bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Lactobacillus porcinae sp. nov., isolated from traditional Vietnamese nem chua
Authors: Nguyen Doan Thi Lam , Cnockaert Margo , Van Hoorde Koenraad , De Brandt Evie , Snauwaert Isabel , Snauwaert Cindy , De Vuyst Luc , Le Binh Thanh , Vandamme Peter
Published: September 2012

A species diversity study of lactic acid bacteria occurring in traditional Vietnamese nem chua yielded an isolate, LMG 26767T, that could not be assigned to a species with a validly published name. The isolate was initially investigated by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, which revealed that it belonged to the genus

Lactobacillus

, with

Lactobacillus manihotivorans

and

Lactobacillus camelliae

as the closest relatives (98.9 % and 96.9 % gene sequence similarity to the type strains, respectively). Comparative (GTG)5-PCR genomic fingerprinting confirmed the unique taxonomic status of the novel strain. DNA–DNA hybridization experiments, DNA G+C content determination, sequence analysis of the phenylalanyl-tRNA synthase (pheS) gene, and physiological and biochemical characterization demonstrated that strain LMG 26767T represents a novel species, for which the name Lactobacillus porcinae sp. nov. is proposed; the type strain is LMG 26767T ( = CCUG 62266T). Biochemically, L. porcinae can be distinguished from

L. manihotivorans

and

L. camelliae

by its carbohydrate fermentation profile, absence of growth at 45 °C, and production of d- and l-lactate as end products of glucose metabolism.
Aquimarina gracilis sp. nov., isolated from the gut microflora of a mussel, Mytilus coruscus, and emended description of

Aquimarina spongiae
Authors: Park Seong Chan , Choe Han Na , Baik Keun Sik , Seong Chi Nam
Published: September 2012

An orange-coloured and slender rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain PSC32T, was isolated from the gut microflora of a mussel collected from Gwangyang Bay, South Sea (Republic of Korea). Cells were Gram-reaction-negative, strictly aerobic, and catalase- and oxidase-positive. The major fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0, iso-C17 : 0 3-OH, iso-C15 : 1 G and iso-C15 : 0 3-OH. The only isoprenoid quinone of strain PSC32T was MK-6 and the DNA G+C content was 36.9 mol%. Phosphatidylethanolamine, one unidentified aminolipid and two unidentified polar lipids were found as major polar lipids. A phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain PSC32T forms an evolutionary lineage within the genus

Aquimarina

and is closely related to

Aquimarina spongiae

A6T (97.0 % similarity) and to other members of the genus

Aquimarina

(94.4–96.5 %). Genomic DNA–DNA relatedness between strain PSC32T and

A. spongiae

A6T was 40.7 %. A number of phenotypic characteristics distinguished strain PSC32T from described members of the genus

Aquimarina

. On the basis of the evidence presented in this study, strain PSC32T represents a novel species, for which the name Aquimarina gracilis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is PSC32T ( = KCTC 23301T = JCM 17453T). An emended description of

Aquimarina spongiae

is given.
Multiscale measurements of residual strains in a stabilized zirconia layer
Authors: Villanova Julie , Maurice Claire , Micha Jean-Sébastien , Bleuet Pierre , Sicardy Olivier , Fortunier Roland
Published: September 2012

Residual stresses in a polycrystalline material have been determined experimentally at different length scales using three different techniques, with the aim of obtaining quantitative values. The polycrystalline material used is the electrolyte of solid oxide fuel cells, made of yttria-stabilized zirconia and submitted to a high biaxial compression stress state. Macroscopic measurements were performed using traditional X-ray diffraction with the sin2ψ method. Residual stresses within the grains were determined by the X-ray microdiffraction technique using synchrotron radiation. The variation in the strain within each grain was analysed by high-resolution electron backscatter diffraction. The results are self-consistent and give further information on the relation between strain/stress values and grain orientation, and on intragranular strain variations. These results are very important for the validation of mechanical microscopic constitutive equations.
Theoretical investigations of electron paramagnetic resonancegfactors in ZnSe:Ti2+, CdTe:Ti2+and ZnSe:V3+crystals
Authors: Zhu Lianxuan , Wang Minjie
Published: September 2012

The electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR)g-factor formulas are constructed for ZnSe:Ti2+, CdTe:Ti2+and ZnSe:V3+crystals based on the contributions of the charge-transfer levels and the spin-orbit coupling effect of the central ion and the ligands. The EPRgfactors are calculated from these formulas, and the calculated values agree well with the experimental ones. The contribution rates of the charge-transfer levels are 10.1, 7.6 and 24.9% for ZnSe:Ti2+, CdTe:Ti2+and ZnSe:V3+crystals, respectively. Thegfactors obtained from the one-spin-orbit-parameter model are also given for comparison.
Confocal microscopy on the beamline: novel three-dimensional imaging and sample positioning
Authors: Khan I. , Gillilan R. , Kriksunov I. , Williams R. , Zipfel W. R. , Englich U.
Published: September 2012

Confocal microscopy, a technique that has been extensively applied in cellular biological studies, may also be applied to the visualization and three-dimensional imaging of protein crystals at high resolution on synchrotron beamlines. Protein crystal samples are examined using a commercially available confocal microscope adapted for cryogenic use. A preliminary test using a custom confocal design adapted for beamline use is also presented. The confocal optics configuration is compatible with nonlinear imaging techniques such as two-photon excited fluorescence imaging and second harmonic generation. The possibilities of this method are explored using two modes: fluorescence and reflection confocal. In fluorescence mode, small amounts of dye are introduced into the crystal through soaking or growth conditions. Under such conditions, protein crystals are easily resolved from salts and amorphous precipitates, which do not generally take up dye. Reflection mode, which does not require dye, still exhibits greater resolution and sensitivity to surface detail than conventional wide-field microscopy as a result of the confocal optics configuration. The inherent three-dimensional nature of the method means that on-axis sample views (along the direction of the X-ray beam) can be reconstructed from an off-axis configuration, simplifying the beamline setup and providing uniquely detailed views of cryogenically cooled crystals.
Synthesis and characterization of highly stoichiometric AgInSe2thin filmsviaa sol–gel spin-coating technique
Authors: Al-Agel F. A. , Mahmoud Waleed E.
Published: September 2012

Highly stoichiometric AgInSe2thin films have been prepared on a p-type Si(111) substrate by a sol–gel spin-coating technique. These films were annealed at different temperatures. The as-prepared and annealed films were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The XRD spectra showed that the crystal structure of the AgInSe2film was that of cubic fluorite chalcopyrite with lattice constantsa= 6.102 Å andc= 11.69 Å. The SEM images depicted the surface morphology as smooth and the spherical particles as uniformly distributed. The average particle size was increased as the annealing temperature increased. Using HRTEM images and SAED patterns for the as-synthesized and annealed thin films, the AgInSe2film was indexed to a pure polycrystalline chalcopyrite AgInSe2structure with a lattice spacing of around 0.3 nm. XPS spectra showed that the as-deposited AgInSe2film was Ag rich, while the AgInSe2films annealed at 523 and 623 K were In rich.
Planarity of benzoylhydrazine–dithiocarbazoate tuberculostatics. I.N′-Methyl-substituted 3,4-dichlorobenzoyl monoesters
Authors: Szczesio Małgorzata , Olczak Andrzej , Gobis Katarzyna , Foks Henryk , Główka Marek L.
Published: September 2012

Methyl 2-(3,4-dichlorobenzoyl)-1-methylhydrazinecarbodithioate, C10H10Cl2N2OS2, (F1), butyl 2-(3,4-dichlorobenzoyl)-1-methylhydrazinecarbodithioate, C13H16Cl2N2OS2, (F2), and 3,4-dichloro-N-(2-sulfanylidene-1,3-thiazinan-3-yl)benzamide, C11H10Cl2N2OS2, (F3), were studied by X-ray diffraction to test our hypothesis that planarity of aryloylhydrazinedithiocarbazic acid esters is a prerequisite for tuberculostatic activity. All compounds examined in this study are inactive and nonplanar due to twists along two specific bonds in the central frame of the molecules. The significant twist at the N—N bond, with an C—N—N—C(S) torsion angle of about 85°, results from repulsion caused by a methyl substituent at the N′ atom of the hydrazide group. The other twist is that within the benzoyl group at the C(O)—Ph bond,i.e.the N—C(=O)—C(phenyl)—C torsion angle: the values found in the studied structures (25–30°) are in agreement with those observed in other compounds containing a similar fragment. As some nonplanar benzoyl derivatives are active, it seems that planarity of the hydrazinedithioate fragment is more important for tuberculostatic activity than planarity of the aryloyl group.
4,6-Diaminopyrimidine-2(1H)-thione hemihydrate: a three-dimensional hydrogen-bonded framework
Authors: Zhang Zhenfeng , Xian Dong , Glidewell Christopher
Published: September 2012

In the title compound, C4H6N4S·0.5H2O, there are two independent pyrimidinethione units, both of which lie across mirror planes in the space groupCmca. Hence, the H atoms bonded to the ring N atoms in each molecule are disordered over two symmetry-related sites, each having an occupancy of 0.5. The water molecule lies across a twofold rotation axis parallel to [010]. The molecular components of (I) are linked by seven independent hydrogen bonds, of N—H...N, N—H...S, N—H...O and O—H...S types. A combination of disordered N—H...N hydrogen bonds and ordered N—H...S hydrogen bonds links the pyrimidinethione units into a continuous tubular structure. The water molecule acts as both a double donor of hydrogen bonds and a double acceptor, forming hydrogen bonds with components of four distinct pyrimidinethione tubes, thus linking these tubes into a three-dimensional structure.
Two tetranuclear zinc clusters, [Zn4(μ3-OEt)2(μ2-MalO)4Et2] and [Zn4(μ3-GueO)2(μ2-GueO)2(μ2-MalO)2(MalO)2]·2C7H8, containing defective dicubane core geometries (MalOH is maltol and GueOH is guethol)
Authors: Petrus Rafał , Sobota Piotr
Published: September 2012

The zinc alkoxide molecules in di-μ3-ethanolato-diethyltetrakis(μ2-2-methyl-4-oxo-4H-pyran-3-olato-κ3O3,O4:O3)tetrazinc(II), [Zn4(C2H5)2(C2H5O)2(C6H5O3)4], (I), and bis(μ3-2-ethoxyphenolato-κ4O1,O2:O1:O1)bis(μ2-2-ethoxyphenolato-κ3O1,O2:O1)bis(μ2-2-methyl-4-oxo-4H-pyran-3-olato-κ3O3,O4:O3)bis(2-methyl-4-oxo-4H-pyran-3-olato-κ2O3,O4)tetrazinc(II) toluene disolvate, [Zn4(C6H5O3)4(C8H9O2)4]·2C7H8, (II), lie on crystallographic centres of inversion. The asymmetric units of (I) and (II) contain half of the tetrameric unit and additionally one molecule of toluene for (II). The ZnIIatoms are four- and six-coordinated in distorted tetrahedral and octahedral geometries for (I), and six-coordinated in a distorted octahedral environment for (II). The ZnIIatoms in both compounds are arranged in a defect dicubane Zn4O6core structure composed of two EtZnO3tetrahedra and ZnO6octahedra for (I), and of four ZnO6octahedra for (II), sharing common corners. The maltolate ligands exist mostly in a μ2-bridging mode, while the guetholate ligands prefer a higher coordination mode and act as μ3- and μ2-bridges.
Accounting for cultural well‐being: an exploratory study of New Zealand regions
Authors: Marriott Lisa , Miller Allan
Published: September 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to explore the economic and social arguments used in support of government assistance for cultural well‐being, and the accounting measures used to capture cultural well‐being at a regional level in New Zealand.

Design/methodology/approach

Accounting information reported in city council annual reports is used to examine expenditure on cultural well‐being. The research investigates possible relationships between regional economic growth and regional expenditure on arts, culture and heritage. It also investigates justifications for expenditure on activities classified under the category of arts, culture and heritage in the annual reports produced by New Zealand city councils.

Findings

In most regions, funding for cultural activities has increased over the past ten years. The findings of this research indicate there is no significant relationship between funding on cultural activities and regional economic growth. Instead, the research highlights the emphasis placed on social benefit arising from funding cultural activities.

Research limitations/implications

The research is limited by access to comparable data. Accordingly, not all New Zealand regions are included in the analysis, resulting in a small number of observations. Moreover, robust city‐based measures of economic growth are unavailable, resulting in the use of labour force participation as a proxy for economic growth, together with the elimination of some regions in part of the analysis.

Originality/value

Extant literature indicates that government expenditure on artistic and cultural activities is undertaken for reasons that include: possible economic benefit or generation of externalities, mitigation of market failure, educational purposes or improved national identity. In New Zealand, the “merit good” argument prevails with the objective of spending on artistic and cultural activity by local government expected to generate social rather than economic benefit.
Reporting incentives for accounting conservatism, evidence from asset and equity tunnelling
Authors: Xie Yuying , Zheng Liu , Amy Lau H.L.
Published: September 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate reporting incentives for accounting conservatism in the context of asset and equity tunnelling and to provide empirical evidence that accounting conservatism can be reported for opportunistic reasons rather than efficiency reasons.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross‐sectional analysis of data from the period 2002 to 2004 is conducted.

Findings

This study provides empirical evidence that firms undertaking asset or equity tunnelling transactions report higher conservatism than firms undertaking other kinds of connected transactions. Further tests document a positive association between accounting conservatism and the private benefits gained by controlling shareholders from asset and equity tunnelling.

Originality/value

Contrary to the prevalent view that accounting conservatism signifies better quality accounting and benefits financial statement users, this study shows that accounting conservatism is influenced by institutional factors and the incentives of financial statement preparers. Researchers should exercise caution in interpreting higher accounting conservatism as an indication of better accounting information quality, especially in cross‐country research involving different institutions.
New Zealand shareholder attitudes towards corporate environmental disclosure
Authors: de Villiers Charl , van Staden Chris
Published: September 2012

Purpose

The natural environment has become an increasingly important business issue over the last ten years while shareholder views on the importance of corporate environmental disclosure have not been extensively investigated. The purpose of this paper is to report the requirements of individual shareholders for the disclosure and regulation of environmental information and their intended use of the information.

Design/methodology/approach

Respondents were questioned using an online survey whether they want specific types of environmental information from companies and if so, where they want it disclosed, why they want it disclosed and if they feel strongly enough about it to want it made compulsory and be subject to an audit. The authors regard New Zealand as an ideal experimental setting for the investigation of shareholder views and focus on the members of an active shareholders' association in New Zealand and obtain a very high response rate.

Findings

The paper finds that most shareholders are very positive about the disclosure of a range of environmental information items and furthermore they want environmental information to be made compulsory, to be audited, and to be published in the annual report and also on the company website. The most important reason given by shareholders for requiring environmental information is that they want companies to be accountable for their environmental impacts. The results are potentially significant for company governance and management decision making and will also have policy implications for regulators.

Practical implications

The findings have important implications for the government, the accounting profession and other standard setters. The paper suggests that the time has come for legislators, regulatory bodies and standard setters to take note of the policy implications if such a large proportion (59 percent – 72 percent) of shareholders want environmental disclosure to be compulsory and prescribed and not left to the discretion of companies.

Social implications

The information needs of individual shareholders who make their own investment decisions should be of great interest to regulators, because such investors rely on publicly available information, whereas institutional investors also collect private information. Regulators need to remove information asymmetry by regulating and/or mandating disclosures and shareholder requirements for information should be an important consideration.

Originality/value

This paper is of high value. The paper addresses why the information is requested and what it would be used for, something that the studies prior to the year 2000 did not cover. In addition this study is the first to survey New Zealand investors 1996, i.e. prior to the resurgence of late in societal interest in environmental issues.
An empirical assessment of consumers' evaluations of web site service quality: conceptualizing and testing a formative model
Authors: O'Cass Aron , Carlson Jamie
Published: September 2012

Purpose

The objective of this study is to develop and test a specific conceptualization and modeling specification of web site service quality and the influence web site service quality has on e‐service provider loyalty and word‐of‐mouth.

Design/methodology/approach

Data from an online survey of consumers across two studies were obtained.

Findings

The results support the conceptualization and operationalization of web site service quality and its effects on word of mouth and loyalty.

Research limitations/implications

Implications for the measurement of consumer perceptions of web site service quality are highlighted for researchers, and directions for future research are discussed.

Practical implications

E‐service providers should carefully consider customer experiences on their web sites, and their management efforts to ensure they design and deliver the appropriate levels of service quality derived through the specific components of web site service quality.

Originality/value

The findings are of value to e‐service practitioners managing web site service quality and offer empirical support to its formative conceptualization. The focus here on formative modeling will stimulate discussion among e‐service researchers and practitioners, which could result in richer e‐service quality measures leading to improved marketing decision making and web site quality management.
Corporate governance mechanisms and capital structure in UAE
Authors: Hussainey Khaled , Aljifri Khaled
Published: September 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on corporate financial decisions in one of the emerging economies, United Arab Emirates (UAE). In particular, the paper examines the degree to which internal corporate governance mechanisms and an external corporate governance mechanism affect UAE firms’ capital structure.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses a multiple regression analysis to examine the association between corporate governance and capital structure for a sample of 71 UAE firms listed either in the Dubai financial market or the Abu Dhabi securities market during 2006.

Findings

The paper finds that institutional investors have a negative impact on debt‐to‐equity ratio. This result does not support the “active monitoring hypotheses” where institutional investors are expected to exercise their voting rights effectively in order to prevent managers from reducing their “employment risk” at the expense of the interests of shareholders. It also finds that dividend policy is negatively associated with debt‐to‐equity ratio, while firms’ size is positively associated with debt‐to‐equity ratio.

Research limitations/implications

Empirical analysis suggests that corporate governance mechanisms have important implications for UAE firms’ financial policies. UAE managers should be aware of the benefits of the implementation of effective internal and external corporate governance mechanisms while embracing international corporate governance standards. An effective implementation of the codes of corporate governance should improve the efficiency and effectiveness of UAE firms and the UAE stock markets.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no study that has yet empirically examined the effect of the corporate governance mechanisms on capital structure in UAE or Middle Eastern countries. This study offers the first evidence of the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on capital structure in UAE.
The role of corporate governance in earnings management: experience from US banks
Authors: Leventis Stergios , Dimitropoulos Panagiotis
Published: September 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this research paper is to investigate the role of corporate governance in earnings management behaviour by US listed banks during the era of the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act (2003‐2008).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper examines the issue of accounting quality and corporate governance within banking corporations through the use of two different measures of earnings management, namely small positive net income and the difference between discretionary realized security gains and losses and discretionary loan loss provisions (LLPs), by applying a corporate governance index estimated from 63 governance provisions.

Findings

The research found convincing evidence that banks with efficient corporate governance mechanisms report small positive income to a lesser extent than banks with weak governance efficiency. Also well‐governed banks engage less in aggressive earnings management behaviour through the use of discretionary loan loss provisions and realized security gains and losses.

Practical implications

The findings could prove to be valuable to investors since they must take into consideration the efficiency of each bank's corporate governance and demand supplementary information in order to reach a better investment decision when earnings are not highly informative.

Social implications

The findings could prove to be useful for regulators since they are responsible for the acceptable level of corporate governance standards. Thus, they must consider strengthening governance mechanisms either though new legislation or stronger enforcement where earnings management is of such magnitude to that serious impedes information transparency and quality.

Originality/value

The present study aims to bridge a gap in the literature by investigating corporate governance and earnings management behaviour during a period of transition to an intensively legalized governance environment (SOX Act). The results contribute further evidence to the ongoing debate about the effectiveness of established corporate governance mechanisms.
Factors associated with the internal audit function's role in corporate governance
Authors: Sarens Gerrit , Abdolmohammadi Mohammad J. , Lenz Rainer
Published: September 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate several variables that are theoretically associated with the internal audit function (IAF) having an active role in corporate governance.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses responses from 782 US Chief Audit Executives (CAEs) in the CBOK (2006) database for the investigation. The paper makes the assumption that an IAF has only one CAE, thus the dataset represents 782 US IAFs.

Findings

It is found that an IAF having an active role in corporate governance is significantly and positively associated with the use of a risk‐based audit plan, existence of a quality assurance and improvement program, and audit committee input to the audit plan. Control variables such as stock exchange listing, firm size, the existence of an internal control framework, and a CAE with an internal auditing qualification also are positively associated with the IAF having an active role in corporate governance.

Research limitations/implications

A limitation of this study is that CAE perceptions may deviate from actual practice. Also, the sample is limited to the US CAEs who are also IIA members, thus it may not reflect the views of non‐members and the CAEs from other countries.

Practical implications

The results have implications for CAEs who wish to increase the chance for their IAFs to play an active role in corporate governance. The IIA may benefit from these results in its supporting role for the internal auditing profession.

Originality/value

The study is complementary to the literature on the existence and size of the IAF and reveals several avenues for further research.
SEC approves new FINRA rules governing communications with the public
Authors: Kelly Joseph P. , Curzon Elliott R.
Published: September 2012

Purpose

The paper aims to explain the new Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules governing communications with the public approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 29, 2012.

Design/methodology/approach

The following are explained: categories of communication, pre‐use approval and record‐keeping requirements, filing requirements, content standards, use of investment company rankings in retail communications, requirements for the use of bond mutual fund volatility ratings, requirements for the use of investment analysis tools, communication with the public regarding securities futures, communication with the public about collateralized mortgage obligations, and the implementation date for the rules.

Findings

While the new FINRA rules are based on the current provisions of the NASD Rules and Interpretive Materials they replace, there are some notable changes with regard to the communication categories, public appearances, and the approval, review and recordkeeping requirements.

Originality/value

Practical guidance is provided from experienced securities lawyers.
China's QFII regime: a complete review of the regulatory scheme and compliance risks
Authors: Shipman Mark
Published: September 2012

Purpose

The paper aims to explain regulatory issues and considerations as to future regulatory changes that Chinese regulators may implement with regard to the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) regime.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper describes: the regulators responsible for QFII; the relevant regulations; the qualification process, including eligibility requirements and the regulators' preference for qualifying long‐term, buy‐side institutional investors (usually pension funds, insurance companies and mutual funds); the concept of the “open‐ended China fund”; rules governing the remittance and repatriation of capital and the lock‐up period; a provision that prohibits QFIIs from transferring or selling their quotas (for example, to create structured products offering their customers synthetic exposure to the Chinese securities market); available account structures; the investment process, including investment restrictions, required disclosure of interests, the short swing profit rule, over‐purchases and erroneous trades, stock index futures trading, and insider dealing and manipulation of the market; withholding taxes; and recent developments.

Findings

China's QFII regime has been a key component of China's staged opening up of its financial markets, in particular its public securities market, permitting foreign investors to gain access to the previously restricted RMB denominated A share market under relatively strict regulatory oversight.

Originality/value

Practical guidance from an experienced financial services lawyer is provided.
Selected FINRA notices and disciplinary actions, March‐May 2012
Authors: Davis Henry A.
Published: September 2012

Purpose

The aim is to provide details of selected Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Regulatory Notices and Disciplinary Actions issued in March, April and May 2012.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper provides Regulatory Notice 12‐17, April 2012, “Telemarketing: SEC Approves Consolidated Telemarketing Rule,” and Regulatory Notice 12‐25, May 2012, “Suitability: Additional Guidance on FINRA's New Suitability Rule”.

Findings

Notice 12‐17: FINRA Rule 3230 (Telemarketing) updates exiting NASD and NYSE rules that require member firms to maintain and consult do‐not‐call lists, limit the hours of telephone solicitations and prohibit members from using deceptive and abusive acts and practices in connection with telemarketing, and adopts provisions that are substantially similar to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rules that prohibit deceptive and other abusive telemarketing acts or practices. Notice 12‐25: The new FINRA Rule 2111 requires, in part, that a broker‐dealer or associated person “have a reasonable basis to believe that a recommended transaction or investment strategy involving a security or securities is suitable for the customer, based on the information obtained through the reasonable diligence of the [firm] or associated person to ascertain the customer's investment profile.” In general, the new rule retains the core features of the previous NASD suitability rule, codifies several important interpretations of the predecessor rule and imposes a few new or modified obligations.

Originality/value

These are direct excerpts designed to provide a useful digest for the reader and an indication of regulatory trends.
Bounded becoming: insights from understanding projects in situation
Authors: Sergi Viviane
Published: September 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to suggest a situated conception of projects, in order develop finer understanding of how these endeavors emerge and unfold over time. The author proposes that these understandings should be rooted in a process ontology, conceive action as situated and focus on actual practices as they are performed by all project actors. Taken together, these dimensions can renew how one views and approaches projects and their management.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is illustrated with examples taken out of a study of a software development project, conducted in the ethnographic tradition.

Findings

The examples expose how a specific practice, planning, was accomplished differently depending on the moment and was affected by different circumstances and constraints. The paper also discusses how preferring a processual worldview is especially befitting projects. As endeavors instigated to create or to make something happen, projects are perpetually changing and in movement; it is therefore relevant that their conceptualization takes fully into consideration their intimate nature.

Originality/value

The originality and value of the paper lie in the combination of perspectives, which can be both useful in theorizing projects differently, and in enhancing practitioners' reflexivity. This combination, it is argued, can address a wide array of issues in the context of projects, can favor localized reflection on project management prescriptions and tools, and can help practitioners to sharpen their sensitivity to their own practice.
Chaperoning: practices of collaboration in the Panama Canal Expansion Program
Authors: Smits Karen , van Marrewijk Alfons
Published: September 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how project partners respond to contractually agreed collaboration in an infrastructural megaproject. Problematic performances of megaprojects have shifted away attention from the instrumental towards the interpretative, focusing on daily work life, practices, power, ambiguity and sense making in project organizations. Such an interpretative perspective helps to better understand practices of collaboration in complex mega projects, which the authors studied in the Panama Canal Expansion Program (PCEP).

Design/methodology/approach

Given the focus on daily work life, the authors chose an in‐depth single case study. Practices of collaboration have been studied during a one‐year ethnographic fieldwork period in Panama, in which the daily work life of project participants was intensely observed.

Findings

First, it was found that practices of collaboration in complex projects change in periods of conflict. In these periods actors are forced to reflect upon their practices and to negotiate about new practices. Second, the authors identified collaborative practices in which a consultancy firm teaches their client and supervises its appropriate behavior. The authors have labeled these as chaperoning.

Practical implications

This study illustrates that when innovation in contracts requires an innovative relationship between project partners, specific attention to this innovation and the related practices of collaboration enhances the collaborative relationship among partners, which can prevent cost overruns and delays.

Originality/value

Ethnographic fieldwork has not been used frequently to study project management practices. The paper builds upon a one‐year ethnographic fieldwork period to study practices in the daily work life of the project participants from “within”.
Exploration, project evaluation and design theory: a rereading of the Manhattan case
Authors: Lenfle Sylvain
Published: September 2012

Purpose

There is a widespread agreement in the managerial literature that projects produce much more than what they deliver. However, most of the literature focuses on what project delivers (new products, processes, services …). This can be misleading, especially for highly innovative projects for which neither the goals, nor the means to reach them, are clearly defined at the beginning. Thus, contemporary research argues for a model in which project management is, first and foremost, a way to organize the exploration process. The question becomes the definition of a framework to evaluate the project results (success or failures). The purpose of this paper is to study this question by bridging project management and design literature. Indeed research on design processes propose tools that could help managers to better understand what has been delivered and learned during the exploration journey. The paper relies on the Manhattan case to illustrate the fruitfulness of this approach.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper opted for an exploratory study using an historical case study: the Manhattan project. The author was able to draw on a large amount of historical material which has not yet been used to study the management of exploration projects. The paper focuses on a specific set of events likely to reveal the problems raised by the evaluation of exploration projects. Given the information available, it was considered that the point of “theoretical saturation”, which Glaser and Strauss proposed as the criterion to stop collecting data, had been attained.

Findings

The paper shows how recent development in design theory may provide a fruitful theoretical framework to develop a new evaluation framework to assess the results of exploratory projects in terms of both products designed and knowledge developed.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack generalisability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to explore this question further.

Practical implications

The paper includes implications for the development of new evaluation tools for exploratory projects.

Originality/value

The question of project evaluation is of the greatest importance to enhance the management of exploration processes. The paper's bridging of design theory and project management constitutes an original approach.
Realising the benefits of investment in project management training
Authors: Egginton Bill
Published: September 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the barriers experienced as “apprentice practitioners” transitioned from a course of project management (PM) education into a project‐centric work place, in order to improve understanding of the limitations of classroom‐based education at the level of the individual.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper describes a longitudinal study over two years, during which data were collected from a series of on‐line surveys and one‐to‐one interviews with a data set that comprised 78 military students.

Findings

The research results confirmed some of the benefits associated with classroom‐based PM education (learning the language, tools & techniques) and identified key barriers to the application of learning in the workplace.

Research limitations/implications

The study's validity, particularly in respect of generalisability, should not be overstated. Organisational maturity plays a part in shaping the approach to individual learning and these aspects were not assessed.

Practical implications

The paper argues that a more strategic approach to PM people development is required, involving a move away from traditional classroom‐based interventions at the level of the individual to a paradigm where the same individuals are able to immerse themselves in active team‐based learning as part of their day‐job.

Originality/value

The findings of this study resonate with those of earlier work and set the PM situation into the context of other disciplines.
Gantt charts revisited
Authors: Geraldi Joana , Lechter Thomas
Published: September 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore a classic tool in project management, which for some has become almost synonymous with project management: the Gantt chart. The Gantt chart was developed in the early twentieth century, at the heart of Scientific Management; yet, the chart is used with very little adaptation across a wide range of types of projects. In this conceptual paper, the authors question its universal and unreflective use.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors analyse the conceptual roots of the Gantt chart, its historical development and use, derive its engrained principles, and analyse its implications to the management of projects.

Findings

While a Gantt chart can be useful to cope with some of the “complicatedness” of projects, and embraces the importance of time and timing, it is based on principles that are not valid to all projects. The consequence is a propagation of a management approach that does not explicitly cope with complexity, ambiguity, uncertainty and change. In that respect, the Gantt chart fails to acknowledge insights from years of organization theory research and project management research with a firm grounding in contingency theory.

Originality/value

While the majority of contemporary project management thinking already accepted that a normative use can be inappropriate, the practice is still pretty much embracing this approach. By showing the conceptual roots of the Gantt chart, the authors hope to make some of its limitations more evident to practitioners and academics, and encourage its use to be more reflective and contextualised.
PERT, Polaris, and the realities of project execution
Authors: Engwall Mats
Published: September 2012

Purpose

The general purpose of this paper is to give Sapolsky's classical study of the Polaris Project, written in 1972, the credits it actually earns. In addition, there are two more specific aims: to discuss the role and usage of project management techniques, such as PERT (programme evaluation and review technique), in the practices of project execution; and to display the power of thorough empirical case studies in order to deepen our understanding of the realities of project execution.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper constitutes a detailed review of the content and contributions of the book The Polaris Systems Development written by Harvey M. Sapolsky in 1972. The paper presents the main ideas of the book and discusses its implications for contemporary project management research.

Findings

Sapolsky's work, The Polaris Systems Development, is an important account of some of the most significant courses of events in the birth and formation of project management, especially the creation of PERT as a technique for project coordination. However, by going beyond the rhetorical surface of the project management, Sapolsky shows that PERT never played the role in Polaris that it is generally claimed to have had. The paper puts these findings in context and discusses why this has been ignored in project management research so far.

Research limitations/implications

Scholars focusing on project management research need to distance themselves from its historical tight bounds to project management textbooks and administrative project management techniques. There is a strong need for a broader empirical basis and pluralism in theoretical perspectives in the study of the realities of project execution.

Originality/value

The paper recapitulates a classic account of the formative period of project management, which so far has generally been ignored in project management research. In addition, it discusses three functions of project planning techniques: boundary objects for coordination, political features for legitimacy and trust building, and cognitive means for the social construction of a predicable future.
Cleland and King: project management and the systems approach
Authors: Morris Peter W.G.
Published: September 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review Cleland and King'sSystems Analysis and Project Management,first published in 1968.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper takes the form of a review of the book in its historical context and with relevance to its role in establishing project management as a discipline.

Findings

The book is a classic but in retrospect it has some short‐comings. These vary from lack of critique of the material to ignoring several of the issues that research shows (and showed at the time) that managers of projects and programs need to address. Had these been covered, the discipline might have been better articulated academically and professionally (which would have been useful given that the PMBOK Guide®was being formulated in the early 1980s).

Research limitations/implications

The systems approach that informed the book, and the whole defence‐aerospace program and project world of the second half of the twentieth century, should be critically re‐examined (for example jointly with Geels' transition theory) in terms of its relevancy to the short, medium and long‐terms challenges now confronting society and the contribution that project, program and portfolio management can make to addressing these issues.

Originality/value

The paper shows that Cleland and King's book is immensely important as an early exposition on project management and is quite original.
Insights for the governance of large projects
Authors: Ahola Tuomas , Davies Andrew
Published: September 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to scrutinize the influence of the highly cited Organization Theory and Project Management on consequent project research and to highlight the key contributions of the book, how it has affected consequent project research and to identify areas that could be further explored in future research.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper takes the form of a book review and literature analysis.

Findings

It is found that the book offers insights to elaborating the salient characteristics of large, complex and uncertain projects. It identifies the underlying theories and concepts to improve our understanding of the three main issues: the sources of uncertainty in large engineering intensive projects; management and governance approaches utilized to tackle uncertainty; and project routines and innovation. Some of these insights have later been acknowledged by project scholars focusing topics such as project governance and the management of uncertainty in projects.

Practical implications

The book offers several insights and lessons to scholars and practitioners working with large engineering intensive projects.

Originality/value

The contribution of the book is not used to its full potential in project research. The paper's identification of the book's key insights should be useful for both scholars and practitioners.
Projectification: Midler's footprint in the project management field
Authors: Aubry Monique , Lenfle Sylvain
Published: September 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to revisit Christophe Midler's contribution throughL'auto qui n'existait pas(The car that did not exist), first published in 1993. The paper summarizes and examines the main themes of the book based on current knowledge and ends with suggestions for future research opportunities.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is grounded in an in‐depth analysis of Midler's book and a one‐hour interview with him.

Findings

Midler argues that projectification is not a temporary managerial fashion; quite the contrary. At Renault, he witnessed a profound industrial transformation founded on collective learning. Central to this transformation was the establishment of project management as an engine of renewal within the permanent organisation.

Practical implications

Revisiting Midler's work on projectification generates new insights into understanding the current situation confronting organisations in all industries as they evolve in their approach to creativity and innovation.

Originality/value

Two original facets of Midler's seminal work still influence the field of project management. First, he provided a global understanding of the creative organisation. He described, analysed and explained how an organisation reinvents itself, not only in terms of project management, but more globally, from a permanent organisation perspective. Recent research developments focus on project‐oriented organisations, program and portfolio management, organisational project management, and others. Midler's work should be more widely known and referenced for its capacity to conceptualise what simultaneously happens in multiple, concurrent, organisational terms as a project is carried out (e.g. financial, commercial, technological and career development). Second, Midler conducted a study from within an organisation for four years. In this respect, he could be seen as a precursor of recent project management research practices.