bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The treatment of quality in US production and operations management textbooks
Authors: Rutledge Arthur L. , Tillery Kenneth R. , Kethley Bryan , Desai Kiran J.
Published: June 2004

In the decade since Tillery, Rutledge and Inman reviewed the treatment of quality management in leading US production and operations management (P/OM) textbooks, attention to quality, once the watchword and driving force in world business, has faded in both the practitioner and popular press. The ultimate purpose of the present research was to establish the progress, current status, and relevancy of the treatment of quality in current US P/OM textbooks, which remain the principal source of quality information in the undergraduate P/OM core course, preparing most future US managers as well as many international managers of tomorrow. Results of the present study indicate that over the last decade US P/OM textbooks have begun to reflect a more proactive and less reactive approach to quality management. However, results also indicate that current US P/OM textbooks lack relevancy of their quality content to practitioner needs, treat TQM and other holistic approaches to quality management superficially, and have little consistency concerning quality emphases.
Impact of ISO 9000 certification on training and development activities
Authors: Quazi Hesan A. , Jacobs Ronald L.
Published: June 2004

The push for ISO 9000 certification in Singapore can be viewed as a positive step towards enhancing training and development activities in the certified companies. This exploratory study examined the nature and extent of impact of ISO 9001 certification on training and development activities of organizations operating in Singapore. A survey approach was adopted. The respondents were asked to indicate the nature and extent of human resource development (HRD) activities three years before and three years after ISO certification. They were also asked to indicate whether the changes, if any, were due to the certification only or other reasons. The findings indicated improvements in training needs analysis, training design, training delivery, training evaluation and HRD activities in the sample organizations. The small sample size has constrained the authors’ ability to generalize the findings. Researchers interested in the topic may like to request a copy of the survey instrument that was used in this study and carry out similar studies in other ISO member countries to validate (or disprove) the findings of this study.
Managing the transition phases in the TQM journey: a system dynamics approach
Authors: Khanna V.K. , Vrat Prem , Shankar Ravi , Sahay B.S.
Published: June 2004

For the survival and growth of an organization, it is important to understand the transition phases of different market scenarios. During the transition from one market scenario to another, effective strategic planning is needed to manage the performance of the organizations. The paper models different market scenarios leading to excellent and poor performance of the organizations. Policy experimentations have been conducted using system dynamics methodology. The results indicate that there is no quick fix to achieve the TQM maturity level. To sustain TQM maturity level, it is extremely important to handle the transition phases of different market scenarios effectively.
The relative efficiency of quality management practices
Authors: Lin Chinho , Madu Christian N. , Kuei Chu‐Hua , Lu Min H.
Published: June 2004

The aim of this study is to compare the relative efficiency of quality management practices among American, Japanese, and Taiwanese firms located in Taiwan. Data envelope analysis (DEA) technique is used to measure the relative efficiency of these firms. Quality management practices and organizational performances are treated as input and output factors respectively. The firms are grouped in four based on their efficiency levels. These groups are referred to as robustly efficient, marginal efficient, marginal inefficient, and distinctly inefficient units in DEA. The results of the analysis showed that there is a significant difference between the levels of efficiency among the three typologies of firms – American‐, Japanese‐, and Taiwanese‐owned firms. The study found that the efficiency of quality management practices for Japanese‐owned firms is the highest, even though almost all of their employees are Taiwanese; also, American‐owned firms’ efficiency is higher than that of Taiwanese‐owned firms. It was also observed that the ethnocentric quality management practices of foreign firms in Taiwan might have contributed to the inefficiency of Taiwanese firms. The study shows that Taiwanese and US firms can benchmark the efficient practices of Japanese firms in order to be the best‐in‐class.
Measuring reliability of service systems using failure rates: variations and extensions
Authors: Gunawardane Gamini
Published: June 2004

In a recent article in this journal, Gunes and Deveci proposed the use of failure rate analysis, a technique commonly used to determine reliability rates of products, systems and components, to determine reliability rates of service systems. They also presented an application of this concept to a student office service system. This paper first extends this idea to multi‐stage service systems. Next, it illustrates how several other concepts and techniques of reliability engineering can be applied for measuring reliability rates of services. Two case studies where such techniques were applied are presented. It will also discuss how customers view reliability of a service and how objective measures of reliability rates based on reliability engineering concepts and techniques can be combined with customer expectations and perceptions to set performance standards for a service.
What determines private investment in Iran?
Authors: Valadkhani Abbas
Published: June 2004

Iran's third five‐year development (2000/2001‐2004/2005) has been considered a pivotal role for private investment in creating 700,000‐800,000 jobs per annum to stabilise the rate of unemployment. This paper examines the long‐ and short‐run determinants of the private investment function by employing the Johansen multivariate cointegration technique and a short‐run dynamic model. Using annual data for the period 1960‐2000, this paper finds,inter alia, that private investment is cointegrated with non‐oil gross domestic product and the rate of inflation. It is found that a 1 per cent increase in inflation in the long run can immediately result in a 1 per cent decline in investment in the short run.
Politics of race and poverty in Fiji
Authors: Kumar Sunil , Prasad Biman
Published: June 2004

The results of the 1999 and 2001 general election seem to suggest that the Indo‐Fijian community in Fiji voted on the issues of poverty, unemployment and lack of opportunities amongst the Indo‐Fijian community. The Indo‐Fijian community, since the military coups of 1987 and more recently in May 2000, has increasingly felt marginalised by the Indigenous Fijian led governments. The expiry of land leases and the lack of opportunities for many of them in both the rural and urban areas are a source of increasing concern. Indian politicians are also raising these concerns in their struggle for political and economic rights for the community. Based on a national survey data this article examines some of these concerns. It analyses the extent of concern about poverty, unemployment and lack of basic facilities such as water, housing and electricity among the community and draws conclusion for the future of Indo‐Fijian political and economic rights.
The foundations of marriage: are they crumbling?
Authors: Smith Ian
Published: June 2004

What is marriage? Existing treatments identify the gains to marriage but say little regarding the foundations of the institution itself. This paper proposes that marriage is designed to facilitate sexual co‐operation in a world without reliable contraception and paternity verifiability. By allocating control rights, it functions to mitigate the hazards of sexual opportunism. Recently, however, the technology shocks of the pill, legal abortion and paternity testing have weakened the links between marriage and both sex and reproduction. This has undermined the traditional justification for marriage. What remains is a bundle of legal and economic benefits that are gradually losing significance as the focus of family law shifts from marriage to parenthood as its fundamental organising principle.
A reconsideration on the method of economic and social sciences
Authors: Fusari Angelo
Published: June 2004

This essay begins with an examination of the differences between natural reality and social reality, but along lines different from those of the traditional Methodenstreit. The aim is to clarify the methodological implications of these differences, which appear essential to proper motivation of the objectives, purposes, and the very existence of social economics. The analysis pays a particular attention to identifying some procedures useful in formulating general principles and, more broadly, to achieve some robust notions notwithstanding the growing intensification, in modern society, of innovation. A main result of the research is that it permits an unambiguous distinction between the aspects that express necessity and those that can be the object of choice in the organization and development of economic and social systems, and a peculiar treatment of ethical‐ideological aspects.
Edge cities, urban corridors and beyond
Authors: McKee David L. , McKee Yosra A.
Published: June 2004

In the USA a nationwide grid of metropolitan areas with populations beyond the million mark has emerged. The strength of the national economy appears to be exhibited through those large agglomerations and the linkages that they have developed amongst themselves, other components of the national economy and in some instances elements external to that economy. Metropolitan areas in the size class referred to, and some not quite so large, are expanding their boundaries or spheres of influence in ways that signal changes for the urban areas in question and indeed for the national economy. The current discussion reviews and synthesizes recent thinking concerning urban peripheries and adjacent areas with an eye to understanding their role in a changing economic infrastructure. In keeping with advances in transportation and communications and the emergence of service industries, developments on the metropolitan peripheries are assisting with the ongoing functional linkages of their metropolitan hosts to the national economy and beyond, and thus are contributing to their continuing viability.
Prices and subsidies for Australian psychiatric services
Authors: Doessel D.P. , Williams Ruth F.G.
Published: June 2004

The production of specialist psychiatric services in Australia reflects the “mixed” system of public and private production of health services generally. This paper, an exercise in descriptive or positive economics, is concerned only with private production, i.e. those services provided by psychiatrists operating in “private practice” on a fee‐for‐service basis. It is shown that there is a sharp distinction in Australian institutional arrangements between psychiatric services produced in‐hospital and out‐of‐hospital. The main differences relate to the general coinsurance rates applied, 75 per cent in the former case and 85 per cent in the latter case. In addition out‐of‐hospital services are subject to a “gap” safety‐net provision. Using both algebraic and geometric expositions, the central relationships between gross prices, net prices, schedule fees and subsidies/rebates are illustrated in general, and in various special cases, e.g. where a psychiatrist “direct bills” or “bulk bills” the Health Insurance Commission.
Motivational needs and interdependent utilities
Authors: Freeman Katherine B.
Published: June 2004

Throughout the history of economic thought, various images of human beings have existed although the motivational and behavioral assumptions underlying them and even the images themselves have not always been made explicit. The most prevalent image of man has been that of the economic man, but this prototype deals only with people or their goods. Welfare analysis based on the economic man prototype is of little help in explaining the observed phenomena of individuals engaging in philanthropic activities. This article incorporates empirically derived motivational variables into economic analysis in order to explain better human economic behavior and to provide economic models with greater explanatory power, especially with regard to altrusitic and selfish behavior. The individual's patterns are incorporated into his/her utility function, and an analysis is made of the optimal level of transfers when various personality types interact.
The relationship between religion and earnings: recent evidence from the NLS Youth Cohort
Authors: Steen Todd P.
Published: June 2004

Does religious and denominational background affect earnings and human capital investment? This paper examines religious background and human capital formation for a sample of males from the year 2000 wave of the National Longitudinal Survey Youth 1979 Cohort. This survey provides information that makes it possible to control better for many components of family background in order to isolate the impact of religion and denomination. The paper contains results from analyses of men within broad religious categories as well as within various Protestant denominations, and reports results for different racial and ethnic groups. The method used for the analysis is the estimation of human capital earnings functions. The paper finds evidence that both men raised as Catholics and men raised as Jews have higher earnings, holding other characteristics constant.
Moral considerations in outsourcing to foreign labor
Authors: Pierlott Matthew F.
Published: June 2004

This paper argues that the principles of capitalism do not condone the widespread practice of labor exploitation occurring across the globe. Instead, they demand that some countermeasure be enacted to mitigate the structural oppression of laborers in less developed economies. Through heavy use of two scholars, Horace Fairlamb and Robert Goodin, the author concludes that corporations outsourcing their labor to such workers must pay a “sustainable living wage”. Fairlamb's analysis of Adam Smith reveals the potential undervaluation of labor in free markets, and Goodin's ethical theory produces a principle of group responsibility that the author applies to corporations, who are in the best position to remedy the situation.
Factors explaining the choice of an economics major
Authors: Worthington Andrew , Higgs Helen
Published: June 2004

A bivariate probit model is used to predict the choice of an economics major in a sample of first‐year, undergraduate business students. The paper examines the statistical significance of a number of student‐related characteristics on the likelihood of choosing an economics major, along with the role of student personality and perceptions of the profession. Factors analysed include secondary studies in economics, accounting and business, grade point average and attendance pattern, along with perceptions of the economics profession arrayed along dimensions of interest, independence, structure and precision. It would appear that the primary influences on the selection of a major in economics comprise student personality and level of interest in the profession.
Business behaviors in Brazil and the USA
Authors: O'Keefe Hsu , O'Keefe William M.
Published: June 2004

The purpose of this paper is to explore the similarities and differences between selected behaviors of USA and Brazilian business people that can lead to unintended and unexpected conflicts when businesses from one country engage in business ventures in the other. Data were collected through informal interviews with business people and personal observations in both countries over several years. The Hofstede typology of Cultural Dimensions is utilized to compare and contrast the business behaviors typically found in each nation that can act as major sources of misunderstandings impeding the growth of business relations. Potential points of conflict are identified that can help members of the business communities in both nations better anticipate the issues and adapt their business practices to the requirements of successful Brazil‐USA business ventures. Additional research and improved dissemination of results are needed to identify more clearly the issues and paths forward for overcoming these barriers.
Economic reform and the transmission of growth impulses across Indian states
Authors: Kalirajan Kaliappa
Published: June 2004

While several studies in regional economics and development economics have repeatedly suggested that selected regions are capable of exerting powerful growth impulses on national growth and development, there are studies in the literature which have raised doubts about the existence of transmitting growth impulses from one region to another. The objectives of this paper are to test whether there are any significant growth‐transmission effects across Indian states and to examine whether institutional improvements induced through economic reform have improved such transmission effects. Using data from both pre‐ and post‐1991 economic reform, this study suggests that the growth impulses passing from one state to another have been limited, although it appears to have increased in the post‐reform period. What is evident from this study is that the structure of the state economies, in terms of their sectoral composition, and the quality of their human capital and infrastructure, is a relevant variable from the policy point of view in boosting the growth spillover effects from the leading to the lagging states.
The need for new anti‐smoking advertising strategies that do not provoke smoker defiance
Authors: Wolburg Joyce M.
Published: June 2004

The misguided effort to change the smoking behavior of college students using the same anti‐smoking messages created for young teens apparently stems from the misplaced marketing belief that ads designed to prevent young teens from smoking can also effectively encourage college‐student smokers to quit. When college students were asked to respond to current anti‐smoking messages, non‐smokers championed the anti‐smoking cause while smokers responded with defiance, denial, and other counter‐productive behaviors. These studies show that persuading legal‐age young adults to quit would require new message strategies which show greater respect for the individual, greater support for the effort in quitting, and ways to counter faulty logic.
Branding is no longer child's play!
Authors: Lindstrom Martin
Published: June 2004

Tweens (8‐14 year‐olds) comprise a new type of audience – an increasingly powerful and smart consumer group which last year alone spent and influenced an astounding US$1.18 trillion across the globe. They are different in every way. They are more likely to have a friend on the other side of the world than in their own street, they think the television remote is broken when they cannot find the courser on the screen; they drop from existence when the battery in their cell phone is flat. And they know current brand images better than any advertising expert. Based on the world’s most extensive study of tween attitudes and behaviors ever conducted, the author looks at the phenomena behind global children and their relationships with brands and explores why building brands to our future generation no longer is just a child's play.
Consumers and CRM: a national and global perspective
Authors: Endacott Roy William John
Published: June 2004

Cause‐related marketing is expanding worldwide, but few countries appear to have research data about consumer opinions regarding the subject. Consumer research can help companies identify where and how they should position their product or service in a global market. Consumer research can also help society itself by identifying its citizens concerns and linking these, via a “good cause” or “community service”, to a company that will contribute to the consumers own welfare, community, or global enhancement. Data from various countries highlight two different aspects in relation to consumer opinions: globally consumers expect businesses to support “good causes”; and the causes consumers wish to see supported appear to be influenced by country specific factors. The drive for businesses to look more closely at their corporate social responsibility has been gaining momentum and existing consumer research suggest cause related marketing may provide a valuable strategy to meet these expectations.
Animosity towards economic giants: what the little guys think
Authors: Hoon Ang Swee , Jung Kwon , Keng Kau Ah , Meng Leong Siew , Pornpitakpan Chanthika , Jiuan Tan Soo
Published: June 2004

Respondents from five Asian countries were surveyed in terms of their consumer ethnocentrism, animosity, and attribution towards the USA and Japan in the context of the Asian economic crisis. The results indicated that the more severely hit a country was, the more ethnocentric respondents were. In general, animosity towards the USA was higher than towards Japan with regard to the Asian crisis. Koreans held the greatest stable animosity towards the Japanese because of the atrocities experienced during the Second World War. Respondents attributed the blame of the Asian crisis more to themselves. They also felt that they and the Japanese could have controlled the turn of events during the crisis. Implications arising from the findings are discussed.
The elderly's uses and attitudes towards the Internet
Authors: Eastman Jacqueline K. , Iyer Rajesh
Published: June 2004

Despite the growth of the Internet, one area that marketers have not really discussed is the elderly's use of the Internet. Given the rapid growth of this population as well as the potential the Internet holds for them, it is a subject worth consideration. This paper discusses the use of the Internet by a national random survey of elderly consumers and the impact of attitude, innovation, and demographics on their use. This study shows that the elderly consumers have favorable intentions towards using the Internet; most learned to use the Internet on their own; and they preferred to learn more about the Internet if such classes were offered at convenient locations. Those seniors with higher levels of income are more willing to both use the Internet and purchase products online; while education levels positively impacted only Internet use. Finally, this paper provides implications for marketers and suggestions for future research.
Using on‐line retailing as a springboard for catalog marketing
Authors: Duffy Dennis L.
Published: June 2004

Chronicles the launch of a new e‐commerce business. Reviews the implications and considerations of such a venture and documents the critical lessons learned. Concludes that the Internet provides an effective place for the development of a new business.
Impact of laundering on the seam tensile properties of suiting fabric
Authors: Mukhopadhyay A. , Sikka M. , Karmakar A.K.
Published: June 2004

This paper reports an experimental investigation into the effect of laundering on seam tensile properties with the variation of stitch density, linear density of sewing threads and composition of base material. Tensile properties such as initial modulus, secant modulus, seam strength, strain at fracture and work up to fracture increase with stitch and linear density of sewing threads. The impact of coarser yarn is greater on seam properties of polyester‐cotton fabric than cotton fabric. The tensile properties except seam strain are reduced due to laundering. Reduction in initial modulus and secant modulus due to laundering is higher for polyester‐cotton fabric whereas decrease in seam strength, seam efficiency and strain at break is greater for coarser sewing thread.
The current use of marketing in UK retailing
Authors: Gilbert David , Sumner Fiona
Published: June 2004

The UK retail environment is highly complex and competitive and as such the context for marketing may require change. This research investigates current marketing practices used by retail companies in the UK and explores their correlation across four different retail sectors. Random samples of companies from the grocery and convenience, specialist audio‐photographic and IT, retail banking and financial services, and, the optical, health, hair and beauty services sectors were used. Across all sectors, respondents feel that their company's marketing practices are changing to become increasingly focussed on a relationship with the customer. No evidence was found of a difference between the marketing variables by industry sector, nor that certain marketing practices might be more prevalent in specific industry sectors. Correlation analysis also shows that a variety of marketing types are being practised simultaneously across all retail companies.
The WHO and tobacco control: implications for the travel‐retail sector
Authors: Freathy Paul
Published: June 2004

This paper details the recent Convention put forward by the World Health Organisation (WHO) advocating a ban on the sale of tobacco goods through tax and duty free channels. It examines the purpose behind the proposals before considering the response and reaction of the travel‐retail industry. The paper maintains that the impact of abolition upon the sector would be severe. A co‐ordinated lobbying campaign has therefore been mounted that has emphasised the economic impact of a ban. It is argued that this campaign has been successful and has influenced the drafting of the Convention. The implementation of the ban has been left to individual countries and therefore relies upon the political expediency of particular nation states.
Comparing student employment in French and Irish retailing
Authors: McGauran Anne‐Marie
Published: June 2004

In this article the importance of students as staff in a selection of multi‐national stores in France and Ireland is compared. The employment of students was significantly lower in the French than Irish stores, and it is argued, using the work of Rubery and Gadreyet al.,that this is related to cross‐national differences in the organisation of retailing in each country; in particular the skills sought of staff, their wage costs, and the organisation of working hours. The combination of these factors results in students being sought‐after employees in the Irish retail system, while in the French retail system students are rarely viewed as an effective labour source.
A lifestyle choice? Evaluating the motives of do‐it‐yourself (DIY) consumers
Authors: Williams Colin C.
Published: June 2004

Reflecting the broader “cultural turn” in retail studies, recent surveys of do‐it‐yourself (DIY) consumers have emphasised human agency rather than economic constraints when explaining their motives for purchasing DIY products. The aim of this paper, however, is to evaluate critically this agency‐oriented interpretation of the DIY retail market. Analysing evidence from English urban areas, it is shown that consumers' reasons for acquiring DIY products can be neither reduced simply to a lifestyle choice and nor can their behaviour be explained merely in terms of economic constraints. Such either/or thinking obfuscates how both co‐exist in people's motives and combine in contrasting ways in different populations. To transcend and reconcile these contrasting explanations, a both/and approach is thus adopted here that recognises how economic necessity and choice are entangled in rationales for participation in DIY. The paper concludes by exploring the wider implications of this finding for the economy/culture debates in retail studies.
Guest editors’ introduction: Actor‐network theory and information systems. What's so special?
Authors: Hanseth Ole , Aanestad Margunn , Berg Marc
Published: June 2004

In this editorial introduction Allen Lee's definition of the information systems (IS) field is taken as the starting point: “Research in the information systems field examines more than just the technological system, or just the social system, or even the two systems side by side; in addition, it investigates the phenomena that emerge when the two interact” (Lee, A. “Editorial”, MISQ, Vol. 25, No. 1, 2001, p. iii). By emphasizing the last part of this, it is argued that actor‐network theory (ANT) can provide IS research with unique and very powerful tools to help us overcome the current poor understanding of the information technology (IT) artifact (Orlikowski, W. and Iacono, S., “Research commentary: desperately seeking the ‘IT’ in IT research – a call for theorizing the IT artifact”, Information Systems Research, Vol. 10 No. 2, 2001, pp. 121‐34). These tools include a broad range of concepts describing the interwoven relationships between the social.
Tracing the trajectories of issues, and their democratic deficits, on the Web
Authors: Marres Noortje
Published: June 2004

This article explores the ways in which actor‐network theory (ANT) invites an alternative account of democratic process, namely in terms of issue‐formation, which is particularly well suited to the study of democratic practices facilitated by information and communication technologies (ICT). Engaging with arguments that have been made in political theory in favor of the re‐invigoration of institutional and extra‐institutional forms of democratic debate, this article argues that a re‐valuation of issue‐politics is more than timely. In this respect, actor‐network theory is a particularly fruitful approach, since it provides the conceptual and methodological equipment to account for democracy in terms of processes of issue formation. Such an account of democracy, it is argued, is particularly appropriate to the study of ICT‐based democratic processes, since in the context of ICT distributed networks that configure around particular issues can be seen to emerge as the carriers of democratic process. Moreover, ANT provides the conceptual and methodological tools for the development of a research practice of tracing public controversies as they are enacted in such networks on the Web. In tracing a particular controversy on the Web, around the Development Gateway, a portal for development information set up by the World Bank, one begins to articulate an alternative understanding of the significance of ICT for institutional as well as extra‐institutional forms of democracy. A number of requirements on effective democratic action, as facilitated by ICT, are derived from the case study, which move beyond the requirement of social networking, i.e. the building of partnerships, and informational networking, i.e. the exchange of knowledge and opinion. Issue‐networking here comes to the fore as indispensable to democratic politics.
The nature of the Net: constructing reliability of health information on the Web
Authors: Adams Samantha , Berg Marc
Published: June 2004

This article juxtaposes the history of the book to the current discussions about lay health information on the Internet in order to thoroughly open up the notion of “reliability” that underlies these discussions. It uses the parallels between the two media to improve understanding of what actors are involved and what issues are at stake, as well as how this is consequential for the reliability that is constructed.
Redefining the network: enrollment strategies in the PDA industry
Authors: Allen Jonathan P.
Published: June 2004

Theories of sociotechnical change seek to understand technology as both material and social artifacts. Actor‐network theory (ANT) offers an approach to sociotechnical change that has been criticized for emphasizing a micro‐level analysis of political strategies at the expense of larger social and cultural processes. This paper presents an approach to sociotechnical change that links the enrollment process of ANT with broader social practices, through the concept of inclusion in multiple technological frames. Inclusion in different technological frames is used to explain the sources of enrollment strategies in the early personal digital assistant (PDA) industry. Two case studies of PDA evolution (Psion, led by David Potter, and Palm, led by Jeff Hawkins) are used to illustrate the link between enrollment strategies and inclusion.
Contested artifact: technology sensemaking, actor networks, and the shaping of the Web browser
Authors: Faraj Samer , Kwon Dowan , Watts Stephanie
Published: June 2004

Much of IT research focuses on issues of adoption and adaptation of established technology artifacts by users and organizations and has neglected issues of how new technologies come into existence and evolve. To fill this gap, this paper depicts a complex picture of technology evolution to illustrate the development of Web browser technology. Building on actor‐network theory as a basis for studying complex technology evolution processes, it explores the emergence of the browser using content analysis techniques on archival data from 1993‐1998. Identifies three processes of inscribing, translating, and framing that clarify how actors acted and reacted to each other and to the emergent technological definition of the browser. This spiral development pattern incorporates complex interplay between base beliefs about what a browser is, artifacts that are the instantiation of those beliefs, evaluation routines that compare the evolving artifact to collective expectations, and strategic moves that attempt to skew the development process to someone's advantage. This approach clarifies the complex interdependence of disparate elements that over time produced the Web browser as it is known today.
Human factors influencing fire safety measures
Authors: Subramaniam Chandrakantan
Published: June 2004

In recent years, there were several incidents of fire in secondary schools in Malaysia. A study conducted by the Ministry of Education has found that there were outbreaks of fire in 22 primary and secondary schools and in institutions of higher learning for the year 1999 resulting in losses of RM 534,400. This study was carried out to identify fire safety conditions in residential colleges in a local Malaysian university. An audit approach as well as the use of questionnaire was adopted to collect primary data for the study. The audit results show that the overall fire safety condition was at 76 percent compliance level. The survey results showed that only predisposing factors such as knowledge, attitude and belief have a positive relationship with the fire safety behavior and lifestyle (p<0.5). The survey identified six important elements for fire safety and in ranking order they are: belief in the importance of fire safety, perception on the need for immediate response to fire incidence, knowledge in fire safety, attitude of occupants, social influence, and feedback on fire safety issues.
Earthquake disaster management planning in health care facilities
Authors: Nateghi‐Alahi Fariborz , Izadkhah Yasamin O.
Published: June 2004

Equipping health care facilities for times of natural disasters especially earthquakes is of great importance all over the world, especially in developing countries such as Iran. In this paper, first the obtained research results are discussed with regard to the types of structures and the structural and non‐structural problems of 110 hospitals in the capital city of Tehran. The earthquake safety procedures for health care facilities, standards and criterion for their appropriate performance during natural disasters and the general requirements for structural design and strengthening methods are then considered. Finally, a disaster management plan and organisation is proposed for these centres.
Correlation of weather and patient volume at mass gathering event
Authors: Griffith Stephen , Jones Randy , Gebhart Mark E.
Published: June 2004

This paper addresses the relationship between temperature or relative humidity and the number of patients seen and how often the treating physician deemed it necessary to transport the patient to the hospital. A retrospective review was performed on 251 patients seen at the Dayton airshow during the 2‐day period of 21‐22 July 2001. The air show has an attendance of approximately 50,000 people spread out through this 3‐day event. The first aid tents that provide the medical care at the air show are staffed by either senior emergency medicine residents or emergency medicine attendings. Results showed that the relationship between the number of patients transported and the temperature reveals a pattern of more patients being transported as the temperature increases.
Preparing communities for disasters: issues and processes for government readiness
Authors: McEntire David A. , Myers Amy
Published: June 2004

This paper discusses what local governments must do to prepare for various disasters, including terrorist attacks. It provides background information on preparedness and highlights lessons from prior research. It also identifies the process of establishing local ordinances, assessing risk, creating emergency operations plans, acquiring resources, instituting mutual aid agreements, training, exercising and educating the public. Finally, it concludes with recommendations to implement these preparedness measures.
Fashion consciousness of Chinese, Japanese and American teenagers
Authors: Stephen Parker R. , Hermans Charles M. , Schaefer Allen D.
Published: June 2004

This study examines fashion consciousness among Chinese, Japanese and US teenagers. The purpose of the study was to examine similarities and differences in attitudes toward fashion across these three markets. The results show that significant differences in fashion consciousness exist between Chinese teens and their Japanese and US counterparts. At the same time, the US and Japanese teens show similarities in their attitudes toward fashion. The findings may support the idea of market differences in fashion consciousness between developed countries and less developed countries. While there are opportunities for fashion merchants to benefit from market similarities, an understanding of the idiosyncrasies underlying motivations of teen fashion in each market is needed.
Motivating knowledge workers to innovate: a model integrating motivation dynamics and antecedents
Authors: Amar A.D.
Published: June 2004

Grounding in the premise that motivation in a knowledge work environment is an outcome of the existence of certain antecedents that are responsive to the dynamics of motivation in this environment, this work develops a conceptual model synthesizing motivations “what” and “how” that will bring human creativity in organizations which thrive on innovation. The presented model embodies these dynamics into five drivers of motivation practice in the knowledge work environment and then leads to three sources of motivation into which its antecedents should be loaded to motivate knowledge employees for innovation.
Hollywood wives revisited: a study of customer involvement in the XC90 project at Volvo Cars
Authors: Dahlsten Fredrik
Published: June 2004

This paper presents a case study of customer involvement in the XC90 project at Volvo Cars. A group of female customers in Southern California influenced the development of the XC90 by continuous involvement in the project. In a cost‐effective way, the project management team acquired a common understanding of the target customer, giving context to new product development decision‐making and eventually shaping the market offer. Customer interaction has been managed in a more subtle way than normally suggested by literature – tacit design by customer presence. The pragmatic and experimental approach to customer involvement used in the project complements conventional market research activities and is as associated with organisational innovation as it is with product innovation. This account of value co‐creation in the XC90 project offers guidelines for firms wanting to increase connectivity with customers in their new product development efforts.
Knowledge sharing in integrated product development
Authors: Hong Paul , Doll William J. , Nahm Abraham Y. , Li Xiao
Published: June 2004

Although product development is recognized as knowledge‐intensive work, we have limited understanding of its impact on product development performance. The mechanisms by which knowledge sharing contributes to strategic imperatives such as time to market and value to customers are also not well understood. Despite increased interest in knowledge sharing in cross‐functional teams, there have been few large‐scale empirical studies of its efficacy. This paper develops a model that explains how shared knowledge, defined in three types – shared knowledge of customers, suppliers, and internal capabilities – enhances process performance, as well as downstream strategic imperatives of time to market and value to customers. The model is tested using 205 responses on product development projects by US automotive engineers. The results show that shared knowledge of customers, suppliers, and internal capabilities positively affect product development performance, as well as indirectly affect downstream strategic imperatives via enhanced process performance.
The dynamic nature of innovation partnering: a longitudinal study of collaborative interorganizational relationships
Authors: Marshall Cassandra
Published: June 2004

This paper provides insights into the initiation and early development of collaborative interorganizational relationships (IORs) for innovation and new business creation. Data were gathered from field observations of three ongoing collaborative IORs. A conceptual framework previously developed by Ring and Van de Ven served as a means of restructuring and analyzing the data. The results reveal an emergent process that is dependent on the comparative achievements in negotiation, commitment, and execution. Three organizational practices were identified: volatile agreements, continuous reevaluation and reorganization through real practice, and a process wherein “co‐participants” were challenged to work on their relationships. The limited prospects of specifying agreements ex ante, combined with continuous variation in conditions, entail active management and continuous re‐design of the relationship. This suggests that managers play the role of the architects of relational linkages.
The ASP phenomenon: an example of solution innovation that liberates organization from technology or captures it?
Authors: Kakabadse Nada K. , Kakabadse Andrew , Ahmed Pervaiz K. , Kouzmin Alexander
Published: June 2004

Improved integration, centralized databases, access through Web browsers and application service providers (ASPs) are some of the current trends impacting on organizational decisions regarding IS/IT outsourcing. Web‐based technology liberated the client/server IT model from the limits of geographical boundaries delimited by a local area network. Partnering with the right ASPs could provide organizations with the new synergy required for competitive advantage. This paper outlines the development of a “solutions” innovation business model of rental‐based sourcing, charters current ASPs and the differences in IS/IT provision and offers an audit of the benefits and costs of ASPs to businesses and other stakeholders. Future challenges are mapped out for consideration as are strategic choices associated with continued outsourcing, as distinct from in‐sourcing, of IS/IT.
Reforming the e‐rate
Authors: Jayakar Krishna P.
Published: June 2004

Over the past five years, the e‐rate program has been instrumental in reducing the digital divide in America's schools. However, right from its inception, a number of controversies have surrounded the program including the right of the FCC to impose a “tax” on the telecommunications industry, the status of the Universal Service Administration Company, allegations of fraud in the allocation of funds to schools and libraries, and questions whether Internet access to schools was furthering the cause of educational equity. A number of these questions have been settled through court cases and administrative reform, but doubts about the future of the program still persist so much so that the US Congress is currently considering proposals to terminate or reform the e‐rate program. Keeping in mind these controversies and the achievements to date of the program, this paper compares a number of policy proposals that have been put forward recently. It recommends among other things that the future effectiveness of the e‐rate program may be best served by enabling a shift of funding from telecommunications access to software and content development.
Competition policy, parity regulation and self‐sabotage
Authors: Sappington David E.M. , Weisman Dennis L.
Published: June 2004

This article analyzes the incentives for a vertically‐integrated producer (VIP) to engage in “self‐sabotage”. Self‐sabotage occurs when a VIP intentionally increases its upstream costs of production. This article explains why self‐sabotage may be profitable for a VIP even though it raises symmetrically the cost of the upstream product to all downstream producers. Identifies conditions under which self‐sabotage enables a VIP to disadvantage downstream rivals differentially without violating parity requirements.
Broadband all round!
Authors: Marsden Chris
Published: June 2004

Presents a review of the two Conferences, ITS Europe (held on 23‐24 August in New York) and Telecom Meltdown and Recovery (held 3 October in New York and also 16 October in Geneva). Reveals that the Conferences examined WiFi and Broadband.
Pre‐attentive perception of vowel phonemes from variable speech stimuli
Authors: Jacobsen Thomas , Schröger Erich , Alter Kai
Published: June 2004

Understanding speech requires the construction of phonetic representations while abstracting from specific sound features. To understand different speakers of varying pitches of voice, loudness, or timbre, categorical phoneme information needs to be rapidly extracted from dynamic, changing speech input. The present study demonstrated a genuine MMN to tokens of /a/ and /i/ vowels varying in pitch of voice and amplitude envelope when they occurred infrequently among the respective other vowels. These data indicate that the speech perception system pre‐attentively extracted the F1/F2 formant information despite the language‐irrelevant variation in the sound input.
Regional cerebral blood flow correlates with heart period and high‐frequency heart period variability during working‐memory tasks: Implications for the cortical and subcortical regulation of cardiac autonomic activity
Authors: Gianaros Peter J. , Van der Veen Frederik M. , Jennings J. Richard
Published: June 2004

The aim of the present study was to characterize the functional relationships between behaviorally evoked regional brain activation and cardiac autonomic activity in humans. Concurrent estimates of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF; obtained by positron emission tomography), heart period, and high‐frequency heart period variability (HF‐HPV; an indicator of cardiac parasympathetic activity) were examined in 93 adults (aged 50–70 years) who performed a series of increasingly difficult working‐memory tasks. Increased task difficulty resulted in decreased heart period (indicating cardioacceleration) and decreased HF‐HPV (indicating decreased cardiac parasympathetic activity). Task‐induced decreases in heart period and HF‐HPV were associated with concurrent increases and decreases in rCBF to cortical and subcortical brain regions that are speculated to regulate cardiac autonomic activity during behavioral processes: the medial‐prefrontal, insular, and anterior cingulate cortices, the amygdala–hippocampal complex, and the cerebellum. These findings replicate and extend a small number of functional neuroimaging studies that suggest an important role for both cortical and subcortical brain systems in human cardiac autonomic regulation.