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Purpose: This paper aims to elaborate on current research on fourth party logistics "4PL" by offering a taxonomy that provides a deeper understanding of 4PL service offerings, thus drawing clear frontiers between existing 4PL business models. Design/methodology/approach: The authors collected data using semi-structured interviews conducted with 60 logistics executives working in 44 "4PL" providers located in France. Using automatic analysis of textual data, the authors combined spatial visualisation, clustering analysis and hierarchical descending classification to generate the taxonomy. Findings: Two key dimensions emerged, allowing the authors to clearly identify and distinguish four 4PL business models: the level of reliance on interpersonal relationships and the level of involvement in 4PL service offering. As a result, 4PL providers fall under one of the following business models in the taxonomy: (1) The Metronome, (2) The Architect, (3) The Nostalgic and (4) The Minimalist. Research limitations/implications: The study focuses on investigating 4PL providers located in France; thus, future studies should explore the classification of 4PL business models across different cultural contexts and social structures. Practical implications: The findings offer valuable managerial insights for logistics executives and clients of 4PL to better orient their needs, the negotiations and the contracting process with 4PLs. Originality/value: Using a Lexicometric analysis, the authors develop taxonomy of 4PL service providers based on empirical evidence from logistics executives; the work addresses the existing confusion regarding the conceptualisation of 4PL firms with other types of logistical providers and the role of in/formal interpersonal relationships in the logistical intermediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the purchasing practices adopted by restaurants and cafés operating in France to observe how the owner/operator(s) attitudes towards sustainable business practice impact on the choice of fresh food suppliers. A two-stage cluster analysis revealed the presence of two clusters: conventional buyers and green buyers that showed significant differences in the adoption of sustainable purchasing practices, the perceived benefits derived from the adoption of sustainable business practices, and barriers to the adoption of green purchasing. In making the decision to operate as a green restaurant, the personal beliefs of the owner/operator(s) were paramount, guided in part by the belief that in order to prepare and present the best-tasting food to patrons, executive chefs needed to procure the very best ingredients. In procuring the best quality fresh food ingredients, executive chefs preferred to deal with many small suppliers with whom they had developed a long-term relationship based on their reputation for delivering premium quality products in season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The use of antibiotics in dental care is often unnecessary or inappropriate. Our objectives were to identify (i) Clusters of dentists grouped according to their appropriateness score based on proxy indicators' results; and (ii) Dentists' and patients' characteristics associated with the appropriateness of antibiotic prescriptions. Methods: We used data of the Health Insurance reimbursement databases on antibiotics prescribed in 2019 by general dental practitioners of the Grand Est region in France. The appropriateness of antibiotic prescriptions was estimated by the results of recently published proxy indicators. We conducted a cluster analysis according to an appropriateness score calculated for each dentist, using the Ward method. We then conducted bivariate and multivariable analyses to identify characteristics associated with these clusters. Results: We included 3,014 dentists, who prescribed 373,975 antibiotics in 2019, and which were grouped into three clusters: average practices (n = 1,241), better (n = 686), and worse (n = 1,087) than average practices. Overall, dentists had more appropriate prescription practices when they were male (OR for belonging to cluster with "worse than average practices" = 1.37 (p = 0.003) for female), having a predominant surgery practice (p = 0.028) in the Lorraine area (p < 0.0001) for less years (p = 0.0002), when they had healthier patients (i.e., younger, with no chronic diseases, and who received less procedures), and when they had a more prudent use of drugs in general (i.e., less prescriptions of drugs, antibiotics, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory). Conclusions: We identified clusters and characteristics associated with the appropriateness of antibiotic prescriptions made by dentists, which might help guiding antimicrobial stewardship interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The debate on national identity has been receiving more attention from academics, social planners, and the public in recent years. This study aims to analyse citizens' different national identity typologies using data from the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) in two waves: 2003 and 2013. The study is based on 10 countries for which the dimensions of the national identity construct are first examined through multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA). Then, a fuzzy hybrid approach is used to obtain two synthetic indicators for each dimension of national identity, namely ethnic and civic orientations. Then, a fuzzy clustering analysis is used to extend the Classical Apostle Model, obtaining 16 different national identity categories that expand the four Apostle categories denominated as credentialists, post-nationalists, ethnic-oriented and civic-oriented. The study ends by applying the Binary Probit Model to analyse whether some socioeconomic characteristics can partly explain the four pure national identity categories. Our results show that people seem to be increasingly credentialists. Furthermore, the civic–ethnic dichotomy of France–Germany is no longer confirmed, as Germans appear to be included in the civic-oriented national identity group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While typologies of substance use disorder are very informative, they are still scarcer. The aim of this study was to consider a classification system of substance use among adolescents based on types of substance used and levels of use, and to compare identified groups on sociodemographic characteristics, mental and physical health factors, and other psychological indices. A total of 23,294 17-year-old French adolescents were assessed on mental health factors (depression, suicide, visits to a mental health professional), physical health factors (health self-perception, body shape perception, body mass index), family relationships, perceptions of substance use risk, and vision of the future. Hierarchical Cluster Analysis identified four classes of adolescents: 'Adolescents who use Occasionally/experimentally Tobacco and Alcohol' (n = 7328, 35.3%), 'Adolescents who do not use drugs' (n = 5218, 25.1%), 'Adolescents who use Tobacco, Alcohol, Cannabis' (n = 6804, 32.8%), and 'Adolescents who use Multi-drugs' (n = 1403, 6.8%). The two first were mostly high school girls, with no mental and physical health issue, accurate perception of substances uses risk, and positive vision of their future. They differed regarding parental socioeconomic status and body mass index. The two latest were mostly boys, with poor school performance, bad family relationships, mental health issues, incorrect perception of substances uses risk, and negative vision of their future. They differed regarding parental socioeconomic status, weight and weight perception. Our results confirm the heterogeneous nature of drug use in adolescents, the relevance of typologies, and their importance for future public health policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]