bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Are young adult Chinese status and fashion clothing brand conscious?
Authors: O’Cass Aron , Siahtiri Vida
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine fashion clothing consumption in relation to status consumption and perceptions of fashion clothing brand status (BS) in transition economies.

Design/methodology/approach

– A survey was designed and administered in China to a sample of 460 young adults aged between 18 and 24.

Findings

– The results indicate that individuals’ status consciousness (SC) has an impact on fashion clothing brand preference (BP) and perceptions of the brand's status. Also, individuals’ BP and perceived BS were found to mediate the relationship between individuals’ SC and their willingness to pay (WTP) a premium for a specific brand of fashion clothing.

Originality/value

– The originality of this study rests on a detailed examination of SC and status perceptions in the context of branded fashion clothing (western vs Asian brands) in China, where individuals’ wealth, status-consciousness and brand-consciousness are growing. Equally, it provides knowledge for academics about the development of status consumption in an emerging economy. Importantly, from a theory perspective this study is the first to examine the intervening roles of perceived BS and BP in the relationship between SC and WTP a price premium for fashion clothing brands. Further, studying this evolving market provides insights for practitioners into the design of marketing strategies for their brands. The findings may assist practitioners to address drivers of perception of their brands, especially for Asian brands competing against western brands.
Digital support for medication administration
Authors: Andersson Marchesoni Maria , Axelsson Karin , Lindberg Inger
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to describe staffs’ perceptions of digital support for medication administration (DSM) and out of the perceptions interpret underlying values.

Design/methodology/approach

– In total, 22 persons working in elder care participated in the study. The study had a qualitative approach and focus group interviews were used to collect data. To analyze the manifest content a phenomenographic method was used. An interpretation of perceptions was then undertaken aimed at identifying underlying values.

Findings

– Three descriptive categories, “utility,” “impact on working environment” and “economic impact” were the result of the manifest analysis. The values of having a “good working environment,” “benefits” and “good economy” were interpreted as guidance for staffs’ acceptance or rejection of the DSM.

Social implications

– The care-giving process and its challenges from the perspective of the staffs need consideration. Staffs in this study sometimes expressed strong emotions as a sign of frustration for losing prerequisites to perform their work well. In big complex organizations where economy and effectiveness are often discussed, knowledge of power relations in innovation and implementation processes would be beneficial. Although moral distress is a well-known phenomenon, future research may be needed to find solutions that diminish this negative trend in more economic focussed organizations.

Originality/value

– This study had a twofold approach with the intention of going beyond descriptions. To gain a deeper understanding a normative interpretation was completed. Ethical conflicts are frequently characterized as conflicts between at least two values. In this study staffs expressed fear of losing prerequisites needed to perform their work well. Prerequisites that were identified as values and these values were threatened by the DSM.
Family structure and decision making styles among Iranian couples
Authors: Lotfizadeh Fereshteh , Heidarzadeh Hanzaee Kambiz
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– This paper aims to determine whether family structure influences decision-making styles (DMSs) of Iranian couples.

Design/methodology/approach

– A self-administered mall survey was conducted to discover the family structures and DMSs of Iranian couples. Data were randomly collected from a sample of 800 spouses in four big cities of Iran. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and multivariate analysis of variance were used to examine proposed hypotheses.

Findings

– The EFA and CFA results show seven DMSs for Iranian couples. Also, the findings indicate family structure has a significant effect on DMS. In the other words, the results show a difference between DMSs of egalitarian and husband-dominated spouses.

Research limitations/implications

– One of the limitations of the study deals with product involvement, because consumer DMSs for each product category may vary. Also, children’s influences are not considered in this study, while gender/number of children may be particularly influential in family structure. Therefore, conclusions made from these findings may be limited to spouses with similar demographic characteristics.

Originality/value

– The present research identifies seven DMSs for Iranian couples. It also examines whether family structure is an effective factor for DMS of spouses.
The teacher in me
Authors: Woods Daniel , Alice Barksdale Mary , F. Triplett Cheri , Potts Ann
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to describe a study of identity development in the context of a preservice teacher education program that used a variety of approaches to support development of understanding of cultural diversity.

Design/methodology/approach

– Fifty preservice teachers in a graduate program in elementary education participated in the study. Of the 50 participants, 47 were Caucasian, two were African American and one was originally from India, but was a US citizen. The analyses were qualitative. A phenomenological approach to data analysis was taken, viewing the drawings and written explanations created by the participants as independently occurring phenomenon (as compared with data that might be considered for grounded theory or constant comparison) (Hycner, 1985; Moustakas, 1994).

Findings

– Overall, the low number of drawings and writings that included representations of cultural, linguistic, special needs and gender diversity suggests of a lack of understanding about the significant roles of these student characteristics in the lives of elementary teachers dedicated to meeting student needs. Given the strong focus on diversity education in this preservice teacher education program, this was an unexpected finding. One explanation is that preservice and beginning teachers are highly involved in identifying their own beliefs and values about teaching and exploring how their personal characteristics can be reconciled and applied in their specific teaching contexts.

Originality/value

– It is imperative that teacher education programs effectively address diversity in the classroom for the population typically entering the teaching profession. While many programs spend considerable time and effort “teaching” multicultural concepts, few, if any, have asked students to look inward in the way we did on this study.
Social ludic activities: a polymorphous form of organizational play
Authors: Spraggon Martin , Bodolica Virginia
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to seek to contribute to the field of workplace play by introducing the notion of social ludic activities (SLAs) as a specific form of play in organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

– The conceptualization of SLAs is built upon insights from the practice and organizational play literatures.

Findings

– SLAs can be deployed not only for productively engaging with work but also as an instrument to resist authority, boycott work or challenge firm contingencies. The particular enactments of SLAs may be influenced by how employees perceive and interpret the organizational climate (i.e. corporate culture, management style, job design and task complexity, and intra-firm interactions) in which they are embedded.

Practical implications

– The recognition that emergent forms of play may be conducive to the generation of valuable outcomes without managerial intervention can save managers’ time and efforts required for dealing with potential employees’ resistance. Taking advantage from spontaneous manifestations of play implies understanding the logic of players and creating favorable corporate contexts for the emergence of SLAs rather than attempting to interfere in the natural experiences of flow.

Originality/value

– SLAs are conceived as an alternative form of organizational play that is a priori unselfconscious and emergent, inherits autotelic and rational dimensions from prior views of play, draws upon practice insights, and represents the employee perspective.
Daily job crafting and the self-efficacy – performance relationship
Authors: Tims Maria , B. Bakker Arnold , Derks Daantje
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine whether job crafting and work enjoyment could explain the well-established relationship between self-efficacy and job performance. The authors hypothesized that employees would be most likely to engage in proactive job crafting behaviors on the days when they feel most self-efficacious. Daily job crafting, in turn, was expected to relate to daily performance through daily work enjoyment.

Design/methodology/approach

– A daily diary study was conducted among a heterogeneous sample of employees (N=47, days=215). Participants completed the survey on five consecutive days.

Findings

– The results of multilevel structural equation modeling analyses were generally in line with the hypotheses. Specifically, results indicated that employees who felt more self-efficacious on a given day were more likely to mobilize their job resources on that day. Daily job crafting, in turn, was positively correlated to work enjoyment and indirectly associated with performance. Participants reported elevated levels of performance on the days on which they enjoyed their work most.

Research limitations/implications

– Self-reports were used to assess all constructs, which may result in common method bias. However, within-person correlations were moderate, and a two-level CFA indicated that a one-factor model could not account for all the variance in the data.

Originality/value

– The findings of this study underscore the importance of daily proactive behavior for employee and organizational outcomes.
Personal development review (PDR) process and engineering staff motivation
Authors: Baldwin Claire , Arturo Garza-Reyes Jose , Kumar Vikas , Rocha-Lona Luis
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The academic literature and motivational theory recognise the positive role of motivation on organisational performance and considers personal development as a key motivational factor. In practice, most organisations employ a personal development review (PDR) process to drive and plan the development of their staff. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the interrelation and impact of the PDR process, and its elements, on staff motivation.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study is based on a case study research approach carried out in two large manufacturing-engineering departments of a world-class manufacturing organisation. A survey questionnaire was designed, validated and distributed to the engineering staff and its results were analysed using descriptive statistics.

Findings

– The study's results indicate that in most of the cases, a PDR process does not by itself motivate staff. But it argues that a poorly designed and conducted PDR process may make motivation, through personal development, difficult to achieve.

Practical implications

– This paper provides manufacturing managers with an opportunity to understand whether a common business process (i.e. PDR), and the elements that comprise it, can be employed as a method to aid in the motivation of their staff.

Originality/value

– This research expands the current knowledge on motivational and manufacturing management theory by performing an initial and exploratory study that establishes the impact of the PDR process on staff motivation. It is among the very first investigations that correlate the PDR process and motivation, especially in the manufacturing industry.
Control mechanisms and perceived organizational support
Authors: Costa Tiago , Duarte Henrique , A. Palermo Ofelia
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– Taking into account the need to make a clearer distinction between traditional and new organizational controls, the purpose of this paper is to investigate similarities and differences between those two forms and explore the extent to which new forms of control can be operationalized from a quantitative point of view.

Design/methodology/approach

– Suggesting that new organizational controls can be understood also in light of quantitative paradigms, the paper develops and tests a scale to measure the existence of this type of controls, examine its construct validity and evaluate its convergent validity.

Findings

– The theoretical dimensions of new controls have empirical correspondence. Input and behaviour controls are strongly associated with the promotion of values and beliefs in organizations. New controls become responsible for employees’ acceptance of companies’ management, an aspect measured by perceived organizational support (POS).

Research limitations/implications

– The study presents two challenges linked to the lack of evaluation of the possible process mediators that measure the subjectification of the individual, and to the lack of data coming from the organizational level. Limitations can be addressed by multi-level studies using measures that would avoid single variance biases. The need for companies to pay more attention to organizational discourses and to the promotion of specific values (that can enrich traditional controls), and the impact this might generate on POS and future reciprocity, are the practical implications of the study.

Originality/value

– The impact of new organizational controls can be measured by scales rather than investigated only with qualitative approaches. Furthermore, it can be observed that the promotion of values and beliefs strongly increases POS. Such dimension can reduce employees’ resistance when compared to output controls or controls based on changes in surveillance technologies and structural change processes.
Virtual shopping agents
Authors: Chattaraman Veena , Kwon Wi-Suk , E. Gilbert Juan , Li Yishuang
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the visual presence of a virtual agent on a retail Web site reveals positive outcomes for older users with respect to enhancing perceived interactivity, social support, trust and patronage intentions and alleviating user anxiety.

Design/methodology/approach

– A between-subjects laboratory experiment was conducted with 50 older users, which included an interaction experience of 30 minutes followed by a paper-based questionnaire. The visual presence of the agent was manipulated in a mock retail Web site through the presence or absence of a virtual agent image, while maintaining the same agent functionality.

Findings

– The contrasts of senior users’ shopping experiences between two agent-mediated Web sites (with or without agent image) support the direct “persona” effects of a virtual agent’s visual presence on enhancing perceived interactivity, social support, trust and patronage intentions in the retail Web site, while alleviating user anxiety. Further, anxiety alleviation is fully explained by increased perceptions of interactivity. Perceived social support fully mediates trust in the benevolence of the online retailer. Trust ability emerges as a salient factor mediating the relationship between agent persona and patronage intentions.

Originality/value

– This work is the first to identify the value of human visual embodiment for older users’ online shopping experiences, which has implications for other low-experience/expertise users of a medium.
The role of collective angst during and after a service failure
Authors: A. Maher Amro , Sobh Rana
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this study is to examine the role of collective angst, the concern about the future viability of one’s group, during service failure and recovery.

Design/methodology/approach

– To test this objective the authors utilize an experiment to examine how Kuwaitis react to service failures when the front-line employee is a foreigner.

Findings

– The results indicate that collective angst is associated with greater anger following a service failure. The authors also find that collective angst moderates the impact of cultural distance on anger and recommendation intentions following a service-failure recovery attempt. More specifically, cultural distance leads to greater anger and lower intentions to recommend a service establishment for consumers that experience greater collective angst.

Originality/value

– The research provides the first attempt at examining how local consumers react to foreigner service providers, by examining how concern about the future vitality of one’s national group, in other words collective angst, affects such reactions.
Exploring the effect of individual differences on user perceptions of print and electronic resources
Authors: Zha Xianjin , Zhang Jinchao , Yan Yalan
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– Individual differences are critical in determining how individuals think and behave in different ways. The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of individual differences on users’ perceptions of print and electronic resources in terms of ease of use, usefulness and usage in the hopes that a better understanding of these effects can help Chinese university libraries to meet the diversified information needs of their users more specifically and appropriately so that the second-level capability divide and third-level outcome divide of library information resources can be much reduced.

Design/methodology/approach

– Data collected from 273 library users were used for data analysis. The independent samples t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and two-way ANOVA were employed. Meanwhile, the quantitative analysis is supplemented by the qualitative interviews which present richer data about the use of specific types of print and electronic resources.

Findings

– The effect of basic characteristics (gender, age, field) and experience (experience with library print resources, experience with library electronic resources, which library resources were used first) on users’ perceptions of print and electronic resources in terms of ease of use, usefulness and usage was explored and discussed. Meanwhile, the two-way interaction effect was examined and 13 significant interaction effects were presented.

Originality/value

– Building on the digital divide, this study examines ease of use, usefulness and usage in terms of individual differences which cover not only basic characteristics but also experience and two-way interaction, which the authors think provides a new view for library information resources research and practice alike in China.
Ensuring accessibility of electronic information resources for visually impaired people
Authors: Andreas Kleynhans Stefanus , Fourie Ina
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The paper addresses the importance of clarifying terminology such as visually impaired and related terms before embarking on accessibility studies of electronic information resources in library contexts. Apart from briefly defining accessibility, the paper attempts to address the lack of in-depth definitions of terms such as visually impaired, blind, partially sighted, etc. that has been noted in the literature indexed by two major Library and Information Science (LIS) databases. The purpose of this paper is to offer a basis for selecting participants in studies of accessibility of electronic information resources in library contexts and to put discussions of such studies in context.

Design/methodology/approach

– Clarification of concepts concerning visual impairment following a literature survey based on searching two major databases in LIS. To put the discussion in context accessibility is also briefly defined.

Findings

– Although visually impaired and a variety of related terms such as blind, partially sighted, visually disabled, etc. are used in the LIS literature, hardly any attempt is made to define these terms in depth. This can be a serious limitation in web and electronic accessibility evaluations and the selection of participants.

Practical implications

– Clearly distinguishing between categories of visually impaired people and the ability of sight of participants is important when selecting participants for studies on accessibility for visually impaired people, e.g. the accessibility evaluation of web sites, digital libraries and other electronic information resources.

Originality/value

– The paper can make a contribution to the clarification of terminology essential for the selection of participants in accessibility studies, as well as enriching the literature on accessibility for visually impaired people in the context of LIS.
Populating the wilderness: crowdsourcing database of the smokies
Authors: Patrick Baggett Mark , Bridges Anne , Wise Ken , Tanner Sarah , Mezick Jennifer
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– Researchers at the University of Tennessee Libraries experimented with crowdsourcing to determine if contributions by members of the public could be utilized to add citations and subject tags to a new online bibliography, Database of the Smokies (DOTS: dots.lib.utk.edu). The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

– The database is built in Drupal, an open source platform that provides a crowdsourcing mechanism. The public was offered the opportunity to create accounts and add content to DOTS. After three months, the project team performed a transaction log analysis of user submissions in order to determine whether an editorial process was necessary.

Findings

– This analysis revealed that 18 percent of database content was the result of crowdsourcing and that much of the content submitted by participants was either obscure or difficult to locate. The analysis also showed that while contributors added valuable citations, an editorial review process was necessary to ensure this crowdsourced content could be published in the database. In addition, contributor supplied subject tags were not of significant uniqueness or quantity to substantially influence the existing taxonomy. Finally, the publicity of the crowdsourcing feature allowed other institutions to contribute to the project and add rare material.

Originality/value

– This paper offers a model for utilizing crowdsourcing to entice a sophisticated user group to help build a bibliographic database.
Integrating leader affect, leader work-family spillover, and leadership
Authors: S. Michel Jesse , Pichler Shaun , Newness Kerry
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– Despite the abundance of dispositional affect, work-family, and leadership research, little has been done to integrate these literatures. Based primarily on conservation of resources theory, which suggests individuals seek to acquire and maintain resources to reduce stress, the purpose of this paper is to provide an empirical examination of the relationships between leader dispositional affect, leader work-family spillover, and leadership.

Design/methodology/approach

– Survey data were collected from a diverse sample of managers from a broad set of occupational groups (e.g. financial, government, library). Regression and Monte Carlo procedures were used to estimate model direct and indirect effects.

Findings

– The results indicate that dispositional affect is a strong predictor of both work-family spillover and leadership. Further, the relationship between negative/positive affect and leadership was partially mediated by work-family conflict/enrichment.

Research limitations/implications

– Data were cross-sectional self-report, which does not allow for causal interpretations and may increase the risk of common method bias.

Practical implications

– This study helps address why leaders experience both stress and benefits from multiple work and family demands, as well as why leaders engage in particular forms of leadership, such as passive and active leadership behaviors.

Originality/value

– This study provides the first empirical examination of leader's dispositional affect, work-family spillover, and leadership, and suggests that manager's dispositional affect and work-family spillover have meaningful relationships with leader behavior across situations.
Corporate executive’s gender and audit fees
Authors: Huang Ting-Chiao , Huang Hua-Wei , Lee Chih-Chen
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this study is to investigate the association between a corporate executive’s gender and audit fees. Based on the findings of extant research that there are gender-based differences that may have implications for the financial reporting process, the authors posit an association between CEO gender and audit fees.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors test their hypothesis by performing both univariate and multivariate regression analyses on a sample of 8,402 Compustat firm-year observations from US firms for 2003-2010.

Findings

– The authors' findings indicate that firms with female CEOs are associated with higher audit fees. Their results hold after controlling for self-selection bias and factors shown by prior studies to be associated with audit fees.

Research limitations/implications

– Although the authors control for factors that would increase audit fees, their study is limited by the degree to which higher audit fees reflect higher quality audits. Also, because their sample is from large publicly traded nonfinancial firms, their results may not be applicable to other types of firms. The authors study has implications for policy setting because their findings provide some evidence of a significant association between a CEO characteristic (gender) and financial reporting quality. Their findings, thus, provide some support for the Securities and Exchange Commission requirement that CEOs should certify their firm’s financial statements.

Originality/value

– The authors study contributes to the audit fees and corporate governance literature by providing empirical evidence of an association between audit fees and CEO gender. To their knowledge, no study, to date, has investigated this association.
Factors influencing non-compliance with ASU 2010-06 in the banking industry
Authors: (Richard) Lu Hung-Yuan , Mande Vivek
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– This study aims to examine whether banks are compliant with the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s standard Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2010-06 requiring disaggregated fair value hierarchy information. It also identifies institutional and firm-specific factors that are associated with compliance or non-compliance.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using quarterly reports of banks for the first quarters of 2009 (pre- ASU 2010-06) and 2010 (post- ASU 2010-06), we hand-collect information on disclosures about fair values from the footnotes. Using a logistic regression with compliance/non-compliance as the dependent variable, we examine factors associated with compliance/non-compliance.

Findings

– Results show that 23 per cent of banks do not comply with ASU 2010-06 and that the non-compliant banks tend to be small, lack effective internal controls and are more likely to be audited by non-specialist auditors.

Research limitations/implications

– This study only considers one type of non-compliance with ASU 2010-06, i.e. whether or not firms provide disaggregated fair value hierarchy information. There may be other forms of non-compliance that the authors do not examine because of the difficulties involved in objectively defining non-compliance.

Practical implications

– The findings suggest firms may need to increase training for internal personnel and hire high-quality auditors for ensuring compliance with fair value accounting rules. The authors also suggest that smaller firms may find compliance to be onerous and recommend additional research to examine whether smaller firms should be exempted from some or all of the fair value rules.

Originality/value

– This study provides some of the first evidence on the level of compliance with mandated fair value disclosures.
Building a case against strategic equifinality
Authors: Madanoglu Melih , Okumus Fevzi , Avci Umut
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to build a case against strategic equifinality. This is accomplished by employing hybrid ideal types approach and testing the effect of these strategic types on firm performance among service firms in the context of a developing country.

Design/methodology/approach

– Data were collected via a self-administered survey. The final sample of this study encompassed 169 ideal type hybrid companies operating in the tourism industry in Mugla, Turkey.

Findings

– The research findings indicate that prospectors and hybrid prospector-analyzer (PA) orientations outperform defenders based on several financial and non-financial performance measures. However, all other strategic orientations show identical performance.

Research limitations/implications

– The research findings imply that adopting a hybrid strategy is a viable option. In addition, SMEs in developing countries should exercise some caution when deciding to adopt a defender strategy.

Originality/value

– This study uses hybrid ideal types for service firms in a dynamic business environment in a developing country.
Play hard, work hard
Authors: R. Fluegge-Woolf Erin
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– This paper aims to examine the relationship between workplace fun and three elements of job performance: task performance, organizational citizenship behaviors and creative performance. Positive affect and engagement are proposed as mediators of the relationships between fun at work and performance.

Design/methodology/approach

– A sample of 245 working individuals who worked in a variety of organizational roles was used. Respondents completed an online survey to assess elements of workplace fun, positive affect and engagement. Participants were also asked to have a supervisor at work complete an online survey to assess their work performance.

Findings

– Fun at work was positively and directly related to organizational citizenship behavior, and positively and indirectly to both task performance and creative performance. In addition, individuals having fun at work were also more likely to be more engaged in their work, and consequently exhibit greater creative performance.

Originality/value

– This paper provides evidence to suggest that a fun working environment results in greater employee engagement and productivity.
Blaming leaders for team relationship conflict? The roles of leader-member exchange differentiation and ethical leadership
Authors: Zhou Mingjian , Shi Shuisheng
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to extend our understanding of the role of leaders in team relationship conflict. Leader-member exchange (LMX) differentiation was hypothesized to be positively related to team relationship conflict. Additionally, ethical leadership was hypothesized to moderate relations between LMX differentiation and team relationship conflict.

Design/methodology/approach

– Hypotheses were examined in a sample of 79 working teams. Data were collected via a questionnaire containing measures of LMX, team relationship conflict and ethical leadership.

Findings

– Hypotheses were supported by the data. LMX differentiation was positively related to team relationship conflict, and ethical leadership weakened the relationship between LMX differentiation and team relationship conflict.

Originality/value

– This is the first theoretical analysis and empirical study of relationships between LMX differentiation and team relationship conflict. Theoretically, by using LMX theory to account for team-level outcomes, this study extended power of LMX theory. Practically, these results suggest that leaders may be responsible for team relationship conflict.
A digital file inventory of the Queens College Special Collections and Archives
Authors: Dolan-Mescal Alexandra , Farwell Marcie , Howard Sara , Rozler Jessica , Smith Matthew
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– This paper aimed to conduct an inventory of digital resources for the Queens College Special Collections and Archives and had two purposes. The first was to assess the digital resources for a department too understaffed to address digital preservation and to provide a step-by-step program for them to start thinking in the long-term. The second was to show how these steps can be generalized for many institutions just starting to have digital holdings and looking to create a long-term digital preservation plan.

Design/methodology/approach

– The main method for research involved taking a significant sampling of the department’s digital holdings and conducting an inventory of them, analyzing such characteristics as file size, names, formats and metadata. After the inventory was conducted, recommendations were made to the department based on best practices in the field of digital preservation.

Findings

– We found that while the department generally does not follow industry-best practices for preservation, the files were relatively new and, therefore, many issues could still be fixed. With a concrete plan and a bit of effort, their digital files can be more easily accessible and protected against future threats.

Originality/value

– The issues that the Department of Special Collections had with their digital holdings are similar to those at many other institutions – especially educational ones where staff turnover is high. This case study could help similar small organizations start to access their digital holdings and start formulating a plan for long-term preservation.
Corporate YouTube practices of Eurozone companies
Authors: Bonsón Enrique , Bednarova Michaela , Escobar-Rodríguez Tomás
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The current study extends the investigation into online relationship building by examining how Eurozone companies belonging to the EURO STOXX 600 index use the popular video platform YouTube to facilitate dialogic communication with their stakeholders. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the extent and main purposes of the channel's usage, the companies’ activities and online practices, as well as the factors on this platform influencing the channel's activity, the audience, and the stakeholders’ engagement.

Design/methodology/approach

– To achieve this goal a sample of 306 Eurozone companies listed in the STOXX Europe 600 index, including 19 subsectors and 12 countries, have been analysed. Stakeholder and dialogic theory were applied as a theoretical background for this study.

Findings

– The results indicated that 44 per cent of companies studied have an official YouTube channel, which is mostly used for promotional purposes. It was found that the size of the company, the sector, and its country of origin determine YouTube channel activity, and that higher activity leads to a higher number of subscribers, thus fostering an initial step to better stakeholder engagement.

Originality/value

– Given that this is the first study of its kind to provide this type of analysis, the resulting unique contributions may provide value to the information systems field and also contribute to the advancement of information systems research.
A Borda count approach to combine subjective and objective based MIS journal rankings
Authors: Tsai Chih-Fong , Hu Ya-Han , George Ke Shih-Wen
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– Ranking relevant journals is very critical for researchers to choose their publication outlets, which can affect their research performance. In the management information systems (MIS) subject, many related studies conducted surveys as the subjective method for identifying MIS journal rankings. However, very few consider other objective methods, such as journals’ impact factors and h-indexes. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– In this paper, top 50 ranked journals identified by researchers’ perceptions are examined in terms of the correlation to the rankings by their impact factors and h-indexes. Moreover, a hybrid method to combine these different rankings based on Borda count is used to produce new MIS journal rankings.

Findings

– The results show that there are low correlations between the subjective and objective based MIS journal rankings. In addition, the new MIS journal rankings by the Borda count approach can also be considered for future researches.

Originality/value

– The contribution of this paper is to apply the Borda count approach to combine different MIS journal rankings produced by subjective and objective methods. The new MIS journal rankings and previous studies can be complementary to allow researchers to determine the top-ranked journals for their publication outlets.
Social media application in digital libraries
Authors: Xie Iris , Stevenson Jennifer
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the applications of social media in digital libraries and identify related problems.

Design/methodology/approach

– A total of ten institutions were selected from the following cultural institution types – public libraries, academic libraries, museums, government, and international organisations – to represent a variety of digital libraries developed or sponsored by different types of organisations. The social media applications were examined with regard to the following aspects: types of social media, placement of social media, updating social media, types of interactions, and types of functions.

Findings

– This study presents the types of social media applications in the selected digital libraries and further characterises their placements, update frequency, types of interactions between digital librarians and users, as well as various types of roles they played. In the process of analysis the authors also identified problems related to lack of standards, creating two-way communication channels, and the lack of education functions.

Research limitations/implications

– Further research needs to expand the selection of institutions and digital libraries to have more representative sampling, in particular institutions that are outside North America and Europe. It is also important to perform in-depth content analysis of social media to identify patterns and functions that social media perform. Moreover the authors will compare specific social media tools, such as Twitter, Facebook, etc., across institutions. In order to explore fully the reason why certain social media tools are implemented in digital libraries, it is important to survey or interview digital librarians of digital libraries in different types of cultural institutions. In addition users can be interviewed to solicit their perspectives about their usage of social media in digital libraries.

Originality/value

– This study not only examines the current status and problems of social media application in digital libraries but also offers suggestions on making good use of social media to connect users and digital libraries.
Working together: library value at the University of Nottingham
Authors: Creaser Claire , Cullen Susanne , Curtis Ruth , Darlington Nicola , Maltby Jane , Newall Elizabeth , Spezi Valerie
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to bring together the findings of two studies investigating the value of academic libraries to teaching and research staff in higher education institutions. The Working Together (WT) project was an international study, funded by SAGE Publishing, investigating the value of academic libraries for teaching and research staff in the USA, UK and Scandinavia. The Raising Academic Impact (RAI) project was an initiative of the University of Nottingham (UoN) aimed at increasing the impact of academic librarians in departments across the university by assessing perception and awareness of current library services and future needs of academic staff.

Design/methodology/approach

– The WT project was conducted during Spring 2012, comprising a series of eight case studies and an online survey exploring the case study experiences and findings within their wider regional and academic context. One was conducted at the UoN, and included the RAI project. The RAI project was originally a four-phase initiative conducted by academic librarians at the UoN. The first phase, which is reported in this paper, consisted of a survey of teaching and research staff, distributed in summer 2012, investigating awareness, uptake and value of existing services, as well as demand for new library services.

Findings

– Determining the value of academic libraries is a challenging task as very little evidence (beyond the anecdotal) is collected. Perceptions of library value vary greatly between what librarians think the value of their library is to academic staff and how academic staff actually value their library. Information literacy and study skills teaching are greatly valued by academic staff. Despite current efforts, research support is still limited, owing to a cultural barrier hampering greater collaboration between libraries and academic staff in this area. Communication and marketing are keys to increase the value of academic libraries to teaching and research staff.

Originality/value

– This paper presents the key findings from the two studies in parallel. It is anticipated that these discoveries will be of interest to the wider library community to help libraries develop services which are closely linked to the needs of teaching and academic staff.
Effects of peak laser power on laser micro sintering of nickel powder by pulsed Nd:YAG laser
Authors: Ke Linda , Zhu Haihong , Yin Jie , Wang Xinbing
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to report the influence of the peak laser power on laser micro sintering 4-μm nickel powder using Q-switched 1064-nm Nd:YAG laser.

Design/methodology/approach

– Experimental study has been performed. Nickel powder with grain size of 4 μm has been utilized. A Q-switching duration of 20-25 μs and rate of 20-40 kHz have been used.

Findings

– The peak power intensity is so high that the metal particles and molten pool are blown away, leading to laser micro sintering not being successfully proceeded. The scanning line obtained by continuous-wave (CW) laser looks like a rod owing to balling effect. Using a suitable peak power intensity, a good-shaped sintering line can be obtained because the plasma can protect the molten metal from oxidation, and improve the wettability of the system. In addition, the plasma flattening effect may also contribute to the form of the good-shaped sintering line in pulsed laser sintering regime.

Originality/value

– The role of plasma induced by pulsed laser with high peak power intensity has been found during pulsed laser sintering under an ambient environment.
Managerial organizing practices and legitimacy seeking in social enterprises
Authors: Sarpong David , Davies Clayton
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to explore how social enterprises as an emerging organizational form in market economies acquire legitimacy to attract the support of their constituents and stakeholders.

Design/methodology/approach

– Employing a qualitative case study of ten UK-based social enterprises, data for the empirical inquiry was collected using semi-structured interviews and documentary evidence (e.g. Internet web pages, newsletters, and marketing materials).

Findings

– We found cross sector partnerships, community engagement and capability building and, compassionate enterprise narratives as quintessentially embedded managerial initiatives and practices which give form to the legitimating activities of social enterprises.

Practical implications

– Proactive investment in the practices identified could help social enterprises to shore up their legitimacy to garner more societal support. In particular, they can draw on their partnership ties to locate, and recruit benevolent co-optees, strategically manipulate their community engagement activities to avoid goal displacement, and employ their compassionate enterprise narratives as an external communication tool to highlight their social objectives to their audiences.

Originality/value

– The study highlights relevant organizing practices and activities that social enterprises employ to build legitimacy to attract the necessary support, relationships, and investments they require to function and grow.
Chromatic acoustic condition monitoring of transformers
Authors: G. Deakin Anthony , H. Smith Duncan , W. Spencer Joseph , Jones Darren , Johnson Nigel
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to present an approach for continuous acoustic condition monitoring of transformers based on chromatic principles for abstracting information on individual acoustic events as well as secondary trends in the behaviour of the events.

Design/methodology/approach

– The potential benefits of condition monitoring of high-value transformer equipment are explored, and an approach based on chromatic information abstraction is illustrated and discussed.

Findings

– Tracking of large numbers of complex and variable individual acoustic events over time using a chromatic approach appears to offer a means for remote operators to evaluate mechanical transformer tap changer condition in a traceable manner.

Originality/value

– The condition monitoring is retrofittable and non-intrusive, and the approach may be applied generically for combining condition indicators for overall health-checking. A complex system behaviour may be operationally simplified without discarding the complexity.
Pathways to care: how superdiversity shapes the need for navigational assistance
Authors: Green Gill , Davison Charlie , Bradby Hannah , Krause Kristine , Mejías Felipe Morente , Alex Gabriele
Published: July 2014

The recently developed sociological concept of superdiversity provides a potentially interesting and useful way of developing an understanding of life in contemporary Europe. Here we report on research based on individual narratives about access to health care, as described by a range of people from very different sociocultural backgrounds in four European countries. This article notes the frequent appearance in first‐person narratives of the need for navigational assistance in the form of knowledge, cultural competence and orientation that facilitate the identification and use of pathways to health care. Our dataset of 24 semi‐structured interviews suggests that, in the context of needing health care, the feeling of being a ‘stranger in a strange land’ is common in people from a wide range of backgrounds. In social settings characterised by transnationalism and cultural heterogeneity, it is important to understand the need for navigational assistance, particularly at times of uncertainty, in the design and delivery of health services. The relationship between the inhabitants of contemporary Europe and the healthcare systems available in the places where they live is dominated by both complexity and contingency – and this is the cultural field in which navigation operates.
Process for improving the quality of direct acidified Cottage cheese
Authors: Makhal Subarna , Kanawjia Suresh Kumar , Giri Apurba
Published: July 2014

The effects of plain and fermented curd dressing ripened by single (Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis biovar. diacetylactis) as well as mixed‐strain starter cultures (L. lactis subsp. lactis; L. lactis subsp. cremoris; L. lactis subsp. lactis biovar. diacetylactis:: 1:1:1), different levels of fat (18–24%) in curd dressing and inoculation rate (1–5%) on direct acidified Cottage cheese were observed. Ripened curd dressing containing 22% fat and mixed‐strain starter cultures at 3% imparted a pleasant acidic note, delicate overtones of diacetyl, improved the body and texture, visual appearance and thereby enhanced the overall quality of the product.