bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Unified Framework for Variance Component Estimation with Summary Statistics in Genome-wide Association Studies
Authors: Zhou Xiang
Published: March 2016

Linear mixed models (LMMs) are among the most commonly used tools for genetic association studies. However, the standard method for estimating variance components in LMMs – the restricted maximum likelihood estimation method (REML) – suffers from several important drawbacks: REML is computationally slow, requires individual-level genotypes and phenotypes, and produces biased estimates in case control studies. To remedy these drawbacks, we present an alternative framework for variance component estimation, which we refer to as MQS. MQS is based on the method of moments (MoM) and the minimal norm quadratic unbiased estimation (MINQUE) criteria, and brings two seemingly unrelated methods – the renowned Haseman-Elston (HE) regression and the recent LD score regression (LDSC) – into the same unified framework. With this new framework, we provide an alternative but mathematically equivalent form of HE that allows for the use of summary statistics and is faster to compute. We also provide an exact estimation form of LDSC to yield unbiased and more accurate estimates with calibrated confidence intervals. A key feature of our method is that it can effectively use a small random subset of individuals for computation while still producing estimates that are almost as accurate as if the full data were used. As a result, our method produces unbiased and accurate estimates with calibrated standard errors, while it is computationally efficient for large data sets. Using simulations and applications to 33 phenotypes from 7 real data sets, we illustrate the benefits of our method for estimating and partitioning chip heritability. Our method is implemented in the GEMMA software package, freely available atwww.xzlab.org/software.html.
Onset, timing, and exposure therapy of stress disorders: mechanistic insight from a mathematical model of oscillating neuroendocrine dynamics
Authors: Kim Lae , D’Orsogna Maria , Chou Tom
Published: March 2016

The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is a neuroendocrine system that regulates numerous physiological processes. Disruptions in the activity of the HPA axis are correlated with many stress-related diseases such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder. In this paper, we characterize "normal” and "diseased” states of the HPA axis as basins of attraction of a dynamical system describing the inhibition of peptide hormones such as corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) by circulating glucocorticoids such as cortisol (CORT). In addition to including key physiological features such as ultradian oscillations in cortisol levels and self-upregulation of CRH neuron activity our model distinguishes the relatively slow process of cortisol-mediated CRH biosynthesis from rapid trans-synaptic effects that regulate the CRH secretion process. Crucially we find that the slow regulation mechanism mediates external stress-driven transitions between the stable states in novel, intensity, duration, and timing-dependent ways. These results indicate that thetimingof traumatic events may be an important factor in determining if and how patients will exhibit hallmarks of stress disorders. Our model also suggests a mechanism whereby exposure therapy of stress disorders such as PTSD may act to normalize downstream dysregulation of the HPA axis.
Accounting for derivatives and risk management activities
Authors: Tessema Abiot Mindaye
Published: March 2016

Purpose

– The lessons and merits of changes in the recognition and disclosure of derivative instruments and hedging activities are still debated and are a major policy issue. Prior studies provide mixed evidences on the economic consequences of mandatory derivative instruments ' recognition and disclosure. This paper aims to provide empirical evidence on the impact of mandatory derivative instruments ' recognition and disclosure on managers’ risk-management behavior. More importantly, this paper aims to investigate the role of product market competition on the impact of mandatory derivative instruments ' recognition and disclosure on managers’ risk-management behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper tests the author ' s hypotheses using the fixed-effects estimation technique, where it includes firm dummies in all the regressions. This approach enables to control for unobserved firm effects (fixed effects) on firms’ risk-management behavior that are assumed to be constant through time but vary across firms.

Findings

– The author finds that mandatory recognition and disclosure of derivative instruments and hedging activities, on average, decreases firms’ market rate risk exposure. This finding suggests that after the implementation of the recognition and disclosure of derivative instruments and hedging activities required by Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 133 (SFAS 133), firms engage in more prudent risk-management activities to mitigate the potential cost of earnings volatility imposed by the standard. However, the decrease in market rate risk exposure is lower when the level of product market competition is higher. This finding is consistent with the idea that the recognition and disclosure of derivative instruments and hedging activities required by SFAS 133 unintentionally forces firms in competitive industries to engage in significant risk-taking. The result suggests that more disclosure in risk management may change risk-management incentives in undesirable ways if firms face the threat of entry in their product markets.

Practical/implications

– The results provide a new understanding on the role of product market competition on the effectiveness of mandatory derivative instruments ' recognition and disclosure. The findings imply that standard setters should take product market competition into consideration before making derivative instruments and hedging activities ' recognition and disclosure mandatory for all firms.

Originality/value

– The paper contributes to the accounting literature by providing a new insight into the moderating role of product market competition in the accounting recognition and disclosure regulation and firms’ reporting behavior relation. Moreover, the paper extends the current literature on the effects of SFAS 133 on risk-management activities and sheds light on the impact of accounting regulations on firms’ real economic behavior.
Accounting quality and financing arrangements in emerging economies
Authors: Song Liang
Published: March 2016

Purpose

– This paper aims to investigate how borrowers’ accounting quality influences bank loan syndicates across 11 emerging markets. Furthermore, an investigation of whether the relationship between accounting quality and the bank loan syndicate structure is influenced by borrowers’ governance standards is conducted.

Design/methodology/approach

– To empirically test the research question, a sample including 11 emerging countries is constructed. Following Chen et al. (2011), an accounting quality measure is constructed by aggregating the three commonly used indicators developed by Kothari et al. (2005), McNichols and Stubben (2008) and Dechow and Dichev (2002). A univariate analysis and a multivariate analysis are conducted to investigate the relationship between accounting quality and bank loan syndicate structure after controlling for firm characteristics and other variables.

Findings

– The results of this research show that lead lenders need to retain more ownership and organize a more concentrated loan syndicate when borrowers have poor accounting quality because they must show their commitment to monitoring borrowers. In addition, lead lenders have fewer foreign lenders involved in a loan syndicate and these foreign lenders retain less loan ownership if borrowers’ accounting quality is poor because lead banks prefer local lenders who are more familiar with borrowers. Finally, the effects of accounting quality on bank loan syndicates are more significant for borrowers with superior governance because the credibility of accounting numbers generated by a well-governed borrower is better.

Originality/value

– The existing studies (Ball et al., 2008; Lee and Mullineaux, 2004; Sufi, 2007) have shown how information asymmetry and accounting quality affect loan syndicates in developed countries. This strand of literature is extended by the presentation of significant effects of accounting quality on financing arrangements, even in emerging economies with weak governance standards. This stream of literature is also extended by finding the interaction effects between accounting quality and governance standards on bank loan syndicates, a relationship which has not been examined by the existing literature (Ball et al., 2008).
Growth options and relative performance evaluation
Authors: Huang Jianhui , Liu Ling , Ulstad Ingrid C.
Published: March 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this study is to investigate the cross-sectional associations between growth options and the peer pay–performance sensitivity of CEO compensation.

Design/methodology/approach

– This study includes analytical analysis and multivariable regression analysis.

Findings

– It is predicted in this study that there is a non-linear concave relation between peer pay–performance sensitivity and a firm’s growth options. Results based on the executive compensation data from ExecuComp are consistent with the hypothesis presented in this study.

Research limitations/implications

– Future scholars need to consider the non-linear impact of growth options on peer pay–performance sensitivity when they conduct research related to CEO compensation by differentiating the company’s growth options to be at a low, medium and high level. In an industry, when a compensation committee decides on the peers for performance comparison purposes, the committee needs to make sure that the peer firms they select have similar operational environments, for example, they face similar growth options (e.g. low, medium or high) and idiosyncratic variances.

Practical implications

– This study contributes to the managerial compensation literature by revealing the important role growth options, as well as idiosyncratic variances, play on peer pay–performance sensitivity. The results of this study have implications for both future researchers as well as industrial practitioners.

Social implications

– It gives guidance on designing CEO compensation contracts.

Originality/value

– This is an original work from the coauthors listed on this study.
Balancing managerial and academic values
Authors: Thian Lok Boon , Alam Gazi Mahabubul , Idris Abdul Rahman
Published: March 2016

Purpose

– Representing both “central university administration” and academics, deans are increasingly being confronted with the competing managerial and academic values. Being able to manage the competing values is pivotal to the success of a dean. However, there is dearth of research studying this. Considering the for-profit private sector may face greater challenge in dealing with the competing values, the purpose of this paper is to understand how deans in the private sector have managed this.

Design/methodology/approach

– A case study was conducted using two exemplar faculties of a private university in Malaysia as sample. The main sources of data are one-year field work which is supplemented by eight years’ archival data.

Findings

– The findings show that sustainable deans have found a common ground between the competing values. The common ground aligns the central university administration, the deans and the academics, and contributes to the sustainability of the faculties and university.

Originality/value

– This paper contributes to addressing the ever-increasing tension between managerial and academic values experienced by the mid-level academic management especially at the for-profit private higher education institutions. The insights of this study enrich the existing knowledge in the area of mid-level academic leadership.
Women’s participation on boards of directors: a review of the literature
Authors: Cabrera-Fernández Ana Isabel , Martínez-Jiménez Rocío , Hernández-Ortiz María Jesús
Published: March 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to present a review of the literature on the participation of women on Boards of Directors (BD).

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors review a body of literature (theoretical and empirical words) that analyzes the women’s role on the BD of companies. The review allows the authors to bring together the theoretical foundations and the empirical findings of studies that have examined the influence of the engagement of women on BD on the business outcomes of the firms involved.

Findings

– There is no agreement on the results relating to the effect of the presence of women on these boards. Moreover, there is no well-defined theoretical basis to explain this relationship, making it necessary to use a multi-theoretical approach.

Research limitations/implications

– This study could be extended by including investigations of the intermediate variable between the composition of the BD and the business outcomes, thus enabling an analysis of the effects of different organizational variables on the economic and financial variables already studied. In addition, the authors propose a comparative study between different countries and between different kinds of companies.

Originality/value

– This paper highlights the controversy that exists over the significance of the involvement of women on the BD of companies. It also proposes the development of new lines of research to attempt to answer some of the questions that are raised by the diverse findings reported in the literature.
Lean and Six Sigma in acute care: a systematic review of reviews
Authors: Deblois Simon , Lepanto Luigi
Published: March 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to present a systematic review of literature reviews, summarizing how Lean and Six Sigma management techniques have been implemented in acute care settings to date, and assessing their impact. To aid decision makers who wish to use these techniques by identifying the sectors of activity most often targeted, the main results of the interventions, as well as barriers and facilitators involved. To identify areas of future research.

Design/methodology/approach

– A literature search was conducted, using eight databases. The methodological quality of the selected reviews was appraised with AMSTAR. A narrative synthesis was performed according to the guidelines proposed by Popay et al. (2006). Data were reported according to PRISMA.

Findings

– The literature search identified 149 publications published from 1999 to January 2015. Seven literature reviews were included into the systematic review, upon appraisal. The overall quality of the evidence was poor to fair. The clinical settings most described were specialized health care services, including operating suites, intensive care units and emergency departments. The outcomes most often appraised related to processes and quality. The evidence suggests that Lean and Six Sigma are better adapted to settings where processes involve a linear sequence of events.

Research limitations/implications

– There is a need for more studies of high methodological quality to better understand the effects of these approaches as well as the factors of success and barriers to their implementation. Field studies comparing the effects of Lean and Six Sigma to those of other process redesign or quality improvement efforts would bring a significant contribution to the body of knowledge.

Practical implications

– Lean and Six Sigma can be considered valuable process optimization approaches in acute health care settings. The success of their implementation requires significant participation of clinical personnel from the frontline as well as clinical leaders and managers. More research is needed to better understand the factors of success and the barriers to their implementation, as well as their long-term impact.

Originality/value

– This is the first broad systematic review of reviews, synthesizing data pertaining to implementation issues and results in acute care settings, to be published. It will benefit health care managers assessing the potential of these approaches and the potential drawbacks associated with their implementation. Moreover, it identifies directions for future research.
Improving healthcare practice behaviors
Authors: Van Fleet David D. , Peterson Tim O
Published: March 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to present the results of exploratory research designed to develop an awareness of healthcare behaviors, with a view toward improving the customer satisfaction with healthcare services. It examines the relationship between healthcare providers and their consumers/patients/clients.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study uses a critical incident methodology, with both effective and ineffective behavioral specimens examined across different provider groups.

Findings

– The effects of these different behaviors on what Berry (1999) identified as the common core values of service organizations are examined, as those values are required to build a lasting service relationship. Also examined are categories of healthcare practice based on the National Quality Strategy priorities.

Research limitations/implications

– The most obvious is the retrospective nature of the method used. How accurate are patient or consumer memories? Are they capable of making valid judgments of healthcare experiences (Berry and Bendapudi, 2003)? While an obvious limitation, such recollections are clearly important as they may be paramount in following the healthcare practitioners’ instructions, loyalty for repeat business, making recommendations to others and the like. Further, studies have shown retrospective reports to be accurate and useful (Milleret al., 1997).

Practical implications

– With this information, healthcare educators should be in a better position to improve the training offered in their programs and practitioners to better serve their customers.

Social implications

– The findings would indicate that the human values of excellence, innovation, joy, respect and integrity play a significant role in building a strong service relationship between consumer and healthcare provider.

Originality/value

– Berry (1999) has argued that the overriding importance in building a lasting service business is human values. This exploratory study has shown how critical incident analysis can be used to determine both effective and ineffective practices of different medical providers. It also provides guidelines as to what are effective and ineffective behaviors in healthcare.
Combined data mining techniques based patient data outlier detection for healthcare safety
Authors: Gebremeskel Gebeyehu Belay , Yi Chai , He Zhongshi , Haile Dawit
Published: March 2016

Purpose

– Among the growing number of data mining (DM) techniques, outlier detection has gained importance in many applications and also attracted much attention in recent times. In the past, outlier detection researched papers appeared in a safety care that can view as searching for the needles in the haystack. However, outliers are not always erroneous. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of outliers in healthcare services in general and patient safety care, in particular.

Design/methodology/approach

– It is a combined DM (clustering and the nearest neighbor) technique for outliers’ detection, which provides a clear understanding and meaningful insights to visualize the data behaviors for healthcare safety. The outcomes or the knowledge implicit is vitally essential to a proper clinical decision-making process. The method is important to the semantic, and the novel tactic of patients’ events and situations prove that play a significant role in the process of patient care safety and medications.

Findings

– The outcomes of the paper is discussing a novel and integrated methodology, which can be inferring for different biological data analysis. It is discussed as integrated DM techniques to optimize its performance in the field of health and medical science. It is an integrated method of outliers detection that can be extending for searching valuable information and knowledge implicit based on selected patient factors. Based on these facts, outliers are detected as clusters and point events, and novel ideas proposed to empower clinical services in consideration of customers’ satisfactions. It is also essential to be a baseline for further healthcare strategic development and research works.

Research limitations/implications

– This paper mainly focussed on outliers detections. Outlier isolation that are essential to investigate the reason how it happened and communications how to mitigate it did not touch. Therefore, the research can be extended more about the hierarchy of patient problems.

Originality/value

– DM is a dynamic and successful gateway for discovering useful knowledge for enhancing healthcare performances and patient safety. Clinical data based outlier detection is a basic task to achieve healthcare strategy. Therefore, in this paper, the authors focussed on combined DM techniques for a deep analysis of clinical data, which provide an optimal level of clinical decision-making processes. Proper clinical decisions can obtain in terms of attributes selections that important to know the influential factors or parameters of healthcare services. Therefore, using integrated clustering and nearest neighbors techniques give more acceptable searched such complex data outliers, which could be fundamental to further analysis of healthcare and patient safety situational analysis.
Detection of natural structures and classification of HCI-HPR data using robust forward search algorithm
Authors: Isiaka Fatima , Mwitondi Kassim S , Ibrahim Adamu M
Published: March 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to proposes a forward search algorithm for detecting and identifying natural structures arising in human-computer interaction (HCI) and human physiological response (HPR) data.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper portrays aspects that are essential to modelling and precision in detection. The methods involves developed algorithm for detecting outliers in data to recognise natural patterns in incessant data such as HCI-HPR data. The detected categorical data are simultaneously labelled based on the data reliance on parametric rules to predictive models used in classification algorithms. Data were also simulated based on multivariate normal distribution method and used to compare and validate the original data.

Findings

– Results shows that the forward search method provides robust features that are capable of repelling over-fitting in physiological and eye movement data.

Research limitations/implications

– One of the limitations of the robust forward search algorithm is that when the number of digits for residuals value is more than the expected size for stack flow, it normally yields an error caution; to counter this, the data sets are normally standardized by taking the logarithmic function of the model before running the algorithm.

Practical implications

– The authors conducted some of the experiments at individual residence which may affect environmental constraints.

Originality/value

– The novel approach to this method is the detection of outliers for data sets based on the Mahalanobis distances on HCI and HPR. And can also involve a large size of data with p possible parameters. The improvement made to the algorithm is application of more graphical display and rendering of the residual plot.
An analysis of the application of process improvement techniques in business process outsourcing
Authors: McIvor Ronan
Published: March 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to enhance the understanding of the application of process improvement techniques (PITs) in the business process outsourcing (BPO) process. The paper focuses on how PITs impact the BPO process, and identifies a number of key enablers of applying PITs in the BPO process.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper employs a case study approach. In-depth case study analysis of a number of organisations that have employed a number of PITs in BPO is carried out.

Findings

– The findings support current literature that highlights the importance of formal contracting, relational contracting, and vendor capabilities for applying PITs in BPO. However, the findings also highlight the importance of additional factors, not widely considered in the current literature. The client must possess internal capabilities in PITs and change management to ensure process improvement occurs. Moreover, the findings here have shown that the client must invest in and develop the resources that enhance its capability to employ PITs in BPO.

Originality/value

– The findings highlight the importance and relevance of process improvement to BPO, and identify a number of important issues for further research in order to bridge the gap between these two complementary areas.
Cost of quality consideration following product launch in a present worth assessment
Authors: Guinot Jeff , Evans Dustin , Badar M. Affan
Published: March 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of costs of quality on the present worth (PW) of a new product launch at a North American automobile manufacturer.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper is based on the examination of various cash flows associated with a new product launch within an automobile manufacturer. Standard cash flows and a PW analysis were examined and compared to non-standard cash flows which take into consideration post-launch cost of quality (CoQ). A sensitivity analysis was used to determine if any CoQ factors affected the integrity of the product launch.

Findings

– The paper concludes that there is an impact on the PW of a program when CoQ is considered as a cash flow element. CoQ should be considered in a product launch PW analysis preceding any commitment to invest.

Research limitations/implications

– This study suggests that, given data on the costs that will accrue assuming standard quality concerns following product launch, and the occurrence of special cause issues, the business case can establish a better estimate of the costs a program will face under varying levels of post-launch quality. An understanding of the potential cost consequences of quality issues can shape the understanding of the risks in a planned project.

Practical implications

– The paper shows that CoQ can have a significant impact on a PW analysis. CoQ concerns should be considered during pre-launch planning of a new product.

Originality/value

– The paper satisfies the need to study when a manufacturer considers investment in the launch of a new product with CoQ concerns.
Reliability analysis and life cycle cost optimization: a case study from Indian industry
Authors: Waghmode Laxman Yadu , Patil Rajkumar Bhimgonda
Published: March 2016

Purpose

– Reliability analysis is required to identify the components or subsystems with low reliability for a given designed performance. Life cycle cost analysis helps understand the cost implications over the entire life span of a product. The purpose of this paper is to present a case study describing reliability analysis and life cycle cost optimization of a band saw cutting machine manufactured and used in India.

Design/methodology/approach

– The data required for reliability analysis is collected from the manufacturer and users of band saw cutting machine. The parameters of failure distribution have been estimated by using ReliaSoft’s Weibull++6 software. The life cycle cost is divided into various cost elements such as acquisition cost, operation cost, failure cost, support cost and net salvage value.

Findings

– The results of the analysis show that the components such as band wheel bearing, guide roller bearing, limit switch, carbide pad, hydraulic cylinder oil seal, control panel dial, control panel and solenoid valve are critical from reliability and life cycle cost analysis perspective.

Originality/value

– With certain design changes it is found that the reliability of the system is increased by 15.85 percent while the life cycle cost is reduced by 22.09 percent. The study also shows that the reliability analysis is useful for deciding maintenance intervals.
Mothers’ non-standard working and childcare-related challenges
Authors: Moilanen Sanna , May Vanessa , Räikkönen Eija , Sevón Eija , Laakso Marja-Leena
Published: March 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to particularly focus on lone-mother families, comparing the childcare-related challenges experienced by working lone mothers and coupled mothers in three European countries in the context of a 24/7 economy and non-standard working hours (e.g. evening, night and weekend work).

Design/methodology/approach

– This study utilises survey data from Finnish, Dutch and British working mothers (n=1,106) collected as part of the “Families 24/7” research project. Multivariate regression analysis is used to analyse the associations between childcare-related challenges, maternal non-standard working, lone motherhood and country of residence.

Findings

– The results indicated similar results across the three countries by showing that working lone mothers experience childcare-related challenges more often compared with coupled mothers. Furthermore, an increase in maternal non-standard working associated positively with increased childcare-related challenges in both lone mother and coupled families but lone motherhood did not moderate this association. The findings suggest that, regardless of family form, families in all three countries struggle with childcare arrangements when the mother works during non-standard hours. This possibly relates to the inadequate provision of state-subsidised and flexible formal childcare during non-standard hours and to the country-specific maternal work hours cultures.

Originality/value

– This study responds to the need for comparative research on the reconciliation of maternal non-standard working and childcare with self-collected data from three European welfare states. The importance of the study is further highlighted by the risks posed to the maintenance of maternal employment and family well-being when reconciliation of work and childcare is unsuccessful, especially in lone-mother families.
Mission: studio based learning in construction. The University of KwaZulu-Natal case study
Authors: Harinarain Nishani , Haupt Theodore C.
Published: March 2016

Purpose

– This paper aims to present the responses of students to various aspects of a cluster of discrete modules delivered using a studio-based learning pedagogy.

Design/methodology/approach

– A variation of a case study approach was used that included observations and a survey of student opinions on six constructs or themes after a period of eight weeks into the semester about their experience of studio-based learning in a three-module cluster. This paper only reports on the findings of the analysis of the self-administered survey of the views of students.

Findings

– The student responses were analysed using SPSS (version 22). It is evident that the distinguishing features of the studio-based learning form of instructional delivery were reflected in their views despite the instructional space being far from ideal. However, given that this was their first experience they were apprehensive about the benefits of the approach to them personally especially in terms of whether their acquired knowledge base was broad enough for them to be confident about their future careers. The mapping of the learning outcomes of the modules against the project phases demonstrated that only the mode of transmission had in fact changed. Students were reticent about taking responsibility for their own learning possibly because they perceived that as being too risky.

Research limitations/implications

– The research is limited because the findings are based on a single case and a sample of students who had experienced eight weeks of studio-based learning of a cluster of three discrete modules in a revitalised construction program.

Originality/value

– The findings of this study have implications for the way construction programs are delivered at institutions of higher education.
A case study on applying creative design concepts to brake rotor design
Authors: Vinodh S. , T. Sharath Kumar
Published: March 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to report a study in which creative design concepts have been applied to automotive brake rotor design.

Design/methodology/approach

– The literature review on creative design concepts and braking system scenario has been carried out. By studying the existing brake rotors and applying creative design concepts, modified rotor designs have been developed.

Findings

– The experience gained out of the study indicated that braking efficiency and durability of the braking system can be significantly improved by the adoption of proposed designs.

Research limitations/implications

– The research has been carried out for an automotive passenger car. The findings of this research work could be extended to similar models of buses and trucks.

Practical implications

– The usage of the proposed designs reduces the driver’s effort in braking and adds significantly to the life of the rotors.

Originality/value

– A case study has been reported to indicate the application of creative design concepts for enhancing the efficiency of automotive braking system in cars.
Legal deposit of electronic books – a review of challenges faced by national libraries
Authors: De Beer Marietjie , Van der Merwe Marieta , Ball Liezl , Fourie Ina
Published: March 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to explore the challenges faced by national libraries regarding the legal deposit of electronic books, and to make recommendations for issues to consider – especially with regard to developing, planning and implementing.

Design/methodology/approach

– Literature published from 2000 to 2014 on legal deposit of electronic publications was examined. Key databases covering library and information science were searched, and case studies, general reviews, research papers/reports and view point articles were considered.

Findings

– National libraries embarking on projects on legal deposit of electronic books need to consider the collection, preservation and accessibility of the legal deposit collection. They face challenges regarding legal deposit legislation and institutional policy, legal considerations such as copyright, environmental factors, established mechanisms for deposit, information retrieval and access, preservation, human resources, financial implications and trust. Further research and continued monitoring of issues of concern and changes are required due to technological developments and the obsolescence of technology.

Practical implications

– The review raises awareness of issues that need to be considered by national libraries and other repositories to manage the legal deposit of electronic books in their institutions.

Originality/value

– The review can serve as a guide for nations (particularly in developing countries) to embark on the legal deposit of electronic publications, specifically electronic books.
Which platform should I choose? Factors influencing consumers’ channel transfer intention from web-based to mobile library service
Authors: Zhang Min , Shen Xuele , Zhu Mingxing , Yang Jun
Published: March 2016

Purpose

– With more and more individuals relying on mobile devices to obtain information, many libraries launch mobile application to satisfy mobile users’ information need. The purpose of this paper is to figure out factors influencing consumers’ channel transfer intention of library service from web-based platform to mobile app.

Design/methodology/approach

– A structural equation model is proposed based on categorization theory. In addition, situational contexts are taken into account to make research model more suitable for the real condition. Data collected from 319 samples are used for hypotheses examining.

Findings

– The relationships between source and target (perceived differentiation including function differentiation and resource differentiation) positively affect perceived situation efficiency, which in turn shapes intention to use mobile library application. Perceived mobile library quality positively influences perceived differentiation, perceived situation efficiency and mobile library adoption intention. In summary, perceived situation efficiency is the main factor.

Practical implications

– Both quality and situational factors should be taken seriously, and mobile device producers and mobile app developers should cooperate on improving the quality of mobile app. Meanwhile, it is critical to examine the relationship between web based and mobile library service in the initial or early stage of mobile library development.

Originality/value

– By focussing on the impacts of the relationship between web and mobile library service and evaluation of mobile library on the adoption intention, this paper not only provides a theoretical understanding of mobile library adoption behavior but also offers practical insights to library managers and app developers for promoting such a process.
Using web2py Python framework for creating data-driven web applications in the academic library
Authors: Miles Mathew
Published: March 2016

Purpose

– Many libraries have a need to develop their own data-driven web applications, but their technical staff often lacks the required specialized training – which includes knowledge of SQL, a web application language like PHP, JavaScript, CSS, and jQuery. The web2py framework greatly reduces the learning curve for creating data-driven websites by focussing on three main goals: ease of use; rapid development; and security. web2py follows a strict MVC framework where the controls and web templates are all written in pure Python. No additional templating language is required. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– There are many frameworks available for creating database-driven web applications. The author had used ColdFusion for many years but wanted to move to a more complete web framework which was also open source.

Findings

– After evaluating a number of Python frameworks, web2py was found to provide the best combination of functionality and ease of use. This paper focusses on the strengths of web2py and not the specifics of evaluating the different frameworks.

Practical implications

– Librarians who feel that they do not have the skills to create data-driven websites in other frameworks might find that they can develop them in web2py. It is a good web application framework to start with, which might also provide a gateway to other frameworks.

Originality/value

– web2py is an open source framework that could have great benefit for those who may have struggled to create database-driven websites in other frameworks or languages.
Managing and mining historical research data
Authors: Seadle Michael S.
Published: March 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to review how historical research data are managed and mined today.

Design/methodology/approach

– The methodology builds on observations over the last decade.

Findings

– Reading speed is a factor in managing the quantity of text in historical research. Twenty years ago historical research involved visits to physical libraries and archives, but today much of the information is online. The granularity of reading has changed over recent decades and recognizing this change is an important factor in improving acce.

Practical implications

– Computer-based humanities text mining could be simpler if publishers and libraries would manage the data in ways that facilitate the process. Some aspects still need development, including better context awareness, either by writing context awareness into programs or by encoding it in the text.

Social implications

– Future researchers who want to make use of text mining and distant reading techniques will need more thorough technical training than they get today.

Originality/value

– There is relatively little discussion of text mining and distant reading in the LIS literature.
User perceptions of ICT at the American University of Kuwait Library
Authors: Alharbi Awadh
Published: March 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to describe the student perceptions of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the American University of Kuwait Library (AUK).

Design/methodology/approach

– The study uses a quantitative research method in order to investigate the perceptions of a wide range of students who use the academic library. The sample consists of 95 student volunteers, who provided data that were then analyzed and compared with literature from other authors in this subject field.

Findings

– The study found that the quality of the ICT equipment provided by the AUK library is very good, however training in how to use the library’s ICT is lacking.

Practical implications

– The findings suggest that the academic library looks into the possibility of changing the layout of the library to incorporate more computer terminals, as clearly many students feel there are currently not enough. The academic library must offer a greater amount of ICT training for students, preferably relating to the use of electronic resources and journals for new students.

Originality/value

– This study adds to the current literature on academic libraries in Kuwait, and is one of the first studies to look at students’ perceptions of ICT in a private university institution.
The effect of analyst coverage on CEO compensation structure: evidence from the S & P 1500
Authors: Shiah-Hou Shin-Rong
Published: March 2016

Purpose

– What is the role of analysts in reducing agency problems and information asymmetry between stockholders and managers? The purpose of this paper is to confirm the analyst’s role by examining his or her influence on CEO compensation structure.

Design/methodology/approach

– The major population for this study consists of publicly traded corporations of the S & P 1500 for which data on CEO compensation is available from Standard & Poor’s Execucomp database, along with the proxy statements of these firms. Regression analysis is used to test hypotheses about the effect of analyst coverage on CEO compensation.

Findings

– The evidence shows that CEOs of firms with greater analyst coverage or higher analyst coverage quality (analyst coverage index) have higher pay-for-performance (Delta), more compensation incentives to increase firm risk (Vega), more total compensation, and more excess compensation. Even after controlling for the effect of other types of corporate governance, including internal governance and institutional holdings, analysts’ activities still have an incremental effect on CEO compensation structure.

Practical implications

– The authors findings may be useful to investors who use analyst coverage to evaluate the firm’s CEO compensation, as it suggests that investors may reference the information about analyst coverage of firms to craft appropriate CEO compensation structures.

Originality/value

– The authors results contribute by showing that the extra effect of analyst activities on CEO compensation structure exists, even after controlling for other types of governance mechanisms, such as internal governance and institutional investors’ holdings.
Factors affecting entrepreneurial intentions among Kuwaitis
Authors: Elali Wajeeh , Al-Yacoub Badriah
Published: March 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the key influential factors that affect the entrepreneurial intentions of Kuwaiti nationals.

Design/methodology/approach

– This study was carried out by a survey method, using a questionnaire that targeted all Kuwaiti nationals over 18 who had the possibility of becoming entrepreneurs. The respondents’ perceptions of six antecedents that could influence entrepreneurial intentions were analyzed and assessed using correlation and regression statistics.

Findings

– The findings of this study clearly show that social networking, risk tolerance, the need for achievement as well as self-efficacy play a significant role in the entrepreneurial intentions of Kuwaiti nationals. The study also found that the need for achievement was the most important factor that affects whether or not these young Kuwaitis would wish to have their own business. It was also ascertained that both opportunity recognition and the accessibility of resources do not have any significant influence over their entrepreneurial intentions.

Research limitations/implications

– Although this study used a framework that was consistent with previous research studies, it did not include certain factors, which might also impact entrepreneurial intentions. Moreover, the quantitative approach used in this study may tend to obscure the relationship between variables, which could inevitably lead to biased results. However, the results obtained from this study may provide further insight into the subject area and prove beneficial to policymakers, researchers, and educators.

Originality/value

– Empirical studies that investigate the factors that influence the entrepreneurial intentions among the people of the Middle East and GCC countries are considerably scarce. This study thus serves to augment the currently limited literature on the entrepreneurial intentions among people in developing Middle East countries, particularly that of Kuwaitis.