bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Young adults and wine consumption a qualitative application of the theory of planned behavior
Authors: Patrícia Silva Ana , Figueiredo Isabel , Hogg Tim , Sottomayor Miguel
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The aim of this study is to identify perceptions, attitudes and behavior of young adults concerning wine consumption, using the “theory of planned behavior” as a theoretical framework.

Design/methodology/approach

– The aim of this study is to identify perceptions, attitudes and behavior of young adults concerning wine consumption, using the “theory of planned behavior” as a theoretical framework.

Findings

– The major findings are that attitudes and subjective norms are, apparently, the components with most influence on behavior of young people in relation to wine consumption. For the consumers group, attitudes seem to be the most crucial component, especially the “interest in alcohol”. They drink it in special occasions for sociability and to disinhibit. Regarding the non-consumers group, the main attitude is “dislike taste”. Also the subjective norms, are very present, especially parents, society, friends and publicity, in consumers group. The non-consumers have the perception of greater parental induction to not consume wine. No significant differences were found between gender or educational system.

Research limitations/implications

– Concerning the results, a limited, convenience sample, was employed and this is assumedly an exploratory study. Therefore the results cannot be considered to represent a broad section of the groups studied. Still sample related, only Portuguese young adults students were studied.

Social implications

– This research can contribute not only for the knowledge relating to Portugal as a wine consuming environment but also to the general area of attitudes and perceptions of young people towards moderate wine consumption. As today young adults, novice or potential wine consumers will be the next generation of wine consumers, it can be beneficial for wine marketers to focus on this target population aiming at exploring further their engagement with wine.

Originality/value

– This research has an originally approach to wine consumption by young adults once it focus and explore the non-problematic behavior of young adults about wine consumption. The results of this study can contribute to the development of targeted advertising and publicity of the wine industry, in order to promote moderate wine consumption among young adults.
Intentions to buy “organic” not manifested in practice
Authors: Frostling-Henningsson Maria , Hedbom Martin , Wilandh Ludvig
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– This research paper focuses on why intentions to buy organic and/or eco-friendly food are not always manifested in practice. Based on Warde's antinomies of structural opposition, we found several consumer dilemmas including the dilemma of choosing between organic and eco-friendly food. This study addresses ethical and environmental concerns that contemporary Swedish consumers have when eating organic and taking environmental action and presents some consumer strategies used to cope with these concerns.

Design/methodology/approach

– The empirical data was collected from a consumer panel followed during 18 months. A mix of qualitative methods was used; interviews, shop-along studies, ZMET, collecting shopping receipts and poems.

Findings

– The research paper contributes with knowledge about the dilemma between organic and eco-friendly. It further defines the strategy of “justification of non-choices” as the most common consumer strategy to cope with the dilemma.

Research limitations/implications

– Results from this study shows that conscious consumers often face a conflict between buying organic food and taking environmental considerations. In order to solve the conflict consumers used various strategies; justification of non-choices was the most common strategy.

Practical implications

– For wholesalers and retailers the results show that conscious consumers demands groceries that are both organic and eco-friendly in order to act on intentions.

Originality/value

– By using innovative qualitative methods this report identifies some contemporary consumer dilemmas. The dilemma that the most conscious consumers have is the dilemma between organic and eco-friendly. In order to solve this “justification of non-choices” is the most common strategy for consumers to handle the dilemma.
Revealing barriers to healthier fast food consumption choices
Authors: Anderson Katherine , Mirosa Miranda
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– In light of growing concerns around obesity, the present work investigates why consumers continue to choose traditional unhealthy fast food options over newly offered healthier fast food alternatives.

Design/methodology/approach

– A total of 24 value laddering interviews were conducted with people who had just purchased an item from the traditional menu at McDonalds. Individual reasoning for not selecting a healthier Weight Watchers' approved alternative was aggregated across the respondent set to form a summary map which pictorially displays barriers to healthier fast food choices.

Findings

– Consumers' choices not to purchase healthier fast food options were dominated by Self Direction type values and are heavily influenced by engrained perceptions that fast food is junk food.

Practical implications

– For the fast food industry, this research highlights that to help shift consumers' choices toward healthier alternatives, they need to reposition themselves as quick service restaurants that offer good tasting food that is both convenient and healthy.

Social implications

– For public policy makers, this research suggests a need to address the perceptions of personal relevance of obesity and diet related health issues.

Originality/value

– The valuable in-depth information collected via the value laddering process offers substantial insights into the unexplored area of barriers to healthier fast food consumption.
Simple sensitivity calculation for inverse design problems in electrical engineering
Authors: Andjelic Zoran
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to present a simple approach for calculation of the sensitivities in the free-form inverse design problems. The approach is based on the analogy with the similar tasks used in the signal-processing analysis. In the proposed case it is not required to solve an adjoint problem as in the most of the similar optimization tasks. The simulation engine used in the background is a Fast Boundary Element Method. The approach is validated on some known benchmark problems.

Design/methodology/approach

– Inverse design is recognized nowadays as a crucial scientific grand challenge. Contrary to the conventional approach (“Given the structure, find the properties”) it purses a new paradigm (“Given the desired property, find the structure”). Inverse class of problems has a broad application area, from the material-, medical-, bio- to the engineering-class of problems. When dealing with the inverse design in free-form optimization of the engineering problems the typical approach is to calculate the adjoint problem. Calculation of the adjoint problem mostly requires the costly calculation of the gradients, which makes the whole optimization procedure rather expensive due to the high computational burden required for their solution.

Findings

– In this paper it is proposed a novel Simple Sensitivity Approach to get in a fast way the response (sensitivity) function of the analyzed structure. The simulation engine used in the background is the Fast Boundary Element Method.

Originality/value

– Novel approach for inverse design when performing the free-form optimization of engineering problems.
Convergence of ADGI methods for solving systems of linear matrix equations
Authors: Hajarian Masoud
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The linear matrix equations have wide applications in engineering, physics, economics and statistics. The purpose of this paper is to introduce iterative methods for solving the systems of linear matrix equations.

Design/methodology/approach

– According to the hierarchical identification principle, the authors construct alternating direction gradient-based iterative (ADGI) methods to solve systems of linear matrix equations.

Findings

– The authors propose efficient ADGI methods to solve the systems of linear matrix equations. It is proven that the ADGI methods consistently converge to the solution for any initial matrix. Moreover, the constructed methods are extended for finding the reflexive solution to the systems of linear matrix equations.

Originality/value

– This paper proposes efficient iterative methods without computing any matrix inverses, vec operator and Kronecker product for finding the solution of the systems of linear matrix equations.
Why, how and to what effect do firms deviate from their intended marketing plans?
Authors: S. Whalen Peter , M. Boush David
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– Very little is known about why, how and to what effect firms deviate from intended marketing plans. The aim of this paper is to extend the understanding of this phenomenon, post plan improvisation (PPI), and begin to identify and categorize such deviations along with their apparent causes and outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using the critical incident technique, 384 incidents of PPI were gathered and systematically classified from marketing planners (managers who use marketing planning software) on six different continents using an online survey.

Findings

– The principal contributions of this study are: the systematic development of a taxonomy for post-plan improvisations; the reported frequencies associated with those categories; and tentative findings regarding relationships between the causes, deviations, and success of PPI. Improvisations that were prompted by changes in external market factors were more likely to be judged by planners as having been successful than those made for reasons internal to the firm. The results also suggest that there exists an optimal level of PPI, that improvisations in pricing are likely to result from changes in the external macro environment, that improvisations in promotion are likely to be responses to competitors, and that managers who are less experienced at planning are less successful than experienced planners at improvisation.

Originality/value

– Due to the inherent unpredictability of improvisational decision making, few empirical studies have attempted to capture details regarding specific deviations from intended actions. This study is the first attempt to capture and categorize those data in order to allow for more meaningful future investigations.
Kindergarten teachers as leaders of children, makers of society
Authors: Whitehead Kay
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– In Australia as elsewhere, kindergarten or pre-school teachers’ work has almost escaped historians’ attention. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the lives and work of approximately 60 women who graduated from the Adelaide Kindergarten Training College (KTC) between 1908 and 1917, which is during the leadership of its foundation principal, Lillian de Lissa.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper is a feminist analysis and uses conventional archival sources.

Findings

– The KTC was a site of higher education that offered middle class women an intellectual as well as practical education, focusing on liberal arts, progressive pedagogies and social reform. More than half of the graduates initially worked as teachers, their destinations reflecting the fragmented field of early childhood education. Whether married or single, many remained connected with progressive education and social reform, exercising their pedagogical and administrative skills in their workplaces, homes and civic activities. In so doing, they were not only leaders of children but also makers of society.

Originality/value

– The paper highlights the links between the kindergarten movement and reforms in girls’ secondary and higher education, and repositions the KTC as site of intellectual education for women. In turn, KTC graduates committed to progressive education and social reform in the interwar years.
Drivers of customers’ switching behaviour in Indian banking industry
Authors: Vyas Vishal , Raitani Sonika
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The price war and intense competition in Indian banking industry have exposed banks to one of the major threat of switching. Consumers are now more price and service conscious in their financial services purchasing behaviour. They are more prone to change their banking behaviour as banking products and services are nearly identical in nature. The purpose of this paper is to provide an insight of the drivers that lead a customer switch from one service provider to another in Indian banking industry using exploratory design.

Design/methodology/approach

– The impacts of the influencing factors have been studied and tested empirically using exploratory factor analysis. Quantitative data have been collected by means of questionnaire employed from Clemes et al. and administered to 296 banking customers of Rajasthan utilizing convenience sampling.

Findings

– Results reported that price, reputation, responses to service failure, customer satisfaction, service quality, service products, competition, customer commitment and involuntary switching have their significant effect on customers’ switching behaviour.

Research limitations/implications

– The findings of present study can be used by the Indian banks for their product and service designing strategies, marketing strategies and customer services practices in order to reduce customer switching. It would help them in improving their service operations and also in increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty by understanding the banking behaviour of their customers.

Originality/value

– The originality lies in the fact that this study is one of few which have focused on the drivers leading to the switching intentions of Indian banking customers.
Building brand equity in retail banks: the case of Trinidad and Tobago
Authors: Rambocas Meena , M. Kirpalani Vishnu , Simms Errol
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate an integrated model mapping the influence of brand affinity, customer experience, and customer satisfaction on brand equity in retail banking.

Design/methodology/approach

– Data were collected from 315 banking customers in Trinidad and Tobago through personally administered structured questionnaires and analyzed with Structural Equation Modelling.

Findings

– The findings showed the mediating role of customer satisfaction in brand equity relationships. The results also showed the pivotal role of brand affinity, customer satisfaction, and service experience in explaining brand equity.

Practical implications

– The study provides an integrated approach to brand building. It also offers an objective framework brand owners can use to evaluate marketing investments. It also provides a clear brand differentiation strategy for bank brands. Finally, it introduces cross-cultural research in brand equity which can be a useful competitive tool for indigenous banks and foreign banks seeking market expansion strategies.

Originality/value

– This research is one of the few studies that analyzed brand equity in retail banking. It advanced a brand equity framework that explores the mediating role of customer satisfaction and provides a guide to uplift perceptions and stimulate customer confidence in the banking sector.
Authentic leadership in English education: what do college teachers tell us?
Authors: William Stoten David
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to report on an investigation into the perceived prevalence of authentic leadership behaviours in Sixth Form College (SFC) Principals. This research compares four different models of institutional leadership and considers which are viewed by teachers as the more common in daily practice. In doing so, the research will also touch upon the relevance of values in contemporary educational leadership.

Design/methodology/approach

– The research methodology adopted a mixed methods approach that elicited the views of teachers using a structured questionnaire approach together with co-constructed conversations with participants. The research involved 53 teachers from five SFCs spread across England.

Findings

– The findings generated from this research exercise suggest that college Principals exhibit transactional behaviours far more often than those actions associated with either transformational, distributed or authentic leadership models. This outcome may be explained in terms of the pressures acting on SFCs in an increasingly competitive and uneven education market. In short, Principals act pragmatically and instrumentally to achieve their short-term goals.

Originality/value

– This work follows on from previous research into servant leadership in the SFC sector. This is a sector of the English education system that attracts little coverage in the academic literature as research tends to be undertaken in the much larger schools or General Further Education sectors. Given this context, the paper represents an useful starting point for further research.
Remanufacturing in Asia: location choice and outsourcing
Authors: Lu Qing , Goh Mark , Garg Miti , De Souza Robert
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– Remanufacturing is a process whereby value from old products is recovered by replacing and recovering used components to bring such products to a new or like-new state. Today, both original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and third parties are engaged in remanufacturing activities, investing in many locations throughout Asia. The purpose of this paper is to examine the reasons for initiating remanufacturing activities as well as the location determinants for the remanufacturing sector in Asia.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors conduct a multiple case study. Triangulation is applied to gain objective views from interviewing three OEMs, one logistics firm, and three local small enterprises. Real options theory is the theoretical lens used to examine the location choice of the OEMs.

Findings

– Firms engaged in remanufacturing tend to co-locate facilities with existing manufacturing facilities, and those investing in new sites for remanufacturing view the regulatory environment as the most important factor. OEMs tend to leverage on existing manufacturing facilities or third-party remanufacturers to reduce their cost of commitment when starting remanufacturing at new locations.

Research limitations/implications

– The sample size is still small for the generalization of the results. Further empirical study is needed to test the propositions from this paper.

Practical implications

– This paper could assist managers and decision makers in the multinational corporations to design appropriate logistics-related solutions for remanufacturing in Asia.

Originality/value

– The authors work contributes to the theory on remanufacturing location determinants. It shows that OEMs and third-party remanufacturers can have a collaborative relationship instead of the commonly assumed competitive one, which is currently not found in the literature.
Reducing national freight logistics costs risk in a high-oil-price environment
Authors: Havenga Jan , Simpson Zane
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– South Africa's logistics cost measurement was expanded to include externality costs, and scenarios based on the key exogenous risks were developed to inform mitigation strategies. This paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– The research approach is quantitative, based on a gravity-orientated freight flow model, a road transport cost model, actual transport costs for other modes, a warehousing cost survey, an inventory delay calculation (to inform warehousing cost calculations and inventory financing costs) and an externality cost calculation.

Findings

– Transport cost pressures are expected to deteriorate due to the increasingly negative outlook for the oil price and the internalisation of externality costs. The nature of these forces compels transport cost challenges to be addressed strategically through collaborative, industry-wide and even nationwide initiatives.

Research limitations/implications

– Key limitations are inconsistent commodity classification schemes across information sources, and incomplete container content data. The researchers are collaborating with information providers to address these issues and refine model accuracy and forecasting.

Practical implications

– The exogenous risks strengthen the argument for new approaches to South Africa's logistics cost challenges driven by the high densities of corridor freight flows.

Social implications

– The inclusion of externality costs highlighted the negative environmental impact of the current modal configuration and provides impetus for change.

Originality/value

– Major advancements to logistics cost modelling were made by incorporating externality costs and developing scenarios for risk mitigation. Freight flow data granularity (in excess of one million records) allows both aggregation to national-level intelligence to inform policies, large-scale infrastructure investments and industrial positioning, and disaggregation to enable practical application.
Investor perceptions of the benefits of political connections
Authors: Yang Fan , Wilson Craig , Wu Zhenyu
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate how foreign and domestic investors differ in their beliefs about the relative merits of a firm's political connections.

Design/methodology/approach

– These differences are employed to explain cross-sectional variation in the previously documented premium in A-share prices relative to otherwise equivalent foreign currency denominated B-shares for Chinese firms.

Findings

– Chinese domestic individual investors were excluded from owning B-shares of Chinese firms prior to February 20, 2001. The authors find that firms with more political connections have higher premiums and a smaller reduction in premiums associated with this event.

Research limitations/implications

– This is consistent with domestic block holders deriving additional benefits from politically connected firms.

Practical implications

– The findings also have important policy implications by showing that government can have a strong effect on the economy even without applying macro-policy tools.

Social implications

– Government ownership in listed companies can result in discrepancies among classes of investors with respect to their valuations. Furthermore, the prohibition of short sales prevents arbitrage from correcting this bias, and eventually the role of the market in allocating resources efficiently is undermined.

Originality/value

– The authors investigate the role of political connections as implied by the proportion of state ownership in explaining the A-share premium. Unlike previous studies that associate state ownership with political risk, the paper relates state ownership to political connections that are particularly beneficial to domestic large block shareholders. This interpretation is consistent with the findings and with previous literature on state ownership and political connections of Chinese firms.
An examination of the survivability of reverse stock splits
Authors: L. Neuhauser Karyn , H. Thompson Thomas
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the survivability of 810 reverse splits during the 1995-2006 period and show that companies that undertake reverse stock splits often fail within a relatively short time following the split.

Design/methodology/approach

– Applying both a logit model and an adapted version of the Hensleret al.(1997) accelerated failure time model to 810 reverse splits during the 1995-2006 period, the authors are the first to study the survivability of reverse split companies.

Findings

– The paper finds that the market reaction to the reverse split on the ex-date is an important predictor of the likelihood of survival and of survival time. The paper finds that the likelihood of survival also depends on firm size, pre-split firm returns, and the post-split share price level. The paper finds that post-split survival time also depends on firm size, pre-split operating performance as measured by return on assets, pre-split firm returns, leverage, and the post-split share price level.

Practical implications

– The study may be of interest to investors considering investing in stocks that have undergone reverse splits.

Originality/value

– The research sheds light on which reverse splitting firms are most likely to survive and for how long.
Corporate social responsibility, continuous process improvement orientation, organizational commitment and turnover intentions
Authors: Hollingworth David , Valentine Sean
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine how employee's perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) relate to their perceptions of an organization's orientation toward continuous process improvement orientation (CPIO). In addition, this research considers how employee perceptions of CSR and CPIO relate to work attitudes and behavioral intentions.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using structural equations analysis, the paper examines survey data obtained from employees of a USA-based financial services firm to test hypotheses regarding employee's perceptions of corporate engagement in CSR and continuous process improvement, as well as their work attitudes.

Findings

– Employee perceptions of CSR and of CPIO are strongly related. Both CSR and CPIO have similar, but still unique effects upon organizational commitment (OC). CSR and CPIO do not directly impact employee's intentions to leave, but they do have an indirect effect on intentions to leave, which operates through OC.

Research limitations/implications

– The design of the study precludes absolute conclusions regarding causality in tested relationships. The study design also limits generalizability.

Practical implications

– CSR and CPIO are strongly related, possibly due to shared cultural principles, suggesting that either CSR or CPIO may establish a basis in values that will support the other. Adding CSR to existing CPIO (or the reverse) is likely to enhance employee attitudes.

Originality/value

– This paper provides an empirical assessment of the relationship between continuous process improvement activities and CSR. In addition, it conceptually and empirically evaluates how CSR and CPIO simultaneously influence employee attitudes and behaviors.
Leadership in female SHGs: traits/abilities, situational or forced?
Authors: Singh Archana
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– Microfinance/microcredit/self-help groups (SHGs), as an instrument of women's empowerment, have attracted the attention of many researchers. However, despite being one of the most important aspects of SHGs, leadership in these groups has been neglected in the existing literature. The purpose of this paper is to focus on leadership in women-SHGs, and particularly on factors contributing to the emergence of leaders.

Design/methodology/approach

– The research followed quantitative methodology. The study was conducted on women-SHGs in Dharavi (Mumbai, India), one of the largest slums in Asia. An equal number of leaders and non-leader members from women-SHGs were interviewed.

Findings

– The findings demonstrates that a “participative/democratic style of leadership” is preferred by non-leader members within female SHGs. It also highlights that apart from traits/abilities of members and their situation within family and the group, other external factors also contribute to the emergence of leaders within SHGs. Often, rules and regulations of formal institutions and government policies force the group to replace its most efficient leader with another with no proven leadership qualities. The findings compelled us to re-think: “Is it really traits or situations that influence the emergence of leaders within women-SHGs?” or, “Is it a matter of forced leadership?” Leadership in female SHGs needs to be understood in totality, within the framework of their domestic world and their socio-economic context.

Practical implications

– The findings of the study provide scope to governments and other formal institutions to re-evaluate their existing policies, rules and regulations in dealing with female SHGs in order to help women's empowerment in a real sense.

Originality/value

– The study was conducted using a limited number of female SHGs, but it provides an insight to existing practitioners, governments and other formal institutions that are working on microfinance and using SHGs to empower women.
Assessing disaster risks in supply chains
Authors: Lockamy III Archie
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– As organizations increase their dependence on supply chain networks, they become more susceptible to their suppliers’ disaster risk profiles, as well as other categories of risk associated with supply chains. Therefore, it is imperative that supply chain network participants are capable of assessing the disaster risks associated with their supplier base. The purpose of this paper is to assess the supplier disaster risks, which are a key element of external risk in supply chains.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study participants are 15 automotive casting suppliers who display a significant degree of disaster risks to a major US automotive company. Bayesian networks are used as a methodology for examining the supplier disaster risk profiles for these participants.

Findings

– The results of this study show that Bayesian networks can be effectively used to assist managers in making decisions regarding current and prospective suppliers vis-à-vis their potential revenue impact as illustrated through their corresponding disaster risk profiles.

Research limitations/implications

– A limitation to the use of Bayesian networks for modeling disaster risk profiles is the proper identification of risk events and risk categories that can impact a supply chain.

Practical implications

– The methodology used in this study can be adopted by managers to assist them in making decisions regarding current or prospective suppliers vis-à-vis their corresponding disaster risk profiles.

Originality/value

– As part of a comprehensive supplier risk management program, organizations along with their suppliers can develop specific strategies and tactics to minimize the effects of supply chain disaster risk events.
Agricultural marketing and food safety in China: a utility perspective
Authors: L. Ortega David , G. Brown Colin , A. Waldron Scott , Holly Wang H.
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to explore Chinese food safety issues by analysing select incidents within he Chinese agricultural marketing system.

Design/methodology/approach

– A marketing utility framework is utilized to discuss some of the major food safety incidents in China and potential solutions are explored.

Findings

– The paper finds that food safety issues arise from problems of asymmetric information which leads to the profit seeking behaviour of agents distorting rather than enhancing the creation of one of the four types or marketing utility (time, form, place and possession). Additionally, structural causes found within the Chinese food marketing system have contributed to the food safety problems.

Research limitations/implications

– This is not an empirical research with numerical data.

Originality/value

– This study is one of the first to address Chinese food safety problems from an agricultural marketing utility perspective. Key anecdotes are used to support the claims made in this study.
Effects of two staffing decisions on the performance of MNC subsidiaries
Authors: Ando Naoki , Paik Yongsun
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between foreign subsidiary staffing and subsidiary performance by focussing on two staffing practices: first, the ratio of parent country nationals (PCNs) to foreign subsidiary employees and second, the number of PCNs assigned to the foreign subsidiary.

Design/methodology/approach

– Hypotheses predicting curvilinear relationships between the assignment of PCNs and subsidiary performance are tested using a panel data set consisting of 4,858 foreign subsidiaries of Japanese multinational corporations (MNCs).

Findings

– The results demonstrate that the two staffing practices have different effects on subsidiary performance. The ratio of PCNs to foreign subsidiary employees has an inverted U-shaped relationship with subsidiary performance, while the number of PCNs assigned to the subsidiary has a linear and negative effect on subsidiary performance.

Research limitations/implications

– The results of this study are subject to limitations. First, the sample used in this study consists solely of the foreign subsidiaries of Japanese firms. This research design limits the generalizability of the findings of this study. Second, other decisions related to subsidiary staffing such as the ratio of PCNs in the subsidiary's top management team need to be examined to advance understandings of the relationship between subsidiary staffing and subsidiary performance.

Practical implications

– MNCs need to identify the appropriate number of PCNs at which they can achieve the optimal trade-off with the PCN ratio to enhance the competitiveness and the performance of a foreign subsidiary. In doing so, they need to take into consideration that an increase in the number of PCNs has an immediate negative effect on the workplace morale of host country nationals.

Originality/value

– This study incorporates two staffing practices into its analyses and shows that they have different implications for subsidiary performance. The results suggest that focussing on one staffing practice alone limits understanding of the complex relationship between foreign subsidiary staffing and subsidiary performance.
The impact of the UK governments spending review into the Feed in Tariff (FIT) on the installation on photovoltaic panels in the residential sector
Authors: Elnokaly Amira , A.J. Martin Benjamin
Published: June 2014

Purpose

– In October 2011 the Government brought in measures to reduce the revenue provided by the Feed in Tariff (FIT) system. This change came under a lot of opposition due to the potential affects that it would have upon the industry. The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential benefits of the FIT and the impact that the Governments Comprehensive Spending Review had upon the industry and its uptake by the householders.

Design/methodology/approach

– For the study and to calculate the benefits of the FIT, a predictive modelling tool was built that could calculate the potential income and savings for a household. A photovoltaic (PV) installation was then monitored for over a year and the results of the predictive modelling tool were compared to actual results produced from the system to show how accurate the modelling tool was. The impacts of the Governments comprehensive spending review and the potential impacts in the industry were then calculated and discussed.

Findings

– The FIT is still a good incentive for people investing in PV. However, the reduction in the FIT may impact the “Rent a Roof” system and this in turn will impact most heavily on lower income families. The research also concluded that the changes in the political agenda have had a major impact on the FIT for both the industry and the community. Thus, the solar FITs will continue to be an attractive incentive in place to pay for heating through renewable means and thus ensuring reducing the own carbon footprint. Concomitantly, well-developed ownership schemes need to be put in place.

Originality/value

– The reduction in the FIT was the right move by the Government as it should prevent the increase in energy bill prices which will affect the people without PV at this point in time. It also has been set so that it is still generous enough to encourage the industry and stimulate installation as there is still profit but not in a way that should put people off. The UK may just have to take time to realise that the FITs are still a good deal after the very generous tariff that preceded them.
Passive immunity with multi‐serotype heat‐killed Shigellae in neonatal mice
Authors: Barman Soumik , Koley Hemanta , Nag Dhrubajyoti , Shinoda Sumio , Nair Gopinath Balakrish , Takeda Yoshifumi
Published: June 2014

The short‐ and long‐term passive protective efficacy of a mixture of heat‐killed cells of six serogroups/serotypes of Shigella strains (Shigella dysenteriae 1, S. flexneri 2a, S. flexneri 3a, S. flexneri 6, S. boydii 4, and S. sonnei) were studied in neonatal mice. Neonatal mice from immunized dams exhibited significant short‐ and long‐term passive protection against individual challenge by each of the six Shigella strains. High IgG and IgA titers against the lipopolysaccharide from each of the six Shigella strains were observed in sera from immunized dams.
Overcompensation and phase effects in a cyclic common vole population: between first and second‐order cycles
Authors: Barraquand Frédéric , Pinot Adrien , Yoccoz Nigel G. , Bretagnolle Vincent
Published: June 2014

Population cycles in voles are often thought to be generated by one‐year delayed density dependence on the annual population growth rate. In common voles, however, it has been suggested by Turchin (2003) that some populations exhibit first‐order cycles, resulting from strong overcompensation (i.e. carrying capacity overshoots in peak years, with only an effect of the current year abundance on annual growth rates).

We focus on a common vole (Microtus arvalis) population from western France that exhibits 3‐year cycles. Several overcompensating nonlinear models for populations dynamics are fitted to the data, notably those of Hassell, and Maynard‐Smith and Slatkin.

Overcompensating direct density dependence (DD) provides a satisfactory description of winter crashes, and one‐year delayed density dependence is not responsible for the crashes, thus these are not classical second‐order cycles. A phase‐driven modulation of direct density dependence maintains a low‐phase, explaining why the cycles last three years instead of two. Our analyses suggest that some of this phase dependence can be expressed as one‐year delayed DD, but phase dependence provides a better description. Hence, modelling suggests that cycles in this population are first‐order cycles with a low phase after peaks, rather than fully second‐order cycles.

However, based on the popular log‐linear second‐order autoregressive model, we would conclude only that negative delayed density dependence exists. The additive structure of this model cannot show when delayed DD occurs (here, during lows rather than peaks). Our analyses thus call into question the automated use of second‐order log‐linear models, and suggests that more attention should be given to non‐(log)linear models when studying cyclic populations.

From a biological viewpoint, the fast crashes through overcompensation that we found suggest they might be caused by parasites or food rather than predators, though predators might have a role in maintaining the low phase and spatial synchrony.
Industrial District and the Multiplication of Labour: The Chinese Apparel Industry in Prato, Italy
Authors: Lan Tu
Published: June 2014

Since the 1990s, the Chinese apparel industry in Prato has developed from a few stitching workshops into full‐fledged production networks. However, persistent disparity between the Chinese and Italian labor has triggered widespread social tensions. Drawing upon the recent literature of critical labor studies, this paper offers a different perspective to see the disparity in terms of the multiplication of labor across scales. The Chinese labor in Prato is made cheap and flexible by the proliferation of institutional and social borders, which were in turn inadvertently produced by Italian immigration policies, Chinese social norms, and local and regional economic conditions. In particular, the Chinese migrant workers have played an active role in producing social borders and in their own exploitation. Therefore, the labor polarization in Prato can hardly be solved by local institutional arrangements, and Italian trade unions have failed to organize the Chinese migrant labor in Prato.
Wing and hindlimb myology of vultures and raptors (Accipitriformes) in relation to locomotion and foraging
Authors: Hertel Fritz , Maldonado Jesús E. , Sustaita Diego
Published: June 2014

Herein, we compare functional muscle properties among convergent forms of large, obligate avian scavengers. We performed quantitative analyses of all the muscle masses and cross‐sectional areas (CSA) of the wings and hindlimbs of five species from two families, Cathartidae (New World vultures; Cathartes aura and Vultur gryphus) and Accipitridae (Old World vultures and raptors; Gyps africanus, Aquila rapax, and Buteo lineatus). These species comprise two paraphyletic functional groups, raptors (Aquila and Buteo) and vultures (Gyps, Cathartes, and Vultur). Our ordination analyses based on all of the muscles of the wings, hindlimbs, and wing and hindlimb muscles combined produced patterns that appeared to be more related to phylogeny, with a hint of a functional signal in wing muscle CSA. However, when wing muscles were grouped according to their functional roles (upstroke, downstroke, and wing stabilization), the percentages of mass and CSA allocated to the upstroke and stabilizing muscles were 1.4–5% greater in the vultures than in the raptors. Conversely, when hindlimb muscles were grouped according to their roles in grasping and terrestrial locomotion, the percentages of mass and CSA allocated to grasping muscles were 5.9–14% greater in the raptors. Our results provide a baseline for future lines of inquiry aimed at understanding how muscle mass and CSA are affected differentially across locomotor modules, possibly in response to differential demands on wing and hindlimb function experienced by these disparate accipitriform clades.
Repeated biopsies in patients with prostate cancer on active surveillance: clinical implications of interobserver variation in histopathological assessment
Authors: Thomsen Frederik B. , Marcussen Niels , Berg Kasper D. , Christensen Ib J. , Vainer Ben , Iversen Peter , Brasso Klaus
Published: June 2014

Objective

To investigate the clinical implications of interobserver variation in the assessment of re‐biopsies obtained during active surveillance (AS) of prostate cancer.

Patients and Methods

In all, 107 patients with low‐risk prostate cancer with 93 diagnostic biopsy sets and 109 re‐biopsy sets were included. The International Society of Urological Pathology 2005 Gleason scoring system was used for the histopathological assessment of all biopsies. Three different definitions of histopathological progression were applied. Unweighted and linear weighted Kappa (κ) statistics were used to compare the interobserver agreement.

Results

The overall Gleason score agreement was 68.8% with a weighted κ of 0.670. The interobserver agreement was 79.6% for meeting the AS selection criteria. According to the three progression definitions applied, overall agreement was between 80.7% and 89.0% with weighted κ values of 0.746–0.791. Treatment recommendations would have changed in up to 10.1% (95% confidence interval 5.4–17.7%) of the 109 re‐biopsy sets.

Conclusion

Kappa statistics showed strong agreement between the histological evaluations. However, up to 10% of patients on AS would receive a different treatment recommendation depending upon which histopathological evaluation of re‐biopsies was used for treatment planning.
Massive renal size is not a contraindication to a laparoscopic approach for bilateral native nephrectomies in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD)
Authors: Wisenbaugh Eric S. , Tyson Mark D. , Castle Erik P. , Humphreys Mitchell R. , Andrews Paul E.
Published: June 2014

Objective

To determine if massive renal size should be a contraindication for attempting a laparoscopic approach to bilateral native nephrectomies in patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD).

Patients and Methods

We retrospectively reviewed all laparoscopic bilateral nephrectomies performed for ADPKD at our institution from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2012. We stratified patients by kidney weight (with or without at least one kidney weighing >2500 g) and compared perioperative data, complications, and status of kidney allografts. Additionally, the subset of patients with at least one kidney weighing >3500 g was compared with the rest of the cohort.

Results

We identified 68 patients; mean (range) individual kidney weight was 1984 (197–5042) g. In all, 24 patients had at least one kidney weighing >2500 g, yet patients in this group were not significantly different from the rest of the cohort for complications, estimated blood loss, transfusion rate, or duration of hospitalisation. For those who underwent simultaneous renal allotransplantation, native kidney size was not associated with graft outcomes. Additionally, of the six patients with at least one kidney weighing >3500 g, only one required a blood transfusion, and the group had no intraoperative or postoperative Clavien grade ≥3 complications. None of the cohort required conversion to open surgery.

Conclusion

Massive size of polycystic kidneys is not a contraindication to attempting a laparoscopic approach to bilateral nephrectomies in an experienced, high‐volume centre.
Lack of association of joint hypermobility with urinary incontinence subtypes and pelvic organ prolapse
Authors: Derpapas Alex , Cartwright Rufus , Upadhyaya Purnima , Bhide Alka A. , Digesu Alex G. , Khullar Vik
Published: June 2014

Objective

To test the hypothesis that joint hypermobility (JHM) is associated with specific urinary incontinence (UI) subtypes and uterovaginal prolapse.

Patients and Methods

In all, 270 women scheduled to undergo urodynamic investigations were invited to self‐complete a validated five‐item JHM questionnaire. Women underwent history taking, symptoms assessing via the King's Health Questionnaire and clinical examination using the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification system. Associations between JHM and pelvic floor disorders in univariate and multivariate ordinal regression were reported using odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

Results

The prevalence of JHM was 31.1%. JHM had a negative association with age (OR 0.98/year, P = 0.04). There was no association between JHM and either urodynamic (P = 0.41), or symptomatic stress UI (P = 0.48). Nor was there association with detrusor overactivity or symptomatic urgency UI. Multivariate ordinal regression of JHM with maximum prolapse stage, adjusting for age, showed a significant relationship (OR 1.26/stage, 95% CI 1.06–1.46, P < 0.05).

Conclusion

Although JHM is highly prevalent amongst women with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), there is no strong association of JHM with any UI subtype. There is a trend towards higher prolapse staging in women with JHM, which becomes significant only after adjustment for the confounding negative association between age and JHM.