bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Business school culture: customer‐focused, virtual and cooperative
Authors: Lorange Peter
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine and question aspects of the culture of the modern business school, and to investigate the possibilities for a more student oriented, more responsive, more flexible and performance‐driven culture.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is a critical discourse on the cultural conservatism of contemporary business schools, analysing the impediments to change, and examining the transformation in the business education market and among students, that demand greater responsiveness.

Findings

The paper finds that while the traditional culture of business schools is deeply embedded in professional practices and axiomatic disciplines, the seismic changes occurring in technology and social practices beyond the business school are impelling business schools to adapt and become more agile.

Research limitations/implications

While recognising the significance of the changes that are already occurring, it also acknowledged that there is a deeply embedded set of professional and cultural practices in university business schools that are long established and will not be readily changed, with more likely an ongoing tension between modernity and tradition.

Practical implications

The paper provides insights into how a more flexible and responsive business school would operate and engage students.

Originality/value

The paper provides a fresh assessment of where the business schools are, and where they will have to go to continue to engage the changing demands of business and managers.
Reputational challenges for business schools: a contextual perspective
Authors: Siebert Sabina , Martin Graeme
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The dominant variance theory approaches to researching business school reputations are based on a positivistic hypothetico‐deductive research methodology and do not adequately take into account either the different levels and types of contexts in which business schools operate or the diversity of stakeholder interests. The aim of this paper is to propose a more relevant contextualised framework for analysing the reputation of business schools that takes cognisance of the national business systems, industry/sector, university and relational contexts of the different stakeholders involved in socially constructing and enacting business school reputations. The authors also seek to explore the tensions between these often competing or unaligned agendas of stakeholders in business schools.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a conceptual paper that proposes a contextualised framework for analysing the reputation of business schools. It reviews the current state of theory on business schools’ reputations, analyses their weaknesses and potential research gaps, and proposes an alternative model to the dominant universalistic positivism in understanding business school reputations.

Findings

The authors conclude that the variance theory underpinning of current research does not take into account sufficiently either the diversity of stakeholder interests or the contexts in which business schools operate. Thus, the authors propose an alternative model to the dominant universalistic positivism in understanding business school reputations. This new model is based on four levels of context: national, industry, university and relational, and acknowledges that different stakeholders might have a dominant voice at each of these levels.

Originality/value

The authors attempt to fill a gap in the existing literature on business school reputations, and make a contribution to theory of reputation management.
The future of family business education in UK business schools
Authors: Collins Lorna , Seaman Claire , Graham Stuart , Stepek Martin
Published: June 2013

Purpose

This practitioner paper aims to question basic assumptions about management education and to argue that a new paradigm is needed for UK business schools which embraces an oft neglected, yet economically vital, stakeholder group, namely family businesses. It seeks to pose the question of why we have forgotten to teach about family business management in the management portfolio.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper adopts a stakeholder approach, building on nominal stakeholder theory to justify a change to the teaching paradigm in business schools. It builds on discussions in the extant literature about failures of business schools to address modern needs.

Findings

The authors find that business schools in the UK need to begin to engage with family businesses through embracing the next generation from families in business. Policy needs to be developed that will support the next generation in a positive way by teaching about the family in business.

Originality/value

The paper aims to stimulate discussion about key stakeholders and prompt review of neglect of this key area of business study in the UK.
Green marketing in B2B organisations: an empirical analysis from the natural‐resource‐based view of the firm
Authors: Fraj Elena , Martínez Eva , Matute Jorge
Published: June 2013

Purpose

Following the natural resource based view of the firm, this paper seeks to analyse the influence of a green marketing strategy on the performance of business‐to‐business organisations. Also, it aims to explore the role of organisational resources as drivers of proactive environmental management.

Design/methodology/approach

A model based on structural equations with partial least squares analysis is used to test the hypotheses. This model was tested on a sample of 181 industrial organisations.

Findings

The findings confirm that managers indirectly play a key role in the design and development of green marketing strategies through the integration of environmental values into the organisational culture. They also reveal that, while market‐oriented practices directly determine economic performance, internally oriented activities indirectly influence financial results through the improvement of the firm's environmental performance.

Research limitations/implications

This research partially integrates organisational resources as drivers of environmental behaviour, and does not explore the role of capabilities. The article proposes different implications considering the competitive consequences of a green marketing strategy.

Practical implications

The article includes different practical implications about the effect of different environmental practices on different dimensions of organisational performance. It sheds light on the controversial link between environmental proactivity and performance.

Originality/value

This research tests empirically some of the theoretical underpinnings of the natural resource based view of the company in an under‐researched context like the business‐to‐business context.
Improving accountability through expanded measures of performance
Authors: Hamilton Laura S. , Schwartz Heather L. , Stecher Brian M. , Steele Jennifer L.
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how test‐based accountability has influenced school and district practices and explore how states and districts might consider creating expanded systems of measures to address the shortcomings of traditional accountability. It provides research‐based guidance for entities that are developing or adopting new measures of school performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The study relies on literature review, consultation with expert advisers, review of state and district documentation, and semi‐structured interviews with staff at state and local education agencies and research institutions.

Findings

The research shows mixed effects of test‐based accountability on student achievement and demonstrates that teachers and administrators change their practices in ways that respond to the incentives provided by the system. The review of state and district measurement systems shows widespread use of additional measures of constructs, such as school climate and college readiness.

Research limitations/implications

There is a clear need for additional research on the short‐ and long‐term effects of expanded systems of measures. In particular, currently little is known about how the inclusion of input and process measures influences educators’ practices or student outcomes.

Practical implications

The research suggests several practical steps that can be taken to promote effective systems of measurement, including providing supports for high‐quality teaching to accompany new measures, offering flexibility to respond to local needs, and conducting validity studies that address the various purposes of the measures.

Originality/value

The paper provides new information about how states and districts are expanding their systems of measures for various purposes, and informs accountability policy by highlighting the benefits and limitations of current outcomes‐based approaches to accountability and by clarifying the trade‐offs and decisions that should be considered.
Systemwide reform under pressure: a global perspective on learning and change
Authors: Stoll Louise
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present the author's commentary on the special issue of Journal of Educational Administration entitled “Systemwide reform: examining districts under pressure”.

Design/methodology/approach

In framing her reflections, the author has looked across the five articles in the special issue, pulling out a number of themes from the perspective of her interest in capacity for learning. This interest stems from involvement over many years in research and development in school improvement and its leadership, and the conclusion that real and meaningful educational change requires much more than superficial tinkering with structures and practices in schools and districts.

Findings

The author's comments draw heavily from her own context, England where, it could be argued, an educational policy “experiment” is taking place but she also refers to other countries’ approaches and experiences.

Originality/value

The author's own work is underpinned by social and organizational learning theories, and so she welcomes the diversity of theoretical and methodological perspectives taken by the authors in this special issue in helping to view the special issue topic from different angles.
Research watch: art therapy: a dose of treatment, an aid to social inclusion or an unnecessary indulgence?
Authors: Holttum Sue
Published: June 2013

Purpose

This Research Watch aims to summarise two recent and very different research publications on art therapy and comments on their ability to shed light on the usefulness of art therapy to address mental distress and enhance social inclusion.

Design/methodology/approach

The author discusses a recent edition of a UK art therapy journal in which research papers focus on art therapy with people who have been given a diagnosis of personality disorder. The main methodologies are qualitative describing participants’ and/or therapists’ experiences and the role of art therapy in addressing serious mental distress. The second publication is a recent report of a large randomised controlled trial of art therapy for people given a diagnosis of schizophrenia. The author assesses the value of both publications in informing us about the usefulness of art therapy in addressing mental distress and enhancing social inclusion.

Findings

In the author's view, neither publication establishes definitively how or whether art therapy might address serious mental distress, whether labelled personality disorder or schizophrenia. However, the qualitative articles provide insight into possible helpful (and less helpful) aspects of therapy. The randomised trial should have been able to establish general principles about the effectiveness of art therapy for a specific group of people in specified contexts, but instead exemplifies many problems inherent in the pervasive research culture of putting numbers onto complex human interactions and calculating their value for money, sometimes at the expense of really understanding what is going on.

Originality/value

The author draws upon these two very different examples of research to reflect a current dilemma in UK art therapy research, and tentatively looks at possible ways forward.
Comparison of propensity for carbon disclosure between developing and developed countries
Authors: Luo Le , Tang Qingliang , Lan Yi‐Chen
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate differences in voluntary carbon disclosure between developing and developed countries and the role of resource availability in explaining these differences.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used a sample consisting of 2,045 large firms from 15 countries and representing divergent industries that released Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) company reports in 2009. Profitability, leverage and growth were used as proxies for the degree of resource availability and the firm's participation in the CDP was used as a proxy for carbon disclosure propensity.

Findings

Consistent with the authors' predictions, the empirical results show that the carbon disclosure propensity is correlated in the right direction with resource availability proxies; this relationship is stronger in developing nations, suggesting that the shortage of resources is one reason for the lack of commitment to carbon mitigation and disclosure in these countries. The results are robust when disclosure motivation proxies are controlled for. In addition, it is shown that firms tend to disclose carbon information if their shares are owned by CDP signatories, because it allows them to be viewed as more powerful stakeholders. This finding, which enhances the validity of stakeholder theory, previously has not been documented in the literature.

Research limitations/implications

The findings are relevant to the world's largest organisations, as determined by their market capitalisation. Thus, caution should be exercised to generalise the paper's inferences to small or medium‐sized organisations.

Practical implications

The evidence suggests that resource shortages may constrain a firm management's carbon decisions. As the regulatory environment becomes more stringent, firms, particularly those in developing countries need to take a more proactive strategy to tackle global warming challenges and balance the need to achieve financial goals and prevent carbon pollution with their limited resources.

Originality/value

Although prior studies typically considered external pressures that motivated voluntary environmental disclosure, the paper's results offer extra insight and suggest that resource restriction provides a complementary explanation – largely ignored in the existing literature – for variation in the carbon‐disclosure propensity of firms.
Audit quality and overvalued equity
Authors: Houmes Robert , Foley Maggie , Cebula Richard J.
Published: June 2013

Purpose

Audit quality studies document that accruals decrease when the audit firm is large, or the audit firm is an industry specialist, or the audit‐client tenure is long. The purpose of this paper is to posit that incentives related to highly‐valued equity mitigate these results, as managers use income increasing accruals to augment earnings.

Design/methodology/approach

To test this assertion, the authors regress discretionary accruals on: controls, a highly valued equity indicator variable equal to 1 if the client's lagged price‐to‐earnings ratio is in the highest P/E quintile, indicator variables equal to 1 for alternative measures of audit quality, and interaction terms between the highly valued equity indicator variable and audit quality indicator variables.

Findings

Results of tests show positive and statistically significant coefficients for each of the highly‐valued equity‐audit quality interaction terms, suggesting that when a firm is highly valued the accruals' decreasing effect of high quality auditors is reduced.

Originality/value

Beginning with Jensen's article regarding the agency costs of overvalued equity, a stream of research examining factors associated with highly priced firms has developed. The paper extends these findings, as well as the considerable body of audit quality studies, by examining the ability of a high quality auditor to attenuate this result.
Bathtub curves and pipe prioritization based on failure rate
Authors: Singh Amarjit , Adachi Stacy
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze conditional failure rates, and prioritize water pipelines for replacement based on their expected failure rate where pipes are grouped based on age and pipe type. Thus, predictions can be made on the expected number of breaks in future years.

Design/methodology/approach

The time to failure of a pipe can be characterized by the stochastic properties of the population as a whole, from which the likelihood of component failure is derived. When the corresponding failure rate is plotted against time, a bathtub‐shaped curve results. The bathtub curve assists in determining maintenance schedules depending on the age of the pipe. Failure rates help determine whether the rates are more than an acceptable best practice threshold to signal replacement.

Findings

Ductile iron pipes had the highest failure rates, followed by asbestos cement pipes; PVC and concrete cylinder pipes had the lowest failure rates, but because concrete cylinder pipes are very time‐consuming to repair and very expensive to install, only PVC pipes are recommended on the basis of this study. Cast iron pipes fit the bathtub shape; ductile iron and asbestos concrete were somewhat bathtub shaped, though the early phase period was not apparent; the bathtub curve for concrete cylinder was fully inverted; while PVC pipes showed zero probability of failure during the middle period. The shapes of bathtub curves drawn on conditional failure rates were similar to those for the failure rates. The bathtub curves indicate that the general failure performance of pipe materials is somewhat contrary to general principles in manufacturing.

Practical implications

Analysis of failure serves a practical purpose for water utilities to allocate funds for pipe maintenance and prepare a schedule for pipe replacement, so as to provide the best quality services and safe drinking water to users of the utility.

Social implications

The proper prioritization of water supply pipes for repair and replacement is of great social importance to the public at large, which expends considerable funds to maintain their drinking water supply.

Originality/value

The study of bathtub curves has not been seen before in the analysis of water supply pipes. A unique discovery is that the traditional shape of the bathtub curve is not always applicable for water supply pipes.
Autotelic capabilities and their impact on technological capabilities
Authors: Karagouni Glykeria , Protogerou Aimilia , Caloghirou Yannis
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the emerging concept of autotelic capabilities and their impact on operational capabilities, and in particular, technological capabilities.

Design/methodology/approach

Autotelic capabilities and their dimensions are discussed since they constitute a novel framework for new venturing in knowledge‐intensive, low‐tech industries. Links among the dimensions of autotelic capabilities and technological capabilities formation are explored, focusing on production technologies.

Findings

The suggested links among autotelic and technological capabilities highlight the need to go beyond individual‐centered explanations of entrepreneurial activities towards the formation of integrated capabilities. They strengthen the assumption that autotelic capabilities exist as higher‐order capabilities in low‐tech but knowledge‐intensive venturing, are very specific, can be managed, and endue new ventures with technological capabilities.

Research limitations/implications

As it is only a theoretical approach, the hypotheses’ validity needs empirical evaluation and further theory building and development. Research could include the rest of operational capabilities, issues of causalities and the empirical exploration of the concept’s generalizability across a variety of contexts.

Practical implications

Entrepreneurial and/or managerial teams should realize the importance of possessing and further cultivating autotelic capabilities in recognizing technological patterns connecting seemingly unrelated pieces of science and technologies. Intentional and organized cultivation of autotelic capabilities supports competitive new venture creation and sustainable development of both operational and dynamic capabilities.

Originality/value

The paper forms a part of the pioneering autotelic capabilities perspective, developed by the authors, which offers an alternative approach to much conventional entrepreneurial thinking. It is an original contribution to relevant literature, with both theoretical and practical value.
Response to the papers
Authors: Nussbaum Martha C.
Published: June 2013

Purpose

This article aims to provide a response to the papers in this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology employed is philosophical.

Findings

In her response, Nussbaum thanks the authors for their contributions and addresses their most salient arguments.

Originality/value

Nussbaum in this article responds to the papers in this issue ofIJSEand addresses the authors' most salient arguments.
Understanding the outsourcing of facilities management services in Uganda
Authors: Natukunda Cathy M. , Pitt Michael , Nabil Amir
Published: June 2013

Purpose

This study is aimed at analysing the current procurement practice of facilities management services in Uganda, from which the growth of facilities management in Uganda may be projected.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey questionnaires were carried out, along with self‐administered surveys.

Findings

It was discovered that although some organisations insource a number of facilities management services, the majority is outsourced. The analysis showed that the most popularly outsourced services are security and catering. The most common driver for outsourcing was the necessity to gain quality services from another organisation's expertise. For the organisations that procure services in‐house, the most common motivation to do so was the desire to control the service quality and response time.

Originality/value

One of the key conclusions drawn is that the facilities management industry in Uganda – though not officially recognised – exists in a capacity separate to property management. It is a field that shows steady growth in line with the economy.
The shifting sands of support planning
Authors: Williams Val , Porter Sue , Strong Steve
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to present a critical analysis of the current issues about support planning within personal budgets (PBs) for disabled and older people.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on data from a round of professional workshops in five local authorities, which represented the first stage of a research study about support planning. Focus group discussions were held with participants from voluntary sector organisations (VSOs), as well as social services participants, and the paper is based on a thematic analysis of those discussions.

Findings

While there was considerable agreement about the desired outcomes for personal budget users, and the ingredients of good support planning, some major concerns were voiced about current constraints. Budgetary cuts were felt to impinge negatively on support planning, and conflicts were identified for social services between the facilitation of PB users’ choices, and the need to keep budgets limited. Support planning was often being re‐colonised by social services, and VSOs felt that their own role was being curtailed. Some suggestions were made about equalising the power relationships between social services, VSOs and PB users themselves.

Originality/value

These workshops represent five local authority areas which volunteered to take part in research, building on existing good practices in support for PB users. The obstacles they identified are likely to be very general ones, and need to be addressed by strategic solutions at national and local level.
Crowdsourcing: divide the work and share the success
Authors: Britton Constance J. , Level Allison V. , Gardner Melanie A.
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The Agriculture Network Information Collaborative (AgNIC) is a voluntary alliance of members working to provide access to agricultural information over the internet. This paper aims to report on a group effort by AgNIC partners to identify institutional repositories with desirable content for metadata harvesting. Once identified, the metadata is captured through an automated harvest and added to a searchable resource database.

Design/methodology/approach

The project utilized a crowdsourced approach to the repository review. Partners were invited to participate in a harvest to identify sites with desirable content. A Google Docs accessible spreadsheet containing names and URLs for the target repositories was shared by participants and used to record results.

Findings

Crowdsourcing the review of institutional repositories by AgNIC partners was an effective method to complete a web‐resources project. Success was achieved by having a clear goal, defined steps, a shared document for recording results, and a limited time period to execute the project.

Originality/value

While AgNIC is a highly collaborative group, this crowdsourcing project demonstrated another approach to shared effort.
Philosophy of escapism in the open access world: studying author pay model
Authors: Shah Tariq Ahmad , Gul Sumeer
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to consider the economic perspective in open access publishing. The status of the article processing charges in open access journals is explored and highlighted.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on the analysis of journals indexed by Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and the fee structure levied by them as article processing charges (APCs).

Findings

Open access journal publishers have to evolve a mechanism that will share the burden of the authors interested in publishing in OA journals that levy article processing charges.

Research limitations/implications

The study can act as an eye‐opener for the publishers and associations affiliated with authors to support them and their works in making them publishable in open access journals which charge fees for article publishing. Also, the study can be extended on the basis of economic models that open access journals share in different disciplines and additional work can be carried out to highlight the perception of the authors who are benefitted from article processing charges.

Social implications

An economic divide between the authors who belong to the developed nations and the authors who reside from third world nations can be bridged.

Originality/value

The study is first of its kind, as it highlights the economic burden that the authors share in a fee‐based open access publishing world.
A lean approach for service productivity improvements: synergy or oxymoron?
Authors: Carlborg Per , Kindström Daniel , Kowalkowski Christian
Published: June 2013

Purpose

Service productivity continues to receive ever‐greater amounts of attention as service covers a greater portion of the economy. As competition increases, service productivity becomes increasingly important. This study aims to explore the applicability of lean principles in a service context and to conceptualize how these principles impact service productivity.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents a conceptual analysis of the six most commonly used lean principles in manufacturing and their applicability to a service context for different types of services. Using this analysis, six propositions are developed to examine the influence of lean on service productivity.

Findings

This study suggests promising synergies, as well as important obstacles, for applying lean principles in services. Standardizing services and increasing reliability in service processes through lean principles can increase efficiency. However, the customer's active role in certain services and, simultaneously, high diversity make the application of lean principles increasingly difficult. Also, customer satisfaction must be considered when improving service productivity, otherwise the positive long‐term effects of a lean approach in service will be absent.

Practical implications

These findings are useful for organizations aiming to improve their service productivity. Particularly, lean principles are invaluable to increase efficiency and customer satisfaction for services with low diversity and low customer participation. This paper suggests a direction for the proper use of lean principles for different service types, and how efficiency and customer satisfaction are affected through a lean approach.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the research on service productivity and continues the discussion on prototypic characteristics of service and manufacturing orientations.
Improving the candidate experience
Authors: Carpenter Leigh
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to cover the inaugural UK employment candidate experience awards (The C&Es). It aims to include details of the program, best practice case studies and some of the 2012 C&Es winner success stories.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper draws on research findings from participating organizations that shared data on their candidate experience processes and practices. This also includes research findings from 857 candidates who applied to these organizations. References may also be made to the North American research data – the second year has just concluded – with 90 participating companies and 17,500 candidate responses. Some of the organizations featured include UK winners GE Capital, Risk Management Solution and Avanade, and North American winners Adidas Group and Deloitte.

Findings

Organizations which do not recognize the importance of providing good candidate experience practices will find it increasingly difficult to source the right talent. Candidates expect a return on investment, and time invested will become the currency that fuels their expectations. Their key expectation/requirement will be timely, accurate and transparent communication. A personalized experience, and all that entails, will become the norm.

Originality/value

The paper provides evidenced research findings which were verified by candidates who experienced part or all of the organizations' recruitment processes.
Explaining bullying: using theory to answer practical questions
Authors: Brotheridge Céleste M.
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to build a practical understanding of the workplace bullying process through the perspective of multiple theories.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents a number of questions regarding bullying in the workplace that a practitioner, described in the paper, may have. Then, each question is answered through the vantage point of a particular theoretical perspective. In particular, theories are referenced that have not typically been used to explain workplace bullying, but that have proven useful for understanding behavior in other contexts.

Findings

The answers to a number of practical questions are informed by multiple theoretical perspectives on workplace bullying. These questions include why people engage in and persist in bullying others, why certain individuals are targeted by bullies, how targets deal with bullying, and why bullying may be tolerated in organizations. Bullying is complex and multi‐determined. It is, in part, an individual level problem concerning the dyadic relationship between two individuals. In this manner, it can be seen that there are various personality attributes, both strengths and weaknesses, and personal background characteristics at play in the bully‐target relationship. However, it is grounded in a social context, at the team level and more broadly, that permits it to happen and indeed fosters its development. This context includes other individuals in the workplace who support it in some fashion, the work team and the organization itself.

Practical implications

Although there are no simple answers, managers and human resource professionals can draw upon the insights that are presented as a means of planning multiple points of intervention in the bullying process.

Originality/value

The paper builds a bridge between theory and practice as a means of connecting researchers and managers. The sampling of theoretical perspectives that are employed answer relevant questions in a coherent manner and, in doing so, provide a unique way of understanding bullying.
Key practice indicators of team integration in construction projects: a review
Authors: Izam Ibrahim Khairil , Costello Seosamh B. , Wilkinson Suzanne
Published: June 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify, review and classify the key practice indicators of successful team integration in construction projects, with the intention of gaining a greater insight into how they influence team dynamics.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a review paper that draws on existing research and, through observation of previous studies, identifies patterns to produce a greater understanding of the indicators affecting team integration in construction projects.

Findings

The review identified 15 key practice indicators of team integration from the literature, which together form the basis for transforming disparate project teams into a highly integrated team. It is argued that although there is an element of interdependence between some of the indicators, for the purpose of defining team integration practice by means of key indicators it is important to consider them independently because each indicator represents a key element of team integration practice. The indicators were classified as either “Relationship Oriented Indicators”, whereby the relationship between project teams is directly influenced through human behaviours, or “Non‐Relationship Oriented”, whereby relationships are indirectly influenced by putting systems or processes in place to promote, or at the very least allow, members of different functions to collaborate.

Practical implications

The process of integration is a result of a combination of many indicators and this review presents a complete picture of team integration for construction projects developed from past team integration research. It is hoped that the proposed framework will make a contribution by providing the necessary groundwork for further research and development in this area, with the aim of bridging the current gaps in the understanding of team integration in the construction management discipline.

Originality/value

Although there is a diversity of current thinking on team integration practice in construction projects, there is currently no consolidated set of key indicators embedded in integration practice. This study achieves that while recognising a complex system of interdependency between some of the indicators. It further extends the team integration literature by providing deeper insights into the characterisation and importance of exercising and improving integration practice.
Soil aggregate stability increase is strongly related to fungal community succession along an abandoned agricultural field chronosequence in the Bolivian Altiplano
Authors: Duchicela Jessica , Sullivan Tarah S. , Bontti Eliana , Bever James D.
Published: June 2013

Soil aggregate stability is an important ecosystem property which deteriorates overtime due to agricultural practices. The cessation of cultivation allows the potential recovery of soil aggregate binding agents such as soil micro‐organisms and biochemical properties. Consequently, an increase in soil aggregate stability is expected. However, this outcome is difficult to predict because the response of each individual soil component and its contribution to soil stability varies.

This study utilized a chronosequence of 12 ex‐arable fields in the Bolivian Altiplano, representing six soil ages of abandonment after cessation of potato cultivation, to examine whether soil aggregate stability increases after abandonment and the extent to which changes in soil bacterial and fungal community composition and soil chemical properties are involved in stability recovery.

Fields with the longest time since disturbance (15 and 20 years) have a greater proportion of water‐stable aggregates than more recently abandoned fields (1 and 3 years) and exhibit larger differences in bacterial and fungal composition. Total N, , C and organic matter also increased with time since the last intensive agricultural practice.

Water‐stable aggregates were strongly correlated with soil fungal community composition. Analysis of covariance is also consistent with the soil fungal community being an important mediator of the recovery of aggregate stability.

Synthesis and applications. Soil aggregate stability increased by 50% over the 20 years following disturbance. This recovery was associated with shifts in soil fungal community composition, as is consistent with fungal mediation of this recovery. Land management strategies focusing on restoration of the soil fungal community may enhance soil aggregate stability, a key aspect for soil conservation, restoration, sustainability of agroecosystems and erosion prevention.
Brands as masks: public secrecy and the counterfeit in Côte d'Ivoire
Authors: Newell Sasha
Published: June 2013

Rethinking Simmel's comparison of secrecy and adornment, I consider the ways in which brands function much like masking practices, concealing even as they reveal, using the visible to hide/signify the invisible. The classic masking scenario is one in which men wear masks and claim to be powerful ancestral spirits, keeping the fact of their performance a secret from women and uninitiated boys. However, the secrecy is ambiguous, for women give signs of knowing and men seem to believe in the spirits they pretend to be only pretending to be. In Côte d'Ivoire, where masks are a symbol of national identity, consumption focuses around displaying supposedly authentic name brand labels. Urban Ivoirians call this display of wealth and consumption ‘bluffing’, exposing the artifice of their supposed affluence. Still, the success of their performance depends on the authenticity of expensive European and American brands, in a market where most of what is available is counterfeit. Underneath the public secret of their performative display lies the deeper secret that they remain uncertain of the legitimacy of their purchases. Masks and brands both metaphorically delineate a metonymic though invisible connection to authentic power, but the secrecy of what lies beneath the masked performance provides an unstable ambiguity in which it is always possible that the surface is that which it represents. Brands always contain this instability between appearance and the genuine, for all are ultimately copies whose uncertain authenticity we cover up with public secrecy.
Bloodlines: blood types, identity, and association in twentieth‐centuryAmerica
Authors: Lederer Susan E.
Published: June 2013

The search for a reliable and reproducible means to distinguish bloods of humans and animals was critically important for clinical medicine (especially the practice of blood transfusion), but also important for forensic purposes, and for establishing paternity and maternity. But the ability to distinguish the bloods of individuals advanced other social goals, especially the elusive, if long sought after, desire for racial purity in populations. This article considers how the popular dissemination of human blood types challenged traditional understanding of identity and difference, and some of the ways in which new information about an individual's blood type could be mobilized in the interests of the state, as a means of disaster planning, and as a method to limit ‘dysgenic offspring’ by preventing the marriages of blood‐incompatible couples.
Bride‐service and the absent gift
Authors: Hugh‐Jones Stephen
Published: June 2013

Building on a previous experiment to apply Strathern's discussions of Melanesian gift exchange to ethnography relating to Tukanoan societies in Northwest Amazonia, this essay asks why other authors should repeatedly affirm that the gift has no relevance in the Amazonian context. Two answers are proposed. Firstly, the authors concerned tend to assume that a particular type of social formation is characteristic of Amazonia as a whole. The Tukanoans, who engage in ceremonial exchange of food and goods, do not fit this rubric. Secondly, despite their differences, these authors assume that Amazonian societies are bride‐service societies where, axiomatically, there can be no gift. The Tukanoans are not bride‐service societies and, if anything, tend towards the bride‐wealth alternative. This Tukanoan exception serves to re‐emphasize the diversity of Amazonian social formations, one that would have been even greater in the archaeological past. It also warns against the dangers of over‐hasty theoretical closure.
Lights and shadows in the evolutionary patterns of insular bovids
Authors: ROZZI Roberto , PALOMBO Maria Rita
Published: June 2013

Endemic bovids are intriguing elements of insular faunas. The living species include the Japanese serow (Capricornis crispus) and the Formosan serow (C. swinhoei), the tamaraw from Mindoro, Philippines, (Bubalus mindorensis) and the anoas (B. depressicornisandB. quarlesi), 2 species of dwarf buffalos endemic to Sulawesi, Indonesia. Fossil endemic bovids are only recorded in some Asian, North American and Western Mediterranean islands. Here we present a comprehensive overview of the changes in body size and evolutionary patterns exhibited by both extant and extinct insular bovids. Our appraisal indicates that each insular representative of Bovidae shows its own peculiar evolutionary model, albeit some parallel trends exist (e.g. reduction in body size, allometric changes in limb bones, alteration of the life history traits). Some changes in morphology (e.g. the simplification of horn cores, the increase in hypsodonty, the acquisition of a ‘low‐gear’ locomotion), for instance, appear as common, albeit not general, patterns triggered by a combination of selective forces. Body size patterns support the ‘generality of the island rule’ and suggest that biotic interaction had/have a major role in influencing body size evolution in these species, although in different ways on different islands. All things considered, available evidence suggest that a major role in the evolution of insular bovids is played by the structure of the insular community, the nature of available niches and by the dynamics of ecological interactions.
Does Obesity Matter for Wages? Evidence from the United States
Authors: Alauddin Majumder Md.
Published: June 2013

It is generally claimed that obesity adversely affects wages. This article is devoted to identifying the extent to which the claim is consistent with data. Drawing upon the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), it examines the effects of obesity on wages by gender and ethnicity. First, an ordinary least squares model is estimated. Second, a fixed‐effects (FE) model is used to remove time invariant unobserved heterogeneity. Finally, the FE specification is further estimated after replacing contemporaneous weight variables by one‐year lags of weight variables to avoid reverse causality. Body mass index (BMI) is used as a continuous measure of weight and BMI splines (BMI ≥ 30 for obese, 30 > BMI ≥ 25 for overweight, 25 > BMI ≥ 18.5 for healthy weight and BMI<18.5 for underweight) are used as binary measures of weight. Lots of variables related to human capital, demographics, family background and personal attitude are controlled for. Findings provide evidence that white males receive a wage premium for higher BMI. Wages of all other ethno‐gender groups seem to remain unaffected by obesity.
Transport Satellite Accounts are essential to boost Productivity and to improve Public Understanding
Authors: Norman Philip Macgregor , McGeehan Edward , Mak Gavin , Maurer Andrew , Murray John Michael
Published: June 2013

The development of a set of Transport Satellite Accounts is long overdue. The imperative need is to be able to assess the size and contribution of the transport sector and to track improvements in productivity arising from operational efficiency, optimal pricing and from investment in transport infrastructure. This would allow international comparisons against best practice to follow. The quality of public and private decisions would improve. Their availability would enable professional economists to add significantly more value.
Novel polymorphisms in ovine prion protein gene
Authors: Meydan H. , Özkan M. M. , Yildiz M. A. , Goldmann W.
Published: June 2013

The aim of this study was to identify the PRNP polymorphisms outside the standard codons 136, 154 and 171 in 1110 sheep with no clinical sign of scrapie from all 18 Turkish native sheep breeds and compare our results with published data on ovine PRNP polymorphism from other regions of the world. Among the 22 amino acid polymorphisms and three silent mutations, 10 were novel for ovine PRNP: p.Gly94Gly, p.Leu128Ile, p.Met132Leu, p.Ser135Arg, p.Met137Val, p.Asn146Lys, p.Arg159Arg, p.Tyr160Asn, p.Gln163His and p.Thr193Ser. These data reveal that sheep breeds close to the historic center of small ruminant domestication have remained highly diverse in the prion gene locus, with distinctive genetic similarities to both Asian and European sheep breeds.
Outcomes of aortic arch replacement surgery after previous cardiac surgery
Authors: Davies Reece A. , Black Deborah , Bannon Paul G. , Bayfield Matthew S. , Hendel P. Nicholas , Hughes Clifford F. , Wilson Michael K. , Vallely Michael P.
Published: June 2013

Background

Aortic arch replacement is a potentially high‐risk operation and in the re‐operative setting has been found to be a risk factor for poor outcome, yet there is a dearth of published data specifically on this topic. The aim of the study was to review our unit's outcomes in this re‐operative setting.

Method

Data were collated for all patients who underwent aortic arch replacement surgery after previous cardiac surgery from January 1988 to November 2011. The patients were divided based primarily on elective versus non‐elective and also early (≤2005) and late (≥2006) series.

Results

Twenty‐seven eligible patients (22 male; median age: 53.0 years; elective: 14, non‐elective: 13) were identified. There was a mean period of 14.5 years between the first operation and the subsequent aortic arch replacement. The overall 30‐day mortality rate was 22.2% – 0% elective and 46.2% non‐elective (P = 0.004). Overall permanent neurological dysfunction was 21.7% – 28.6% elective and 11.1% non‐elective (P = 0.463). There were 11 early‐series patients and 16 late‐series patients. For early‐series patients, 90.9% were non‐elective versus 18.8% in the late‐series patients. The 30‐day mortality rate was 54.5% early series versus 0% late series.

Conclusion

Aortic arch replacement is high risk in the re‐operative setting. These risks are even greater for non‐elective procedures. This highlights the need for aggressive first‐time surgery to reduce re‐operative procedures and good long‐term follow‐up programmes to allow elective procedures if required.