bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cosmic Snow Clouds: Self-gravitating Gas Spheres Manifesting Hydrogen Condensation
Authors: Walker Mark A. , Wardle Mark J.
Published: August 2019

We present hydrostatic equilibrium models of spherical, self-gravitating clouds of helium and molecular hydrogen, focusing on the cold, high-density regime where solid- or liquid-hydrogen can form. The resulting structures have masses from 0.1 M
⊙ down to several ×10−8
M
⊙, and span a broad range of radii: 10−4 ≲ R(au) ≲ 107. Our models are fully convective, but all have a two-zone character with the majority of the mass in a small, condensate-free core, surrounded by a colder envelope where phase equilibrium obtains. Convection in the envelope is unusual in that it is driven by a mean-molecular-weight inversion, rather than by an entropy gradient. In fact, the entropy gradient is itself inverted, leading to the surprising result that envelope convection transports heat inward. In turn, that permits the outer layers to maintain steady-state temperatures below the cosmic microwave background. Among our hydrostatic equilibria we identify thermal equilibria appropriate to the Galaxy, in which radiative cooling from H2 is balanced by cosmic-ray heating. These equilibria are all thermally unstable, albeit with very long thermal timescales in some cases. The specific luminosities of all our models are very low, and they therefore describe a type of baryonic dark matter. Consequently such clouds are thermally fragile: when placed in a harsh radiation field, they will be unable to cool effectively and disruption will ensue as heat input drives a secular expansion. Disrupting clouds should leave trails of gas and H2 dust in their wake, which might make them easier to detect. Our models may be relevant to the cometary globules in the Helix Nebula and the G2 cloud orbiting Sgr A*.
Electron-capture Rates in 20Ne for a Forbidden Transition to the Ground State of 20F Relevant to the Final Evolution of High-density O–Ne–Mg Cores
Authors: Suzuki Toshio , Zha Shuai , Leung Shing-Chi , Nomoto Ken’ichi
Published: August 2019

Electron capture on 20Ne is critically important for the final stage of evolution of stars with initial masses of 8–10 M
⊙. In the present paper, we evaluate electron-capture rates for a forbidden transition 20Ne (

) 

 20F (

) in stellar environments by the multipole expansion method with the use of shell-model Hamiltonians. These rates have not been accurately determined in theory as well as in experiments. Our newly evaluated rates are compared with those obtained by a prescription that treats the transition as an allowed Gamow–Teller transition with the strength determined from a recent β-decay experiment for 20F (

) 

 20Ne (

). We find that different electron energy dependence of the transition strengths between the two methods leads to sizable differences in the weak rates of the two methods. We also find that the Coulomb effects, that is, the effects of screening on ions and electrons are nonnegligible. We apply our electron-capture rates on 20Ne to the calculation of the evolution of high-density O–Ne–Mg cores of 8–10 M
⊙ stars. We find that our new rates affect the abundance distribution and the central density at the final stage of evolution.
The Impact of Accretion Heating and Thermal Conduction on the Dead Zone of Protoplanetary Disks
Authors: Schobert B. N. , Peeters A. G. , Rath F.
Published: August 2019

The paper investigates the influence of accretion heating and turbulent heat conduction on the equilibrium of protoplanetary disks, extending the 2D axisymmetric passive disk model of Flock. The model includes dust sublimation and radiative transfer with the flux-limited diffusion approximation, and predicts the density and temperature profiles as well as the dust-to-gas ratio of the disk. It is shown that the accretion heating can have a large impact: for accretion rates above 5 · 10−8
M
⊙ yr−1 a zone forms behind the silicate condensation front with sufficiently high temperature to sublimate the dust and form a gaseous cavity. Assuming a Prandtl number ∼0.7, it is furthermore shown that the turbulent heat conduction cannot be neglected in the evaluation of the temperature profile. While the inner rim position is not affected by viscous heating, the dead zone edge shifts radially outward for higher accretion rates.
Evidence for Asymmetry in the Velocity Distribution of the Interstellar Neutral Helium Flow Observed by IBEX and Ulysses
Authors: Wood Brian E. , Müller Hans-Reinhard , Möbius Eberhard
Published: August 2019

We use observations from the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) and Ulysses to explore the possibility that the interstellar neutral helium flowing through the inner solar system possesses an intrinsic non-Maxwellian velocity distribution. In fitting the IBEX and Ulysses data, we experiment with both a kappa distribution and a bi-Maxwellian, instead of the usual Maxwellian assumption. The kappa distribution does not improve the quality of fit to either the IBEX or Ulysses data, and we find lower limits to the kappa parameter of κ > 12.1 and κ > 6.0 from the IBEX and Ulysses analyses, respectively. In contrast, we do find evidence that a bi-Maxwellian improves fit quality. For IBEX, there is a clear preferred bi-Maxwellian solution with T
⊥/T
∥ = 0.62 ± 0.11 oriented about an axis direction with ecliptic coordinates (λ
axis, b
axis) = (57.°2 ± 8.°9, −1.°6 ± 5.°9). The Ulysses data provide support for this result, albeit with lower statistical significance. The axis direction is close to the interstellar medium (ISM) flow direction, in a heliocentric rest frame, and is therefore unlikely to be indicative of velocity distribution asymmetries intrinsic to the ISM. It is far more likely that these results indicate the presence of asymmetries induced by interactions in the outer heliosphere.
Mandalas des émotions et leurs treize objets
Authors: Duc Marwood Alessandra , Regamey Véronique
Published: August 2019

Travaillant avec une population polytraumatisée où les émotions sont soit gelées soit omniprésentes, nous avons expérimenté plusieurs années le travail avec les mandalas des émotions qui ouvraient un espace intersubjectif permettant partage et renarration du vécu traumatique. Nous avons ensuite souhaité approfondir ce travail en tentant avec le patient de comprendre le rôle joué par les émotions dans sa vie, et ce qu’il souhaite être et vivre dans le futur.
Danser l’organisation en thérapie de couple
Authors: de Keyser Anne
Published: August 2019

Le plus souvent, lorsqu’une demande de consultation est adressée, c’est qu’il y a perte de dynamisme dans l’organisation du système qui peut aller jusqu’à susciter l’émergence d’un symptôme. La coévolution patient/intervenant, dans la danse thérapeutique, nécessite de comprendre, par modélisation, le type d’organisation dans lequel vit le système. À l’aide d’illustrations cliniques de thérapie de couple, cet article montre comment, en s’appuyant sur le modèle du Milieu humain élaboré par Etienne Dessoy et dont l’auteur a continué à penser la complexité, le thérapeute peut rendre explicite l’éventuelle rigidité de la rencontre, en vue d’imaginer, avec ses membres, l’une ou l’autre piste de changement. Cette recherche d’un sens possible de ce que vit le couple se fait dans l’ici et maintenant, en lien avec son héritage transgénérationnel.
Recherche de l’axe diégétique d’un récit par une démarche émique
Authors: Soulignac Rodolphe
Published: August 2019

Le concept de diégèse issu de la critique cinématographique nous permet de conceptualiser qu’il y a des implicites derrière tout énoncé de problème. Nous prendrons l’exemple du burn out pour illustrer notre propos et montrerons qu’avec une investigation émique on peut aider le/les patients à passer de la diégèse du problème à celle des préférences de vie, en passant du récit du burn out à celui de la démoralisation au travail.
Propos conclusifs : vie, expérience et rencontre thérapeutique
Authors: Duruz Nicolas
Published: August 2019

En final des 13 es Journées consacrées à la rencontre thérapeutique, l’auteur livre ses pensées intimes sur la psychothérapie, inspirées par la phénoménologie et les approches expérientielles de l’existence. Il met toutefois en garde contre une conception de la psychothérapie exagérément égalitaire et antithéorique.
Frailty Index Is Associated With Periprosthetic Fracture and Mortality After Total Knee Arthroplasty
Authors: Johnson Rebecca L. , Abdel Matthew P. , Frank Ryan D. , Chamberlain Alanna M. , Habermann Elizabeth B. , Mantilla Carlos B.
Published: August 2019

This cohort study of adult (≥50 years) patients aimed to calculate a validated, preoperative frailty deficit index (FI) and used it to compare outcomes following total knee arthroplasty (TKA), primary and revision, from 2005 through 2016. Using multivariable logistic and Cox regression, the authors analyzed whether FI, adjusted for age, predicts outcomes prior to hospital discharge, within 90 days, and within 365 days. They classified 9818 patients undergoing TKA (7920 primary and 1898 revision; median age, 69 years) as frail (21%), vulnerable (39%), and non-frail (40%). Frail, relative to non-frail, patients were more often female with more systemic diseases (American Society of Anesthesiologists classification, ≥III). While in-hospital, frail patients were found to have increased odds of reoperation (odds ratio, 2.52) and wound complications/hematoma (odds ratio, 2.15). Within 90 days, there was increased risk for periprosthetic fracture (>4-fold) and mortality (>9-fold) following TKA after age adjustment. Within the first year, frail patients were at heightened risk for death (hazard ratio, 8.08), any patient infection (hazard ratio, 1.97), wound complications/hematoma (hazard ratio, 2.16), periprosthetic fracture (hazard ratio, 3.03), and reoperation (hazard ratio, 1.41). At no time point were significant associations found with arthrofibrosis, aseptic loosening, or patellar clunk syndrome. One-fifth of patients undergoing primary and revision TKAs are frail and at notable risk for complications. Calculating a preoperative FI should guide pre-habilitation efforts (eg, chronic disease management, wellness) before and postoperative surveillance after TKA. [
Orthopedics
. 2019; 42(6):335–343.]
Simulating Light-Weight-Cryptography Implementation for IoT Healthcare Data Security Applications
Authors: Alassaf Norah , Gutub Adnan
Published: August 2019

Short period monitoring and emergency notification of healthcare signals is becoming affordable with existence of internet of things (IoT) support. However, IoT does not prevent challenges that may hinder the appropriate safe spread of medical solutions. Confidentiality of data is vital, making a real fear requesting cryptography. The limitations in memory, computations processing, power consumptions, and small-size devices contradict the robust encryption process asking for help of low-weight-cryptography to handle practically. This article presents a comparative analysis of performance evaluation of three trusted candidate encryption algorithms, namely AES, SPECK and SIMON, which are simulated and compared in details to distinguish who has the best behaviour to be nominated for a medical application. These encryption algorithms are implemented and evaluated in regard to the execution time, power consumption, memory occupation and speed. The implementation is carried out using the Cooja simulator running on Contiki operating system showing interesting attractive results.
A Data Driven Multi-Layer Framework of Pervasive Information Computing System for eHealthcare
Authors: Tiwari Vivek , Tiwari Basant
Published: August 2019

In the last decade, significant advancements in telecommunications and informatics have seen which incredibly boost mobile communications, wireless networks, and pervasive computing. It enables healthcare applications to increase human livelihood. Furthermore, it seems feasible to continuous observation of patients and elderly individuals for their wellbeing. Such pervasive arrangements enable medical experts to analyse current patient status, minimise reaction time, increase livelihood, scalability, and availability. There is found plenty of remote patient monitoring model in literature, and most of them are designed with limited scope. Most of them are lacking to give an overall unified, complete model which talk about all state-of-the-art functionalities. In this regard, remote patient monitoring systems (RPMS's) play important roles through wearable devices to monitor the patient's physiological condition. RPMS also enables the capture of related videos, images, and frames. RPMS do not mean to enable only capturing various sorts of patient-related information, but it also must facilitate analytics, transformation, security, alerts, accessibility, etc. In this view, RPMS must ensure some broad issues like, wearability, adaptability, interoperability, integration, security, and network efficiency. This article proposes a data-driven multi-layer architecture for pervasively remote patient monitoring that incorporates these issues. The system has been classified into five fundamental layers: the data acquisition layer, the data pre-processing layer, the network and data transfer layer, the data management layer and the data accessing layer. It enables patient care at real-time using the network infrastructure efficiently. A detailed discussion on various security issues have been carried out. Moreover, standard deviation-based data reduction and a machine-learning-based data access policy is also proposed.
Dynamic Policy Attribute Based Encryption and its Application in Generic Construction of Multi-Keyword Search
Authors: Mamta  , Gupta Brij B. , Ali Syed Taqi
Published: August 2019

Attribute based encryption (ABE) is an encryption technique which provides a good solution to the security issues in the cloud environment. Through ABE, a data owner can achieve the fine-grained sharing of data encrypted under attributes or an access policy which they possess. The relation among these attributes is represented by the access policy which is expressed as an access tree. In this article, the authors first present an ABE scheme which supports frequent changes in the access tree and hence, it is named a dynamic policy ABE. Also, the proposed scheme generates secret keys of constant size which can save bandwidth. The proposed scheme is based on key-policy design and supports monotonic access structure that consists of AND, OR and Threshold gates. Inspired by the proposed dynamic policy ABE scheme the authors then present a multi-keyword search scheme which inherits all the features of the proposed ABE scheme. Therefore, it provides a constant size trapdoor and support for fast search. The construction of a multi-keyword search scheme is generic in nature and any ABE scheme can be converted to the multi-keyword search scheme using the transformation method given in the paper. Finally, the proposed schemes are proven to be secure under Decisional Bilinear Diffie-Hellman (DBDH) assumption.
Visualizing Humanitarian Logistics Performance
Authors: Widera Adam , Bubbich Carsten , Hellingrath Bernd
Published: August 2019

Logistics management is crucial for the effectiveness and efficiency of humanitarian operations. Performance measurement enables practitioners to identify improvement potentials and management capabilities with regards to their logistics management tasks. While many performance measurement approaches for humanitarian logistics exist in the scientific domain, its applicability in the practitioner communities is rather low. Main reasons for this mismatch can be seen in rather few ready-to-use concepts and supporting information systems. In this article, the design, development, and evaluation of an information system for a Balanced Scorecard for humanitarian logistics is presented. The approach is embedded in the design science research framework following the agile programming methodology. The main characteristics of the server client architecture are described and reflected through experiences from formative and summative evaluations. The results stress the importance of the applied design approaches and support the closing of gaps between information systems designers and humanitarian practitioners.
Mining Twitter Data for Landslide Events Reported Worldwide
Authors: Musaev Aibek , Sheinidashtegol Pezhman , Conrad Elizabeth , Navathe Shamkant B.
Published: August 2019

The explosion of user generated content in social media published from mobile devices has led to the concept known as “citizen sensing.” Although English has been adopted by many as a de facto standard international language, reports about events, such as disasters, are frequently provided by citizens in their local language in addition to English. Attempting to integrate citizen reports from many languages is a significant challenge. This article describes the tools that address this challenge to enable the support of citizen-sensing of landslide events reported worldwide. Multilingual support is based on the first unified cross-lingual dataset of word vectors for representing texts in multiple languages. The classification model based on the proposed cross-lingual word vectors outperforms the “native” and “translated” approaches based on monolingual word vectors. Furthermore, it does not require the creation of a separate training set in a local language or its translation to English.
The Backbone of Decision Support Systems
Authors: Hertweck Philipp , Moßgraber Jürgen , Kontopoulos Efstratios , Mitzias Panagiotis , Hellmund Tobias , Karakostas Anastasios , Hilbring Désirée , van der Schaaf Hylke , Vrochidis Stefanos , Blume Jan-Wilhem , Kompatsiaris Ioannis
Published: August 2019

Understanding the current situation is critical in every natural disaster or crisis. Therefore, there is a need for accurate and up-to-date information about the scope, extent and impact of a disaster. The basis for this information is data that is available through a variety of sensors. Decision Support Systems (DSSs) support decision makers in disaster management, response, and recovery by providing early warnings, insights into the current situation and recommendations for mitigation actions. For this purpose, raw sensor data needs to be collected, analyzed, integrated, and its semantics need to be automatically understood by the system. This series of processes forms a generic sensor to decision chain. In this paper, we present solutions and technologies to integrate those steps seamlessly, also demonstrating how each step of the pipeline can be visualized.
Security Assertion of IoT Devices Using Cloud of Things Perception
Authors: Rath Mamata , Pati Bibudhendu
Published: August 2019

Adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) and Cloud of Things (CoT) in the current developing technology era are expected to be more and more invasive, making them important mechanism of the future Internet-based communication systems. Cloud of Things and Internet of Things (IoT) are two emerging as well as diversified advanced domains that are diversified in current technological scenario. Paradigm where Cloud and IoT are merged together is foreseen as disruptive and as an enabler of a large number of application scenarios. Due to the adoption of the Cloud and IoT paradigm a number of applications are gaining important technical attention. In the future, it is going to be more complicated a setup to handle security in technology. Information till now will severely get changed and it will be very tough to keep up with varying technology. Organisations will have to repeatedly switch over to new skill-based technology with respect to higher expenditure. Latest tools, methods and enough expertise are highly essential to control threats and vulnerability to computing systems. Keeping in view the integration of Cloud computing and IoT in the new domain of Cloud of things, the said article provides an up-to-date eminence of Cloud-based IoT applications and Cloud of Things with a focus on their security and application-oriented challenges. These challenges are then synthesized in detail to present a technical survey on various issues related to IoT security, concerns, adopted mechanisms and their positive security assurance using Cloud of Things.
A New AOMDV Lifetime Prolonging Routing Algorithm for Ad-Hoc Networks
Authors: Baddari Ibtihel , Riahla Mohamed Amine , Mezghiche Mohamed
Published: August 2019

Network lifetime is a key design metric in MANETs, it is considered as one of the most important parameters algorithms to be used in ad hoc networks. Each network node works completely independently and acts as a router for relaying communications. If some nodes die prematurely because of battery depletion, the network lifetime will be adversely affected, and the network will get disconnected. This article presents AOMDV-LP, a new AOMDV lifetime-prolonging routing algorithm for MANETs. This new algorithm helps to maximize the network lifetime by managing nodes energy, link cost and controlling the networks congestion. Simulations quantify the performance gains of the authors algorithm.
The Interdisciplinary Nature of Information Science
Authors: Rascão José
Published: August 2019

This article presents the conceptual evolution of inter-disciplinarily, trans-disciplinarily, and discipline, under information science from a theoretical framework. The text is a research whose primary purpose is to analyze scientific research developed in the context of interdisciplinary information science with participation in more than one area of knowledge. Using the concepts presented and those that contemporary authors studied in different areas, for composition of a conceptual framework that presents itself. The results of the research have enabled profiling of research in the area, about the use of different approaches and concluded that different forms and levels of interaction are found in information science. It is therefore concluded that the concepts have changed and that caused significant changes in their meanings. These changes lead to an ongoing re-evaluation and updating, in the context of information science and its implications, because it is an interdisciplinary science.
Artificial Neural Network Research in Online Social Networks
Authors: Walczak Steven
Published: August 2019

Artificial neural networks are a machine learning method ideal for solving classification and prediction problems using Big Data. Online social networks and virtual communities provide a plethora of data. Artificial neural networks have been used to determine the emotional meaning of virtual community posts, determine age and sex of users, classify types of messages, and make recommendations for additional content. This article reviews and examines the utilization of artificial neural networks in online social network and virtual community research. An artificial neural network to predict the maintenance of online social network “friends” is developed to demonstrate the applicability of artificial neural networks for virtual community research.
Percepção dos profissionais de enfermagem intensivistas sobre a tecnologia dura no cuidado / The perception of critical care nursing professionals on hard technology care
Authors: Silva Carlos Roberto Lyra da , Silva Viviane Reis Fontes da , Louro Thiago Quinellato , Silva Roberto Carlos Lyra da , Correio Isabella Barbosa Meireles , Carvalho Fabrícia Conceição de
Published: August 2019

Objetivo: Identificar a percepção da equipe de enfermagem sobre a tecnologia dura no cuidado em ambiente de unidade de terapia intensiva. Métodos: Trata-se de um estudo descritivo-exploratório com abordagem qualitativa cujos cenários foram unidades de terapia intensiva adulto de hospitais privados situados no município de Resende - Rio de Janeiro. Os dados foram obtidos por meio de roteiro de entrevista semiestruturada e analisados sob a perspectiva da análise temática com o auxílio do software Iramuteq, para 36 entrevistados. Resultados: Foram registrados 12751 ocorrências distribuídas e 1772 formas diferentes. As ocorrências que obtiveram maior Chi2 foram: mudança, equipe e taquicardia. Conclusão: Apesar dos avanços da tecnologia principalmente na enfermagem, o cuidado está se tornando mais burocratizado e os enfermeiros fazendo da máquina o cerne do cuidado. É preciso uma ressignificação desta forma de pensar a partir da formação dos profissionais.
Doenças crônicas não transmissíveis e sua relação com o comportamento suicida no âmbito hospitalar / Non-communicable chronic diseases and their relationship with suicidal behavior in hospital context
Authors: Magalhães Karla De Souza , Figueiredo Ana Elisa Bastos
Published: August 2019

Objetivo: O estudo visa a conhecer o que vem sendo produzido pelas publicações científicas a respeito da relação entre a doença crônica não transmissível e o comportamento suicida no âmbito hospitalar. Método:Realizou-se uma revisão integrativa de literatura de artigos publicados entre os anos de 2006 e 2016 na Biblioteca Virtual SciELO e também nas seguintes bases de dados:Portal BVS, Scopus, Web of Science ePubmed. Resultado:Os estudos enfatizaram que a saúde mental de pacientes portadores de doenças crônicas não transmissíveis pode ser intensamente afetada, colocando-os na posição de risco para o comportamento suicida.Pesquisas de diferentes países e metodologias evidenciaram desconhecimento e despreparo das equipes de saúde dos hospitais gerais diante do risco de suicídio no público estudado.Conclusão:Profissionais de saúde da alta complexidade necessitam urgentemente de treinamento e capacitação para a identificação emanejo adequado do comportamento suicida no contexto hospitalar. Além disso, todo paciente admitido nos setores de doenças crônicas deve passar por uma anamnese ampliada que inclua questões específicas sobre saúde mental e risco de suicídio.
Challenges of women refugees in utilising reproductive health services in public health institutions in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Authors: Munyaneza Yvonne , Mhlongo Euphemia M.
Published: August 2019

Background: Reproductive health services are essential for everyone worldwide. In South Africa, the available literature does not address reproductive health as a full package for women refugees and their experiences. This study addressed women refugees in relation to reproductive healthcare services they receive from public healthcare facilities.Aim: The aim of the study was to document the day-to-day experiences of women refugees and uncover their challenges regarding utilisation of reproductive health services in public institutions of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.Setting: The study was conducted in eThekwini district, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, and did not consider participants who are located beyond the above-mentioned city’s borders.Methods: A qualitative, descriptive design was used. A semi-structured interview guide was used to collect data through face-to-face in-depth interviews with eight women refugees. Thematic content analysis guided the study.Results: Two major themes emerged: negative experiences or challenges, and positive experiences. The most dominant negative experiences included medical xenophobia and discrimination, language barrier, unprofessionalism, failure to obtain consent and lack of confidentiality, ill-treatment, financial challenges, internalised fear, religious and cultural hegemony, and the shortage of health personnel and overcrowding of public hospitals. The positive experiences included positive treatment and care and social support.Conclusion: The findings revealed that women refugees in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, face many challenges such as medical xenophobia and discrimination in their attempt to seek reproductive health services in public healthcare facilities, making them even more vulnerable. Assisting women refugees with their reproductive health needs will remediate the challenges they face.
The persistence of performance of South African unit trusts
Authors: Firer C. , Beale J. P. , Edwards M. D. , Hendrie J. N. , Scheppening D. C.
Published: August 2019

This study examines persistence of performance in South African general equity and fixed income unit trusts over the period January 1989 to December 1999. The formation and holding periods studied ranged from one quarter to two-years. Significant persistence was found for most combinations of formation and holding periods for risk-adjusted equity unit trusts. It is suggested that choosing equity unit trust winners from the previous two-years and holding them for the next two-years may be the best long-term strategy to adopt. The fixed income unit trusts showed far less significant persistence than the equity unit trusts with loser-loser persistence predominating.
Attractiveness, values and evaluations of non-celebrities in print ads: An exploratory study
Authors: Burgess S. M. , Blackwell R. D.
Published: August 2019

Noncelebrity endorsers are receiving renewed interest because of rising celebrity endorsement fees and perceptions of risk associated with celebrity endorsements. USA and South African university students rated the attractiveness of a noncelebrity endorser appearing in an alcoholic beverage ad, their desire to associate with her and approve of her behaviour, and their value priorities. The results suggest that value priorities influence noncelebrity endorser evaluations directly and indirectly. More specifically, perceived attractiveness partially mediated the effect of value priorities, confirming Kelman’s (1961) contentions. Attractiveness appears to be more useful when consumers assess their desire to associate with a noncelebrity endorser while values appear to be more useful in evaluating a noncelebrity endorser’s behaviour.
Measuring customer satisfaction with some of the controllable elements of the total retail experience: An exploratory study
Authors: Terblanche N. S. , Boshoff C.
Published: August 2019

Total retail experience is, for the purposes of this study, defined as all the elements that encourage or inhibit consumers during their contact with a retailer. This article reports on the influence of three dimensions of consumers’ total retail experience on their satisfaction levels. The items used to measure the theoretical model demonstrate sufficient reliability and discriminant validity. The theoretical model is then tested using a structural equation modeling approach. Although not a test of a comprehensive model of the total retail experience, the study does shows that the personal interaction between retail employee and customer on the one hand, and physical cues on the other hand, impact strongly on customer satisfaction.
The effects of bull and bear periods on market timing strategies
Authors: Dumont De Chassart M. , Firer C.
Published: August 2019

This study evaluates the performance of traditional timing, bull timing (holding the risk-free asset and buying call options to take advantage of expected market rises) and bear timing (holding the market index and buying put options ahead of expected market falls) strategies on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange during bullish and bearish market phases. Potential returns as well as the forecasting ability required to outperform the ALSI are calculated.When the market is in a bullish phase, bear timing is the better strategy. However, in such a market, very high predictive accuracy (above 85 percent) is required from both bull and bear timers. In a bearish phase, however, bull timers perform better than bear timers. The predictive ability required of bear timers is of the order of 65 percent. For bull timers this required predictive accuracy drops below 50 percent, making it an extremely attractive strategy, provided the bear phases of the market can be predicted.
Environmental uncertainty and managerial attitude: Effects on strategic planning, non-strategic decision-making and organisational performance
Authors: Cohen J. F.
Published: August 2019

The strategic management literature has been attempting to confirm the validity of strategic planning as a managerial activity for the past 30 years. Results, however, have been confusing and contradictory and have done little to advance the cause of strategic planning as a rational approach to strategy formulation. In order to better understand the nature of the planning-performance relationship, this paper developed and tested a structural model linking perceived environmental uncertainty, and managerial attitude, to strategic planning, non-strategic decision-making and organisational performance. Data was collected from over 140 respondents and results revealed that managerial attitude, rather than perceived uncertainty in both the task and general environments, is the largest determinant of the emphasis placed on strategic planning activities. The validity of strategic planning was confirmed as it was significantly and positively related to performance, while non-strategic decision-making had negative performance implications.
Performance determinants of large-small business strategic alliances in South Africa
Authors: Ahwireng-Obeng F. , Egunjobi O. O.
Published: August 2019

The literature suggests that the success of strategic alliances between large and small firms is influenced by four broad factors: motivational, cultural and resource capability synergies; shared commitments, goals and roles; participative planning, operationalisation and administration; and regular open communications. This study suggests that even though mismatches and incongruencies may be evident, the alliance formation and endurance are influenced by two other factors: largely similar perceptions by both groups regarding the alliance’s performance determinants; and a strong expectation by the large firm group of high future net benefits from aligning with small firms. Performance is, invariably, contingent upon implementing a number of ‘pre-emptive’ steps during the course of the alliance.
Developing a framework for flexibility within organisations
Authors: Koornhof C.
Published: August 2019

Recent research in Management Sciences has shown that flexibility is an essential characteristic of successful enterprises in a highly competitive and rapidly changing business environment (Kogut, 1985; Ansoff, 1988; Pasmore, 1994; Volberda, 1998). Consequently, management should not only understand flexibility but also be able to create flexible organisations and to measure and monitor flexibility. However, flexibility is a nebulous, elusive and multidimensional concept which is poorly understood and seldom managed and measured in enterprises (Gerwin, 1993; Parthasarthy & Sethi, 1993; Upton, 1994).The purpose of this article is firstly, to define the construct flexibility and secondly, to develop a conceptual framework that explains its multiple attributes in organisations. This framework is used as a basis for the measurement of flexibility. The article suggests procedures that managers can apply to develop indicators of flexibility and these indicators are used in turn, to identify current levels of flexibility, to set targets for flexibility and to monitor the progress made towards the achievement of these targets.
Regional African stock markets indices
Authors: Fish T. , Biekpe N.
Published: August 2019

This paper presents an overview of the construction of regional indices for three of the four regions within Africa. The three indices are the EASDEX (for East Africa), the NADEX (for North Africa) and the WADEX (for West Africa). The SADC region has been excluded, as it has recently been concluded as the subject of study, in which the index, the SADIX was constructed (Tyandela, 2001). The weekly market capitalisation data collected for the construction of these indices was further used to construct an All-Africa index. These indices could in future assist investors both locally and internationally to determine the movement of indices as a way of assessing market trends and opportunities for investment on the African continent.
A comparative study of different segments in the South African lending industry
Authors: Volschenk J. , Biekpe N.
Published: August 2019

The efficiency and availability of financial services for the poor is a global problem, and has only recently started to attract attention in South Africa. This paper aims to examine the South African microfinance industry by comparing sector-related differences in the ranking of specific problems. Tests for the significance of differences (in the location of specific populations) indicate significant differences in perceptions regarding certain intra-industry segments within the microcredit industry. The recent arguments in favour of a single regulator imply that the financial industry as a whole (commercial and microlending sectors) is homogeneous in its priorities. However, the results in this paper suggest that there is no significant agreement between the priorities of the commercial and microlending industries.
A conceptual model for evaluation of synergies in mergers and acquisitions: A critical review of the literature
Authors: Kode G. V.M. , Ford J. C. , Sutherland M. M.
Published: August 2019

The vast majority of mergers and acquisitions rely on synergies in the value creation process. Only a small proportion of mergers and acquisitions are undertaken for non-synergistic reasons. Many mergers and acquisitions never achieve the pre-deal successes that are used to motivate and justify the payment of huge premiums over the stand-alone value of the target companies. Because synergies are used to justify the payment of premiums, executive management, need to fully understand how to evaluate synergies.This model building exercise has enabled the development of an integrated model for the evaluation of synergies that uses the best practices identified from the writings of the authors under review. The model, therefore, provides academics and executive management with a framework for better understanding synergies and some techniques to ensure the realisation of productive synergies in the implementation of mergers and acquisitions.
The management of information security: A South African case study
Authors: Fourie L. C.H.
Published: August 2019

The growing misuse of information technology and the increased dependence on computer technology and systems heightened the requirements for information security. Unfortunately there often is a feeling of apathy towards information security by management, which leads to an ad hoc approach to information security and resultant information and financial losses.The main objective of the research thus was to determine the current state of information security at a large manufacturing company in South Africa. The methodology entailed a field study of which three sets of structured questionnaires on information security were an important component. Based on a literature study concerning the ideal information security and control situation and the results of the three sets of questionnaires it was possible to determine the gap, problem areas and issues of information security and control at the manufacturing company. The research clearly indicated that numerous areas for improvement exist and therefore proposes a framework for the management of information security. Although a completely secure information system may not be attainable, the valuable information asset can to a large extent be protected through proper management.
Employee perceptions of share ownership schemes: An empirical study
Authors: Mazibuko N. E. , Boshoff C.
Published: August 2019

The objective of this study was to investigate some of the problems associated with the introduction and successful management of Employee Share Ownership Schemes (ESOPs). An ESOP is a participative management approach that appeals to some of the needs of both employees and management. The study considered how perceptions of ESOPs can be influenced and managed through managerial antecedents such as trust, empowerment and communication, and empirically measures their impact on outcome variables such as organisational commitment.The empirical findings revealed that if employees have positive perceptions of their firm’s ESOP (the value and benefit for them) they are more likely to be committed to their firm (organizational commitment) and organizational commitment has been shown to lead to a host of benefits for the firm.
Satisfaction with service recovery: Its measurement and its outcomes
Authors: Boshoff C. , Staude G.
Published: August 2019

Persistent poor service delivery will have a harmful impact on the survival and growth prospects of service firms. The literature contends that, if service failures occur, there are strategies that service firms can employ to return customers to a state of satisfaction. Very little scholarly research has been done, however, to assess the satisfaction of customers after service firms have tried to recover from service failure. Although anecdotal evidence suggest it, no empirical research has been done to confirm that effective service recovery will ensure ‘overall’ satisfaction, or the long-term loyalty of complaining customers.The purpose of this study is to assess the validity and reliability of an instrument purported to measure satisfaction with service recovery (RECOVSAT), and to determine which dimensions of service recovery satisfaction are the most important predictors of overall satisfaction and loyalty.
Redefining performance of direct sales people
Authors: Msweli-Mbanga P. , Lin Chen T.
Published: August 2019

The purpose of this study is to broaden the definition of performance to include extra-role and in-role aspects in the conceptualisation of performance in direct selling. Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, the authors first report the development of the extra-role performance scale. A model of extra-role performance consisting of five dimensions including individual initiative, helping behaviour, self-development, organisational loyalty and organisational compliance was identified. Nomological validity of the newly developed scale was established by relating the dimensions of extra-role performance to the in-role performance measure. The authors discuss the implications of their findings and suggest avenues for further research.
The influence of relational factors on successful succession in family businesses: A comparative study of owner-managers and successors
Authors: Venter E. , Boshoff C. , Maas G.
Published: August 2019

Family businesses are fast becoming the dominant form of business enterprise in both developing and developed economies and play a vital economic and social role in these economies. As family businesses are a primary contributor to the economic and social well-being of all capitalist societies, their general lack of longevity is a cause for concern. One of the main reasons (if not the single most important reason) of the high failure rate among first- and second-generation family businesses is their inability to manage the complex process of ownership and management succession from one generation to the next. Hence, the primary objective of this study is to identify the relational or human factors that impact on successful succession. The results indicate that the willingness of the successor to take over the family business, the owner-manager’s trust in the successor’s abilities and intentions to manage the business, and the owner-manager’s interest outside the business are important to the success of succession for both owner-managers and successors. Furthermore, the more the successor perceives harmony within the family, the more satisfied the successor will be with the succession process.
Organisational culture at a South African food service company
Authors: Thomas A. , Lindsay D.
Published: August 2019

The aim of the present exploratory study was to examine whether congruence exists between the organisational culture perceived to be evident at Compass, South Africa and the strategic objectives of the company. Information from the administration of the Harrison and Stokes (1992) instrument to measure existing and preferred organisational culture orientations was obtained from a sample of 86 employees representing two employee groupings at the company. The findings indicate that a difference in perception of the existing culture is evident between the CEO and the two employee groups and that there is a lack of alignment of the culture with the strategic objective of the company. The findings further suggest that there is consensus among the employee groups about the preferred culture that would appear to support the company strategy. Recommendations with regard to developing an organisational culture to support company strategic intent relate to the development of a learning organisation and the role of leadership in driving culture change.
The management of the early stages of restructuring in a tertiary-education institution: An organisational commitment perspective
Authors: Arnolds C. A. , Boshoff C.
Published: August 2019

Restructuring in business firms is often characterised by uncertainty, anxiety, low morale, tardy job performance and high levels of absenteeism and staff turnover. Restructuring has recently been extended to tertiary education, but its effects on the higher education environment have not been thoroughly investigated.This study investigates the impact of restructuring (mergers) on the organisational commitment, job performance and intent to resign of tertiary education staff, as well as the relationship between selected antecedents (commitment to top management and satisfaction with career factors, monetary remuneration, fringe benefits, relations with peers and growth needs) and organisational commitment.The results show that the respondents, during the early stages of restructuring, exhibit low levels of organisational commitment, commitment to top management and satisfaction with monetary remuneration, fringe benefits and career factors. They also report high levels of satisfaction with growth factors (opportunities for training and development), relations with peers and performance intentions, and low levels of intentions to resign.Multiple regression analyses reveal that organisational commitment is positively related to performance intentions and negatively related to intent to resign. The results also show that commitment to top management and satisfaction with fringe benefits, peer relations and career factors were positively related to organisational commitment. Neither satisfaction with monetary remuneration nor the satisfaction of growth needs was significantly related to organisational commitment. The managerial implications of these findings are discussed.
Enterprise-based HIV/AIDS strategies: Integration through organisational architecture
Authors: Lee G. J. , Venter R. , Bates B.
Published: August 2019

The management of the HIV/AIDS pandemic has clearly become a core strategic issue for many organisations, especially in the developing world. However the policies and practices of an HIV/AIDS programme are often less than integrated and strategic in nature, with organisations frequently subscribing to discrete and isolated interventions in imitation of others, or at best instituting a stand-alone policy. One management tool that may serve to help in drawing together and focusing efforts in this regard is an organisational architecture. Organisational architecture has been suggested as an holistic management tool for the delivery of organisational strategies. This article accordingly reviews varied literature on organisational architectures, and then shows how various HIV/AIDS policies and practices might fit into such an architecture. Organisational architecture could be used effectively to organise, integrate and focus the information and efforts connected to the policies and practices surrounding a corporate HIV/AIDS effort.