bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A polyimide based resistive humidity sensor
Authors: Packirisamy Muthukumaran , Stiharu Ion , Li Xing , Rinaldi Gino
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To establish an accurate and sensitive method to characterize the moisture content of a particular environment.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper proposes a relatively simple humidity sensor design consisting of electrodes on a suitable substrate coated with a polyimide material. The changes in relative humidity are denoted by a corresponding change in the polyimide material's electrical resistance profile. The design proposed in this work can be microfabricated and integrated with electronic circuitry. This sensor can be fabricated on alumina or silicon substrates. The electrode material can be made up of nickel, gold or aluminum and the thickness of the electrodes ranges typically between 0.2 and 0.3 μm. The sensor consists of an active sensing layer on top of a set of electrodes. The design of the electrodes can be configured for both resistive and capacitive sensing.

Findings

The polyimide material's ohmic resistance changes significantly with humidity variations. Changes in resistance as large as 4‐6 orders of magnitude are attainable over the entire operational humidity range.

Research limitations/implications

As the sensitivity varies non‐linearly with the humidity, the measurement has to be carried out over a very wide range in order to calibrate the sensor. The sensitivity and output range of the sensor can be easily controlled by changing the electrode spacing or geometry.

Practical implications

The control of humidity is important in many applications ranging from bio‐medical to space exploration.

Originality/value

A simple, easy to fabricate and measure, and low cost resistive‐type humidity sensor was developed. The realized sensor is suitable for integrating with microfabrication. Hence, multiple sensors of varying sensitivities and output ranges could be integrated on the same chip. Over the last few years, newly emerging micro‐electro‐mechanical‐systems technology and micro‐fabrication techniques have gained popularity and importance in the miniaturization of a variety of sensors and actuators.
Heterogeneous embedded system with “microcontroller‐CPLD” based shared memory interface for sensor applications
Authors: Shrikrishna Parab Jivan , Sadanand Paliekar Porob Rupesh , Roy Francis Joseph Kottanal , Vishwanath Naik Kunal , Kamat Rajanish K. , Naik Gourish M.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

Aims to design a heterogeneous embedded system with CPLD and microcontroller as co‐processors sharing a memory module.

Design/methodology/approach

The system receives external analog input signal, which is applied to the PIC 16F73 microcontroller. Upon converting the data in to digital format using the on‐chip ADC, the PIC stores the digitized version in the SRAM (HCM 6264) chip. SRAM HCM 6264 has been used as a shared memory model, of which both the PIC and CPLD can access all the locations. Once the PIC passes controls to the CPLD, the further processing is carried out by the CPLD without any intervention of the PIC. This is a true example of co‐processing of the architecturally diversified computing modules from completely different vendors with totally different programming suits.

Findings

The board has been tested with IC temperature sensors and also found to be useful for sensor array applications involving three types of processing viz. analog (through instrumentation amplifier), real‐time digital (through microcontroller) and customized reconfigurable digital (with the CPLD).

Practical implications

The system has several potential applications in avionics, military and robotic embedded systems, which have inherent real‐time constraints that need to be supported by the underlying hardware and driver programs.

Originality/value

Discusses the rare and unique combination of diversified processing core to build an embedded system.
Automation in biotechnology – active ingredient analysis on brain tissue
Authors: Hortig Justus , Boehme Torsten , Felsch Torsten , Elkmann Norbert
Published: January 2007

Purpose

Introduction of an automated laboratory system for a new field of laboratory operation, namely cultivation and handling of live brain tissue.

Design/methodology/approach

The company's expertise in manual throughput was transferred to automatable methods. Processing data is used for scheduling purposes to yield efficient production of results.

Findings

Automated process has comparable survival rates and high reproducibility. Time tolerance is lower than for manual operation.

Research limitations/implications

Several bottle necks of the system have been identified and are to be improved upon in future research. These are especially “handling of membrane inserts” and slow‐running procedures.

Practical implications

Cataloging of activity data (timestamps, parameters, etc.) allows for much easier statistical analysis and data‐mining than with manual operation data.

Originality/value

Tissue‐based, high‐throughput screening is a seminal field in laboratory automation.
Partial inclusion and biculturalism of African Americans
Authors: Dawson Gail
Published: January 2007

Purpose

More than 40 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, African Americans experienced partial inclusion in corporate America and to a certain extent have had to maintain a bicultural identity to function. This article aims to provide insight into the lived experience of African Americans in corporate America to illustrate the experience and effect of partial inclusion and biculturalism.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper explores the lived experience of partial inclusion and biculturalism, phenomenological interviews were conducted with a small number of African Americans who work or worked in corporate America.

Findings

As a result of partial inclusion, the participants often did not engage in social interaction to the same extent as their colleagues which resulted in them having less information, less access to social networks, and less of a sense of belonging in the organization. Consequently, they often felt less connected to the organization and had to work harder to compensate for the deficit this created. This coupled with the absence of a sense of belonging may have decreased their level of satisfaction and increased the need to keep their two worlds separate. This made life more difficult for them

Research limitations/implications

This study examined the careers and experiences of a small number of African Americans who worked in corporate America during the 1960s and 1970s. Future research should include examining the careers and experiences of African Americans and other minorities who have entered corporate America more recently.

Practical implications

Creating an inclusive workplace will foster and environment where employees feel more of a connection to their organizations and their coworkers and allow them to focus more of their efforts on meeting organizational goals rather than on overcoming deficits created by lack of information and balancing between two worlds.

Originality/value

This article explores the lived experience of partial inclusion and biculturalism noting that in some cases African Americans consciously chose not to participate in social events. The concept of double partial inclusion in which African Americans did not feel that they were fully included in the corporate culture or the African American culture was introduced.
Recruiters’ perceptions of appearance: the stigma of image norms
Authors: Hurley‐Hanson Amy E. , Giannantonio Cristina M.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To introduce a model which examines the relationship between recruiters’ perceptions of image and the stigma of image norms.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper examines the influence of image norms on recruiters’ perceptions of applicants during interviews and explores the manner in which recruiters may stigmatize applicants. A model is presented which explores how image norms may be used to stigmatize applicants and affect recruiters’ decisions.

Findings

Image norms are found to have an influence on recruiters’ evaluations of applicants during the interview process.

Research limitations/implications

Empirical tests of the model are suggested to illustrate how image norm violations lead to stigmatization during the recruitment process.

Practical implications

Applicants who are denied entry into organizations on the basis of their appearance or image, experience a subtle, yet unacceptable form of employment discrimination. Organizations need to ensure that they are not excluding potential employees who do not meet the image norm expectations of recruiters. Organizations need to make sure that the image norms used to evaluate applicants are not a proxy for discrimination based on protected characteristics.

Originality/value

This paper looks at image, a broader construct than physical attractiveness, to ensure equal opportunities for everyone. This is the first paper to consider the discriminatory effects of image in organizations.
Lesbian, gay and bisexual workers: equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace
Authors: Wright Tessa , Colgan Fiona , Creegany Chris , McKearney Aidan
Published: January 2007

Purpose

Aims to present a report of a conference held at London Metropolitan University in June 2006 that presented and discussed the findings of a two‐year research project, funded by the Higher Education European Social Fund. The project investigated the experiences of LGB workers following the introduction of the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulation 2003 in the United Kingdom.

Design/methodology/approach

The research was a qualitative study carried out in 16 case study organisations, seen as representing “good practice” in the area of employment of LGB workers. The case studies involved: the analysis of company documentation and reports; interviews with 60 management, trade union and LGBT network group representatives, a short survey and in‐depth interviews with 154 LGB employees. The case studies were supplemented by a series of 25 national key informant interviews with individuals in UK organisations representing government, employers, employees, and LGB people charged with disseminating advice and promoting good practice.

Findings

Just over half (57.8 per cent) of the LGB respondents were out to everyone at work. A third (33.8 per cent) were out to some people, while 8.4 per cent said that they were out to very few people or nobody at work. The research indicated that equal opportunities and diversity policies which include sexual orientation; the establishment and promotion of same sex benefits; positive employer and trade union signals; the existence of LGBT groups, the presence of LGB colleagues and LGB senior managers can help LGB people come out. However, LGB people may be prevented from coming out by fears about career progression; lack of visible senior LGB staff; temporary employment status; previous negative experiences of discrimination and harassment; desiring privacy; “macho” or religious attitudes/behaviours of co‐workers.

Originality/value

Little research exists in the UK on the experiences of LGB workers, and this is one of the first studies to focus on the experiences of LGB workers following the introduction of legislation to protect workers against discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation in 2003.
Advancing diversity through research, teaching, and service
Authors: Johnson C. Douglas
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To highlight the gender and diversity in organizations (GDO) division's conference program at the 66th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (AoM).

Design/methodology/approach

A select group of presentations are summarized based on observation, notes, discussions, and reading of material.

Findings

Attempts to advance diversity are being made via a variety of avenues to include research, teaching, and service efforts. Presentations illustrated how important diversity is at the individual, organizational, and societal levels of analysis.

Originality/value

The GDO division of the AoM is making positive strides as it relates to advancing diversity. This report summarizes some of the key contributions made during this conference.
Bachelor's degree for women with children
Authors: Pandey Shanta , Zhan Min , Kim Youngmi
Published: January 2007

Purpose

In spite of the War on Poverty programs of the 1960s and the economic boom of the 1990s, poverty remains consistently high among families with children in the USA. The main source of income for these families is employment, which is largely a function of educational attainment. The purpose of this paper is to turn to aggregate and individual level data and demonstrate the power of college education in economic well‐being of women with children.

Design/methodology/approach

A nationally representative sample of single and married mothers was retrieved and the role of education in economic well‐being of these women was examined using descriptive, bi‐variate, and multiple ordinal logistic regression.

Findings

Both married and single mothers benefit immensely from a bachelors degree.

Practical implications

In recent years, policy makers in the USA have trimmed resources that promote education among poor women with children. This analysis, underscores the importance of postsecondary education in the economic well‐being of mothers with children and therefore the need for social policy promoting college education.

Originality/value

This article shows the power of education on economic well‐being of both married and single women with children.
Selection in education: the case of Roma children in Hungary
Authors: Kende Anna , Neményi Maria
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The article deals with one of the key causes of Roma children's low academic achievement, notably their presence in segregated special schools originally reserved for mentally disabled children. The purpose of the research was to analyse the assessment process for school‐readiness and special educational needs, and discover the reasons for Roma children's widespread failure on the tests.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a quantitative survey and qualitative focus group interviews, the study analysed the assessment process for school‐readiness and special educational needs.

Findings

The tests in use offer an overly generalized picture of children's abilities. The test results have little influence on the actual decisions about the schools children will be sent to. Roma children tend to do significantly worse on the tests than non‐Roma children, in all examined areas.

Research limitations/implications

The situation of Roma is similar in all countries of the East and Central European region, and resembles the situation of all socially excluded ethnic minority groups. The results can therefore contribute to a better understanding of the educational situation of Roma and other ethnic minority groups in the region. However, the education system as well as the process of determining special educational needs are in several ways unique in each country. The findings therefore have limited validity outside of Hungary.

Originality/value

Although the problems with Roma children's academic performance are well documented, there had been no research in Hungary that focused on the selection process and the problems of using assessment tests in determining Roma children's special educational needs.
Equity issues associated with the change of college admission tests in Chile
Authors: Koljatic Mladen , Silva Mónica
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to document the process of change of the admission tests in a developing country, Chile focusing on equity issues, particularly on the outcomes for test takers from marginalized groups.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper deals with equity issues associated to the change in admission tests to higher education in Chile. It addresses the omission of a validity framework, the ensuing implementation problems, and the unfulfilled expectations that the new tests would increase access to higher education for marginalized groups. The paper is built as a case study, using media accounts and archival data to document the process of change.

Findings

Three years after the debut of the new tests, the expected outcomes of increased access to higher education were not met. The performance gap in the admission tests between the underprivileged group of applicants from public municipal high‐schools and the applicants from private schools widened.

Research limitations/implications

Two limitations of the study were the restricted access to primary information and the peripheral involvement of the authors had in the controversy over the new tests. To control for the potential bias in the discussion of the issues, the authors consulted with local and foreign experts not involved in the controversy in order to validate judgments and the interpretation of data and events.

Originality/value

An understanding of the overslights and flaws in the process of change can serve to inform national policy debates in countries where educational reforms are under way.
Understanding and combating the digital divide for single mother college students
Authors: Duquaine‐Watson Jillian M.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This case study examines the ways in which single mother college students experience the digital divide. It begins by identifying the primary challenges they face as they pursue a postsecondary degree in post‐welfare reform America. It also demonstrates how one program, computer access promoting retention and achievement (CAPRA), has helped bridge the digital divide for this particular student population.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were drawn from a 2‐year ethnographic study that sought to examine the experiences of single mother college students in post‐welfare reform America. Research methods included in‐depth, semi‐structured interviews as well as participant observation.

Findings

Single mother college students identified four primary challenges they encounter as they pursue a college degree: time constraints, child care, economics, and institutional climate. These challenges intersect with one another in ways that hinder single mother students’ access to the computing technologies that are central to their academic success. The CAPRA program has attempted to bridge the digital divide for this particular student population by developing a program that makes computers for long‐term loan. The development of the CAPRA program is discussed as well as its strengths and limitations.

Originality/value

This case study attends to the experiences of an understudied population: single mother college students. It demonstrates the importance of attending to the social context when examining the digital divide. Only in doing so can we hope to bridge that divide in ways which are meaningful and appropriate to diverse populations.
Does gender shape women's access to college programs in US state prisons?
Authors: Foster Johanna E. , Sanford Rebecca
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to apply a feminist perspective to the crisis in prison higher education in the US by exploring whether gender shapes access to on‐site, non‐occupational college programs in state prisons differently for women than for men.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper utilized a content analysis of official US state departments of correction websites and an email survey of state directors of education.

Findings

Findings show that while both women and men had little access to on‐site, non‐occupational college programming in the 2005‐2006 academic year, women in state prison had slightly greater access than men.

Research limitations/implications

Theoretical implications of the findings include the importance of focusing a gender lens on correctional education programming, as well as the importance of extending analysis beyond gender alone towards an analysis of the intersections of gender, race, and class inequalities on access to prison higher education.

Practical implications

Practical implications include the identification of an emergent educational justice movement in the USA, and the presentation of exploratory data on the current college‐in‐prison programs useful for progressive activists, policymakers, correctional education administrators, equity scholars, and others interested in organizing around democratic access to postsecondary correctional education.

Originality/value

As there is little current research on college‐in‐prison programs in the US, and less on the gendered dimensions of program access, the paper makes an original valuable contribution to several literatures.
Reading, writing, and prison education reform?
Authors: Sanford Rebecca , Foster Johanna E.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

Development of prison postsecondary education and training programs since the elimination of Pell Grants to inmates has been constructed through smaller‐scale educators and institutions working toward more democratic access to higher education. The authors of this article work as educators and program developers in two such programs in women's correctional facilities and use these programs as exemplars to describe the necessary components and potential pitfalls in developing and implementing college‐in‐prison and vocational‐training‐in‐prison. The purpose of this paper is to describe the experiences and challenges faced by the authors, first as educators and then as program developers, as they attempted to expand the impact of educational opportunity across a larger segment of the US incarcerated population in the prisons where they teach.

Design/methodology/approach

This article steps away from day‐to‐day classroom descriptions and focuses on the larger picture of the conditions necessary to succeed in implementation of novel and socially vital programs to currently incarcerated women in the USA.

Findings

The benefits of working toward democratizing access to postsecondary education for incarcerated students cannot be overstated for those of interested in protecting fundamental human rights. Policy changes, alliances with Departments of Corrections and matriculating institutions, and educators willing to work toward building their own postsecondary programs are vital components of what must become a more central piece of continued educational justice movements in the USA and elsewhere.

Originality/value

The paper offers suggestions for program execution and critically examines obstacles that need to be managed during planning and achievement of program goals.
The leaky mathematics pipeline for girls
Authors: Watt Helen M.G. , Eccles Jacquelynne S. , Durik Amanda M.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

Why do girls and women progressively opt out of maths‐related study and careers? This study aims to examine motivations influencing female adolescents' choices for maths participation during high school, which has implications for their long‐term careers.

Design/methodology/approach

Two longitudinal samples were included from different contexts – one from Sydney, Australia (N=459), and the other from Southeastern Michigan, USA (N=266). Both samples involved adolescents from upper middle‐class backgrounds, from coeducational government schools, and data in both settings were collected in the mid 1990s. Australian data spanned a three‐year period through grades 9 to 11; while the US sample spanned a five‐year period, with data from grades 8, 10, 11, and 12. The Expectancy‐Value model of Eccles (Parsons) et al., framed structural equation modelling analyses for the influences of maths ability‐related beliefs and values on boys' and girls' subsequent choices for senior high maths participation.

Findings

Boys selected higher levels of maths than girls in the Australian setting, although not in the US sample. There was no support for gendered maths achievement as a basis for gendered maths participation. Interest in and liking for maths were the strongest influence on the Australian adolescents' choices for maths participation, with ability beliefs also influencing choices over and above prior mathematical achievement. Ability‐related beliefs and different kinds of values also predicted adolescents' choices in the US sample, more strongly for girls than boys.

Practical implications

Interpretations and implications focus on ways to increase girls' and women's retention in the leaky maths pipeline.

Originality/value

Longitudinal data allow one to determine the extent to which different kinds of motivations predict boys' and girls' mathematical course‐taking through senior high school across Australian and US samples. This has implications for their long‐term careers.
The “gender gap” in the scientific labour market
Authors: Wynarczyk Pooran , Renner Chloe
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This paper seeks to address a key issue, yet a neglected area of local policy and research i.e. the “gender gap” in the labour market in the scientific‐based SMEs in the UK. The paper seeks to compare and contrast the employment and management structure, as well as participation in research and development (R&D) between female and male. It further aims to explore the educational background and the personal and professional barriers that prevent women from progression in scientific management and R&D related occupations.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical investigation is based on a sample of 45 female employees working in science, engineering and technology (SET)‐related positions and 48 SET‐related companies. Data were collected through the empirical survey of SMEs and semi structured “face‐to‐face” interviews with female employees.

Findings

The study concluded that there was no evidence of specific SET‐related barriers preventing career progression amongst women. The major barriers to progression were related to work‐life balance issues such as dependent children as well as non‐gender‐related issues such as insufficient resources for training, lack of opportunities for career advancement and lack of encouragement from management, which are more likely to be SME‐related issues.

Practical implications

The paper suggests that current programmes and initiatives to encourage people to enter SET occupations may eventually increase participation in that workforce but will not necessarily increase numbers of women in managerial and highly technical positions because of the continuing conflict over work‐life balance decisions such as having a family, or because of management and SME‐related issues such as insufficient resources.

Originality/value

The findings are based on original and unique databases, assembled over the past two years, funded by the ESRC Science in Society Programme and the Higher Education European Social Fund National. The “gender gap” in the labour market in scientific‐based SMEs in the UK, combing data of companies and employees, has not, empirically, been investigated before.
Interview: Abbe Herzig on a journey in the “critical filter”, mathematics
Authors: Wynarczyk Pooran
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This paper seeks to record an interview about Abbe Herzig's journey in mathematics education, career, research and practice. Abbe Herzig's passion and love for mathematics began at her childhood. Although at some points in her life, due to personal and professional reasons explained below, she left mathematics education and teaching, she returned to the mathematics discipline, not as a mathematician but as an education scholar. As such, she was able to investigate those aspects of the disciplinary culture of mathematics that turns so many women away and to help formulate ways that the mathematics community can make the subject a more inclusive endeavor. She has developed courses and programmes to help diverse populations of young people discover the relevance of mathematics and science to their interests and realities. Herzig is in the midst of a major six‐year research programme, funded by the USA National Science Foundation, concerned with women and students of colour in the postgraduate mathematical sciences.

Design/methodology/approach

This article is based on citations, discussion and interview with Abbe Herzig conducted in October 2006.

Findings

In one of her research studies, Abbe found that among mathematics faculty in one doctoral program their belief in talent moved the structure of doctoral education away from one of mentoring students to become mathematicians to one in which the faculty emphasized filtering out students not possessing the prerequisite dedication or talent. Mathematics is generally regarded as an objective field of knowledge, in which mathematicians work to discover truths about the natural world. In a more recent publication, Herzig has criticized the mathematics “pipeline” metaphor, as she believes it implies that students are passive actors in their education, reacting to “encountering a crack in the pipe”.

Originality/value

This is a unique profile of an internationally recognised scholar in the field of the diversity in mathematics. Herzig is a remarkable role model for women who wish to embark not only on mathematics education and profession, but other women too.
Work‐life balancing strategies used by women managers in British “modern” universities
Authors: Woodward Diana
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The “work‐life balance” literature is mainly concerned with the provision and up‐take of flexible employment patterns. The purpose of this qualitative study of women managers' coping strategies for reconciling work with their other roles and responsibilities is to provide a complementary perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

Semi‐structured extended interviews were carried out with 16 women managers of academic or “support” departments in eight UK post‐1992 universities, about their working practices and how they sought to integrate work with other parts of their lives.

Findings

These women reported high workloads, requiring long working hours, which consumed time and energy otherwise available for other relationships and commitments and their own leisure. Various strategies were adopted to manage the situation, including establishing rigid boundaries between work and non‐work, and shifting these boundaries in favour of work when necessary. Temporal, spatial and symbolic distinctions were used to contain work. Women without dependent children were more likely to be able to redefine boundaries when necessary to favour work.

Research limitations/implications

As a small and possibly unrepresentative sample of UK women managers in higher education, the study could usefully be extended through comparisons with male peers, and with women managers in other sectors. (It is the preliminary phase of a comparative study of women employed in universities in the UK and Japan.) However, the findings broadly replicate other studies.

Practical implications

There are policy implications for universities, which need feedback from staff about the impact of equal opportunities initiatives to inform further progress.

Originality/value

This study provides qualitative information on women working in non‐traditional key posts in higher education, who are well‐placed to challenge organisational cultures and act as role models.
Reaching new heights
Authors: Ng Eddy S.W.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this report is to highlight findings from research presented at the 2006 Administrative Sciences Association of Canada conference in Banff, Alberta.

Design/methodology

Ten papers, of interest to Equal Opportunities International readers, were selected from the proceedings and presentations made at the conference for this report. The papers themselves vary in terms of research design and methodology. There was a mix of conceptual/review papers and empirical studies, using both quantitative and qualitative methods.

Findings

Findings from the empirical studies showed that women and minorities continue to face barriers in employment and the workplace. Women continue to experience gender role stereotypes detrimental to their careers, while minorities face both discrimination and harassment at work.

Originality/value

Each of the papers selected demonstrated new insights, both conceptually and empirically, and contributes to the literature on diversity.
The future of business schools
Authors: Hawawini Gabriel
Published: January 2007

Purpose

Aims to explore the future challenges and opportunities for business schools.

Design/methodology/approach

Reviews the existing situation for business schools, and draws inferences for the future.

Findings

In rapidly developing markets the traditional business school model will most likely survive, assuming that it can be scaled up successfully to meet strong but standard demand for management education. In mature countries it will have to evolve to satisfy a more complex environment with peculiar demands from both students and their employers.

Originality/value

In mature markets, top business schools will either transform themselves to meet those demands or cede some of the terrain to alternative providers of business education.
Theory and practice of management concepts: Slovenia's experiences
Authors: Ursic Dusko , Mulej Matjaz
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to look at the authors' own definition of systems thinking, which is applied to investigate management concepts. These are the most influential management concepts in Slovenia, a new EU member.

Design/methodology/approach

Between 1999 and 2003 a letter survey was used in Slovenian organisations. In 1999 about 300 organisations and in 2003 more than 400 were addressed. The authors tested their questionnaire on a pilot sample of organisations, all items being closed qualitative questions. Data from questionnaire were entered into Lotus Notes database and from it into excel and SPSS for a statistical analysis. The management concepts were analysed by the factor and discriminatory analysis. Both of them enabled the authors to comprehend innovation of management concepts in the Slovenian economy.

Findings

Management innovation is the crucial precondition for innovation management, where innovation has not yet become the prevailing culture.

Practical implications

In Slovenia, the authors came across no research on this topic, theoretical and applied at the same time. The governmental support gives the research a broader societal importance and a chance of a rather active impact over transition in Slovenian economy.

Originality/value

This paper offers broader possibilities for researchers and business people in order to better understand different management concepts and differences among them. This will help the reader to make better judgements while deciding to introduce the appropriate one.
Beyond mainstream management: a breakthrough passage construct
Authors: Rothberg Glenn
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to illustrate and address idea gaps to bring improvement and add value to organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

A framework for ideas is developed to enhance and extend conventional management theory and practice.

Findings

It recognises the essential interaction and progression of ideas so that managers can more comprehensively encourage, promote, integrate, and advance ideas in their organisations.

Originality/value

A breakthrough passage is suggested and constructed.
Organic management of frameworks and systems, but not people
Authors: Lazarus Harold , Davis Richard
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to introduce the concept of organic management and demonstrate how it can be applied in practice.

Design/methodology/approach

Provides an interview with Rich Davis, a visionary executive.

Findings

Richard Davis is an extremely creative manager who transformed a small, mediocre firm into a large, superbly well‐managed company. Originating as a family retail optical business, today nearly 35 million people enjoy the many benefits of Davis Vision. Your opinions about management, leadership, employees and business problems will never be quite the same after considering the ideas of this master of wholistic, organic, integrative management. For example, associates are considered internal customers and must be delighted first, even before external customers. Associates interact in measurable and effective ways that allows the company to focus on its vision, mission, and goals while embracing a constantly changing environment and grow.

Originality/value

The great wisdom of Richard Davis has been distilled into a very few pages. It is as if the major works of Peter Drucker were so distilled. The editors suggest that you read and reread this short piece.
Transparency and there again: lessons learned at Digital
Authors: Hindus Sharon
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to discuss the author's experiences as a program manager during the 1980s through early 1990s when Digital went from a booming $15 billion company through break‐up and downsizing, to its purchase by Compaq Computer in 1997. The article aims to provide a perspective on what it was like to work in a company that valued transparency, and what it felt like when under pressure the company reverted back to a traditional opaque, hierarchical management.

Design/methodology/approach

Discussions of the author's experiences as a program manager during the 1980s through early 1990s at Digital Corporation.

Findings

Transparency was a core principle used at Digital Equipment Corporation to build a highly successful company with a corporate culture. Alumnae of that organization have continued to communicate and network as they went in many different directions. Their philosophy has influenced the culture of the high‐tech industries.

Practical implications

A high level overview by an executive from the inside discussing a perspective on what it was like to work in a company that valued transparency, and what it felt like when under pressure the company reverted back to a traditional opaque, hierarchical management.

Originality/value

A look from the inside out at the issue of transparency as it applied to a booming $15 billion company.
How personal can ethics get?
Authors: Dench Samantha
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate an ethical dilemma in transparency. This is a true story. Names have been changed to protect identities.

Design/methodology/approach

Provides a true real life story. A classmate and close friend of the author told her about an ethical dilemma, and they decided it would make a good ethics case for business school students. The paper tells a story about a person having to make a difficult decision, and the way ethics can play out for an individual whose entire career could be at stake because of that decision.

Findings

Companies should show more support for whistleblowers even though that can be problematic. It should not be a risk to say what we know and think.

Originality/value

This paper will hopefully make people aware of the problems faced by whistleblowers.
Enabling transparent leadership: a small business manager's perspective
Authors: Salvatico Robert
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to discuss the role of transparent leadership in a small family owned hotel, the Wingate Inn, Garden City, New York. The goal is to demonstrate that one can create a more productive, open work place and ultimately more satisfied, loyal guests. The article is written to provide the reader with an every day approach to management from the small business perspective. It is intended to remind the reader that straightforward dealings and common sense can usually provide the best solutions in a constantly changing and challenge filled environment.

Design/methodology/approach

The article describes the common sense approach that the author as general manager employs in the development of a transparent workplace. A short series of fundamental management philosophies that find their root in transparency are used to describe his approach to transparent leadership and the resulting benefits. It is further explained through the retelling of an actual situation that developed within the hotel's housekeeping management team, and how he was able to avoid a potentially explosive and costly situation through a direct and open application of these core management disciplines.

Findings

The author contends that the promotion of transparent management principles to his associates will result in their exercise of these same principles in their day‐to‐day management of the hotel, their relation with hotel guests, and one another.

Originality/value

The article offers insights into the application of transparency to management of a hotel and achieving excellent results.
Transparency, communication and mindfulness
Authors: Ucok Ozum
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the idea of transparency of understanding from a communications perspective, and mindful listening as a mode of communication to achieve it.

Design/methodology/approach

Provides a discussion and Analysis.

Findings

Practical methods to achieve mindful listening are described. Transparency of understanding is publicly and interactively achieved through carefully orchestrated visible and audible behaviors. Drawing on spiritual traditions and language and social interaction research, the author suggests that our active and verbal input, our receptivity and embodied presence, including body orientation, facial expression, and eye behavior are significant factors in creating and displaying transparency of understanding.

Originality/value

The author suggests that if we could actually be present to listen to each other in the workplace with close attention we might minimize much misunderstanding and confusion, and maybe reduce the amount of time and energy we spend in repairing what we might have missed or misunderstood because we were not really paying attention?
Corporate information transparency
Authors: Simon Carol
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of information transparency in a for‐profit business environment, and explain the importance and relevance of the concept in creating a transparent organization.

Design/methodology/approach

Through a review of a sample of the existing literature focusing on transparency, a common theme regarding information was observed. Most research addresses information from a technology/systems perspective not as a basis of creating or modifying corporate strategy.

Findings

In a corporate environment, information transparency is reached when internal decision makers receive, at their desktop, the internal and external information necessary to make sound business decisions. The infrastructure and the technology of the computer systems used to deliver the information are not of primary importance to information transparency. Information technology systems are the means of delivery, the importance and value of information transparency is the content of the message and the actions that result from them.

Originality/value

This analysis may provide a rationale for the introduction of a new or expanded corporate information service outside the structure of an information technology department.
The changing business model of B‐schools
Authors: Iñiguez de Onzoño Santiago , Carmona Salvador
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to argue that recent changes in the wider contexts of universities and business schools signal a shift in their business model instead of a mere turn in their business cycle.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reviews the position of those that hold a traditionalist view of the business model of business schools and comments on the extent to which such a model applies to the ever‐changing conditions that are a feature of the environment of institutions of higher learning.

Findings

The paper argues that the process of globalization augments the effects of five sector‐specific forces on the business model of business schools. Additionally, the paper identifies some structural factors that business schools might wish to address in order to cope with changes occurring in their wider environments.

Originality/value

In addition to structural measures, the paper proposes a number of specific actions that business schools may implement to maintain and/or gain competitive advantage.
Business school rankings: content and context
Authors: Peters Kai
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This paper sets out to examine the affect of rankings on business schools from the perspective of a business school director.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper critiques the methodologies of ranking systems, their statistical validity, the factors used, and the weightings given to them.

Findings

Rankings are significant drivers of a school's reputation. Good performance can double inquiries and applications and allow schools to charge prestige premiums. Financial Times top decile MBA programmes charge, on average, just below $80,000 for an MBA. Bottom decile schools charge only $37,000.

Originality/value

This paper finds that it is impossible to challenge the criteria set out by a variety of rankings organisations and it is ill‐advised to boycott rankings. Schools are advised to consider which criteria reflect areas needing improvement and to continue “playing the game”.
Business school rankings: the love‐hate relationship
Authors: Bradshaw Della
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The paper seeks to describe the rationale behind the Financial Times business school rankings and some of the problems inherent in developing and publishing them.

Design/methodology/approach

The rationale behind the Financial Times business school rankings is discussed, as are the ways in which business schools use the rankings.

Findings

Business schools have an ambivalent relationship to business schools rankings, openly criticising them but using favourable aspects of the rankings in their schools' marketing.

Originality/value

Business school rankings are probably here to stay. Most business schools are developing ways of using them for their own purposes.
Ranking of business schools
Authors: Bickerstaffe George , Ridgers Bill
Published: January 2007

Purpose

Published rankings of business schools and MBA programmes have created considerable controversy. This paper describes the rationale and approach of one of the leading global rankings.

Design/methodology approach

The paper describes the rationale and approach of the Economist Intelligence unit's Which MBA?

Findings

The validity and relevance of rankings of business schools and programmes are directly related to the choice of criteria against which the ranking takes place. The criteria used by the Economist Intelligence Unit/Which MBA? ranking are student‐centric and comprise a serious attempt to distinguish those business schools and programmes that best meet the factors that potential MBA students consistently say they are looking for.

Originality/value

Compared with a decade ago there is considerable information available about business schools and MBA programmes. Published rankings help to distil this information, allow less‐publicised schools on to the “radar” of potential students and extend choice.