bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Significance ranking of parameters impacting construction labour productivity
Authors: Moselhi Osama , Khan Zafar
Published: May 2014

Purpose

Construction labour productivity is often influenced by variations in work conditions and management effectiveness. It is substantially important to understand the nature and extent to which individual parameters affect productivity. The purpose of this paper is to focus on providing insight on parameters that affect daily job‐site labour productivity by investigating their relative significance and influence on work output.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology is based on the illustration and use of three different data analysis techniques to rank parameters that affect a certain process. These techniques include Fuzzy Subtractive Clustering, Neural Network Modelling and Stepwise Variable Selection Procedure. The first one belongs to inferential statistics, while the other two are artificial intelligence based techniques. The collection of field information, spanning over a time period of ten months, comprised of daily real time observations of job‐site operations, work progress information collected from project managers and supervisors by using customized forms, and daily weather condition recorded through internet sources. Nine parameters are considered in the study presented in this paper. The data on these parameters is examined and their relative influence and contribution in productivity estimates are assessed. The approach was to consider a limited set of parameters relating to daily job‐site productivity. The methodology presented in this paper provides insight on the relative impact of parameters, affecting labour productivity on short term or daily basis. The results based on each of the three methods are analyzed and transformed into a final ranking of parameters.

Findings

The three most important parameters are identified in the same order by the fuzzy logic and neural networks methods. Regression analysis, however, provided somewhat different results.

Originality/value

This research investigates the contribution of a set of parameters towards the variations in daily job‐site labour productivity. For practitioners such as site engineers, this is of practical importance for making daily work plans. On the other hand, the structured approach presented to perform significance ranking of parameters relevant to an engineering process, may also be of interest to other researchers and practitioners.
A critical reflection on sustainability within the UK industrial sectors
Authors: Renukappa Suresh , Egbu Charles , Akintoye Akintola , Goulding Jack
Published: May 2014

Purpose

In the early part of the twenty‐first century, the term sustainability has become a buzzword. Although featuring strongly in the popular media, trade, professional and academic journals, the very concept of sustainability is elusive for businesses. There is, however, a little empirical research on the perceptions of the UK industrial sectors on the concept of sustainability – which is the core raison d'être of this paper. The purpose of this paper is to capture the general perceptions of the UK industrial sectors on the concept of sustainability.

Design/methodology/approach

The aim of this paper is to capture the general perceptions of the UK industrial sectors on the concept of sustainability using a qualitative approach. Four industry sectors: energy and utility, transportation, construction and not‐for‐profit organisations (NPOs) were considered based on the environmental, social and economic impact on the UK society. Semi‐structured interviews were used to collect industry perception which was then analysed using content analysis for inference and conclusion.

Findings

The data analysis revealed that the perceptions of the UK industrial sectors on the concept of sustainability vary significantly across the four industry sectors. Four core categories were identified: environmental, economic, corporate social responsibility and triple bottom line dimension.

Practical implications

The paper concludes that the concept of sustainability is multifaceted and diverse. Although the importance of sustainability is broadly acknowledged across the four industry sectors, there is a significant lack of a common and operationalised understanding on the concept of sustainability. Therefore, it is recommended that there is an urgent need to develop and deploy an industry‐wide awareness‐raising programme on the concept of sustainability.

Originality/value

The paper provides a richer insight into the understanding and awareness of the meaning of sustainability at a conceptual level.
Building information modelling based energy performance assessment system
Authors: Park Jaehyun , Park Junglo , Kim Juhyung , Kim Jaejun
Published: May 2014

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to identify an objective energy performance assessment method in Korea, and to build a building information modelling (BIM) based system that can assess the energy performance of buildings.

Design/methodology/approach

The energy performance assessment methods currently used in Korea were first identified via a literature review. A system was then implemented to solve the problem of objectivity. The system was implemented through a data‐based building information model, instead of the existing method of documented two‐dimensional (2D) CAD. In addition, Revit Architecture (a BIM tool), MS Access, and Visual Basic (VB) were used to implement the system. To verify the system's efficiency, it was compared to the existing method by applying both to an actual case (a school facility).

Findings

This study found that the issue of subjectivity in the Korean energy performance assessment method may be resolved with a data‐based BIM.

Originality/value

This study presented the BIM‐EPAS to reduce errors and the time needed to conduct an energy performance assessment. In order to follow a realistic approach, the BIM‐EPAS was applied to an actual assessment case, thereby verifying the system's applicability.
Information technology, an enabler in corporate governance
Authors: Elizabeth Abraham Sherly
Published: May 2014

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand how information technology can be utilized as a driver of incentives in the decision‐making process of corporate governance.

Design/methodology/approach

The existing theories in corporate governance are compared to understand the incentives offered to executives. Based on the analysis of the theories presented here, an incentive framework is proposed for corporate executives by utilizing the contributions of information technology.

Findings

It is found that find that the stakeholder perspective promotes a value‐laden approach to corporate governance as opposed to other views that are unilateral. The study posits tapping in to the values and beliefs of corporate executives to produce viable and lasting results as opposed to monetary incentives. Information technology is proposed as an “enabler” in empowering executives towards promoting a stakeholder perspective

Practical implications

The paper's recommendations can be used by researchers, executives and board members to enhance corporate governance through information technology.

Originality/value

The originality of the work presented here is in analyzing the affordances of information technology to enhance decision‐making in corporate governance. Information technology is proposed as an “enabler” in empowering executives and board members towards promoting a stakeholder perspective.
The sustainability of corporate governance – considerations for a model
Authors: Jones Alan L. , Thompson Clive H.
Published: May 2014

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to seek comment on a proposed new model for measuring and monitoring the sustainability of corporate governance.

Design/methodology/approach

The unprecedented combination of the scarcity of finance, low growth, and environmental pressures, together with new attitudes to employment, makes an extremely challenging environment that demands a more comprehensive concept of sustainability. It is redefined here to encompass the management of all resources, whether they be natural, human, environmental financial or social, and “Sustainable Governance©” is a framework that creates and monitors a structure that husbands the way that all resources are managed for today and for a long term sustainable future. To meet the challenge of the changing world, a 12‐point management model is proposed, together with a comprehensive rating system employed to analyse progress and benchmark competitive performance.

Findings

Corporate governance cannot be left to chance in the business climate of the twenty‐first century. Public trust has been lost and boards will need to be seen to be in control not only of the present but also of the future. All resources will have to be treated as finite and accountability will be a byword in all corporations. To be sustainable, corporate governance must cover all aspects of corporate resources and activities and it must also be measured in a more formal and transparent manner. This article outlines a model that could be used for this purpose. It is taking measurement beyond the simplistic “scorecard” approach favoured in the past. It is a seed from which the authors expect to see a fertile growth and all comments are welcome to further the model and the process.

Practical implications

The choice facing organizations in the twenty‐first century is either to react to each set of pressures that come along as they arise, or to take a hard look at the economic, environmental and social context in which they operate, and create a framework that will give them the ability to manage in a long‐term sustainable structure.

Originality/value

This supersedes the scorecard approach for monitoring corporate governance. It is new and untried but the authors seek input and comments from readers.
Interlocks network structure as driving force of coopetition among Italian firms
Authors: Simoni Michele , Caiazza Rosa
Published: May 2014

Purpose

The prevalent literature considers interlocking directorates as a mechanisms of cooperation among companies, but if the same director seats on the boards of two companies that are in competition, interlocking directorates, matching cooperation with competition, become a coopetition mechanism. This article aims to argue that the analysis of both the structure and the evolution of interlocking directorates provides some relevant insights on the driving forces behind the coopetition among firms.

Design/methodology/approach

Through a longitudinal study the authors analyzed relations among Italian listed firms belonging to financial or manufacturing sectors and traced the evolution networks of interlocking directorates among them. They then analyzed the coopetitive nature of interlocking directorates among firms acting in the same sector that are in direct competition and their impact on M&A processes.

Findings

It was evidenced that interlocking directorates among firms belonged to the same industry could be considered a coopetitive mechanism if they facilitate formation of deeper relations among competitors such as their integration through M&A.

Originality/value

This article offers a new perspective of analysis in interlocking directorates' field of research.
Organizational culture, intersectoral collaboration and mental health care
Authors: Fay Mitchell Penelope , Eleanor Pattison Philippa
Published: May 2014

Purpose

This study aims to investigate whether and how organizational culture moderates the influence of other organizational capacities on the uptake of new mental health care roles by non‐medical primary health and social care services.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a cross‐sectional survey design, data were collected in 2004 from providers in 41 services in Victoria, Australia, recruited using purposeful sampling. Respondents within each service worked as a group to complete a structured interview that collected quantitative and qualitative data simultaneously. Five domains of organizational capacity were analyzed: leadership, moral support and participation; organizational culture; shared concepts, policies, processes and structures; access to resource support; and social model of health. A principal components analysis explored the structure of data about roles and capacities, and multiple regression analysis examined relationships between them. The unit of analysis was the service (n=41).

Findings

Organizational culture was directly associated with involvement in two types of mental health care roles and moderated the influence of factors in the inter‐organizational environment on role involvement.

Research limitations/implications

Congruence between the values embodied in organizational culture, communicated in messages from the environment, and underlying particular mental health care activities may play a critical role in shaping the emergence of intersectoral working and the uptake of new roles.

Originality/value

This study is the first to demonstrate the importance of organizational culture to intersectoral collaboration in health care, and one of very few to examine organizational culture as a predictor of performance, compared with other organizational‐level factors, in a multivariate analysis. Theory is developed to explain the findings.
Age‐related attitudes: the influence on relationships and performance at work
Authors: Josef Gellert Franz , Schalk René
Published: May 2014

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the influence of age and age‐related attitudes on relationship factors. In addition, it seeks to assess how both factors affect care service work performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper explores the influence of age and age‐related attitudes on the relationship quality among employees, affecting performance in mentally and physically demanding work settings. The authors conducted the research in six residential homes for the elderly in Germany (152 respondents) and collected the data with questionnaires. Data are analyzed by multi‐hierarchical regression analyses.

Findings

Results show that age‐related attitudes (intergenerational cooperation and the perception of older employees' capabilities) are important factors influencing the perceived quality level of in‐group cooperation. Both age‐related attitudes and relationship factors influence perceived employee performance, and job satisfaction.

Research limitations/implications

The findings contribute to understanding how age‐related attitudes influence relationships among employees, the relationship between employees and supervisor, and the effect on service performance. The mono‐cultural sample might be a limitation, as well as the composition of the sample: The majority of respondents were female.

Practical implications

For leaders, supervisors and managers the results contribute to understanding how employees' age‐related attitudes, in mentally and physically demanding work settings, influence the quality level of relationships and outcomes. This is relevant in the context of leaders/supervisors promoting followers' individual development and group/team development.

Originality/value

The paper shows that in care service work with an increasing number of older employees, the positive perception of age‐related attitudes influences relationship quality and performance positively.
Healthcare board governance
Authors: Chambers Naomi
Published: May 2014

Purpose

In the light of failings of the board highlighted by the mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust public inquiry, this paper seeks to offer insights about how boards in general might develop in order to discharge their responsibilities for quality and safety in health care more consistently in the future. The paper also proposes to examine wider questions about the role, purpose, and impact of boards on organisations.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on literature from across the social sciences to assess the evidence for effective board working using a contingency and realist approach.

Findings

The examination leads to the identification of three key issues surrounding the construction and the development of boards. First, there is no evidence or consensus about an “ideal” board form. The rationale and evidence‐base, for example for the 1991 model for NHS boards in the English NHS, has never been set out in an adequate manner. Second, the evidence about effective board working suggests that there are some key principles but also that local circumstances are really important in steering the focus and behaviours of effective boards. Third, there is an emerging proposition that boards, including in healthcare, need to embody a culture of high trust across the executive and non executive divide, together with robust challenge, and a tight grip on the business of delivering high quality patient care in a financially sustainable way (high trust – high challenge – high engagement).

Originality/value

The paper argues that it is advisable to move away from a tendency to faith‐based and exhortative approaches to guidance, training and development of boards and that it is time for a root‐and‐branch inquiry into the composition, structure, processes and dynamics of healthcare boards in the interests of assuring patient safety.
Social value judgments in healthcare: a philosophical critique
Authors: Biron Laura , Rumbold Benedict , Faden Ruth
Published: May 2014

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to consider some of the philosophical and bioethical issues raised by the creation of the draft social values framework developed to facilitate data collection and country‐specific presentations at the inaugural workshop on “Social values and health priority setting” held in February 2011.

Design/methodology/approach

Conceptual analysis is used to analyse the term “social values”, as employed in the framework, and its relationship to related ideas such as moral values. The structure of the framework (process and content values) is considered in light of current debate in philosophy and bioethics about the political and moral aims served by these kinds of values, and the extent to which they are either suited to, or sufficient for, the policy context.

Findings

There is much to be gained by engaging with the arguments presented in the philosophical literature in order to further refine the framework. The framework should remain neutral in respect of the importance of procedural values in different contexts and should be as inclusive as possible in respect of the principles it includes. Further development would be best served by taking a multidisciplinary approach. The framework could provide a valuable space in which future debates about procedural/substantive values can be considered.

Originality/value

The paper brings philosophical and bioethics perspectives to bear on a new framework proposed for the analysis of social values in health priority setting. It identifies how such a practical, policy‐focused framework might be informed by engagement with deeper, and often unresolved, questions or principle around resource allocation in health.
Social values and health priority setting in China
Authors: Docherty Mary , Cao Qi , Wang Hufeng
Published: May 2014

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the organisational and procedural arrangements for healthcare reform in China, and describe the role of social values in the relevant decision‐making process.

Design/methodology/approach

An analysis of recent developments aimed at achieving universal coverage in China was undertaken in the context of describing the influence of underlying social values.

Findings

The key underlying social value was found to be social solidarity. Other values were implicit rather than explicitly stated, and were subservient to the overall aim of comprehensive coverage.

Originality/value

The paper shows that China is embarking on the largest‐scale health reforms in the world. There is an eagerness to share experiences with other countries in an attempt to ensure the success of the reforms. There is an increasing understanding of the need to make the values underpinning the reforms more explicit and, in particular, those concerned with efficiency and appropriateness.
Consideration of social values in the establishment of accountable care organizations in the USA
Authors: Keren Ron , Littlejohns Peter
Published: May 2014

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the new US health organizations called accountable care organizations (ACOs) which are expected to improve the quality and reduce the cost of healthcare for Medicare enrolees. It assesses the importance of ACOs, defining and articulating the values that will underpin their strategic and clinical decision making.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses a social values framework developed by Clark and Weale to consider the values relevant to ACOs.

Findings

It is likely that social values could be made more explicit in a US setting than they have ever been before, via the new ACOs. Social values could start to form part of a local health economy's marketing strategy.

Originality/value

ACOs are very new. This paper identifies that they will need to be very explicit about the values relevant to them. The development of ACOs and the articulation of social values therein may even form the basis of a meaningful dialogue on the importance of assessing value for money or cost‐effectiveness in the wider US health policy environment.
Information‐seeking behaviour
Authors: Spagnoli Paola , Caetano Antonio , Tanucci Giancarlo , Lourenço de Sousa Vera
Published: May 2014

Purpose

Despite more than three decades of studies, the role of information‐seeking during organizational socialization remains ambiguous. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating role played by information‐seeking behaviour during the organizational socialization process.

Design/methodology/approach

Two different information‐seeking behaviors (implicit and explicit) were considered as mediators in the relationship between personality (extroversion, openness to experience, conscientiousness), organizational variables (LMX and POS) and organizational socialization outcomes (task mastery, social integration, role ambiguity, role conflict). Analysis carried out with SEM (structural equation modelling) on longitudinal survey data from 316 new police officers during their first six months of work showed interesting results regarding the two hypothesized mediators.

Findings

In particular, the results show that the two information‐seeking behaviors seem to be related to different paths that link personality and social‐exchange variables to organizational outcomes.

Originality/value

The paper's findings provide useful clues for a better understanding of the role of information‐seeking behaviour during the socialization process and highlight the importance of social support in predicting newcomer adjustment.
The parametered modeling technology study for the civil aircraft engine fan blade
Authors: Zeng Haijun , Sun Youchao
Published: May 2014

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to introduce parametered modeling technology for the civil aircraft engine fan blade, to design the fan blade rapidly and accurately.

Design/methodology/approach

The entire fan blade consists of three crucial parts: blade airfoil, tenon and airfoil root. Blade airfoil with a free surface feature is formed through the blade profiles from the hub to tip in the radial direction. The non‐uniform rational basis spline (NURBS) is utilized to describe the blade profile. The geometry model of fan blade tenon is generated by extruding the sketch of the tenon. And the fillet section is designed to achieve the smooth transition of the up surface and the bottom surface of the blade root. Furthermore, the fan blade of a typical commercial engine is redesigned by the above method.

Findings

The stress analysis of the fan blade shows that the fan blade model designed in this work is reasonable.

Originality/value

The parametered fan blade model is presented on the basics of feature‐based modeling technology.
Problems, Possibilities, People Power and Passion: What Mental Health Promotion is and What it is not: A Response to the Inaugural Issue
Authors: MacDonald Glenn
Published: May 2014

Three articles in the inaugural issue of this Journal discuss the idea of mental health promotion. Here, each is discussed in terms of claims, assumptions and, in some cases, weaknesses such as an unreconstructed account of mental illness prevention, the mistake of relying on an arbitrary definition of mental health and problems with relying on ‘resilience’ as a central concept. It is argued that none of the papers pays enough attention to social experiences and processes, cultural values and norms on which all judgements about what promotes and demotes mental health are based. In response to this critique, the ten‐element map of mental health promotion and demotion is referred to as a more comprehensive, illuminating and, in the end, more philosophically sound account.
Partnerships with Parents to Promote Healthy Development
Authors: Bond Lynne
Published: May 2014

Partnerships with parents are an essential strategy for promoting children's healthy development. Partnerships, themselves, also comprise a context for promoting and sustaining mental health among adults and communities at large. We must foster parents' own development in order to support their role as fully participating partners in mental health promotion; such development guides their abilities and propensity to create and sustain growth‐enhancing environments. The Listening Partners Program is an example of a program that pursued such a goal.
A Matter of Faith: Religion and Mental Health
Authors: Friedli Lynne
Published: May 2014

Religion and mental health are not easy issues to address within the same framework. The unstable boundary between symptoms of psychosis and some forms of religious inspiration is only one element in a complex debate about the relationship between spirituality and mental health. Growing evidence of the significance of religious belief to people with mental health problems raises important questions about the role of spirituality in mental health promotion, the relationship between mental health service providers and spiritual leaders and the attitudes of faith communities to mental health issues.
Early Mental Health Promotion in Children Through Primary Health Care Services: A Multi‐Centre Implementation
Authors: Tsiantis John , Smith Marjorie , Dragonas Thalia , Cox Antony
Published: May 2014

The paper presents results from the implementation and evaluation of a EU/WHO multi‐centre programme on the promotion of children's psychosocial development through primary health care services. The aims of the study were to develop methods for use by primary health care workers in their contact with families on issues pertaining to healthy psychosocial development in the first two years of life, to develop a training programme for primary health care workers to implement in their contact with the families, to evaluate the effectiveness of the programme and to promote the implementation of the developed intervention techniques through the network of primary health care services.
Needs and Resources Assessment: Establishing a Baseline of Expectation in Delivering Emotional Support to Schools
Authors: Baxter Joan
Published: May 2014

The promotion of mental health in the school context is gaining impetus with the introduction of the Healthy School Standard and other government‐sponsored initiatives. The Place to Be, a voluntary agency with a mission to enable emotional support to be provided to children in schools, has developed a model of successful working practice over six years. Through its needs and resources assessment, conducted early in the process of induction, important information is gathered which assists with the processes of project implementation and outcome evaluation. Key findings of the assessments undertaken in 18 London primary schools are reported here.
Asymmetric Asset Price Reaction to News and Arbitrage Risk
Authors: Doukas John A. , Li Meng
Published: May 2014

This study documents that high book‐to‐market (value) and low book‐to‐market (glamour) stock prices react asymmetrically to both common and firm‐specific information. Specifically, we find that value stock prices exhibit a considerably slow adjustment to both common and firm‐specific information relative to glamour stocks. The results show that this pattern of diferential price adjustment between value and glamour stocks is mainly driven by the high arbitrage risk borne by value stocks. The evidence is consistent with the arbitrage risk hypothesis, predicting that idiosyncratic risk, a major impediment to arbitrage activity, amplifies the informational loss of value stocks as a result of arbitrageurs’ (informed investors) reduced participation in value stocks because of their inability to fully hedge idiosyncratic risk.
The Effect of Perceived Uncertainty on Analysts’ Recommendations and Earnings Forecasts
Authors: Young Susan M.
Published: May 2014

Prior literature has found that as uncertainty in a firms information environment increases, optimism increases in equity analysts’ earnings forecasts. The studies suggest an economic incentive explanation, commonly called the management‐relations hypothesis. However, there is conflicting evidence that managers would prefer pessimistic forecasts and encourage analysts to “walk‐down” their forecasts to prevent negative earnings surprises. To test these contradictory findings, this study uses an experimental setting to remove economic incentives from the analyst’s decision process and isolate the cause of observed bias in analysts’ reports. The results of the experiment show that an increase in the perceived uncertainty of the forecasting task results in significantly lower relative optimism in analysts’ earnings forecasts. This finding is consistent with a negativity hypothesis and the managementrelations hypothesis extolled in the empirical research. The findings also show that relative forecast optimism bias is positively related to the level of analysts’ buy/sell recommendations consistent with more recent findings that suggest that analysts use motivated reasoning (the tendency to process information in a manner that supports one’s goal) in their judgments of forecasted earnings and recommendations. Together, these results suggest that analysts consider and use financial information differently depending on their decision goal.
Pension Plan Decisions
Authors: Byrne Alistair , Blake David , Mannion Graham
Published: May 2014

We examine the contribution and investment decisions made by members of a large UK‐based DC pension plan. We find that many employees appear to be relatively financially sophisticated and follow approaches consistent with economic and financial theory in terms of savings rates and investment strategies. However, there are also many less sophisticated employees who stick with plan default arrangements and/or follow simple rules of thumb in saving and investing. The challenge for corporate sponsors of pension plans is in designing arrangements and communication strategies that reduce the chances of these less sophisticated plan members making mistakes – in the sense of systematic deviations from optimal behaviour.
The Expected Cost of Equity and the Expected Risk Premium in the UK
Authors: Gregory Alan
Published: May 2014

In this paper, it is argued that previous estimates of the expected cost of equity and the expected arithmetic risk premium in the UK show a degree of upward bias. Given the importance of the risk premium in regulatory cost of capital in the UK, this has important policy implications. There are three reasons why previous estimates could be upward biased. The first two arise from the comparison of estimates of the realised returns on government bond (‘gilt’) with those of the realised and expected returns on equities. These estimates are frequently used to infer a risk premium relative to either the current yield on index‐linked gilts or an ‘adjusted’ current yield measure. This is incorrect on two counts; first, inconsistent estimates of the risk‐free rate are implied on the right hand side of the capital asset pricing model; second, they compare the realised returns from a bond that carried inflation risk with the realised and expected returns from equities that may be expected to have at least some protection from inflation risk. The third, and most important, source of bias arises from uplifts to expected returns. If markets exhibit ‘excess volatility’, or f part of the historical return arises because of revisions to expected future cash flows, then estimates of variance derived from the historical returns or the price growth must be used with great care when uplifting average expected returns to derive simple discount rates. Adjusting expected returns for the effect of such biases leads to lower expected cost of equity and risk premia than those that are typically quoted.
Financing Decisions and Discretionary Accruals: Managerial Manipulation or Managerial
Overoptimism
Authors: Marciukaityte Dalia , Szewczyk Samuel H.
Published: May 2014

We examine whether discretionary accruals of firms obtaining substantial external financing can be explained by managerial manipulation or managerial overoptimism. Insider trading patterns and press releases around equity and debt financing suggest that managers are more optimistic about their firms around debt financing. Consistent with earlier studies, we find that discretionary current accruals peak when firms obtain equity financing. However, we also find that discretionary accruals peak when firms obtain debt financing. Moreover, discretionary accruals are higher for firms that rely on debt rather than on equity financing. The results are robust to controlling for firm characteristics, excluding small and distressed firms, and using alternative measures of discretionary accruals. These findings support the hypothesis that managerial overoptimism distorts financial statements of firms obtaining external financing.
Double then Nothing: Why Stock Investments Relying on Simple Heuristics May Disappoint
Authors: Foerster Stephen
Published: May 2014

Behavioral researchers argue that although individuals often rely on heuristics or rules of thumb that reduce the complexity involved in predicting values, such heuristics can lead to severe and systematic errors. I test this argument in an investment context by focusing on a simple heuristic whereby momentum traders are attracted to buying stocks that have recently doubled in price in anticipation of further gains. I show that such a strategy can lead to predictable disappointment for these investors and severe underperformance relative to the market (‐28% over a 4‐year period), whereas investors who avoid relying on this simple heuristic are likely to perform as expected, on average similar to the overall market. I also find that underperformance is more severe for stocks that have doubled faster. The “doubling” variable is a significant predictor of future price reversals in addition to past performance per se, as uncovered by the previous researchers.
Administration of emergency antiepileptics in staffed care homes for people with intellectual disabilities in High Wycombe: survey of staff training status
Authors: Deepak Sharada , Obe Elizabeth , Attavar Rajnish
Published: May 2014

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the training status of staff in care homes for people with intellectual disabilities managed by the non‐health sector in High Wycombe, with regard to administering emergency antiepileptic medication and to identify training needs.

Design/methodology/approach

Management of seizures in people with intellectual disabilities and epilepsy comes with its challenges. Although there are clear guidelines for the same, implementing them in the community, especially in the non‐health sector setting, raises the issue of training staff in the administration of emergency antiepileptic medication. A survey was undertaken in response to the varying staff training needs. A short semi‐structured questionnaire was designed and administered over the telephone to the managers of these care homes.

Findings

Less than half of the care homes had staff trained to administer emergency antiepileptic medication. The commonest reason cited was their policy of admitting only patients with well controlled seizures. This paper identified the need for staff training and raising awareness amongst relevant healthcare professionals.

Practical implications

The survey highlights the practical difficulties arising in the implementation of national and trust level healthcare policies in the community.

Originality/value

This paper is of value to clinicians working with people with intellectual disabilities and epilepsy, GPs, and staff and management in the care homes in the health and non‐health sectors. It raises questions around delineation of responsibility and communication between various professionals in various levels of care involved in managing people with intellectual disabilities and epilepsy to ensure provision of safe and effective care for this population.
Cultural adaptation of web design services as critical success factor for business excellence
Authors: Calabrese Armando , Capece Guendalina , Di Pillo Francesca , Martino Federico
Published: May 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine whether cultural backgrounds of nations are expressed through the web design of their companies. Actually, it investigates whether, in countries characterized by the same cultural matrix and language but by different national backgrounds, the cultural specificities of a country are a critical success factor for web design and enablers of business excellence.

Design/methodology/approach

– Starting from a deep literature review, four research hypotheses on the relationship between cultural background and web design are formulated. By employing both the content analysis and the cross-tabulation methodology, these hypotheses are tested.

Findings

– Brazilian, Portuguese, Angolan and Macanese web sites show that companies operating in these countries are aware that cultural background is a necessary success factor to consider for improving cross-cultural management of computer-mediated communication. Indeed, the findings confirm that the internet is not a culturally neutral communication medium. By providing evidences of web site cultural adaptation, this study supports the use of a targeted approach to web site design and provides managerial guidelines for improving business excellence of companies’ online environment.

Originality/value

– The paper offers insights into the topic of a culturally adapted computer-mediated communication for improving consumer experience.
The susceptibility of the vulnerable: some realities reassessed
Authors: Lewis James
Published: May 2014

Purpose

– This intentionally short paper considers the wide range of interpretations of “vulnerability” since its 1979 adoption in disaster studies and proposes some necessary separation and re-categorisation of its current applications.

Design/methodology/approach

– The short history of the use of “vulnerability” in disasters studies is examined, contrasting present day contexts with those of its earliest use.

Findings

– “Vulnerability” is retained for its conventional place-based role, whilst superimposed social and political constraints are allocated to “susceptibility”, a term often used to define “vulnerability”; the two terms taking on equal mutually supportive roles. Separation of the two terms is supported by on example of their realities in war and post-war conditions, together with other examples not in contexts of war. Separation of terms suggests the issue of whether manifestation of vulnerability brings about additional personal susceptibility.

Research limitations/implications

– Implications are that both vulnerability and susceptibility may become better understood in disaster studies and its applications in the field.

Practical implications

– The media is seen as a possible eventual target for a published version of this short paper so that, in time, public as well as academic readership may be reached.

Originality/value

– Dissatisfaction occasionally expressed regarding uses of “vulnerability” has, so far, received little radical attention.
A Mie-Grüneisen mixture Eulerian model for underwater explosion
Authors: Wu Zongduo , Zong Zhi , Sun Lei
Published: May 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to provide an improved Mie-Grüneisen mixture model to simulate underwater explosion (UNDEX).

Design/methodology/approach

– By using Mie-Grüneisen equations of state (EOS) to model explosive charge, liquid water and solid structure, the whole fluid field is considered as a multi-phases mixture under Mie-Grüneisen EOS. Then by introducing auxiliary variables in Eulerian model and using mass fraction to establish a diffusion balance, a new improved Mie-Grüneisen mixture model is presented here. For the new reconstructed mixture model, a second order MUSCL scheme with TVD limiter is employed to solve the multi-phase Riemann problem.

Findings

– Numerical examples show that the results obtained by Mie-Grüneisen mixture model are quite closed to theoretical and empirical data. The model can be also used in 2-D fluid-structure problem of UNDEX effectively and it is proved that the deformation of structure can be clearly described by mass fraction.

Research limitations/implications

– The FVM model based on mass fraction can only describe the motion of compressible material under impact. Material failure or large deformation needs a modification about the EOS or implementations of other models (i.e. FEM model).

Originality/value

– An improved non-oscillation Mie-Grüneisen mixture model, which based on mass fraction, is given in the present paper. The present Mie-Grüneisen mixture model provides a simplified and efficient way to simulate UNDEX. The feasibility of this model to simulate the detonation impacts on different mediums, including water and other metal mediums, is tested and verified here. Then the model is applied to the simulation of underwater contact explosion problem. In the simulation, deformation of structure under explosion loads, as well as second shock wave, are studied here.
Numerical analysis of characteristics of the wind caused by methane-air explosion
Authors: Zhang Qi , Pang Lei , Lin Dachao
Published: May 2014

Purpose

– The high-velocity wind caused by a methane-air explosion is one of the important hazardous effects in explosion events of coal mines, and, however, until now it has not been received much attention from scientific works. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

– In consideration of the difficulties in observing particle velocities of high-velocity flows, this work presented a study to reveal the regularity during a methane-air explosion happening in the tunnel of coal mine through the numerical analysis approach.

Findings

– The strong wind caused by a methane-air explosion is a significant hazard and can cause damage in the accidents of methane-air explosion in underground coal mines, especially at structural opening, according to this work. Obtained results show that maximum particle velocity of the high-velocity wind occurs in the outside region of the premixed area, with a peak value of 400∼500 m/s, and the peak velocity of the high-velocity wind decreases exponentially with distance beyond the premixed area.

Originality/value

– The objective of this work was to examine the effect of wind caused by a methane-air explosion in a tunnel. Other information, such as shock wave and flame and temperature distribution, has been reported in the previous literatures. However, in the accidents of methane-air explosion in underground coal mines, some phenomena (structural opening is destroyed badly) can not be understood by using shock wave and flame and temperature distribution caused by the explosion. The strong wind caused by a methane-air explosion is another significant hazard and can cause damage in the methane-air explosion accidents in underground coal mines, especially at structural opening, according to this work.
A two-step Taylor-Galerkin formulation for fast dynamics
Authors: Abd. Karim Izian , Hean Lee Chun , J. Gil Antonio , Bonet Javier
Published: May 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to present a new stabilised low-order finite element methodology for large strain fast dynamics.

Design/methodology/approach

– The numerical technique describing the motion is formulated upon the mixed set of first-order hyperbolic conservation laws already presented by Lee et al. (2013) where the main variables are the linear momentum, the deformation gradient tensor and the total energy. The mixed formulation is discretised using the standard explicit two-step Taylor-Galerkin (2TG) approach, which has been successfully employed in computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Unfortunately, the results display non-physical spurious (or hourglassing) modes, leading to the breakdown of the numerical scheme. For this reason, the 2TG methodology is further improved by means of two ingredients, namely a curl-free projection of the deformation gradient tensor and the inclusion of an additional stiffness stabilisation term.

Findings

– A series of numerical examples are carried out drawing key comparisons between the proposed formulation and some other recently published numerical techniques.

Originality/value

– Both velocities (or displacements) and stresses display the same rate of convergence, which proves ideal in the case of industrial applications where low-order discretisations tend to be preferred. The enhancements introduced in this paper enable the use of linear triangular (or bilinear quadrilateral) elements in two dimensional nearly incompressible dynamics applications without locking difficulties. In addition, an artificial viscosity term has been added into the formulation to eliminate the appearance of spurious oscillations in the vicinity of sharp spatial gradients induced by shocks.
Austerity and financial governance: a UK case study of the National Health Service
Authors: Prowle Malcolm , Harradine Don
Published: May 2014

Purpose

– This research concerns the issue of financial governance within the UK NHS and aims to assess the effectiveness of existing financial governance arrangements in the main providers of health services in the UK. Also considered is the importance of good financial governance in a time of financial austerity.

Design/methodology/approach

– The primary research for this project was based on the use of a questionnaire to all finance directors in NHSTs in England supported by semi-structured interviews with: finance directors, non-executive directors, executive directors and senior finance staff.

Findings

– Among the main findings of the study were: certain financial management systems were not prioritised in line with what is seen as good practice; existing financial management systems were not always seen as adequate for the achievement of good financial governance; there was sometimes a lack of understanding of financial issues by non-executive directors; and the complexity of the NHS funding process often resulted in opaqueness of the financial risks.

Research limitations/implications

– The research is limited by the relatively small coverage of NHS trusts but this has been compensated for by a series of in-depth interviews with key stakeholders in the governance process.

Practical implications

– Weaknesses in financial governance could result in further scandals which result in loss of life and poor patient care.

Originality/value

– There are many papers on the issue of governance in the public sector in general and the NHS in particular. However, there is little published on the issue of financial governance in the NHS. Also of great value is the emphasis on strengthening financial governance in an era of austerity