ninety-one (29.5%) practiced PHM exclusively, 518 (31.1%) practiced PHM and general pediatrics, and 653 (39.3%) practiced PHM and one or more subspecialties. Respondents reporting exclusive PHM practice were significantly more likely to report interest in QI leadership or consultation (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 1.39; 95% CI, 1.09-1.79), PHM exam certification (adjusted OR, 7.10; 95% CI, 5.45-9.25), and maintenance of more than one ABP certification (adjusted OR, 2.64; 95% CI, 1.89-3.68). CONCLUSIONS: Hospitalists reported diverse clinical and nonclinical responsibilities. Those practicing PHM exclusively expressed high levels of interest in board certification and QI leadership. Ongoing monitoring of PHM responsibilities and practice settings will be important to support the professional development of the PHM workforce.

PkM Implementasi Tata Nilai-Nilai Integritas Akademisi berbasis Sistematika Penyuluh Antikorupsi bersama LSP P3 Pembangun Penyuluh Integritas Bangsa: Studi Kasus Pembentukan Zona Integritas di Provinsi DKI Jakarta

Purpose: This Community Service (PKM) aimed to strengthen integrity values by taking preventive measures and promoting educational programs about the dangers of corruption, its causes, and systematic prevention. Method: This PKM was delivered to the academic community, consisting of Chancellors, Deans, Lecturers, and Students at several campuses throughout the DKI Jakarta Province. This PKM activity was made possible through the PSKK Grant (Work Competency Certification Program) under BNSP. Results: The added value of participating in the Anti-Corruption Instructor BNSP Certification Program is not only effective at systematic socialization of corruption prevention, but also serves as a Certificate of Companion Diploma (SKPI) for students, lecturers, deans, and rectors. Additionally, according to the survey’s graph, recipients of the BNSP Certificate quickly get hired.

Message from ACHSM President - Dr Neale Fong

I trust that you are well and as a leader or manager in the health sector wherever you are, you have taken time to ensure your own health and wellbeing in these extraordinary times. There is no more important time than now to ensure that you have the resilience and reserves to travel through these uncertainties. In the last issue this column focussed on the ACHSM’s Certification Program and the importance of a credential for health leaders and executives. As I noted then, certification in a profession is an employment currency within the health sector that has traditionally excluded the leaders and managers. Through the introduction of these credentials, the College supports members and future members to have their body of knowledge and skills recognised and provides the platform for continuing development. Today let me focus on the importance of lifelong learning and intentionally managing a career that hopefully will span decades, providing you with personal satisfaction and success. Committing to lifelong learning, as we mandate within Certification, is a commitment to your own development, and your own sense of staying curious and active within the profession. A quiet and consistent focus on staying current is at the foundation of confident and competent leadership and ACHSM sees this as being at the heart of our offerings to College members.

An Online Microcredential Certification Program to Upskill Petrotechnical Professionals in Data Analytics and Machine Learning with an Upstream Oil and Gas Industry Focus

The upstream oil and gas industry's digital transformation over the last few years has accelerated because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data analytics and machine learning are key components of this digital transformation and have become essential skills for experienced petrotechnical professionals (PTPs) and aspiring entrants into the field. The objective of our work was to design and deliver a practical, engaging, and online microcredential certification program in upstream energy data analytics for PTPs. The program was conceived as a collaboration between academia (University of Houston's UH Energy) and industry (NExT, a Schlumberger company). It was designed as three belt levels (Bronze, Silver, and Gold), each containing three stackable badges of 12 to 15 hours duration per badge. Key design points included Identifying an online platform for administration Delivering convenient, interactive, live online sessions Delivering hybrid classes blending lectures and hands-on laboratories Designing laboratories using upstream datasets across various stages of oilfield expertise Administering test and quizzes, Kaggle competitions, and team projects. The program contents were designed incorporating appropriate instructional design practices for effective online class delivery. The design and delivery of the laboratories using a code-free approach by leveraging visual programming offers PTPs and new entrants a unique opportunity to learn data analytics concepts without the traditional concern of learning to code. Additionally, the collaboration between academia and industry enables delivering a program that combines academic rigor with application of the skills and knowledge to solve problems facing the industry using the real-world datasets. As a pilot program, all three badges of the Bronze belt were scheduled and successfully delivered during July and August 2020, as six 2-hour sessions per badge. From a total of 26 students registered in badge 1, 24 completed it, resulting in a completion rate of 92%. Out of these students, 19 registered and completed badge 2 and badge 3, resulting in the completion rates of 100%. Based on the success of the pilot program, a second delivery of the Bronze belt with 18 participants was offered from October 2020 through January 2021. All 18 participants completed all three badges. Feedback from participants attests to the success of the pilot program as seen in the following excerpts: "A very good course and instructors. I have already recommended the course to a friend and I will continue to be an advocate for the course." "Teachers are very receptive to questions and it is a joy to hear their lectures." "I found the University of Houston course to be both highly engaging and incredibly informative. The course teaches basic principles of data science without being bogged down by the specific coding language."