bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Enhancing women's productivity in the library and information sector in Nigeria
Authors: Iwe Josephine I.
Published: June 2005

Purpose

Productivity in library and information entails efficient and timely information acquisition, processing, storage, retrieval and delivery. The purpose of this paper is to explore the reasons why the productivity of women in library and information should be enhanced; to describe problems which militate against this; and to highlight their future prospects.

Design/methodology/approach

These objectives are achieved through the descriptive survey methodology.

Findings

The finding is that, in spite of the fact that the productivity of women in Nigeria has generally been regarded as low because of traditional prejudices against women and lack of data on the productivity of women in the informal sector, the productivity of women in the library and information sector has remained high and needs enhancement to encourage them to aim higher in the profession. One way of achieving this is by getting them fully involved in information technology. Another way is government's financial support of their aspirations towards training and retraining; attendance to seminar‐workshops, exchange programmes in connection with sabbatical leave appointments, etc.

Research limitations/implications

For further research, this paper suggests an investigation into the implications of government's investment on women librarians for the harnessing of knowledge and information for sustainable rural development in Nigeria.

Practical implications

The practical implication of the paper is that with government's focus on women librarians to tap their potentials, they will become more sensitive in their professional practice and will endeavour to show‐case their enhanced productivity.

Originality/value

The new value is the suggestion that women librarians should be incorporated to assist in producing national data on the productivity of women in the informal sector.
Web sources, resources and strategies for legal research
Authors: Obiora Omekwu Charles
Published: June 2005

Purpose

The central objective of this work is to examine internet sources, resources, and strategies, with particular reference to legal research.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach adopted was to preface web‐based definitions of the internet and draw some features from the definitions. The next approach was to examine legal research resources on the internet. A web‐based survey and subject analysis of legal resources was then conducted.

Findings

The findings reveal the existence of diverse web resources on all subjects of law.

Research limitations/implications

Draws implications for legal research based on empirical data presented. Internet legal research is not simplistic; nor are all the web‐accessed materials to be accepted hook, line and sinker. It is, however, critical to state that to a large extent the internet would continue to create distributed research community for scholarship and research on a global basis. It concludes that, for legal research institutions, the need to install IT‐driven legal research facilities is no longer at the crossroads of policy tinkering but at the threshold of fundamental technological shift. Internet connectivity is the most critical need of legal research institutions of developing countries.

Originality/value

Probably a first in emphasizing unequivocally that IT activity and expertise are an absolute necessity for the pursuit of legal research in the future.
Enhancing provision of scientific and technical information in Nigerian libraries
Authors: Emojorho Daniel
Published: June 2005

Purpose

This paper is primarily aimed at enhancing provision of scientific and technological information (STI) in Nigerian libraries.

Design/methodology/approach

Theoretical approach was adopted in presenting information on this work. References were drawn from notable authorities to support discussions.

Findings

This paper reveals that science and technological information sources are increasing and very diverse, cutting across primary sources, secondary sources, tertiary sources, as well as non‐documentary sources and involving the use of modern facilities such as CD‐ROMs, Internet and other electronic devices. Factors militating against the provision of scientific and technological information sources in Nigeria include inadequate funding, nonchalant attitude of scientists and technologists towards publishing, lack of or ill‐equipped laboratories, lack of or insufficient science and technologically based librarians and lack of automation or IT facilities in most libraries.

Originality/value

It is hoped that this paper will assist scientists and technologists to have access to relevant information sources, which will enhance their work performance.
“I” versus “we”
Authors: Laroche Michel , Kalamas Maria , Cleveland Mark
Published: June 2005

Purpose

To examine the impact of culture on customer service expectations, specifically, how individualists and collectivists use internal and external sources of information to formulate their service expectations.

Design/methodology/approach

The context was the airline industry and the subject pool consisted of experienced consumers. A survey was employed to measure individualism/collectivism, various internal/external information sources, and the functional and technical dimensions of “should” and “will” service expectations. Hypothesized relationships were tested using a structural equations modeling approach.

Findings

Both individualists and collectivists relied more on external information sources in formulating their service expectations, gave variable weight to the functional and technical components, and used more realistic “will” expectations to judge service offerings. Internal (external) information sources were relatively more important in forming expectations for collectivists (individualists) than for individualists (collectivists), and “will” (“should”) expectations were more diagnostic for collectivists (individualists) than for individualists (collectivists).

Research limitations/implications

Generalizability of the findings is limited due to the specific industry under study (airlines), the sample (two geographically‐proximate sub‐cultures), and the scope of the cultural variables considered (individualism/collectivism).

Practical implications

Whether managers should leverage the functional and/or technical components of services depends in part on the cultural orientation of their customers. Managers should also recognize that customers’ usage of various information sources in forming service expectations is also, in part, culturally determined.

Originality/value

In this era of globalization, researchers and managers alike need to consider the subtle influences of culture on marketing theories and the formulation of service expectations respectively.
The relationship between export assistance and performance improvement in Portuguese export ventures
Authors: Filipe Lages Luis , Montgomery David B.
Published: June 2005

Purpose

The article aims to test how pricing strategy adaptation to the foreign market mediates the relationship between export assistance and annual export performance improvement. It also aims to consider the effects of management international experience and export market competition.

Design/methodology/approach

Structural equation modelling with WLS estimation is used to test the direct and indirect influences of the variables on short‐term export performance.

Findings

Surprisingly, the findings reveal that the total effects of export assistance on annual export performance improvement are non‐significant, because although export assistance has a direct positive impact on performance, there is a negative indirect impact through export pricing strategy adaptation.

Research limitations/implications

These surprising results suggest that future research is required to incorporate and test the intervening and indirect effects among variables.

Practical implications

The findings also indicate that both export assistance and short‐term export performance improve with management international experience and export market competition.

Originality/value

Since both managers and public policy makers are often short‐term oriented, it is urgent to develop research to better understand determinants of short‐term performance as well as the antecedents of managerial and public policy resource allocation in the short term.
Re‐examining field sales unit performance
Authors: Menguc Bulent , Barker Tansu
Published: June 2005

Purpose

Drawing on the resource‐based view of the firm and the dynamic capabilities perspective, this paper sets out to argue that salespeople's selling skills and their inter‐ and intra‐unit collaborative skills are valuable, rare, socially complex, and inimitable knowledge‐based resources embedded in the human and social capital of field sales units (FSUs). Salespeople's selling and collaborative skills, both directly and interactively, should help field sales units generate greater economic rents. This paper also aims to explore the effect of salespeople's selling and collaborative skills on the level of total compensation through the mediating role of sales unit performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were obtained from a sample of managers of FSUs in 102 large Canadian organizations. The proposed model and its hypotheses were tested using hierarchical moderated regression analysis.

Findings

Collaborative skills, but not selling skills, are directly related to FSU performance; the effect of selling skills on FSU performance is strengthened by the complementary role of collaborative skills; and selling skills and collaborative skills both individually and interactively result in the payment of higher compensation to salespeople as a result of their enhanced performance.

Research limitations/implications

Salespeople's selling skills and collaborative skills (both directly and interactively) not only enable the FSU to generate higher levels of performance, but they also increase individual salespeople's compensation.

Practical implications

It is necessary for managers to acknowledge the role of knowledge‐based resources in building/developing organizational dynamic capabilities.

Originality/value

This is one of the few studies that explores the strategic role of salespeople in creating a competitive advantage and links the sales management literature to the literature on the RBV of the firm and social capital/human capital theory.
Quality and customer relationship management (CRM) as competitive strategy in the Swedish banking industry
Authors: Zineldin Mosad
Published: June 2005

Purpose

A primary purpose of management and marketing strategy is to develop a competitive advantage. A competitive advantage provides customers with superior value compared with competitive offerings. Banking has traditionally operated in a relatively stable environment for decades. The purpose of the study is to theoretically and empirically develop a better understanding of quality and customer relationship management (CRM) impact on banking competitiveness.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper examines the product and service quality and customer relationship factors that influence the customer selection and image of the principal banks.

Findings

A bank has to create customer relationships that deliver value beyond that provided by the core product. This involves added tangible and intangible elements to the core products, thus creating and enhancing the “product surrounding”. One necessary condition for the realisation of quality and the creation of value added is quality measurement and control. This is an important function to ensure the fulfilment of given customer requirements. The key ways to building a strong competitive position are through CRM, product/service quality and differentiation.

Originality/value

Provides information on important factors to be considered in competitive positioning decisions.
Managing change: quality‐oriented design of strategic change processes
Authors: Pfeifer Tilo , Schmitt Robert , Voigt Thorsten
Published: June 2005

Purpose

The continuous change with which companies are faced, requires an approach to implement the necessary changes to the organization's structure. Existing approaches represent sequential procedures, which do not meet the requirements to deal with the characteristics of continuous change. Furthermore, existing models for managing change only state what has to be done but do not explain how it can be done. Aims to remedy these shortcomings.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on existing models and on the criteria of the EFQM model, a control loop for the management of strategic change processes was developed. A quality gate concept was defined to measure the performance of the change process by measurements at the quality gates after each phase of the process.

Findings

The integrated methodologies and tools were validated in projects with various companies and adapted to practical needs.

Research limitations/implications

A crucial point for the presented procedural model is the applicability of the integrated tools. Therefore, in an actual investigation project the tools are implemented in a multimedia training module to train the handling and application of the tools.

Practical implications

The procedural model and the training module will enable companies and their employees to plan and implement necessary change processes autonomously.

Originality/value

The procedural model is the first one to meet the requirements to deal with continuous changes, with which companies are faced. It describes the tools and methodologies to complete the phases of a change process.
TQM: terrific quality marvel or tragic quality malpractice?
Authors: Bergquist Bjarne , Fredriksson Maria , Svensson Magnus
Published: June 2005

Purpose

Total quality management has seen a tremendous rise of popularity in the 1980s and 1990s. Aims to question the effectiveness, utility and use of TQM among many people – practitioners, as well as academics.

Design/methodology/approach

Discusses the lack of common interpretations of TQM based on literature study. The answer to the question whether TQM is a marvel or malpractice depends on several factors, for instance, in what kinds of organizations TQM is applied, what interpretation of TQM is made, and what input the theorists and practitioners have, i.e. their earlier environment, culture and values. Often respondents and opponents use the same word but mean different things.

Findings

TQM should not be rejected as a whole if one or even, many applications fail. TQM should, however, be applied with considerable consideration of the specifics of the target organization, the purpose of the organization, and the purpose of applying TQM.

Originality/value

The paper emphasizes the lack of common interpretations of TQM.
How improving quality improves supply chain management: empirical study
Authors: Casadesús Martí , de Castro Rodolfo
Published: June 2005

Purpose

Much has already been written about the effects of ISO 9000 standards on business performance, mostly supporting the notion that implementing a standardized quality management system is beneficial. That said, no studies have been made into the impact that the implementation of these regulations has had on improvements, if any, to supply chain management (SCM). This paper aims to give an initial outline on this subject.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the five strategies proposed by Chandra and Kumar in 2000 that aimed at stimulating the implementation of correct SCM, along with an empirical study carried out in nearly 400 companies certified to ISO 9000 standard, how this quality assurance standard contributes to successful SCM implementation is analysed.

Findings

From the obtained results, it is interesting to point out that not only those indicators which show clear improvements in the SCM have been found but also those aspects in which the companies themselves recognize their limitations.

Originality/value

This paper is one of the first to analyse the effects of the implementation of a Quality Management Standard such as the ISO 9000, through SCM.
The comparative analysis of TQM practices and quality performance between manufacturing and service firms
Authors: Prajogo Daniel I.
Published: June 2005

Purpose

This paper seeks to examine the difference between manufacturing and service firms with respect to the implementation of total quality management (TQM) practices, and the relationship of these practices to quality performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical data were collected from 194 managers of Australian firms with an approximately equal proportion of manufacturing and service firms.

Findings

The finding indicates no significant difference in the level of most of TQM practices and quality performance between the two sectors. This supports the positive argument concerning the applicability of TQM practices in the service firms despite several differences in the nature of their operations compared to their manufacturing counterparts. Furthermore, using structural equation modelling (SEM) technique, this study has shown that TQM construct based on the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) criteria is valid across both industry sectors, and its relationship with quality performance also indicates insignificant difference between the two sectors.

Practical implications

From a managerial point of view, the results confirm the applicability of TQM principles in both manufacturing and service sectors and the validity of the MBNQA criteria in operationalising TQM principles into a set of organizational practices.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the knowledge in terms of cross‐validating the TQM construct in the manufacturing and service sectors. It also differentiates from the earlier studies in the area by simultaneously testing the TQM construct and its relationship with quality performance in both sectors.
Connecting organizational human resource practices to consumer satisfaction
Authors: Namasivayam Karthik
Published: June 2005

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide researchers and practitioners an understanding of one potentially direct linking mechanism between organizational practices and consumer satisfaction with a service.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is conceptual and the approach adopted is analytical. Extant research and concepts, including from psychology and economics, have been used to develop propositions and to discuss both research and managerial implications.

Findings

Provides conceptual support for a psychological dynamic or mechanism linking service employees' job autonomy and consumers' service satisfaction.

Research limitations/implications

The article provides a novel way of thinking about consumer satisfaction. A limitation of the paper is that it is conceptual. Research is required to test empirically the various research propositions. In this manner, research in this area can be furthered.

Practical implications

Further research in this area may provide more directed solutions to service quality and consumer satisfaction issues.

Originality/value

The article proposes an entirely novel way to imagine the service exchange. It moves extant research further by outlining a causal mechanism rather than correlational connections between organizational practices and consumer satisfaction.
Heckit modelling of tourist expenditure: evidence from Spain
Authors: Nicolau Juan L. , Más Francisco J.
Published: June 2005

Purpose

This study intends to decompose the tourist choice process into two stages (decision to take a holiday and tourist expenditure), and to propose and test various expectations on the dimensions which explain the above decisions.

Design/methodology/approach

In order to simultaneously model the two decisions, we use a system of equations based on the Heckit model.

Findings

The dimensions affecting the decision to go on holiday are income, household size, education, size of the city of origin and opinion of going on holiday. The determinant factors influencing the level of expenditure are distance between origin and destination, type of accommodation, income, household size, age, marital status and length of stay. An important finding of this analysis is the differentiated effect of a given dimension on each decision.

Research limitations/implications

The lack of information on some explanatory dimensions. Joint modelling. The spending decision should be modelled jointly with the decision to go on holiday due to the dependency between them.

Practical implications

The promotion of destinations should be developed with special attention paid to some faraway markets of origin, due to the expected propensity for these tourists to spend longer periods at the destination. The specialisation of destinations in terms of accommodation type and length of stay. The design of holiday packages should be adapted to the needs of the tourists identified, as they represent the most profitable tourist profiles.

Originality/value

The particular findings, and the research and practical implications proposed show the relevance of the topic analysed. Also, these aspects are backed by a sample of 3,781 individuals, which assures the robustness of the results.
Supplier parks in the German automotive industry
Authors: Pfohl Hans‐Christian , Gareis Karin
Published: June 2005

Purpose

In the German automotive industry the supplier park concept is one of the new concepts in procurement logistics, evolved in the last years. To understand the spreading of supplier parks, it is necessary to look at actual requirements in procurement logistics in the German automotive industry and find out how supplier parks can be an answer to those requirements. For this purpose it is necessary to identify indicators describing this logistics platform. The objective of this paper is the demarcation of the supplier park concept against the concept of a freight traffic center and the concept of a distribution center. Thus, suggestions for improvements of supplier parks and first impacts for new concepts in procurement logistics can be dedicated.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach of this paper is to develop a descriptive model of supplier parks. The description of concepts with specific indicators has to be always the first step in dealing scientifically with new concepts emerging in practice. The paper outlines the supplier park concept in the German automotive industry with these indicators. First recommendations for the practical application of this concept are made by designing the indicators. The findings of this paper are based on an empirical investigation of the years 2000‐2002.

Findings

The findings are indicators which are useful for a description and demarcation of the supplier park concept. With these indicators the supplier park concept can be characterized and demarcated against the concept of a freight traffic center and distribution center. The description model of a supplier park delivers the theoretical framework for the development of explanation and decision models.

Originality/value

The indicators “objectives, participant, location, formation and operation” allow one to describe the features of supplier parks. Thus, the decision field for introducing and improving the supplier park concept is found.
Impact of uncertainties on recovery behavior in a remanufacturing environment
Authors: Inderfurth Karl
Published: June 2005

Purpose

Remanufacturing of used products is an emerging business area, which is attractive from both an economic and an environmental point of view. Aims to investigate to what extent profit orientation in product recovery management will stimulate an environmentally conscious behavior in the sense that it promotes high recovery levels. This study also seeks to focus on a product recovery system where, in the context of extended product responsibility, a manufacturer of original products is also engaged in remanufacturing used products taken back from its customers.

Design/methodology/approach

For this type of a closed‐loop supply chain the optimal recovery and production policy is evaluated. By a numerical analysis, it is shown how cost‐efficient decision making affects the product recovery behavior. In a sensitivity analysis it is evaluated how various problem determinants influence the preference for product recovery. Specifically, the impact of different sources of uncertainty is investigated.

Findings

Taking advantage of the respective insights, it is discussed which measures can be taken to harmonize economical and environmental‐driven behavior in product recovery management. It is shown that uncertainty in returns and demands can be a considerable obstacle to follow a consequently environmental‐benign recovery strategy within a reverse logistics system.

Research limitations/implications

The analysis in this paper is restricted to stationary demand and return patterns. In a non‐stationary situation the impact of uncertainties could be even stronger, since excessive returns might happen more often.

Originality/value

Focuses on important issues in product recovery management.
Human resource management's role in internal branding: an opportunity for cross‐functional brand message synergy
Authors: Aurand Timothy W. , Gorchels Linda , Bishop Terrence R.
Published: June 2005

Purpose

Many articles and books have been written about building, measuring and managing brand equity – primarily from the perspective of the marketing function. However, the management of the “internal touchpoints” necessary to deliver on the brand promise has received less attention. The paper aims to study these.

Design/methodology/approach

A two‐wave e‐mail survey was administered to business seminar participants. Multi‐item measures and a six‐point Likert scale were developed and analyzed to better understand the perceived involvement of human resource (HR) in internal branding efforts and the relationship between HR involvement and the incorporation of the brand message into work activities and attitude toward the brand.

Findings

In spite of well‐documented internal branding initiatives, there appears to be room for improvement among HR departments in terms of successfully delivering the corporate branding message. However, there does appear to be a strong personal attitude toward the brand among US professionals, and a strong relationship exists between HR involvement in internal branding and the incorporation of the brand into work activities.

Practical implications

Employees seem to have a more positive attitude toward the brand and are more likely to incorporate this image into their work activities when there is some degree of HR involvement in the internal branding process.

Originality/value

The successful promotion of the internal branding doctrine may be as dependent on HR initiatives as on those developed in the marketing department. By involving HR in internal branding projects, firms can better use internal communications to give employees a deeper understanding of the brand and the role that they play in enhancing the brand promise.
Does brand trust matter to brand equity?
Authors: Delgado‐Ballester Elena , Luis Munuera‐Alemán José
Published: June 2005

Purpose

The most recent literature on competitive advantage views brand equity as a relational market‐based asset because it arises from the relationships that consumers have with brands. Given the fact that trust is viewed as the corner‐stone, as well as one of the most desirable qualities in any relationship, the objective of this study is to analyze the importance of brand trust in the development of brand equity. Specifically, the paper examines the relationships network in which brand trust is embedded.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative methodology was adopted. The data are based on a survey conducted in a region in the south‐eastern part of Spain, resulting in 271 surveys.

Findings

The findings reveal that brand trust is rooted in the result of past experience with the brand, and it is also positively associated with brand loyalty, which in turn maintains a positive relationship with brand equity. Furthermore, the results suggest that, although brand trust does not play a full mediating role as suggested by Morgan and Hunt, it contributes to a better explanation of brand equity.

Originality/value

These results have significant implications. The fact that brand equity is best explained when brand trust is taken into account reinforces the idea that brand equity is a relational market‐based asset. Therefore, branding literature may be enriched through the integration with the literature on the resource‐based‐view of the firm. From a practical point of view, companies must build brand trust in order to enjoy the substantial competitive and economic advantages provided by brand equity as a relational, market‐based asset.
Logical channels: using web services for cross‐organizational workflow
Authors: Nickerson Jeffrey V.
Published: June 2005

Purpose

This paper seeks to establish a design for cross‐organizational workflow based on logical channels of communication. A set of scenarios is established which can be used to test the effectiveness of future architectures.

Design/methodology/approach

Starting with scenarios based on cross‐organizational business transactions, designs a set of sequence diagrams, analyzes these diagrams, and then deduces the need for certain system capabilities.

Findings

Current approaches to web services focus on just one channel – that of invocation. In order to handle the full gamut of cross‐organizational workflow, channels devoted to flow, monitoring, negotiation, and interpersonal interaction are also necessary.

Research limitations/implications

Extensions to this research might include designs for integrating these multiple channels. Such designs can be tested against the scenarios discussed in the paper. In particular, research related to the semantic web might extend the ideas raised here.

Practical implications

Companies implementing web services may want to augment the current technology with enhancement of their own in order to avoid inadvertently reducing their channels of communication with trading partners. A properly constructed monitoring channel has the potential to change the nature of complex workflow.

Originality/value

Those designing and implementing web service technology may find value in the articulation of a set of complex scenarios which can be used to test alternative designs and implementations. The discussion of cross‐organizational monitoring is new, and has broad implications for business.
Processing by contract
Authors: Klischewski Ralf , Wetzel Ingrid
Published: June 2005

Purpose

Aims to show that workflow management needs to rethink its basis of discussion in order to meet today's challenges and to provide adequate IT support for heterogeneous workflow networks.

Design/methodology/approach

First, the need for flexibility in relating resources in workflow management is examined in more detail. Second, some approaches to managing workflows in heterogeneous networks are inspected and it is found that all of these improve flexibility on the basis of contracting services. Third, it is elaborated how processing by contract supports decentralized resource management through dynamically interrelating social and technical services driven by a cycle (“wheel”) of execution and monitoring, evaluation and demand, as well as selecting and contracting.

Findings

Conclusions are drawn for systems architecture and implementation to guide the design of internet‐enabled workflow support.

Research limitations/implications

Important questions for the research agenda are: how can one enrich application‐oriented workflow modelling languages in order to describe processes as consisting of heterogeneous services? How should one design and implement workflow engines which enable the turning of the “wheel” with the support of integrating human activities and technical agency as workflow process services?

Practical implications

The idea of processing by contract may lead to new workflow concepts and technology to meet the challenges of an internet economy based on the “pay as you go” principle.

Originality/value

Whereas the workflow paradigm of the past may be phrased as processing by definition, i.e. process execution according to predefined process patterns and resource relations, the idea of processing by contract is suggested, i.e. a mode of process execution driven by recurrent process evaluation and service contracting.
Modeling and managing collaborative processes over the internet
Authors: Cai Jian , Lu Stephen C‐Y. , Grobler François , Case Michael , Jing Nan
Published: June 2005

Purpose

Collaborative processes are relatively complex and are therefore difficult to handle. Representing the joint processes and capturing the interactions among stakeholders in a structured way are critical to improve the collaboration productivity. This paper aims to present a generic collaborative process model that improves on current approaches by explicitly representing the perspectives of stakeholders and their evolution traversing a work process.

Design/methodology/approach

This approach provides a mechanism to identify the interdependencies among tasks and stakeholders, and realizes collaboration through process management. A web‐based information system using the model to support collaborative process management is also described.

Findings

The research work provides collaboration management systems with the ability to analyze and control the processes through sharing perspectives.

Originality/value

The models and methods described in this paper are an important part of a pervasive, resilient and predictable means for business process management over the internet.
Editorial
Authors: Gorman G.E.
Published: June 2005

Purpose

To provide a brief viewpoint on wikis. A wiki is a web site that allows – and encourages – users to share information by freely writing new content, adding to existing content, and editing or commenting on content.

Design/methodology/approach

An opinion piece based on the author's own experiences.

Findings

Reflecting the chaotic nature of the web world in which wikis exist, the reality of the situation is that they often do not operate in a positive environment. The author's experience as a wiki participant on several occasions has been far from positive.

Originality/value

Provides advice to users of wikis: use with caution.
Libraries Australia: creating a new national resource discovery service
Authors: Missingham Roxanne , Boston Tony
Published: June 2005

Purpose

This paper seeks to report on the development of a new interface for “finding” and “getting” resources from Australian libraries.

Design/methodology/approach

The National Library of Australia has provided online access to the Australian National Bibliographic Database since 1981. Containing the National Union Catalogue for Australia, its major role initially was to support shared cataloguing. The Kinetica service supports access to the database through its search service. Kinetica is being redeveloped over the period 2004 and 2005 to provide a more modern, standards‐based service. The development is focused on increasing access by Australians to the nation's collections. The new interface for searching, Libraries Australia, was launched in December 2004 and incorporates a Google‐style search interface with a range of new “get” functionality, enabling requesting from libraries and ordering from bookshops. The paper reports on the redevelopment project, particularly Libraries Australia.

Findings

The new interface is found to more successfully meet the needs of searchers, particularly the general public.

Originality/value

Summarises research undertaken to assess the needs of Australians for access to library collections. Also describes the technical architecture of the new search service and future directions for this national infrastructure for resource sharing in Australia. Issues for the future including universal access are identified.
Multiple project management: a modern competitive necessity
Authors: Dooley L. , Lupton G. , O'Sullivan D.
Published: June 2005

Purpose

The paper aims to examine the theory of project and multiple project management and develop a framework tool to facilitate the management of a portfolio of multiple projects across an organisation and enhance the overall effectiveness of the process.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology adopted in this paper was first, to undertake a literature survey of the area and to distil the key elements affecting the management of multiple projects within organisations. A number of interrelated tools to support effective management are then developed and applied to a mall to medium‐sized enterprise (SME) to validate their applicability.

Findings

The paper highlights that greater organisational efficiency and less conflict can be achieved through greater structure and understanding of the intricacies of managing multiple projects.

Practical implications

Organisations can reduce the pressure imposed on staff as a result of the matrix structure by clearer deployment of strategies to projects and increased awareness of risk of conflict between function and project co‐ordinators.

Originality/value

The value of the paper is that it presents organisations with a tool that interrelates projects to strategy fulfilment and also identifies the level, focus and loading of projects to individuals across the organisation. In this way organisations can better understand their organisations and manage their portfolio process more effectively.
Advanced manufacturing technology implementation
Authors: Dangayach G.S. , Deshmukh S.G.
Published: June 2005

Purpose

This research aims to report the findings of an exploratory survey on advanced manufacturing technologies (AMTs) administered in Indian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of automobile, electronics, machinery, and process sectors. The objective of the survey is to assess the status of AMT, identify AMTs relevant to Indian SMEs, identify competitive priorities, AMT implementation criteria, and assess the degree of investment in AMTs.

Design/methodology/approach

Responses from 122 companies are analyzed and presented.

Findings

It is observed that Indian SMEs are giving the highest priority to quality and the least priority to flexibility. “Post‐implementation evaluation” and “requirement analysis” AMT implementation steps have attracted least attention from Indian SMEs.

Originality/value

This research report is useful to others implementing AMT..
Cultural Politics, Communal Resistance and Identity in Andean Irrigation Development
Authors: Boelens Rutgerd , Gelles Paul H.
Published: June 2005

This article uses two case studies to illustrate how Andean irrigation development and management emerges from a hybrid mix of local community rules and the changing political forms and ideological forces of hegemonic states. Some indigenous water‐control institutions are with us today because they were consonant with the extractive purposes of local elites and Inca, Spanish and post‐independence Republican states. These states often appropriated and standardised local water‐management rules, rights and rituals in order to gain control over the surplus produced by these irrigation systems. However, as we show in the case of two communities in Ecuador and Peru, many of these same institutions are reappropriated and redirected by local communities to counteract both classic ‘exclusion‐oriented’ and modern ‘inclusion‐oriented’ water and identity politics. In this way, they resist subordination, discrimination and the control of local water management by rural elites or state actors.
Venezuela's Contemporary Political Crisis in Historical Context
Authors: Buxton Julia
Published: June 2005

Since the election of Hugo Chávez Frías to the Venezuelan presidency in 1998 on a platform of ‘revolutionary’ change, the country has been wracked by political turmoil and violence between pro‐ and anti‐government groups. While the political crisis has been reported and portrayed as a new phenomenon that has emerged as a result of Chávez's policy programme and style of government, this article argues that the conflict has deep historical roots and that it has been shaped by the legacy of political organisation in the pre‐Chávez period.
Municipal Democratisation in Rural Latin America: Methodological Insights from Ecuador
Authors: Cameron John D.
Published: June 2005

As municipal governments in Latin America acquire greater responsibility for public goods and services and the promotion of economic and social development, and play a greater role in local citizenship, questions about the quality of municipal democracy also need to be taken much more seriously. This article proposes a ‘relative power approach’ that examines the distribution of social power at the microregional level and its impact on municipal governance as the starting point for the analysis of municipal democratisation in Latin America. The approach lays particular emphasis on historical changes in the distribution of local productive assets, the political organisation of local social actors, coalitions between and divisions within local social sectors and the ways in which local power relations are shaped by global and national forces. The article then explores the practical application of the relative power approach to three municipalities in rural Ecuador.
Anticonvulsant hypersensitivity syndrome
Authors: Kaminsky A. , Moreno M. , Díaz M. , Charas V. , Bravo G. , Kien C.
Published: June 2005

Anticonvulsant hypersensitivity syndrome (AHS) is a rare and potentially fatal reaction characterized by the appearance of fever, skin rash and internal organ involvement.

Phenytoin, phenobarbital and carbamazepine are the most frequent aromatic anticonvulsants causing the reaction. This syndrome occurs 1–8 weeks after the initial drug exposure but, even though glucocorticoids appear to be useful in severe cases, discontinuation of the drug has been found to be essential in the resolution of symptoms.
4% hydroquinone versus 4% hydroquinone, 0.05% dexamethasone and 0.05% tretinoin in the treatment of melasma: a comparative study
Authors: Astaneh Reyhaneh , Farboud Effat , Nazemi Mohammad J.
Published: June 2005

A randomized, controlled, double‐blind clinical study was conducted on 64 patients (phototypes III to V) with melasma, in order to compare 4% hydroquinone cream with a combination product, containing 4% hydroquinone, 0.05% tretinoin and 0.05% dexamethasone, that can be applied as a single cream. The aim of this study was to determine whether hydroquinone provides additional improvement when combined with tretinoin and dexamethasone.

Patients were randomly divided into two groups of 32 individuals. One group received 4% hydroquinone (group A) in a cream base. The other received a cream that contains 4% hydroquinone, 0.05% tretinoin and 0.05% dexamethasone (group B). The creams were applied once daily at night and a broad spectrum sunscreen (sun protection factor 15) was used every morning. Patients were evaluated by a clinical investigator subjectively at baseline and after 4, 8 and 12 weeks of therapy.

At the baseline visit, the history of melasma, such as duration of disease, patient's age, type of melasma, distribution of melasma, family history, association with pregnancy, sun exposure, genetic factors and oral contraceptive consumption, was taken. Improvement was determined subjectively compared with baseline, on a three‐point scale as follows: worse, same and improved (excellent, good, moderate and slight).

Descriptive statistics (the χ2 test) were used to report the characteristics of the patients in the two groups.
Evolution of histoid leprosy (de novo) in lepromatous (multibacillary) leprosy
Authors: Sehgal Virendra N. , Aggarwal Ashok , Srivastava Govind , Sharma Neelima , Sharma Sonal
Published: June 2005

A 26‐year‐old man presented with persistent redness of the face over the past 2 years and thickening of the ears for a year. The current state was preceded by three to four episodes of epistaxis, 2–3 months previously. The patient had not received any treatment. Cutaneous examination revealed indurated (infiltrated) plaques on the face and ears over an apparently normal‐looking skin, and numerous, small, ill‐defined, slightly hypopigmented, shiny macules all over the body. They were bilateral and symmetric (Fig. 1a,b). There was no variation in the cutaneous sensations of temperature, touch, and pain. The patient showed loss of the lateral eyebrows and conjunctival congestion. Examination of the nerves revealed enlargement of the ulnar, radial, posterior tibial, and right common peroneal nerves; however, there was no tenderness of the nerves. Systemic examination was within normal limits. Examination of a slit‐skin smear (under oil immersion), prepared from a representative lesion (plaque), demonstrated an abundance of solid and uniform‐staining acid‐fast bacilli, occurring either singly or in parallel clumps/globii, in an average field (6+). Furthermore, a scraping mount (10% KOH) prepared from the lesion on the back was negative.

(a, b) Histoid leprosy

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Hematoxylin and eosin‐stained sections prepared from a biopsy taken from a plaque revealed a conspicuous granuloma composed of peculiar spindle‐shaped histiocytes. Several of the granulomas were present in the mid and lower dermis. They were characterized by whorled, criss‐cross, or parallel patterns. Solid and uniform‐staining, slender, rod‐like (length three times that of the breadth) acid‐fast bacilli were found scattered throughout the section. A few histiocytes closely packed with acid‐fast bacilli, together with lymphocytic infiltrates, were also seen. There was a prominent eosinophilic stained clear zone just below the epidermis. It was free from acid‐fast bacilli as well as the inflammatory infiltrate (Fig. 2a,b). A definitive diagnosis of untreated lepromatous leprosy (LL) changing to histoid leprosy (de novo) was made.

(a, b) Histoid leprosy depicting granuloma formed by histiocytes displaying whorl‐wind, criss‐cross or interlacing pattern, and a clear zone beneath the epidermis (H&E ×40) Solid and uniform staining acid fast bacilli, – slender, rod‐like, length 3 times that of breadth found scattered throughout the granuloma (H&E ×100)

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A comparison of anti‐desmoglein antibodies and indirect immunofluorescence in the serodiagnosis of pemphigus vulgaris
Authors: Zagorodniuk Irena , Weltfriend Sara , Shtruminger Lily , Sprecher Eli , Kogan Olga , Pollack Shimon , Bergman Reuven
Published: June 2005

Background  Indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) is the standard method for the detection of pemphigus autoantibodies. Commercially available enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) have recently become available to measure serum antibodies (Abs) against desmoglein1 (Dsg1) and desmoglein3 (Dsg3). It has been suggested that patients with mucosal‐dominant pemphigus vulgaris (PV) have serum Abs against Dsg3 only, patients with mucocutaneous PV have Abs to both Dsg1 and Dsg3, and patients with pemphigus foliaceus (PF) have Abs against Dsg1 only.

Aim  To compare the sensitivity and specificity of the IIF and ELISA tests in the diagnosis of pemphigus and its subsets.

Methods  Thirty‐three patients with PV and five patients with PF were studied, and compared with 50 healthy individuals or patients with unrelated skin diseases. Monkey esophagus was used as a substrate for the IIF test.

Results  The IIF and ELISA tests were each positive in 26 of the 32 (81%) PV patients, and in none (0%) and 3 (6%) of the 50 controls, respectively. Both the IIF and ELISA results were concordant in 69% of the PV patients, and only one of these two tests was positive in the remaining 31% of patients. Forty‐six per cent of the PV patients with a positive ELISA test did not have the PV phenotype (mucosal or mucocutaneous) predicted by their autoantibody profile.

Conclusion  The IIF and ELISA tests may be used as complementary tests for the serologic diagnosis of pemphigus.