bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Supply/demand chain modeling utilizing logistical‐based costing
Authors: Kosior Jake M. , Strong Doug
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to describe how total cost concept with logistical based costing (LBC) is developed in detail and then used to build logistical models on the Microsoft Excel™ platform that are integrated from the customer's factory to the supplier's door.

Design/methodology/approach

The models developed in this project are deterministic, event‐based algorithms to compare logistical conduits for bulk and containerized commodities. The demand chain approach is used to derive the pathways in reverse order from the customer to the supplier. The methodology is necessary to find all possible conduits from origin to destination, including points where product may cross over between various logistics systems. The approach is applied to the bulk and container system with disconnects (elevators, ports) serving as the demarcation points. The pathways from supplier to end‐user must be identified prior to application of classification and costing techniques. A goal of this research was to compare the per unit cost of two different logistical systems – bulk versus container – in two case studies. The first case study was for a miller in Northern China and the second was for a mill in Helsinki, Finland.

Findings

The spreadsheet models produced results that were within 3 percent of real world costs. Each demand chain was shown to be unique and required customized cost functions to properly configure algorithms.

Research limitations/implications

The paper suggests that, while a core algorithm may exist for all supply/demand chains, no one particular algorithm configuration suffices. Each supply/demand chain is unique, in terms of both costs and performance. The use of modular cost functions provides the customization necessary to address this issue.

Practical implications

This project verifies that successful implementation of a model is dependent on following a set of procedures that begins with a clear statement of what the model is to measure, along with what is to be included and what are the constraints imposed on the algorithm. Mapping the flow of the goods through logistical systems provides visibility as to where costs are incurred and how they are to be assigned to the supplier or customer. An improperly assigned variable in the early stages of a supply/demand chain reduces accuracy of subsequent calculations. LBC increases the precision of models by properly establishing the configuration of cost drivers for each stage of the supply/demand chain by avoiding the use of the cost averaging used in statistical analysis.

Originality/value

This paper provides a standardized approach for mapping, costing and building global supply/demand chain models. The ultimate customer, once thought of as the “end of the line”, now dictates the cost and performance requirements of logistical conduits. While this paper encapsulates methods for building total cost models from the customer's perspective, other configurations can be readily constructed to examine physical and performance characteristics.
Measuring supply chain performance: current research and future directions
Authors: Shepherd Craig , Günter Hannes
Published: July 2006

Purpose

This paper aims to go some way towards addressing the dearth of research into performance measurement systems and metrics of supply chains by critically reviewing the contemporary literature and suggesting possible avenues for future research.

Design/methodology/approach

The article provides a taxonomy of performance measures followed by a critical evaluation of measurement systems designed to evaluate the performance of supply chains.

Findings

The paper argues that despite considerable advances in the literature in recent years, a number of important problems have not yet received adequate attention, including: the factors influencing the successful implementation of performance measurement systems for supply chains; the forces shaping their evolution over time; and, the problem of their ongoing maintenance.

Originality/value

The paper provides a taxonomy of measures and outlines specific implications for future research.
The role and performance measurement of after‐sales in the durable consumer goods industries: an empirical study
Authors: Saccani N. , Songini L. , Gaiardelli P.
Published: July 2006

Purpose

To analyse the role of after‐sales services in manufacturing contexts, and the related after‐sales performance measurement systems.

Design/methodology/approach

An exploratory case study research was performed in the automotive, household appliance, IT and consumer electronics industries. The sample is made up of 48 firms with after‐sales operations in Italy.

Findings

The role attributed to after‐sales activities in the IT and consumer electronics and household appliance industries shows an orientation to improve company image, customer satisfaction and retention (marketing focus). A different situation characterises the companies studied in the automotive industry. In most firms, however, measurement systems are quite simple and short‐term oriented, especially in the IT and consumer electronics and household appliance industries. The measurement of non‐financial performance emphasises effectiveness rather than efficiency, and the automotive industry, on the whole, presents more advanced measurement systems, together with more integrated strategic management of after‐sales. The household appliance industry, on the other hand, due to the significant presence of SMEs, is characterised by less sophisticated performance measurement systems.

Originality/value

Provides a representation of current empirical practices in after‐sales role and performance measurement, a topic insufficiently covered by conceptual and empirical research.
Application of constrained management and lean manufacturing in developing best practices for productivity improvement in an auto‐assembly plant
Authors: Taj Shahram , Berro Lismar
Published: July 2006

Purpose – To increase productivity in an automotive assembly plant to satisfy customer demand and also develop best practices for productivity improvement for robotic welding operation lines. Design/methodology/approach – Principles of lean manufacturing and constrained management have been applied to increase the plant's output in order. Constrained management was used to identify bottlenecks in the plant that limits the throughput and lean manufacturing helped to identify waste (muda) in the constrained production areas. Analytical tools such as matrices are used for mapping sequence of robotics movements to identify interference and desired path for welding line. Findings – Results of applying constrained management and lean manufacturing in tandem have revealed the plant's overall bottlenecks and means of increasing the throughput. Research limitations/implications – The research findings are from an automotive assembly plant in a mass production industry, and the results may not be applicable to other types of industry. Practical implications – A very useful best practice for the productivity improvement that is easy to use by plants' management to help them identify and manage bottlenecks, and to eliminate waste from the production system. Originality/value – This paper offers practical and easy‐to‐use productivity improvement tools based on lean and constrained management principles to help manufacturing managers to make their operations more productive.
The effects of goal setting and feedback on manufacturing productivity: a field experiment
Authors: Stansfield Timothy C. , Longenecker Clinton O.
Published: July 2006

Purpose

To describe the conduct and outcomes of a field experiment in a US manufacturing facility using goal setting and feedback as productivity improvement tools.

Design/methodology/approach

Initial studies were conducted to determine a baseline of performance. A two‐month field experiment was utilized to test and measure productivity. The field experiment involved the implementation of changes to three manufacturing cells for a six‐week period and the training of supervisors and staff. Researchers performed the collection of data, implementation of changes and training of workers.

Findings

Findings suggest that goal setting and timely feedback will lead to improved work performance, greater efficiency, and the establishment of more challenging goals. In addition, findings suggest that information systems which facilitate goal setting and feedback are more effective than traditional supervision systems at improving performance.

Research limitations/implications

Several limitations of this study should be noted. First, the time frame for the intervention was limited to two months. A longer data collection period could ensure the longevity of the conclusions of this analysis. Second, all subjects received verbal feedback followed by the addition of graphic feedback. Therefore, sequence effects cannot be ruled out. On an overall basis, though, the findings of this study can clearly be applied to a wide range of manufacturing organizations

Practical implications

The study is useful for all managers seeking a competitive advantage through improved productivity. It provides significant insight into ways to improve productivity through the use of goal setting and performance feedback implemented by information systems.

Originality/value

This paper fulfills a need for insight into methods for improving productivity, as well as offering practical aid to managers in the manufacturing industry.
In the constructive tradition of being critical
Authors: Carr Adrian
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The special issue aims to look into what it means to be critical in relation to international business.

Design/methodology/approach

Gives an overview of articles submitted by experts in the field.

Findings

Finds that old practices of international trade are out of touch in the modern world and that new practices need to be agreed in order to make international trade work for all.

Originality/value

Collectively, these papers provide a response to what it means to be “critical” in relation to international business and in doing so will provide a useful touchstone to those who wish to make contributions to this new journal.
Marketing strategy in the Baltics: standardise or adapt?
Authors: Širaliova Jelena , Angelis Jannis J.
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The question of whether a business should pursue a marketing strategy that is standardised across national markets or adapted to individual markets has long troubled practicing managers and academics. The purpose of this study is to examine such marketing mix standardisation in the Baltic states.

Design/methodology/approach

This cross‐sectional study employs a survey of management responses from multinational companies active in the Baltic states to capture their marketing strategies. Another survey is used to capture customer perceptions of the degree of marketing mix standardisation.

Findings

This research supports the idea of marketing standardisation across the Baltic countries, but it also points at particular areas for adaptation.

Research limitations/implications

The three Baltic countries present an interesting case due to close geographical location, shared history and economic development, alongside differences in consumer behaviour caused by independent national development. This makes for unique market conditions when it comes to marketing standardization in the region.

Practical implications

The research results support multinational firms in their pursuit of the right balance between adaptation and standardisation in their marketing mix.

Originality/value

This study contributes to research in the areas of international marketing strategy and marketing standardisation.
The deposit of collectivism in organizational culture in Russia
Authors: Vadi Maaja , Vereshagin Michael
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The aim of this paper is explore how organizational culture is influenced by collectivism in Russia and draw some recommendations from human resources perspective because Russia differs from most Western countries in several ways, one of the key ones being a much higher tendency to collectivism.

Design/methodology/approach

The survey questionnaires were used in order to discover interrelations between characteristically collectivism and organizational culture. Organizational culture was turned into the task and relationship orientations approach and three levels of collectivism were distinguished. A total of 586 employees working for various organizations in Russia participated in this study.

Findings

First, it was discovered that Russians hold collectivistic attitudes (familism and patriotism) showing correlation with both orientations (task and relationships) of organizational culture. The results show that familism is negatively correlated with task orientation, while Patriotism is positively correlated with task and relationship orientations. These findings make it possible to develop recommendations for human resources management (HRM).

Research limitations/implications

The limitations of the study are related to organizational culture approach and the Russians' multifaceted ethnic and cultural background. Nevertheless, this study illuminates various issues that may influence HRM practices in Russia.

Practical implications

The Russian organizations have some specific characteristics and this paper explains how those might be better managed. Special attention is paid on the HRM strategy and policy in the Russian context.

Originality/value

The main value of the paper is related to the contribution to the understanding which cultural factors may influence the HRM practices in Russia.
Transition processes and integral cultural space development in Central and Eastern Europe: main problems and priorities
Authors: Melnikas Borisas , Baršauskas Petras , Kvainauskaitė Vaida
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The paper aims to evaluate the problems and theoretical characteristics of integral cultural space development in the context of transition processes in Central and Eastern Europe.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper has used the outcomes of the research conducted over recent several years, dedicated to the diagnostics of the problems of transformations as well as economic and social development in Central and Eastern Europe with a special reference to the development of the integral cultural space.

Findings

Major findings show that the creation and development of the integral cultural space in Europe is a very complex and controversial process, and in this course various problems and conflicts arise. Therefore, to encourage the creation of the integral cultural space in Europe appropriate cultural policies need to be implemented in Europe. These policies may embrace many priorities including the preservation of cultural diversity, adaptation and dissemination of integrated European dimensions and elimination of inappropriate factors within humanism and democracy of all European countries.

Practical implications

For implementation of key priorities of cultural policies the use of a number of pan‐European scale special programmes is suggested.

Originality/value

The new non‐traditional ideas of possible economic and social development in Central and Eastern Europe are discussed.
What happened on the way to postmodern?
Authors: Boje David M.
Published: July 2006

Purpose

This paper seeks to address the question: what happened to postmodern?

Design/methodology/approach

Three trends are reviewed: postmodern fragmentation, late modern appropriations of postmodern moves; and emergent awareness of the dark‐side of postmodern.

Findings

On the way to postmodern theory the revolution to reform modern capitalism fragmented into rhetoric‐strands, while practice became ineffective.

Research limitations/implications

The paper concludes with possibilities for participatory research in ways that enact more postmodern forms of capitalist praxis.

Practical implications

It is suggested that qualitative studies of postmodern praxis can be conducted; such as postmodern organizations that enact the dark‐side of biotechnology; consumer organizations, such as Blackspot and No Sweat that contract to non‐sweatshop factories; and autoethnographic examples of how building a Harley‐Davidson chopper is post‐production and post‐consumption.

Originality/value

The paper shows that in the fragmentation of moderns and postmoderns, there is a relentless appropriation of postmodern moves by late modernism. This is one contributing factor to the “dark side of postmodern.” Other contributing factors are naive brands of postmodern (e.g. chaos theory, complexity, new age spirituality) which, sometimes only see the positive potentialities, and blind one to the dark side. What is original is the call for a combination of critical theory and postmodern theory (critical postmodern) that looks at the relation between various ideas of modern and postmodern and how they can be studied in their dialogicality.
The researcher interview: a reflexive perspective
Authors: Bryman Alan , Cassell Catherine
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to highlight some of the issues that emerge in the researcher interview process. It is argued that researcher interviewing is becoming an increasingly used practice yet the researcher interview is under‐critiqued in the literature.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors provide an “insider” account of their own experiences of researcher interviewing. Additionally they seek to locate these experiences within two conceptual approaches: that of reflexivity and identity work.

Findings

The paper aims to investigate some of the distinctive concerns that arise when one researcher interviews another.

Research limitations/implications

The paper outlines the implications for others who may be engaging in the process of interviewing researchers, and highlights further issues for consideration when planning a researcher interview study.

Originality/value

The paper provides an analysis of a little considered, but expanding practice within qualitative research, namely the researcher interview.
An ARIMA supply chain model with a generalized ordering policy
Authors: Gilbert Kenneth C. , Chatpattananan Vuttichai
Published: July 2006

Purpose

This paper aims to present a method for production planning that reduces the bullwhip effect.

Design/methodology/approach

The methods are derived using ARIMA models of the supply chain.

Findings

The resulting techniques produced an order policy that uses inventory or backlog to absorb the random variation in demand, but has immediate response to variation in the forecast level of demand.

Research limitations/implications

The limitation of the research is that the optimality of the order policy is based on the assumption that the demand can be modeled using ARIMA models. When this is not the case the method can still be used as a heuristic approach to production smoothing.

Practical implications

This paper offers a practical and easy to implement approach to production planning.

Originality/value

The paper introduces a generalized order policy and derives optimal production smoothing parameters for that order policy.
Corporate responsibility in the global economy: a business case
Authors: Prout Jerry
Published: July 2006

Purpose

To develop the self‐interested, business rationale for the export of socially responsible business behavior by multinational firms to developing economies.

Design/methodology/approach

Review the rationale for the ascendance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the developed economies, the skepticism that emerged regarding CSR and the proliferation of codes to guide CSR conduct. From this perspective build a parallel case for the development of a business rationale for CSR in the developing economies and how multinational firms can play a transformative role.

Findings

Corporations typically have a self‐interested approach to adopting CSR values; either for marketing purposes, or to sustain acceptance among socially conscious investors, consumers, competitors, etc. This same approach should be adopted in the developing world: because consumers and investors transfer these same expectations globally; because businesses in developing countries want acceptance; and because multinationals can test performance‐based rather than regulatory‐based approaches to CSR behaviors.

Research limitations/implications

Measurements of on the ground progress in implementing CSR standards abroad are limited both by lack of empirical data, and accepted understanding of measurement yardsticks. This should be the subject of additional research and analysis.

Originality/value

Corporations and stakeholders might find common ground in developing acceptable codes of conduct for CSR behavior in the developing economies and non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) might serve as credible, third‐party auditors of conduct.
Sino‐foreign joint ventures: from exogamy to endogamy
Authors: Jolly Dominique R.
Published: July 2006

Purpose

This research aims to demonstrate that most of the current Sino‐foreign joint ventures are exogamic partnerships and to analyze the resources pooled by allies in Sino‐foreign joint ventures, the objectives pursued by each ally and how this mix has evolved since the first days of the open door policy.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on an extensive literature review and data collection into 67 Sino‐foreign joint ventures. Data were collected into joint ventures employing more than 100 employees and primarily based around Shanghai. A semi‐structured questionnaire was administered mostly with Chinese managers. A set of 21 different resources and 15 different objectives were examined.

Findings

Three main conclusions emerge: partners of Sino‐foreign joint ventures contribute with differentiated sets of idiosyncratic and non‐substitutable resources that are distinctively under the control of each partner with Chinese bringing locally rooted resources and country‐specific knowledge and foreigners bringing technology, managerial abilities, brand image and financial resources, there is a symmetrical relationship between the objectives of one partner and the resources brought into the alliance by the other with each one trying to gain access to what the other pools into the joint venture, and finally, the more recent the partnership, the less the partners contribute with their idiosyncratic resources.

Research limitations/implications

The profile of Chinese partners might favor a Shanghainese point of view. More data from other areas such as Beijing and Guangzhou would be needed to test in future research whether cultural differences between different Chinese provinces might create some discrepancies relative to the issues raised. In the same vein, the limited number of foreign managers who answered the questionnaire did not allow for a comparison to be made with Chinese managers. A systematic comparison would offer some interesting areas for future research.

Practical implications

This paper suggests that Sino‐foreign joint ventures will increasingly be transformed into endogamic partnerships in the future. Because of the combination of differentiated resources in Sino‐foreign joint ventures, each partner learns from its counterpart and tends to fill the knowledge gap. Once the learning process is completed, partners' profiles tend to be closer. Partners become able to accumulate similar resources. This produces size or scale advantages – which is precisely the benefit of endogamies.

Originality/value

This is one of the first empirical research studies to use the endogamy/exogamy dichotomy in the field of business. These two archetypes offer new perspectives for the study of joint ventures, and especially for the analysis of Sino‐foreign joint ventures. This research is also probably amongst the first studies to analyze these issues using data collected primarily from Chinese managers. And technology is not treated globally but is analyzed along different lines.
The impact of Sino‐western cultural differences on IT products consumption
Authors: Mingxia Zhu , Quan Rose , Xuan Kuang
Published: July 2006

Purpose

Fast‐developed IT products have had a great impact on high technology business. With increases of foreign investments flowing into Chinese IT markets, the impact of national culture and ethnicity on consumer behaviour has become a recognized issue. The main purpose of this paper is to examine how Chinese and western national culture differences significantly influence IT customers' purchasing decisions underlying Chinese IT markets.

Design/methodology/approach

A structured survey was used for this study. Owing to the difficulties of covering huge geographic areas in China, the two largest and modern cities, Beijing and Shanghai, were chosen as the target cities where the 200 questionnaires were distributed to both Chinese and western customers.

Findings

By sampling US customers as representative of western nations, different choices regarding using text message service, cell phones and personal digital assistant are compared between Chinese and US customers. The results indicate that the Chinese customer tends to be more a follower of his “friends” than to be “myself” compared with western customers.

Originality/value

The significant impact of national culture differences on IT products has not been fully acknowledged yet, particularly vis‐à‐vis of the Chinese markets. This research provides insights into the IT industry and market by comparing consumer behaviours between Chinese and US customers. The results can be a guide for IT products manufacturers who in particular are interested in high technology business in mainland China.
New product mix selection for a high technology company in a technology innovation network
Authors: Hung Chen Hsing , Lee Amy H.I. , Tong Yunhuan
Published: July 2006

Purpose

Owing to keen challenges in an evolving market, new product development (NPD) is critical for an enterprise to prosper. To increase the likelihood of having a few successful products, NPD mix is usually selected in practice. Since, a firm has difficulty surviving independently in a high technology industry, flexible strategies to collaborate or to compete with firms within a technology innovation network (TIN) are essential. Therefore, finding an appropriate mix which can lead to a more satisfactory performance for an enterprise inside a TIN is an important issue, which this paper aims to discuss.

Design/methodology/approach

A modified‐analytic hierarchy process (AHP) model is proposed to evaluate the NPD mixes. Since, integrated product development is positively associated with efficiency and negatively with innovation, a suitable NPD operation with a mode of knowledge creation needs to be adopted by evaluating the result of the NPD mix.

Findings

The proposed model leads to a more satisfactory performance for the firm.

Originality/value

The result from the practical case study is in accord with the theoretical model, since this model keeps a firm operating simultaneously efficiently and innovatively, rather than trade‐off and balanced.
Institutional barriers to entrepreneurship in clusters
Authors: Saka‐Helmhout Ayse , Karabulut Elif
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The paper aims to highlight the extent to which the institutional context of a country can inhibit entrepreneurial activity in clusters.

Design/methodology/approach

Case study method employing exploratory survey questionnaire and interviews administered to 78 firms in the Denizli textile cluster in Turkey.

Findings

Findings show that Denizli district firms nurture effectively only some of the features of an industrial district, that is flexibility, participative managerial structure and trust. However, there is limited availability of skilled workers, and limited co‐operation in the form of joint projects and investments for innovation owing to the weak institutional context in which these firms are embedded. Although this might be expected to discourage economic benefits, performance, particularly in terms of efficiency and relations with internal and external customers, is perceived to be high by the cluster firms.

Research limitations/implications

It is not adequate to argue that policy makers of developing countries should take particular systems of organizing, such as cluster formation, into consideration for their industrialization efforts. One needs to consider the wider institutional context in which entrepreneurial activity is embedded that can limit the degree to which clusters can stimulate economic development. This has implications for the applicability of a cluster approach to foreign contexts, particularly where global value chain governance is of a quasi‐hierarchical form.

Practical implications

Although district firms can strategize on the basis of their flexibility, trust relations and managerial structures within the confines of a state‐organized institutional environment and a quasi‐hierarchical global value chain, further improvements such as relocation of production and equity participation are needed to meet the global challenge.

Originality/value

This study shows that the institutional make‐up of a country can discourage actors from changing patterns of organizing for innovation. Although a substantial number of studies have been carried out for more than a decade on the internal structure and formation of clusters, these pertain predominantly to operations in developed nations and, by and large, ignore developing countries. The paper argues that clusters may not generate the same economic benefits when embedded in weak, state‐organized institutional settings as when operating in strong collaborative institutional contexts. The study is of value particularly to policy makers.
Flight control system design for a micro aerial vehicle
Authors: Guglieri Giorgio , Pralio Barbara , Quagliotti Fulvia
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present an original design procedure for a flight control system.

Design/methodology/approach

An optimization process, based on a genetic algorithm (GA), is used to meet the frequency domain handling qualities requirements in the longitudinal plane for an unconventional platform characterized by nonlinear aerodynamics. The parameters are implemented in the search process as fitness functions related to the expected magnitude of bandwidth and delay for an existing micro aerial vehicle. The bandwidth and the delay of the longitudinal short‐term attitude response are estimated before and after the inclusion of the flight control system in the simulation model, and the parameters are compared with the expected handling qualities levels. A qualitative analysis of handling qualities levels is also performed by implementing the augmented aircraft in a simulator with a realistic visual environment.

Findings

The results show that an optimal search process based on a GA can implement the handling qualities requirements with a computational procedure that is straightforward.

Research limitations/implications

Even if the requisites for bandwidth and delay implemented in the search process are general in use as no specific aircraft response type is taken as a reference for the estimation of handling qualities requirements, only future experimental work will provide insight for the definition of specific Level 1 boundaries for micro aerial vehicles in remotely piloted flight.

Originality/value

The virtual environment is useful to test remote piloting with unconventional onboard visual cues. This is important in applications in which technical limitations may preclude complete real time data link during flight tests in the first development phase of the vehicle.
Simulation of range safety for the NASA space shuttle
Authors: Rabelo Luis C. , Sepulveda Jose , Compton Jeppie , Turner Robert
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The main objective of this paper is to introduce the development of a decision‐support environment for a complex problem: space range safety. Simulation modeling can provide a good environment to support range safety managers.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper describes the different models and the processes to find the different knowledge sources. In addition, it investigates statistically the most important factors. This will help determine emergency management procedures and sources of variability.

Findings

This case study provides guidance and an example to follow for other problems in aerospace (in particular new the analysis of new vehicles). There are important factors to consider in order to implement risk management in National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Research limitations/implications

There are several limitations; blast and debris effects need to be added.

Practical implications

First, it provides a guide in order to persuade managers of the utilization of decision‐support systems based on geographical information systems. Second, it shows that there is open source software (Calpuff in our environment) which can be used and integrated to make a more comprehensive environment. Validation is a big issue. In addition, simulation can help make decisions about future vehicles or events.

Originality/value

This is the first implementation of a virtual range (there is not an integrated system similar to this one available). This will be valuable to other safety managers not only for space exploration but also environmentalists and homeland security managers.
Fuel system design of the smart UAV considering operational reliability
Authors: Kong Changduk , Kang Myoung‐cheol , Lee Chang‐ho , Han Dong‐ju
Published: July 2006

Purpose

To set‐up a specific design procedure for the smart unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) fuel supply system which has been developed by Korean Aerospace Research Institute, and to design it preliminarily with the fuel system requirement and target reliabilities.

Design/methodology/approach

The fuel system layout and fuel tank were determined through consideration of total fuel volume, fuel flow rate, reliability, weight, centre of gravity, etc. In sizing of components such as booster pumps, jet pumps, piping system, vent subsystem, refuelling and defuelling subsystem, engine fuel flow requirement, pressure loss, component failure rate, weight and centre of gravity were considered. Finally, the reliability analysis of the preliminary designed fuel system was carried out.

Findings

According to the reliability analysis and weight estimation results, it was confirmed that the proposed fuel system agreed well with the design specifications and target reliabilities required by the vehicle system.

Research limitations/implications

In current preliminary design phase, the most important consideration is the reliability of the fuel system. Therefore, the weight estimation of the designed fuel system to meet this reliability requirement could not meet partially the system's requirements. In the next design step, the proper fuel system for weight reduction will be performed through an optimization process between weight and reliability.

Originality/value

A specific design procedure components' sizing to meet system requirement target reliability for UAV vertical take‐off/landing was proposed.
Numerical simulation of stage separation manoeuvre with jet interaction
Authors: Mirzaei Masoud , Najafie Nia Babak , Shadaram Abodollah
Published: July 2006

Purpose

This research aims to investigate numerically the influence of braking jets on separation process of a flying object.

Design/methodology/approach

The flying object is at supersonic regime and axial separation of its stages is accomplished with the aid of braking jets of separated stage. The simulation is three‐dimensional and relative motion of the stages is considered three degree of freedom. Full Navier‐Stokes equations in conjunction with κ−ε (RNG) turbulence model equations are considered as governing equations. These equations are solved using the finite volume technique. The separation process is analysed as an unsteady process and the problem is solved in a moving grid domain. The local remeshing method is adapted to regenerate computational cells around moving boundaries.

Findings

Time history of flow field around the vehicle components, time history of aerodynamic coefficients, and instantaneous relative position of the body components are the results of this research. Numerical modelling results are compared with the results of other references.

Originality/value

Most of the similar works in this area have used Euler or thin layer Navier‐Stokes (TLNS) equations as governing equations and the use of full Navier‐Stokes equations to analyse such a complicated problem (3D axial separation with braking jets) have not been reported in the literature. Since there are some recirculation zones inside the flow field and Euler or even TLNS equations cannot predict their behaviours, the use of full Navier‐Stokes equations may lead to more accurate prediction of these regions and aerodynamic forces.
MALE UAV design of an increased reliability level
Authors: Goetzendorf‐Grabowski Tomasz , Frydrychewicz Andrzej , Goraj Zdobysław , Suchodolski Stanisław
Published: July 2006

Purpose

This study seeks to present the initial requirements for medium altitude long endurance (MALE) UAV design of an increased reliability.

Design/methodology/approach

Shows and describes the successive design phases of PW‐103 MALE UAV.

Findings

The analysis of the performances of the PW‐103 UAV, powered by either a main or an auxiliary engine, demonstrated that auxiliary power unit improved flight safety significantly.

Originality/value

Successive MALE UAV configurations developed in the design process were aerodynamically more efficient than their predecessors.
Louise and Sidney Homer: a 21st century dual‐career couple, circa 1911
Authors: Achey Kidwell Linda , Kidwell Roland E.
Published: July 2006

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the lives of early twentieth century opera star Louise Homer and her composer husband Sidney, and their attempts to manage two successful careers and a family of six children. Almost 100 years ago, the Homers – a rare example of a two‐career family – employed several adaptive strategies that academic researchers later suggested for twenty‐first century dual‐career couples.

Design/methodology/approach

Considering the work‐family literature, two modern models of managing and coping with the stresses of dual careers were examined and the Homer family were then considered to determine whether they employed similar strategies. Letters were used from the Homers and their children, other original documents and secondary research in investigating the couple's efforts to handle the challenges of dual‐careers when the concept of a woman pursuing a profession outside the home was a novelty.

Findings

Several adaptive strategies recently “discovered” to be used by upper‐income dual‐career couples with children seem just as applicable to 1911 when the Homers' fifth child was born. The findings underscore the idea that challenges perceived as unusual and unique to one generation have been dealt with successfully by past generations.

Originality/value

The paper provides an historical perspective on newly suggested strategies for dual‐career couples in the work‐family literature. Such strategies have been used for at least a century even though the dual‐career concept only became prominent in the last four decades. This paper is one of a few that examines dual‐career couples in an historical context, and indicates how the past can inform those who face contemporary workplace phenomena.
The emergence of job satisfaction in organizational behavior
Authors: Wright Thomas A.
Published: July 2006

Purpose

Based more on practical (and contextual), rather than theoretical grounds, over time, job satisfaction came to be the work attitude of choice for many early researchers interested in studying the relationship between employee attitudes and efficiency. Surprisingly, research examining the basis for why this belief is practically nonexistent. This paper addresses this apparent void in the organizational literature.

Design/methodology/approach

First, a historical overview of the development of job attitudes is introduced. Second, incorporating important early, but now mostly forgotten, research on employee boredom, fatigue and customer satisfaction, a “missing link” explanation is presented for job satisfaction eventually becoming the “job attitude of choice” in organizational research.

Findings

Integrating early research from two long‐forgotten streams of organizational research, this paper provides a practical (and contextual) framework for why job satisfaction became the most widely used measure of happiness in the happy/productive worker thesis.

Practical implications

Future research endeavors on the happy/productive worker thesis might greatly benefit from an awareness of the important, but now mostly forgotten, stream of early research on worker well‐being.

Originality/value

This historical paper provides the reader with a better understanding of the contextual framework for how the fascination with job satisfaction developed over time.
The effect of economic conditions on union membership of men and women
Authors: Halbesleben Jonathon R.B. , Buckley M. Ronald
Published: July 2006

Purpose

In a recent review of the history of women in unions, the author suggested that downturns in the economy have had a more significant effect on women than men in unions, leading to significant declines in the membership of women in unions. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between economic cycles and women's membership in unions.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper investigates that relationship using both quantitative and historical methods and generate evidence for the proposal.

Findings

Based on the historical and quantitative analysis, it is concluded that a more accurate way to depict the situation is to say that economic conditions influence union membership through a number of important intervening variables and, furthermore, that changes in those intervening variables over the past 40 years have substantially influenced the relationship between economics and union membership.

Originality/value

This paper is unique in its combination of historical and empirical approaches to addressing questions of a historical nature. The paper addresses an interesting proposal regarding relationships between economics and gender in union membership
Do First‐Year Intervention Effects Endure? Follow‐Up during Toddlerhood of a Sample of Dutch Irritable Infants
Authors: van den Boom Dymphna C.
Published: July 2006

This study evaluated the enduring effectiveness of a skill‐based training program to enhance maternal sensitivity between 6 and 9 months of age. 82 mothers and their toddlers were evaluated at 18 and 24 months, and 79 at 3 1/2 years on the bases of observations of free play, everyday interaction, problem solving, and peer interaction. Most of the significant behavioral changes noted in the second year pertain to attachment security, indices of maternal sensitivity across situations, and child cooperation. Some enduring effects on indices of sensitivity appear to be attachment‐mediated. In the third year, results revealed direct enduring intervention effects on parental responsiveness and child cooperation. Attachment‐mediated effects were evident for maternal assistance, child security, and positive peer contact. Attachment pattern also predicted differences in attractiveness of the focal child as an interactive partner.
A Combination of Vocal f0 Dynamic and Summary Features Discriminates between Three Pragmatic Categories of Infant‐Directed Speech
Authors: Katz Gary S. , Cohn Jeffrey F. , Moore Christopher A.
Published: July 2006

To assess the relative contribution of dynamic and summary features of vocal fundamental frequency (f0) to the statistical discrimination of pragmatic categories in infant‐directed speech, 49 mothers were instructed to use their voice to get their 4‐month‐old baby's attention, show approval, and provide comfort. Vocal f0 from 621 tokens was extracted using a Computerized Speech Laboratory and custom software. Dynamic features were measured with convergent methods (visual judgment and quantitative modeling of f0 contour shape). Summary features were f0 mean, standard deviation, and duration. Dynamic and summary features both individually and in combination statistically discriminated between each of the pragmatic categories. Classification rates were 69% and 62% in initial and cross‐validation DFAs, respectively.
Peer Relationships and Emotional Well‐Being of Youngsters with Sickle Cell Disease
Authors: Noll Robert B. , Vannatta Kathryn , Koontz Kristine , Kalinyak Karen , Bukowski William M. , Davies W. Hobart
Published: July 2006

Comparisons with measures of peer relationships and emotional well‐being were made between youngsters with sickle cell disease (SCD) and same‐classroom comparison peers. Relative to the comparison subjects, females with SCD were perceived by peers as being less sociable and less well accepted; males with SCD were perceived as being less aggressive than comparison peers. For both males and females with SCD, no other differences were identified on numerous measures of emotional well‐being. None of the multiple measures of illness severity were significantly related to measures of psychological adjustment. The common side effects of SCD, chronic fatigue and smallphysical size, may divert males with the illness from manifesting difficulties related to aggressivebehavior with peers. For females with the illness, the common side effects of the illness may hinder the development of normal social relationships. Despite chronic exposure to numerous stressful life events associated with SCD, the youngsters with the illness were remarkably similar to comparison peers, showing evidence of considerable hardiness.
Children's and Adults' Memory for Television Stories: The Role of Causal Factors, Story‐Grammar Categories, and Hierarchical Level
Authors: van den Broek Paul , Lorch Elizabeth Pugzles , Thurlow Richard
Published: July 2006

What events from televised stories do preschool children and adults remember? In this study, we examined the extent to which 4‐year‐old and 6‐year‐old children's and adults' free recall of events from “Sesame Street” stories is determined by the role the events play in the story structure. Events varied with respect to 4 structural properties: number of causal connections, status on or off the story's causal chain, story‐grammar category, and position in the story's hierarchical structure. There were systematic developmental differences in the effects of these properties on recall. First, memory at all ages was strongly influenced by the 2 causal factors, but effects of these factors increased with age. Second, children emphasized actions in their recall, whereas adults most frequently recalled protagonists' goals and events that initiated these goals. Third, children's recall increased as the hierarchical level of events increased, whereas adults most frequently recalled (causally more important) events at intermediate levels. These findings demonstrate that preschool children are already sensitive to structural features of televised narratives but that utilization of the causal‐motivational structure of narratives increases systematically with age.