bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mixed two- and four-level experimental designs for interchangeable parts with different degrees of assembly difficulty
Authors: Vivacqua Carla A. , Ho Linda Lee , Pinho André L.S.
Published: July 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to show how to properly use the method of replacement to construct mixed two- and four-level minimum setup split-plot type designs to accommodate the presence of hard-to-assemble parts.

Design/methodology/approach

Split-plot type designs are economical approaches in industrial experimentation. These types of designs are particularly useful for situations involving interchangeable parts with different degrees of assembly difficulties. Methodologies for designing and analyzing such experiments have advanced lately, especially for two-level designs. Practical needs may require the inclusion of factors with more than two levels. Here, the authors consider an experiment to improve the performance of a Baja car including two- and four-level factors.

Findings

The authors find that the direct use of the existing minimum setup maximum aberration (MSMA) catalogs for two-level split-plot type designs may lead to inappropriate designs (e.g. low resolution). The existing method of replacement for searching exclusive sets of the form (α, β, αβ) available in the literature is suitable for completely randomized designs, but it may not provide efficient plans for designs with restricted randomization.

Originality/value

The authors provide a general framework for the practitioners and have extended the algorithm to find out the number of generators and the number of base factor at each stratum, which guide the selection of mixed two-level and four-level MSMA split-plot type designs.
Management systems integration: survey results
Authors: Domingues Pedro , Sampaio Paulo , Arezes Pedro M.
Published: July 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report the results from a survey carried out among Portuguese companies with their management systems (MSs) certified according to, at least two of the following standards: ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001. In addition, the results from a second survey conducted amid a group of experts that pointed out several aspects that impact on the integration level will be dissected.

Design/methodology/approach

The phenomenon of MSs integration is hardly transferable to a contained environment so some of the common research methods traditionally adopted include case studies, surveys, interviews and observation in situ. The findings from two surveys online among Portuguese companies and Portuguese experts are reported in the current paper.

Findings

The results suggest that a set of common characteristics is present on the majority of the surveyed companies. On first hand, there is evidence of an effective integration of the policies and the existence of an integrated system manager on the organizational structure of the companies. On the other hand, results suggest that training was provided to top management concerning integration issues, an integrating concept was taken into account during the implementation process and tools, and methods and objectives of the subsystems are aligned.

Research limitations/implications

This paper addresses the issues raised in the mainstream scientific bibliography through the collection of information amidst Portuguese companies. At this stage, it is not possible to infer at which extent the conclusions may be transferable to other geographic contexts. The small number of companies that completed the survey precludes the statistical generalization of the findings but the analytical generalization is not impaired.

Originality/value

The authors believe that the conclusions of this paper may aid both practioneers and scholars in the understanding of a complex but manageable organizational phenomenon. In addition, through the contents of this paper companies may collect information regarding the pertinent issues to address when developing their IMSs.
Equating the expected and perceived service quality
Authors: Shabbir Asma , Malik Shahab Alam , Janjua Saquib Yusaf
Published: July 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate patients’ views toward the perceived service quality of public and private healthcare service providers. Determinants of healthcare service quality were compared by carrying out a GAP analysis to equate perceived and expected services and examined differences in the service quality.

Design/methodology/approach

The study sample comprises 310 inpatients of public and private healthcare service providers. Self-administered questionnaires were used along a five-point Likert scale and analyzed through the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. GAP analysis was used to observe the difference between expectations and perceived service quality.

Findings

A cross-sectional study revealed significant quality gaps between the expected and perceived services of public and private healthcare service providers; conversely patients’ expectations are not fully met in both types of hospitals. Private hospitals surpassed in terms of overall perceived service quality from their counterparts. Perceived services were found better in terms of physician medical services in public sector hospitals, while rooms and housekeeping services were found better in terms of private sector hospitals.

Practical implications

The result can be used by both public and private healthcare service providers to restructure their quality management practices which could only be possible through effective management commitment, regular patients’ feedback and translucent complaint procedures.

Originality/value

The study conceptualizes the expected and perceived hospital service quality dimensions as an eight-dimensional framework. A comparison between public and private sector hospitals is made to get a better understanding about the differences in the perceived healthcare services among two sectors. Consequences of the study will aid hospital managers and policy makers to get a fuller picture of healthcare services in order to contrive enhancement practices.
Reliability analysis in railway repairable systems
Authors: Navas Miguel Angel , Sancho Carlos , Carpio Jose
Published: July 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of the application of various models to estimate the reliability in railway repairable systems.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology proposed by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), using homogeneous Poisson process (HPP) and non-homogeneous Poisson process (NHPP) models, is adopted. Additionally, renewal process (RP) models, not covered by the IEC, are used, with a complementary analysis to characterize the failure intensity thereby obtained.

Findings

The findings show the impact of the recurrent failures in the times between failures (TBF) for rejection of the HPP and NHPP models. For systems not exhibiting a trend, RP models are presented, with TBF described by three-parameter lognormal or generalized logistic distributions, together with a methodology for generating clusters.

Research limitations/implications

For those systems that do not exhibit a trend, TBF is assumed to be independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.), and therefore, RP models of “perfect repair” have to be used.

Practical implications

Maintenance managers must refocus their efforts to study the reliability of individual repairable systems and their recurrent failures, instead of collections, in order to customize maintenance to the needs of each system.

Originality/value

The stochastic process models were applied for the first time to electric traction systems in 23 trains and to 40 escalators with ten years of operating data in a railway company. A practical application of the IEC models is presented for the first time.
The Excellence Grid – a tool to identify attributes that drive service excellence
Authors: Roy Sheila , Mukherjee Indrajit
Published: July 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a tool, “The Excellence Grid,” to categorize attributes on the basis of their ability to impact customer perception of “excellence” in service compared to perception of “good” service. In addition, provide a three dimensional (3D) model for excellence-performance analysis, which can aid managers in formalizing the strategies for building perceptions of excellence about the service.

Design/methodology/approach

The positive zone of performance is analyzed through a two-function modeling technique of ordinal logistic regression (OLR) with the non-proportional odds to categorize attributes on grid. Tool is applied to two case studies to validate and establish the asymmetric impact of attributes on perceptions of “good service” and “excellent service.”

Findings

Similar to the Kano model for impact of attributes on positive and negative performances, findings from cases confirm the asymmetric impact of attributes on the positive zone of performance and establish “Excellence Grid” as a means to categorize attributes as drivers of excellence.

Practical implications

The “Excellence Grid” tool is expected to empower managers to focus on strategies directed toward the goal of “service excellence” and recommends that managers should not only strive for process improvement, but also sharpen the external communication of service excellence.

Originality/value

The “Excellence Grid” and the “3D Excellence-Performance model,” proposed in this research, are expected to enrich the body of knowledge on operational tools to achieve service excellence. Using parameter estimates of the two-function model of OLR for service quality has not yet been reported in open literature.
A structural equation model for evaluating the relationship between total quality management and employees’ productivity
Authors: Putri Nilda Tri , Yusof Shari Mohd , Hasan Alizar , Darma Haesti Sujita
Published: July 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the influences of TQM implementation on employees’ productivity in crumb rubber industry (case study conducted in the XYZ firm), and analyze the predominant factors affecting employees’ productivity in order to establish the success of TQM implementation.

Design/methodology/approach

Data used in the research was primary data obtained from interview and questionnaire, and secondary data obtained from the study of literatures, internet, and company’s documents. The number of respondents in this research was 191. The analysis was done through structural equation modeling (SEM) using the smart partial least square software.

Findings

The findings of this study showed that TQM implementation had positive influences on employees’ productivity in XYZ. Tool is the most predominant factor in order to achieve a successful TQM implementation in XYZ. Therefore, the XYZ company will need to work on improving the development and management of the tool which has been available to sustain the effectiveness of TQM practices.

Research limitations/implications

Using a large sample size in the SEM method could improve the results. The implications of this study can be demonstrated through how top managers in this rubber company can improve their employees’ productivity through total quality management practices.

Practical implications

This research is useful for manufacturing companies in Indonesia, especially in the crumb rubber industry.

Originality/value

This research used the variable based on the empirical research. TQM was measured using six indicators: human resources, standard, tools, organization, internal audit, and training and education. On the other hand, the work productivity of employees is measured by four indicators: work willingness, work ability, work environment, and work relations.
Understanding and evaluation of risk in Sukuk structures
Authors: Alswaidan Mohammed Waleed , Daynes Arief , Pasgas Paraskevas
Published: July 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to reviews Sukuk risk classification schemes based on extending and adapting the risk classification schemes of conventional finance. It is then argued that risk classification schemes based on Sukuk structure provide significant insights into Sukuk risk not obtainable from conventional schemes. This is because Sukuk structure risk classification schemes link Sukuk risk more directly to the fundamental causal factors creating those risks. These links are less evident in conventional risk classification schemes. It is hypothesised that Sukuk structure risk factors will prove to be highly significant in multifactor expected return regressions.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper argues that, given the paucity of the empirical data currently available to researchers in Islamic finance, greater care needs to be taken in hypothesis development than is necessary for conventional finance. The limited data available should be used for testing hypotheses and not “wasted” in hypothesis formation. Through a meta-analysis of the existing literature on Sukuk risk, it is hypothesised that Sukuk structure risks will be highly significant in explaining Sukuk returns and returns volatilities in empirical tests.

Findings

The main Sukuk structures, debt based, equity based, assets based, agency based and hybrid structures, arise directly from the requirement of Sukuk to conform to the Shariah and to the fundamental ethical principles of Islamic finance and business. Further, Sukuk risk profiles are directly related to Sukuk structures. Thus, Sukuk structure risks are essentially Shariah risks. The paper presents a Sukuk risk classification matrix based on an evaluation of Sukuk structure risks.

Research limitations/implications

The findings on the relation of Sukuk risks to Sukuk structures require corroboration by rigorous empirical tests.

Social implications

The paper contributes to work on the creation of evidence-based risk management techniques in Islamic finance and to the expansion of ethical financial management.

Originality/value

The paper is one of the early detailed academic studies on the evaluation of risks arising from Sukuk structures.
Malaysian Islamic medical tourism market: a SWOT analysis
Authors: Mohezar Suhana , Moghavvemi Sedigheh , Zailani Suhaiza
Published: July 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to examine challenges and prospects of the Malaysian Islamic medical tourism sector and suggests strategies to leverage the strengths and opportunities as well as overcome the weaknesses and threats.

Design/methodology/approach

A series of semi-structured interviews were conducted with the Islamic hospital managers. Information collected was transcribed and content analysis was used to group the variables into the four SWOT categories.

Findings

The SWOT analysis identified several strengths (e.g. great hospitality, country’s characteristics and development of Islamic compliant hospital), weaknesses (e.g. low international certifications), opportunities (e.g. growing Muslim populations, Sept 11 incidence) and threats (e.g. competition from major medical tourism market and non-uniformity of Islamic medical tourism standards).

Research limitations/implications

This paper could provide understanding of the sector and fundamental on the Islamic medical tourism market. Yet the SWOT analysis does not indicate how to achieve competitive advantage and result may become obsolete, with the dynamic environments.

Practical implications

This paper could serve as a guideline for the industry stakeholders to have better understanding in their business environment.

Originality/value

This paper is the first of its kind to integrate SWOT analysis and Islamic medical tourism industry. Hence, the findings could broaden knowledge on Islamic medical tourism industry and facilitate firms in tapping the growing market.
Factors affecting to select Islamic credit cards in Pakistan: the TRA model
Authors: Ali Muhammad , Raza Syed Ali , Puah Chin-Hong
Published: July 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the factors affecting intentions to select Islamic credit cards in Pakistan by using the theory of reasoned action (TRA) model. In general, bank customers are aware of credit card facility, but the leading factors to select Islamic credit cards are particularly unexplored. Due to this fact, the study examined the effect of subjective norm (SN) and attitude (ATT) with the inclusion of new construct, namely, perceived financial cost (PFC) to predict the intention of customers about the Islamic credit card in Pakistan.

Design/methodology/approach

Sample data were conveniently drawn from the bank customers with the help of a self-administered survey based questionnaire, which was consisted over five-point Likert scale. The study uses a sample of 492 bank customers located in the biggest city of Pakistan. Out of these responses, only 466 responses were used in the analysis, while the remaining responses were ignored due to missing data and incomplete responses. The data were analyzed through factor and regression analysis.

Findings

Findings from regression analysis suggest that SN and ATT show positive and significant impact on intentions to select an Islamic credit card, while PFC has a negative impact on intentions to select Islamic credit cards. Moreover, SN was found to be the most influential factor to predict the selection of Islamic credit card.

Research implications

This study has some practical implications for the academicians and Islamic bank managers. Through this research, bank managers can educate their customers about Islamic credit and financial products. Not only this, they should develop a strategy for the awareness of Islamic banking products through social networking and other marketing modes. On the other side, this study laid a foundation for future researchers to explore additional predictors of Islamic credit card. Their empirical work will provide a help to benefit and understand customers’ financial knowledge.

Originality/value

Islamic credit facility is entirely new in Pakistan and lacking with empirical support. Therefore, this investigation contributes to the existing body of knowledge by providing a comprehensive explanation on the Islamic credit card service in Pakistan.
Determinants of consumer’s willingness to boycott surrogate products
Authors: Abdul-Talib Asmat-Nizam , Mohd Adnan Mohd Muttaqin
Published: July 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the willingness to boycott among Malaysian consumers towards the surrogate products associated with Israel. The present study was based on the previous and an ongoing war and conflict in the Middle East.

Design/methodology/approach

Several surrogate products associated with Israel were selected. A total of 468 respondents from various backgrounds participated in this study. Analysis was performed using multiple regression analysis (MRA).

Findings

Results showed that three factors were significant in predicting the willingness to boycott. They were animosity, subjective norms and product judgments. Anticipated emotions (both positive and negative emotions) were found to be insignificant in predicting the willingness to boycott the surrogate products.

Originality/value

The present study addresses the boycott intention in Malaysia where multi-races and multi-religions exist, in the context of the ongoing war and oppression by Israeli government toward the Palestinians. The results have some implications to multinational firms, especially those perceived to have direct links with the aggressors.
Patients’ perceived risks in hospitals: a grey qualitative analysis
Authors: Delcea Camelia , Bradea Ioana-Alexandra
Published: July 2017

Purpose

This study aims to analyze the major risk categories that could be encountered in hospitals and other medical facilities and attempts to determine which are more important from the patients’ perspective for the purpose of improving to the hospital–patient relationship improvement. For this, five main risk categories are identified along with an overall perceived risk.

Design/methodology/approach

To extract the patients’ opinion over the considered types of risks in terms of importance and exposure to these risks when using the medical services, a questionnaire has been created and validated using AMOS 22.0.0. Due to the validation process, a series of variables have been excluded, while the selected ones have been used for calculating the overall perceived risk. Having the values of this risk for the entire set of respondents (N = 304), the grey incidence analysis has been applied to determine whether there is a correlation between the overall perceived risk and the frequency of medical services usage, the disease gravity, the hospitalisation period or the healing degree.

Findings

The human resources and the hospital conditions risk has been mentioned as the main risk category encountered by the respondents when accessing the medical services both in term of importance and exposure, shortly followed by the technological and hospital conditions risk. The overall perceived risk has a moderate to high average value on the entire set of respondents and it is mostly related to the frequency to which the respondents are utilising the medical services.

Originality/value

In this paper, the hospital’s risks are analysed from the patients’ point of view to see both their perception over these risks and the importance they are giving to these risks. More, an overall perceived risk has been determined, with a moderate to high value on the Likert scale (on this data set), which can be useful if extended to each hospital (and not calculated as a general indicator), as it can provide a landmark for patients when choosing a hospital.
Encouraging continuous learning for librarians and library staff
Authors: Decker Emy Nelson
Published: July 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the issues surrounding professionals whose legacy skills do not align with the new directions in which the academic library is moving. It also examines the ways in which the disappearance of traditional roles impacts librarians and users alike.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper considers policies for training professionals for their roles in the twenty-first century academic library sphere and identifies skills they will need for these new roles.

Findings

This paper provides insights into possible solutions for training librarians and library staff so that they will have necessary skills for their future roles.

Originality/value

This paper will provide library managers with approaches to staff training and a framework for understanding the specific skills that will be necessary for staff to possess in the twenty-first century academic library.
Dysregulated microbiota-gut-brain axis
Authors: Choudhary Arbind Kumar , Lee Yeong
Published: July 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to summarize the available literatures, specifically in the following areas: metabolic and other side effects of aspartame; microbiota changes/dysbiosis and its effect on the gut-brain axis; changes on gut microbiota as a result of aspartame usage; metabolic effects (weight gain and glucose intolerance) of aspartame due to gut dysbiosis; and postulated effects of dysregulated microbiota-gut-brain axis on other aspartame side-effects (neurophysiological symptoms and immune dysfunction).

Design/methodology/approach

Aspartame is rapidly becoming a public health concern because of its purported side-effects especially neurophysiological symptom and immune dysregulation. It is also paradoxical that metabolic consequences including weight gain and impaired blood glucose levels have been observed in consumers. Exact mechanisms of above side-effects are unclear, and data are scarce but aspartame, and its metabolites may have caused disturbance in the microbiota-gut-brain axis.

Findings

Additional studies investigating the impact of aspartame on gut microbiota and metabolic health are needed.

Originality/value

Exact mechanism by which aspartame-induced gut dysbiosis and metabolic dysfunction requires further investigation.
Chemical composition and industrial benefits of dikanut (irvingia gabonensis) kernel oil
Authors: Omoniyi Saheed Adewale , Idowu Michael Ayodele , Adeola Abiodun Aderoju , Folorunso Adekunle Ayodeji
Published: July 2017

Purpose

This paper aims to review the chemical composition and industrial benefits of oil extracted from dikanut kernels.

Design/methodology/approach

Several literatures on chemical composition of dikanut kernels, methods of oil extraction from dikanut kernels and chemical composition of oil extracted from dikanut kernels were critically reviewed.

Findings

The review showed that proximate composition of dikanut kernels ranged from 2.10 to 11.90 per cent, 7.70 to 9.24 per cent, 51.32 to 70.80 per cent, 0.86 to 10.23 per cent, 2.26 to 6.80 per cent and 10.72 to 26.02 per cent for moisture, crude protein, crude fat, crude fibre, ash and carbohydrate contents, respectively. The methods of oil extraction from dikanut kernels include soxhlet extraction method, novel extraction method, enzymatic extraction method and pressing method. The quality attributes of dikanut kernel oil ranged from 1.59 to 4.70 g/100g, 0.50 to 2.67 meq/Kg, 4.30 to 13.40 g/100g, 187.90 to 256.50 mg KOH/g and 3.18 to 12.94 mg KOH/g for free fatty acid, peroxide value, iodine value, saponification value and acid value, respectively. Also, the percentage compositions of oleic, myristic, stearic, linolenic, palmitic, lauric, saturated fatty acids, monosaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids ranging from 0.00 to 6.90, 20.50 to 61.68, 0.80 to 11.40, 0.27 to 6.40, 5.06 to 10.30, 27.63 to 40.70, 97.45 to 98.73, 1.82 to 2.12 and 0.27 to 0.49 respectively. The results showed that dikanut kernels has appreciable amount of protein, carbohydrate and high level of fat content while oil extracted from dikanut kernels have high saponification value, high myristic acid and high lauric acid.

Research limitations/implications

There are scanty information/published works on industrial products made from oil extracted from dikanut kernels.

Practical implications

The review helps in identifying different methods of extraction of oil from dikanut kernels apart from popular soxhlet extraction method (uses of organic solvent). Also, it helps to identify the domestic and industrial benefits of oil extracted from dikanut kernels.

Originality/value

The review showed that oil extracted from dikanut kernels could be useful as food additive, flavour ingredient, coating fresh citrus fruits and in the manufacture of margarine, oil creams, cooking oil, defoaming agent, cosmetics and pharmaceutical products.
Effect of grape seed extract (Vitis labruscaL.) on soybean oil under thermal oxidation
Authors: Freitas Irene Rodrigues , Cattelan Marília Gonçalves , Rodrigues Mara Lina , Luzia Débora Maria Moreno , Jorge Neuza
Published: July 2017

Purpose

This study aims to evaluate the effect of grape seed extract on the thermal oxidation of soybean oil.

Design/methodology/approach

Four treatments were used: soybean oil (SO), butylhydroxytoluene (BHT), antioxidant at concentration of 100 mg/kg in soybean oil (BHTSO), grape seed extract at a concentration of 100 mg/kg in soybean oil (Extract), and mixture at a concentration of 50 mg/kg of grape seed extract (Mixture) and 50 mg/kg of BHT in soybean oil subjected to 180°C for 20 h. The total phenolic compounds were quantified by spectrophotometry using the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent. The antioxidant activity was evaluated by the ABTS•+, DPPH•and FRAP acid systems. The fatty acid composition and phytosterols were determined by gas chromatography (GC) and tocopherols were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography.

Findings

Among the treatments studied, the Extract and the Mixture presented lower losses of total phenolic compounds, DPPH•and FRAP, while BHTSO had an opposite effect. After 10 h of heating, the Mixture and the Extract were more effective in reducing the formation decomposition products, measured by the amount of total polar compounds. The Mixture resulted in higher retention of essential fatty acids at the end of heating. The Extract and Mixture showed higher retention rates of total tocopherols and the Mixture resulted in 338.71 mg/100 g (P≤ 0.05) of total phytosterol after 20 h of heating.

Originality/value

Oils undergoing the heating process suffer major changes, requiring the addition of antioxidant compounds. As a result of the questioning on the use of chemical additives, research on natural antioxidants, as substitute to the synthetic ones, is increasing. Among the natural compounds with high antioxidant potential, the grape wastes such as its seeds are highlighted. Studies using grape seed extract are scarce.
Development and quality assessment of chicken cutlets enrobed with bread crumbs vis-à-vis dried carrot pomace
Authors: Kumar Yogesh , Tanwar Vinay Kumar , Pandey Anurag , Shukla Prateek , Sharma Vikas
Published: July 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop chicken cutlets enrobed with bread crumbs vis-à-vis dried carrot pomace and to assess its effect on physico-chemical properties, sensory attributes and texture profile analysis.

Design/methodology/approach

Three experimental groups were made: control group chicken cutlets (C), chicken cutlets enrobed with bread crumbs group (Tb) and chicken cutlets enrobed with dried carrot pomace group (Tc). All the procedures used in the study for estimation of various physico-chemical properties, sensory evaluation and texture profile analysis were standard protocols.

Findings

There was a significant (p < 0.05) increase in water holding capacity, crude fibre content and ash content of enrobed chicken cutlets, whereas moisture, fat content and shrinkage of product were significantly (p < 0.05) decreased. The results for sensory evaluation and texture profile analysis of enrobed chicken cutlets were better than control group. Overall acceptability score of chicken cutlets enrobed with dried carrot pomace was revealed to be highest (7.5 ± 0.29) and that of control group was found to be lowest (6.4 ± 0.22). Hardness (N/cm2) value found for control group chicken cutlets, chicken cutlets enrobed with bread crumbs group and chicken cutlets enrobed with dried carrot pomace group were 2.2 ± 0.17, 3.1 ± 0.29 and 4.3 ± 0.27, respectively.

Research limitations/implications

Future research may benefit to assess the effect of enrobing with bread crumbs and dried carrot pomace on mineral and vitamin content and lipid profile of meat products.

Originality/value

Enrobing of chicken cutlets with bread crumbs and dried carrot pomace improved the sensory attributes along with texture profile analysis. Hence, enrobing with bread crumbs and dried carrot pomace could be used as processing technology to improve sensory appeal, especially crispiness of meat products.
Location as method
Authors: Nayak Suryia
Published: July 2017

Purpose

This paper grapples with a number of intersecting predicaments to frame a necropolitical question of who is allowed to inhabit and survive the locations of research, writing and the academy? Drawing on Lorde’s thinking about “historical amnesia” as an example of the mutually constitutive relationship between content and method, the purpose of this paper is to argue that putting a hypervigilant anti-racist remembering to work tells us that there is nothing contemporary about questions of: “why isn’t my professor black? And, why is my curriculum white?”.

Design/methodology/approach

The intersection of diverse theoretical frameworks demonstrate a transgression of disciplinary borders. This paper includes the use of conceptual frameworks such as the impossibility of hospitality, historical amnesia, habitation and location. The design of this piece also has detailed critical deconstructive discourse analysis of extracts from a published co-written chapter.

Findings

An ethic of research methodology must inhabit the aporia of the mutually constitutive relationship between method and content. Location is an intervention and method rather than a place to go or position.

Research limitations/implications

There is a need to inhabit the tension of implicated necropower relations in research and writing practices.

Practical implications

Practical implications include rethinking methodology and applications of black feminist theory to ethical issues of research and writing with specific reference to co-writing.

Social implications

There are social implications in regards to community engagement and political activism with refugees and asylum seekers.

Originality/value

This paper presents an examination of tension as methodology rather than methodology to resolve tensions based on deconstruction of issue of co-writing.
Gather in my name, my skin, my everything… (“Gather in my Name”: Maya Angelou, 1974)
Authors: Hesk Gabrielle
Published: July 2017

Purpose

Based on a performance of a conversation between my white mother and myself – her mixed race black daughter – the purpose of this paper is to deconstruct the complexity of the intersection of migration, racism, sexism, disability, and class within the space and place of the dynamics of our relationship. “Migration” and “borders” metaphors explore the “in between space that is neither here nor there” addressing key issues such as “migratory subjectivity” or, in other words, the translation of the process of inclusion and exclusion across the borders of oppressive social constructions to the lived emotional experience of being a mother and a daughter.

Design/methodology/approach

I explore my lived experience as black woman raised by a white Mum. My decision to use intersectionality as a tool with which to explore my personal experiences was based on me finding it enabled me to fully engage with the freedom of exploration, without feeling the need to “fit” with what was expected, in other words to be free to be able to express the “[…] lived experience of a presumed ‘Other’ and to experience it viscerally” (Orbe and Boylorn, 2014, p. 15).

Findings

A truthful account to aid the understanding of the complexities faced in the lived experience of a white mother and her black daughter.

Research limitations/implications

This piece has no limitations, and contains far reaching implications for social work practice and research methods.

Practical implications

This piece is embedded in social education and can be used as a research tool for best practice in anti-racist, black feminist practice.

Social implications

Social implications include a potential impact on diverse communities, with relevance to community engagement, social work practice placements, and critical reflection, and also education of the young to help them understand their own journeys.

Originality/value

This is an original report of an evidence-based lived experience, integrating theory to practice.
Dislocations, dis-possessions: more movements of the people
Authors: Boyce-Davies Carole
Published: July 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to engage theoretical displacement with the actual identifications of human displacement caused by dire circumstances of war and economic oppression and environmental degradation as indicated in UNHCR Global Trends documents.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach includes a comparative analysis of the theoretics of dislocation through close reading, cultural and textual analysis.

Findings

Earlier forms of forced migration due to enslavement replay themselves in the current forms.

Research limitations/implications

This study provides the means for subsequent scholars to do the kinds of analyses which move from the theoretical to the practical.

Practical implications

The study can be a good research tool for practitioners in international relations.

Social implications

Scholars and activists of displacement, deportation, refugee status have additional material for their projects.

Originality/value

This study is the only one of its kind as it links the issues of African diaspora to the Mediterranean.
Bordering, exclusions and necropolitics
Authors: Montenegro Marisela , Pujol Joan , Posocco Silvia
Published: July 2017

Purpose

Contemporary governmentality combines biopolitical and necropolitical logics to establish social, political and physical borders that classify and stratify populations using symbolic and material marks as, for example, nationality, gender, ethnicity, race, sexuality, social class and/or disability. The social sciences have been prolific in the analysis of alterities and, in turn, implicated in the epistemologies and knowledge practices that underpin and sustain the multiplication of frontiers that define essential differences between populations. The purpose of this paper is to develop a strategy that analyze and subvert the logic of bordering inherent in the bio/necropolitical gaze. In different ways, this paper examines operations of delimitation and differentiation that contribute to monolithic definitions of subject and subjectivity.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors question border construction processes in terms of their static, homogenizing and exclusionary effects.

Findings

Instead of hierarchical stratification of populations, the papers in this special issue explore the possibilities of relationship and the conditions of such relationships. Who do we relate to? On which terms and conditions? With what purpose? In which ethical and political manner?

Originality/value

A critical understanding of the asymmetry in research practices makes visible how the researcher is legitimized to produce a representation of those researched, an interpretation of their words and actions without feedback or contribution to the specific context where the research has been carried out. Deconstructive and relational perspectives are put forward as critical strands that can set the basis of different approaches to research and social practice.
Life, death, ethnography: epistemologies and methods of the quasi-event
Authors: Posocco Silvia
Published: July 2017

Purpose

What difference, if any, does it make to appeal to the ordinary and the everyday, the situated and always-already-in-relation, the emergent and the quasi-event (Povinelli, 2011), as simultaneously sites, objects and frames? The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

Through a focus on epistemological and methodological reflection, this paper asks: what is the relation between the biopolitical and necropolitical terrain in and through which experience unravels and the conceptual apparatuses which hold the promise of analysis and critique? What analytics, methods and ethics do contemporary life and death formations and intersecting precarious modes of existence elicit?

Findings

In this paper, I approach these questions ethnographically, with reference to debates in social and cultural theory and drawing on long-term anthropological research in Guatemala.

Originality/value

This paper aims to make contribution to debates on biopolitical and necropolitical processes and dynamics, by reflecting on the implications for epistemologies, methods and infrastructures.
Heroic ecologies: embodied heroic leadership and sustainable futures
Authors: Efthimiou Olivia
Published: July 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate heroism as an embodied system of leadership and well-being. Heroic leadership is presented as a baseline for sustainable futures and global health.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents an embodied reading of heroic leadership and its sustainable development across five stages. It outlines its core functions, its grounding in self-leadership through physical and mental trauma and its holistic benefits, resulting in the development of the Heroic Leadership Embodiment and Sustainable Development (HLESD) model. The efficacy of HLESD is demonstrated in an empirical case study of heroism promotion and education: the Hero Construction Company and the Heroic Imagination Project.

Findings

Heroic leadership is revealed as an emergent, dynamic and distributed form of sustainable development.

Research limitations/implications

This paper demonstrates the critical connections between heroism, sustainability, embodied leadership and well-being and how they stand to benefit from each other, individuals and communities at large.

Social implications

The implementation of HLESD in educational, counselling and broader contexts in consultation with a wide range of professionals stands to offer significant benefits to pedagogies, clinical practice, holistic therapies and twenty-first-century societies, at both the community and policy level.

Originality/value

The emerging field of heroism science and the use of heroic leadership as an interdisciplinary tool is a novel approach to well-being, which holds immense potential for the imagining and fostering of sustainable personal and collective futures.
Psychosocial factors influencing the experience of sustainability professionals
Authors: Andrews Nadine
Published: July 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to gain insight into psychosocial factors influencing sustainability professionals in their work to lead by influencing and improving pro-environmental decision-making in their organisations and to increase understanding of psychosocial factors that affect their effectiveness in achieving desired results.

Design/methodology/approach

Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis as a framework, the study enquires into the lived experience of six research subjects. The participants are sustainability professionals and leaders from the UK and Canada. The primary data source is semi-structured interviews, analysed with micro-discourse analysis.

Findings

Key psychosocial factors involved in participants’ experience are identified, specifically psychological threat-coping strategies, psychological needs, motivation and vitality, finding complex interactions between them. Tensions and trade-offs between competency, relatedness and autonomy needs and coping strategies such as suppression of negative emotion and “deep green” identity are modelled in diagrams to show the dynamics. How these tensions are negotiated has implications for psychological well-being and effectiveness.

Practical/implications

The concepts and models presented in this paper may be of practical use to sustainability professionals, environmentalists and organisation leaders, for example, in identifying interventions to develop inner resources, support authentic and effective action and disrupt maladaptive responses to ecological crisis.

Originality/value

The study contributes insight to understanding of underlying processes shaping environmental cognition and behaviour, particularly in relation to psychological threat-coping strategies and interacting factors. With a transdisciplinary approach, the methodology enables nuanced interpretation of complex phenomena to be generated.
The Continuing Volatility of Devolution in Northern Ireland: The Shadow of Direct Rule
Authors: Birrell Derek , Heenan Deirdre
Published: July 2017

Since the establishment of devolution in 1999, Northern Ireland's power‐sharing governments have been fragile and prone to crisis. However, following a decade of relative stability and cooperation between Nationalists and Unionists at Stormont, hopes were high that the devolved arrangements had finally become embedded and more resistant to collapse. This optimism was dashed when Sinn Féin brought down the devolved institutions in January 2017. A snap election once again returned the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin as the largest parties and their inability to form a government resulted in yet another political stalemate. This article begins by outlining the pattern of political crises in Northern Ireland and assesses both the trigger factors and the responses. It then goes beyond the most obvious explanation for this continuing instability—that of the deep sectarian based divisions—and points to a number of other reasons for the volatility. These include issues such as the incomplete implementation of previous agreements, the impact of broader UK policies and the shadow of Direct Rule.
Mixing Communities? Riots, Regeneration and Renewal on Problem Estates in France and England
Authors: Provan Bert
Published: July 2017

Riots, social exclusion, and endless improvement programmes have been a feature of the poorest neighbourhoods in France and England for the last thirty‐five years or more—particularly focused on large social housing estates. Programmes of improvement have followed similar paths in each country, with mixed success. This article sets out a short overview of these programmes in each country, then contrasts and compares the objectives, approaches, and outcomes. Each country has key elements of inter‐agency working, local and resident participation and planning, large‐scale building rehabilitation and demolition programmes, though the French system is more often based on specific local contracts between cities and the central departments. Similar evaluation outcome indicators and frameworks of ‘floor’ and ‘gap’ targets have been set, although evidence of success is limited and, particularly in France, there has been considerable criticism of the approach and framework. In parallel, however, the concept of ‘mixed communities’ has emerged as an alternative strategic approach—intuitively reasonable, politically popular, but lacking an evidence base and often ineffective in dealing with poverty.
The Impact of Public Funding on Contemporary Visual Arts
Authors: Mahieu Sandrine
Published: July 2017

Public policy for supporting the visual arts has historically followed different traditions in France and the United Kingdom. In an environment of fiscal austerity that impacts upon public funding as well as private patronage, and given the tensions between artistic freedom on the one hand, and market constraints on the other, this article examines how these two traditions of financing artists has influenced the direction of the work itself. A brief historical presentation of the two forms of public support and their evolution in recent decades provides a framework for understanding government attitudes and policies on both sides of the Channel. A closer examination of selected artists, chosen here for their representativeness and their international renown, is used to illustrate the changing nature of public support for visual art creation.
The Dynamics of REIT Pricing Efficiency
Authors: Aguilar Mike , Boudry Walter I. , Connolly Robert A.
Published: July 2017

We study the dynamics of pricing efficiency in the equity REIT market from 1993 to 2014. We measure pricing efficiency at the firm level using variance ratios calculated from quote midpoints in the TAQ database. We find four main results. First, on average, the market is efficient, with variance ratios close to one. However, in any given year, there is considerable cross‐sectional variation in variance ratios, suggesting at least some firms are priced inefficiently. Second, higher institutional ownership by active institutional investors is related to better pricing efficiency, while passive ownership does not reduce pricing efficiency. Third, REITs that are included in the S&P 500 and S&P 400 are priced more efficiently than other REITs. For the S&P 500 firms, we find evidence that this was purely driven by sample selection, while for S&P 400 firms, we find evidence that it is inclusion in the index that drives efficiency. Finally, we find evidence that firm investment, analyst coverage and debt capital raising activity can influence pricing efficiency.