bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The viability of Fiji's sugar industry
Authors: Mahadevan Renuka
Published: October 2009

Purpose

This paper seeks to examine the impact of various socio‐economic factors on the viability of sugar production by focusing on the technical efficiency of farm performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The examination is undertaken by empirically estimating the random coefficient production frontier using farm level data. The paper uses Fiji as a case study.

Findings

In general, farmers produced 25 per cent less than their potential output. Among the farm inputs, land (labour) was the most (least) efficiently used input. Empirical evidence also suggests that large‐scale farming should be seriously considered by amalgamating land leases. Lastly, sugar reform can be successful with the use of appropriate best farming techniques to improve cane yield, and if there is successful expansion of sugar‐related products.

Originality/value

This is the first attempt to estimate the random coefficient frontier model that enables the examination of overall technical efficiency of the farm as well as input‐specific technical efficiency for improved policy formulation.
Testing the impact of inflation targeting on inflation
Authors: Tawadros George B.
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of inflation targeting on inflation for 27 countries that have adopted an inflation‐targeting regime.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses intervention analysis in Harvey's structural time series model to analyse the impact of inflation targeting on inflation, using quarterly observations. This approach provides the most useful framework for separating changes that occur to a series ordinarily over time from those happening due to exogenous events identified a priori, such as inflation targeting.

Findings

The empirical evidence suggests that almost all of the central banks that have pursued this strategy have been unsuccessful at controlling inflation, with the results indicating that the adoption of an inflation‐targeting regime has had the perverse effect on inflation for almost every country.

Practical implications

The implication of the finding is that central banks which have adopted an inflation‐targeting regime do not appear to have been particularly successful in reducing inflation in any significant way, as is regularly claimed in the extant literature.

Originality/value

The paper provides further evidence against the adoption of an inflation‐targeting regime using an unconventional approach for 27 countries that are regarded as “fully‐fledged” inflation‐targeting countries.
Equilibrium efficiency in the Ramsey model with utility and production externalities
Authors: Gómez Manuel A.
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of utility and production externalities on the equilibrium efficiency, and to devise tax policies capable of correcting the distortions caused by the external effects.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper analyzes a Ramsey‐type model with utility and production externalities. It compares the decentralized equilibrium in the market economy with the optimal growth path attainable by a central planner.

Findings

The paper shows the effects of utility and production externalities on competitive long‐run equilibrium values. It devises optimal tax policies capable of decentralizing the optimal growth path, and shows how the leisure specification affects the optimal tax policy.

Practical implications

The paper adds to the literature on optimal taxation, and provides theoretical results that may help policy makers to set the tax policy.

Originality/value

The paper analyzes the equilibrium efficiency in a rather general model with utility externalities, associated with both consumption and leisure, and production externalities. Equilibrium efficiency is studied under the two typical leisure specifications proposed in the literature: home production and raw time. This allows one to analyze the effect that the leisure specification has on the optimal tax policy.
Economic interdependence and bilateral trade imbalance across the Taiwan Strait
Authors: Chiu Yi‐Bin , Sun Chia‐Hung
Published: October 2009

Purpose

Despite a growing interest in research, no existing study explores the nature of, and the relationship between, the real exchange rate and trade imbalance between Taiwan and China. These economies were admitted to the World Trade Organization in late 2001 (China) and in January 2002 (Taiwan). This study aims to redress this deficiency.

Design/methodology/approach

Using Johansen's cointegration approach and bilateral trade data, the study reveals overwhelming evidence of a stable long‐run relationship of the real exchange rate and bilateral trade balance between Taiwan and its trading partners: China, the USA, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Findings

The evidence indicates that the currency depreciation of the New Taiwan dollar improves Taiwan's bilateral trade balance, except with China.

Originality/value

The findings imply that Taiwan cannot resolve the cross‐Strait trade imbalance alone via the currency depreciation, and macroeconomic adjustments, including application of the WTO rules, currency exchange and imports of Chinese goods, need to be negotiated on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Optimal tax and expenditure policies in a market economy with life‐cycle savings
Authors: Zee Howell H.
Published: October 2009

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate whether the concept of the golden rule of capital accumulation is an applicable normative guidepost for a market economy even in the absence of the distortions usually associated with income and consumption taxes.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses a simple two‐period overlapping generations model with productive public and private capital.

Findings

As long as the government is subject to some instrument limitation that constrains its ability to effect non‐distortive optimal inter‐generational income redistributions, the market optimum for capital accumulation would generally deviate from the golden rule towards either side of the rule.

Originality/value

The paper provides a transparent characterization of the nature of the optimal deviation from the golden rule in terms of easily interpretable consumption and production parameters.
Transaction costs, productive efficiency and financial account management
Authors: Saygili Hülya
Published: October 2009

Purpose

This study investigates functional equivalence between entering money into transaction costs that appears in firms' cost functions and the money in the production function. In light of this model, the purpose of the study is to show the impact of financial account management in general on productive efficiency.

Design/methodology/approach

A stochastic production frontier approach is applied to estimate production and technical efficiency model jointly to analyse the effect of alternative financial instruments on the productive efficiency of 12 EU countries.

Findings

The results suggest that the growth performance of these countries is partly explained by the changes in productive efficiency, and that the efficiency is not independent of financial account management.

Originality/value

The contribution of this study to the literature is two‐fold. First, it analyses the meaning of transaction costs in production and its consequences for productive inefficiency theoretically. Second, it tests the significance of financial account management as an instrument to deal with transaction costs in production.
Profits of horizontally interrelated firms with dividend obligations
Authors: Temurshoev Umed
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to solve the problem of overestimation of industry profits due to the presence of cross‐shareholding (CS) links among firms that is inherent to the profit formulations in existing literature.

Design/methodology/approach

In proposing a new profits specification, we explicitly distinguish between firms' profits (retained earnings) and their external shareholders' returns. Matrix algebra is used to take into full account both direct and indirect financial interests of firms in each other.

Findings

Compared to no the CS case, with CS firms' industry‐wide retained earnings increase, while aggregate external shareholders' returns decrease unless dividend ratios are all unity. It is shown that qualitatively there is no difference in the outcomes of all profit specifications, whereas there is a quantitative difference.

Research limitations/implications

The pattern of CS is taken as exogenous, which looks at the problem from an antitrust perspective. Endogenizing the structure of CS is left for future research.

Practical implications

Firms have incentives to engage in CS links, since they can only benefit from it. In empirical research (e.g. analyzing market performance) dividend payments have to be taken into account if there are extensive CS links present in the industry under study.

Originality/value

This paper extends the existing profit formulations by including both income inflows and outflows of firms due to CS links. Furthermore, the significance of considering dividend payments for empirical research is discussed.
An empirical analysis of the informational efficiency of Australian equity markets
Authors: Hatemi‐J Abdulnasser , Morgan Bryan
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the Australian equity market is informationally efficient in the semi‐strong form with regard to interest rates and the exchange rate shocks during the period 1994‐2006.

Design/methodology/approach

There is evidence that the data are non‐normal and that autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (ARCH) effects exist and in such circumstances, standard estimation methods are not reliable. A new method introduced by Hacker and Hatemi‐J which is robust to non‐normality and the presence of ARCH is applied.

Findings

The results show the Australian equity market is not informationally efficient with regard to either the interest rate or the exchange rate.

Originality/value

The empirical findings, in contrast to several previous studies, imply that the possibility for arbitrage profits in the equity market might exist.
Skill differentiation between formal and informal employment
Authors: Mattos Enlinson , Ogura Laudo M.
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the existence of skill differentiation between formal and informal labor markets.

Design/methodology/approach

First, a theoretical model is developed under the assumption that concealment of production is increasingly costly for informal firms. Second, using data on the Brazilian self‐employed economy, two methods are utilized to compare earnings in the formal versus the informal economy: propensity score and instrumental variable (IV) methods. For the IV estimations, state‐level variables are used as instruments for individual's decisions. In addition, the effect of schooling on formality choice is analyzed.

Findings

The theoretical model implies that more productive firms tend to operate formally and the proportion of workers employed by formal firms is larger for higher skilled workers. In the empirical analysis, it is found that formal firms are more productive than informal firms, controlling for workers' characteristics, and that higher workers' skill increase the probability of formal operation, as predicted by the theoretical model.

Originality/value

The paper provides an original theoretical model of skill differentiation in labor markets and empirically evaluates the implications of the model.
Entropy estimation and interpretation of the inter‐sectoral linkages of Turkish economy based on Leontief input/output model
Authors: Özçam Ahmet
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to address an econometric procedure which revises and updates the technical production coefficients of latest Turkish input/output (I/O) table, as new information about sectoral productions become available.

Design/methodology/approach

Both maximum entropy (ME) method, which estimates the technical production coefficients directly, and cross entropy (CE) estimation method using the Turkish 1996 I/O table as prior information are considered. Moreover, some linkage measures both traditional and relatively new ones are calculated and interpreted using the same data.

Findings

Under squared error measure criterion, CE estimation method using the Turkish 1996 I/O table as prior information gives a better statistical fit than the ME method which estimates the coefficients directly. Also, Dietzenbacher and van der Linden method's linkage values are found to be in between those of the Chenery and Watanabe, and the Rasmussen methods for both backward or forward definitions using the Turkish data.

Research limitations/implications

There still remains the job of collecting information about sectoral productions in the year where updating the latest I/O table is to be undertaken in order to complete the design to be used in practice. This paper suggests this vector to be estimated using some proxy or instrumental variables approaches as a topic for further research.

Practical implications

During the last ten years in Turkey, the five‐year state development plans losing their traditional importance and the free markets replacing them may have partly accounted for the highly infrequent constructions of such tables. However, academic researches continue to use them as a basis, and therefore an updating of the latest table using an econometric approach such as that of the paper may be necessary.

Originality/value

If in practice the preparation of a new I/O table is costly and/or difficult without a political need, then an updating scheme may be valuable.
Measuring the assembly quality from the operator mistake view: a case study
Authors: Su Qiang , Liu Lei , Lai Shengjie
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the assembly quality of copier products, specifically, concentrating on the prediction of the operator‐induced assembly defect.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the Shibata model, the design‐based assembly complexity is redesigned. And the Sony Standard Time is replaced by the Fuji Xerox Standard Time in the calculation of the process‐based assembly complexity. Furthermore, different correlation functions are attempted and comparatively studied in the regression analysis. Thereby, a new defect rate prediction model is proposed and validated with three copier assembly cases.

Findings

The new proposed model is much more accurate and stable in the human‐induced assembly defect prediction in copier production.

Practical implications

The proposed model can be used to ensure the assembly quality by removing potential defects at the structure and process design stages. Meanwhile, with this model, the interactions between the engineers and designers can be more effective.

Originality/value

This paper presents a novel assembly defect rate prediction model for copier assembly quality management.
Disassembly processes with disassembly matrices and effects of operations
Authors: Mao Huang Yuan , Liao Yu‐Chung
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to enhance the method developed by previous researchers. In addition to using the combined interference matrix, the combined connection matrix and the combined contact matrix of product components, the disassembly sequence matrix and the combined instability matrix with platform to evaluate instability of sub‐assemblies are built, and effects of changes of sub‐assembly disassembly directions or tools and the effect of gravity are considered to obtain the best disassembly sequence for a product with many components. A computer program is generated and results of two cases are compared with those of the available studies.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology includes the combined interference matrix, the combined contact matrix and the combined connection matrix of components for a product. The combined instability matrix of sub‐assemblies, changes of sub‐assembly disassembly direction or tools, and the effect of gravity during operation are considered. The binary number system is used to simplify relations among components of a product.

Findings

This methodology enhances the existing method and software is generated. Results of two cases are compared and show the same optimum disassembly processes as those obtained from other researchers.

Research limitations/implications

All matrices are defined by the directions of x, y and z with three axes perpendicular to each other. The computer program generated cannot be used for a product with components that must be disassembled in the directions different from the axes.

Practical implications

Two cases are used to investigate feasibility of the proposed methodology with the computer program generated. The first one is an electric drill, and the second one is a flash lighter.

Originality/value

The methodology described in this paper is feasible for study of disassembly processes of products. The software generated can be used to obtain the optimum disassembly process of products.
Sensor placement strategy for fixture variation diagnosis of compliant sheet metal assembly process
Authors: Jin Sun , Yu Kuigang , Lai Xinmin , Liu Yinhua
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to focus on optimal sensor placement for the fixture variation diagnosis of compliant sheet metal assembly process. Fixture variations are the main sources for complex automotive body dimensional failures. An effective measurement strategy can help exactly and timely diagnose these fixture variations. Research on sensor placement strategy of compliant sheet metal assembly process is not much stated formerly.

Design/methodology/approach

The impact principle of fixture variations is analyzed to set up the relationship between the assembly variation and fixture variations applying the method of influence coefficients and the effective independence (EI) method is used to find the optimal sensor positions based on the impact principle analysis of fixture variations.

Findings

The obtained fixture variation sensitivity matrix describes the influence of fixture variations to compliant sheet metal assembly variation and can be used for diagnosing fixture variations. The EI method can effectively solve the optimal sensor positions for compliant sheet metal assembly by a case demonstration.

Originality/value

The proposed method can solve the sensor placement of online assembly station for diagnosing fixture variations. It takes the compliant characteristics of sheet metal parts into account and the sensor information has much greater diagnosability than that from applying other methods.
An expert system for automatic design‐for‐assembly
Authors: Sanders David , Chai Tan Yong , Rogers Ian , Tewkesbury Giles E.
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a multi‐expert system that can provide designers with suggestions for improvement. The multi‐expert system can analyse a design and provide designers with ideas for changes to designs at an early stage in order to improve assembly later in the manufacturing process.

Design/methodology/approach

The whole system consists of four expert systems: computer‐aided design (CAD) expert, automated assembly expert, manual assembly expert and design analysis expert. The design analysis expert includes a sub‐system to collate the information from the assembly experts and to provide costs and advice.

Findings

The paper finds that the approach and the systems can reduce manufacturing costs and lead times.

Research limitations/implications

A knowledge‐based reckoning approach to design‐for‐assembly automation is used. The approach and systems can reduce manufacturing costs and lead times. The system can estimate assembly time and cost for manual or automatic assembly and select suitable assembly techniques.

Practical implications

The system can estimate assembly time and cost for manual or automatic assembly and select a suitable assembly technique.

Originality/value

The new system models assembly, product and process design using a natural approach for capturing intelligence. The new approach categorised automated assembly and manual assembly into separate individual experts. Intelligence and knowledge from each is captured and embedded within the individual expert that represented the process. This approach enabled greater flexibility and made the sub‐systems easier to modify, upgrade, extend and reuse.
Interview with Michael Dunn
Authors: by Ruth Young Interview
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present an interview with Michael Dunn, a leading global consultancy expert, author and one of Consulting Magazine's Top 25 Consultants of 2008.

Design/methodology/approach

This briefing is prepared by an independent interviewer.

Findings

Michael Dunn is Chairman and CEO of a leading global consultancy specializing in helping Fortune 500 clients and their senior executives more effectively use branding, marketing and innovation to drive profitable growthOriginality/valueThe interview provides insights into how to build and sustain a company‐wide innovation capability.
Interview with Kate Sweetman
Authors: by Ruth Young Interview
Published: October 2009

Purpose

An interview with Kate Sweetman.

Design/methodology/approach

This briefing is prepared by an independent interviewer.

Findings

Kate Sweetman is a leading authority on leadership and human resources and principal consultant with the RBL Group.

Originality/value

Here Kate discusses leadership and in the next issue of Strategic Direction.
US research group develops world's smallest radio receiver
Authors: Bogue Robert
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe the world's smallest radio receiver, fabricated from a single carbon nanotube (CNT).

Design/methodology/approach

This paper describes the construction and mode of operation of the CNT radio and the experiments used to test its functionality.

Findings

It is shown that a single CNT can act as an antenna, adjustable tuner, amplifier and demodulator, resulting in a fully functional radio with the ability to receive and faithfully reproduce audio signals.

Originality/value

This paper describes the world's smallest radio receiver which has the potential to be used in a range of both conventional and novel applications.
Concepts and issues in piezo‐on‐3D silicon structures
Authors: Henry Sweet John , Hutson David , Cochran Sandy , Bernassau Anne
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore concepts and manufacturing issues for the emerging piezo on silicon technology being used in ultra‐sound devices. Development of 3D silicon‐on‐silicon structures is now under way. Additional functionality can be achieved using piezoelectric‐on‐silicon structures and work in this area has started. A commercialisation road map is required, specifying development of the design and fabrication techniques from research to high volume and lower volume high‐value manufacture of niche products.

Design/methodology/approach

This conceptual paper outlines processes needed, along with their possible sources with illustrations of present capabilities. Included are surface finishing techniques such as grinding, bonding technology for dissimilar materials, and through‐wafer‐via fabrication. Control of acoustic propagation, thermal expansion and electric field fringing effects will be considered.

Findings

Areas that require research and development are identified with possible starting points using techniques already used in other applications. Strong emphasis on empirical research highlights possible issues with examples including surface finishing and wafer dicing to show current methods.

Research limitations/implications

Archetypal pixellated piezoelectric‐on‐silicon structures highlight critical points. In the authors' work, such pixellated structures occur in 1‐3 connectivity piezoelectric ceramic‐polymer composites with unit cell length scales from several millimetres, manufactured with mechanical dicing, to less than 50 μm, manufactured with micro‐moulding.

Practical implications

A forward looking approach of “thinking freely” is taken, this opens up potential manufacturing routes and ideas precluded from an iterative approach.

Originality/value

The conclusion suggests the criteria for a “design for” approach linked to either bottom up or top down assembly techniques for the integration of conventional and unusual piezoelectric materials with silicon in 3D structures.
Progress towards wafer‐scale fabrication of ultrasound arrays for real‐time high‐resolution biomedical imaging
Authors: Bernassau Anne , Hutson David , Demore Christine E.M. , Flynn David , Amalou Farid , Parry Jonathan , McAneny Jim , Button Tim W. , Desmulliez Marc P.Y. , Cochran Sandy
Published: October 2009

Purpose

High‐frequency transducer arrays that can operate at frequencies above 30 MHz are needed for high‐resolution medical ultrasound imaging. The fabrication of such devices is challenging not only because of the fine‐scale piezocomposite fabrication typically required but also because of the small size of arrays and their interconnects. The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of research to develop solutions for several of the major problems in high‐frequency ultrasound array fabrication.

Design/methodology/approach

Net‐shape 1‐3 piezocomposites operating above 40 MHz are developed. High‐quality surface finishing makes photolithographic patterning of the array electrodes on these fine scale piezocomposites possible, thus establishing a fabrication methodology for high‐frequency kerfless ultrasound arrays.

Findings

Structured processes are developed and prototype components are made with them, demonstrating the viability of the selected fabrication approach. A 20‐element array operating at 30 MHz is patterned and characterised. Furthermore, an electrode pattern suitable for a 20‐element array operating at 100 MHz is created to demonstrate the state of the art of photolithography processing directly on piezocomposite.

Practical implications

The work reported suggests that ultrasound arrays for real‐time biomedical imaging will be viable at higher frequencies than presently available commercially or previously reported in the research literature.

Originality/value

The main elements of a novel, fully mask‐based process for high‐frequency ultrasound transducer array fabrication are presented in outline in this paper.
MEMS ultra low leak detection methods: a review
Authors: Millar Suzanne , Desmulliez Marc
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review traditional hermeticity test methods when applied to typical micro‐electro‐mechanical systems (MEMS) cavity volumes and to propose potential solutions.

Design/methodology/approach

Standards for traditional testing have been applied to typical MEMS cavity volumes and the resulting issues of range and sensitivity discussed. In situ test structures have been designed and fabricated with access to the internal cavities to allow characterisation of the structures as a function of pressure.

Findings

The ultra low leak rates necessary to guarantee hermeticity of MEMS cannot be measured using traditional methods. Optical test methods are possible although in situ test structures currently provide the greatest sensitivity. A portfolio of test techniques is required to allow accurate hermeticity testing of MEMS.

Research limitations/implications

This paper provides a starting point for further investigation into several methods of MEMS hermeticity testing.

Originality/value

This paper provides a review of the limitations of traditional testing and proposals for future testing as the trend towards smaller volume packaging continues.
Implantable electronic devices technology challenges for long‐term human implantation
Authors: Vanhoestenberghe Anne
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the requirements for long‐term implantation of electronic devices with a focus on packaging and encapsulation.

Design/methodology/approach

Owing to their intended long‐term use in the human body, implants for electrical stimulation present specific challenges to the engineers. The respective roles of packaging and encapsulation must be clearly understood to make the most of new materials and modern machining technologies. This paper offers an introduction to the current situation and highlights challenges for future developments.

Findings

The innovative application of modern technologies may be useful to tackle key issues of encapsulation and sealing of small electrical devices for long‐term implantation.

Originality/value

Two examples of innovative application of alternative package manufacture and sealing method are described.
Segmentation of unevenly illuminated line scanned images
Authors: Chiou Yih‐Chih , Tsai Meng‐Ru
Published: October 2009

Purpose

Though many segmentation methods have been published, few of them are developed especially for line scanned images. An ill‐illuminated line scanned (IILS) image tends to have a uniform intensity distribution in column direction while non‐uniform intensity distribution in the row direction. So, it is improper to segment IILS images using either a pixed threshold or threshold surface. In view of this, the purpose of this paper is to develop a segmentation method that is suitable for segmented IILS images.

Design/methodology/approach

To obtain satisfactory segmentation results, the illumination variation across the column of a line scanned image was taken into account and a column‐based segmentation method was developed. The method first calculates each column's standard deviation. Then a threshold value is automatically assigned to each column based on the derived values. Finally, by assembling each columns threshold value, a so‐called threshold line is formed. The method is threshold‐line segmentation method based on standard deviation (TLSTD).

Findings

The developed threshold‐line‐based segmentation method is compared with Otsu's fixed threshold segmentation method and Niblack's threshold‐surface‐based segmentation method. The results show that the threshold‐line‐based segmentation method is more suitable for segmenting IILS images.

Research limitations/implications

Despite TLSTD outperforming Otsu's and Nilblack's segmentation methods, there are some limitations to it. The most obvious one is that the predetermined allowable deviation has influences on the integrality of the extracted flaws. Besides, since the proposed method is designed specifically for segmenting images captured by line scan cameras with a slant line light source, it is suitable for segmenting the kind of images only. In other words, the method shows no advantages in segment area scanned images.

Practical implications

Generally, the approach is useful in automated visual inspection where line scan cameras are employed.

Originality/value

The merit of the proposed method is that the slant of the line light source is now allowed. In other words, even if a grabbed line scanned image is unevenly illuminated, the proposed segmentation method is still able to successfully detect desired flaws.
Gender and leadership style
Authors: Rohmann Anette , Rowold Jens
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze whether German male and female leaders differ in their leadership behavior, focusing on transactional vs transformational leadership styles.

Design/methodology/approach

A field study in which followers were asked to evaluate their respective leaders was conducted in three different organizational contexts in Germany using questionnaires: a recreational sports club (n = 183), a government agency (n = 267), and a public transport services company (n = 203). Additionally, students (n = 518) were asked to evaluate historical world‐class leaders in terms of their leadership styles after a standardized presentation of their life and leadership style using biographies, essays, and movies.

Findings

Results in all four samples show that female leaders were perceived as exhibiting more transformational leadership behavior than male leaders. Moreover, female leaders were evaluated as more effective and as producing more satisfaction than their male counterparts.

Research limitations/implications

Self‐report data were used and leadership was assessed from the perspective of the followers. Future research should also include leaders' and peers' perspectives.

Originality/value

The finding that women have a more transformational leadership style than men is extended to another cultural context. The importance of analyzing different organizational contexts is highlighted.
Mentoring for enhancing females' career development: the bank job
Authors: Maxwell Gillian
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse how formal mentoring programmes may enhance female mentees' career development, particularly in a case study of a major high street bank.

Design/methodology/approach

Empirical case study work, from mentees' and mentors' points of view, on the evaluation of a pilot formal mentoring programme for the career development of females is discussed. The two stage evaluation encompasses gender issues such as the impact of gender imbalance and the nature of ambition, together with mentoring issues such as expectations and development of the programme.

Findings

Overall, it is found that the mentoring programme is considered, in different ways to mentees and mentors, to be highly successful. Further, it can offer benefits to mentors too. Although females' self‐perceptions, gendered values and perceptions of management and leadership can often impede the career development of females, effective, formal mentoring can be seen to offset such impediments.

Practical implications

The main inference is that effective formal mentoring can actively bolster females' management career development. The case evaluation exposes a series of good practice points in formal mentoring programmes. Capitalising on these points, organisations can enable females' development in management roles.

Originality/value

The paper acts to support greater gender equity in females' career development in management in the UK finance sector, conceptually and practically.
Management competencies: a comparative study between Thailand and Hong Kong
Authors: Sudsakorn Tawit , Swierczek Fredric William
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the management competencies required by a Master of Business Administration (MBA) graduate to succeed as a global business manager in an increasingly competitive business environment in Asia.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper analyzes the differences in management competencies of nearly 600 MBA students from 13 universities in Thailand and Hong Kong. In the questionnaire, the MBA students are asked to indicate the levels of the management competencies which they have gained from studying the MBA program.

Findings

The findings indicate that the work competency of the Hong Kong MBA students is significantly higher than the Thai MBA students. The levels of interpersonal competency do not, however, differ significantly between the Thai and Hong Kong students. The findings also show that there are significant relationships between the background variables, e.g. job title and cultural values – namely individual success and social power – and work and interpersonal competencies.

Practical implications

To improve the value of the MBA programs in Thailand, business schools will need to put more emphasis on the work competencies in their curricula. More workshops that actively stimulate work competencies must be emphasized in the Thai MBA programs.

Originality/value

The study of management competencies in Asia representing Thailand and Hong Kong is rare. New management development approaches are proposed for business schools to train their business students to become world‐class global managers.
A “360” degree view for individual leadership development
Authors: Drew Glenys
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceived usefulness to participants of a particular 360‐degree leadership survey process to assist an understanding of how ratees receive and respond to 360‐degree feedback.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper includes a sample of eight new and emergent leaders at one university in Australia who complete a 360‐degree feedback survey. Through semi‐structured interviews, they are asked to report on their learning as a result of undertaking the 360‐degree exercise. A constant comparison method of data analysis is used to analyse the participants' responses.

Findings

The research study finds from the group undertaking the 360‐degree feedback process that, in equal proportion, participants report receiving: no surprising feedback but reinforcement and affirmation; and new insights, with developmental strategies identified to effect change as a result of feedback. The paper argues, from findings of the literature and the study, the importance of a measure of institutional support for the feedback process including sound facilitation. The results of the semi‐structured conversations held with the small sample attest to the importance of self‐efficacy (belief of capacity to learn and develop) on the part of ratees to act on feedback gained, and of the organisation's role in assisting self‐efficacy in 360‐degree programs. The findings support an incremental theory approach in that participants see the feedback exercise as an opportunity to improve their capabilities and pursue learning goals over time by acting on development items suggested by the feedback. It is posited that support received by participants in undertaking the feedback activity as part of a program of development contributes to the positive response. The paper concludes by providing some guidelines for conducting effective 360‐degree feedback discussions.

Originality/value

There is a reasonable body of literature about 360‐degree feedback processes from a theoretical standpoint. This qualitative study addresses a relative gap in the literature to explore how participants describe their experience of undertaking a facilitated 360‐degree feedback exercise, including whether they gain new knowledge, or no new knowledge. The paper also suggests some principles that might be employed in facilitating 360‐degree feedback to maximise benefit from the process.
An exploratory content analysis of situational leadership
Authors: Papworth Mark A. , Milne Derek , Boak George
Published: October 2009

Purpose

Hersey and Blanchard's situational leadership (SL) model is widely utilised, but it has limited empirical support. This paper aims to investigate the model through content analysis of the transcripts of supervision sessions.

Design/methodology/approach

Eight transcripts of successful supervision interviews are subjected to in‐depth content analysis to investigate the validity of aspects of the SL model, principally that successful leadership interactions would vary systematically according to the level of supervisee experience. The supervisees consist of a novice, four training therapists, and three post‐graduate therapist practitioners. Statistical analyses are undertaken to investigate fundamental, predicted differences between the speech behaviours associated with the different developmental levels of these supervisees.

Findings

The findings offer only partial support for the model. As predicted, an increased proportion of supervisor speech is observed in the supervision of increasingly less experienced therapists. However, the majority of the more specific speech behaviours associated with supervisee experience level are not in keeping with the model.

Originality/value

These results are consistent with the findings of other evaluations of the SL model. As the present results are based on a novel approach, this increases the plausibility of the claim that SL lacks adequate empirical support. Areas of development and exploration are recommended, and limits associated with the model's utility are highlighted.
The strategy of stakeholder briefing during merger negotiation in the bank market
Authors: Konstantopoulos Nikolaos , Sakas Damianos P. , Triantafyllopoulos Yiannis
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of the variable stakeholder briefing in the successful completion of merger negotiations in the Greek banking branch.

Design/methodology/approach

The codification is attempted by means of software, so as to clarify the trends for negotiations in win‐win conditions. Data collected by the negotiation process of two large banking companies.

Findings

The paper concludes that an important factor for the successful outcome of a merger is also the methodology of briefing enacted by the leaders of the banking branch during both the negotiation and merger process.

Originality/value

The two banks follow a different briefing strategy in the issue of stakeholder briefing as well but there is congruency in briefing strategies concerning substantial goals, because both banks develop in a market that modulates tactics of consuming and investing behaviors through forming an “opinion” by the image that the banks give to consumers and investors about their plans.
The effectiveness of self‐management training in organisations from two culturally different countries
Authors: Pattni Indira , Soutar Geoffrey N.
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of short training in self‐management skills on employees' efficacious beliefs and skills across cultures.

Design/methodology/approach

A longitudinal pre‐post field investigation repeated measures analysis is used to compare the effectiveness of the self‐management training between employees from Australia (individualistic country) and Kenya (collectivistic country).

Findings

The results suggest that there is a significant improvement in the learning of skills and efficacious beliefs post‐training (24 weeks). However, there are no significant differences in improvement between the two cultures and the training is similarly effective in both cultures.

Research limitations/implications

Training focus is based on previous research that is primarily individual focused and further studies need to explore the training ethos. The assessments are developed for the study and need further examination to test their reliability and validity in other contexts. The individualistic and collectivistic criteria are drawn from Hofstede's work and may need further investigation as Hofstede's sample size of the Kenyan population is small. Finally, the results are unique to retail banking.

Originality/value

The effectiveness of this low‐cost training for enhancing employee efficacy has positive organisational outcomes, especially for those that have a multicultural workforce. It may be particularly useful for organisations in developing countries where cost is of concern.
An analysis of the environment and competitive dynamics of management research
Authors: Thomas Howard , Wilson Alex
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper examines some of the controversies facing business schools in their future evolution and pays particular attention to their competitive positioning as centres of management research.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper combines and builds on current literature to provide an analytic overview of the environment and competitive challenges to management research in business schools.

Findings

The paper assesses the impacts of a globalized environment and ever‐changing competitive dynamics, for example in terms of the supply of high‐quality faculty, on the activity of management research in business schools. It points out that research impacts must be judged not only in terms of theoretical development but also managerial and policy impact. However, managerial impact is difficult to measure and the “voice of practice” must be carefully identified.

Originality/value

The paper identifies the current challenges for undertaking innovative research in business schools in light of their competitive environment. Three interrelated conjectures focusing particularly on managerial impact are raised which identify problems and limitations of current debates on management research in business schools.
The theory/practice gap: a problem for research in business schools?
Authors: Reed Michael I.
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview and evaluation of the “theory/practice” gap in business and management research as it has been developed in relation to US and European business and management schools.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper combines theoretical and institutional analysis to construct a framework for analyzing the “theory/practice” gap and its wider implications.

Findings

The paper suggests that a “dialogical” rather than “linear” model of knowledge production and dissemination is the most analytically and practically useful way of approaching the “theory/practice” gap in business and management research.

Originality/value

The paper reviews and updates the “theory/practice” gap in business and management research and offers a more nuanced and realistic appreciation of how it might be resolved.
Forces for and forces against
Authors: Huxham Chris
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore some of the forces which militate against building capacity for research in business and management that satisfies the double‐hurdle criteria of academic rigour and relevance to practice, despite strong pressures in favour of it.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is a reflective piece based on a small number of interviews with researchers, and a variety of initiatives and events in the business and management environment.

Findings

Forces for practice relevant research include rhetorical statements from high‐profile academics, government, the research councils, and many business and management researchers. Forces against it relate principally to editorial and reviewer processes relating to journal publication and grant awards. Modes of academically rigorous, practice relevant research actually carried out are highly varied – some variations are discussed – but these are not widely understood by funding councils, editors, reviewers, or even by researchers working in different modes of such research.

Originality/value

The principal point of this paper is a call for capacity building to develop in the community an understanding of the nature of rigour in different modes of practice relevant and cumulative research. This contrasts with, but is in addition to, more traditional calls for effort to be applied to the further development and promulgation of practice relevant research approaches themselves.
From crisis to purpose
Authors: Starkey Ken , Tempest Sue
Published: October 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to argue that the current economic crisis offers an opportunity to rethink the role of the business school and how business schools can reinvent what they do by an engagement with history and the design sciences.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on an ongoing research project into the role of the business school. It provides an historical analysis of the business school's evolving role.

Findings

Debates about the nature of the business school fall into two camps, one that argues that the business school is a professional school, and another that says the business school needs to be a better social science school. This paper suggests an alternative perspective, more geared to a view of management as an art, rather than a science, offering less economics, more humanities and history.

Originality/value

The paper aligns itself with a growing call for business school reform and suggests how alternative disciplines might help shape its future.