bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Composite element algorithm for the thermal analysis of mass concrete
Authors: Chen Sheng‐hong , Su Peifang , Shahrour Isam
Published: May 2011

Purpose

Pipe cooling is an important measure for controlling the temperature in mass concrete. Since the temperature field in mass concrete containing cooling pipes is unsteady and three‐dimensional, and there are huge quantities of the cooling pipes in the concrete, the study of efficient and reliable algorithm is crucial. The purpose of this paper is to develop the composite element method (CEM) for the temperature field in mass concrete containing cooling pipes.

Design/methodology/approach

Each cooling pipe segment is looked at as a special sub‐element having definite thermal characteristics, which is located explicitly within the composite element. By the variational principle, the governing equation for the composite element containing cooling pipes is established.

Findings

One of the remarkable advantages of the method proposed is that each cooling pipe can be simulated explicitly while the difficulty of mesh generation around cooling pipes can be avoided.

Originality/value

The paper demonstrates how composite elements containing cooling pipes are degenerated to the conventional finite elements automatically when the first stage artificial cooling finished, and conversely, the conventional finite elements can also be transformed to the composite elements automatically when the second stage artificial cooling started. The comparison of the numerical example using FEM and CEM shows the rationality of the proposed method.
He's homotopy perturbation method for solving the fractional KdV‐Burgers‐Kuramoto equation
Authors: Anıl Sezer Sefa , Yıldırım Ahmet , Tauseef Mohyud‐Din Syed
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to directly extend the homotopy perturbation method (HPM) that was developed for integer‐order differential equation, to derive explicit and numerical solutions of the fractional KdV‐Burgers‐Kuramoto equation.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used Maple Package to calculate the functions obtained from the HPM.

Findings

The fractional derivatives are described in the Caputo sense. HPM performs extremely well in terms of accuracy, efficiently, simplicity, stability and reliability.

Originality/value

The paper describes how the HPM has been successfully applied to find the solution of fractional KdV‐Burgers‐Kuramoto equation.
Preventing landslides in times of rainfall: case study and FEM analyses
Authors: Moayedi Hossein , Huat Bujang B.K. , Mohammad Ali Thamer Ahmad , Asadi Afshin , Moayedi Fatemeh , Mokhberi Mehdi
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to present a new method of controlling through susceptible slopes in order to reduce the risk of landslides.

Design/methodology/approach

Geotechnical and geological characteristics were collected and different FEM analyses were carried out in a case study of the Alasht valley in Northern Iran in order to determine susceptibility to landslides and consider appropriate countermeasures. Gravel drain piles have a real feel of reducing the pore water pressure in times of seismic loading, so they are used as a remediation method. The results clearly show their effects and an increase in safety as a result.

Findings

Since the water table situation has a significant effect on stability, the present study focused on an example of using a seepage controlling system and its effect on the safety factor for different slopes in the area of Alasht, Northern Iran. Several FEM analyses were carried out on a landslide susceptible case. The results from FEM analysis of different slopes in the study area show a high susceptibility to landslides for six sites. Installing a gravel drain pile surrounded by a non‐woven geotextile layer leads to an increase in the safety factor against landslides. As a result, after installing gravel drain piles in the upper parts of slopes in order to control run out and ground water rising up in times of heavy rainfall, the safety factor against landslides in both static and seismic loading improved significantly.

Originality/value

The literature regarding controlling seepage in order to reduce the risk of landslides is limited. This paper collects and analyses geotechnical and geological data from the Alasht valley as an example to show the high risk of susceptibility to landslides.
Coordination during multi‐agency emergency response: issues and solutions
Authors: Salmon Paul , Stanton Neville , Jenkins Dan , Walker Guy
Published: May 2011

Purpose

Coordination between military and civilian agencies has previously been found to be a significant issue that affects the efficiency of multi‐agency system responses to large‐scale emergencies. The purpose of this article is to present the findings derived from a case study focussing on the problems that abound when the military attempts to work with civilian organisations.

Design/methodology/approach

An integrated framework of human factors methods was used to analyse a Military Aid to the Civilian Authorities training exercise, involving the army and seven other responding agencies.

Findings

A range of factors that hinder coordination between agencies during multi‐agency emergency responses were identified. Potential solutions for removing these barriers and augmenting coordination levels are proposed.

Practical implications

This research suggests that much further work is required in training and designing multi‐agency response systems and procedures in order to optimise coordination between responding agencies.

Originality/value

This article presents the first attempt to apply structured, theoretically underpinned human factors methods, to understand the problems that abound when the military works with civilian agencies during large‐scale emergency responses.
Why is collaboration minimised at the accident scene?
Authors: Berlin Johan M. , Carlström Eric D.
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study why collaboration among police, fire, and ambulance services is minimised at accident scenes.

Design/methodology/approach

Observations and semi‐structured interviews were carried out during 2007‐2008. The data material comprises a total of 248 hours of observations on 20 occasions and 57 interviews with 80 people.

Findings

The study identifies the difference between rhetoric and practice in connection with accident work. Collaboration is seen as a rhetorical ideal rather than something that is carried out in normal practice. Asymmetry, uncertainty and lack of incentives are important explanations as to why only limited forms of collaboration are actually implemented.

Research limitations/implications

The paper shows a distinction between collaboration as rhetoric and practical collaboration at accident scenes.

Practical implications

The article proposes a multi‐faceted collaboration concept. In this way, collaboration can be developed and refined.

Originality/value

The results of the study show that police, fire, and ambulance services want to develop excellent forms of collaboration at the accident scene, but avoid this as it leads to uncertainty and asymmetries and because of a lack of incentives. However, simpler forms of collaboration may be realistic in the organisation of everyday work at accident scenes.
The craft of people management
Authors: Maloney Kieran , Stanford Paul
Published: May 2011

Purpose

This paper aims to look at the “core” ingredients of successful people management and the areas that are critical to success.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper argues that organizations can be stripped back to the essentials of “what” (the purpose), “how” (the understanding of how the goal will be accomplished) and “do” (carrying out the activity to deliver the goal).

Findings

The paper contends that making sure everyone knows and understands what is expected in order to deliver can be used as a means to help, guide, reward, recognize or redirect members of the team.

Practical implications

The paper urges managers to help employees to set their own goals. It considers the psychological contract between employer and employee – a usually unwritten and unspoken deal which, on the employee's side, is concerned with expectations about security, development, support and so on, and on the employer's side is about flexibility, loyalty, adherence to company norms and so on.

Social implications

The paper underlines the importance of work being challenging and stimulating.

Originality/value

The paper advances the view that clarity of purpose, engagement, reward and recognition are key elements in achieving success through people.
Working out the quality of work life
Authors: Yeo Roland K. , Li Jessica
Published: May 2011

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the importance of the quality of work life and its impact on career development from an organizational perspective, and provides insights into human resource management (HRM) practice.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reports the key findings of a study carried out in the USA, based on an online forum for people who undertook professional‐development programs to improve their career prospects.

Practical implications

The paper offers two matrices, on the quality of work life and career development, which can help managers to evaluate their employees' cognitive response to job characteristics, and adopt appropriate measures to increase the significance of their job and prospects for career advancement.

Originality/value

The paper focuses on the quality of work that resides in the direct experience of organizational dynamics rather than the common understanding of work‐life balance. Uses the multiple yet interrelated layers of such dynamics to draw out implications for HRM research and practice.
Does internal quality management contribute to more control or to improvement of higher education?
Authors: Kleijnen Jan , Dolmans Diana , Willems Jos , van Hout Hans
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore faculty's perceptions of quality management activities (QMA) within their departments, attention being paid to relevant quality aspects and whether quality management contributes to control or improvement of higher education. Furthermore, it examines differences between departments and relationships between the different variables.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire containing items with Likert‐type answer scales was distributed to faculty (n=266) of 18 departments of universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands: 16 items dealt with QMA, 17 with attention paid to relevant quality aspects and ten with the perceived effects.

Findings

Faculty were neutral about the degree to which sufficient QMA were conducted within their departments. They were positive about the attention paid to relevant quality aspects. Furthermore, they were positive about the effects in terms of improvement and negative about the effects in terms of control. Significant differences were found between departments. Finally, positive correlations were found between management activities, attention being paid to quality aspects and the perceived effect in terms of improvement.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitation of this study is that only faculty's perceptions were measured, thus it is not clear whether these QMA really result in improvement in educational practice.

Practical implications

Departments paying little attention to quality aspects and with few QMA could really benefit from further increasing their quality management efforts.

Originality/value

Quality management is often seen as mainly contributing to control and managerialism. This study demonstrates that according to faculty, quality management is influencing improvement positively.
Job satisfaction of academic staff: an empirical study on Turkey
Authors: Toker Boran
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the levels of job satisfaction among academicians in the universities of Turkey and to examine the effects of demographics on levels of satisfaction among them.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire‐based study was conducted in 648 academicians working in the Universities of Turkey. Data were collected using the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) short form.

Findings

The job satisfaction levels of the academicians were found to be moderately high. Social status was ranked as the highest and compensation was ranked as the lowest of the examined items. The results of the study indicated that professors reported a higher level of job satisfaction as compared to instructor and research assistants. Nonetheless, among the demographic variables age, length of service in present university and in higher education as a whole were significantly related to job satisfaction. Marital status and gender were not significantly related to job satisfaction.

Originality/value

This study shows the job satisfaction levels of academicians and the interrelationships between demographic characteristics and satisfaction in the Universities of Turkey, hence the results from this study can help the academicians and the university administrators to increase the satisfaction level.
Principals' and teachers' perceptions of quality management in Hong Kong primary schools
Authors: Lai Fong Cheng Alison , Keung Yau Hon
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceptions of a sample of Hong Kong principals and teachers of the extent to which quality management (QM) has been effectively implemented in primary schools. The features of QM improvement implemented in Hong Kong primary schools include: values and duties, systems and teams(ST) resources and changes(RC) and meeting pupil needs and empowering staff.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative, survey questionnaire was adopted in this study. A total of 322 respondents (83 principals and 239 teachers) out of 83 primary schools responded to the questionnaire.

Findings

The finding shows that all four features of QM are perceived as being implemented in Hong Kong primary schools. There are significant differences between the perceptions of principals and teachers towards “value and duties”, “ST”, “RC” of QM. However, there is no significant difference between the perceptions of principles and teachers towards “meeting pupil needs and empowering staff” of QM.

Originality/value

This paper is a first step towards extending the theory and practice of QM to principals and teachers in Hong Kong primary schools.
Inter‐individual knowledge transfer and performance in product development
Authors: Kumar Ajith , Ganesh L.S.
Published: May 2011

Purpose

This paper aims to examine how knowledge transfer between individuals influences performance in product development (PD) organizations and whether this influence is contingent to the degree of novelty in the PD work.

Design/methodology/approach

A set of hypotheses describing the relationships between knowledge transfer by codification (KTC), knowledge transfer by personalization (KTP) and performance is developed. It is hypothesized that performance decreases when KTC interacts with novelty, but improves when KTP and novelty interact. Survey‐based data were collected from 287 knowledge workers across 19 PD units of Indian manufacturing companies, and multiple regression analyses were performed to test the hypotheses.

Findings

Of the eight hypotheses stated, only one was supported by the data. KTP significantly influences the efficiency of PD work, highlighting the relative importance of personalized, as compared to repository‐based, knowledge transfer to performance. No significant interaction effects of KTC/KTP with novelty were detected.

Practical implications

The findings strongly suggest that PD work can benefit from interpersonal relationships and knowledge exchange, something that requires diligent cultural interventions.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors' knowledge, the contingent effects of novelty on the productivity of inter‐individual knowledge transfer have received little, if any, attention to date. This study helps improve understanding of the nature of knowledge transfer that is best suited where the nature of work involves creativity.
Improving service delivery: Investigating the role of information sharing, job characteristics, and employee satisfaction
Authors: Bontis Nick , Richards David , Serenko Alexander
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to propose and test a model designed to investigate the impact of job characteristics, employee satisfaction, and information sharing on two key indicators of quality service delivery, such as worker perceptions of their efficiency and customer focus.

Design/methodology/approach

During the project, 9,060 employees of a large national telecommunications organization in North America provided information in two surveys six months apart. The model was tested by using the PLS (Partial Least Squares) procedure.

Findings

The results found support for the proposed model, indicating that autonomy and challenging work contribute to employee satisfaction, and that employee satisfaction and information sharing relate to greater reported efficiency and customer focus. The results and their implications are discussed.

Research limitations/implications

The key limitation of this project is that the suggested model was tested in only one organization in one industry. In future, the nomological validity of the model should be confirmed in other settings.

Practical implications

The findings suggest that HR departments should cooperate with IT departments to promote high‐quality service delivery.

Originality/value

Whereas HR is traditionally the domain of employee satisfaction initiatives, it is the IT department that typically spearheads knowledge management initiatives. By coordinating these two ventures together, and aligning their goals, senior managers will be able to realize more favorable outcomes.
Exploring the political underbelly of organizational learning
Authors: Field Laurie
Published: May 2011

Purpose

In an effort to better understand the political dimensions of organizational learning, this paper aims to examine learning processes in an organizational context – namely renegotiation of pay and performance management arrangements – where the interests of organizational members are threatened.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were derived from two longitudinal case studies based in Australian companies, where the pay and performance management system was undergoing change.

Findings

Learning from the past played a significant role in renegotiations at the two case study sites, with management treading a fine line between supporting learning likely to serve the organization's commercial interests, while dampening down politically charged learning, which could undermine those same commercial interests. Indeed, the data highlight the importance of “interests”, and suggest that a great deal of so‐called “organizational” learning may be more accurately described as “shared‐interest‐group” learning.

Research limitations/implications

A limit of the data reported here is that they are derived from only one employee relations' context (Australia) and two companies. Nevertheless, the findings suggest that there would be value in further investigation of organizational learning in politically charged employee relations contexts.

Practical implications

More systematic attention to learning in politically charged employee relations situations, like the ones described here, could help organizations improve the ways they manage change (rather than approaching contentious change in an ad hoc way, and possibly repeating previous mistakes).

Originality/value

Despite acknowledgement over more than a decade of the political dimensions of organizational learning, the focus has largely been on political concomitants of learning associated with mainstream activities. Very few empirical studies have considered organizational learning in politically charged employee relations contexts, and none in the specific context of pay and performance management.
The learning conference
Authors: Louw Ina , Zuber‐Skerritt Ortrun
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to identify the principles and characteristics of a learning conference which uses action learning and action research (ALAR) processes to create: optimal learning for all participants through a collaborative, inclusive conference culture; further knowledge creation in publishing conference papers post‐conference through a supportive research culture.

Design/methodology/approach

The 2010 World Congress of the Action Learning and Action Research Association (ALARA) is showcased to exemplify a learning conference, using the PIP (preamble–interview–postscript) framework to demonstrate the utility of this new genre for research and writing conference papers and action research models as frameworks to support publishing articles.

Findings

Discussion offers ways to enhance opportunities for conference learning through creative purposeful activities that promote collaboration, critical thinking and reflection, and models of action research cycles to progress research from conference presentation to journal article.

Originality/value

The paper makes the crucial link between conference procedure and publication of learning from conference to extend knowledge creation. The PIP model used here presents ways for novice researchers to network with experienced researchers through interview, for professional development, career advancement and publication.
Local/global cognitive interfaces within industrial districts: an Italian case study
Authors: Grandinetti Roberto
Published: May 2011

Purpose

With the advance of globalization the competitive chances of industrial districts depends increasingly on their ability to connect to the cognitive circuits of the global economy. This challenge demands the presence of local actors capable of acting as cognitive interfaces between the district context and the global environment. The paper focuses on a specific category of local/global cognitive interfaces, i.e. the institutions that provide knowledge‐intensive business services (KIBS). The purpose is to explain how institutional KIBS play this role.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper develops a detailed analysis of the case of such an institution operating in the chair‐manufacturing district of North‐East Italy. Based on this case study, a model is proposed for interpreting the role of a local/global cognitive interface that institutional KIBS are able to perform.

Findings

The first part of the framework shows the cognitive processes hosted by this type of institution and the connection between such processes and the KIBS's stock of knowledge. The second part of the model considers the interdependent core capabilities that enable a KIBS to act effectively as a local/global cognitive interface.

Originality/value

The role that institutions, acting as KIBS, can play in promoting the survival of industrial districts has been discussed in some studies but no model has been proposed as yet to explain how these institutions can play such an important part. The paper aims to begin to fill this gap.
An ability‐based view of the organization
Authors: Simon Nobre Farley , Walker David S.
Published: May 2011

Purpose

This paper extends the corporation‐based metaphor of the tree by proposing that cognition is the core ability that nourishes the development of core competencies. From such an extension, this paper aims to take a step forward to answer the question: what is the role of cognition in the organization that is in pursuit of core competencies and sustainable competitive advantage?

Design/methodology/approach

The paper answers this problem by presenting two complementary perspectives, which contribute to introduce the field of organizational cognition into the strategic‐resource and contingency domains. First, it proposes precepts of an ability‐based view of the organization through analogies that are most associated to concepts of the resource‐based view and dynamic capabilities of the firm. Second, it introduces a contingency‐based view of organizational cognition which is most developed through causal relations, and also deductive and inductive reasoning.

Findings

Conclusions reinforce the thesis that cognition is the core ability which supports individuals, groups and organizations with other complementary abilities such as intelligence, autonomy, learning, and knowledge management; whereas these abilities, all together, are sources of reduction of environmental uncertainty, and, complementarily, they nourish the development of the organization's core competencies and competitive advantage.

Originality/value

The uniqueness and distinction of this research lies in the authors' efforts to explain the strategic dynamic behavior of the organization in the pursuit of high degrees of cognition in order to manage high levels of environmental uncertainty, to nourish the development of core competencies, and to sustain the organization's competitive advantage.
A comparative input‐output analysis of the construction sector in Turkey and EU countries
Authors: Ilhan Bahriye , Yaman Hakan
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to analyze and compare the performance of the construction sector in Turkey and selected European Union (EU) countries using input‐output (IO) tables for the years 1998 and 2002.

Design/methodology/approach

IO tables are used to analyze and compare the construction sector. First the input‐output analysis and the construction sector are briefly introduced. Then, the data and methodology are specified. A set of indicators obtained from the data is used for the comparative analysis.

Findings

The construction sector of the selected 13 countries is examined in terms of Gross National Product (GNP) and National Income (NI) shares; direct and total construction backward and forward linkage indicators and direct and total construction inputs from manufacturing and services reflecting the technologies used in construction. The key findings are pointed out in the conclusion.

Research limitations/implications

The lack of data from Turkey relating to recent years and incompatibility of new and old data limit this study's scope to the two years.

Originality/value

The concept of using IO analysis for comparing the construction sector has been around for a considerable period of time. This paper has an importance for comparing the construction sector in Turkey and some selected EU countries, being the first study in that field in Turkey, and is therefore of direct importance for the Turkish construction sector.
Business networks and internationalisation of contractors from developing countries
Authors: Abdul‐Aziz Abdul‐Rashid , Wong Sing‐Sing
Published: May 2011

Purpose

Increasingly, construction companies from developing countries are succeeding in finding a space in the international market. Their progression deserves academic attention. Using Network Theory, this paper seeks to examine the role and extent of business networks in aiding contractors from Malaysia, as one such developing country, to penetrate foreign markets.

Design/methodology/approach

The research adopted the mixed method approach. A postal questionnaire survey, complemented with desk research and interviews, was used to collect data.

Findings

The findings show that in fact business networks can account for much of the surveyed contractors' overseas achievements, in terms of markets they entered, overseas projects they secured and market presence mode they adopted, although, without their competitive assets, the networks would have been meaningless.

Research limitations/implications

A limitation was the small sample population, which is compensated by interviews to validate the inferences.

Practical implications

Contractors from developing countries should fully cultivate, nurture, exploit and reconfigure their business networks in order to make their impact internationally.

Originality/value

The paper has provided insight into the power of business networks in configuring competitiveness of contractors from a developing country in the international arena. The paper also draws attention to the limitations of the Network Perspective by highlighting the inseparability of the firms' own competitive strengths and business networks in explaining overseas success, and the dynamics of business networks as the contractors continuously reposition their competitive positions.
A conceptual framework of the interface between the design and construction processes
Authors: Mitchell Adrian , Frame Ian , Coday Alan , Hoxley Mike
Published: May 2011

Purpose

As the construction industry strives for closer integration of the participants, more responsibility for the management of the detailed design process is being directed to main contractors and combined with their existing duties of managing the construction and pre‐construction processes. Crucially, this necessitates successful management of the interface between these processes, and this paper seeks to investigate a conceptual view of that interface to provide a foundation for improving understanding of it.

Design/methodology/approach

Recent and current literature is examined, and various theoretical backgrounds for the design and the construction processes are reviewed. The consequences for the understanding of the interface are discussed. The significance of conceptual frameworks is also reviewed.

Findings

A significant difference is identified in the published work between the theoretical understandings of the construction and design processes. From this a conceptual framework for the interface between these processes is developed.

Practical implications

The difference identified may have significant implications for further research, and for the development of management techniques applicable to the interface. Furthermore, the lack of access to specialist knowledge at the optimum time during the design process is identified as having a potentially significant impact on that process.

Originality/value

These findings could provide an understanding and basis for further research into the interface between the processes, and for the development of an enhanced model that would facilitate improved management of the interface and the optimisation of the process of the selection, appointment and input of specialist subcontractors.
Conflict management and performance outcomes
Authors: Posthuma Richard A.
Published: May 2011

Purpose

This introduction aims to summarize five studies included in this themed issue that focus on conflict management and performance outcomes. These studies highlight how conflict management research can help organizations perform more effectively.

Design/methodology/approach

The five selected studies were combined into this single issue so that readers can compare and contrast scholarships from many countries and cultures, including Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, The Netherlands, Norway, and Taiwan to see how conflict management research relates to actual performance outcomes around the world.

Findings

These studies show that negotiations conducted by two‐person dyads resulted in higher outcomes when compared to negotiations conducted by multi‐person groups. In addition, when negotiators consider more than one issue at a time and use a constructive problem solving approach, they can reach better outcomes. In addition, higher self‐efficacy of the negotiator can increase objective negotiation outcomes, but only to a point beyond which more self‐efficacy can have a negative effect. One dimension of employee work performance, innovation, is shown to have several interesting relationships with other variables. Two studies found that innovative work behaviors had a positive relationship to workplace conflict. One study showed that task conflict seemed to relate to increased innovative work behaviors. Another study found a positive relationship between a broader measure of innovative work behaviors and conflicted with workers. The positive relationship between task conflict and innovative behaviors seemed to increase when there was more support for innovation. In addition, the positive relationship between innovative behavior and conflict with coworkers seem to decrease when there was more distributive justice in workplace rewards. These studies also showed significant relationships between conflict management and subjective outcomes, such as subjective perceptions of negotiations, job satisfaction, turnover intentions, and relationships between coworkers.

Research limitations/implications

These studies outline ways for organizations to design conflict management principles both to increase the objective outcomes of negotiations and to induce their employees to be more innovative at work.

Originality/value

All five studies used original data not reported elsewhere and gathered in various countries that have not been reported in prior studies.
Effects of task and relationship conflicts on individual work behaviors
Authors: Lu Lin , Zhou Fan , Leung Kwok
Published: May 2011

Purpose

Although the negative consequences of conflict in work settings have long been recognized, it is only in recent years that researchers have examined its positive effects, and the majority of this research has been conducted at the group level. This paper aims to examine the positive effects of conflict on individual work behaviors by differentiating between task and relationship conflicts, as well as the moderating influence of two contextual variables.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was conducted with 166 pairs of supervisors and subordinates in China.

Findings

Results supported the hypotheses that task conflict is positively related to both innovative behaviors and knowledge sharing behaviors while relationship conflict is negatively related to both individual‐directed organizational citizenship and knowledge sharing behaviors. Support for innovation and reward system for relationship‐building functioned as contextual factors to moderate the relationships between task and relationship conflicts and the workplace behaviors studied.

Originality/value

The hypotheses proposed and most of the findings are original.
A cross‐cultural comparison of intragroup conflict in The Netherlands and Brazil
Authors: Bisseling Daan , Sobral Filipe
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine and compare the effects of emotional and task conflict on team performance and member satisfaction in two distinct cultures, Brazil and The Netherlands.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey with 366 team members and interviews with 20 team managers were conducted. To analyse data and test the proposed hypotheses, hierarchical regression analyses were used.

Findings

Findings suggest that cultural differences between these two countries not only influence the way intragroup conflict is experienced, but also its impact on members' satisfaction and group performance. In Brazil, emotional and task conflict were both negatively associated with individuals' satisfaction and perceived team performance, while in The Netherlands no significant relationships were found between both types of conflict and team performance.

Research limitations/implications

Several limitations of this research must be recognized: the use of self‐report measures that may have some inherent social desirability bias; and the use of linear regressions to test relationships that may be non‐linear.

Practical implications

This paper shows that managers need to focus on differentiating emotional and task conflict and find ways to seize the potential of task‐related conflicts.

Originality/value

The paper sheds light on how culture influences intragroup conflict and its impact on team outcomes, enlightening the role of cultural context in conflict research.
Is bigger better? Dyadic and multiparty integrative negotiations
Authors: Traavik Laura E.M.
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to empirically investigate the similarities and differences between dyads and four‐party groups in an integrative negotiation.

Design/methodology/approach

Data are collected in a between subjects experiment. A total of 182 participants completed a negotiation role play and questionnaire. Hypotheses are tested using t‐tests, MANOVAs and two multiple regression analyses.

Findings

Results demonstrate that dyads do outperform groups on both the economic and subjective measures of outcomes. Sharing of priority information and the fixed pie bias was higher in groups than in dyads. For dyads the procedure used (considering more than one issue at a time) led to higher economic outcomes, and both procedure and problem solving were important for subjective outcomes. For four‐party negotiations, problem solving was significantly related to higher outcomes, on both economic and subjective outcomes, and procedure was moderately related to economic outcomes. Problem solving was significantly more important for the groups than for dyads on economic outcomes.

Research limitations/implications

The controlled experimental setting could limit the generalizabiltiy of the findings. Measures of the intermediate variables could be improved by including additional items and observations. Future research is required in field settings using multiple measures of the process.

Practical implications

In multiparty negotiation information sharing and the presence of cognitive biases may not be as important as focusing on a problem solving approach.

Originality/value

An empirical investigation that groups under‐perform dyads in an integrative negotiation has not been conducted before.
Cry not for books
Authors: Medeiros Norm
Published: May 2011

Purpose

This article seeks to describe physical changes occurring in libraries, changes that accentuate public spaces, technology, and comfort while minimizing the prominence of stacks.

Design/methodology/approach

The article uses features from the 2011 ALCTS Midwinter Symposium to argue in favor of user‐centered changes to academic libraries.

Findings

The article suggests the decreased emphasis and number of physical books in libraries should not be seen as a death knell to libraries or librarians.

Originality/value

The article offers encouragement to librarians who are concerned about the future role of the library.
Information fluid dynamics
Authors: Fox Robert
Published: May 2011

Purpose

This column aims to investigate the possibilities of web services for the integration of information with relevant services.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a viewpoint paper.

Findings

This column encourages the exploration of web services based on careful analysis and semantic ontologies in order to provide relevant integration of services and information.

Practical implications

The rapid proliferation of web services – whether RESTful or SOAP based – offers many opportunities both internally and externally for libraries, but the adoption of web services needs to be tempered with careful planning and analysis.

Originality/value

The column offers some interesting suggestions for exploring theoretical options in the adoption of web service information and services. Some technical aspects of web service technology are discussed and then related to the core mission of librarianship, which is to assist patrons in navigating the great breadth of data available in increasing quantities via web service technology.
Overcoming resistance to change in digital library projects
Authors: Cervone H. Frank
Published: May 2011

Purpose

In this paper, the author aims to define common causes of resistance to organizational change and describe several tactics project managers can use to overcome some of these causes.

Design/methodology/approach

Using theory and example from other management studies, the author relates the relevance of these studies to methods project managers can use to overcome resistance to organizational change.

Findings

Resistance to change has several factors, some of them based on level of institutional investment in the change effort as well as the characteristics of interpersonal relations within the organization. Rather than focusing on one aspect, as some earlier research studies have suggested, overcoming resistance to change requires using tactics that can address all of the issues.

Originality/value

This paper fills a gap in the digital library project management literature by providing an overview of a useful methodology for addressing issues related to organizational change and resistance to that change.
Education and Poe's M. Valdemar: a metaphor in complexity
Authors: Abeles Tom P.
Published: May 2011

Purpose

This editorial aims to introduce the special issue on the theme of complexity, and to discuss the situation in education, in terms of current issues such as knowledge, innovation and the Chinese example, whilst looking ahead to influences that might dictate the universities of the future.

Design/methodology/approach

The article uses the metaphor of an Edgar Allen Poe character, M. Valdemar, to discuss the current state of the education system, particularly questioning its health and what the future might hold.

Findings

The present is a period of transformation and universities may not all survive in their current state.

Originality/value

This introduction provides an interesting view of the problems that universities currently face and the need for large transformation in the sector using a striking literary metaphor.
Education in a complex world: a political question to be answered
Authors: Konidari Victoria
Published: May 2011

Purpose

After insisting on the strong coupling between education and society, this paper aims to detect the symptoms of a crisis in education and present the reasons of pathology that testify to the failure of the actual paradigm of thinking.

Design/methodology/approach

Casting doubt on the economic model approach adopted in recent decades as being inappropriate for the educational field, the author goes from the peripheral question about students' outcomes and schools' effectiveness to the central question of societies' well‐being, arguing that the ultimate goal of education should be to lead individuals to understand how the world functions and help them find new ways to make the world.

Findings

This paper draws on research in literature on school populations (teachers, students). It is suggested that the inappropriateness of the paradigm of thinking adopted has altered education's nature and goals.

Originality/value

Exposing the main misunderstandings and confusions that has led to the above crisis, two epistemic transpositions are proposed as a way towards a new era.
Educating for the future and complexity
Authors: Jasman Anne , McIlveen Peter
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to open up the question of how we prepare people to be resilient, flexible and capable of managing the uncertainties and complexities of the twenty‐first century by using both futures studies and complexity theory as a backdrop for a discussion of career education and teacher education in the future.

Design/methodology/approach

Recent developments in the work of others in futures studies and complexity theory are presented. These developments provide a framework for discussing current understandings of career and teacher education and to explore the possible trajectories for supporting learning to, in and through work across the lifespan.

Findings

Through applying futures studies and complexity theory to career and teacher education the authors conclude that these conceptual frameworks have much to offer practitioners and policy makers in the fields of career education and teacher education, and that theory development in these fields is already embracing the conceptual tools within these areas of study.

Practical implications

Suggestions are made for what will be needed in the future and how educational organisations will have to adapt in order to promote resilience and flexibility in the face of the uncertainty and complexity of learning and work in the twenty‐first century.

Originality/value

This paper brings together four distinct areas of research and scholarship – i.e. complexity theory, futures studies, career and teacher education – in order to explore possible and desirable trajectories for supporting learning to, in and through work across the lifespan.
Resisting chaos: the power of the humanities as a problem‐solving system
Authors: Katopes Peter
Published: May 2011

Purpose

The purpose of this essay is to argue the importance of the humanities as a problem‐solving “system”, one which has for thousands of years provided humankind with the tools to make reasoned decisions about complex problems in an ever‐changing world.

Design/methodology/approach

This essay places the idea of complexity within a historical and philosophical context.

Findings

The rise of new technologies has resulted in the notion that human beings are no longer capable of addressing complex problems. Too dogmatic a reliance upon technology, however, instead of leading to clarity, can lead to chaos and confusion.

Social implications

One of the few remaining “big structures” which retains a significant degree of public trust is higher education. If we continue to devalue the one area of study – the humanities – which has as its ultimate purpose precisely the analysis of “complex issues” – in favor of quasi‐human systemic solutions or an alteration of the “epistemology” of education, we will surely render ourselves irrelevant.

Originality/value

This is an original approach and an original piece of work.
Nine paradoxes of problem solving
Authors: Lowy Alex
Published: May 2011

Purpose

This paper aims to show how a common aspect of complex problems is that they often contain some form of paradox. By addressing the inherent paradox, decision‐makers can better understand and solve complex problems.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper identifies nine paradoxes that are encountered with surprising frequency in corporate decision making.

Findings

The paper finds that learning to recognize the most frequent types of problem‐solving paradoxes and their influence will save leaders some frustration, and perhaps help them and other members of the management team do a better job of navigating their firm's opportunities and challenges.

Practical implications

The paper explains why the only way to make truly “rational” decisions is to invent parts of the picture that do not exist because they lie somewhere in the future or beyond our ability to calculate.

Originality/value

By identifying nine seemingly illogical paradoxes that often thwart “rational” decision making, and suggesting how to deal with them, the author offers a handy guide for leaders.