Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
IS THE BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING (BPR) PROVEDITSELF TO BE A TRUSTABLE CHANGE MANAGEMENT APPROACH FOR MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS CASE STUDIES FROM THE LITERATURE

We are in a century of change. The thought of ? the only constant is change? implies this truth. Whatever the circumstances are, both organizations and managers need to keep up with these changes in order to survive and compete better. Increased competition and globalization compels most organizations to become innovative and adopt approaches based on change. In literature, there is an abundance of information available on organizational change. Researchers have written numerous articles, papers and books in this topic and they have several different approaches to how organizations should manage change. Knowing how to adopt and change successfully has become a critical and timeless challenge for any organization. Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is one of these most popular change management approaches which have attracted great attention in this world of change recently. Even though there have been successful and unsuccessful cases stated in the literature, BPR has been touted as a vital management tool in order to achieve dramatic improvements and organizational competitiveness by business circles if it is implemented properly and carefully. Within this context; in this study, BPR? s emergence as a management concept was looked over initially and several definitions of BPR in literature along with its principles and factors which make reengineering projects successful were also alluded. After that, multinational corporations Ford Motor, IBM Credit, Kodak and Mutual Benefit Life which have fruitfully put reengineering into practice, were analyzed; their experiences on reengineering were discussed. Finally, the conclusion places the findings of this study and outlines the benefits of BPR.
High-Dynamic-Range Image Reproduction Methods

The high dynamic range of illumination may cause serious distortions and problems in the viewing and further processing of digital images. Important information can be hidden in the highly or extremely lowly illuminated parts. This paper deals with the reproduction of such images and introduces two new tone reproduction preprocessing algorithms which may help in developing the hardly viewable or nonviewable features and content of the images.
Loss of Kv and MaxiK currents associated with increased MRP1 expression in small cell lung carcinoma

Regulatory volume decrease and exocrine secretion studies suggest a functional relationship between K+ and organic anion efflux. To test the hypothesis that the expression of K+ channels and MRP1 is reciprocally related, we employed the patch clamp and RT‐PCR techniques on weakly (H69) and strongly MRP1‐expressing (H69AR) small cell lung cancer cells. H69AR cells do not express the time‐ and voltage‐dependent delayed rectifying K+ current (Kv) reported earlier in H69 cells and confirmed here. About 80% of the Kv current in H69 cells inactivated at 0 mV, allowing us to identify other K+ currents present in these cells. Whole‐cell currents from cells dialyzed and bathed in K‐gluconate as the major ions exhibited inward rectification in both cell types. Inwardly rectifying (Kir) currents in both H69 and H69AR cells showed time‐dependent activation and slow inactivation at large negative potentials. H69 cells also express a threefold larger Ca2+‐stimulated K+‐selective and iberiotoxin‐sensitive current relative to H69AR cells. In excised inside‐out patches exposed to 145 mM symmetrical K+ solutions, H69 cells expressed a voltage‐ and Ca2+‐sensitive large conductance (128 ± 5 pS) K+ channel (MaxiK). MaxiK‐like currents were not observed at the whole‐cell or single‐channel level in H69AR cells. RT‐PCR identified MaxiKα transcripts in H69 but not H69AR cells. These results indicate that two K+ currents (MaxiK and Kv) and the organic anion transporter MRP1 are reciprocally expressed in H69 and H69AR cells. J. Cell. Physiol. 209: 535–541, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Scheduling of sequential periodic sensing for cognitive radios

Spectrum sensing enables cognitive radios (CRs) to opportunistically access the under-utilized spectrum. Existing efforts on sensing have not adequately addressed sensing scheduling over time for better detection performance. In this work, we consider sequential periodic sensing of an in-band channel. We focus primarily on finding the appropriate sensing frequency during an SU's active data transmission on a licensed channel. Change and outlier detection schemes are designed specifically to facilitate short-term sensing adaptation to the variations in sensed data. Simulation results demonstrate that our design guarantees better conformity to the spectrum access policies by significantly reducing the delay in change detection while ensuring better sensing accuracy.
Biosorption: critical review of scientific rationale, environmental importance and significance for pollution treatment

Biosorption may be simply defined as the removal of substances from solution by biological material. Such substances can be organic and inorganic, and in gaseous, soluble or insoluble forms. Biosorption is a physico-chemical process and includes such mechanisms as absorption, adsorption, ion exchange, surface complexation and precipitation. Biosorption is a property of both living and dead organisms (and their components) and has been heralded as a promising biotechnology for pollutant removal from solution, and/or pollutant recovery, for a number of years, because of its efficiency, simplicity, analogous operation to conventional ion exchange technology, and availability of biomass. Most biosorption studies have carried out on microbial systems, chiefly bacteria, microalgae and fungi, and with toxic metals and radionuclides, including actinides like uranium and thorium. However, practically all biological material has an affinity for metal species and a considerable amount of other research exists with macroalgae (seaweeds) as well as plant and animal biomass, waste organic sludges, and many other wastes or derived bio-products. While most biosorption research concerns metals and related substances, including radionuclides, the term is now applied to particulates and all manner of organic substances as well. However, despite continuing dramatic increases in published research on biosorption, there has been little or no exploitation in an industrial context. This article critically reviews aspects of biosorption research regarding the benefits, disadvantages, and future potential of biosorption as an industrial process, the rationale, scope and scientific value of biosorption research, and the significance of biosorption in other waste treatment processes and in the environment. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry
Corporate Financial Risk Management: Governance and Disclosure after IFRS 7

Corporate Financial Risk Management (CFRM) concerns the management of financial price risks in corporate entities, namely interest rates, exchange rates and the prices of commodities. Since its first implementation in the 80s, CFRM has evolved in three main steps. In the first step, banks designed new structured products, exploiting their deep knowledge of financial engineering. Secondly, practitioners have developed best practices concerning the correct use of derivatives in corporate entities, focusing on the organization and the reporting of the process of CFRM. The third step is now under way. In this step the main change concerns the regulatory and accounting context of CFRM. Up to now, the new regulatory context has deeply influenced the operations of corporate entities. A first very evident impact concerns the less frequent use of complicated structured derivative products. Moreover, new protagonists of the process of CFRM have developed rapidly. Accounting managers have been obliged to thoroughly understand the economics of derivatives, while the Board, the auditors and external financial analysts have become more deeply involved in the process of CFRM. Unfortunately, this revolution has not been accompanied by an adequate change in the language of CFRM, which is actually too complex for both the Board and external analysts. The Board is not in the position to guide and control the process of CFRM, while external analysts have not the necessary information to understand if CFRM has an impact on earning quality and value creation. Only the language of value creation could help in overcoming those problems. Such a language could allow the Board to improve the governance of the process of CFRM and, consequently, to communicate what analysts really need through proper risk disclosure. From January 2007, IFRS 7 (International Financial Reporting Standard 7) has introduced a new approach to risk disclosure. This is a good opportunity to design and implement a reporting system which exploits the language of value creation. The first paragraph of this paper describes the main aspects of the new regulatory context of CFRM. The second paragraph explores some revolutionary improvements brought about by IFRS 7. The remaining paragraphs pose the main steps to create a language of CFRM that is apt for the governance and the disclosure of CFRM
The Effect of Social and Demographic Factors on Life Insurance Demand in Croatia

According to the theoretical and empirical literature, life insurance demand is influenced by various economic, institutional, social, and demographic factors. The aim of this paper is to analyze social and demographic determinants of life insurance consumption in Croatia. The empirical research is based on the survey data collected on the sample of 95 respondents. The research result shows that age, educationand employment impact life insurance demand of household in Croatia while gender, marital status and number of family members do not have statistically significant influence.
Understanding the role of logistics capabilities in achieving supply chain agility: a systematic literature review

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of logistics capabilities in achieving supply chain agility through a multi‐disciplinary review of the relevant research. The systematic literature review aims to provide the basis for formulating a conceptual framework of the relationship.Design/methodology/approach – A systematic, comprehensive review of the literature on manufacturing, organizational and supply chain agility from 1991 through 2010 was conducted. The literature on logistics capabilities was also examined to identify the various elements that contribute to supply chain agility.Findings – Supply chain agility has primarily been explored in the literature through a focus on manufacturing flexibility, supply chain speed, or lean manufacturing. The role of logistics capabilities in achieving supply chain agility has not been addressed from a holistic conceptual perspective. This research addresses that gap using a multi‐disciplinary approach. As such, it is the first phase in theory .
Close allies in membrane protein research: Cell-free synthesis and nanotechnology

Abstract Membrane proteins control fundamental processes that are inherent to nearly all forms of life such as transport of molecules, catalysis, signaling, vesicle fusion, sensing of chemical and physical stimuli from the environment, and cell-cell interactions. Membrane proteins are harbored within a non-equilibrium fluid-like environment of biological membranes that separate cellular and non-cellular environments, as well as in compartmentalized cellular organelles. One of the classes of membrane proteins that will be specifically treated in this article are transport proteins of plant origin, that facilitate material and energy transfer at the membrane boundaries. These proteins import essential nutrients, export cellular metabolites, maintain ionic and osmotic equilibriums and mediate signal transduction. The aim of this article is to report on the progress of membrane protein functional and structural relationships, with a focus on producing stable and functional proteins suitable for structural and biophysical studies. We interlink membrane protein production primarily through wheat-germ cell-free protein synthesis (WG-CFPS) with the growing repertoire of membrane mimicking environments in the form of lipids, surfactants, amphipathic surfactant polymers, liposomes and nanodiscs that keep membrane proteins soluble. It is hoped that the advancements in these fields could increase the number of elucidated structures, in particular those of plant membrane proteins, and contribute to bridging of the gap between structures of soluble and membrane proteins, the latter being comparatively low.
Legitimizing a New Role: Small Wins and Microprocesses of Change

How do individual actors institute changes in established ways of working? Longitudinal research is the basis for our theoretical model showing how actors legitimize new practices by accomplishing three interdependent, recursive, situated “microprocesses”: (1) cultivating opportunities for change, (2) fitting a new role into prevailing systems, and (3) proving the value of the new role. These microprocesses are demarcated by an accumulating series of small wins that consolidate gains while facilitating continuing change efforts. Most accounts of institutional change focus on embeddedness as a constraint, yet our study shows how embeddedness can provide the foundation and opportunity for change.
Event stakeholder management: developing sustainable rural event practices

Purpose – Changes to the economic and social fabric of rural communities in Australia have resulted in an outmigration of residents, shifting economies and disenfranchisement with rural life styles. As a result, events provide important social and recreational opportunities for residents. However, rural communities are constrained by limited resources, such as the number of individuals who are willing and able to participate in event organizations; therefore, it is essential for the sustainable organization of events that stakeholders are attracted and retained. This paper aims to apply a stakeholder theoretical approach to the organizing and planning of rural events to identify event stakeholders, monitor satisfaction and ensure stakeholder retention within rural events.Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative research design using a multiple case study approach examined event stakeholders in three rural communities of Southwest Queensland, Australia. In total, 54 in‐depth interviews were undertaken w.
Customer Satisfaction with Online Group-Buying Services

Given the essential role of customers to the success of any business, particularly newly-established ones, it is crucial for Hanoi’s online group-buying (OGB) compa nies to make constant efforts to keep their customers satisfied. This research aims at investigating customer satisfaction in the context of Hanoi’s OGB through both quantitative and qualitative methods including an online customer survey with 150 OGB customers, in-depth interviews with 20 customers, and participant observation of five OGB websites. The research results show that the key factors affecting OGB customer satisfac tion include product price, merchandise variety, information quality, product quali ty, and delivery. Also, despite the high likelihood of customers’ repurchasing and rec ommending to others, Hanoi’s OGB business has not yet met customer satisfaction, particularly in terms of the information quality, supplier’s reputation, product qual ity and delivery. The root causes of this situation include the incomplete legal frame work and ineffective management at macro-level; the poor quality management and business ethics of OGB companies; and the limited OGB customers’ awareness of their rights and responsibilities.
Amnesia is a Deficit in Relational Memory

Eye movements were monitored to assess memory for scenes indirectly (implicitly). Two eye movement—based memory phenomena were observed: (a) the repetition effect, a decrease in sampling of previously viewed scenes compared with new scenes, reflecting memory for those scenes, and (b) the relational manipulation effect, an increase in viewing of the regions where manipulations of relations among scene elements had occurred. In normal control subjects, the relational manipulation effect was expressed only in the absence of explicit awareness of the scene manipulations. Thus, memory representations of scenes contain information about relations among elements of the scenes, at least some of which is not accessible to verbal report. But amnesic patients with severe memory impairment failed to show the relational manipulation effect. Their failure to show any demonstrable memory for relations among the constituent elements of scenes suggests that amnesia involves a fundamental deficit in relational (declarative) memory processing.
Strategic Formation of Customer Relationship Networks

We analyze the stability of networks when two intermediaries strategically form costly links to customers. We interpret these links as customer relationships that enable trade to sell a product. Equilibrium prices and equilibrium quantities on the output as well as on the input market are determined endogenously for a given network of customer relationships. We investigate in how far the substitutability of the intermediaries' products and the costs of link formation influence the intermediaries' equilibrium profits and thus have an impact on the incentives to strategically form relationships to customers. For networks with three customers we characterize locally stable networks, in particular existence is guaranteed for any degree of substitutability. Moreover for the special cases of perfect complements, independent products and perfect substitutes, local stability coincides with the stronger concept of Nash stability. Additionally, for networks with n customers we analyze stability regions for selected networks and determine their limits when n goes to infinity. It turns out that the shape of the stability regions for those networks does not significantly change compared to a setting with a small number of customers.
Managers’ Perceptions of the Impact of Consolidation on the U.K. Independent Television Production Industry

Abstract This paper explores the impact that consolidation has had on the UK’s Independent Television Production Industry over the pastdecade and how this process had affected the management of differentsized production companies. In-depth interviews with a number of influential professionals revealed five themes: the management of smallcompanies, post acquisition, had not changed; economies of scale can beattributed to an increase in scale; medium sized companies would find it increasingly difficult to compete; the emergence of the Super Indie had not stifled creativity in the industry; a key driver in the consolidationprocess is that of individual gain.
Land Requisition,Intensive Interests and Alternation of Elites in Village Governance—A Case Study of Village Y in West Hubei Province

With the rapid development of urbanization,land requisition and demolishing has become an important factor in promoting rural development and in grassroots governance. It not only brings about intensive interests but also changes the logic of grassroots governance. This paper analyzes the phenomenon of elite alternation by taking a village in west Hubei as an example,where the traditional elites are encountered with various problems in land requisition and demolishing and secede from the governance system,while the emerging elites enter into the system supported by their economic and social capital. They solve public affairs such as the "nail households"caused by land requisition and demolishing and the"petition households"by taking advantage of their personal resources. We think that although such elite alternation has contributed to the solution of various problems in land requisition and demolishing,it may lead to the erosion of grassroots social interests and the decomposition of the legality of grassroots.
Benchmarking procurement functions: causes for superior performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to gain a better understanding between procurement strategy, organization, processes, methods and tools, human resources, supplier management, and overall procurement success.Design/methodology/approach – In order to achieve the above‐mentioned results, a holistic benchmark with highly recognized companies is conducted. Applying a cohesive questionnaire of open and closed questions, the paper covers all relevant aspects of procurement functions. Regression analysis is used to identify significant correlations.Findings – The benchmarking (BM) proved the following significant success factors for the overall procurement process: use of cross‐functional teams, high hierarchical positioning of the procurement function within the company, strong cooperation with other functions, training and development of the procurement personnel as well as supplier integration and continuous evaluation.Practical implications – The paper provides the reader with sound evidence of how to .
A Nonparametric Test Procedure Based on Quantiles for the Right Censored Data

In this study, we propose nonparametric tests using the several quantile statistics simultaneously for the right censored data. First of all, we consider statistics of the quadratic form with estimated covariance matrices. Then we derive the limiting distribution using the large sample approximation theory. Also we consider different forms of statistics such as the maximal and summing types with their limiting distributions. Then we illustrate our procedure with examples and compare performance among tests with empirical powers through a simulation study. Also we comment briefly on some interesting features including re-sampling methods as concluding remarks. Finally in Appendices, we provide proofs for the theoretic results needed for the derivation of the limiting distributions of the proposed test statistics.
CONSUMERS AND GM FOOD LABELS: PROVIDING INFORMATION OR SOWING CONFUSION?

Labeling policies for genetically modified (GM) foods are under intense scrutiny and development worldwide. The fact that Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex)—the international body primarily responsible for food standards including labeling practices—has been unable to reach consensus on GM food labeling is indication enough that this has been a rather contentious issue. Consumers, on the other hand, appear to be in agreement about the need for labels, if public opinion surveys are any indication. If labels are indeed implemented, what sorts of labels would be useful and under what conditions? What do we know about consumers’ use of labels and their effectiveness?
Threshold responses in cinnamic‐aldehyde‐sensitive subjects: results and methodological aspects

Cinnamic aldehyde is an important fragrance material and contact allergen. The present study was performed to provide quantitative data on the eliciting capacity of cinnamic aldehyde, to be considered in assessment of clinical relevance and health hazard. The skin response to serial dilution patch tests and 6–week graded use tests with 0.02, 0.1 and O.8% cinnamic aldehyde in ethanol was studied in a group of cinnamic‐aldehyde‐sensitive eczema patients. The minimum effect level demonstrated 0.2% cinnamic aldehyde on patch testing and 0.1% cinnamic aldehyde on use testing, which are allowed usage concentrations in different kind of cosmetics. 72% (13/18) developed eczema in the use test performed with an alcoholic solution of cinnamic aldehyde on healthy upper arm skin, 6 of the 13 use‐test‐positive subjects (46%) reacted later than day 7, indicating that the standard exposure period of 7 days in use testing may not be sufficient, if low concentrations or volatile substances are used. A significant correlation between patch test sensitivity and the outcome of use testing was found (p < 0.001), which should be considered in designing future use test studies and advising patients. Detailed exposure information is needed to evaluate more fully the consequences of cinnamic aldehyde sensitivity