bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Measuring ethnic linkages among migrants
Authors: Bauer Thomas , Epstein Gil S. , Gang Ira N.
Published: May 2009

Purpose

Using three different measures, the aim of this paper is to investigate the channels through which ethnic linkages/networks affect the location choice of migrants.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors estimate conditional logit models of the US location choice by Mexican migrants, using individual level data on Mexican‐US migration collected by the Mexican Migration Project

Findings

The main finding is that the choice of Mexican immigrants to move to a region has a hump‐shaped relation with the amount of fellow‐Mexicans living there and with the amount of people coming from the same village. These effects are stronger for illegal immigrants and for first‐time immigrants than for legal immigrants and repeat immigrants respectively. Mixed evidence is found for the effect of the total time the Mexicans from the same village have lived in the USA.

Originality/value

The paper formulates the location choice of Mexican migrants in the USA as influenced by: the number of Mexicans living in the US region; the number of Mexicans from the same village as the migrants living in the US region; and the total time the Mexicans from the same village have lived in the US region.
Naturalization proclivities, ethnicity and integration
Authors: Zimmermann Klaus F. , Constant Amelie F. , Gataullina Liliya
Published: May 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study the determinants of naturalization of non‐EU immigrant household heads with a fresh look at the role of integration and ethnicity.

Design/methodology/approach

Employing data on immigrant household heads from the German Socioeconomic Panel differentiation is made among those who already have been naturalized, those who plan to take citizenship, and those who do not have citizenship and do not want it, using multinomial probit models. The subject scope includes literature on naturalization, ethnicity, and integration.

Findings

A robust finding is that German citizenship is very valuable to female immigrant household heads and the generally better educated, but not to those educated in Germany. The degree of integration into German society has a differential effect on citizenship acquisition. While a longer residence in Germany has a negative influence on actual or future naturalization, arriving at a younger age and having close German friends are strong indicators of a positive proclivity to citizenship acquisition. Likewise, ethnic origins and religion also influence these decisions. Muslim immigrants in Germany are more willing to become German citizens than non‐Muslim immigrants, but there are also fewer German citizens among Muslims than among non‐Muslims.

Research limitations/implications

Future research should also investigate the second‐generation naturalization proclivities and those of illegals.

Practical implications

Allowing for dual citizenship helps generate more naturalizations among Muslims.

Originality/value

The paper provides a test of the relative importance of the integration approach in comparison with the ethnicity model; demonstrating that integration in German society has a stronger effect on naturalization than ethnic origin and religion.
Naturalization and employment of immigrants in France (1968‐1999)
Authors: Fougère Denis , Safi Mirna
Published: May 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the empirical link between the naturalization of immigrants and their subsequent employment status in France from 1968 to 1999.

Design/methodology/approach

For that purpose, longitudinal data coming from a panel dataset which follows almost 1 percent of the French population from 1968 to 1999 through information contained in the 1968, 1975, 1982, 1990 and 1999 French censuses were used. Control for the potential endogeneity of the naturalization process was through a bivariate probit model.

Findings

It was found that naturalization has a significant positive relationship with immigrants' subsequent employability. This is particularly true for groups of immigrants who have a low probability of employment in the host country.

Research limitations/implications

The dataset can only measure statistical association between naturalization and employment, given the lack of timing information. Interpretation in terms of causality is thus not permitted.

Originality/value

The dataset used is especially valuable for studying social integration of immigrants, since it allows significant samples of immigrants, according to their country of origin, these groups being generally too small in other surveys.
Labor market outcomes of immigrants and non‐citizens in the EU
Authors: Kahanec Martin , Zaiceva Anzelika
Published: May 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to comparatively analyse the roles of foreign origin and citizenship in the labor markets of Eastern and Eestern Member States of the EU.

Design/methodology/approach

The EU Survey of Income and Living Conditions is used to evaluate the roles of foreign origin and citizenship on employment and earnings using the standard Probit and OLS econometric models. The native/non‐native labor market divide is measured using Fairlie and Oaxaca‐Blinder decomposition techniques.

Findings

The results indicate that, while predominantly foreign origin is of key importance in the Western EU Member States, both foreign origin and citizenship matter in the Eastern EU Member States, their roles depending on gender. Moreover, the evidence suggests that the effects of citizenship in the EU8 may be driven by the (predominantly ethnic Russian) non‐citizens in Estonia and Latvia.

Research limitations/implications

Further analysis is necessary to evaluate the observed associations as causal relationships.

Originality/value

The study is the first to shed light on the role of foreign origin and citizenship in the EU8 and the EU15 in the comparative East‐West perspective. The findings have noteworthy implications for the targeting of national as well as EU‐wide integration policies.
I'll marry you if you get me a job
Authors: Furtado Delia , Theodoropoulos Nikolaos
Published: May 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to test whether marriage to a native affects the probability that an immigrant will be employed.

Design/methodology/approach

Utilizing 2000 US Census data, first the effect of cross‐nativity marriages on employment is examined using an ordinary least squares model. To deal with endogeneity concerns, a two‐stage least squares model instrument for marriage to a native using local marriage market conditions is then estimated.

Findings

Results from an ordinary least squares model controlling for the usual measures of human capital and immigrant assimilation suggest that marriage to a native increases an immigrant's employment probability by approximately four percentage points. When taking into account the endogeneity of the intermarriage decision, marriage to a native increases the probability of employment by about 11 percentage points.

Research limitations/implications

Although various mechanisms are discussed through which marriage to a native can increase employment probabilities of immigrants, the authors do not disentangle these mechanisms. This is an area ripe for future research.

Originality/value

It is shown that, from a theoretical perspective, marriage to a native has an ambiguous effect on immigrant employment rates. The empirical answer to this question provides insights into the assimilation process, which may prove useful in designing optimal immigration policies.
Intermarriage, language, and economic assimilation process
Authors: Meng Xin , Meurs Dominique
Published: May 2009

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to study the role of intermarriage in the process of immigrant economic assimilation in France.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors estimate an earnings equation for immigrants in France to examine the extent to which intermarried immigrants are better assimilated in the labor market – as measured by earnings – than their non‐intermarried counterparts. To handle the possible endogeneity problem of intermarriage, two novel instruments are used: the “sex ratio” for each region‐ethnicity cell, and “probability of marrying within one's own ethnic group”.

Findings

It wass found that immigrants who are intermarried earn around 17 per cent more than immigrants who are endogamously married. After taking into account individual characteristics and endogeneity of intermarriage, the premium is around 25 to 35 per cent. In addition, the intermarriage premium is substantially higher for individuals who have a better grasp of the French language before migration than for those whose language skill is poor. This result seems to suggest that, perhaps, immigrants who have a strong base in the native language can gain greater benefit from intermarriage.

Originality/value

The paper is the first to investigate this important aspect of immigrants' assimilation process in the French labor market.
Immigrant self‐employment adjustment
Authors: Clark Ken , Drinkwater Stephen
Published: May 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine two aspects of the self‐employment adjustment of immigrant groups in the UK. First, how the probability of self‐employment for males changes with time since migration relative to the native population and second, how the probability of self‐employment for males differs between immigrants and the UK‐born within ethnic groups.

Design/methodology/approach

Limited dependent variable regression models are estimated using data from the UK Labour Force Survey collected between 2001 and 2005. The results are presented graphically to make clear the differences between ethnic groups.

Findings

The predicted self‐employment probability of “Asian” immigrants increases faster than that of natives over the lifecycle while that of “Black” groups declines. Furthermore, the observed lower propensity of UK‐born members of certain ethnic groups to be in self‐employment is largely explained by differences in human capital.

Practical implications

High rates of self‐employment amongst some ethnic groups in the UK are unlikely to be a transitory phenomenon.

Originality/value

While previous work on the UK has examined patterns of self‐employment between groups and over time, the paper looks for the first time at how adjustment within groups takes place over the life cycle and across nativity status.
Did 9/11 affect Hispanic‐Americans' self‐employment entry and exit decisions?
Authors: Wang Chunbei , Lofstrom Magnus
Published: May 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the tragic events of 9/11 on the self‐employment entry/exit decisions of native‐born Hispanics.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses the difference‐in‐differences approach with native Whites as the control group. The dynamics of entry and exit decisions are examined using data from 1999‐2003 CPS‐ORG.

Findings

The estimates reveal a negative impact of 9/11 on Hispanics' self‐employment entry decisions, which is mainly the result of less entry from the wage sector, and it has increased Hispanics' self‐employment exit, which is mainly the result of increased exit to the wage sector.

Research limitations/implications

The results suggest that native Hispanics may have experienced increased job opportunities in the wake of 9/11 and hence became less likely to be “pushed” into self‐employment and more likely to be “pulled” out of self‐employment. The improved labor market opportunities stem from government increased sanctions against undocumented immigrants, which reduced the demand for illegal immigrant workers, many of whom are Hispanic immigrants, and that native‐born Hispanics are likely to be relatively close substitutes for immigrants Hispanics. A limitation of the research is that the estimates are statistically insignificant, possibly due to the relatively small sample size.

Originality/value

Existing studies that examine the impact of 9/11 on the Hispanic's labor market outcomes are all focused on immigrants or wage‐employment. The paper complements the literature by examining the impact of 9/11 on native‐born Hispanics and in particular their self‐employment decisions, and thus provides a more complete picture of the impact of 9/11 on Hispanics.
Simultaneous effects of functional involvement and improvement programs on manufacturing and financial performance in Chinese firms
Authors: Qi Yinan , Sum Chee‐Chuong , Zhao Xiande
Published: May 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the simultaneous effects of two process variables: functional involvement in strategy formulation, and manufacturing improvement programs, on manufacturing performance and financial performance of manufacturing firms in China.

Design/methodology/approach

Rigorous empirical research methods are used to ensure proper data collection process, and reliability and validity of constructs. Structural equation modeling is used to examine the relationships between functional involvement, improvement programs, manufacturing performance and financial performance.

Findings

It was found that involvement of marketing, finance and operations in strategy formulation have an effect on cost and quality whereas the involvement of emerging functions such as human resources, public relations, research and development and information technology have an effect on all aspects of manufacturing performance.

Originality/value

Studies of manufacturing strategy have primarily focused on choices and plans that denote strategic intent, rather than on the process of formulating and realizing strategy. Typical studies have used data from developed countries, such as Europe and North America. Insufficient attention has been paid to the process variables of manufacturing strategy and their effects on manufacturing performance. The study addresses these gaps in the literature using data collected from Chinese firms.
Financial development and economic growth
Authors: Seetanah Boopen , Ramessur Shalini T. , Rojid Sawkut
Published: May 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to test the hypothesis that there exists a positive link between financial development and economic growth in island economies.

Design/methodology/approach

To study this relationship both static and dynamic panel data techniques (GMM) are used for a sample of 20 island economies over a period of 22 years.

Findings

Results from the fixed effect estimates show that financial development has a positive contribution on the output level of the islands. The positive link is also validated using GMM panel estimates and interestingly the presence of dynamics in the modelling is detected.

Originality/value

This research narrows the gap that exists in literature as much of the research in this field deals with only developed countries and very few with developing countries. To the best of the authors' knowledge, no studies have looked into a set of island economies – this study is the first of its kind.
Poverty, income distribution, and agriculture in developing countries
Authors: Quang Dao Minh
Published: May 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the determinants of rural and national poverty, of income distribution, and of agricultural growth in developing countries.

Design/methodology/approach

Data for all variables are from the 2008 World Development Report. The author applies the least‐squares estimation technique in a multivariate linear regression.

Findings

It is found, from different size samples, that: the percentage of the rural population living below the national rural poverty line in a developing country is dependent upon the logarithm of per capita purchasing power parity gross national income and the region in which it is located; it linearly depends on its per capita agriculture value added and its geographic location; agriculture value added growth linearly depends on the share of women in the agricultural labor force, whether the developing country is agriculture‐based, and whether it is located in Europe or Central Asia; and agricultural productivity linearly depends on the amount of arable and permanent cropland per agricultural person, the share of women in the agricultural labor force, and the share of agricultural employment in total employment.

Originality/value

Statistical results in this paper will assist governments in developing countries assess the magnitude of agricultural policy variables in an effort to use agriculture as an engine for economic development.
Institutions and economic volatility: democracy versus risk of expropriation
Authors: Ponczek Vladimir , Mattos Enlinson
Published: May 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to decompose the effects of democracy and risk of expropriation on economic volatility.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors follow Acemouglu et al. and use settler mortality in former colonies in the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as an instrument of “risk of expropriation,” in addition to a democracy index to capture institutional effects on economic stability.

Findings

The authors present empirical evidence that the economic performance of more centralized former European colonies is not more volatile than that of democratic ones, once the exogenous variation of expropriation risk across countries is included in the model

Originality/value

The paper investigates the role of a spectrum of different institutions on economic stability. In this sense, the paper contributes to the literature analyzing the effect of property‐rights protection, as measured by a risk‐of‐expropriation index, on the relation between democracy and economic stability.
Risk exposure and financial policy
Authors: Abor Joshua , Sarpong‐Kumankoma Emmanuel , Fiawoyife Eme , Osei Kofi A.
Published: May 2009

Purpose

This paper aims to evaluate the effect of risk on the financial policy of emerging market firms.

Design/methodology/approach

Using data from 34 emerging markets during a 17‐year period, 1990‐2006, a panel data model is employed for the analysis.

Findings

The results of this study indicate that firms with high probability of survival are likely to employ more debt. The level of risk exposure, particularly business risk is important in influencing the financial decisions of firms in emerging market economies. It is argued that since the use of debt increases firms' exposure to financial risk, firms with high business risk would shy away from using more debt. Also, finance providers in the financial market may not be interested in lending to firms with high business risk. This study also identified profitability, dividend, asset tangibility, growth opportunities, and GDP per capita as important determinants of the financial policy of emerging market firms.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the extant literature by providing empirical evidence regarding the effect of risk on the financial policy of emerging market firms.
Entrepreneurial firms and their knowledge creation: a study of real estate management
Authors: Fong Patrick S.W. , Dettwiler Paul
Published: May 2009

Purpose

This article interweaves the disciplines of knowledge management and entrepreneurship, where the purpose is to develop a model that depicts the knowledge creation relationship of entrepreneurial firms in particular and its environmental context related to real estate management. How does the educational level of workers affect knowledge creation in entrepreneurial firms?

Design/methodology/approach

This article is based on the results of a survey in Sweden that consisted of an investigation of the offices of 967 enlisted growth firms covering the entire country, forming a basis for further theoretical development.

Findings

The findings suggest that education level has a gravitational character according to traditional location theories. Three concepts from the theories of entrepreneurship are transferred to real estate management factors where the educational level of staff would play a significant role.

Practical implications

Entrepreneurial firms have a particular vulnerability, which is their human capital, and require particular management skills to prevent losses.

Originality/value

The significant contribution of this paper is that it provides a basis for conceptualising a model of knowledge creation in entrepreneurial (in contrast to conservative) firms performing under dynamic and competitive environments.
Getting the attention the facilities manager deserves
Authors: Bainbridge Murray , Finch Edward F.
Published: May 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assess the role of computer‐aided facilities management (CAFM) in the delivery of knowledge management solutions. It aims to highlight the increasing problem of “attention” as a limited resource amongst facilities stakeholders. The paper attempts to describe the findings of a study to establish the types of CAFM functionality sought by facilities management practitioners.

Design/methodology/approach

The study involved a structured questionnaire study of 110 respondents in Scotland (from 395 administered questionnaires) using a stratified sample. The objective was to obtain a profile of early‐adopters and to identify barriers to further adoption.

Findings

The findings indicate that the use of information technology in the form of CAFM is more likely amongst dedicated FM service providers than organisations with in‐house FM delivery and that medium‐sized enterprises (between 51 and 250 employees) are least likely to be using CAFM. A limiting factor in continued adoption appears to be the diminishing returns resulting from information overload. “Attention” appears to be the limiting resource in an increasingly complex and information hungry environment.

Research limitations/implications

The findings are based on a national survey in Scotland and may have limited reproducibility outside of the UK. Nevertheless the general findings are relevant to the international context.

Practical implications

This paper provides an indicative analysis of current trends in the computer‐aided facilities management (CAFM) arena. It identifies an increasing need to capture “tacit” as well as “explicit” knowledge in such systems.

Originality/value

This work develops the idea of the “attention economy” in the context of facilities management, highlighting the current impasse for information systems aspiring to become knowledge management systems.
Acquisition, reuse and sharing of knowledge in property management firms
Authors: Fong Patrick S.W. , Fung Lee Hang
Published: May 2009

Purpose

In the knowledge economy, the management of knowledge is important because the value of corporations and individuals is directly related to their knowledge and intellectual capital. This is especially true for real estate management, which is of increasing concern to the public and plays an important role in the property market today. This paper aims to show the nature of property professionals' acquisition, sharing and reuse of knowledge in their work.

Design/methodology/approach

To better understand the practices of knowledge management (KM) currently employed by property management firms, a study of the general practices of knowledge management in property management firms in Hong Kong was undertaken. This study described the notion of knowledge and knowledge management and investigated the norms of property professionals in acquiring, sharing and reusing knowledge in their daily practices. It also analyzed the relationship between size of firms and methods of knowledge acquisition and sharing. A questionnaire survey was conducted to study the opinions of professional property managers on the acquisition and reuse of knowledge and experience in their daily work. Questionnaires were sent to 103 PM firms with a response rate of 30 percent.

Findings

The survey results reveal that property managers mostly acquire their knowledge from the internet and newspapers. They also obtain knowledge from their colleagues and thus they are always important target persons with whom to share knowledge. In addition, property managers have close contact with professionals within and beyond their profession, allowing them to tap into and share knowledge across organizational boundaries. Although property managers are willing to share knowledge with others, there is no evidence to show that there are formal knowledge management strategies in PM firms. It seems that there is a need for explicit knowledge management strategies in property management, which could leverage their employees' knowledge assets.

Research limitations/implications

Past research that studied other types of knowledge workers may not be applicable to the unique nature of professionals working in the property management sector.

Originality/value

The originality of this paper is that it examines the practices of property professionals in acquiring, sharing and reusing knowledge in their daily practices which have not been studied systematically before. This paper also makes suggestions for improving knowledge‐managing strategies in this profession to prevent knowledge loss.
Standardizing FM knowledge acquisition when information is inadequate
Authors: Das Sutapa , Leng Poh Kim , Yit Lin Chew Michael
Published: May 2009

Purpose

Besides designing a comprehensive building maintainability scoring system, this paper aims to develop a standard and reliable method for acquisition of tacit knowledge in facility management (FM) and convert the same into organizational records so that the current dearth of information and poor feedback leading to recurrent defects and arbitrary FM strategies can be eliminated.

Design/methodology/approach

Nine major building elements in terms of maintainability were compared by analytic hierarchy process (AHP). Various aspects of consistency checking and group decision making were reviewed to find the best suitable method. During data collection via an AHP questionnaire in face‐to‐face interviews, logical reasoning employed by experts was noted and later matched with the subjective data.

Findings

It was observed that technical viability of services and business profile given by building height and location, respectively, set different priorities for major building elements. HVAC system is the prime element followed by elevator and façade. Such priorities can be derived from consistent judgment which improves steadily with a decision‐maker's work experience. A threshold of 10 per cent consistency and aggregating individual priorities (AIP) using geometric mean method of AHP were found most appropriate.

Practical implications

Adaptation of this framework will help industry experts to document their tacit knowledge in a structured manner without facing present constraints. By tracking the recorded facts and logical reasoning, neophytes can learn the multi‐faceted aspects of FM without trial and error.

Originality/value

This research establishes AHP as a standard and reliable method for knowledge acquisition and thus elevates its status from a multi‐criteria decision analysis tool to decision enhancement tool.
An element‐free Galerkin method for metal forming simulations
Authors: Rossi Rodrigo , Krajnc Alves Marcelo , Al‐Qureshi Hazim Ali
Published: May 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the application of the element‐free Galerkin (EFG) method to the simulation of metal forming processes and to propose a strategy to deal with volumetric locking problem in this context.

Design/methodology/approach

The J2 elastoplastic material model, employed in the work, assumes a multiplicative decomposition of the deformation gradient into an elastic and a plastic part and incorporates a non‐linear isotropic hardening response. The constitutive model is written in terms of the rotated Kirchhoff stress and the logarithmic strain measure. A Total Lagrangian formulation of the problem is considered in order to improve the computational performance of the proposed algorithm. The imposition of the essential boundary conditions and also of the unilateral contact with friction condition are made by the application of the Augmented Lagrangian method. Here, aspects related to the volumetric locking are investigated and an F‐bar approach is applied.

Findings

The results show that the proposed approach presents no volumetric locking phenomenon when using the mean dilation approach. Moreover, differently from finite element approximations, no hour‐glass instabilities in the deformation pattern are observed, avoiding in this way the need to devise additional stabilization procedures in the proposed procedure.

Originality/value

This paper demonstrates the implementation and validation of the mean dilation approach, in the scope of the EFG, which was successful in coping with the volumetric locking phenomena and presented no hour‐glass instabilities in the problem cases considered in this work.
Heuristic design procedure for structures with displacement‐dependent damping devices
Authors: Pong Wenshen , Lee Zu‐Hsu , Tsai Chong‐Shein , Chen Bo‐Jen
Published: May 2009

Purpose

The use of supplemental damping to dissipate energy is one of the most economical and effective ways to mitigate the effects of earthquake on structures. For practicing engineers, the ideal design procedure for buildings with supplemental damping should not be too complex to implement in practice. Building on the existing theoretical frame, the purpose of this paper is to develop simple and heuristic methods for the above design procedure.

Design/methodology/approach

Passive displacement‐dependent devices are considered in this paper. Based on the theoretical results for added damping and added stiffness (ADAS) devices, the paper first analyzes the generated forces and the effects of ADAS devices on structures under seismic impact. We identify design parameters and variables are identified, and present the procedure of how the values of the variables (e.g. column shear force, ductility ratio) are finalized so that the design requirements can be met is presented. A four‐story six‐bay steel building frame and a ten‐story, one‐bay steel building frame, equipped with ADAS devices, are used to demonstrate the performance of the design procedure.

Findings

Empirical results show that the arrangement of damping devices based on the proposed procedure not only significantly reduces earthquake‐induced energy, but also accomplishes the goal of being cost‐effective by the control of ductility ratio.

Originality/value

The proposed step‐by‐step procedure is easy for practicing engineers to apply for structures equipped with displacement‐dependent dampers, although the modeling requirements may be complex. It will also allow practicing engineers to effectively design economic seismic dampers in the preliminary design phase and further explore the cost factors by comparing different building seismic performance objectives throughout design.
The pressure angle effects of spur gears on stress concentration factor
Authors: Khoshnaw Fuad M. , Ahmed Namam M.
Published: May 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of pressure angle, and module of spur gear teeth on stress concentration factor, using photoelasticity method, and numerical MSC/NASTRAN finite element package.

Design/methodology/approach

The stress concentration factor is determined as a ratio between maximum stress (determined in the fillet radius by photoelastic and finite element methods), and nominal stress (calculated by a common standard formulas). In order to specify the geometric parameters (height and thickness) of gears, both standard Deutsches Institut für Normung (DIN)/Japanese Gear Manufactures Association (JGMA), and five other non‐standard approaches are used.

Findings

The results show that the stress concentration factor increases by decreasing the pressure angle. In addition, the values which are obtained by finite element analyses exhibit more uniformity than photoelastic method.

Practical implications

An accurate determination of stress concentration factors will limit both over and under design of the gears.

Originality/value

The results show that one of the suggested non‐standard approaches gives the highest stress concentration factor than the standard approaches.
A study on flow characteristics of electrorheological fluid in a damper model
Authors: Yamaguchi Hiroshi , Zhang Xin‐Rong , Inoue Daisuke
Published: May 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate flow behavior of electrorheological (ER) fluid in a closed piston–cylinder system.

Design/methodology/approach

A basic study of flow characteristics of ER fluid in a damper model is conducted experimentally and numerically. The electric field is applied between inner wall of the cylinder and outer wall of the piston, and the pressure difference between upper and lower chamber of the cylinder is measured. A numerical prediction of ER fluid flow in the damper model system is performed in order to study the ER fluid flow characteristics. Visualization experiment is also made and used to qualitatively verify the numerical formulation.

Findings

The agreement between the numerical predictions and experimental results is encouraging, and the ER fluid flow patterns under different piston aspect ratios, movement speeds and applied electric field strengths are presented. The results show that the piston aspect ratio has much smaller influence on the ER flow pattern than other influencing factors. Increasing piston movement speed or reducing the electric field applied is helpful to reduce the pressure response time period, which is an important indicator showing sensitiveness of the damper. It is also seen that the pressure difference between the upper and lower chamber of the cylinder increases with the electric field strength and the piston movement speed.

Originality/value

First time the detailed investigation into the hydrodynamics behavior in such working models of engineering applications for ER fluid.
Modeling creep in a rotating disc with linear and quadratic composition gradients
Authors: Gupta V.K. , Kumar Vijay , Ray S.
Published: May 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of imposing linear and quadratic composition gradients on the steady state creep behavior of a rotating functionally graded Al‐SiCP disc operating under a radial thermal gradient.

Design/methodology/approach

Mathematical model to describe steady state creep behavior in rotating discs made of isotropic aluminum composite containing linear and quadratic distributions of Silicon Carbide (SiCP) in the radial direction has been formulated. The discs are assumed to operate under a radial thermal gradient originating due to braking action as estimated by FEM analysis. The steady state creep behavior of the discs under stresses developing due to rotation has been determined following Sherby's law. Based on the developed model, the distributions of stresses and strain rates have been obtained and compared for various functionally graded material (FGM) discs containing the same average amount (20 vol per cent) of dispersoid. The creep response of a composite disc with uniform SiCP content of 20 vol per cent and operating under a radial thermal gradient has also been computed for comparison with the results obtained for FGM discs.

Findings

The study reveals that the distribution of stresses and strain rates in a rotating composite disc operating under a radial thermal gradient are significantly affected by different particle distributions with in the disc. The creep stresses and steady state creep rates in a rotating FGM disc can be significantly reduced by employing more SiCP particles in the middle compared to the inner and the outer radii.

Originality/value

The study provides an understanding of the required tailoring of composition in order to control creep stresses and creep rates in a rotating FGM disc operating under a radial thermal gradient.
Natural neighbor Galerkin method for deflection analysis of inflatable structures
Authors: Dialami Narges , Daneshmand Farhang
Published: May 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to extend the application of natural neighbor Galerkin Method (NNGM) to deflection analysis of inflatable structures such as new and modern textile structures under arbitrary conditions.

Design/methodology/approach

Inflatable structures have a proper mechanical strength when they are inflated at different pressures. NNGM or natural element method (NEM) is defined as a new meshfree method based on the natural neighbor interpolation to analyze the deflections of these structures under arbitrary pressures, load and support conditions. The whole interpolation is built with regard to the natural neighbor nodes and Voronoi tessellation of the given point.

Findings

The performance of NNGM is investigated in the deflection analysis of inflatable tubes and panels. The excellent agreement between the presented modeling and analytical results and also finite element solutions and experiment are observed.

Originality/value

Despite the wide usage of NNGM in many engineering problems, this comparison shows the other aspect of application of NNGM in the deflection analysis of inflatable structures, not previously examined.
A survey on the advancement of QA (quality assurance) to TQM (total quality management) for construction contractors in Hong Kong
Authors: Lau Andrew W.T. , Tang S.L.
Published: May 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report an investigation on the advancement of QA to TQM for construction contractors in Hong Kong.

Design/methodology/approach

The investigation is based on a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire was answered by 40 respondents working in construction contractors in Hong Kong including project managers, section managers, senior engineers and quality managers. The data obtained from the questionnaire survey were then analysed.

Findings

The results of the questionnaire survey are presented in the form of the levels of application of QA and TQM as practised by the contracting organizations in Hong Kong. The findings suggest that contractors are fully familiar with the application of QA but are less familiar with that of TQM. Both QA and TQM items that are mostly practised and seldom practised are discussed. In association with the findings, potential areas for exploratory studies in quality management systems and the quality culture of the Hong Kong construction industry are suggested.

Originality/value

The paper explores new directions in the advancement of QA to TQM for construction contractors and offers help to practitioners in providing a direction for construction quality management improvement.
The demerit‐based control chart for trinomial distribution
Authors: Chattinnawat Wichai
Published: May 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the properties of the classical goodness of fit test statistics X2, G2, GM2, and NM2 in testing quality of process represented as the trinomial distribution with dip null hypothesis and to devise a control chart for the trinomial distribution with dip null hypothesis based on demerit control chart.

Design/methodology/approach

The research involves the linear form of the test statistics, the linear function of counts since the marginal distribution of the counts in any category is binomial or approximated Poisson, in which the uniformly minimum variance unbiased estimator is the linear function of counts. A control chart is used for monitoring student characteristics in Thailand. The control chart statistics based on an average of the demerit value computed for each student as a weighted average lead to a uniformly most powerful unbiased test marginally. The two‐sided control limits were obtained using percentile estimates of the empirical distribution of the averages of the demerit.

Findings

The demerit control chart of the weight set (1, 25, 50) shows a generally good performance, robust to direction of out‐of‐control, mostly outperforms the GM2 and is recommended. The X2, NM2 are not recommended in view of inconsistency and bias. The performance of the demerit control chart of the weight set (1, 25, 50) does not dramatically change between both directions.

Practical implications

None of the multivariate control charts for counts presented in the literature deals with trinomial distribution representing the practical index of the quality of the production/process in which the classification of production outputs into three categories of “good”, “defective”, and “reworked” is common. The demerit‐based control chart presented here can be applied directly to this situation.

Originality/value

The research considers how to deal with the trinomial distribution with dip null hypothesis which no research study so far has presented. The study shows that the classical Pearson's X2, Loglikelihood, modified Loglikelihood, and Neyman modified X2 could fail to detect an “out‐of‐control”. This research provides an alternative control chart methodology based on demerit value with recommended weight set (1, 25, 50) for use in general.
User‐satisfaction‐based knowledge management performance measurement
Authors: Lo Kwong‐Chi , Chin Kwai‐Sang
Published: May 2009

Purpose

This paper aims to develop a user‐satisfaction‐based knowledge management performance measurement model, including identifying the assessment criteria sourced from user‐satisfaction‐based core values, critical success factors and phases of knowledge management process. With the aid of the developed measurement model, organisations could assess the strength and weakness of their own knowledge management system and practice and then identify areas for improvement.

Design/methodology/approach

User‐satisfaction‐based core values, critical success factors and five‐phase knowledge management process are identified through literature review and analysis, and expert interviews, with the aid of system‐modelling techniques.

Findings

The seven user‐satisfaction‐based core values, eight critical success factors and five‐phase knowledge management process are identified as the basis of the assessment criteria. These assessment criteria provide academics and practitioners with a new insight into the research landscape for knowledge management performance measurement.

Originality/value

The user‐satisfaction‐based approach provides direct measurement of knowledge management performances in organisations. The developed user‐satisfaction‐based knowledge management performance measurement model covers comprehensive assessment criteria, which are crucial to enable organisations to measure their knowledge management practices and identify improvement areas. It also provides a platform to benchmark performances among companies and even industries, and in turn continually improve knowledge management performances.
Application of the Taguchi method for optimization of parameters to maximize text message entering performance of mobile phone users
Authors: Al‐Darrab Ibrahim A. , Khan Zahid A. , Zytoon Mohamed A. , Ishrat Sheikh I.
Published: May 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate application of the Taguchi method to determine the optimum level of three important parameters (factors) related to the use of a mobile phone for the text message entering task, namely illumination level, noise level and mobile angle that maximizes the performance of mobile phone users.

Design/methodology/approach

Three levels of each parameter as available in the literature, except for the mobile angle, were considered. The design of the experiment, as proposed by Genichi Taguchi, was used to conduct nine experiments. A total of 30 male subjects participated in the experimental study. The text message entry task, in the form of Arabic text, was presented to the participating subjects and their performance, measured in terms of mean number of characters entered per minute, was recorded. The signal‐to‐noise (S/N) ratio and the analysis of variance (ANOVA) were employed to investigate the users' performance. Finally, a confirmation test was conducted to verify the validity of the results.

Findings

Results showed that, at the illumination level of 475 lux, noise level of 45 dB(A), and mobile angle of 70 degrees, the subjects were quite comfortable, efficient and entered the maximum number of characters in the mobile phone per minute. The noise was found to be the dominant parameter with a contribution of 95.53 percent towards the laid down objective followed by mobile angle, 3.25 percent and illumination level, 0.66 percent.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors' knowledge no study has been conducted in the past to investigate the effect of these parameters on the performance of the mobile phone users. In addition, no attempt has yet been made to find the optimal level of these parameters from a text‐entering viewpoint. The paper represents original research and in the authors' opinion carries significantly important values as it provides new information for those involved in the design of the mobile phone environment.
A simple and effective R chart to monitor the process variance
Authors: Prajapati D.R. , Mahapatra P.B.
Published: May 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new design of an R chart to catch smaller shifts in the process dispersion as well as maintaining the simplicity so that it may be applied at shopfloor level.

Design/methodology/approach

Here a new R chart has been proposed which can overcome the limitations of Shewhart, CUSUM and EWMA range charts. The concept of this R chart is based on chi‐square (χ2) distribution. Although CUSUM and EWMA charts are very useful for catching the small shifts in the mean or standard deviation, they can catch the process shift only when there is a single and sustained shift in process average or standard deviation.

Findings

It was found that the proposed chart performs significantly better than the conventional (Shewhart) R chart, CUSUM range schemes proposed by Chang and Gan for most of the process shifts in standard deviation. The ARLs of the proposed R chart is higher than ARLs of CUSUM schemes for only ten cases out of 40. The performance of the proposed R chart has also been compared with the variance chart proposed by Chang and Gan for various shifts in standard deviation. The ARLs of the proposed R chart are compared with Chang's R chart for sample sizes of 3 and it can be concluded from the comparisons that the proposed R chart is much better than Chang's variance chart for all shift ratios for sample size of three. Many difficulties related to the operation and design of CUSUM and EWMA control charts are greatly reduced by providing a simple and accurate proposed R chart scheme. The performance characteristics (ARLs) of the proposed charts are very comparable to a great degree with FIR CUSUM, simple CUSUM and other variance charts. It can be concluded that, instead of considering many parameters, it is better to consider single sample size and single control limits because a control chart loses its simplicity with a greater number of parameters. Moreover, practitioners may also find difficulty in applying it in production processes. On the other hand, CUSUM control charts are not effective when there is a single and sustained shift in the process dispersion.

Research limitations/implications

A lot of effort has been done to develop the new range charts for monitoring the process dispersion. Various assumptions and factors affecting the performance of the R chart have been identified and taken into account. In the proposed design, the observations have been assumed independent of one another but the observations may also be assumed to be auto‐correlated with previous observations and the performance of the proposed R chart may be studied.

Originality/value

The research findings could be applied to various manufacturing and service industries as it is more effective than the conventional (Shewhart) R chart and simpler than CUSUM charts.