bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
CMKMS
Authors: Dilip Babar Sachin , Rashmi Prasad Neeli , Prasad Ramjee
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The paper aims to address wireless sensor network (WSN) security by proposing new cluster-based mobile key management scheme (CMKMS). The growing demands of WSNs in variety of real-time and mission-critical applications increase the challenges in terms of energy efficiency, security and mobility. The security is important to avoid malicious attacks and improve the energy efficiency, while mobility helps to improve the reachability of network. The CMKMS algorithm focuses on the management and maintenance of keys under cluster-based mobile WSN network.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper studied the related work in the area of key management and compared the different key management algorithms according to the technique used. The comparative study shows that the available key management algorithms are efficient in terms of security, but they are not scaleable enough to the changing conditions of network and do not work efficiently under node mobility. The research uses cluster-based approach for improving scalability, where cluster head (CH) acts as a key manager. The work developed by considering both static and mobile CH.

Findings

– The CMKMS considers two phases, first for key maintenance which establishes the two private keys, home key for own cluster and foreign key when node moves from one cluster to another. The second phase maintains the keys when CH moves from one cluster to another. The proposed algorithm improves the efficiency of key management algorithm in terms of security, mobility, energy efficiency and scalability of network. The simulation of scheme in different realistic situation shows that proposed solution shows less computational overheads, energy consumption and delay as compared with state-of-art solution.

Research limitations/implications

– The research is validated using computer-based simulation, which limits the testing of research by considering external environmental conditions. Therefore, research can be further test using WSN test bed.

Practical implications

– The research address the issues in key management, developed the scaleable, and node mobility supportable key management algorithms, for addressing the demands of growing WSN applications.

Originality/value

– This paper accomplish the security of WSN using scaleable and mobility-supported key management algorithms.
Features of business association advocates in Africa
Authors: Irwin David
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to review the attempts to describe the features and characteristics of business associations in Tanzania which are aiming to influence public policy. It concludes that those attempts, whilst thought provoking, do not go far enough to be of real use to practitioners and offers an improved model.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper uses empirical evidence, gathered from interviews with business associations, supplemented by reviewing their research reports and policy position papers and cross referenced through interviews with public officials.

Findings

– Activities and approaches of successful business associations are described and used to draw out characteristics which might enable associations to be categorised in one of four development stages based on their approach to influencing public policy.

Research limitations/implications

– The new model is conceptual and work is now required to assess its validity.

Practical implications

– Donors, in their design of advocacy support programmes, already focus support on associations in one or two stages of development. An improved model will make it easier for them, and practitioners, to categorise business associations. Importantly, it will provide indicators for how business associations are expected to improve as a result of the support that they are offered and thus to assess the success of the support programme.

Originality/value

– There has been little research and little discussion about the features and characteristics of business associations that might lead to success in influencing public policy and thus in improving the enabling environment. This paper contributes to filling that gap.
The advocacy-growth nexus: the case of the Egyptian banking sector
Authors: Adel Abdel-Baki Monal
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The Egyptian banking sector has acted as an arena for multiple alliances, some of which bred crony capitalism and others acted as growth alliances. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of private sector advocacy in the Egyptian banking sector on macroeconomic performance, with the prime aim of designing an Egyptian-centric roadmap outlining precepts of good advocacy between bankers, policymakers and businesses.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study uses a two-stage model. In the first stage an advocacy construct is developed using confirmatory factor analysis. In the second stage the relationship between advocacy and macroeconomic growth is measured by running a set of parsimonious regressions.

Findings

– The empirical results show a strong relationship between advocacy and growth, albeit not on inflation rates, suggesting that an innovative set of public policy instruments is needed to promote private advocacy efforts and to institutionalise private-public partnerships. This is an innately pressing mission for the new government to mitigate the impact of the double-digit inflation that has prevailed since the Triple-F – food, fuel and finance – Crisis of 2006.

Practical implications

– The ousted Egyptian government failed to protect its citizens from crony alliances and corruption, be it abuse of public resources or unfair access to bank credit. Hence, the prime aim is to design a future roadmap for the endorsement of effective growth alliances between businesses, bankers and policymakers. The recommendations proposed by this study would prove helpful to future public policymakers in the fulfilment of the macroeconomic aspirations of the Egyptian society as well as to other emerging and developing nations that share similar problems.

Social implications

– The research addresses how reforms can be designed in an egalitarian fashion to direct credit to growth enhancing and job-generating sectors since a prompt treatment of these problems at their roots is apt to minimise the probabilities of future social turmoil. This is apt to assist the Egyptian people to transition to a truly democratic society and to convert street rebellions into inclusive institutional activism.

Originality/value

– This paper adds to the literature a measurable construct gauging the relationship between advocacy in the banking sector and growth. Another contribution is the set of policies proposed to institutionalise rightful advocacy efforts.
Map-based localization for mobile robots in high-occluded and dynamic environments
Authors: Wang Yong , Chen Weidong , Wang Jingchuan
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to propose a localizability-based particle filtering localization algorithm for mobile robots to maintain localization accuracy in the high-occluded and dynamic environments with moving people.

Design/methodology/approach

– First, the localizability of mobile robots is defined to evaluate the influences of both the dynamic obstacles and prior-map on localization. Second, based on the classical two-sensor track fusion algorithm, the odometer-based proposal distribution function (PDF) is corrected, taking account of the localizability. Then, the corrected PDF is introduced into the classical PF with “roulette” re-sampling. Finally, the robot pose is estimated according to all the particles.

Findings

– The experimental results show that, first, it is necessary to consider the influence of the prior-map during the localization in the high-occluded and dynamic environments. Second, the proposed algorithm can maintain an accurate and robust robot pose in the high-occluded and dynamic environments. Third, its real timing is acceptable.

Research limitations/implications

– When the odometer error and occlusion caused by the dynamic obstacles are both serious, the proposed algorithm also has a probability evolving into the kidnap problem. But fortunately, such serious situations are not common in practice.

Practical implications

– To check the ability of real application, we have implemented the proposed algorithm in the campus cafeteria and metro station using an intelligent wheelchair. To better help the elderly and disabled people during their daily lives, the proposed algorithm will be tested in a social welfare home in the future.

Original/value

– The localizability of mobile robots is defined to evaluate the influences of both the dynamic obstacles and prior-map on localization. Based on the localizability, the odometer-based PDF is corrected properly.
The corporation and private politics
Authors: Buell Hirsch Peter
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this article is to examine the increased public pressure on corporations to express a point of view on social politics such as same-sex marriage that have no intrinsic connection to their line of business.

Design/methodology/approach

– By analyzing recent cases in which corporations have suffered from negative public sentiment regarding their policies on social issues, the authors adduce some guidelines for handling the intersection of corporate reputation and private politics.

Findings

– This analysis led the authors to propose four strategies for coping with reputation assaults relating to private politics: dynamic sentiment mapping, developing points of view, continuous consumer conversations and decision clarity.

Originality/value

– There is existing literature on this subject, but few recommendations for how to handle the issue.
School-level organizational routines for learning: supporting data use
Authors: M. Kallemeyn Leanne
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to use an extreme case to identify and describe the nature of routines that might support processes and outcomes of data use, drawing from a framework developed by Coburn and Turner (2012a).

Design/methodology/approach

– The author conducted a four-month case study (Stake, 1995) of an elementary school in a large urban school district that had implemented balanced score cards. The author identified a school that had strong qualities to support data use, including leadership and information systems.

Findings

– Two school-level organizational routines facilitated teachers’ data use: collaborative teams and processes of inquiry. These routines stored knowledge about the types of data teachers ought to notice, and to a lesser extent, how they ought to interpret data and construct implications for practice. These routines also provided opportunities for single and double-loop learning (Argyris and Schön, 1996) and might contribute to improvements in student learning. This case provides an example of how a school negotiated external performance management pressures, and maintained their professional autonomy, focussing on internally initiated assessments.

Originality/value

– Relatively little research has described what organizational routines support data use among practitioners. In addition to describing two routines, this case also demonstrated the need to frame these routines as organizational routines for learning. To further develop these routines, the author drew on the notion of the knowledge-creating company (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995) to explain how the school used their organizational routines to share tacit knowledge (socialization), and to convert tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge (externalization), which supported instructional innovations.
Misrepresentation of financial statements
Authors: Ilter Cenap
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to show the public, in general, and auditors, in particular, that in the absence of control there is always a risk of fraud. Fraud can be done in various forms. Larceny may be the most obvious case of fraud, but fraud may be done in many other ways too. Balance sheet fraud or financial statements fraud is a broader issue; it is far-fetched than a few hundred dollars of a larceny case. In financial statement fraud, the deep down effect may be millions or billions of dollars.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper has been designed based on a fraud theory. The author has observed the implications of a possible fraud in a real audit case. The fraud theory has been tested through financial analysis and audit tests. The theory has then been revised and the existence of a financial statement fraud has been proven.

Findings

– The paper explores that banks and group companies controlled by unreliable owners can lead to misuse of public's funds in accordance with the directives of the owner. Public's money can be transferred to other group companies in an illegal manner – in excessive amounts – and never returned to the bank by means of applying different accounting fraud techniques.

Research limitations/implications

– Auditors, who may audit group companies that include a bank or banks with deposit receiving and lending rights, should pay attention to the transactions between the group's bank and the other group companies. The lending may be excessive in amount and/or never paid back and the financial statements would be misrepresented covering various fraud schemes.

Originality/value

– The case that the paper deals with reflects the author's own audit experiences. The names of the companies have been changed but not the essence of the events. From this perspective, it sheds light onto the path of an auditor who happens to be in a similar situation.
Legislative and regulatory responses to the global financial crisis from within the United Kingdom
Authors: Baber Graeme
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to report and review the legislative and regulatory responses to the global financial crisis (GFC) from within the United Kingdom (UK).

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper observes aspects of the effect of the GFC within the UK, using economic statistics and institutional case studies. It summarises the laws that the European Union (EU) and the UK have produced in the wake of the crisis and recommends approaches to be taken from this point.

Findings

– The regulators are putting in place a comprehensive, integrated framework, much of which is sensible in its content. However, this structure will be insufficient to re-establish the effective operation of the financial sector, unless firms comply with the rules and a “relationship culture” is developed.

Research limitations/implications

– It is not yet clear how the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will perform and coordinate.

Originality/value

– The paper presents a comprehensive review of relevant EU and UK legislation, thereby bringing readers up to date with the situation in the UK.
The scope and impact of community participation
Authors: Nathan Sally , Braithwaite Jeffrey , Stephenson Niamh
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the views of community representatives participating in a large health service in Australia.

Design/methodology/approach

– Cross-sectional survey of 49 community representatives and interviews with a purposeful sample of representatives (n=10) and staff (n=19).

Findings

– Most community representatives had positive attitudes about their value and potential for influence, citing concrete examples of impact. Having an external network or group was related to their beliefs in their ability to add value to their health service. Community representatives largely agreed they provided a link to, and represented, the wider community although most thought staff did not understand their role or how to work with them. Some staff questioned representativeness of their community representatives.

Practical implications

– Improving community participation is argued to be important in delivering better healthcare services, but effective engagement and representation at the local level is often challenging. Focusing on community representative views takes us beyond debates around representativeness to identify practical strategies to improve practice. The authors recommend health services recruit consumers with strong links to networks in the community, provide a structured and supported program, and improve staff understanding of the range of possible roles for community representatives. Local examples of community representatives’ impact on policy and practice should be widely communicated.

Originality/value

– In giving prominence to the views of consumers using triangulated methods, the authors found most could report with clarity what their role was and how they impacted at their local health service.
Workplace model for physical therapists and occupational therapists
Authors: I.J. Wagner Joan , Warren Sharon , Cummings Greta , L. Smith Donna , K. Olson Joanne
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to test a model linking physical therapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT) practitioners’ perceptions of resonant leadership, structural empowerment and psychological empowerment to their experiences of spirit at work (SAW), job satisfaction and organizational commitment within the Canadian workplace.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors tested the model using LISREL 8.80 and survey data from 101 OTs and 169 PTs, randomly selected by the Alberta professional licensing associations. Content analysis of responses to the open-ended comments section provided additional depth and insight.

Findings

– Analysis of results culminated in minor modifications to the original theoretical model, creating separate PT and OT models. Both models revealed a good fit with the observed data. Several SAW concepts accounted for moderate to large amounts of variance in both PT and OT models, indicating that SAW is a comprehensive workplace outcome.

Research limitations/implications

– Theory was derived from business and nursing research literature due to limited rehabilitation research literature. Discussion of OT results must consider the small sample size. This study is initial exploratory research.

Practical implications

– Each discipline-specific model provides professionals, health care leaders and policy makers with a rich body of information upon which to base beneficial workplace decisions. SAW will guide leaders in the holistic development and enrichment of the work environment.

Originality/value

– This research contributes to the substantive knowledge of the OT and PT disciplines, particularly in the areas of leadership, workplace structural organization and indicators of healthy work environments such as SAW, empowerment, job satisfaction and organizational commitment.
Evaluating deceased organ donation: a programme theory approach
Authors: Manzano Ana , Pawson Ray
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– Organ donation and transplantation services represent a microcosm of modern healthcare organisations. They are complex adaptive systems. They face perpetual problems of matching supply and demand. They operate under fierce time and resource constraints. And yet they have received relatively little attention from a systems perspective. The purpose of this paper is to consider some of the fundamental issues in evaluating, improving and policy reform in such complex systems.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper advocates an approach based on programme theory evaluation.

Findings

– The paper explains how the death to donation to transplantation process depends on the accumulation of series of embedded, institutional sub-processes. Evaluators need to be concerned with this whole system rather than with its discrete parts or sectors. Policy makers may expect disappointment if they seek to improve donation rates by applying nudges or administrative reforms at a single point in the implementation chain.

Originality/value

– These services represent concentrated, perfect storms of complexity and the paper offers guidance to practitioners with bio-medical backgrounds on how such services might be evaluated and improved. For the methodological audience the paper caters for the burgeoning interest in programme theory evaluation while illustrating the design phase of this research strategy.
Investigating Iranian female Muslim consumer impulse buying behaviour used as a form of retail therapy
Authors: Nayebzadeh Shahnaz , Jalaly Maryam
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the nature of emotion, self-esteem and life satisfaction tendencies amongst Iranian Muslim consumers when making impulse purchases.

Design/methodology/approach

– Questionnaires were distributed amongst female Muslim participants at a shopping centre in Yazd, Iran – each of which were selected using cluster and random sampling methods. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and structural equation modelling techniques, where LISREL software was used to measure the direct and indirect relationships between variables.

Findings

– Within the sample, there was a direct causal relationship between impulse buying tendencies, impulse buying behaviour and purchasing. Second, there was a negative relationship between self-esteem and life-satisfaction within impulse buying tendencies. Finally, a positive relationship exists between emotion and impulse buying tendencies, which elicits impulse buying behaviour culminating in purchases. Emotion drives these consumers towards dissonance-reducing behaviour, which mediates low self-esteem and life satisfaction – through consumerism as a form of retail therapy. Some of the items purchased on impulse, that fulfilled this role, were hijabs (headscarves) and mantos (a type of tunic/shirt-dress/coat common in Iran).

Research limitations/implications

– The hijab is worn by Muslim females across the globe. However, the manto is an item of clothing worn almost exclusively by Iranian females. Therefore, it is likely that Muslim females in different geographies may exhibit similar behavioural traits, but their consumption patterns would substitute this item with a different one, such as an abaya or jilbab, for example.

Originality/value

– Whilst the notion of retail therapy is widely understood, the novel contribution of this study lies in highlighting that the purchase of clothing such as hijabs and mantos by Iranian Muslim females is not just driven by rational and emotional decision-making seeking to fulfil religious obligations. There are cases where these religious artefacts are used to raise feelings of self-esteem and life satisfaction within the same individuals.
Managing change after the merger: the value of pre-merger ingroup identities
Authors: Joseph Jay
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the role that pre-merger identification plays within a post-merger setting. Social Identity Theory (SIT) has conflicting reports on the role that pre-merger identification plays in post-merger integration. The current research explores a case study where enhancing pre-merger identification resulted in positive post-merger identification and intergroup relations; progressing knowledge in the field by analysing the contextual factors that facilitate this outcome.

Design/methodology/approach

– The research follows a case study design applying integration method for the study of changes over time. Two sets of in-depth semi-structured interviews underwent content analysis to derive thematic findings. Case detail was also provided to frame the results.

Findings

– Findings of the research showed that the integration strategy used to facilitate pre-merger ingroup identification reduced the perceived status differences between groups, moderately improved ingroup relations, and significantly improved intergroup relations.

Practical implications

– For strategic planners involved in managing change during a merger, the findings provide an alternative integration strategy to be used within a joint-brand structure. The research also provides several analysis points that managers can use to design appropriate integration strategies.

Originality/value

– The findings are important for the application of SIT to mergers and acquisitions, which commonly view pre-merger identification as a barrier to integration. The current study outlines the contextual factors which strengthen the relationship between pre-merger identity and post-merger identification.
Influencing VSN users’ purchase intentions
Authors: Mortazavi Marjan , Rahim Esfidani Mohammad , Shaemi Barzoki Ali
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the characteristics of virtual social networks (VSNs) and to determine their salient attributes, including those that influence flow experience, trust and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) behaviors affecting users’ purchase intentions, and to provide important strategic implications contributing to the Internet marketing literature.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using a self-administered questionnaire, the data (n = 167) are collected from two Iranian Internet social networking sites, namely,
facenama.com
and
cloob.com
. Using LISREL 8.5, hypothesized relationships are examined through structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis.

Findings

– According to the results of the study, despite all assumptions and studies to the contrary, eWOM behaviors in VSNs are derived from neither users’ flow experience nor their trust in VSNs, but they are mostly caused by VSNs’ attributes, from which four are investigated in this study, namely, communication and social relationships, entertainment, information disclosure and ease of use. Nevertheless, according to the results, VSN attributes also influence trust and flow experience, trust in a VSN environment influences users’ flow experience and eWOM in VSNs has significant impact on users’ purchase intentions. The findings also revealed that the level of education of a user affects how much he trusts the VSN environment.

Practical implications

– The author examined flow experience, trust, eWOM behavior, purchase intentions and the VSNs’ attributes to verify their relationships, providing a better understanding of an effective indirect marketing in VSNs. The results also have important implications for researchers.

Originality/value

– While flow experience, trust, word-of-mouth (WOM) behaviors and purchase intentions have been separately studied in Web sites, e-shopping malls and blogs, little research has sought to identify the existence of these elements within VSNs, their correlations with one another and how they are affected by VSNs’ attributes.
System design for location name recognition in ancient local chronicles
Authors: Bao Ping , Zhu Suoling
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to present a system for recognition of location names in ancient books written in languages, such as Chinese, in which proper names are not signaled by an initial capital letter.

Design/methodology/approach

– Rule-based and statistical methods were combined to develop a set of rules for identification of product-related location names in the local chronicles of Guangdong. A name recognition system, with functions of document management, information extraction and storage, rule management, location name recognition, and inquiry and statistics, was developed using Microsoft's .NET framework, SQL Server 2005, ADO.NET and XML. The system was evaluated with precision ratio, recall ratio and the comprehensive index, F.

Findings

– The system was quite successful at recognizing product-related location names (F was 71.8 percent), demonstrating the potential for application of automatic named entity recognition techniques in digital collation of ancient books such as local chronicles.

Research limitations/implications

– Results suffered from limitations in initial digitization of the text. Statistical methods, such as the hidden Markov model, should be combined with an extended set of recognition rules to improve recognition scores and system efficiency.

Practical implications

– Electronic access to local chronicles by location name saves time for chorographers and provides researchers with new opportunities.

Social implications

– Named entity recognition brings previously isolated ancient documents together in a knowledge base of scholarly and cultural value.

Originality/value

– Automatic name recognition can be implemented in information extraction from ancient books in languages other than English. The system described here can also be adapted to modern texts and other named entities.
Digital library user privacy: changing librarian viewpoints through education
Authors: Noh Younghee
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to research attempts to educate public librarians in the importance of user privacy issues and assist in reducing privacy violations by providing librarians with an educational program on the subject and measuring its effects.

Design/methodology/approach

– Research was conducted to examine the influence of education on library user privacy. An education program on the topic was developed and effects of the training were measured with pre- and post-seminar surveys.

Findings

– Concern for the protection of user privacy increased after the training, and its importance was rated higher as participating librarians became aware of the current likelihood of privacy violations, given the amount of user data libraries collect regularly. The demand for user privacy education also significantly increased after the librarian training course had been completed.

Originality/value

– This research verified that user privacy awareness can be greatly improved by educating librarians. The awareness change in librarians could greatly contribute to user protection and the basic mission of the library while controversial issues about privacy violation and filter bubbles are seriously discussed.
Case study: a metadata scheme for multi-type manuscripts for the T.D. Lee Archives Online
Authors: Li Fang , Zhang Jie
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to propose a solution for designing a metadata scheme for multi-type manuscripts based on a comparison of various existing metadata schemes.

Design/methodology/approach

– The diversity of manuscript types is analysed. Descriptive scheme based on machine-readable MARC and metadata specifications-based descriptive scheme are compared. User tasks and resource features are analysed. Several challenges are posed and resolved through the design and establishment of a metadata scheme for the T.D. Lee Archives Online.

Findings

– Clarify an approach for developing a metadata scheme for multi-type manuscripts.

Originality/value

– From a multi-type perspective, this study designs a metadata scheme, establishes the element set and expands elements by studying a typical practice case. Useful suggestions for libraries, archives and museums are provided.
Entrepreneurial team locus of control: diversity and trust
Authors: Saud Khan Mohammad , J. Breitenecker Robert , J. Schwarz Erich
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine how internal locus of control (LOC) as a well-established entrepreneurial personality trait at team level impacts team performance (effectiveness and efficiency) in Austria. In addition, it investigates the interaction effects of LOC diversity and affective trust on the internal LOC-performance relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

– Data originated from 44 entrepreneurial teams based in nine business incubators in Austria. Partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modelling was used to estimate the model.

Findings

– Results indicate that higher internal LOC at team level promotes entrepreneurial team effectiveness and efficiency. However, team efficiency is increased when such teams possess a high internal LOC and low LOC diversity. Affective trust is identified as a crucial component in enhancing entrepreneurial team effectiveness, especially when the team has a high internal LOC.

Originality/value

– This study extends research on internal LOC at team level by investigating it as a predictor of entrepreneurial team effectiveness and efficiency. Second, it systematically analyses if and how diversity in internal LOC affects team performance in an entrepreneurial team context. The paper takes a pioneering step by testing a key methodological contribution of addressing the inherent bias in measuring diversity of small teams. Finally, it is one of the first studies to show not only the importance of affect in general, but also the trust based on affect for entrepreneurial team dynamics.
Perceptions of intellectual capital held by the supervisors of nursing divisions in hospitals in Taiwan
Authors: Chang Hsin-Yuan , Wu Ming-Yu , Sheu Dwan-Fang
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to explore how the nursing division supervisors at hospitals perceive intellectual capital (IC) and identify the relative importance of IC factors.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using literature review combined with experts’ viewpoints, IC is divided into four main structures and adopted them as the measurement criteria. A set of criteria that measure the hospital nursing division's IC was established using the Fuzzy Delphi Method, by the expert questionnaire given out to nursing division supervisors at large-scale teaching hospitals.

Findings

– The research results will hopefully help the management of medical institutions make decisions and input more resources in the “structural capital” perspective of their respective nursing divisions.

Originality/value

– Hospitals in Taiwan may improve in performance and medical services quality.
How mindfulness and acquisition experience affect acquisition performance
Authors: Hutzschenreuter Thomas , Kleindienst Ingo , Schmitt Michael
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to provide insights to the impact of acquisition experience from prior acquisitions on the performance of subsequent ones. The authors base the analysis on the concept of mindfulness which has recently gained increasing attention in organizational learning theory. The aim is to extend prior research on mindfulness in organizational learning by empirically addressing how mindfulness in knowledge transfer affects task performance in the context of a rare organizational event, i.e. an acquisition, and how it is moderated by the conditions surrounding that event.

Design/methodology/approach

– Employing a path-related approach, the authors analyzed large acquisitions of multiple US acquirers in a sequence to be able to clearly identify feedback from preceding acquisitions on subsequent ones. The authors adopt individual acquisition events as the unit of analysis to demonstrate the effect of mindfulness on task performance, and follow the widely used approach of measuring acquisition performance by abnormal stock market returns around the time of an acquisition announcement.

Findings

– The analysis reveals an alternating relationship between an acquirer's acquisition experience and its acquisition performance. This relationship is positively moderated by an acquirer's cash reserves and by the temporal spacing of its acquisitions, but negatively moderated by an acquirer's market-to-book value.

Originality/value

– Path-related approaches are rarely used in the mergers & acquisitions literature. The paper is based on the concept of mindfulness and identifies an up to now unrecognized pattern in the performance of multiple acquisitions.
Organizational slack, experience, and acquisition behavior across varying economic environments
Authors: Alessandri Todd , Cerrato Daniele , Depperu Donatella
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of the organizational slack and acquisition experience on acquisition behavior across varying environmental conditions. Drawing from behavioral theory and the threat-rigidity hypothesis, the paper explores firm acquisition behavior, in terms of type of acquisitions, before and during the recent economic downturn.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using data on 385 acquisitions in Italy in the period 2007-2010, the paper tests hypotheses on how organizational slack and acquisition experience influence the likelihood of cross-border and diversifying acquisitions relative to domestic, non-diversifying acquisitions prior to and during the economic downturn.

Findings

– Results suggest that the availability of financial resources and acquisition experience both have an important influence on acquisition behavior. Firms with greater slack and acquisition experience were more likely to make diversifying and/or cross-border acquisitions, compared to domestic non-diversifying acquisitions, particularly during an economic downturn, than firms with lower levels of slack and acquisition experience.

Originality/value

– The paper extends behavioral theory and threat-rigidity hypothesis, highlighting their applicability to acquisition behavior across varying economic conditions. Slack resources and acquisition experience appear to be particularly salient during challenging economic times.
Effective communication for project success
Authors: Frank Cervone H.
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this review is to look at some of the common mistakes made related to communication within a project and how those mistakes can be avoided. Communication in projects is a critical factor in a project’s success. Many times, project teams forget some basic rules for communicating with their stakeholders.

Design/methodology/approach

– The approach of this paper is to provide a general overview of common themes in the project management literature related to communication within projects.

Findings

– While communication failures in projects are caused by many factors, the project team ultimately bears the burden for ensuring successful communication within a project. There are several common causes of communication failures. Thankfully, there are also some simple things that project teams can do to lessen the likelihood of miscommunication.

Research limitations/implications

– As this is a general overview, this article only explores the more commonly experienced issues related to project miscommunication.

Originality/value

– By observing some relatively easy to remember questions and concerns related to communication, a project team can be more effective in communicating with their project stakeholders. Effective communication will generally lead to better outcomes and, therefore, a higher likelihood for overall project success.
Continuous 3D-printing for additive manufacturing
Authors: Günther Daniel , Heymel Bastian , Franz Günther Johannes , Ederer Ingo
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– This paper aims to present the results that can be achieved using continuous three-dimensional (3D) printing technology.

Design/methodology/approach

– In the first section, conventional additive manufacturing and continuous 3D-printing are described and compared against each other. Essential is the new approach to coat the particulate material and to print it on a tilted surface. For this special setup, theoretical considerations for sources of distortions are given. These considerations define the design of the test parts. For the evaluation of a tilted setup a prototype using large dimensions is shown. Of special interest is the exact transportation using a large mass of particulate material.

Findings

– The 3D-printing principle is suitable for tilted surfaces, making production without any downtime possible. The parts produced using the prototype continuous 3D-printer have sufficient accuracy for foundry use, although various considerations and the setup show that angular deflections can be caused by inaccuracies in the feeding system.

Research limitations/implications

– The parts’ accuracy is additionally affected by the thickness of unbound particle material under the building area. The amount of unbound particle material is of a constructive nature. Thus, the setup is limiting the investigations. Using the current material system, the printing should take place as near to the conveyor belt as possible.

Practical implications

– This paper outlines which kind of parts can be manufactured using continuous 3D-printing.

Originality/value

– This article shows a first evaluation of parts printed using continuous 3D-printing. It gives a perspective on future designs from rapid prototyping machines based on these principles and shows the possible benefits. The change over from rapid prototyping to rapid manufacturing will be strongly accelerated by said machine design.
Functionalization of SLS parts for application as SERS substrates in chemical analysis
Authors: de Oliveira Setti Grazielle , Fernandes de Oliveira Marcelo , Alves Maia Izaque , Vicente Lopes da Silva Jorge , Joanni Ednan
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– This paper aims to demonstrate the functionalization of polyamide parts made by selective laser sintering (SLS) for application as substrates for chemical analysis by surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS).

Design/methodology/approach

– Fabrication of Nylon 12 (Duraform PA®) samples using two laser power levels and deposition of a layer of gold-coated zinc oxide nanostructures. Performance of these substrates in the detection of a known compound was tested by Raman spectroscopy.

Findings

– The hydrothermal synthesis proved to be a good method for functionalizing the surface of polyamide parts made by the SLS process. By varying the synthesis temperature, ZnO nanoparticles and nanorods attached to the sample surfaces could be obtained. The degree of sample sintering had an effect on the growth of the nanostructures. The gold-coated functionalized surfaces enhanced the Raman signal from crystal violet by more than three orders of magnitude. ZnO nanorods grown on well-sintered SLS parts showed the best performance from the set of samples tested in this work.

Originality/value

– ZnO nanostructures were grown directly on untreated surfaces of SLS-made polyamide. These substrates were used for chemical analysis by SERS.
Squaring the circle
Authors: Grosvold Johanne , U. Hoejmose Stefan , K. Roehrich Jens
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationships between management, measurement and performance of sustainability in supply chains. The authors develop a framework which explores these links through decoupling as articulated by the institutional theory. They draw on a conceptual continuum of reactive-proactive sustainable supply chain practices and identify clusters of companies along these dimensions and evaluate the theoretical and managerial implications of this for sustainability performance.

Design/methodology/approach

– This study uses primary and secondary datasets from 12 inductive, multiple case studies across different industries. This method ensures that we are better able to encapsulate a broader and more diverse set of practices and settings which in turn adds robustness to the theory we induced from our findings.

Findings

– The authors find varying degrees of alignment between management practices and measurement systems of sustainable supply chains. Some firms better align their sustainable supply chain management and measurement practices than others, resulting in tighter coupling and ultimately improved sustainability performance in the supply chain.

Research limitations/implications

– Further research may explore the conditions under which firms decouple their practices and the contextual settings that are associated with decoupling, loosely and tightly coupled alignment. Additionally, the conceptual framework should be tested across countries, industries and different relationships between public and private organisations.

Originality/value

– This is one of the first empirical explorations of the decoupling theory and the reactive-proactive continuum in sustainable supply chain management.
Solder joint imagery compressing and recovery based on compressive sensing
Authors: Zhao Huihuang , Wang Yaonan , Qiao Zhijun , Fu Bin
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to develop an improved compressive sensing algorithm for solder joint imagery compressing and recovery. The improved algorithm can improve the performance in terms of peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR) of solder joint imagery recovery.

Design/methodology/approach

– Unlike the traditional method, at first, the image was transformed into a sparse signal by discrete cosine transform; then the solder joint image was divided into blocks, and each image block was transformed into a one-dimensional data vector. At last, a block compressive sampling matching pursuit was proposed, and the proposed algorithm with different block sizes was used in recovering the solder joint imagery.

Findings

– The experiments showed that the proposed algorithm could achieve the best results on PSNR when compared to other methods such as the orthogonal matching pursuit algorithm, greedy basis pursuit algorithm, subspace pursuit algorithm and compressive sampling matching pursuit algorithm. When the block size was 16 × 16, the proposed algorithm could obtain better results than when the block size was 8 × 8 and 4 × 4.

Practical implications

– The paper provides a methodology for solder joint imagery compressing and recovery, and the proposed algorithm can also be used in other image compressing and recovery applications.

Originality/value

– According to the compressed sensing (CS) theory, a sparse or compressible signal can be represented by a fewer number of bases than those required by the Nyquist theorem. The findings provide fundamental guidelines to improve performance in image compressing and recovery based on compressive sensing.
Tin oxide coverage on tin whisker surfaces, measurements and implications for electronic circuits
Authors: D. Dunn Barrie , Mozdzen Grazyna
Published: July 2014

Purpose

– This paper aims to evaluate the morphology and thickness of oxides that form on the surfaces of tin whiskers. The problems related to the growth of tin whiskers are stated, and the relevance of oxide layers adhering to whiskers is discussed.

Design/methodology/approach

– Modern laboratory methods including focused ion beam sectioning, energy dispersive spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy have been used to characterise the composition of oxides present on the surfaces of 48-year-old whiskers. These very old whiskers had nucleated and grown on electronic equipment stored at ambient temperatures. They were compared to the oxide layers on newly grown 2-week-old whiskers.

Findings

– A dual oxide film, consisting of stannous and stannic oxides, was found present on both the old and the new whiskers. Measurements of oxide thickness were established for both generations of whiskers and these were noted to be similar to those films present on pure, cleaned bulk tin.

Research limitations/implications

– Only very new and very old whiskers, and their oxide films, were the focus of this investigation. However, sufficient data were gained to predict the effect both kinds of oxide films would have during whisker bridging between conductors and the risk of short circuits. Thick oxide films (order of 30 nm) may have a greater resistance to shorting, but they will be more difficult to remove during solder dipping (with respect to whisker mitigation).

Practical implications

– A knowledge of the oxide thickness on growing/gyrating tin whiskers will provide the electronics industry with data useful for establishing the risk of short circuits. It will also be useful during the forensic work associated with component and assembly failure analysis.

Originality/value

– The data resulting from this study are unique. They are of value to others who may require knowledge of the morphology, composition and thickness of oxides present on tin whiskers of different vintage.