bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Structure determination of three furan-substituted benzimidazoles and calculation of π–π and C—H...π interaction energies
Authors: Geiger David K. , Geiger H. Cristina , Deck Jared M.
Published: November 2014

The synthesis and structural characterization of 2-(furan-2-yl)-1-(furan-2-ylmethyl)-1H-benzimidazole [C16H12N2O2, (I)], 2-(furan-2-yl)-1-(furan-2-ylmethyl)-1H-benzimidazol-3-ium chloride monohydrate [C16H13N2O2+·Cl−·H2O, (II)] and the hydrobromide salt 5,6-dimethyl-2-(furan-2-yl)-1-(furan-2-ylmethyl)-1H-benzimidazol-3-ium bromide [C18H17N2O2+·Br−, (III)] are described. Benzimidazole (I) displays two sets of aromatic interactions, each of which involves pairs of molecules in a head-to-tail arrangement. The first, denoted set (Ia), exhibits both intermolecular C—H...π interactions between the 2-(furan-2-yl) (abbreviated as Fn) and 1-(furan-2-ylmethyl) (abbreviated as MeFn) substituents, and π–π interactions involving the Fn substituents between inversion-center-related molecules. The second, denoted set (Ib), involves π–π interactions involving both the benzene ring (Bz) and the imidazole ring (Im) of benzimidazole. Hydrated salt (II) exhibits N—H...OH2...Cl hydrogen bonding that results in chains of molecules parallel to theaaxis. There is also a head-to-head aromatic stacking of the protonated benzimidazole cations in which the Bz and Im rings of one molecule interact with the Im and Fn rings of adjacent molecules in the chain. Salt (III) displays N—H...Br hydrogen bonding and π–π interactions involving inversion-center-related benzimidazole rings in a head-to-tail arrangement. In all of the π–π interactions observed, the interacting moieties are shifted with respect to each other along the major molecular axis. Basis set superposition energy-corrected (counterpoise method) interaction energies were calculated for each interaction [DFT, M06-2X/6-31+G(d)] employing atomic coordinates obtained in the crystallographic analyses for heavy atoms and optimized H-atom coordinates. The calculated interaction energies are −43.0, −39.8, −48.5, and −55.0 kJ mol−1for (Ia), (Ib), (II), and (III), respectively. For (Ia), the analysis was used to partition the interaction energies into the C—H...π and π–π components, which are 9.4 and 24.1 kJ mol−1, respectively. Energy-minimized structures were used to determine the optimal interplanar spacing, the slip distance along the major molecular axis, and the slip distance along the minor molecular axis for 2-(furan-2-yl)-1H-benzimidazole.
Emirati pre-service teachers’ experiences of teaching science during college internships
Authors: Kadbey Hanadi , Dickson Martina
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this research is to explore the effect of internship experience on final-year pre-service teachers (PSTs) studying for a Bachelor of Education in Abu Dhabi. The UAE is undergoing a period of rapid education reform with a strong emphasis on use of student-centered learning strategies in the classroom. Teacher-training colleges, such as the one in which this research took place, have had to customize their programs to prepare and train teachers who can effectively implement this new approach.

Design/methodology/approach

– Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten PSTs to explore the usefulness of the college science courses during their internship experience, and the challenges they faced during their internship. We also looked at how these experiences have influenced their confidence levels and the type of science teachers they want to be in the future.

Findings

– Results have shown that PSTs have variable opinions on the usefulness of the college courses. A perceived lack of emphasis placed by mentor teachers upon science may have long-term effects on the PSTs’ eventual use of teaching strategies. It was also shown that some of the PSTs still lacked confidence in science teaching.

Practical implications

– This research may provide national guidelines for teacher-training colleges in the UAE or in countries undergoing educational reform and moving towards student-centered approaches to learning.

Originality/value

– Research studies on the effect of internship on PSTs have been conducted in different countries but such studies have great novelty in the UAE.
Towards more employable Egyptian HE graduates – a case study
Authors: Abou-Setta Amal
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The unemployment rate in Egypt has reached 24.8 per cent of the labor force and is significantly higher among university graduates. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between Higher Education (HE) and employability in Egypt and to ask these pressing questions: How do students perceive the relationship? What are its main problems? What are the changes required to help improve the relationship from their own perspective?

Design/methodology/approach

– Offering an in-depth analysis of a case study of an Egyptian public university by interviewing four Egyptian HE students either in their final or their second-to-last year of study, this paper attempts to decipher the Egyptian HE students’ attitudes towards quality education and employability as an ultimate purpose. It also offers a macroscopic view of the necessary changes to make HE graduates more employable.

Findings

– The paper argues that, for effective HE reform to take place in Egypt, radical, comprehensive changes pertaining to programme design, curricula, assessment, pedagogy and admissions are called for, taking into account the contextual political, economic and cultural conditions.

Originality/value

– Although there is a considerable amount of research literature examining the significant discrepancy between university graduates’ educational gains and the functional requirements of the job market (Allen and De Weert 2007), not much of that research has examined the way graduates understand and manage their employability in light of the recent changes in both HE and the job market and the few studies focusing on this were mainly conducted in the Western world (Al-Harthi 2011).
The nature of parental involvement in the city of Abu Dhabi in a context of change
Authors: S. Baker Fiona , Blaik Hourani Rida
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this exploratory study is to explore parent and school administrator perspectives on the value and nature of parent involvement in the city of Abu Dhabi through their perceptions of roles and responsibilities.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study is conducted in a random purposive sample of Public–Private Partnership schools during Abu Dhabi Education Council’s school reform.

Findings

– Findings show that while both administrators and parents agree on the value of parental involvement, the perceptions of their own and each others’ roles and responsibilities means that parent involvement is characterized by unfulfilled expectations.

Practical implications

– Recommendations are made to arrive at realistic roles and responsibilities for parent involvement and recommendations for a model of mutually responsive practice to evolve within a policy framework, with the support of ADEC, and informed by international and locally based research.

Originality/value

– The paper sheds light on a new educational dimension beyond curricula and instruction.
A new integrated knowledge model in supplier selection
Authors: Akhavan Peyman , Elahi Behin , Jafari Mostafa
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– This paper aims to empirically explore the effects of intellectual capital (IC) on supplier selection (SS) and, consequently, investigates the consecutive impacts on an Asian automotive supply chain performance (SCP).

Design/methodology/approach

– A questionnaire-oriented survey obtained from top managers and expert employees from three different Asian automotive industries, all of which exist in the same supply chain, was utilized for factor analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM).

Findings

– The findings indicate that some dimensions of IC containing human capital, relational capital and structural capital sufficiently influence evaluation and selection of optimal suppliers which lead to more efficient performance of the supply chain.

Research limitations/implications

– First, as the research analyzes the findings extracted from three important Asian automotive companies which exist in the same supply chain, the results may not be applicable to other industries in different countries. Second, gathering data from other elements of the supply chain like wholesalers and retailers could enrich the research conducted. Besides, more advanced statistical methods could be utilized to evaluate the regression equations and SEM.

Practical implications

– With a comprehensive view on IC that takes into account its creation, protection and utilization, IC plays an essential role in selecting and assessing optimal suppliers which enhance competitive advantage, especially in knowledge-based organizations. IC will also increase the SCP efficiently and effectively.

Originality/value

– This study develops an integrated knowledge model for a SS issue based on IC, and focuses on the effects of its various elements. It offers assistance to managers who tend to select optimal suppliers effectively.
The effect of perceived price fairness through satisfaction and loyalty on international tourists’ price acceptance of Islamic-Iranian art products
Authors: Asadi Ali , Khazaei Pool Javad , Reza Jalilvand Mohammad
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of perceived price fairness through satisfaction and loyalty on price acceptance. The antecedents of price fairness, including price perception and tourist vulnerability, will also be examined.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors collected 674 questionnaires from international tourists who purchased Islamic-Iranian art products and analyzed simultaneous relations with a structural equation modeling.

Findings

– The results indicate that perceived price awareness and perceived vulnerability positively and significantly affect perceived price fairness. Additionally, perceived price fairness has a significant influence on customer satisfaction and loyalty. Moreover, customer satisfaction and loyalty were found to have a positive impact on price acceptance.

Practical implications

– Based on the findings, the results are expected to create a useful perspective for the researchers so they can present a broader model in future studies. The results of this research can help managers develop better pricing strategies and effective pricing mechanism design and, through recognition of factors influencing customer perception of the price, instigate better pricing.

Originality/value

– Although prior research focused on the relationships among the variables of perception of price, perceived vulnerability, perceived price fairness, satisfaction and loyalty and price acceptance, the current study considers the effect of these variables as a general compound model and in the context of Islamic-Iranian art tourism products.
Analyzing the results of buildings energy audit by using grey incidence analysis
Authors: Karimi Tooraj , Forrest Jeffrey
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to analyse the results of energy audit reports and defines most favourable characteristics of system, which is energy consumption of buildings, and most favourable factors affecting these characteristics in order to modify and improve them.

Design/methodology/approach

– Grey set theory has the advantage of using fewer data to analyse many factors, and it is therefore more appropriate for system study rather than traditional statistical regression which requires massive data, normal distribution in the data and few variant factors. So, in this paper grey clustering and entropy of coefficient vector of grey evaluations are used to analyse energy consumption in buildings of the Oil Ministry in Tehran. Grey clustering in this study has been used for two purposes: First, all the variables of building relate to energy audit cluster in two main groups of indicators and the number of variables is reduced. Second, grey clustering with variable weights has been used to classify all buildings in three categories named “no standard deviation”, “low standard deviation” and “non-standard”. Entropy of coefficient vector of grey evaluations is calculated to investigate greyness of results.

Findings

– According to the results of the model, “the real building load coefficient” has been selected as the most important system characteristic and “uncontrolled area of the building” has been diagnosed as the most favourable factor which has the greatest effect on energy consumption of building.

Research limitations/implications

– Clustering greyness of 13 buildings is less than 0.5 and average uncertainly of clustering results is 66 per cent.

Practical implications

– It shows that among the 38 buildings surveyed in terms of energy consumption, three cases are in standard group, 24 cases are in “low standard deviation” group and 11 buildings are completely non-standard.

Originality/value

– In this research, a comprehensive analysis of the audit reports is proposed. This analysis helps the improvement of future audits, and assists in making energy conservation policies by studying the behaviour of system characteristic and related factors.
The effects of financial deepening on income inequality based on grey incidence analysis
Authors: Zhang Quanda
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to clarify the relationship between income inequality and financial deepening. The majority of theoretical studies on the relationship between them argue that financial deepening has a positive effect on the income inequality. This paper aims to study the case of China, and explores whether the effects of financial deepening on income inequality varies between urban residents and rural residents.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using the grey incidence analysis, this paper first calculates the degree of grey incidence between dependent variables, i.e. per capita disposable income of urban residents, per capita net income of rural residents and overall Theil Inequality Index for China, and independent variables, depth of credit, depth of direct financing and depth of insurance. Next, multiple non-linear regression is introduced to build the model. With the method of unit root test and co-integration test, some equations are given to show the clear relationship among the variables.

Findings

– The empirical results indicate that the development of credit market does not have a strong relationship both with the growth of income and income inequality. While the development of both the direct financing market and the insurance market is closely related to the growth of income and income inequality.

Originality/value

– The results of this paper suggest that the protection of the rights and interests of medium-sized investors is the key for the capital market. Meanwhile, the insurance market should be encouraged to expand in both breadth and depth, which helps to take full advantage of its functions. As for the credit market, more resources should be allocated to those who need them most the small- and medium-sized enterprises, which will contribute to the growth of the income for the majority and narrowing the income gap.
An application of grey based decision making approach for the selection of manufacturing system
Authors: Ji Shukla Om , Soni Gunjan , Anand G.
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– In the current customer-driven market, the manufacturers have to be highly responsive and flexible to deliver a variety of products. Hence, to meet this dynamic and uncertain market changes, the production system, which enables the manufacturing of such variety of products should be able to meet such diverse, dynamic changes. Hence, selecting a suitable manufacturing system is a key strategic decision for today's manufacturing organization, which needs to survive in these uncertain market conditions. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to present a decision-making model for selecting the best manufacturing system and also discuss the criteria on the basis of which the management can select the same.

Design/methodology/approach

– A case of small- and medium-sized company is presented, in which the management is deciding to establish a most suitable manufacturing system. To supplement this, a suitable multi-criteria decision-making model (MCDM), the grey approach is used to analyze manufacturing system alternatives based on various decision criteria to arrive a comparative ranking.

Findings

– An extensive analysis of grey-based decision-making model described grey decision matrix, grey normalized decision matrix, grey weighted normalized decision matrix and grey possibility degrees for three alternatives revealed that lean manufacturing systems was found to be the most suitable manufacturing system among three alternatives for a given case.

Research limitations/implications

– The same study can be extended by including sub-criteria with main criteria for selection of manufacturing system by utilizing two MCDM techniques such as AHP or ANP with Grey approach.

Practical implications

– The Grey approach has been discussed in a detailed way and it will be useful for the managers to use this approach as a tool for solving similar type of decision-making problems in their organizations in the future.

Originality/value

– Although, the problem of selecting a suitable manufacturing system is often addressed both in practice and research, very few reports are available in the literature of Grey-based decision models that demonstrated its application for selecting a suitable manufacturing systems.
Properties of comprehensive incidence degrees
Authors: Wei Yong , Zeng Kefang
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to study the properties of comprehensive incidence degrees of closeness incidence degrees and similitude incidence degrees.

Design/methodology/approach

– Based on the new definitions of the closeness incidence degree and the similitude incidence degree, the properties of comprehensive incidence of closeness incidence and similitude incidence are studied in this paper. It is proved that weighted arithmetic average of two closeness incidence degrees as well as power product (including weighted geometric average) of two closeness incidence degrees is still closeness incidence degree; and arithmetic weighted average of two similitude incidence degrees as well as power product (including weighted geometric average) of two similitude incidence degrees is still similitude incidence degree. Mixed weighted arithmetic average of closeness incidence degree and similitude incidence degree and mixed power product (including weighted geometric average) of closeness incidence degree and similitude incidence degree are closeness incidence degrees.

Findings

– The result shows that the effect of closeness incidence degree is stronger than similitude incidence degree. As long as the weight of closeness incidence degree is not equal to zero, the comprehensive incidence degree results are closeness incidence degrees.

Practical implications

– Grey incidence degrees have been widely applied in many fields, such as the test of grey model's forecasting effect, the system analysis and so on. The obtained result in this paper is to illustrate two kinds of incidence degrees are incompatible, namely there does not exist both closeness and similitude incidence degree.

Originality/value

– The paper succeeds in showing that the attempt to get comprehensive incidence degree by arithmetic or geometric weighted average of closeness incidence degree and similitude incidence degree to reflect both closeness and similarity is in vain. And it is undoubtedly a new development in grey system theory.
Does money matter in Africa?
Authors: A. Asongu Simplice
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of monetary policy on economic activity using a plethora of hitherto unemployed financial dynamics in inflation-chaotic African countries for the period of 1987-2010.Although in developed economies, changes in monetary policy affect real economic activity in the short-run, but only prices in the long-run, the question of whether these tendencies apply to developing countries remains open to debate.

Design/methodology/approach

– Vector autoregresion (VARs) within the frameworks of Vector Error Correction Models and simple Granger causality models are used to estimate the long- and short-run effects, respectively. A battery of robustness checks are also used to ensure consistency in the specifications and results.

Findings

– The tested hypotheses are valid under monetary policy independence and dependence, except few exceptions.H1: Monetary policy variables affect prices in the long-run but not in the short-run. For the first-half (long-run dimension) of the hypothesis, permanent changes in monetary policy variables (depth, efficiency, activity and size) affect permanent variations in prices in the long-term. But in cases of disequilibriums, only financial dynamic fundamentals of depth and size significantly adjust inflation to the cointegration relations. With respect to the second-half (short-run view) of the hypothesis, monetary policy does not overwhelmingly affect prices in the short-term. Hence, but for a thin exception,H1is valid.H2: Monetary policy variables influence output in the short-term but not in the long-term. With regard to the short-term dimension of the hypothesis, only financial dynamics of depth and size affect real gross domestic product output in the short-run. As concerns the long-run dimension, the neutrality of monetary policy has been confirmed. Hence, the hypothesis is also broadly valid.

Practical implications

– A wide range of policy implications are discussed. Inter alia: the long-run neutrality of money and business cycles, credit expansions and inflationary tendencies, inflation targeting and monetary policy independence implications. Country-/regional-specific implications, the manner in which the findings reconcile the ongoing debate, measures for fighting surplus liquidity and caveats and future research directions are also discussed.

Originality/value

– By using a plethora of hitherto unemployed financial dynamics (that broadly reflect monetary policy), we provide significant contributions to the empirics of money. The conclusion of the analysis is a valuable contribution to the scholarly and policy debate on how money matters as an instrument of economic activity in developing countries.
Addressing the trade-off between style and practicality in wearable computing
Authors: Fox Stephen
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– Potential for practical stylish combination of micro-electronics and computational functionalities into apparel has been recognized for many years. Yet, wearable computing is often characterized by distinctive style or by utilitarian practicality. The purpose of this paper is to investigate what actions can be taken to address the style vs practicality trade-off in wearable computing.

Design/methodology/approach

– Action research with luxury apparel company, comprising interviews, facility views, literature reviews, technology analyses, production, and evaluation of prototypes.

Findings

– Trade-off between style and practicality is likely to continue to be intractable for luxury garments. This is because the inclusion of micro-electronics into garments can compromise comfort and introduce onerous regulatory issues.

Practical implications

– There is more scope for practical stylish wearable computing with accessory apparel such as bags. This is because comfort is less likely to be compromised by micro-electronics, and requirements for charging can be less reliant on human intervention.

Originality/value

– The originality of this paper is that reports findings from a wearable computing action research case study that involved active participation of a luxury apparel company. The value of this paper is that it covers both technological factors and luxury considerations.
The evolution of business ethics in India
Authors: Berger Ron , Herstein Ram
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– Religion and culture can influence ethical behavior in business. It is suggested that there has been and continues to be, a deep interrelationship between religion, business ethics, and economic activity in India. As India is becoming a major global economic business partner, understanding its unique ethical business infrastructure is gaining in importance. The purpose of this paper is to intend to further the understanding of Indian (“Vendantic”) business ethics, as opposed to Greco – Roman business ethics, as the foundation of business culture in India. This paper further elaborates on the evolution of business ethics and its implications on doing business in and with Indian companies.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors undertook a conceptual approach in order to understand the evolutionary process of Indian business ethics in a holistic view in order to understand better its workings and effect on business interaction.

Findings

– The paper explains the constructs of business ethics in India and shows its evolution over time.

Originality/value

– This original theoretical paper examines the evolution of Indian business ethics over time in line with environmental changes in the Indian business landscape.
Customers’ attitudes toward insurance frauds: an application of Adams’ equity theory
Authors: Tseng Lu-Ming , Kuo Chia-Lin
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– Although research on insurance frauds has found that deductible amount influences customers’ attitudes toward insurance frauds, very little work has further investigated the roles of deductible-premium ratios and insurance experiences. Building on the foundations of Adams' equity theory, the authors examined the impact of the deductible-premium ratios on customers' attitudes toward insurance frauds. The authors also studied the relationship among the experience of applying claims, the reasons customers accept insurance frauds, and customers' intentions to carry out frauds. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– Survey was used, and the sample of this study comes from the full-time civil servants at the Agricultural Research Institutes in Taiwan.

Findings

– The results showed that the deductible-premium ratios may relate to the responders’ perceptions of insurance frauds. In addition, the reasons customers accept frauds were also the influential predictors of the customer frauds.

Originality/value

– Previous studies found that an unfair treatment by an insurer (e.g. an unfair deductible amount) may enhance customer insurance frauds. However, the “fairness and fraud” problems should involve the consideration of insurance premium because a high deductible amount is usually associated with lower premium. The other discussions of perceived fairness also accept that perceived fairness was often rooted in a social comparative situation. Based on the literature gap, this is the first time that Adams’ equity theory is applied in the customer insurance fraud research.
The German miracle or the miracle of the cultural attitude
Authors: Tubadji Annie , Gnezdilova Nataly
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to explore the link between redistribution, convergence and local cultural capital (as defined by culture-based development concept).

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper infers the basic mechanism of the cultural dependence of convergence and inequality – through an empirical test for the case of the “German job miracle” during the current crisis. Two empirical questions are asked: first, is local income inequality associated with local cultural capital and second, is the negative convergence between East and West Germany during the crisis related to culturally sensitive employers’ preference for job preservation vs job loss. An OLS enquiry and two deeper estimation methods (a logit model and a 3SLS simultaneous equations model) are alternatively applied in order to triangulate the empirical results.

Findings

– The findings support the existence of cultural effect on local income inequality and cultural path dependence of employers’ preferences for job preservation vs job loss in a condition of economic shock.

Originality/value

– The paper provides both theoretical reasoning and empirical illustration of the significance of the cultural effect on human preferences which may or may not allow for redistribution and convergence between localities.
The influence of organisation culture on E-commerce adoption
Authors: Senarathna Ishan , Warren Matthew , Yeoh William , Salzman Scott
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the influence of different organisational cultures on e-commerce adoption maturity in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Design/methodology/approach

– The data for this study were gathered using postal survey questionnaire and analysed using quantitative analysis methods.

Findings

– The result indicates a positive correlation between adhocracy culture and e-commerce adoption. However, those firms with hierarchy cultural characteristics indicate a negative correlation in relation to e-commerce adoption. The organisational culture differences explain these issues.

Research limitations/implications

– The analysis is conducted in a single country (i.e. Sri Lanka). Initial findings provide a basis for further research in other country.

Practical implications

– This research reveals the significance of organisational culture and how it influences e-commerce adoption maturity, both positively and negatively. The research findings are useful for SMEs that are planning or are in the process of implementing or reviewing their e-commerce, as well as for SMEs policy makers and business support community that engaged with e-commerce initiatives.

Originality/value

– This study is the first to research the influence of different types of organisational cultures on e-commerce adoption maturity. It fills the research gap by advancing the understanding between the association of organisation cultures and e-commerce adoption.
Mobile TV: a new form of entertainment?
Authors: Wong Choy-Har , Wei-Han Tan Garry , Loke Siew-Phaik , Ooi Keng-Boon
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– While mobile TV (m-TV) is beneficial and is currently an emerging area within mobile commerce, the adoption rate is at the infancy stage. The purpose of this paper is therefore to adapt the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2) model to explore on the factors in predicting users’ behavioral intention (BI) of m-TV.

Design/methodology/approach

– Partial least square structural equation modeling approach was employed using 193 respondents to test the findings.

Findings

– The findings revealed that effort expectancy (EE), social influence (SI), facilitating conditions (FC), hedonic motivation (HM) and habit (HT) have significant effects on BI. In addition, gender was found to have moderating effect between FC and BI.

Practical implications

– Findings from this study provide valuable insights and contribute to the marketing strategy for mobile marketers, wireless communications vendors and application developers in the m-TV industry.

Originality/value

– Since the emergence of m-TV is regarded as a new concept, what factors that may motivate users to watch TV using m-devices remains unexplored and therefore is currently a neglected research area. This paper provides clues and valuable insights for mobile marketers, wireless communications vendors and application developers in the m-TV industry.
Off-balance sheet activities and community bank performance
Authors: Kashian Russell D. , Tao Ran
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine loan commitments and lending patterns of community banks. The authors also test for shifts in these relationships in the period unwinding the subprime crisis.

Design/methodology/approach

– Standard panel fixed-effect models as well as hierarchical (mixed) regression models are estimated given that banks operating in a specific geographic market may vary systematically with differences in firm-level characteristics. Hierarchical (mixed) regression models can control for within-counties and within-banks similarities. The authors also employ pooled estimations with clustered standard errors at the bank level as robustness check.

Findings

– The empirical results show that the use of loan commitments is generally associated with moderate increase in profitability and higher insolvency risk. However, during the recent financial crisis, the use of loan commitments becomes safer. The use of loan commitments is more risky for community banks that concentrate more on loans that focus on real estate, while it is safer for community banks with higher equity. In regards to the performance of community banks’ balance sheet loan activities, a more concentrated loan portfolio results in lower return and higher insolvency risks. High loan growth generates higher return and higher risks.

Originality/value

– Prior to the 2008 credit meltdown, community banks significantly increased their issuance of off-balance sheet loan commitments. While the ratio of loan commitments to total loans has come down in recent years it continues to exceed the levels reached in the 1990s. This evolution has, however resulted in little research regarding its implications on community bank profitability and risk.
Should before or after tax equilibria point elasticities be calculated when the Laffer effect is considered in a micro market?
Authors: Özçam Ahmet
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– Traditionally, the Laffer effect has been discussed in the context of endogenous growth models or in the case of the labor market with respect to willingness to supply more labor given a tax incentive on wages. The paper adopts an inductive approach to discuss it in the context of a product's market, say automobile industry in Turkey.

Design/methodology/approach

– The author revisits the ad valorem tax model on a product and investigates how the elasticities of demand and supply and the tax rate are related to the Laffer effect. The author considers a special case where demand curve is non-linear and the supply curve is completely elastic. This specific model fits the practical case where the Turkish government expected the auto sellers to pass fully the temporary partial tax concession onto the consumers during the global crisis in 2009.

Findings

– The author showed that the demand elasticitiy must be calculated neither at the intersection of the initial equilibrium nor that of the final equilibrium points, but somewhere else. The author defined a pass-through coefficient which was different from the classical burden of tax concept, calculating the degree of pass-through of a tax decrease from firms to consumers. Moreover, the author found a one-way relationship between the overall tax revenues of the government and a single sector.

Research limitations/implications

– The case of tax revenues where both the demand and supply curves are non-linear and non-extreme must be solved.

Practical implications

– The author showed that the government's dual expectation of both boosting the economy, increasing employment and raising its tax revenues can sometimes be consistent given a usual upward sloping supply curve. In the case of a perfectly elastic supply curve, the tax revenues can even be higher with a higher level of equilibrium quantity.

Social implications

– The Turkish government aiming to support the production and employment in this leading export industry, may have expected this temporary tax decrease to be passed completely onto the consumers by the producers. However, this did not happen as producers’ prices to the consumers did not decrease as much as the amount of tax. This paper shows that the after tax elasticities and the current level of tax rate must have been compared.

Originality/value

– The author pointed out to the importance of being clear in explicitly indicating at which points the elasticities derived from some function (tax revenue function) of equilibria variables (price and quantity) must be interpreted. In this paper, doing many numerical calculations allowed us to notice the proper point of calculation of the demand elasticity, which is the after-tax price along the “no tax demand curve”. Moreover, a pass-through coefficient is defined which is different from the classical burden of tax concept.
Evaluation of two community outreach forensic psychological services
Authors: Ward Max , Attwell Pamela
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to gauge service user’ perspectives on the effectiveness of two community outreach forensic psychological services in London for people with personality disorder and serious mental illness who pose a risk of sexual and violent offending. Both services are guided by principles of the Good Lives Model and circles of support and accountability.

Design/methodology/approach

– The research design was mixed qualitative and quantitative, incorporating thematic evaluation of semi-structured interviews with service users and a rating-scale constructed specifically for this purpose.

Findings

– Outcomes suggest both services are broadly successful in achieving their aims to: first, enhance psychological well-being and general quality of life; second, promote links with other agencies and broader social inclusion; and third, monitor and manage risk of re-offending.

Research limitations/implications

– However, there are limitations. Cause and effect cannot be inferred and outcomes are not generalizable to other contexts partly as a result of the small sample size. Another possible issue is that participants spoke favorably about their care through fear of being evaluated negatively or through fear of compromising the support they receive. To control for these and other possible confounding variables, further more rigorous research is required.

Practical implications

– The current findings can be used as a guide to help services engage and manage people with personality disorder and serious mental illness who are at risk of further serious offending.

Originality/value

– It is suggested here that the current findings contribute to the body of evidence supporting initiatives that aim to address recidivism by enabling offenders to develop a more positive identity through social and community inclusion and integration.
Structural health assessment of communities of practice (CoPs)
Authors: Lee Suchul , Seog Kim Yong , Suh Euiho
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– This paper aims to provide organizational knowledge management teams with a new metric, the bottleneck impact score (BIS), a valuable tool for evaluating the structural health of communities of practice (CoPs), by detecting the seriousness and pervasiveness of the bottlenecks occurring in knowledge-sharing activities among CoP members.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper uses the social network analysis method to analyze the activities of organizational members in CoPs and classify organizational members into four types based on their degree of involvement in knowledge creation and consumption. CoPs are also categorized into four types based on the proportion of member types they contain to identify the characteristics of CoP member types and of CoP types.

Findings

– Data analysis of the knowledge-sharing activities of 4,414 members from 59 CoPs within one of the largest steel manufacturing companies finds that few CoPs are active in both knowledge creating and consuming and that most CoPs suffer from the insufficient participation of their most experienced employees and experts and hence are vulnerable to master–apprentice and knowledge drain risks.

Originality/value

– The proposed BIS metric successfully quantifies the seriousness and pervasiveness of such structural risks and thus can help management teams take preventive action to reduce the identified structural risks.
Organizational culture evolution: an imprinting perspective
Authors: Yin Shoujun , Lu Fangmei , Yang Yong , Jing Runtian
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to provide an imprinting perspective of the organizational culture evolution at a large state-owned heavy equipment manufacturer. It aims at exploring sensitive periods and the tension between persistence and decay of imprints.

Design/methodology/approach

– It employs the case study approach. Both qualitative (interviews) and quantitative (survey) data were collected, from the directors, middle managements, and grass-roots staffs of Dong Fang Turbine Co. Ltd. Based on the set of four scenarios, both within-scenario analysis and cross-scenario analysis were conducted following the “replication logic.”

Findings

– New survival threats are more possible to develop sensitive periods with new imprints than transition periods, and the authors suggest organizational culture can be divided into two categories as the institutional sensitive and the local community sensitive.

Originality/value

– This study is not only an exploitation of imprinting theories, but also provides a different understanding of organizational evolution, especially in terms of imprints dynamic. Meanwhile, the case shows how institutional environment and local community has shaped differently the organizational culture.
The spontaneity of social network: a possibility for re-enchanting network study?
Authors: Accard Philippe , Assens Christophe
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– For current works, agents create social network by drawing on the knowledge of their immediate environment, and they use network for cooperating with one another and for promoting their own economic and social interests. The purpose of this paper is to aid in re-enchanting network study, and present network as spontaneous social construction.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper draws on Hayek's spontaneous order. For Hayek, agents have access to a wide knowledge about social system, and use this knowledge to spontaneously coordinate with each other in the pursuit of their self-interests.

Findings

– The authors develop the idea by presenting and performing an analogy of Hayek's spontaneous order to emergent structures. The result of this analogy is a conception of network dynamics wherein the spontaneous social construction of network structures is achieved by agents who have knowledge of the interaction rules that guide structures production, and who, by drawing on this knowledge, are able to influence the emergence of network structures. Agents thus spontaneously contribute to the emergence of a network, to its growth, and its decline.

Originality/value

– This new conception of network focusses on the processes of the social construction of network structures. It provides a better account of network change and development than current works, and because it stresses the spontaneous, fragile and ephemeral character of network, it can prove useful for the re-enchantment of network studies.
When infrastructure transition and work practice redesign collide
Authors: A. Tucker Danielle , Hendy Jane , Barlow James
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– As management innovations become more complex, infrastructure needs to change in order to accommodate new work practices. Different challenges are associated with work practice redesign and infrastructure change however; combining these presents a dual challenge and additional challenges associated with this interaction. The purpose of this paper is to ask: what are the challenges which arise from work practice redesign, infrastructure change and simultaneously attempting both in a single transformation?

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors present a longitudinal study of three hospitals in three different countries (UK, USA and Canada) transforming both their infrastructure and work practices. Data consists of 155 ethnographic interviews complemented by 205 documents and 36 hours of observations collected over two phases for each case study.

Findings

– This paper identifies that work practice redesign challenges the cognitive load of organizational members whilst infrastructure change challenges the project management and structure of the organization. Simultaneous transformation represents a disconnect between the two aspects of change resulting in a failure to understand the relationship between work and design.

Practical implications

– These challenges suggest that organizations need to make a distinction between the two aspects of transformation and understand the unique tensions of simultaneously tackling these dual challenges. They must ensure that they have adequate skills and resources with which to build this distinction into their change planning.

Originality/value

– This paper unpacks two different aspects of complex change and considers the neglected challenges associated with modern change management objectives.
A new view to assist public agency development
Authors: L. Schwarzkopf David , M. McDonald Sean
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to expand the research into the “micro-level” of the effects of evidence-based activity on organisational change by focusing on an economic development agency's (EDA's) effort to spread the use of standardised measurements to improve accountability for the use of public funds.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors interviewed 19 key managers and staff of a large British EDA. Participant comments revealed concerns deeper than the technical measurement issue the agency brought in to study. The authors reconceptualised these concerns using the notion of a centre of calculation.

Findings

– Although the EDA focused on standardised measurement as a technical issue, the authors find organisational issues such as the need to reconcile differing perceptions of the importance of measurement, a desire to improve organisational learning and a tension between analysts and project managers impeding accountability efforts and delaying agency growth.

Research limitations/implications

– Findings are based on interviews at one agency. The experience, however, suggests these issues are common to public agencies.

Practical implications

– This model reveals technical concerns as part of more complex organisational issues – an understanding that may help public agencies better focus their accountability and development efforts.

Originality/value

– The model the author's introduced informs studies of evidence-based policymaking at the intra-organisational level by showing that the technical aspects of agency work are part of a larger social concern. It also shows how standardisation for the sake of accountability paradoxically helps build agency power.