bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Punching above their weight: the changing role of networking in SMEs
Authors: Harris Lisa , Rae Alan , Misner Ivan
Published: May 2012

Purpose

This paper aims to draw upon the findings of a research project which investigated networking styles by owner/managers of small businesses. The authors' specific objective was to analyse the impact of such networking activities on business growth to develop a taxonomy of networking based on size, business model and attitudes of the owner to their use of online and offline networking.

Design/methodology/approach

The data in this study comes from analysis of an online survey completed by 645 firms based in both the USA and Europe. The authors compared the networking behaviours of small businesses using face‐to‐face vs online modalities, and assessed the differences between business size and home market (USA vs UK vs Europe). The data was analysed for significant differences between the responses of different classes of respondent, providing a unique taxonomy of networking across a broad geographic area.

Findings

The results identified three distinct categories of networking behaviour in terms of attitude towards scaleability and geographic reach, and the authors showed that effective online networkers tended to be good face‐to‐face networkers also.

Practical implications

The authors confirmed that effective online networkers can stay small and flexible but still “punch above their weight” in competition with larger organisations that are often more traditional in their approach and structure.

Originality/value

The authors have undertaken one of the first analyses of the circumstances in which SMEs make use of Web 2.0 tools to supplement their more conventional marketing activities, and developed a coherent framework for analysing which companies are likely to make the best use of them.
Centralisation vs de‐centralisation of warehousing
Authors: Graungaard Pedersen Søren , Zachariassen Frederik , Stentoft Arlbjørn Jan
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the major drivers behind the choice of centralising versus decentralising warehousing locations from a small‐ and medium‐sized enterprise (SME) perspective. Previous literature has investigated this solely from a large company perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

An in‐depth literature review was carried out and, in addition, a single case study was conducted in order to investigate the issue at hand. A Danish medium‐sized do‐it‐yourself (DIY) retailer was chosen, as this company faced the challenge of deciding between centralisation vs decentralisation of its warehousing structure.

Findings

The paper has two findings: existing literature does not deal with the difference between SMEs and large companies when speaking of centralised vs decentralised warehousing; and the difference between SMEs and large companies with regard to centralised vs decentralised warehousing lies in the fact that SMEs generally have scarcity in competences and fewer resources, have fewer advantages of economies of scale in a centralised setting, and, finally, have fewer management resources to carry out a centralisation project.

Research limitations/implications

It is a limitation of this research that a statistical generalisation is not possible. Therefore, the findings in this paper might not be applicable for all SMEs.

Practical implications

When speaking of centralising vs decentralising warehousing, SMEs should be aware that different drivers are at play when compared with larger companies.

Originality/value

Research in supply chain management and logistics has not addressed the consequences of warehousing structure from an SME perspective.
Bloated balance sheet, earnings management, and forecast guidance
Authors: Jennifer Ho Li‐Chin , Liu Chao‐Shin , Ouyang Bo
Published: May 2012

Purpose

Barton and Simko argue that the balance sheet information would serve as a constraint on accrual‐based earnings management. This paper aims to extend their argument by examining whether the balance sheet constraint increases managers' propensity to use either downward forecast guidance or real earnings management as a substitute mechanism to avoid earnings surprises.

Design/methodology/approach

Following Barton and Simko, the paper uses the beginning balance of net operating assets relative to sales as a proxy for the balance sheet constraint. The argument is that because of the articulation between the income statement and the balance sheet, previous accounting choices that increase earnings will also increase net assets and therefore the level of net assets reflects the extent of previous accrual management. Models from Matsumoto and Bartov et al. are used to measure forecast guidance. Following Rochowdhury and Cohen et al., a firm's abnormal level of production costs and discretionary expenditures are used as proxies of real earnings management. The empirical analysis is conducted based on the 1996‐2006 annual data for a sample of nonfinancial, nonregulated firms.

Findings

The paper finds that firms with higher level of beginning net operating assets relative to sales are more likely to guide analysts' earnings forecasts downward, and more likely to engage in real earnings management in terms of abnormal increases in production costs and abnormal reductions in discretionary expenditures.

Research limitations/implications

Overall, the paper's evidence suggests that managers turn to real earnings management or downward forecast guidance as a substitute mechanism to avoid negative earnings surprises when their ability to manipulate accruals upward is constrained by the extent to which net assets are already overstated in the balance sheet.

Originality/value

This study adds to prior literature that examines how managers trade off different mechanisms used to meet or beat analysts' earnings expectations. It also contributes to the extant literature by providing further insights on the role of balance sheet information in the process of managing earnings and/or earnings surprises.
Does overlapping membership on audit and compensation committees improve a firm's financial reporting quality?
Authors: Chandar Nandini , Chang Hsihui , Zheng Xiaochuan
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether audit committee members of the board prove to be better monitors if they are also on the compensation committee, as they would be more attuned to compensation related earnings management incentives.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses archival data on a sample of nonfinancial S&P 500 firms representing 1,032 firm years over the period 2003‐2005, and discretionary accruals as a proxy for financial reporting quality.

Findings

Firms with overlapping audit and compensation committees have higher financial reporting quality than those without such overlap. In addition, there is an inverted U‐shaped relationship between overlapping magnitude and financial reporting quality, suggesting that there are costs as well as benefits to overlapping committees.

Practical implications

The findings on this paper have implications for recent policy deliberations on the composition of board committees in general and audit committees in particular, as they clarify the benefits of overlapping committee members.

Originality/value

Understanding the costs and benefits of the board committee structure is particularly important as boards typically operate through the use of committees. This paper contributes to this area by considering the effect of overlapping memberships on two of the most active and important board committees – the compensation and audit committees – on the monitoring effectiveness of the audit committee.
More power to you: properties of a more powerful event study methodology
Authors: da Graca Tarcisio , Masson Robert
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate with real data the enhanced statistical power of a GLS‐based event study methodology that requires the same input data as the traditional tests.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses full sample, subsample and simulated modified sample analyses to compare the statistical power of the GLS methodology with traditional methods.

Findings

The paper finds that it is often the case that traditional tests will not reject the null when a GLS‐based test may (strongly) reject the null. The power of the former is poor.

Practical implications

There are many published event studies where the null is not rejected. This may be because of the phenomenon being tested but it may also be because of the lack of power of traditional estimators. Hence, rerunning them with the authors' more powerful test is likely to reject some currently well‐accepted null hypotheses of no event effect, stimulating new research ideas. Moreover, as individual stocks have become more volatile, the additional power of the authors' methodology to detect abnormal performance for recent and future events becomes even more important.

Originality/value

There are more than 500 event studies in the top finance journals, which can broadly be split into two subgroups: contemporaneous shocks like changes in regulation and non‐contemporaneous events like mergers. GLS contemporaneous modeling of covariances in the former showed little efficiency gains. The paper's GLS modeling of variances for the latter demonstrates potentially huge effects. Practitioners should be skeptical of prior results accepting the null of no event effect and incorporate GLS to be confident of their future findings.
Ripple effects: Sarbanes Oxley's impact upon investor risk in a global economy
Authors: Vakkur Nicholas V. , Herrera‐Vakkur Zulma J.
Published: May 2012

Purpose

This study seeks to evaluate, in a global context, the impact of Sarbanes Oxley Act on a particular risk measure of importance to investors (risk‐adjusted returns), and two measures of risk due to asymmetry (upside and downside risk). A unique dataset permits a dual evaluation of the law's impact on such measures in leading non‐US economies as well (i.e. “ripple effects”).

Design/methodology/approach

Hypotheses are empirically evaluated on a sample (n=712) of the largest US and European firms (control) using daily return data from 1993 through 2009 – one of the most extensive data sets employed in the literature on this topic to date. The reliability of the risk measures is carefully evaluated using multiple approaches, including Fama‐MacBeth regressions. A series of difference‐in‐difference analyses is then employed to empirically assess Sarbanes Oxley's impact on equity risk.

Findings

The findings suggest Sarbanes Oxley decreased both risk‐adjusted returns and upside risk, whereas downside risk fails to explain the cross section of returns for the largest US firms. From a global perspective, it is suggested that the enactment of Sarbanes Oxley's in the USA motivated leading non‐US economies to adopt similar regulatory measures, which caused “ripple effects” – e.g. effects similar to those documented in this paper – in leading non‐US economies.

Practical implications

The findings suggest that comprehensive financial regulations, such as Sarbanes Oxley Act, are properly envisaged at the global level, as their impact is not confined to the home country. In an increasingly globalized economy, investor welfare is likely to be influenced – directly as well as indirectly – by economic and financial regulation(s) enacted in foreign economies. Arguably, this suggests the pivotal importance of effective mechanisms of global governance, such that a purely domestic approach to regulation may be short‐sighted. In either case, the findings of this study are entirely relevant if regulators are to consider the broader, global impact of regulation on investor welfare.

Originality/value

This is the first study to empirically analyze, within a global framework, Sarbanes Oxley's risk implications without relying on a series of simple mean variance analyses. Substantive research documents that the methodological approach employed is more precise, reliable as well as “investor relevant”. Furthermore, the authors seek to assess the law's impact on leading non‐US equity markets, a first for the literature. Consequently, this study provides a robust evaluation of the law's (international) impact on firm (equity) risk, making an important contribution to the literature.
Interest barrier rules as a response to highly leveraged transactions
Authors: Knauer Thorsten , Sommer Friedrich
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The tax advantage of debt is considered an important motivation for highly leveraged transactions. The German government limited the tax deductibility of interest expenses to 30.0 percent of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (the interest barrier rule) in 2008 to reduce the tax incentives for debt financing. This study aims to evaluate the impact of the introduction of the interest barrier rule.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper analyzes the changes in the value of the tax shield for German leveraged buyouts as a result of the promulgation of an interest barrier rule. Tax shields are computed to quantify the wealth transfer from taxpayers to corporations.

Findings

Prior to the 2008 tax reform, tax shields contributed 8.4 percent to the transaction price, thereby raising the equity value by 33.0 percent on average. With the introduction of the interest barrier rule, the value of tax shields is reduced by 35.1 percent. Affecting more than 75 percent of buyouts, the rule significantly lessens the tax incentive for high levels of debt. The reduction of the corporate tax rate from 31.7 percent to 26.3 percent further lowers the value creation potential. The limited interest deductibility may therefore reduce the number of leveraged buyouts and hence economic growth, unless other non‐debt forms of financing can fulfill the need for capital.

Originality/value

As the first continental European study, this research concentrates on the impact of the German interest barrier rule on value creation in highly leveraged transactions. Conclusions can be drawn in a broader European context.
House prices, disposable income and permanent and temporary shocks
Authors: Fraser Patricia , Hoesli Martin , McAlevey Lynn
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to compare responses of house prices in three important markets when faced with permanent and temporary shocks to income. It additionally decomposes each historical house price series into its permanent, temporary and deterministic components.

Design/methodology/approach

Using quarterly data over 1973‐2008, two‐variable systems of house prices and income are specified for three major house‐owning economies: New Zealand (NZ), the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of America (USA).

Findings

NZ and UK housing markets are sensitive to both permanent and temporary shocks to income, while the US market reacts to temporary shocks with the permanent component having a largely insignificant role to play in house price composition. In NZ, the temporary component of house prices has tended to be positive over time, pushing prices higher than they would have been otherwise; while in the UK, both permanent and temporary components have tended to reinforce each other.

Originality/value

The paper uses state‐of‐the‐art methods to analyse the relationships between income and house prices in three economies.
On the effects of owner‐occupied subsidies on housing construction in Germany
Authors: Bischoff Oliver , Maennig Wolfgang
Published: May 2012

Purpose

Between 1997 and 2005, the German government provided owner‐occupied subsidies to fund new private housing construction and stock purchases to increase owner‐occupied housing. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of these subsidies on total housing construction for the 1997‐2007 period using regionalised data. This paper tests for differences between counties and cities and examines whether local participation in housing programs is related to regional migration and fertility. Based on the dynamic results, short‐ and long‐run elasticities with respect to the subsidy program are calculated.

Design/methodology/approach

A balanced panel data set is used that covers approximately 95 percent of all German NUTS‐3 regions (counties and independent cities) for the 1997‐2007 period. To control for serial correlation, possible endogenous relationships and omitted variable bias problems, the System Generalised Methods of Moments estimation technique is applied.

Findings

A significantly positive impact of subsidised construction is detected in counties with an elasticity of approximately 0.2 in the short run and 0.48‐0.58 in the long run. The elasticities in independent cities are significantly lower, at 0.11 and 0.32‐0.37, respectively. No significant effect of migration on construction was found, in contrast to a significantly positive effect of fertility, especially at the county level. The estimates suggest a significantly negative effect of subsidised stock purchases on total construction.

Research limitations/implications

Tests for other countries using regional data on interest rates, construction costs and housing prices could lead to further insights.

Practical implications

The findings suggest that further owner‐occupied subsidy programs should be geared toward families or larger households. It also seems important to provide sufficient building land to enable households to make use of housing construction subsidies.

Originality/value

This is the first regional paper to examine housing construction elasticities with respect to a subsidisation program for housing construction and stock purchases that was designed for virtually all households in a country. It is also the first paper to test for differences in participation in a large‐scale, national housing program related to migration and fertility.
Does the euro increase FDI in the real estate industry? Evidence from the German case
Authors: Choi Changkyu , Park Kyungsun
Published: May 2012

Purpose

There have been many studies on the euro's impact on trade volume, foreign direct investment (FDI) and the integration of European financial markets. Previous research has tried to find empirical evidence for convergence of real estate securities markets. However, less attention has been paid to the euro's effect on FDI in the real estate industry. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to analyze the euro's effect on FDI in the real estate industry between Germany and European partner countries.

Design/methodology/approach

It is hypothesised that the adoption of the euro will increase the volume of FDI flows in the real estate industry between Germany and European partner countries. To estimate the euro's effect on FDI in the real estate industry, a modified gravity equation is adopted. Pooled OLS and random effects models are utilised.

Findings

Results from panel data from 34 countries between 1986 and 2009 suggest that the euro contributed to the increase in the German bilateral FDI in the real estate industry to and from European partner countries. However, it is interesting that the euro's effects were only significant in FDI inflows under a random effects model.

Originality/value

The paper's findings provide original evidence for the positive impact of the euro on FDI in the real estate industry between Germany and European partner countries.
Strategic corporate governance for sustainable mutual development
Authors: Azzam Wajeeh Ismail , Muneeza Aishath
Published: May 2012

Purpose

Corporate governance has been dubbed by many as the guiding facet of modern day corporate entities. However, the success rate of the governance efforts are still unclear. It is high time that corporate governance efforts are integrated to accompany all aspects of the corporate entities and encompass the corporations' most valuable asset, its workers, as a primary benefactor rather than them being mere participants. Hence this paper aims to identify critical areas of inclusiveness and especially the impact of such an integrated effort on mutually developing the work force and the corporate entities.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper attempts to identify and highlight mainstream views on corporate governance via library research and complement the research process with available information from appropriate resources to suggest a potential enhancement to the approach taken by the conventional corporate governance efforts.

Findings

The paper infers that the potential for the use of corporate governance is beyond its conventional utility and suggests enhancements that could be applied within the existing mainstream corporate governance frameworks to improve the efficiency and role of corporate governance that is anticipated to mutually benefit all stakeholders.

Research limitations/implications

The paper highlights a shift in paradigm that could potentially be utilized in the practical application of corporate governance efforts. It is limited by the nascent nature of the corporate governance efforts.

Originality/value

Thorough analyses of the existing frameworks of corporate governance were utilized and the inferences are the authors' conjectural views and it is anticipated to help to inspire future research towards strategic corporate governance.
Conceptual framework for police deviance applied to police crime court cases
Authors: Gottschalk Petter
Published: May 2012

Purpose

A conceptual framework for police deviance and crime has recently been suggested and presented by other scholars. This research attempts to test the framework empirically based on court cases where police employees were prosecuted and convicted.

Design/methodology/approach

The sliding slope in the conceptual framework was separated into two dimensions, motive and damage, respectively. Court cases were coded according to these dimensions.

Findings

Empirical results provide support for the framework by linking seriousness to court sentence in terms of imprisonment days to the sliding slope. However, further validation of the framework is needed.

Originality/value

It is useful to both academics and practitioners to have an organizing framework when considering police complaints and prosecuting police crime.
The Miller‐Modigliani 1961 Ponzi scheme, alias “dividend irrelevance”
Authors: Paulo Stanley , Gale Chris
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to expose the Miller‐Modigliani 1961 Ponzi scheme that has masqueraded as a dividend irrelevance proof, and show that it constituted a Ponzi scheme at the time of publication and ever since publication. This is important especially as Miller‐Modigliani 1961 stated in the first sentence of their article that their dividend irrelevance proof was targeted at corporate officials, investors and economists seeking to undertake and appraise the functioning of capital markets.

Design/methodology/approach

The equations and notation used by Miller‐Modigliani 1961 to prove dividend irrelevance were carefully considered and analysed in order to establish whether proof reliably, validly and unambiguously proved dividend irrelevance. In addition, statute on both sides of the Atlantic, UK and USA, was considered in order to ascertain the legal standing of their proof.

Findings

This article shows that the Miller‐Modigliani 1961 dividend irrelevance proof constituted a recipe for a Ponzi scheme in terms of statute at the time of publication and ever since publication. Since Miller‐Modigliani 1961 made extensive reference to the works of eminent finance researchers and academics of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, as well as to their Modigliani‐Miller 1958 seminal article, and attentively present and discuss the intricacies of the arguments these researchers made to the progression of knowledge, it would be challenging to content that they were unaware or ignorant of important legislation that applied in 1961.

Originality/value

There is no evidence from a scrutiny of publicly available secondary sources to suggest that the Miller‐Modigliani 1961 Ponzi scheme, alias “dividend irrelevance” has previously been done or published. This is surprising because the Miller‐Modigliani 1961 dividend irrelevance proof has occupied a particularly prominent position in the finance literature and has been the subject of numerous studies and research projects.
An analysis of climate change policy‐making and implementation in China
Authors: Chmutina Ksenia , Zhu Jie , Riffat Saffa
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to introduce and discuss policy making process in the field of climate change in China. It aims to describe the main climate change‐related policies and to discuss the role of China in international climate change negotiations.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative method has been used for this paper. A preliminary desk study based on the analysis of the primary and secondary sources published in both English and Chinese (Mandarin) has been conducted. Literature on policy analysis and evaluation and the role of political actors in it, as well as examples of energy efficiency studies in other countries has been studied to develop an analytical framework for the empirical data interpretation. The main sources for information about China's situation are books, articles, as well as internet resources and newspapers covering China's politics, the climate change regime, and Chinese climate policy.

Findings

The paper provides insights into China's climate change policy making process and outlines the main challenges that policy implementation in China is facing today.

Research limitations/implications

It was appreciated that some sources should be used with caution as information given in Chinese is subject to censorship and governmental control in China and therefore may be biased. It is not possible to avoid this problem totally when dealing with a state like China, but using multiple sources and personal observation may improve the reliability of the information.

Practical implications

The paper includes suggestions on policy improvements such as strengthening of supervision mechanisms and creating a Ministry of Energy.

Originality/value

This paper fulfils an identified need to study the climate change policy‐making process in China.
Climate variability and farmer's vulnerability in a flood‐prone district of Assam
Authors: Chaliha Swati , Sengupta Asmita , Sharma Nitasha , Ravindranath N.H.
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The Indian state of Assam is situated in a high rainfall zone and the river Brahmaputra flowing through the state causes annual floods which adversely impact the agro‐economic base of the region. The situation is likely to become exacerbated under the impact of climate change. The purpose of this paper is to quantify the vulnerability of the farmers in Assam to floods in the scenario of the present climate variability taking a case study of the Majuli Island of Jorhat district.

Design/methodology/approach

The current vulnerability of the farmers in the Majuli Island of Jorhat district of Assam is quantified using the “indicator method”. A Composite Vulnerability Index is calculated taking into account various indicators reflective of the exposure, sensitivity and the adaptive capacity of the farmers' community to floods. The indicators have been quantified based on the data obtained from household surveys and participatory rural appraisals (PRAs) in the villages and secondary data sources.

Findings

The results show that biophysical factors have the greatest impact on the overall vulnerability of the study area and that strengthened adaptive capacity, proper scientific planning and management is required to protect the Majuli Island from the adverse effects of recurrent floods.

Originality/value

This paper shows that the more decentralized the spatial unit of vulnerability assessment is, the more helpful it would be for policy makers and stakeholders to formulate efficient mitigation measures, plan apposite developmental programmes and improve the adaptive capacity of Assam as a whole to face the natural phenomenon of floods.
Ecological implications of village bamboo as global climate change mitigation strategy
Authors: Jyoti Nath Arun , Das Ashesh Kumar
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The present study seeks to evaluate the role of village bamboo management in the rural landscape of North East India in global climate change mitigation.

Design/methodology/approach

A set of 100 home gardens and 40 bamboo groves were selected from Irongmara and Dargakona village, in Cachar district, Assam, North East India through random sampling. Sampling was done mostly for smallholders. Culm growth, carbon storage, carbon sequestration and carbon in litter floor mass and soil of bamboo growing areas in homegarden was explored from 2003‐2007.

Findings

Culm growth extension revealed the brief periodicity of culm growth in a single growth period. Of the total carbon storage soil contributed 84.6 per cent of the total (50.1 Mg ha−1) followed by carbon in above ground vegetation 15 per cent (9 Mg ha−1) and carbon in litter floor mass 0.4 per cent (0.2 Mg ha−1).

Practical implications

Bamboo plantation development and its management in home gardens has social, ecological and economical benefits for the rural life in North East India and its promotion can become an effective choice for climate change mitigation strategy.

Originality/value

Bamboo forms an important component in the traditional home garden system of North East India where the practice of bamboo cultivation and management provides an important sink for CO2. Village bamboos play an important role in local economics, societies and environments and, considering its potential to mitigate global climate change, the authors recommend the promotion of bamboo in agroforestry expanding practices and rehabilitation of degraded lands. Management of village bamboos in rural landscape is highlighted in context to environmental sustainability and as a sink measure under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of Kyoto Protocol.
Freshwater vulnerability in the Levant region
Authors: Al‐Sibai M. , Droubi A. , Al‐Ashkar H.
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss freshwater vulnerability to environmental change, including climate change, in Levant countries.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses the methodological guidelines prepared by UNEP and Peking University, using the fresh water vulnerability index (VI) for each country of the Levant region. The VI was calculated for a five‐year period interval, i.e. 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, and was predicted for the years 2020 and 2040 taking into consideration the expected impacts of climate change.

Findings

The vulnerability of freshwater resources was explored by isolating strategically‐important issues related to different functions (uses) of freshwater systems in the Levant region. All Levant countries are very vulnerable according to the adopted methodology (VI values are from 0.5‐0.7), with Palestine being the worst case. The value of each parameter was calculated for five‐year interval period and for each Levant country. The most dominant parameter was the water variation parameter (RSv), which is a natural factor and highlights how vulnerable the region is to climate change. The second most important parameter was the water exploitation pressures (DPs), which reflect the efforts of the countries to satisfy their water needs from the limited water resources. Cooperation and exchange of data and information at the regional level regarding the vulnerability of the region to climate change and measures for mitigation and adaptation could help in alleviating its impacts on the countries of the region.

Originality/value

This paper highlights that fresh water resources in Levant region are under increasing pressures due to human‐made and natural reasons. High population growth and economic activities rates have placed extensive pressure on the already limited water resources. Moreover, the prevailing arid climate and the expected impact of climate change will decrease the fresh water availability.
Agile and lean principles in the humanitarian supply chain
Authors: Cozzolino Alessandra , Rossi Silvia , Conforti Alessio
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the specific stages of the humanitarian logistics process in which the agile and lean principles are needed.

Design/methodology/approach

To achieve this purpose, the authors propose an original conceptual framework and apply it to evidence from a “best practice” case study in the humanitarian sector: the United Nations World Food Programme and its efforts in the Darfur (Sudan) crisis.

Findings

Although several previous works introduced the agile principle as suitable for disaster relief, when and how to embrace the agile and lean principles remained unclear. This paper demonstrates the proper combination of the agile and lean principles in disaster relief phases. The correspondence is based on the coincidence of the objectives that arises in every stage and that each principle is capable of achieving.

Research limitations/implications

Further empirical research is needed to support the framework and to enrich the results that arise from this first explorative work.

Practical implications

The proposed framework is targeted at leading actors involved in the operation and planning of humanitarian logistics when a crisis emerges. This approach, which is based on the combination of the agile and lean principles, is not exclusive to the humanitarian sector. This perspective may be useful to create business logistics that address disruptions to traditional supply chain flows and other forces that disrupt logistics, production and information handling.

Originality/value

The paper clarifies how agility and leanness should be emphasised in specific stages of the humanitarian logistics process, to reach a higher level of effectiveness and efficiency when planning disaster relief.
Trends and risks in home health care
Authors: Rest Klaus‐Dieter , Trautsamwieser Andrea , Hirsch Patrick
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The number of care‐dependent people will rise in future. Therefore, it is important to support home health care (HHC) providers with suitable methods and information, especially in times of disasters. The purpose of this paper is to reveal potential threats that influence HHC and propose an option to incorporate these threats into the planning and scheduling of HHC services.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper reveals the different conditions and potential threats for HHC in rural and urban areas. Additionally, the authors made a disaster vulnerability analysis, based on literature research and the experience of the Austrian Red Cross (ARC), one of the leading HHC providers in Austria. An optimization approach is applied for rural HHC that also improves the satisfaction levels of clients and nurses. A numerical study with real life data shows the impacts of different flood scenarios.

Findings

It can be concluded that HHC service providers will be faced with two challenges in the future: an increased organizational effort and the need for an anticipatory risk management. Hence, the development and use of powerful decision support systems are necessary.

Research limitations/implications

For an application in urban regions new methods have to be developed due to the use of different modes of transport by the nurses. Additionally, an extension of the planning horizon and triage rules will be part of future research.

Practical implications

The presented information on developments and potential threats for HHC are very useful for service providers. The introduced software prototype has proven to be a good choice to optimize and secure HHC; it is going to be tested in the daily business of the ARC.

Social implications

Even in the case of disasters, HHC services must be sustained to avoid health implications. This paper makes a contribution to securing HHC, also with respect to future demographic trends.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge there are no comprehensive studies that focus on disaster management in the field of HHC. Additionally, the combination with optimization techniques provides useful insights for decision makers in that area.
Developing a science of teaching through lesson study
Authors: Elliott John
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential of lesson study for the development of a science of teaching cast in the form of John Dewey's “laboratory model” of learning to teach.

Design/methodology/approach

The early sections compare the “laboratory” with the “apprenticeship” and “rationalist” models of learning to teach, which emphasise the primacy of practice and theory respectively. The unity of theory and practice embodied in the “laboratory model” is outlined, linking the development of teachers’ theoretical understanding with the development of their practice. A distinction between pedagogy and teaching is drawn. The later sections examine the potential of lesson study to develop as a teachers’ based pedagogical science, particularly when informed by variation theory. The paper concludes by suggesting ways in which different theories of learning can be integrated into learning study, and points to ways in which particular studies can contribute to the systematic construction of pedagogical knowledge.

Findings

There can be no pedagogy without casting teaching as an experimental science, in which pedagogical theories are appropriated, tested and further developed as a source of pedagogical principles. Pedagogy therefore consists of a science of teaching in which teachers actively participate in knowledge construction. Lesson study when informed by an explicit learning theory, such as variation theory, provides a strong basis for the development of a practitioner‐based science of teaching.

Originality/value

The paper creates original links across disparate work in the field of teaching and learning.
The learning study as an approach for “clinical” subject matter didactic research
Authors: Carlgren Ingrid
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the conceptual classification of learning study as a research approach.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is mainly theoretical, drawing on articles concerning classroom‐based research approaches as well as on some distinctions between a university‐based science of the universal and a clinical science of the particular.

Findings

The main argument of the article is that learning studies can neither be subsumed under “design and development research” (because this type of research does not include the professional actor) nor under “teacher research” (because it does not pay much attention to theoretical knowledge) nor should it be regarded as a hybrid between design experiments and lesson studies. In spite of similarities to both it should rather be described as clinical research (in analogy to medical clinical research). The use of teachers’ experiences and tacit knowing in the knowledge‐producing process, the iterative process of specification of theory, and the uniqueness of the learning problems among different groups of pupils are central aspects of a particularistic clinical research process. In comparison with lesson study, the learning study is more focussed on constructing knowledge concerning objects of learning as well as teaching‐learning relations. Teachers are included in the research as interpretative professionals making professional sense of particular educational events.

Originality/value

The paper promotes the conceptual discussion of the learning study approach, as well as of both lesson and learning studies as research approaches, i.e. as knowledge‐producing practices.
Learning study in pre‐school: teachers’ awareness of children's learning and what they actually learn
Authors: Holmqvist Mona , Brante Göran , Tullgren Charlotte
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe pre‐school children's learning during a learning study, and their teachers’ awareness of each child's learning possibilities in relation to what they actually learned. The paper's aims are twofold; first, to focus on how to design learning study in pre‐school settings; and second, to study young children's (aged 4‐5) learning.

Design/methodology/approach

The data consist of three videotaped interviews with each participating child (n=39), three videotaped interventions and one videotaped interview each with three pre‐school teachers.

Findings

The results show: an increased learning outcome in all three groups; there is a discrepancy between what the children actually learned and the teachers’ awareness about the children's possibilities. The teachers’ awareness of the children's learning possibilities differ from what the children actually learned.

Originality/value

Learning study is usually used in school settings, but this paper shows its potential also in pre‐school settings. Beside this, the results indicate that there is a risk that if teachers’ expectations are too high or too low, they will affect children's abilities to learn in either a positive or a negative way by not offering the children sufficiently challenging tasks. By the use of learning study the teachers became aware of this discrepancy and were able to reassess their expectations for each child according to their abilities.
Students’ open dimensions of variation
Authors: Kullberg Angelika
Published: May 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to focus on how the content of a single lesson that dealt with the addition and subtraction of negative numbers was handled in the interaction between students and a teacher in the 7th grade. The study is a follow‐up of a learning study and can be described as a teaching experiment. In total, four critical features for students’ learning were identified in the learning study.

Design/methodology/approach

In the new study, the teacher deliberately did not bring up all the critical features of the object of learning in one lesson. The aim was to see how different critical features made a difference for student learning.

Findings

The results show that a particular student's questions had an impact on the critical features that were brought up and hence on what it is possible to learn. In this lesson it was the students that opened some of the dimensions of variation for learning negative numbers.

Originality/value

The paper suggests that being aware of critical features could help the teacher in the interaction with the students and their questions.
A nationwide analysis of risk factors for mortality and time to endoscopy in upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage
Authors: Wysocki J. D. , Srivastav S. , Winstead N. S.
Published: May 2012

Background

We analysed nationwide in‐patient data from 2002 to 2007 to determine significant demographic variables when predicting mortality and receipt of prompt oesophagogastroduodenoscopy (OGD) for acute variceal haemorrhage (AVH) and nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage (NVUGIH).

Aim

To study the effects of demographic variables in predicting time to endoscopy and mortality in AVH and NVUGIH.

Methods

We analysed the United States' Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), for risk factors for mortality and receipt of OGD within 1 day of admission for upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage.

Results

Risk factors for increased mortality in AVH included: age >60, men, African Americans, comorbidities, insurance type and delayed OGD. Risk factors for increased mortality in NVUGIH were similar to AVH, except race which was not significant. After correction for factors such as insurance type, comorbidity, hospital location and time to endoscopy, this increased risk of mortality persisted, suggesting that none of these factors was the primary cause of the observed differences. For AVH, OGD within 1 day of admission was more likely in men, White Americans, patients aged 18–40 years, privately insured and those with no comorbidities. OGD within 1 day of admission in NVUGIH was more likely in men, patients age 40–60, Whites, Hispanics, privately insured and those with a single comorbidity.

Conclusions

In multivariate analysis, in‐patient mortality in AVH and NVUGIH increased with age, comorbidity, male gender, and delayed time to endoscopy. Young, healthier men were most likely to receive OGD within 1 day of admission. African Americans were less likely to receive OGD within 1 day of admission and had increased mortality in cases of AVH.
Effects of grazing and precipitation on herbage production, herbage nutritive value and performance of sheep in continental steppe
Authors: Schönbach P. , Wan H. , Gierus M. , Loges R. , Müller K. , Lin L. , Susenbeth A. , Taube F.
Published: May 2012

The present study highlights the effects of sheep grazing and precipitation on herbage and animal performance in a grazed steppe of Inner Mongolia. Experimental data were collected during grazing periods of four consecutive years (2005–2008), and effects were analysed across a gradient of seven grazing intensities. Variation in annual precipitation, reflected by the effect of ‘year’, was the major factor affecting herbage; i.e., the production and nutritive value of herbage increased with increasing precipitation. Herbage parameters were also affected by grazing intensity, as herbage production (HP) and herbage nutritive yields decreased, while herbage nutritive values increased with increasing grazing intensity. The grazing‐induced decrease in herbage nutritive yields suggests that decreases in HP offset the positive effect of grazing on the nutritive value. Liveweight gain (LWG) was predominantly affected by grazing intensity, as LWG per sheep and per ha decreased and increased, respectively, with increasing grazing intensity. However, responses varied among years: LWG per sheep was maximized by light grazing in the drought year and by moderate grazing the wet year. Our results showed that herbage shortage at high grazing intensities reduces LWG per sheep and thus diminishes responses in LWG per ha. Nevertheless, the highest grazing intensity provides highest animal production per ha in the short term; however, this is not sustainable in the mid‐ and long term because decreasing HP induces degradation processes. Based on our results, a reduction in grazing intensity that still provides 78% of the maximum LWG per ha meets the requirements of a sustainable grazing management.
Does pre‐grazing herbage mass really affect herbage intake and milk production of strip‐grazing dairy cows?
Authors: Pérez‐Prieto L. A. , Peyraud J. L. , Delagarde R.
Published: May 2012

The effect of pre‐grazing herbage mass (HM) on herbage intake and milk production of strip‐grazing dairy cows is usually studied at the same herbage allowance (HA). In the literature, the effect of HM seems to be affected by the cutting height above which HA is estimated. The aim of this 2 × 3 factorial study was to determine whether the effect of HM (low vs high HM) on herbage intake, milk production and grazing behaviour of dairy cows is affected by the HA estimation height (ground level vs 2·5 vs 5 cm). Two HMs were compared in three different ways: at same HA above ground level (SHA0), at same HA above 2·5 cm (SHA2) and at same HA above 5 cm (SHA5). During two consecutive years, twenty‐four Holstein‐Friesian dairy cows in mid‐lactation were assigned to one estimation height in an incomplete switchback design, with two 14‐d periods. There was an interaction between HM and estimation height for herbage intake and milk production. The effect of HM on herbage intake was positive, null and negative when HMs were compared at SHA0, SHA2and SHA5, respectively. This study may have practical implications on future research for studying, directly or indirectly, the effect of pre‐grazing HM under strip‐ or rotational‐grazing management, and on modelling herbage intake at grazing.