bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cybernetic embodiment and the role of autonomy in the design process
Authors: Arnellos Argyris , Spyrou Thomas , Darzentas John
Published: November 2007

Purpose

This paper aims to develop the role of autonomy in the emergence of the design process. It shows how the design process is facilitated by autonomy, how autonomy is enhanced through the design process and how the emergence of anticipatory and future‐oriented representational content in an autonomous cognitive system provides the functionality needed for the strengthening of both its autonomy and the design process, in which the autonomous cognitive system purposefully engages.

Design/methodology/approach

Initially, the essential characteristics of the design process and of the cognitive systems participating in it will be identified. Then, an attempt to demonstrate the ability of an enhanced second‐order cybernetic framework to satisfy these characteristics will be made. Next, an analytic description of the design process under this framework is presented and the respective implications are critically discussed.

Findings

The role of autonomy is crucial for the design process, as it seems that autonomy is both the primary motive and the goal for a cognitive system to engage in a design process. A second‐order cybernetic framework is suitable for the analysis of such a complex process, as long as both the constructive and the interactive aspects of a self‐organising system are taken under consideration.

Practical implications

The modelling of the complex design process under the framework of second‐order cybernetics and the indication of the fundamental characteristics of an autonomous cognitive system as well as their interrelations may provide useful insights in multiple levels, from the purely theoretical (i.e. better understanding of the design process and the conditions for each creative fostering), to the purely technical (i.e. the design of artificial agents with design capabilities).

Originality/value

The innovative aspect of the paper is that it attempts an analysis of the design process under a framework of second‐order cybernetics, by attempting to analyse and explain the emergence of such a process from the point of view of an autonomous cognitive system. This results in some interesting implications regarding the nature of the design process, as well as regarding its “mechanisms” of emergence and evolution, with respect to the characteristics of the participating autonomous systems.
The origin of modelling
Authors: Ayres Phil
Published: November 2007

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the relationship between modelling and design from a cybernetic perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

Cybernetic understandings of the notions “modelling” and “design” are developed initially. The derived understandings are used to define an outline specification for a speculative design project based on an analysis and re‐interpretation of an account from Pliny the Elder. The account is re‐interpreted to address a long tradition of partial appropriation in which only the two‐dimensional representation of three‐dimensions by projection on to a plane is considered. The project seeks to re‐adjust the focus of this account to an activity that employs two‐dimensional representation as a means for subsequent spatial synthesis. It further proposes to make the relationship between model and modelled circular.

Findings

There are two findings. First, an understanding that context is constructed by the observer. Second, the need to implement a meta‐model to permit circularity between the model and the modelled.

Research limitations/implications

This paper presents the conceptual underpinning for a project and design strategy that is yet to be investigated.

Practical implications

The design strategy presented suggests the introduction of circularity into the world of built artefacts, allowing the potential for the continual expression of variety over time.

Originality/value

This paper introduces the original notion of the “persistent model” as a design strategy complementary to existing practices. The “persistent model” establishes and maintains circularity between the model and the artefact as constructed, in order that the two continually inform each other.
Designing cybersystemically for symviability
Authors: Boyd Gary , Zeman Vladimir
Published: November 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to encourage professional designers of many kinds, and especially those of the entertainment media, to understand themselves as actually being partners in a common educative enterprise, which is through artistry, predictive knowledge, non‐dominative legitimative discourse and technology, helping people everywhere to learn to desire to, and to be able to, survive reasonably pleasantly on Earth for a very long time to come.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper puts forward three theses: collapse of civilisation is immanent unless people can be educated to live symbiotically with one another and Gaia; all designs have educative and mis‐educative importance; designers need to learn to use higher level cybersystemic approaches to be beneficial. Then it argues for the plausibility of these theses from philosophical educational to practical perspectives. In particular, it argues for the importance of modifying cultural propagation so that all our main cultures can become “symviable” – that is can come to live symbiotically with one an other and with the ecosystems of Earth. And it is argued that, in order to facilitate this enterprise, a cybernetic understanding of the processes and actions of the complex historically emergent higher level cybersystems in which the authors are all embedded, and which are embedded in us, should become the basis for designers, actual practice.

Findings

By reviewing designers' functional levels historically the paper finds that many different kinds of influential designers have actually functioned at the higher cybersystemic levels the authors advocate and hence can be guiding exemplars in this newly precarious situation.

Originality/value

A deeper cybersystemic understanding of just how people are all parts of one mutually educating and mutually surviving Earth‐life system changes the value of everything. Designers who manage to use such understanding should be both more successful and more satisfied with the value of their work.
An indeterminate project for architecture in Brazil
Authors: dos Santos Cabral Filho Jose
Published: November 2007

Purpose

This paper seeks to describe an experiment carried out in the 1980s by a small practice called Céu do 3o. Mundo (C3M) relating to the application of cybernetics principles to a design process with special regard to house design in Brazil.

Design/methodology/approach

After discussing the peculiarities of architectural practice in Brazil, the paper presents C3M's design methodology, which is based on the creation of three models (“conceptual model”, “analogical model”, and “scale model”); a case study is presented and the results of the application of the methodology to several projects are discussed.

Findings

The paper shows that cybernetics principles are relevant for dealing with the Brazilian housing shortage, especially because it is an adequate framework to deal with the Brazilian culture, known for its informality, its social plasticity and its playful nature.

Originality/value

The correlation of cybernetics principles to the design of affordable houses is articulated through the concept of “indeterminate project,” intended as a project that would allow for flexibility, interpretation and adaptation.
It's all about communication: graphics and cybernetics
Authors: Downs Simon
Published: November 2007

Purpose

The paper seeks to serve a dual process, first, to raise awareness of the epistemological weaknesses inherent in the ways that visual communications designers address their own practice, and, second, to suggest that cybernetics has some of the answers to these weaknesses.

Design/methodology/approach

These objectives of this paper have been addressed through an examination of the cybernetics, critical theory and visual design theory. A comparison of the points of convergence (often of aims) and those points of divergence (often in its ontological reading of the world) is illuminating, especially when post‐structuralist semiotics – as a system of knowledge exterior to both design and cybernetics, yet capable of commenting on both – is used as a point of triangulation.

Findings

The literature analysis carried for this paper indicates that in both visual communications design and cybernetics there are areas of overlapping interest (concerns with the cyclic nature of coding and decoding information) and areas that might at first seem divergent but are in fact often complementary (the role of the observer as controller and participant in a system). The paper proposes that cybernetics uncovers principles at the heart of communication that in turn inform visual communication practices, which in a circular fashion informs cybernetics.

Practical implications

The paper suggests that new areas for cyberneticians to use in their study of second‐order cybernetics may be found in the product of visual communications design. It also suggests areas where designers may begin to search for tools that may be useful in evaluating their working practices.

Originality/value

The paper notes that an external investigation of visual communications artefacts presents cybernetics with a potential test‐bed on which to test its theories, in practice, on a global scale. Cybernetics has the potential to define and offer constructive guidance to visual communications design in examining its own practice.
Cybernetics and service‐craft: language for behavior‐focused design
Authors: Dubberly Hugh , Pangaro Paul
Published: November 2007

Purpose

This paper aims to describe relationships between cybernetics and design, especially service design, which is a component of service‐craft; to frame cybernetics as a language for design, especially behavior‐focused design.

Design/methodology/approach

The material in this paper was developed for a course on cybernetics and design. Work began by framing material on cybernetics in terms of models. As the course progressed, the relevance of the models to design became clearer. A first focus was on applying the models to describe human‐computer interaction; later another focus emerged, viewing cybernetic processes as analogs for design processes. These observations led to a review of the history of design methods and design rationale.

Findings

The paper argues that design practice has moved from hand‐craft to service‐craft and that service‐craft exemplifies a growing focus on systems within design practice. It also proposes cybernetics as a source for practical frameworks that enable understanding of dynamic systems, including specific interactions, larger systems of service, and the activity of design itself. It also shows that development of first‐ and second‐generation design methods parallels development of first‐ and second‐generation cybernetics. Finally, it argues that design is essentially political, frames design as conversation, and proposes cybernetics as a language for design and a foundation of a broad design education.

Research limitations/implications

The paper suggests opportunities for more research on the historical relationship between cybernetics and design methods, and design research on modeling user goals.

Practical implications

The paper offers tools for understanding and managing the complicated communities of systems that designers increasingly face.

Originality/value

The paper suggests models useful for practicing designers and proposes changes to design education.
The cybernetics of design and the design of cybernetics
Authors: Krippendorff Klaus
Published: November 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to connect two discourses, the discourse of cybernetics and that of design.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper takes a comparative analysis of relevant definitions, concepts, and entailments in both discourse, and an integration of these into a cybernetically informed concept of human‐centered design, on the one hand, and a design‐informed concept of second‐order cybernetics, on the other hand. In the course of this conceptual exploration, the distinction between science and design is explored with cybernetics located in the dialectic between the two. Technology‐centered design is distinguished from human‐centered design, and several axioms of the latter are stated and discussed.

Findings

This paper consists of recommendations to think and do things differently. In particular, a generalization of interface is suggested as a replacement for the notion of products; a concept of meaning is developed to substitute for the meaninglessness of physical properties; a theory of stakeholder networks is discussed to replace the deceptive notion of THE user; and, above all, it is suggested that designers, in order to design something that affords use to others, engage in second‐order understanding.

Originality/value

The paper makes several radical suggestions that face likely rejection by traditionalists but acceptance by cyberneticians and designers attempting to make a contribution to contemporary information society.
Design and prosthetic perception
Authors: Krueger Ted
Published: November 2007

Purpose

The paper aims to consider competing accounts of perception and to examine their potential to support design activity that seeks to extend and enrich perception using interface technologies. The interfaces will enable the direct perception of electromagnetic phenomena that are not now considered to be directly available to humans.

Design/methodology/approach

Two models are considered. According to one, the standard view, perception is of an external world known by means of information flowing into an organism from it as conditioned by the organism's biological sensory modalities; according to the other, the enactive view, perception occurs by means of learning to differentiate oneself from the world by undertaking activities, by learning and mastering sensorimotor contingencies.

Findings

The paper presents preliminary results of design work based on enactive cognition and argues that the results, in turn, re‐inform and reinforce the theory by the introduction of novel perceptual phenomena that cannot be accommodated within the standard view of perception.

Practical implications

The project, rather than seeking an instrumental utility, though this may occur, instead strives to enable the bringing forth of a richer world. Its objective is epistemic rather than pragmatic.

Originality/value

The paper presents a reflection on the role of design in the construction of theory.
Complex built‐environment design: four extensions to Ashby
Authors: Love Terence , Cooper Trudi
Published: November 2007

Purpose

This paper sets out to report on research by the authors into the development and application of four extensions to Ashby's Law of Requisite Variety (LoRV) that increase its utility in the arena of unplanned changes in hegemonic control of designed complex socio‐technical systems/digital eco‐systems in the built environment that are structurally dynamic or emergent.

Design/methodology/approach

Research on which the paper is based focused on exploration of classical systems approaches to the design of complex socio‐technical systems in which ownership, power, control and management of structure and benefit generation and distribution are distributed, dynamic and multi‐constituent. Support for development of these four extensions to Ashby's Law comes from observation of four decades of socio‐technical systems development along with critical thinking that combined systems analysis theories with theories and findings from fields of hegemonic analysis, design research, management, management information systems, behaviour in organisations and sociology.

Findings

The paper outlines application of four new extensions to LoRV in relation to unplanned changes in distributions of power, ownership, control, benefit generation and benefit distribution in complex socio‐technical systems/digital eco‐systems in the built environment that are emergent or have changing structures. Three of these extensions have been outlined earlier in relation to the design of learning object‐based e‐learning systems. The fourth extension builds on these via application of Coasian analysis. The paper also describes a suite of five guidelines to assist with the design of complex socio‐technical systems derived from the four extensions to Ashby.

Research limitations/implications

The four extensions of Ashby's Law that underpin the design guidelines in this paper are deduced from observation and critical analysis rather than being “proven” empirically. They are derived from observation of the behaviour of real‐world complex systems together with critical analytical thinking that integrated theory and research findings from a range of disciplines where each informs understanding of hegemonic aspects of emergent complex socio‐technical systems involving multiple, changing constituencies, and evolving system structures.

Practical implications

A design method is derived comprising five design guidelines for use in pre‐design and design of complex socio‐technical systems/digital eco‐systems in the built environment.

Originality/value

The paper describes the application of four new extensions to LoRV that extend the analytical role of Ashby's Law in diagnosis of changes in power relations and unintended design outcomes from changes in the generation and control of variety in complex, multi‐layered and hierarchical socio‐technical systems that have multiple stakeholders and constituencies. From these, a suite of five new design guidelines is proposed.
The magic of three
Authors: van der Merwe Johann
Published: November 2007

Purpose

This paper aims to combine several modes of thought based on systems organization and observing systems in order to construct a model for a “designerly way of thinking”.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach is to regard design as a “groundless field of knowledge” that may source methodological insights from cybernetics, systems theory, cognitive studies and complexity theory, among others.

Findings

The focus of this research is to model an adaptive frame‐of‐reference that design students may use in order to construct their own autopoietic identity systems. The semantic question “How does a student obtain information about design?” is changed to a structural question “How could students acquire a structure enabling them to operate innovatively in a modern design environment?” With the backing of cybernetic principles, it is apparent that this process is not only feasible but also preferable.

Practical implications

While the practical use that can be made of any design theory is not within the remit of this paper, it is nonetheless the goal of theory to enhance the individual's analytical and communicative skills.

Originality/value

This paper suggests an autopoietic model‐for‐becoming that can have the virtual potential of bringing one to understand the grey areas of human‐object relationships.
Architecture as a verb: cybernetics and design processes for the social divide
Authors: Pratschke Anja
Published: November 2007

Purpose

This paper aims to draw on current research in public policy, and more specifically about a collaborative design process for a poor suburban community in São Paulo, Brazil and its relation to social cybernetics as the “science of effective organization.” The research project in public policy, online‐communities, has been financed by the state‐sponsored agency FAPESP since 2003, and involves four research groups from the Architecture and Computer Science Departments at the University of São Paulo, and various public and non‐governmental organizations under the coordination of Nomads.usp Research Center (Center for Studies on Interactive Living,www.eesc.usp.br/nomads).

Design/methodology/approach

The design methodology includes three premises: an organization of the team which considers multidisciplinary and multicultural aspects; the involvement of potential users as creators of the virtual community and of its concrete space; and the concern that the process will be organized so that autonomy and evolution take place.

Findings

Special interest in the comparison of architectural methods and cybernetics is to understand how information and communication are dealt with using a design process to promote active exchange of knowledge and competences, and to improve interaction and conversation in a local context of large social differences, affected by lack of opportunities and regulating structures.

Practical implications

Owing to its constant questioning of viability, adaptability and recursion, cybernetics should be able to make the designer team constantly revise the proposal to change conditions during its process of implementation and later autonomy.

Originality/value

The paper discusses the actual relevance of the use of the cybernetic theory as a way to improve information and communication between designers and the population in poor communities.
Second‐order cybernetics, architectural drawing and monadic thinking
Authors: Rawes Peg
Published: November 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine shared principles of “irreducibility” or “undecidability” in second‐order cybernetics, architectural design processes and Leibniz's geometric philosophy. It argues that each discipline constructs relationships, particularly spatio‐temporal relationships, according to these terms.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is organized into two parts and uses architectural criticism and philosophical analysis. The first part examines how second‐order cybernetics and post‐structuralist architectural design processes share these principles. Drawing from von Foerster's theory of the “observing observer” it analyses the self‐reflexive and self‐referential modes of production that construct a collaborative architectural design project. Part two examines the terms in relation to Leibniz's account of the “Monad”. Briefly, developing the discussion through Kant's theory of aesthetics, it shows that Leibniz provides a “prototype” of undecidable spatial relations that are also present in architectural design and second‐order cybernetics.

Findings

The paper demonstrates that second‐order cybernetics, architectural design and metaphysical philosophy enable interdisciplinary understandings of “undecidability”.

Practical implications

The paper seeks to improve understanding of the geometric processes that construct architectural design.

Originality/value

The paper explores interdisciplinary connections between the disciplines, opening up potential routes for further examination. Its analysis of the aesthetic and geometric value of the Monad (rather than its perspectival value) provides a particularly relevant link for discussing the aesthetic production and experience of spatial relations in second‐order cybernetics and contemporary architectural design.
Conversations with the self‐knowledge creation for designing
Authors: Shumack Kaye
Published: November 2007

Purpose

This paper aims to draw links between the circularity of second‐order cybernetics, and constructive, reflective conversations with oneself in design practice. The paper argues that a structured use of internal conversational dialogues with oneself can assist the design process, enhancing creativity and transformative approaches to design projects.

Design/methodology/approach

Theories about the emergence of new knowledge, and the causal nature of internal conversations, are used to present a case for the value of a structured self‐reflective conversational process in designing. Emergent knowledge is described in terms of flows across domains of public and personal knowledge, through dynamic processes of semantic absorption, codification and diffusion. The structure and agency of the internal conversation are discussed as a practical way to interpret and locate the emergence of project directions, as a kind of meta‐language for design production. This is demonstrated through an action research case study, where an internal dialogue about teaching visual communication design is described.

Findings

On the basis of the action research described, the use of a structured internal dialogue can be of benefit to designing, as it provides a mechanism for locating and mapping the flows and developments of emergent semantic concepts and design project directions.

Practical implications

The model for internal conversations is a way for designers to acknowledge their dual role as both participant (“subject” self) and observer (“object” self). The paper argues that this can help in locating oneself within a design process.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the debate about knowledge of design and for design. A constructive conversational model is presented, which acknowledges the significant role of experiential, cultural and semantic contexts in framing emerging knowledge for designing.
A framework for designing sustainable urban communities
Authors: Turnbull Shann
Published: November 2007

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to show how the sustainability of urban settlements can be improved by treating as a variable the design of property rights: to realty, corporations, and currencies, and the communication and control architecture of communities.

Design/methodology/approach

System science shows how the resulting increases in the richness and variety of communication and control channels improve the governance of urban precincts. The new variables also provide a way to integrate the design of the built environment into the design of its governance architecture. The scope of orthodox economic analysis is extended to include the value of assets and liabilities to provide additional feedback signals. This more holistic economic framework increases the richness of the “semiotic” channel of social communication and control that complements those based on senses, words and prices.

Findings

The analysis reveals self‐reinforcing feed‐forward and feedback channels between the use and maintenance of the built environment and its governance architecture not available in less holistic design frameworks.

Practical implications

The paper identifies the need for urban planners to extend their discipline to become governance architects and how the knowledge of system scientists can be applied to improve the design of capitalism.

Originality/value

A new design paradigm is identified that allows improvements to be introduced in the ability of towns or suburbs, to become self‐financing, self‐governing political units. The paradigm identifies how capitalism can be designed to become more efficient, equitable, responsive, and democratic.
Rethinking the cybernetic basis of design: the concepts of control and organization
Authors: Zamenopoulos Theodore , Alexiou Katerina
Published: November 2007

Purpose

Even though design as a purposeful activity naturally fits into the realm of cybernetics, the emphasis on control has limited the scope of using cybernetic principles in design. The idea of organization, another fundamental concept in cybernetics, has received less attention in design research and seems worthy of further exploration. The purpose of the paper is to review the two concepts and clarify their role and meaning in design. Overall, using insights from complex systems science, the paper attempts to recast the relationship between cybernetics and design.

Design/methodology/approach

The treatment uses category theory as a language and methodological approach in order to formally express the concepts of “organization” “control” and “design” and then study the relations between them.

Findings

Organization is defined using the mathematical concept of sketch, i.e. as a characterization of the complementary relation between theories and models. The paper demonstrates that the peculiarity of design rests on the fact that the distinction between theories and models is an anticipated but emergent state. In contrast, control‐based representations assume that the theory‐model distinction is given in advance, as an intrinsic characteristic. The paper demonstrates that design is a distinct paradigm in relation to control, yet it falls within the domain of cybernetic and complex systems enquiry.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the understanding of design as a distinct type of problem in cybernetics by exposing differences between control and design problems. The paper also further lays the foundations for developing a cybernetic theory of design based on the concept of organization.
Imperfect reflections
Authors: Nash White Larry
Published: November 2007

Purpose

This is the second of two papers on the benefits and challenges of human capital assessment. The purpose of this paper is to review the most common challenges that library administrators may encounter when developing and implementing a human capital assessment process in their libraries and offer suggested counter‐responses to reduce implementation challenges.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses a literature review to identify potential challenges and resolutions for library administrators who are developing and implementing human capital assessment. In reviewing human capital assessment from the literature from both outside and within the library profession, it is hoped that the most common challenges can be identified to allow library administrators an effective opportunity to plan and account for these challenges during development and implementation.

Findings

Human capital assessment is an increasingly essential element of organizational performance assessment for library administrators. There are several types of common challenges in developing and implementing human capital assessment processes: a lack of consensual operational definitions and assessment values for human capital valuation and assessment, complexity of process, subjectivity in application, and misaligned information needs of mid‐level administrators. However, if these development and implementation challenges can be reduced or eliminated through prior planning and aligning the valuation and assessment processes to the organization and its assessment information needs, there are multiple potential benefits for library administrators who wish to assess the human capital of their library.

Originality/value

Identifying the implementation challenges of human capital assessment for library administrators could reduce the initial challenges of in assessing the human component of the library's performance in meeting stakeholder's needs and accountability concerns.
Digitized books
Authors: Maxymuk John
Published: November 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss how some companies are scanning books to make the text fully searchable.

Design/methodology/approach

Discusses several cases of scanning books and fully searchable text.

Findings

By making so much forgotten text searchable, accessible and potentially relevant again, digitalization allows us to be full‐fledged players in the contemporary information arena.

Originality/value

Provides examples of fully searchable texts.
It's not the dollars, it's the politics
Authors: Marcum James W.
Published: November 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to discuss library budgets.

Design/methodology/approach

Provides a viewpoint on library budgets.

Findings

Librarians must accept much of the burden for our condition. We have not been politically effective; we have not adequately made our case; we have not proposed the new program or project that will open the door to a brighter future. We can do better; it is time to get about it.

Originality/value

Provides a viewpoint on library budgets.
The information supermarket
Authors: Steele Kirstin
Published: November 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how finances in an academic library might differ from household finances; in particular, how a library budget might be unbalanced throughout a fiscal year.

Design/methodology/approach

The author compares typical library resources to representative groceries purchased for a home and assess the relative nutritional value of each.

Findings

The author concludes that using a library‐style budget is likely to result in a less interesting diet, but such a budget is, with planning, adequate to sustain a minimum level of health. In future columns the author plans to examine ways a library budget might be altered in order to move beyond adequacy to higher performance levels.

Originality/value

The approach should be worthy of note for administrators who struggle with the “use it or lose it” philosophy common in libraries.
Library leadership
Authors: Fitsimmons Gary
Published: November 2007

Purpose

This paper aims to introduce the column and the idea of library leadership as it relates to library finances. It distinguishes between good leadership (dynamic) and good management (static), and sets forth the subject of subsequent installments of the column that will focus on attributes of good library administrative leadership.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach taken is to introduce the column, define what it will cover and set up subsequent columns which will each expound upon one “leadership performance standard.”

Findings

This paper shows that although leadership has been extensively studied, it is still not readily understood. As a quality that should be modeled and taught it first requires definition.

Originality/value

Learning the differences between good administrative leadership and good management as well as the fact that there are specific attributes to good administrative leadership lays the groundwork for subsequent discussion of those attributes for library administrators at all levels.
People matters
Authors: Kieserman Bob
Published: November 2007

Purpose

This paper aims to present several common scenarios that occur in most libraries regarding interpersonal conflict between employee and employee and/or employee and library director. The paper then offers several proven practical conflict resolution strategies that any library can use to either avoid conflict or to mediate it when it occurs.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper used a literature search as well as the personal experience of the author, a library consultant who has worked with over 40 different libraries including academic, public, and special libraries.

Findings

This paper focuses on the concepts of collegiality and positive interpersonal communications as well as the team approach to accomplishing goals. Among the strategies this paper discusses are the adherence to mandatory policies and procedures, peer mediation, open communication, and sensitivity training. Strategies for coping with internal jealousies between and among staff members as well as fair hiring practices are also discussed.

Originality/value

This paper helps the library director, the library department manager, and the staff librarian better understand and appreciate the importance of conflict resolution for the good of the organization.
Sales and operations planning: an exploratory study and framework
Authors: Grimson J. Andrew , Pyke David F.
Published: November 2007

Purpose

The paper seeks to develop a framework for sales and operations planning (S&OP) that is based on previous literature and company interviews. It is designed to help managers understand how effective their S&OP processes are and how to progress to advanced stages.

Design/methodology/approach

The S&OP literature, is reviewed and the results of a number of company interviews are presented. These lead to a new framework, with descriptions of each stage, and to implementation insights for managers.

Findings

After highlighting key dimensions for establishing a firm's S&OP maturity on a five‐stage framework and, with the use of this framework, exploring in a preliminary way the relationship between firm size or process type (job shop, batch flow, continuous flow, etc.) and its degree of S&OP plan integration, little apparent relationship was found. However, the data suggest that business processes are enablers of S&OP plan integration, but that information technology is not clearly so.

Research limitations/implications

The results are based on a thorough review of the literature and on 15 in‐depth company interviews. Because the sample size is small, the results should be considered to provide only preliminary insights.

Practical implications

Managers can use the framework to assess their S&OP process maturity. To advance to higher S&OP integration, managers should focus on leadership of business processes that can enable effective S&OP plan integration. These processes include organizational structure, meetings and collaboration across functional areas, and performance measurements. Information technology tools may also be enablers, but they do not appear to be the primary drivers.

Originality/value

The framework separates business processes from information processes. It is quite extensive and therefore provides managers with an indication of the maturity of their S&OP processes. Also presented are insights into an intuitive, albeit challenging, process for advancing through the stages of maturity. Finally, a perspective on the future of S&OP integration is suggested that is focused on optimizing profits rather than myopically maximizing revenues or minimizing costs.
Mexican maquiladoras: helping or hurting the US/Mexico cross‐border supply chain?
Authors: Haytko Diana L. , Kent John L. , Hausman Angela
Published: November 2007

Purpose

This study aims to report on the current issues facing the maquiladora industry in Mexico and the cross‐border supply chain and to present suggestions for improving the situation in the future.

Design/methodology/approach

Phenomenological interviews were conducted with managers overseeing various aspects of the cross‐border supply chain. The resulting data were analyzed using a grounded theory methodology to uncover theoretical linkages.

Findings

The results of this study show that maquiladoras experience many of the same problems as other companies in terms of managing the cross‐border supply chain. Key factors such as distance, comparative advantage, and integration of the workforce cause problems everyday for the managers involved.

Research limitations/implications

This was an exploratory investigation of the issues with a small number of informants and future research needs to be done to gain additional insights. As North American Free Trade Agreement enters its second decade, and the focus on global supply chain efficiency becomes primary for all manufacturers, solving the problems discussed in this paper becomes even more paramount.

Practical implications

In addition to low‐cost manufacturing, distance and integration are critical issues for companies to understand in their pursuit of a low‐cost strategy for competitive advantage.

Originality/value

The major contribution of this paper has been an improved understanding of the impediments to success in the Mexican maquiladoras. Many of the issues discussed in this paper would also apply to other global supply chains and numerous other countries.
Evaluating alternative supply chain structures for perishable products
Authors: Thron Thomas , Nagy Gábor , Wassan Niaz
Published: November 2007

Purpose

This paper sets out to investigate the impact of various supply chain advancements within a perishable goods environment.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses discrete event simulation to evaluate diverse adjustments within the distribution framework of a food manufacturer and their major customers. Analysed aspects include level of safety inventory held, inventory issuing, replenishment and through‐put policies and increased demand transparency due to collaboration between manufacturer and various retailers. The importance and the impact of these factors are investigated using a wide variety of performance measures.

Findings

Several promising practice designs are generated and recommended for implementation to improve the experienced shortcomings. Engaging in collaborative replenishment is emphasized in particular even in cases of limited scope. The analysis further reveals the importance of advanced inventory dispatch policies.

Research limitations/implications

The research focused on the delivery framework of a particular manufacturer and the chosen products. Hence, research findings may differ and need to be modified before drawing conclusions for different products, companies or industries.

Originality/value

Evaluating the impact of various stages of collaboration within a perishable product supply chain environment has not been addressed much within prior SCM research. The analysis tackles a variety of issues that specifically arise within a perishable goods framework and aims to support practitioners by identifying possible pitfalls and areas of improvement.
A taxonomy of highly interdependent, supply chain relationships
Authors: Humphries Andrew S. , Towriss John , Wilding Richard
Published: November 2007

Purpose

Cluster analysis provides a statistical method whereby unknown groupings of similar attributes can be identified from a mass of data and is well‐known within marketing and a wide range of other disciplines. This paper seeks to describe the use of cluster analysis in an unusual setting to classify a large sample of dyadic, highly interdependent, supply chain relationships based upon the quality of their interactions. This paper aims to show how careful attention to the detail of research design and the use of combined methods leads to results that both are useful to managers and make a contribution to knowledge.

Design/methodology/approach

Data relating to 55 monopolistic relationships in the UK defence procurement sector were collected. Hierarchical cluster analysis using Wards method was undertaken on scores from five dimensions measuring relationship satisfaction. The resulting clusters are described in terms of the scores on the dimensions and also in terms of their relationships with data, quantitative and qualitative, exogenous to the clusters.

Findings

The analysis reveals five distinct clusters of relationships. Statistically significant differences are evident in the scores on the five dimensions of satisfaction with respect to these clusters. These scores lead to the labels “Poor 1” “Moderate 2” “Moderate 3” and “Good 4” being assigned to the clusters. The clusters display statistically significant relationships with a number of the exogenous variables including the value of the contract and the age of the technology involved. Relationships with the exogenous qualitative data are indicative of the validity of the clusters.

Originality/value

This paper takes a novel approach to gaining an understanding of relationships through the use of hierarchical cluster analysis. This provides an elegant way of exposing the influences on relationship satisfaction at a disaggregate level which are not possible by taking an aggregate approach. This will be of particular interest to researchers who are seeking patterns in large data sets and practitioners who can identify better practice guidelines when working within supply chain relationships. The disaggregate approach using cluster analysis provides extraordinarily detailed insights into relationship patterns.
Using e‐business to enable customised logistics sustainability
Authors: Wang Yingli , Lalwani Chandra S.
Published: November 2007

Purpose

This paper seeks to analyse and propose how e‐business can be coupled with different logistics strategies to achieve customized logistics sustainability (CLS).

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, a conceptual model for CLS has been developed and, using four cases from industry, the model is further enhanced and validated.

Findings

Three main streams in supply chains, namely collaboration, dissolution, and innovation, are identified in a customised logistics domain. In each of the three streams, e‐business and relationship configurations are discussed in detail. Using four case examples, the research presented in this paper demonstrates how e‐business performance has hindered or improved the performance of customised logistics provision. A performance measurement (PM) system (efficacy, effectiveness and efficiency (E3) to evaluate the CLS has been proposed.

Research limitations/implications

The E3 PM system development in this paper is based on current research on performance in the literature. Using the case examples, the application of E3 has been explored. Further research on testing E3 as a good PM system in supply chains using empirical data is desirable.

Practical implications

The paper attempts to provide a guiding framework for practitioners on how to align and design different e‐business linkages with different customers.

Originality/value

There has been considerable research on how e‐business can be deployed by a focal company in supply chains in order to support its B2B collaboration with key customers and suppliers. There is little research on e‐business's potential in dealing with dynamic, unpredictable and sometimes sporadic customer demands. The research presented in this paper attempts to fill this gap by proposing a structured model incorporating different logistics streams, and a PM system for CLS.
The great legitimizer
Authors: Noir Charles , Walsham Geoff
Published: November 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how and why information and communication technologies (ICT) are enrolled in the Indian healthcare sector for reasons over and above perceived efficiency gains.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper explores qualitative field data collected in the Indian states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, and the city of New Delhi from an epistemological perspective of interpretivism. New institutional theory is employed to illustrate the mythical and ceremonial roles that ICT for development play in legitimizing development initiatives.

Findings

The analysis challenges the simplistic view that implementing health management information systems will translate directly to efficiency gains.

Research limitations/implications

This paper furthers the theoretical understanding of how ICT, as social and material phenomena, function empirically beyond instruments of technical rationality. One limitation of the research is the relatively short duration of the fieldwork. A wider scope in the metrics used to evaluate success in development initiatives that implement ICT is called for.

Practical implications

Practical implications of this paper focus on the need to move away from simple deterministic visions of ICT for development towards an approach based on acknowledging outcome indeterminacy with regard to the consequences of ICT implementation in the Indian healthcare sector, and thus the need for genuine feedback loops.

Originality/value

This paper will be valuable to institutional and information systems theorists, and development practitioners. A framework is provided to unpack the institutional context that drives some of the inefficiency in the Indian healthcare sector.