bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Structural insight into the mechanism of neuraminidase inhibitor-resistant mutations in human-infecting H10N8 Influenza A virus
Authors: Oladejo Babayemi O. , Bi Yuhai , Vavricka Christopher J. , Li Chunrui , Chai Yan , Xu Kun , Li Liqiang , Lu Zhe , Li Jiandong , Wong Gary , Mohan Sankar , Pinto B. Mario , Jiang Haihai , Qi Jianxun , Gao George Fu , Tien Po , Wu Yan
Published: July 2018

The emergence of drug resistance in avian influenza virus (AIV) is a serious concern for public health. Neuraminidase (NA) isolated from a fatal case of avian-origin H10N8 influenza virus infection was found to carry a drug-resistant mutation, NA-Arg292Lys (291 in N8 numbering). In order to understand the full potential of H10N8 drug resistance, the virus was first passaged in the presence of the most commonly used neuraminidase inhibitors (NAIs), oseltamivir and zanamivir. As expected, the Arg292Lys substitution was detected after oseltamivir treatment, however a novel Val116Asp substitution (114 in N8 numbering) was selected by zanamivir treatment. Next generation sequencing (NGS) confirmed that the mutations arose early (after passages 1-3) and became dominant in the presence of the NAI inhibitors. Extensive crystallographic studies revealed that N8-Arg292Lys resistance results mainly from loss of interactions with the inhibitor carboxylate, while rotation of Glu276 was not impaired as observed in the N9-Arg292Lys, a group 2 NA structure. In the case of Val116Asp, the binding mode between oseltamivir and zanamivir is different. Asp151 forms stabilized hydrogen bond to guanidine group of zanamivir, which may compensate the resistance caused by Val116Asp. By contrast, the amino group of oseltamivir is too short to maintain this hydrogen bond, which result in resistant. Moreover, the oseltamivir-zanamivir hybrid inhibitor MS-257 displays higher effectiveness to Val116Asp than oseltamivir, which support this notion.

Author Summary

Aside from vaccination, NAIs are currently the only alternative for the clinical treatment and prophylaxis of influenza. Understanding the mechanisms of resistance is critical to guide in drug development. In this study, two drug-resistant NA substitutions, Val116Asp and Arg292Lys, were discovered from oseltamivir and zanamivir treatment of H10N8 virus. Crystal structural analyses revealed two distinct mechanisms of these two resistant mutations and provide the explanation for the difference in susceptibility of different NAIs. Zanamivir and laninamivir were more effective against the resistant variants than oseltamivir, and Arg292Lys results in more serious oseltamivir resistance in N9 than N8 subtype. This study is well-correlated to influenza pandemic/epidemic pre-warning, as the discovery of inhibitor resistant viruses will help for new drug preparedness.
Venoms of related mammal-eating species of taipans (Oxyuranus) and brown snakes (Pseudonaja) differ in composition of toxins involved in mammal poisoning
Authors: Skejic Jure , Steer David L. , Dunstan Nathan , Hodgson Wayne C.
Published: July 2018

Background

Taipans of the genusOxyuranusare predominately mammal-eating specialists and a majority of Australian brown snakes of the sister genusPseudonajaare generalist predators, feeding on mammals, lizards and frogs. In this paper, venom composition of several related mammal-eating species was compared using shotgun proteomics.

Results

Venom ofOxyuranus temporalisconsisted predominately of α-neurotoxins (three-finger toxin family) and was deficient in phospholipase A2neurotoxins. In contrast, PLA2neurotoxins (taipoxin and paradoxin) were abundant in the venoms of other mammal-eating taipan species –Oxyuranus scutellatusandO. microlepidotus. Variation in neurotoxic PLA2expression was also recorded in mammal-eating brown snakes, some species having high venom levels of textilotoxin or related homologues, for examplePseudonaja textilisandP. nuchalis, and others, such asP. ingrami, lacking them. Venom prothrombinase proteins (fX and fV) were expressed in most mammalivorous lineages, being particularly abundant in somePseudonajaspecies. Notably,Oxyuranus temporalisvenom was deficient in venom prothrombinase despite a mammal-based diet. Expression of an α-neurotoxin that is lethal to rodents (pseudonajatoxin b) was profoundly down-regulated inPseudonaja textilisvenom sample from Queensland and highly up-regulated in the sample from South Australia despite a report that the snake feeds on rodents in both regions.

Conclusion

Related species of taipans and brown snakes that feed on small mammals express different sets of venom proteins toxic to this vertebrate group. This suggests an involvement of factors other than prey type selection in shaping venom proteome composition.
PlaneFinder: a methodology to find the best plane for a set of atoms involved in the metal coordination in protein structures
Authors: Sahana J. Janu , Sriraghav S. , Vijeth T. A. , Nagarushyanth T. , Santhosh R. , Michael D. , Ahmed Z. Sameer , Nisha K. P. R. , Jeyakanthan J. , Sekar K.
Published: July 2018

Metal ions play a considerable role in protein structure and function. The roles of most metals and their importance are determined by the arrangements of the interacting atoms in the three-dimensional protein structure. This information is essential in predicting the geometry of the atoms involved in metal coordination. The deviation of the other atoms from the best plane is another crucial factor. The proposed web server, PlaneFinder, provides a fast and efficient method to calculate the best-fit plane for a set of atoms involved in the metal coordination. It provides in addition other possible planes by considering the maximum number of interacting atoms as well as user-selected atoms. The deviations of the selected atoms and other atoms from the best-fit plane are also displayed. PlaneFinder is freely available and can be accessed at http://bioserver1.physics.iisc.ac.in/plane/.
Conformations of the type-1 lacto-N-biose I unit in protein complex structures
Authors: Fushinobu Shinya
Published: July 2018

The lacto-N-biose I (Galβ1–3GlcNAc; LNB) disaccharide is present as a core unit of type-1 blood group antigens of animal glycoconjugates and milk oligosaccharides. Type-1 antigens often serve as cell-surface receptors for infection by pathogens. LNB in human milk oligosaccharides functions as a prebiotic for bifidobacteria and plays a key role in the symbiotic relationship of commensal gut microbes in infants. Protein Data Bank (PDB) entries exhibiting the LNB unit were investigated using the GlycoMapsDB web tool. There are currently 159 β-LNB and nine α-LNB moieties represented in ligands in the database. β-LNB and α-LNB moieties occur in 74 and six PDB entries, respectively, as NCS copies. The protein and enzyme structures are from various organisms including humans (galectins), viruses (haemagglutinin and capsid proteins), a pathogenic fungus, a parasitic nematode and protist, pathogenic bacteria (adhesins) and a symbiotic bacterium (a solute-binding protein of an ABC transporter). The conformations of LNB-containing glycans in enzymes vary significantly according to their mechanism of substrate recognition and catalysis. Analysis of glycosidic bond conformations indicated that the binding modes are significantly different in proteins adapted for modified or unmodified glycans.
Spin ballet for sweet encounters: saturation-transfer difference NMR and X-ray crystallography complement each other in the elucidation of protein–glycan interactions
Authors: Blaum Bärbel S. , Neu Ursula , Peters Thomas , Stehle Thilo
Published: July 2018

Biomolecular NMR spectroscopy has limitations in the determination of protein structures: an inherent size limit and the requirement for expensive and potentially difficult isotope labelling pose considerable hurdles. Therefore, structural analysis of larger proteins is almost exclusively performed by crystallography. However, the diversity of biological NMR applications outperforms that of any other structural biology technique. For the characterization of transient complexes formed by proteins and small ligands, notably oligosaccharides, one NMR technique has recently proven to be particularly powerful: saturation-transfer difference NMR (STD-NMR) spectroscopy. STD-NMR experiments are fast and simple to set up, with no general protein size limit and no requirement for isotope labelling. The method performs best in the moderate-to-low affinity range that is of interest in most of glycobiology. With small amounts of unlabelled protein, STD-NMR experiments can identify hits from mixtures of potential ligands, characterize mutant proteins and pinpoint binding epitopes on the ligand side. STD-NMR can thus be employed to complement and improve protein–ligand complex models obtained by other structural biology techniques or by purely computational means. With a set of protein–glycan interactions from our own work, this review provides an introduction to the technique for structural biologists. It exemplifies how crystallography and STD-NMR can be combined to elucidate protein–glycan (and other protein–ligand) interactions in atomic detail, and how the technique can extend structural biology from simplified systems amenable to crystallization to more complex biological entities such as membranes, live viruses or entire cells.
{N
1-[2-(Butylselanyl)benzyl]-N
2,N
2-dimethylethane-1,2-diamine}dichloridomercury(II)
Authors: Singh Pushpendra , Singh Harkesh B. , Butcher Ray J.
Published: July 2018

In the title compound, [HgCl2(C16H28N2Se)], the primary geometry around the Se and Hg atoms is distorted trigonal–pyramidal and distorted square-pyramidal, respectively. The distortion of the molecular geometry in the complex is caused by the steric demands of the ligands attached to the Se atom. The Hg atom is coordinated through two chloride anions, an N atom and an Se atom, making up an unusual HgNSeCl2 coordination sphere with an additional long Hg...N interaction. Intermolecular C—H...Cl interactions are the only identified intermolecular hydrogen-bonding interactions that seem to be responsible for the self assembly. These relatively weak C—H...Cl hydrogen bonds possess the required linearity and donor–acceptor distances. They act as molecular associative forces that result in a supramolecular assembly along the b-axis direction in the solid state of the title compound.
Quality assessment methods for index of community sustainability
Authors: Lobato-Calleros Maria Odette , Fabila Karla , Shaw Pamela , Roberts Brian
Published: July 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to design and test a user satisfaction model to evaluate the contribution of biodiesel production and consumption to the sustainability of a semi-urban community in the Cowichan Valley in British Columbia Canada. This case study is part of a larger research study whose purpose is to create a model for an index of sustainable community production and consumption.

Design/methodology/approach

The theoretical approach selected was the national indices of consumer satisfaction models. The methodology was qualitative and quantitative, in-depth interviews were used to learn the opinion of active and non-active consumers of biodiesel. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed with specialized software for qualitative studies. A structural equation model, whose innovation is the inclusion of the sustainability variables, was designed and analyzed with statistical technique partial least squares.

Findings

The designed model and methodology were useful to identify the principal cause variables of consumer satisfaction of biodiesel in two types of users: active users and non-active users. The determination coefficient R2 of the latent variables satisfaction and loyalty for the prediction of biodiesel active users model is 0.82 and 0.72, respectively, while the result for the non-active users model is 0.90 for satisfaction and 0.73 for loyalty. Sustainable consumption at community level is statistically significant as a direct cause of the variable sustainability of the community for both models, and in turn the sustainability of the community variable has a significant impact on loyalty for the active users model.

Originality/value

This case study is part of a larger research study whose purpose is to create a model for an index of sustainable community production and consumption which will be measured longitudinally to detect changes in the sustainable consumption of the community members.
Intelligent autonomous vehicles in digital supply chains
Authors: Tsolakis Naoum , Bechtsis Dimitrios , Srai Jagjit Singh
Published: July 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to discuss key challenges associated with the use of either simulation or real-world application of intelligent autonomous vehicles (IAVs) in supply network operations; and second, to provide a theoretical and empirical evidence-based methodological framework that supports the integrated application of conceptualisation, simulation, emulation and physical application of IAVs for the effective design of digital supply networks.

Design/methodology/approach

First, this study performs a critical review of the extant literature to identify major benefits and shortcomings related to the use of either simulation modelling or real-word application of physical IAVs. Second, commercial and bespoke software applications, along with a three-dimensional validation and verification emulation tool, are developed to evaluate an IAV’s operations in a conceptual warehouse. Third, a commercial depth-sensor is used as a test bed in a physical setting.

Findings

The results demonstrate that conceptual and simulation modelling should be initially used to explore alternative supply chain operations in terms of ideal performance while emulation tools and real-world IAV test beds are eminent in validating preferred digital supply chain design options.

Research limitations/implications

The provided analysis framework was developed using literature evidence along with experimental work and research experience, without consulting any industry experts. In addition, this study was developed based on the application of a single physical device application as a test bed and, thus, the authors should further progress with the testing of a physical IAV in an industrial warehouse.

Practical implications

The study provides bespoke simulation modelling and emulation tools that can be useful for supply chain practitioners in effectively designing network operations.

Originality/value

This work contributes in the operations management field by providing both a multi-stage methodological framework and a practical “toolbox” for the proactive assessment and incorporation of IAVs in supply network operations.
Smallholder preferences and willingness-to-pay measures for microcredit
Authors: Ding Zhao , Abdulai Awudu
Published: July 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine smallholders’ preferences and willingness to pay for microcredit products with varying attribute combinations, in order to contribute to the debate on the optimal design of rural microcredit.

Design/methodology/approach

Data used in this study are based on a discrete choice experiment from 552 randomly selected respondents. Mixed logit and latent class models are estimated to examine the choice probability and sources of preference heterogeneity. Endogenous attribute attendance models are applied to account for attribute non-attendance (ANA) phenomenon, focusing on separate non-attendance probability as well as joint non-attendance probability.

Findings

The results demonstrate that preference heterogeneity and ANA exist in the smallholder farmers’ microcredit choices. Averagely, smallholder farmers prefer longer credit period, smaller credit size, lower transaction costs and lower interest rate. Guarantor collateral method and installment repayment positively affect their preferences as well. Moreover, respondents are found to be willing to pay more for the attributes they consider important. The microcredit providers are able to attract new customers under the current interest rates, if the combination of attributes is appropriately adjusted.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the debate by assessing the preference trade-off of different microcredit attributes more comprehensively than in previous analyses, by taking preference heterogeneity and ANA into account.
Understanding online knowledge community user continuance
Authors: Zhou Tao
Published: July 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to draw on the social cognitive theory to identify the determinants of online knowledge community user continuance, which reflects a user’s continued use.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the 271 valid responses collected from a survey, structural equation modelling was employed to examine the research model.

Findings

The results indicated that the cognitive factors of outcome expectation and the environmental factors of system quality and knowledge quality significantly affect a user’s continuance intention, which, in turn, affects continuance usage.

Research limitations/implications

The results imply that service providers need to enhance community platforms and improve knowledge quality in order to retain users and facilitate their continuance.

Originality/value

Although previous research has examined online knowledge community user behaviour from multiple perspectives such as the social exchange theory and the motivational theory, it has seldom explored the relative effects of personal cognitions and environmental factors on user behaviour. This research fills the gap.
CSFs for Six Sigma in service and manufacturing companies: an insight on literature
Authors: Pathiratne Sonali Udeeka , Khatibi Ali , Md Johar Md Gapar
Published: July 2018

Purpose

This paper aims to identify and review the critical success factors (CSFs) for successful Six Sigma implementation in service and manufacturing companies given in published literature.

Design/methodology/approach

A descriptive evaluation of the literature body is followed by future research opportunities. Studies published on the topic of Six Sigma during 2005-2016 are reviewed to retrieve identified CSFs.

Findings

From published literature, 48 CSFs vital for Six Sigma implementation were identified. The identified CSFs were classified under eight core categories. As per the categorization, 35 out of 48 CSFs identified are either Company Strategy related, Six Sigma Project related or Human Resources related. Only a limited number of studies are carried out mainly focusing on the stated three core areas. Hence, it is vital that these three core areas are further explored in future research.

Originality/value

With the outcome of this paper, the identified CSFs for Six Sigma will be taken for further studies, where they will be applied to service and manufacturing companies based in Sri Lanka. Hence, it would provide Sri Lankan service and manufacturing companies guidelines for successful implementation of Six Sigma for future endeavors.
The influence of peer mentoring on critical care nursing students’ learning outcomes
Authors: Sibiya Maureen Nokuthula , Ngxongo Thembelihle Sylvia Patience , Beepat Somavathy Yvonne
Published: July 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of peer mentoring on critical care nursing students’ learning outcomes in critical care units.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative exploratory research design was used to conduct the study. Ten critical care nursing students were recruited from critical care units in the five private and two public hospitals. Descriptions of their experiences were gained through individual face-to-face interviews.

Findings

The study reinforces peer mentoring as a vital strategy in helping the critical care nursing students to attain their learning outcomes. However, peer mentoring was not consistent in all hospitals and there were no structured support systems to ensure that peer mentoring was formalized. Making peer mentoring a vital component in the registered nurses core competencies would enable efficiency and guarantee the viability of peer mentoring.

Research limitations/implications

Mentors for the critical care nursing students were not included in the study.

Practical implications

The study identified a need for incorporating a formalized mentorship programme into the core competencies of all qualified critical care nurses, the unit mentor to familiarise themselves with the prescribed learning objectives of the critical care nursing student and an allocation of supernumerary time for the critical care nursing student and mentors to allow for formal mentoring responsibilities to take place.

Originality/value

The study reinforces peer mentoring as a vital strategy in helping the critical care nursing students to attain their learning outcomes and conscietises registered nurses of their responsibility as mentors.
Working conditions, health and retirement intentions: a case study of truck drivers
Authors: Sousa Inês C. , Ramos Sara
Published: July 2018

Purpose

Being a professional truck driver implies prolonged exposure to physical and psychosocial risks, which can affect health and work ability in the short and long term. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of working conditions in truck drivers’ perceived health and retirement intentions in a Portuguese transportation company.

Design/methodology/approach

Using ergonomic work analysis (EWA), this study incorporates document analysis, observation and 16 interviews. Content analysis is applied to interviews’ transcripts.

Findings

In line with previous research, drivers acknowledged their activity as physically demanding (e.g. static postures, repetitive movements, heavy lifting) and psychologically demanding (e.g. high time pressure, lack of control, lack of work–family balance). Despite that, drivers report themselves to be in good health, with only some complaints related to back and knee pain. However, hard working conditions associated with ageing can contribute to gradual health deterioration, leading them to desire to retire before the legal retirement age.

Practical implications

The company can promote drivers’ health by creating a unit to provide psychosocial support and career orientation, improving the mentoring programme, and investing in training on occupational risk prevention.

Originality/value

This study is the first to use EWA to examine the impact of the complex relationship between truck drivers’ work and health in their retirement intentions, adopting a temporal perspective.
Board characteristics and microfinance institutions’ performance
Authors: Shettima Usman , Dzolkarnaini Nazam
Published: July 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of board characteristics on MFIs performance in Nigeria. A specific country study is warranted given the results from pooled cross-country studies may be biased owing to a failure to control for country differences. It is also particularly challenging to generalize the outcome of these results into a specific country given that many factors about MFIs, ranging from the nature of governance, legal status, size and prudential regulations, are not similar across countries.

Design/methodology/approach

The relationship between board characteristics and microfinance banks performance in Nigeria is tested using a sample of 120 firm-year observations covering 30 MFIs in the periods from 2010 to 2013. The study extracted all microfinance-level data from the Microfinance Information Exchange database.

Findings

The authors document a positive and significant relationship between board size and MFIs performance. The authors also find negative relation between female directors and MFIs performance, but not significant. The results suggest that larger board size indicates good corporate governance practice, which leads to reduced agency cost.

Research limitations/implications

This study sheds new lights on the Nigerian MFIs’ board room dynamic. As the government is increasingly contemplating on the board structure and corporate governance policies, the study offers useful and timely empirical guidance to the Nigerian regulators.

Originality/value

Given the important role of microfinance industry in Nigeria, this is the first study of its kind analyzing the impact of board characteristics on microfinance performance among Nigerian MFIs.
The development of accounting practices and the adoption of IFRS in selected MENA countries
Authors: Boolaky Pran Krishansing , Omoteso Kamil , Ibrahim Masud Usman , Adelopo Ismail
Published: July 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the level of accounting development and the adoption of IFRS in the four foremost economies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)—Egypt, Jordan, Libya and UAE. Through the lens of institutional theory, the study investigates the impact of economic, political, legal and cultural institutions on the development of these countries’ accounting practices and their readiness to use IFRS.

Design/methodology/approach

This research uses accounting development indices obtained from current literature as well as recent World Economic Forum and UNCTAD reports to examine the development of accounting in these MENA countries and their inclination to adopt IFRS.

Findings

The study identifies a number of impediments to the development of accounting practices and adoption of IFRS in these countries. It also reveals that three of the four MENA countries (Egypt, Jordan and UAE) could be placed on a level playing field with their principal trading partners (the US, the UK, Germany and Italy) given the formers’ business environments, methods of raising finance and levels of professional accounting practices.

Research Implications/limitations

Although limited to only four jurisdictions, findings from the study have important implications for investors and parties that are interested in improving the value relevance of the information presented by firms especially in a globalised economy with increasing cross-listing.

Originality/value

This study extends the frontier of knowledge on the development of accounting and IFRS adoption by focusing on the MENA region. It is the first effort that the authors are aware of to adopt such a multifarious approach.
Did USAID promote economic growth prior to the 2011 Egyptian Revolution?
Authors: AboElsoud Mostafa E.
Published: July 2018

Purpose

The effectiveness of foreign aid, specifically, the role it plays in promoting growth in developing countries, is one of the most debated issues in the field of economics. Despite the enormous resources channeled to developing countries over the past decades, only limited tangible results can be observed. The literature on aid effectiveness is vast. Yet, the results are inconclusive. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of economic aid provided by the USA on Egyptian economic growth before the Egyptian Revolution in 2011, more precisely, Mubarak’s era.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses a vector autoregressive (VAR) model and Granger causality test to answer the question of whether the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has been conductive to growth in Egypt over the period of 1981 to 2010.

Findings

The results reveal that USAID has no impact on the Egyptian economic growth.

Originality/value

The recommendations put forward by this paper are measures that Egyptian policymakers can undertake to increase aid effectiveness. These measures include the reduction of corruption, more active participation in delivering aid, greater accountability for aid outcomes and coordination of the activities of aid agencies.
Strategic coethnicity
Authors: Asante Kofi Takyi
Published: July 2018

Purpose

This paper aims to present two distinct approaches to migrant entrepreneurship.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on ethnography of two Ghanaian migrant businesses, one of which draws on the Ghanaian community and another which distances itself from it, the author shows that the current understandings of social capital romanticise the notion of community. The author argues that to gain a better appreciation of the ways in which community resources are used by migrant entrepreneurs, we would need to reject such romanticised notions.

Findings

The ethnography revealed the operation of two entrepreneurial strategies. These, in turn, were shaped by the nature of the migrant community and the resources that entrepreneurs have at their disposal.

Research limitations/implications

The limitation of this research is that it draws on only two cases. Focusing on two cases allowed for an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms at play but limits the ability to generalise beyond these two cases. Further research will have to use large-scale survey designs to test the mechanisms which have been identified in this paper.

Practical implications

There are multiple, sometimes conflicting, tendencies in any specific entrepreneurial context, and the author proposes that this configuration of factors leads to the dominance of one or the other entrepreneurial approach.

Social implications

Underlying these dynamics is an attempt to reconcile the demands of two competing tendencies within the entrepreneurial context: the profit motive versus the community spirit.

Originality/value

The author concludes with a brief discussion of concept of strategic coethnicity by which this dilemma can be solved.
The four eras of “marketing” in twentieth century India
Authors: Tumbe Chinmay , Ralli Isha
Published: July 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to understand the evolution of “marketing” in the public and corporate discourse of twentieth-century India.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws its inferences from an analysis of the digital Times of India and Financial Times historical newspaper databases, the corporate archives of two leading Mumbai-based firms – Godrej in consumer goods and Cipla in pharmaceuticals and oral histories of marketing managers.

Findings

The paper identifies four eras of “marketing” in twentieth-century India. Era I (1910-1940) saw the emergence of agricultural “marketing boards” and “marketing officers” in the public sector and the growth of Indian and multinational advertising agencies. Era II (1940-1970) witnessed the formation of management and advertising associations and business schools with close involvement of American players. In Era III (1970-1990), there was a paradigm shift as “marketing” grew in corporate discourse and firms began to employ “marketing managers” in “marketing departments”. Era IV (1990-till date) witnessed the explosion of “marketing” in public and corporate discourse alongside the consumption boom in India. The paper shows how “marketing” evolved separately in the public and private sectors and in different phases as compared to that in the West.

Research limitations/implications

This paper overturns conventional wisdom on marketing history in India, which has so far discounted its significance before 1960 or accorded primary significance to the 1990s’ economic liberalisation programme.

Practical implications

Findings of this study will be useful to marketing professionals and teachers who wish to learn more about the history of marketing in India.

Originality/value

The paper uses unexplored archival material and provides the first account on the evolution of “marketing” in public and corporate discourse in twentieth-century India.
Paradox and market renewal
Authors: Hietanen Joel , Mattila Pekka , Sihvonen Antti , Tikkanen Henrikki
Published: July 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to continue the emerging stream of literature that has found knockoffs and counterfeits to be unobtrusive or even beneficial to luxury companies by analyzing how they produce paradoxes of meaning and contribute to the renewal of luxury markets. This is done by exploring them as doppelgänger brand images that reappropriate brand imagery for their own purposes.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a conceptual paper that focuses on the role of knockoffs and counterfeits in the renewal of luxury markets.

Findings

The findings highlight how knockoffs and counterfeits can contribute to the emergence and cyclical diffusion of luxury. As luxury offerings are introduced to the market, knockoffs and counterfeits accelerate the snob effect, aid in anchoring trends and contribute to induced obsolescence. During diffusion, knockoffs and counterfeits can strengthen aspiration, bandwagon and herding effects. In doing so, knockoffs and counterfeits create a paradox as they simultaneously legitimize the idea of the “authenticity” of genuine offerings through their presence in the market and create cyclical demand for novel offerings by undermining the authenticity claims of existing luxury offerings. Thus, knockoffs and counterfeits can be understood as a paradox of luxury markets that contributes to the market cyclicality not despite but because of this paradoxical interplay.

Originality/value

While research on knockoffs and counterfeiting is plentiful in the field of marketing, this is among the few studies that analyze how these offerings contribute to luxury markets and their renewal.
Diametrical effects in governmental accountability – the auditor general’s struggle to sustain balance in performance auditing reports and media disclosure
Authors: Gårseth-Nesbakk Levi , Kuruppu Chamara
Published: July 2018

Purpose

This study aims to unravel characteristics of performance audit (PA) reports and official responses to them, associated critiques and alleged unintended consequences.

Design/methodology/approach

This archival research study has centered on PA reports and associated newspaper articles, books and reports, identified through database searches and the snowball approach. Mixed analysis approaches included content analysis, discourse analysis and informal analysis.

Findings

Auditees tend to oppose perceived unfair or inappropriate methods and process dimensions of the PAs more than the amount of criticism they face. The blame avoidance concept is therefore more accurate than the blame gaming one. The total amount of critical wording could still matter, as the media may disproportionally enlarge the significance of PA reports. Disclosure and interpretation of PA reports, and the associated media debates, could yield diametrical repercussions.

Research limitations/implications

The research results may lack generalizability. Future studies could extend this work by covering a longer time period or being comparative in nature.

Practical implications

To achieve (more) effective and legitimate PAs, it is necessary to adequately understand, balance and display accountability perceptions of those held accountable. The choice of auditing methods and incorporation of auditees’ views seem paramount to the way auditees respond to PAs and ought therefore to be carefully selected, alongside specific wording.

Originality/value

Juxtaposition of critical wording with other characteristics of PA reports and how ministries respond to them gives insight into key sources of criticism and debate circumstancing accountability.
Reading between the lines: not all CSR is good CSR
Authors: Ding David K. , Ferreira Christo , Wongchoti Udomsak
Published: July 2018

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate whether corporate social responsibility (CSR), as evidenced in annual financial reports, is associated with a firm’s financial performance in New Zealand.

Design/methodology/approach

A word count approach of several key CSR indicators found in the audited financial reports of NZX50 constituent firms is used. Several variables are constructed that measure the presence of CSR within the annual report such as sustainability, responsibility, social, environment, diversity, employee and community, and eight other variables within the annual report that measure the penetration of stakeholder engagement. Control variables and alternative measures of CSR are also included. Descriptive statistics and results of both univariate and multivariate tests are provided.

Findings

The findings establish a positive connection between CSR and financial performance. It is shown that firms that are unable to focus their attention on key stakeholders, but instead waste managerial capital on vague social policies and activities, are associated with weaker performance. Firms that consider the protected indigenous peoples as key stakeholders are associated with superior performance, especially when the firm is seeking regulatory approval.

Social implications

Evidence is provided that CSR and Maori stakeholder engagement is implied by financial reports that have a significant association with corporate financial performance.

Originality/value

The results provide one of the first analyses linking the interplay between CSR, Maori and corporate financial performance using information publicly observable in annual financial reports. Evidence of an association between firms that indicate awareness of their community and higher levels of return on assets (ROA) is provided.
Examining the extent to which repeat and near repeat patterns can prevent crime
Authors: Chainey Spencer P. , Curtis-Ham Sophie J. , Evans R. Mark , Burns Gordon J.
Published: July 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent and variation in the estimates to which crime can be prevented using patterns of repeats and near repeats, and whether hotspot analysis complements these patterns.

Design/methodology/approach

Crime data for four study areas in New Zealand are used to examine differences in the extent of burglary repeat and near repeat victimisation. Hotspots of burglary are also created to determine the extent to which burglary repeats and near repeats spatially intersect hotspots.

Findings

The extent of repeats and near repeats varies, meaning there is variation in the estimated prevention benefits that repeat and near repeat patterns offer. In addition, at least half of the burglaries repeats and near repeats were not located within hotspots.

Research limitations/implications

The use of other techniques for examining crime concentration could be used to improve the research observations.

Practical implications

By showing that levels of repeats and near repeats vary, the extent to which these observations coincide in hotspots offers practitioners a better means of determining whether repeat and near repeat patterns are reliable for informing crime prediction and crime prevention activities.

Originality/value

The paper is the first known research study that explicitly measures the variation in the extent of repeats and near repeats and the spatial intersection of these patterns within crime hotspots. The results suggest that rather than considering the use of repeat and near repeat patterns as a superior method for predicting and preventing crime, value remains in using hotspot analysis for determining where crime is likely to occur, particularly when hotspot analysis emphasises other locations for resource targeting.
Creative processes of impact making: advancing an American Pragmatist Methodology
Authors: Kelemen Mihaela , Hamilton Lindsay
Published: July 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide new insights into the social impact of creative research methods.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the new methodology of cultural animation (CA), the authors highlight how knowledge can be co-produced between academics, community members and organisational practitioners. Drawing on the UK Connected Communities programme, the authors explore examples of immersive and performative techniques including arts and crafts, drama and poetry.

Findings

The authors showcase the practical and theoretical benefit of such exercises to generate impact and influence. Empirically, the authors demonstrate the potential of CA to bring together researchers and community members in useful partnerships that foster dialogical exchange. Theoretically, the authors extend and develop the value of American Pragmatism by highlighting how democratic, iterative and practical learning plays out through the materials, networks and processes of cultural animation.

Social implications

Exploration of the examples leads us to propose and explore impact as a form of legacy which captures the temporal, processual and performative nature of knowledge sharing and co-production.

Originality/value

The methodology of CA is innovative and has not been tested widely to date although, as the authors illustrate, it is particularly useful for encouraging interaction between academics and the wider world by developing and nurturing interactions and relationships. It carries potential to contribute new insights to the theorisation and lived experience of organisation.
Accounting for the messiness of the research process: the fieldpath approach
Authors: Salovaara Perttu
Published: July 2018

Purpose

It has recently become more acknowledged that there is a quality of “messiness” to the qualitative research process. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the fieldpath approach—a hermeneutically inspired framework—to account for the non-linearity, uncertainty and ambiguity of the research process.

Design/methodology/approach

This conceptual paper reviews how the scope of hermeneutics has been partly misunderstood. The paper discusses how the scope of hermeneutics has lately been expanded by works such as Günter Figal’s (2010) Objectivity: The Hermeneutical and Philosophy.

Findings

The fieldpath approach proposes that a heightened relation to materiality enables the messiness of the process to be preserved, while at the same time offering a way to find one’s footing in the midst of ontologically incomplete phenomena that are still—in a processual fashion—forming and becoming.

Research limitations/implications

This is a conceptual paper. In addition to the research mentioned here, more studies would be needed to legitimise, test and refine the approach.

Practical implications

Objectivity provides an additional criterion for researchers to lean on when facing the non-linearity and unexpected turns inherent in the qualitative research process.

Social implications

The stress on materiality involves an ethical dimension. Post-human ethics are concerned with the future environmental consequences and sustainability of the material world. The way that matter matters in our methodologies is of primary importance.

Originality/value

First, the paper emphasises that hermeneutics, contrary to the common perception, does offer criteria for evaluating between interpretations. Second, it introduces the notion of hermeneutic objectivity, which stresses the importance of materiality for interpretations. Third, it introduces the fieldpath approach, which, based on the previous criterion of hermeneutic objectivity, allows for the messiness of the research process, while also preserving a tight grip on the hermeneutic imperative of “understanding in a new way”.
Identifying information need through storytelling
Authors: Barefoot Maria R.
Published: July 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of multicultural narratives from the website Humans of New York in a one credit information literacy course to teach concepts of information need with respect to cultural literacy and social justice.

Design/methodology/approach

This case study examines student responses to an in-class activity which used a problem-based learning approach. Students were asked to examine narratives and identify possible information access or use issues and to consider the cultural differences that may help or hinder information access or use.

Findings

Students’ writing samples show evidence of comprehension in the areas of cultural literacy and understanding information need and the development empathy with people of diverse racial, cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. Students directly identified information need issues such as financial barriers, social stigma, lack of access to legal aid and the risk of physical harm. Students indirectly recognized concepts related to cultural literacy and social justice such as cultural norms, classism and structural racism.

Originality/value

While the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education has listed a number of social justice and cultural literacy concepts within the knowledge practices and disposition statements, the library literature has not yet studied these concepts in conjunction with teaching information need. This case study presents a lesson plan that could be applied in library classrooms to teach both cultural literacy and information need concepts.
Communicating a social agenda within HEIs: the role of the social enterprise mark
Authors: Sutton Emma , McEachern Morven , Kane Kevin
Published: July 2018

Purpose

By using the lens of the social enterprise mark (SEM) accreditation which enables social enterprises to “prove” that the interests of people and planet are put before shareholder gain, this study aims to enhance the knowledge of how effectively the social agenda is communicated by higher education institutions (HEIs).

Design/methodology/approach

By using a qualitative research design, this exploratory study uses a combination of both a focus group and in-depth interviews with HEI holders of the SEM.

Findings

With a particular focus on University A, this study advances the knowledge around how social agendas and the role of the SEM in particular are used to communicate to HEI employees as a key stakeholder group.

Research limitations/implications

At the time of this study, fewer SEM accredited HEIs existed, and therefore, the following conclusions are based upon a small select sample of HEIs that held the SEM. Further studies are needed to provide a more representative view of each university’s use of and commitment to the SEM/ Social Enterprise Gold Mark.

Practical implications

Building on Powell and Osborne’s (2015) observations regarding the role of marketing in social enterprises, the findings of this study offer practical insight into current and or prospective HEI SEM holders as to the role of “social” accreditations, stakeholder perceptions of such marketing initiatives and how they can be used as a vehicle to improve social communications in the future.

Originality/value

The area of social enterprise and social impact has been evolving in recent decades, but literature in relation to its promotion and communication in the higher education sector remains scant. This study responds to this gap in the literature by providing greater insight into how social agendas and engagement with the SEM, specifically, are communicated by HEIs.
Quality in higher education institutions: insights from the literature
Authors: Prakash Gyan
Published: July 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand the meaning and operationalisation of quality in the context of higher education institutions (HEIs).

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic literature review is performed of 308 articles published in various peer-reviewed journals between 1999 and 2017.

Findings

The findings reveal that the quality constructs of student learning, engagement, service quality and satisfaction have received the greatest attention, followed by total quality management, quality assurance, benchmarking and accountability. The most popular approach is empirical, and surveys and single case studies are the most popular methods. Europe leads research on quality in HEIs, followed by North America and Asia.

Research limitations/implications

This paper contributes to the body of knowledge by presenting a comprehensive synthesis of articles addressing quality in HEIs.

Practical implications

Policymakers and academic administrators can use the findings of this study to conceptualise student satisfaction along the educational value chain. The operationalisation of quality constructs will help policymakers create teaching excellence.

Originality/value

This paper highlights the importance of quality in HEIs.