bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Internal and external approaches to controlling rogue behaviour
Authors: Singer Daniel , Dewally Michaël
Published: July 2024

This paper addresses the reasons for the continuing occurrence of rogue behaviour among financial institutions. Risk-taking is seen as a necessary component for the functioning of successful financial institutions and rogue behaviour as a pathological manifestation of this risk-taking. The conventional approach to eliminating rogue trading is to impose external controls on the traders and their financial institutions. The authors (and others) argue that this approach is inherently flawed because of the dynamic nature of financial markets and the need for financial institutions to innovate. They then argue that successfully addressing the problem of rogue behaviour requires traders themselves to assume responsibility for aligning their actions to the organisation’s culture of appropriate risk-taking. It is shown that this may be accomplished by the use of strong moral leadership to create a socially positive organisational culture. Within this context, a theory of moral development is used to show how risk-takers at financial institutions can become self-regulating through the adoption of a principled moral stance.
Assessing the resilience of an IT portfolio
Authors: Ricks Matthew , Boswell Lucrecia
Published: July 2024

One of the goals of the business impact analysis (BIA) process is to establish recovery objectives. Having established recovery objectives, the next step is to assess whether one’s IT portfolio can actually meet those objectives. Unfortunately, there is no well-defined and prescriptive process for this. This article describes a model that can be customised and applied in any organisation to take an IT-centric view to assessing resilience capabilities. The first stage of this process is to gather IT-specific data, either through a questionnaire or by querying the configuration management database directly. The next step is to leverage a set of scoring rubrics in order to assess the capabilities of each application with respect to meeting recovery point objectives, recovery time objectives and service-level targets, as well as the strength of staffing, documentation and disaster recovery plans. The output of the model is a composite score for each application (based upon an aggregate capability score and a weighting factor) that identifies those services in the IT portfolio with the greatest gaps in their capabilities (ie those services in greatest need of remediation). The logic of the model can either be built with spreadsheets or automated through business continuity management planning platforms.
Explainability and operational resilience in the design of central bank digital currencies: A new generation of money-laundering deterrence software
Authors: Lazcano Israel Cedillo
Published: July 2024

It has been argued that technologies such as blockchain could provide financial systems and societies with a better infrastructural solution to process information and identify illegal transactions. Building on this idea, this paper argues that if payment systems are to take advantage of the properties that define distributed ledger technologies, they must build on those models that have delivered improved trust in our economies. Accordingly, the model presented in this paper is based on a universal digital ID that could be interoperable among different jurisdictions. Such a digital ID would rely on an explainable framework structured around an understanding of the role played by central banks, intellectual property rights and personal data protection in the processing of information. Understanding the interaction between these elements may be the first step towards a better understanding of the infrastructures employed to tackle illegal activities, which could in turn contribute to the successful development of the standards on which the next generation of suspicious transaction or order reports will be based.
Best practices in compliance training
Authors: Weston Lori , Hoopes Jennifer
Published: July 2024

Compliance impacts almost every facet of an organisation. In order for an organisation’s compliance programme to be effective, however, it is imperative that the firm have a well-planned, comprehensive compliance-training regimen. Even the most comprehensive compliance programme is ineffective if staff have not been trained on the programme, do not understand the firm’s policies and procedures, and have not been educated on their own responsibilities in carrying out the programme. This paper discusses the importance of placing structure around a firm’s compliance training and explore themes that should be considered in evaluating such a training programme. Themes discussed include compliance-training programme content, audience, format, timing, implementation, documentation and programme effectiveness.
‘Plans are useless’
Authors: Bland Michael
Published: July 2024

An essential element in crisis recovery is the protection and/or recovery of reputation. This calls for a crisis communications function that is of more than passing interest to the business continuity specialist and which presents two major challenges in this era of process-driven management: (1) it is an inexact science, more about common sense, psychology, empathy and ‘playing it by ear’ than about box ticking; (2) it does not lend itself to detailed, rigid plans, although some degree of planning is essential. This paper outlines a flexible approach that will help the crisis team to develop a workable communications plan that strikes a balance between being too detailed and too sketchy. It argues that the whole management team should be involved in developing the plan and sets a number of questions, which, on being answered, will help a realistic, achievable and effective plan to evolve.
Reaching a new audience through gaming
Authors: Henson Martha , Birchall Danny
Published: July 2024

About three years ago, Wellcome Collection, a small interdisciplinary medical museum in London, began developing a strategy for reaching new audiences with games that were based on their themes and collections. Since then, several games have been commissioned and released, including High Tea and Axon, which have both been played over 4 million times. High Tea takes the subject of the 19th-century opium wars and puts the player in the position of trading opium with the Chinese. Axon uses the rules of foetal neuron development as the basis for a fast-paced and addictive game. While their success has been gratifying, it has been even more important to evaluate these games in order to better understand their impact on the player. Through this work, a great deal has been learned about the process of making games and what effect they have on the people who play them.
Understanding and reviewing the ‘hidden rent’
Authors: Burke Rick
Published: July 2024

Tenants must understand their lease before signing it. Much too often, a tenant looks back and realises they have agreed to something that is now costing them thousands of dollars per month. This paper opens the door and introduces the tenant to the many types of possible overcharges. It looks at several basic areas of overcharging and explains why they exist and how to avoid them. These areas include pro-rata share allocation, administrative charges, non-common area maintenance (CAM) expenses, real estate taxes and caps. The paper also looks at some specific overcharges related to office and industrial leases such as base year and gross-up clauses. Understanding all the ins and outs of a lease is very difficult, especially for someone not in the real estate business. As with most things, the more detailed it gets, the more complex it becomes. This is especially true for additional rents such as CAM, operating expenses, real estate taxes, insurance and other monetary lease items. These items, if not fully understood, will become ‘hidden rent’.
Is the demographic dead?
Authors: Jacobs Richard , Whittaker Jeni
Published: July 2024

This paper investigates why all marketers should be actively targeting older consumers, and what makes these consumers so fascinating as individuals. If age is less relevant in society now and older people behave more like the young, how relevant are traditional demographics today?
The smart way to use corporate real estate
Authors: Ward Debra
Published: July 2024

Managing and optimising real estate is a challenge that faces every business. Real estate is the second highest cost for operating businesses, so ensuring that space is being utilised is a top priority for most companies. Condeco studies have identified that workspace can be underutilised by up to 60 per cent, which equates to thousands of pounds in wasted space every day. As impending real estate costs weigh heavily on an organisation's bottom line, it has become more important than ever for executives to measure the value and utilisation of their office spaces. Analysing what types of workspace a business requires is the next challenge. Determining spaces that people actually need is often ignored and drastic corporate real estate decisions are made without adequate analysis, which can be costly and counterproductive. Before any changes are made to the physical space, three key business triggers should be identified: people, place and performance. This paper explains how to gain this information quickly and accurately, and even more crucially, what to do with it.
Managing the complexity of risks and regulatory compliance: Looking at safety from both ways
Authors: Witter Ian
Published: July 2024

This paper reviews the top-down nature of regulation and makes the case for the benefits of a ‘bottom up’ approach using the principles of safety management systems. The logic of common international standards is outlined in the context of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). All airports are different — as Airport Council International (ACI) says, ‘When you’ve seen one airport, you’ve seen one airport’, and this relates to different hazards and risks found at different airports. Examples of layout and geography affecting specific risks are explained, recognising one size does not fit all. The case for detailed analysis of statistics is made to ensure a true understanding is obtained from the data. The importance of data collection is underlined and the need for reporting of events is identified as key to maximise understanding from the best picture of risk possible. Key performance indicators are discussed and the control, or lack of control, is explored for airports to achieve targets.
Real time: The next frontier for analytics
Authors: Pearson Andrew W.
Published: July 2024

In 1999, ‘The Cluetrain Manifesto’ warned that ‘markets are conversations’. Today, some 15 years later, software, hardware, mobile and social media vendors have come together to provide tools that allow companies to join and manipulate the conversation. This paper provides a quick overview of the available hardware and software solutions; a discussion of the in-memory landscape, including the strengths and weaknesses of the competing products; and a summary of the latest developments in the social media monitoring space. Given the importance of personalisation and one-to-one advertising for increasing traffic, raising customer conversion rates and increasing average order value, these systems can either be a company’s best friend or its worst enemy.
Post-regeneration: Succession and sustainability
Authors: Richmond Peter
Published: July 2024

Castle Vale, a neighbourhood on the outskirts of Birmingham, has witnessed a physical and social transformation over a period of 20 years; the transformation continues as a result of succession planning, a range of succession vehicles and an ongoing vision. Through community-led regeneration, partners and residents of Castle Vale have identified a model of succession and sustainability that focuses upon a cyclical process of transformation. This is based upon having the vision, capacity and financial strength to break the cycle of decline. The succession model is not a quick fix; it takes time, commitment and ongoing investment to embed a culture of change, a vision not only for the future, but for the here and now.
The growing business of slowing down: Understanding the Slow Movement in retail, hospitality and tourism
Authors: Childs Michelle , Gokcecik Eda , Yoon Borham , Lee Bomi
Published: July 2024

In a marketplace where consumers became familiar with stimulation and acceleration, there is a growing cultural movement to slow down the pace of life and focus on meaningful and deep connections in all aspects, including with people, food, places, the environment and things. While the Slow Movement has, over time, grown to influence several industries, particularly retail, hospitality and tourism, the current global coronavirus pandemic has encouraged consumers to embrace a slower pace of life and redefine what is important to them. To understand this movement as a brand strategy, this paper outlines — on the basis of successful cases — what, why and how the Slow Movement has been and how it should be implemented. Essentially, to align with the Slow Movement philosophy, a brand’s strategy should include transparency of business practices and authenticity of strategy implementation and remain true to the pillars of the Slow Movement for brand success. While implementing these brand strategies is not without risk or challenges, differentiating with involvement in the Slow Movement may provide brands a competitive advantage in the current marketplace, stimulated by recent changes in consumer behaviour.
Digital transformation in banks: The trials, opportunities and a guide to what is important
Authors: Harvey David
Published: July 2024

It has never been this hard to be a successful bank, as they battle with the prefect storm of relentlessly increasing regulation, the growing threat of new entrants with new business models targeting small but very profitable slices of the bank's value chain, new technologies that make it easier and cheaper to launch new banks or FinTechs, the perils of blockchain (outside the scope of this paper) and customers who have lost their respect for ‘banks’, despite most banks doing little wrong leading up to 2009. It goes on to examine the changing demands of these customers having new demands from their banks set by superior experiences enjoyed in their other digital relationships, with the banks playing catch-up. Banks have not lost their determination to be at the centre of their customers' financial world and win back the former relationship that both parties once enjoyed. This paper explores the forces impacting the banks at present and probes into what customers want from their existing banking relationship. It also presents ideas and approaches for the full-service, multi-channel banks to consider as they continue with their re-assessment of where to allocate precious capital, what markets and with what target operating model will deliver new rewards and how they will respond to their customer's demands on how they want to interact with their bank in the new digital age. The banks that will emerge successfully from their digital re-invention journeys will be the ones that arrive at the destination ahead of their peers. One way or another, the past ten years have certainly been a challenge for most banks, but the next ten years promises to be a very exciting decade in banking, with lots of changes to look forward to.
Dynamic Adaptation of Processing Steps For Financial Messaging
Authors: Schwarzer Holger
Published: July 2024

In the business-to-business area of financial services firms, financial messaging is the backbone for processing financial transactions such as currency payments. Firms implementing these solutions require high levels of straight-through-processing (STP) and flexible processing configurations. Experience shows that decisions about the processing steps are dependent on various parameters, which can change during the processing life cycle of a financial message. This could be due to something like a missed deadline where special agreements for important customers need to be considered. To handle these situations, externalise the processing behaviour and to allow dynamic updating of the sequence of processing steps, the author invented the dynamic adaptation of electronic routing slips. The dynamic adaptation is based on financial message control information, processing status of the message and environment variables that direct the processing of the financial message. The financial message control information is derived from the sender, receiver, message type, clearing system and currency. The processing status of the message is determined at each step of the process. Environment variables are based on conditions that can change, or processing timeframes.
The prepaid mobile wallet: A powerful product for an impatient ecosystem
Authors: Tabakovic Amir
Published: July 2024

This paper analyses the intersection of prepaid commerce and the mobile wallet, in order to present strategic options for banks seeking to respond to what Mobey Forum contends is an emerging threat to their positions in the mobile wallet ecosystem. It provides an overview of the various market developments and growth sectors in prepaid services, together with a description of prepaid’s differentiating characteristics, before exploring how their competitive attributes and advantages over traditional banking services are congruent with the key drivers of mass market mobile wallet adoption. It contends that new, innovative prepaid service models and ‘second generation’ mobile wallet solutions are mutually supportive and, when combined, they will each drive innovation in the other, pushing traditional banks further down the mobile value chain as a result, and forcing them to yield both market share and visibility with their mobile customers. The paper acknowledges that, for now, prepaid may be a ‘better fit’ for the mobile wallet than traditional banking alternatives. In order to explore the prevailing options for banks, the paper then cites examples of how innovative banks have responded to this emerging market. These options include developing a proprietary prepaid infrastructure for active and open use with customers, using a prepaid infrastructure ‘behind the scenes’ in order to support new services such as peer to peer money transfers, providing back-end infrastructure support to the new prepaid service providers, and establishing an agent network enabling the bank to resell the prepaid digital products of popular merchants. The paper concludes that banks now need to recognise prepaid as a major driving force in the future of mobile wallets and accept that influential stakeholders in the mobile wallet development ecosystem are now using prepaid as a means of accelerating mobile wallet development and deployment.
The challenges of urban conservation in the historic city of Puri
Authors: Chandan Shradha , Pipralia Satish , Kumar Ashwani
Published: July 2024

Since antiquity, Puri, known for excellence in the field of art and architecture, has been one of the Char Dhams (holy places) of the Hindu Pilgrimage of India. India is rich in temples and historical settlements from the ancient Kashi to Char Dhams. The abode of Shree Jagannath, Puri, is one of the cardinal centres of pilgrimage for Hinduism. Puri, the cultural capital of Odisha, connects thousands of pilgrims to spirituality through its art, culture, heritage and Jagannath traditions. In the eastern state of India, Odisha is an uncharted gem of cultures and traditions with literature and architecture, picturesque beaches and wilderness, with Puri as its focal point. Puri has a distinctive blend of ethnicity, culture and tradition with an eclectic flair. The city accounts for about half of the tourist inflow to the state while tripling it during the Rath Yatra — the annual chariot festival. Situated on the Bay of Bengal, Puri, a high disaster risk zone, often encounters natural catastrophes such as heavy rainfall, floods, thunderstorms and severe cyclonic storms. Despite its importance and numerous governmental schemes, cultural heritage is always vulnerable to damage and destruction. This makes the documentation and sensitive planning approach to the conservation of the pilgrim city of the utmost importance. Based on secondary data and extensive surveys, this paper construes the multifaceted challenges of Puri with emphasis on its sociocultural identities, critically exploring the city in its contemporary form with the urban conservation initiatives undertaken by authorities. It summarises that modification in the planning approach is mandated to achieve its optimum potential to be revered as a world-class heritage city.
Early warning signals and systems for liquidity risk
Authors: Benzschawel Terry
Published: July 2024

Liquidity crises are initiated by a shock to the financial system that creates a vicious cycle of forced selling. The Basel Committee has proposed methods designed to prevent future liquidity crises and the International Monetary Fund has proposed methods, including the systemic liquidity risk index (SLRI), for measuring overall and bank-specific systemic risk. These methods are discussed with a focus on their advantages and limitations. In addition, an index for market liquidity, the CLX, is introduced, which is composed of inputs from five liquid derivatives contracts spanning equity, debt, rates and volatility markets. The CLX is shown to be useful for measuring various aspects of economic activity and to be highly correlated with the IMF's SLRI. In addition, the CLX forms the basis for a liquidity early warning system and can anticipate changes in several major economic releases.
Business rates: An enlightened approach to economic and social value?
Authors: Gregory Dan
Published: July 2024

This paper outlines how new flexibility for local authorities with regard to business rates can be seen as a progressive tool for delivering local economic and social value. It suggests a number of principles for local authorities considering their approach to business rates.
Urban regeneratıon in Iran: Towards a better approach
Authors: Jamshidzadeh Ebrahim , Mafakherian Seyed Ali
Published: July 2024

This paper presents a topical subject in today’s Iran: urban regeneration as an objective of society. The paper attempts to find solutions for problems arising from, among others, a lack of financial resources, migration of the labour force and gentrification in the urban regeneration process. It concludes that the level of urban regeneration in Iran is far from meeting the worldwide new urbanism standards. Urban design focused on traditional forms aimed at putting an end to urban sprawl and the decline of cities is insufficiently addressed in Iran and the paper proposes a framework and tools for a way forward.
Detroit: Part 3 — Two years on
Authors: Leary Margaret A. , Jackson Betsy
Published: July 2024

Founded in 1701 as a French fur-trading post, Detroit, Michigan, evolved from a port in the 18th century to a major manufacturing centre at the end of the 19th century. At the dawn of the 20th century, the city turned from making wagons and train cars to churning out automobiles and perfecting assembly line production. Detroit became the ‘Arsenal of Democracy’ during World War II and reinvented itself as Motown after the war. But starting in the mid-1950s, after two and a half centuries of continuous expansion, Detroit’s economy was decimated in a mere 65 years by racial tensions and ‘white flight’; loss of jobs, population, tax base and reputation; and municipal leadership unable to recognise and manage a tsunami of debt. And while the private sector began reinvesting in downtown in the late 1990s, the absence of competent public-sector leadership allowed the debt to bloom into insolvency. US law – unlike that of other industrialised nations – allows municipalities to declare bankruptcy to wipe out most debt. Although there are many financially distressed American cities, few have declared bankruptcy. Detroit’s is the largest to date and was made more complicated by the involvement of an ‘emergency manager’ – an intervener appointed by the Governor of Michigan and granted extra-governmental powers. The first article provided historical background, described public-sector bankruptcy, and introduced the most important players in the bankruptcy drama. This second part outlines the legal process of municipal bankruptcy; introduces the creditors who fought to preserve their financial position; discusses the threat to the Detroit Institute of Art’s collection; and describes the ‘Grand Bargain’ without which the bankruptcy would have descended into the mire of endless lawsuits. The final article will lay out the aftermath of this titanic drama – the effect on reinvestment, and the ‘lessons learned’ by the cast of players and the community as a whole – and describe the substantial obstacles that remain to creating a robust and sustainable future for Detroit in the 21st century and beyond.
Thinking beyond the event: The legacy impact of the FIFA 2010 soccer World Cup on South African cities
Authors: Bethlehem Lael
Published: July 2024

South Africa hosted the 2010 International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) soccer World Cup with an ambitious list of objectives. While the event boosted the country’s confidence and its infrastructure, the cities are left with more large stadia than they need. The pressure of hosting a global event inevitably draws cities into maximising the utility of the event, sacrificing long-term considerations. This is the essential dilemma of being a host city. Drawing on South Africa’s 2010 experience, the author suggests three principles that can be considered by cities in developing countries as they seek to take advantage of the great potential of hosting a large event, while avoiding some of the pitfalls.
ISO 20022: The implications for payments processing and requirements for its successful use
Authors: Goswell Steve
Published: July 2024

This paper discusses the ISO 20022 standard. It examines the implications for the payments and securities businesses and identifies some potential issues and challenges that will be faced. It discusses what individual institutions need to do to prepare for the successful adoption of the new standard. Lastly, the role of SWIFT in the governance of ISO 20022 is outlined.
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital's ongoing initiative to reduce non-labour expenses
Authors: Mcrory-Thomas Kelli , Fontana Christopher , Burkholder Bob
Published: July 2024

For health systems to survive or hoping to grow in the new healthcare era, a centralised strategic sourcing function is essential to maintaining and enhancing margin and ensuring the right new technologies are in the hands of clinicians. Sourcing cannot just be about price containment and contracting, it must focus on helping health systems grow through margin enhancement, pioneering the use of new technology and championing the advancement of care. Sourcing departments must become trusted partners of administrators and clinicians, and shed the reputation of being the department engaged only when a purchase order is needed or contract requires signature. Strategic sourcing begins with engagement of main departments and decision-makers within the institution, seeking to understand their needs and objectives and their associated dependencies on suppliers and third parties, and aligning the resource and activity of the sourcing team to support those needs. Success is based on the ability to implement a strong core of sourcing professionals who are empowered to identify, explore and lead product review and selection opportunities, and who follow a rigorous, comprehensive sourcing process that is focused on strategic business alignment, sourcing strategy development and execution and objective decision-making, all of which this paper will explore.
Building a world class city of business
Authors: Steinberg Max , Lingard Stephen
Published: July 2024

This paper considers how the City of Liverpool is transforming itself, working with business. Between 1930 and 1980, Liverpool’s population almost halved, large areas in and around the city centre fell derelict, and the city’s private sector atrophied to a catastrophic level. The 1981 civil disturbances brought the city’s plight to national attention, prompting a long-term campaign of interventions to make it once again a city of business. National economic and political factors accelerated this from the mid-1990s. Successive city administrations of different political parties made conscious decisions to be ambitious, actively engage with the private sector and shape a new national and international reputation for Liverpool as a modern global city. Between 2000 and 2008, an internationally significant development programme was delivered, transforming the city centre’s retail, leisure and commercial office space. Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture in 2008 brought millions of visitors to the city, many of them for the first time, beginning to transform its reputation. Participation in the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai and staging the inaugural International Festival for Business in 2014 have continued this process. Liverpool’s experience in this period and the approach of its current city leadership offers learning points for those facing similar challenges elsewhere.
Open banking in Europe: The effect of the Revised Payment Services Directive on Solarisbank and Insha
Authors: Nanaeva Zhamal , Aysan Ahmet Faruk , Shirazi Nasim Shah
Published: July 2024

The concept of open banking is gaining global recognition for helping to integrate innovative financial service providers into a sustainable financial ecosystem. This paper discusses open banking, including its core building blocks, prospects and challenges. Given the European Union’s pioneering role in adopting open banking regulations, the paper also reviews the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) and its role in advancing fast payment systems in Europe. The paper goes on to consider the practical implications of the PSD2 in Germany through case studies of the banking-asa-service platform, Solarisbank, and the Islamic digital bank, Insha. Finally, the paper sheds light on the benefits of open banking for ecosystem stakeholders, including fast payment system providers, and how they can benefit from the introduction of open banking regulations.
Town Teams, Portas Pilots and the future of the high street
Authors: Hurst Chris , Blackwell Martin
Published: July 2024

The Association of Town & City Management is working with Town Teams and Portas Pilots across England, delivering a broad support scheme funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government. Town Teams are a new, bottom-up, ideally community-led approach to place management, and as such are beginning to provide new insights into partnership working, town and city centre governance structures and, significantly, the role that local communities can take in this discussion. This paper sets out to detail learning so far on the Town Team journey, and suggests that partnerships should use this knowledge to create sustainable delivery vehicles that focus on providing local solutions to the long-term business, social and community needs of their area.
Fandom digitised: Establishing a digital collection of media fanzines at Texas A&M University
Authors: Brett Jeremy
Published: July 2024

This paper is designed to assist information professionals and others who wish to build collections of digitised publications or other materials. Archival institutions have for a number of years now been digitising physical collections for the purposes of both preservation and access and, in doing so, have encountered a number of technical and intellectual challenges. The author is a lead on such a project, one involving digitised media fanzines, currently under way at Texas A&M University. Issues encountered in the course of the project include copyright, the acquisition of creator permissions, sensitivity surrounding creator concerns, the construction of appropriate metadata and the provision of appropriate access to the collection. This project provides useful lessons learned — lessons that similar projects in the future may make use of in avoiding pitfalls, overcoming challenges and achieving success in preserving and making accessible digitised materials.
Asset prioritisation strategy: A quantitative approach
Authors: Alvarado Carlos M. , Schriever Daniel R.
Published: July 2024

When an organisation has many demands competing for limited asset management resources, it must allocate such resources in a way that will have the most impact on its core mission while minimising business continuity risk. Logically, resources should go to managing those assets that are most important to the strategy and operations of the organisation. In reality, however, most business continuity/risk/facility managers lack a disciplined, data-driven approach for setting management and investment priorities. The difficulty in attempting to align funding/management attention with higher priority assets is that the often qualitative concept of ‘important’ must be quantified. This paper will explain how to develop a quantitative measure — an asset priority index (API) — to score each asset in the portfolio to reflect criteria important to an organisation. It also describes how the API can be used as part of an overarching asset portfolio management strategy, and how business continuity/risk managers can involve senior management in asset management decisions. The authors will explore three basic questions: • How can API help organisations better manage their assets? • What is the process for involving upper management and stakeholders in creating an API? • How have other organisations successfully implemented the API framework?
Dry rot and timber decay: Don’t panic and poison yourself
Authors: Singh Jagjit
Published: July 2024

This paper first shows that timber decay in buildings is primarily due to lack of maintenance and building defects, allowing water penetration into the building fabric providing ideal environmental conditions for fungal and beetle infestation. Secondly, the paper sets out how it is very important that investigations are non-destructive, and result in the correct diagnosis and identification of type and viability of decay. Thirdly the paper discusses the author’s belief that the remedial chemical timber treatments stem from fear and a lack of knowledge of dry rot, and that the demand for 30 year guarantees for treatment results in ‘overkill’. The paper advocates that the environmental control of dry rot and timber decay and preventative maintenance are preferable to conventional remedial treatments. This approach is based on scientific, practical experience and successful case studies carried out over the last 33 years, and provides not only environmentally sustainable holistic conservation solutions, but also ensures the long-term health of building materials, health of the occupants and structures.1
Streamlining digital archiving workflows at the Bentley Historical Library
Authors: Eckard Max , Pillen Dallas
Published: July 2024

In October 2016, the Bentley Historical Library, in partnership with the University of Michigan Library, received a two-year, US$355,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to enhance the interoperability of three open-source software systems: ArchivesSpace, a web application for managing archival information; Archivematica, a digital preservation system; and DSpace, a repository application that preserves and enables easy and open access to all types of digital content. The ArchivesSpace–Archivematica–DSpace Workflow Integration project integrates these systems into an end-to-end digital archives workflow, facilitating the creation and reuse of metadata among these platforms and streamlining the ingest and deposit of fully processed born-digital materials into a digital preservation and access repository. After outlining the institutional context and the Bentley’s guiding principles for digital processing, this case study discusses the effort that went into developing this workflow, including the software development process, as well as the effort that went into migrating data from legacy systems and preparing archivists and other stakeholders to adopt new tools and workflows. The case study concludes by reflecting on project outcomes and lessons learned.
Retail-led regeneration: Assessing the property outcomes
Authors: Guy Cliff
Published: July 2024

This paper examines the notion that retail development can act as 'catalyst' at an early stage of urban regeneration projects, leading to further non-retail development in due course. The processes by which large retail stores were built at an early stage in three such projects in the Cardiff Bay area are explained. These case studies show support for the financial case for retail-led regeneration, but also that retail development has been encouraged for mainly pragmatic reasons and shows little synergy with other, non-retail development. These schemes, all located out of centre, were developed contrary to retail planning guidelines. In the present policy climate, such schemes may be difficult to justify.
The omni-channel customer experience: Driving engagement through digitisation
Authors: Bhalla Ravi
Published: July 2024

This paper will articulate how the omni-channel customer experience will set organisations apart from those stuck in a siloed or even multi-channel world. How does the omni-channel experience differ from the multi-channel experience? Are these essentially the same thing? Is the omni-channel concept merely a buzzword? And what does this mean for the future of traditional channels? Using an applied case study approach, this paper explores these questions in the context of the multi-channel environment’s evolution into an omni-channel world. Both academics and professionals will be able to leverage the best practice described in this paper to drive engagement through digitisation and make the omni-channel experience an organisational reality.
The problem and potential of segregated districts: Urban design and planning principles for more liveable and cohesive segregated districts
Authors: Kachousangi Fatemeh Torabi
Published: July 2024

The lack of proper planning to address development and rapid formation of cities can lead to social and spatial inequalities, often manifesting as segregation. Segregation in cities arises when residents are divided into different categories in terms of income, religion, race, socio-economic status, etc. The consequences of this phenomenon are inconsistent with sustainable development in cities. As a result, the question arises: what kind of social and spatial interventions are needed to deal with segregation in districts? The main aim of this paper is to elucidate which factors are important for multi-scale, social-spatial integration of segregated districts. To gain a better understanding of segregated districts, a broad review of the literature that focuses on social-spatial segregation and intervention will be made. To conclude, some solutions and policies will be suggested to deal with segregation. Criteria for these policies will be defined independently of any particular context to allow for general applicability.
Supplying new housing: How can more private sector housing and affordable housing be developed in an era of lack of supply?
Authors: Taylor Gill
Published: July 2024

There is a national crisis of housing supply in the UK and housing is one of government’s highest priorities. The factors behind the failure to meet housebuilding targets are complex, and lie not only within the planning system but the market. The Dorset Councils Partnership — the three councils of North Dorset District Council, West Dorset District Council and Weymouth & Portland Borough Council — are tackling this problem through resourcing an ‘Opening Doors’ programme of accelerated home building. This has included appointing someone with experience in the private house building industry, investigating the establishment of a local authority housing company and setting up a communications programme to spread positive messages about home building locally. Issues affecting the build out of new homes start early in the development process and there is rarely a single reason for delays. Some of the key issues the councils are seeking to address are: the process of negotiation on development site viability; infrastructure funding; the need for early engagement of infrastructure providers and statutory consultees; understanding the local housing market and developers; reducing delays in the planning process.
An assessment of UK Government aviation policies and their implications
Authors: Bailey James W.
Published: July 2024

The aviation industry has shown a consistently high level of growth over the last 60 years. Despite a forecast reduction in the growth rate, the current trend is above the forecast. The Aviation White Paper, published in 2003, set the framework for the expansion of most of the airports in the UK. Many of its proposals were and still are contentious but nevertheless the public demand for air travel takes little account of the opposition. This paper looks at the history of aviation policies, their successes and failures, and identifies a possible need to refresh the debate as to whether existing levels of growth are sustainable.
Prepare to protect: Operating and maintaining a tornado safe room
Authors: Herseth Andrew , Goldsmith-Grinspoon Jennifer , Scott Pataya
Published: July 2024

Operating and maintaining a tornado safe room can be critical to the effective continuity of business operations because a firm’s most valuable asset is its people. This paper describes aspects of operations and maintenance (O&M) for existing tornado safe rooms as well as a few planning and design aspects that affect the ultimate operation of a safe room for situations where a safe room is planned, but not yet constructed. The information is based on several Federal Emergency Management Agency safe room publications that provide guidance on emergency management and operations, as well as the design and construction of tornado safe rooms.
The influence of accounting standards on the performance of the insurance sector
Authors: Vaughan Therese M.
Published: July 2024

There has been considerable discussion as to the appropriate method of valuing insurer assets and liabilities in recent years. It is now commonly accepted that market values at a given point in time can differ from fundamental or intrinsic values. Proponents of fair values argue that these are more relevant than other measures because they reflect current market conditions, they provide timely information and they increase transparency, but opponents argue that fair values will artificially increase the volatility in earnings and capital. Accounting standards will drive behaviour and thus performance. The discussion on market value measures for investments goes back to at least 1907, but historically, insurers played an important role as a source of capital, and net cash flow for the industry stayed positive throughout the Great Depression. With the USA today having a system of reporting that involves a balance between stability and responsiveness, the insurance industry continues to make long-term guarantees and to design products that mitigate liquidity risk.
Brand storytelling: A three-dimensional perspective
Authors: Pereira Gabriela
Published: July 2024

Storytelling has become a buzzword in marketing and brand development. Many experts have suggested methods for using stories in marketing and advertising, but these theories do not paint a full picture. Brand storytelling is a three-dimensional process that requires understanding the customer journey, the brand identity and the market or context in which they coexist. When there is a disconnect between two or more of these story dimensions, the message falls flat and does not resonate with customers. This paper introduces the Storytelling Superpower framework, an approach that allows brands to identify their essential persona and craft a more authentic message that connects and resonates with customers. This storytelling rubric comprises four archetypes, and in this paper we study examples of marketing and advertising campaigns featuring each type.
Audio forensics and provenance analysis: Technologies for media verification and asset management
Authors: Aichroth Patrick , Cuccovillo Luca , Gerhardt Milica
Published: July 2024

This paper discusses a number of audio forensics and provenance analysis technologies that were developed for media verification and media asset management, describing the motivation behind them, the methods used to develop them, and the way they are applied in practice. The paper also shows how the technologies may be adapted and applied to other domains. Finally, it outlines why it is crucial for research and development to follow an iterative, interactive process that does not require large budgets, but rather the willingness of users (here: broadcasters) and researchers to conduct experiments with limited risk and investment instead of waiting for ‘perfect projects’ and ‘perfect technologies’.
One health system’s bundled payment journey
Authors: Gillespie Kate , Gordon Christine
Published: July 2024

Traditionally, Medicare has made separate payments to providers for every service a patient has had during the course of his or her treatment. As with all things, however, times change, and this approach resulted in fragmented care coordination across the continuum for the patient and at a tremendous cost to healthcare providers. To help ensure accountability, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (Innovation Center) developed an initiative called the Bundled Payments for Care Improvements Initiative (BPCI) to test the waters in regard to a payment model that helped reduce costs while improving the quality of care for patients. To implement this plan, healthcare providers had to figure out how to strategically implement and align all their business practices across physicians (both internal and external) and all post-acute providers. This paper describes how Virtua implemented new care redesigns and clinical pathways, assessed what resources it had internally and which ones it needed to outsource, how to get buy-in from the physicians, ensure post-acute collaboration and be able to assess all these new processes in order to make any changes going forward. Virtua successfully achieved 15 per cent under CMS target pricing, while maintaining high quality outcomes, with the initial CMS BPCI programme for total joints. Virtua will use these learnings to go further with the new bundled payment model.
Factors influencing the success of social media posts: A quantitative analysis of over 60 million Facebook posts
Authors: Lies Jan , Fuß Sascha
Published: July 2024

This paper investigates the factors influencing the success of social media posts. Specifically, it analyses over 60 million Facebook posts to explore how interaction rate is influenced by factors such as the post type and the use of hashtags and emojis. The findings indicate that certain characteristics do contribute to the success of social media posts. Based on the sample used in this analysis, the post type and the number of hashtags do influence the success of Facebook posts. For this reason, companies should actively consider using them to optimise their reach on Facebook.
Interaction of RegTech with EU privacy, AML and payments regimes
Authors: Karantzis John
Published: July 2024

The digital delivery landscape presents myriad opportunities and challenges for online services, and in particular services that are regulated and have anti-money laundering obligations. The introduction of EU-wide regulations such as the Payments Services Directive 2 (PSD2), the 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (4AMLD) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will greatly affect the digital landscape and economy. This paper focuses on the interaction of RegTech with regulated sector business, how RegTech can be used to meet some of the more challenging aspects of the above regulatory regimes and potential solutions to some of the newly imposed customer-centric regulatory requirements.