bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The 10th EAMHID International Congress: integrating different approaches in the neurodevelopmental perspective – the mental health care evolution timeline
Authors: Bertelli Marco O.
Published: January 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to provide a summary of main outcomes of the 10th EAMHID International Congress and a critical overview of some key contributions.

Design/methodology/approach

– A discussion on the impact of the neurodevelopmental perspective on mental health care achievements and failures in the field of intellectual disability (ID) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

Findings

– The considerable progress in the field of mental health care for people with ID that has been made in the last 30 years and that is reflected through the 350 papers presented in this Congress represents the continuation of the work of great pioneers, such as Frank Menolascino, Felix Platter or William I. Gardner, who have been honoured by the EAMHID in the naming of the congress rooms, and the dedication of the poster award. The neurodevelopmental perspective was confirmed to be the current most valued conceptual framework to explain relations across systems and to support multi-level, transnosographic, life-long, interdisciplinary approaches in the production of aetiological insight and good-quality intervention for mental health problems; on the other hand it might determine a premature abandonment of the traditional nosology and the appearance of very broad spectrum conditions covering the full range of psychopathology. Also psychopharmacology was extensively considered, with the explicit aim to raise the attention of researchers and clinicians on this neglected topic. Unfortunately, adults with ID/ASD are still deprived of the right to receive treatments that are based on strong evidence, as it is for the general population.

Originality/value

– This editorial outlines the second part of a special issue that offers a comprehensive and varied collection of papers from the contributions to the 10th International Congress of the EAMHID.
Metadata analysis of knowledge management in supply chain
Authors: Bhosale Vishal Ashok , Kant Ravi
Published: January 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive and useful insight into the knowledge management (KM) in the supply chain (SC) research and provide gaps and future research implications. The literature review includes a metadata analysis of KM in SC research along a number of dimensions, the existing dimensions as well as dimensions which are previously not been presented within the current area to predict the future role of KM in SC.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study is to examine the status of KM in SC within academic and industrial research in the last 14 years. The systematic literature review of KM in SC is based on 176 peer reviewed articles selected through a multi-stage process, from 1,063 studies during January 2001-June 2014.

Findings

– An increase in the interest level of incorporating KM in SC is clearly visible while studying available literature. The statistics prove that research in the field of KM in SC is overwhelmingly empirically oriented. Another major finding shows that the survey model score highest among all the research method used in the discipline. In general, the research is more interpretive in nature and provides a frame for theoretical critique. The result indicates that there is a need to use of advanced data analysis techniques with traditional data analysis technique.

Originality/value

– The review simply provides statistical summary which is easy to understand for practitioner and provide increased insights on the current state of research for the KM in SC.
Combining modelling and simulation approaches
Authors: Bisogno Stefania , Calabrese Armando , Gastaldi Massimo , Levialdi Ghiron Nathan
Published: January 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to provide a method for analysing and improving the operational performance of business processes (BPs).

Design/methodology/approach

– The method employs two standards, Business Process Modelling Notation (BPMN 2.0) and Business Processes Simulation (BPSim 1.0), to measure key performance indicators (KPIs) of BPs and test for potential improvements. The BP is first modelled in BPMN 2.0. Operational performance can then be measured using BPSim 1.0. The process simulation also enables execution of reliable “what-if” analysis, allowing improvements of the actual processes under study. To confirm the validity of the method the authors provide an application to the healthcare domain, in which the authors conduct several simulation experiments. The case study examines a standardised patient arrival and treatment process in an orthopaedic-emergency room of a public hospital.

Findings

– The method permits detection of process criticalities, as well as identifying the best corrective actions by means of the “what-if” analysis. The paper discusses both management and research implications of the method.

Originality/value

– The study responds to current calls for holistic and sustainable approaches to business process management (BPM). It provides step-by-step process modelling and simulation that serve as a “virtual laboratory” to test potential improvements and verify their impact on operational performance, without the risk of error that would be involved in ex-novo simulation programming.
Impact of entrepreneurship programmes on university students
Authors: Iglesias-Sánchez Patricia P. , Jambrino-Maldonado Carmen , Velasco Antonio Peñafiel , Kokash Husam
Published: January 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate entrepreneurship in Malaga University based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour model. There are two objectives: to analyse the influence of the main elements of orientation to entrepreneurship and to evaluate the efficiency of education programmes in the university system.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors have chosen Ajzen’s influential model (1991) for analysing entrepreneurial intention as the basis for the analysis of a sample of 392 students at Malaga University.

Findings

– The results suggest that the students’ predisposition to entrepreneurship is moderate because perceived risk and ideas about their own abilities hinder their decision to start up a business.

Practical implications

– This research has practical implications for universities involved in designing programmes aimed at business creation.

Social implications

– This research provides interesting insights which could help new companies to be created, thus alleviating the unemployment resulting from the economic crisis.

Originality/value

– With the help of this widely used theoretical model to study, the authors analyse the impact of Entrepreneurship Education Programmes in higher education. It is only a starting point from which to evaluate which elements should be reinforced in entrepreneurship programmes if they are to achieve effective results.
Open courses and MOOCs as professional development – is the openness a hindrance?
Authors: Olsson Ulf
Published: January 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to analyse if open courses, including massive open online courses (MOOCs), can be used as professional development despite their openness since the openness not only brings together individuals from different organizations but also may make the results of collaboration public.

Design/methodology/approach

– The setting is eight companies in different sectors and networks, collaborating with Higher Education Institutions in developing open courses in externally funded projects. The opinions of managers and HR-specialists in the companies are investigated and analysed.

Findings

– The managers and HR-specialists are positive to open courses that deliver professional development. They consider the openness in this kind of course to be of no significant problem. The employee knows what can be shared and what can be kept secret. The conditions are, however, different depending on the kind of company and the kind of inter-company relationship that exists.

Research limitations/implications

– Several interesting questions arise for future research about the use of open courses as professional development in different categories of inter-firm relationship and trust.

Practical implications

– If the openness is not a hindrance open online courses would appear to meet the requirement of flexibility; they have the potential of being suitable for professional development for individuals who want to increase their competence, but also as organized professional development in organizations and businesses.

Originality/value

– This is one of the first studies of the openness as a potential hindrance when open courses including MOOCs are utilized as professional development.
Gender and self-employment: the role of mini-companies
Authors: Johansen Vegard
Published: January 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to evaluate to what degree participation in mini-companies impact young women and men with regard to the perceived desirability and perceived feasibility of self-employment. The Company Programme (CP) is the largest mini-company scheme in European secondary school.

Design/methodology/approach

– The data derived from a survey conducted in Norway with 1,160 students in upper secondary school (17-18 years of age). The quasi-experimental research design enabled a comparison of compulsory CP-participants with non-participation and control for several competing factors.

Findings

– The investigation demonstrated that CP positively influenced the perceived feasibility of self-employment for both young men and young women, and CP also increased the perceived desirability of self-employment among young women.

Research limitations/implications

– It could be that the impact of CP varies according to time spent on the CP or position in the mini-company. The study does not measure whether CP-participants actually create a business.

Practical implications

– Central to explaining the stronger impact on young women is a particular concern with female entrepreneurship in CP. The majority of CEOs in mini-companies are young women, and all women that manage mini-companies can participate in the coaching programme “Girls and Leadership”.

Social implications

– CP-participation could boost the chance of individuals attempting to start a business at a later point in their lives. In the longer run, CP could contribute to reducing the gender gap in self-employment.

Originality/value

– Investigating some of the impacts of CP in a gender perspective, this paper adds a fresh viewpoint to the state of knowledge about entrepreneurship education in secondary schools.
The relation of socio-ecological factors to adolescents’ health-related behaviour
Authors: Aura Annamari , Sormunen Marjorita , Tossavainen Kerttu
Published: January 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to identify and describe adolescents’ health-related behaviours from a socio-ecological perspective. Socio-ecological factors have been widely shown to be related to health behaviours (smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity and diet) in adolescence and to affect health. The review integrates evidence with socio-ecological factors (social relationships, family, peers, schooling and environment).

Design/methodology/approach

– The data were collected from electronic databases and by manual search consisting of articles (n=90) published during 2002-2014. The selected articles were analysed using inductive content analysis and narrative synthesis.

Findings

– The findings suggest that there was a complex set of relations connected to adolescent health behaviours, also encompassing socio-ecological factors. The authors tentatively conclude that socio-ecological circumstances influence adolescents’ health-related behaviour, but that this review does not provide the full picture. There seemed to be certain key factors with a relation to behavioural outcomes that might increase health inequality among adolescents.

Practical implications

– School health education is an important pathway for interventions to reduce unhealthy behaviours among adolescents including those related to socio-ecological factors.

Originality/value

– Some socio-ecological factors were strongly related to health behaviours in adolescence, which may indicate an important pathway to current and future health. This paper may help schoolteachers, nurses and other school staff to understand the relationships between socio-ecological factors and health-related behaviours, which may be useful in developing health education to reduce health disparities during adolescence.
Lessons in building capacity in sexuality education using the health promoting school framework
Authors: Ollis Debbie , Harrison Lyn
Published: January 2016

Purpose

– The health promoting school model is rarely implemented in relation to sexuality education. This paper reports on data collected as part of a five-year project designed to implement a health promoting and whole school approach to sexuality education in a five campus year 1-12 college in regional Victoria, Australia. Using a community engagement focus involving local and regional stakeholders and with a strong research into practice component, the project is primarily concerned with questions of capacity building, impact and sustainability as part of whole school change. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using an action research design, data were collected from parents, students, teachers and key community stakeholders using a mixed methods approach involving surveys, interviews, document analysis and participant observation.

Findings

– Sexuality education has become a key school policy and has been implemented from years 1 to 9. Teachers and key support staff have engaged in professional learning, a mentor program has been set up, a community engagement/parent liaison position has been created, and parent forums have been conducted on all five campuses.

Research limitations/implications

– The translation of research into practice can be judged by the impact it has on teacher capacity and the students’ experience. Classroom observation and more longitudinal research would shed light on whether the espoused changes are happening in reality.

Originality/value

– This paper reports on lessons learned and the key enabling factors that have built capacity to ensure that sexuality education within a health promoting, whole school approach will remain sustainable into the future. These findings will be relevant to others interested in building capacity in sexuality education and health promotion more generally.
A confluence of evidence
Authors: Thomas Felicity , Aggleton Peter
Published: January 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the evidence base to support whole school approaches.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors conduct a review of published evaluations and evidence syntheses across six areas in the international health-promoting schools literature.

Findings

– Although whole school approaches are often advocated in literature and policy on health-promoting schools, the evidence base for their effectiveness is partial and is often health topic specific. This paper reviews the evidence base across six different health-related areas, namely: sexual health; bullying; alcohol and drug use; mental health; school connectedness; and access to services. It identifies commonalities in learning, enabling a confluence of evidence on the factors central to the provision of effective health education and support within schools. Whilst findings endorse a whole school approach, they also suggest that some of the more subtle evidence-based principles on which such approaches are underpinned are not generally explicitly reflected in practice.

Originality/value

– The paper offers the first cross-topic synthesis of findings on health education effects and effectiveness in six health-related areas, to identify commonalities in learning. Findings contribute to the evidence base for the use of a whole school approach when undertaking health education in schools.
An application of the information-adjusted noise model to the Shenzhen stock market
Authors: Xu Xiaoming , Ramiah Vikash , Moosa Imad , Davidson Sinclair
Published: January 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to: first, test if information-adjusted noise model (IANM) can be applied in China; second, quantify noise trader risk, overreaction, underreaction and information pricing errors in that market; and third, explain the relationship between noise trader risk and return.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors use a behavioural asset pricing model (BAPM), CAPM, the information-adjusted noise model and model proposed by Ramiah and Davidson (2010).

Findings

– The findings show that noise traders are active 99.7 per cent of the time on the Shenzhen A-share market. Furthermore, our results suggest that the Shenzhen market overreacts 41 per cent of the time, underreacts 18 per cent of the time and information pricing errors occur 40 per cent of the time.

Originality/value

– Various methods have been applied to the Chinese stock market in an effort to measure noise trading activities and all of them failed to account for information arrival. Our study uses a superior and alternative model to detect noise trader risk, overreaction and underreaction in China.
Goal-directed affordance prediction at the subtask level
Authors: Min Huaqing , Yi Chang'an , Luo Ronghua , Zhu Jinhui
Published: January 2016

Purpose

– This paper aims to present a hybrid control approach that combines learning-based reactive control and affordance-based deliberate control for autonomous mobile robot navigation. Unlike many current navigation approaches which only use learning-based paradigms, the authors focus on how to utilize the machine learning methods for reactive control together with the affordance knowledge that is simultaneously inherent in natural environments to gain advantages from both local and global optimization.

Design/methodology/approach

– The idea is to decompose the complex and large-scale robot navigation task into multiple sub-tasks and use the hierarchical reinforcement learning (HRL) algorithm, which is well-studied in the learning and control algorithm domains, to decompose the overall task into sub-tasks and learn a grid-topological map of the environment. An affordance-based deliberate controller is used to inspect the affordance knowledge of the obstacles in the environment. The hybrid control architecture is then designed to integrate the learning-based reactive control and affordance-based deliberate control based on the grid-topological and affordance knowledge.

Findings

– Experiments with computer simulation and an actual humanoid NAO robot have demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed hybrid approach for mobile robot navigation.

Originality/value

– The main contributions of this paper are a new robot navigation framework that decomposes a complex navigation task into multiple sub-tasks using the HRL approach, and hybrid control architecture development that integrates learning-based and affordance-based paradigms for autonomous mobile robot navigation.
The design of an intelligent soccer-playing robot
Authors: Xiong Dan , Xiao Junhao , Lu Huimin , Zeng Zhiwen , Yu Qinghua , Huang Kaihong , Yi Xiaodong , Zheng Zhiqiang
Published: January 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to design intelligent robots operating in such dynamic environments like the RoboCup Middle-Size League (MSL). In the RoboCup MSL, two teams of five autonomous robots play on an 18- × 12-m field. Equipped with sensors and on-board computers, each robot should be able to perceive the environment, make decision and control itself to play the soccer game autonomously.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper presents the design of our soccer robots, participating in RoboCup MSL. The mechanical platform, electrical architecture and software framework are discussed separately. The mechanical platform is designed modularly, so easy maintainability is achieved; the electronic architecture is built on industrial standards using PC-based control technique, which results in high robustness and reliability during the intensive and fierce MSL games; the software is developed upon the open-source Robot Operating System (ROS); thus, the advantages of ROS such as modularity, portability and expansibility are inherited.

Findings

– Based on this paper and the open-source hardware and software, the MSL robots can be re-developed easily to participate in the RoboCup MSL. The robots can also be used in other research and education fields, especially for multi-robot systems and distributed artificial intelligence. Furthermore, the main designing ideas proposed in the paper, i.e. using a modular mechanical structure, an industrial electronic system and ROS-based software, provide a common solution for designing general intelligent robots.

Originality/value

– The methodology of the intelligent robot design for highly competitive and dynamic RoboCup MSL environments is proposed.
Hybrid adaptive impedance-leader-follower control for multi-arm coordination manipulators
Authors: Liu Xiangyu , Zhang Ping , Du Guanglong
Published: January 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to provide a hybrid adaptive impedance-leader-follower control algorithm for multi-arm coordination manipulators, which is significant for dealing with the problems of kinematics inconsistency and error accumulation of interactive force in multi-arm system.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper utilized a motion mapping theory in Cartesian space to establish a centralized dynamic leader-follower control algorithm which helped to reduce the possibility of kinematics inconsistency for multiple manipulators. A virtual linear spring model (VLSM) was presented based on a recognition approach of characteristic marker. This paper accomplished an adaptive impedance control algorithm based on the VLSM, which took into account the non-rigid contact characteristic. Experimentally demonstrated results showed the proposed algorithm guarantees that the motion and interactive forces asymptotically converge to the prescribed values.

Findings

– The hybrid control method improves the accuracy and reliability of multi-arm coordination system, which presents a new control framework for multiple manipulators.

Practical implications

– This algorithm has significant commercial applications, as a means of controlling multi-arm coordination manipulators that could serve to handle large objects and assemble complicated objects in industrial and hazardous environment.

Originality/value

– This work presented a new control framework for multiple coordination manipulators, which can ensure consistent kinematics and reduce the influence of error accumulation, and thus can improve the accuracy and reliability of multi-arm coordination system.
Vanishing points estimation and road scene understanding based on Bayesian posterior probability
Authors: Liu Huajun , Wang Cailing , Yang Jingyu
Published: January 2016

Purpose

– This paper aims to present a novel scheme of multiple vanishing points (VPs) estimation and corresponding lanes identification.

Design/methodology/approach

– The scheme proposed here includes two main stages: VPs estimation and lane identification. VPs estimation based on vanishing direction hypothesis and Bayesian posterior probability estimation in the image Hough space is a foremost contribution, and then VPs are estimated through an optimal objective function. In lane identification stage, the selected linear samples supervised by estimated VPs are clustered based on the gradient direction of linear features to separate lanes, and finally all the lanes are identified through an identification function.

Findings

– The scheme and algorithms are tested on real data sets collected from an intelligent vehicle. It is more efficient and more accurate than recent similar methods for structured road, and especially multiple VPs identification and estimation of branch road can be achieved and lanes of branch road can be identified for complex scenarios based on Bayesian posterior probability verification framework. Experimental results demonstrate VPs, and lanes are practical for challenging structured and semi-structured complex road scenarios.

Originality/value

– A Bayesian posterior probability verification framework is proposed to estimate multiple VPs and corresponding lanes for road scene understanding of structured or semi-structured road monocular images on intelligent vehicles.
A novel method of unmanned surface vehicle autonomous cruise
Authors: Xie Shaorong , Wu Peng , Liu Hengli , Yan Peng , Li Xiaomao , Luo Jun , Li Qingmei
Published: January 2016

Purpose

– This paper aims to propose a new method for combining global path planning with local path planning, to provide an efficient solution for unmanned surface vehicle (USV) path planning despite the changeable environment. Path planning is the key issue of USV navigation. A lot of research works were done on the global and local path planning. However, little attention was given to combining global path planning with local path planning.

Design/methodology/approach

– A search of shortcut Dijkstra algorithm was used to control the USV in the global path planning. When the USV encounters unknown obstacles, it switches to our modified artificial potential field (APF) algorithm for local path planning. The combinatorial method improves the approach of USV path planning in complex environment.

Findings

– The method in this paper offers a solution to the issue of path planning in changeable or unchangeable environment, and was confirmed by simulations and experiments. The USV follows the global path based on the search of shortcut Dijkstra algorithm. Both USV achieves obstacle avoidances in the local region based on the modified APF algorithm after obstacle detection. Both the simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the combinatorial path planning method is more efficient in the complex environment.

Originality/value

– This paper proposes a new path planning method for USV in changeable environment. The proposed method is capable of efficient navigation in changeable and unchangeable environment.
Design of redundant robot painting system for long non-regular duct
Authors: Chen Wenzhuo , Chen Yan , Li Bo , Zhang Weiming , Chen Ken
Published: January 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to design a special automatic redundant robot painting system (RRPS), which can automatically navigate and paint in the long non-regular duct.

Design/methodology/approach

– The RRPS is designed with three subsystems: a redundant robot, a spraying system and a control and safety system. Based on the modular design theory, the robot falls naturally into a mobile platform, a 4-DOF location mechanism and a 10-DOF manipulator. The restriction of the distance between the links and the duct axis is used to plan the trajectory of the manipulator so that it would not collide with the duct. The restriction model is constructed by minimizing the sum of the weighed distances between the duct axis and the special points.

Findings

– A fully working prototype system has been developed. Test results show that the minimal distance between the robot joints and duct is 18 mm, and it can finish painting long non-regular ducts at the speed of 12.5 cm/s and the spraying distance of 16 cm. The quality of coating layers is good.

Practical implications

– The RRPS was used to paint non-regular rectangular ducts, cylindrical ducts and long non-regular ducts. The feasibility of painting long non-regular duct is proved with the prototype implementation and successful test results.

Originality/value

– The RRPS shows a novel solution that is based on the 14-DOF redundant robot design for painting long non-regular ducts which is used in airplane.
Path optimization of excavating manipulator in lunar soil sampling
Authors: Yang Haitao , Xie Zongwu , Li Cao , Zhao Xiaoyu , Jin Minghe
Published: January 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to study the path optimization method of the manipulator in the lunar soil excavation and sampling process. The current research is a practical need for the excavation and sampling of the lunar soil in the lunar exploration project.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper proposes the objective function and constraints for path optimization during the excavation process of the lunar soil, regarding excavation time and energy consumption as the two key fitness indexes by analyzing the whole excavation process of the lunar soil. Specifically, the optimization is divided into two consecutive phases, one for the excavation path and the other one for joint motions. In the first phase, the Bézier polynomial is adopted to get the optimal excavation angle and reduce energy consumption. In the second phase, a method based on convex optimization, variable conversion and dynamic process discretization, is used to reduce excavation time and energy consumption.

Findings

– Controlled experiments on the fine sand and the simulant lunar soil were conducted to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the two phases of the optimization method, respectively.

Originality/value

– The optimization method of the excavation tasks in this paper is of great value in theoretical and practical engineering, and it can be applied in other robotic operational tasks as well.
The multiple impacts of teacher misbehaviour
Authors: Page Damien
Published: January 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impacts of serious teacher misbehaviour (TMB) in schools from the perspective of headteachers, a largely un-researched area.

Design/methodology/approach

– Data were collected via the documentary analysis of misconduct cases from the Teaching Agency and semi-structured interviews with five headteachers who had managed serious cases.

Findings

– The research suggests four primary impacts of serious TMB, affecting other teachers, students, the reputation of the school and headteachers themselves. The paper concludes by suggesting a fifth impact affecting public trust in the teaching profession.

Practical implications

– Although rare, serious TMB can be highly damaging. Furthermore, the findings suggest that it is almost impossible to predict and so this paper suggests a “map” of the impacts helping headteachers to manage and contain it when/if the worst does happen.

Originality/value

– Empirical studies of the impacts of serious organisational behaviour are scarce; empirical studies of serious organisational behaviour in schools are non-existent and so this paper addresses that gap.
How well do AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS manage their brands?
Authors: Miles Morgan P , Grimmer Martin , Franklin Geralyn McClure
Published: January 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to focus on the question of how well business school accreditation bodies manage their own brands. It does so by extending research on business school branding by Pitt et al. (2006) to explore how well business school accreditation organizations such as AACSB International – The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the Association of MBAs, and the European Foundation for Management Development Quality Improvement System manage their brands.

Design/methodology/approach

– An on-line survey of business school deans was conducted during October and November of 2013. SurveyMonkey was used to administer the survey to 1,131 valid e-mail addresses found for the deans of member schools.

Findings

– Business school deans face complex decisions in terms of marketing. The selection of which accreditation “co-brand” to seek is both strategically relevant to the market position of the business school and has numerous financial and often career implications. The findings in this research suggest that AACSB is perceived by a broad global sample of business school deans to be generally the strongest brand, and therefore likely the best choice if a school is seeking only one accreditation.

Originality/value

– This study contributes to the understanding of business school marketing, strategic planning, and branding in a highly competitive global market.
Exploring the integration of social media within integrated marketing communication frameworks
Authors: Valos Michael John , Haji Habibi Fatemeh , Casidy Riza , Driesener Carl Barrie , Maplestone Vanya Louise
Published: January 2016

Purpose

– At present no frameworks exist for services marketers to incorporate social media (SM) within marketing communications planning. The majority of integrated marketing communications (IMC) frameworks were developed prior to the development of the widespread use of digital and SM for information seeking, sales and service. The purpose of this paper is to investigate this issue for services marketers specifically as they differ from FMCG, industrial and durable marketers in terms of marketing messages, branding, media and channels. Furthermore, as they are less reliant on outsourced sale channels they have more potential than other industries to integrate social and digital media to build awareness, brands and sales.

Design/methodology/approach

– Depth interviews were conducted with eight senior services marketing executives to identify the impact of SM on marketing communications planning, implementation and measurement.

Findings

– The findings revealed that the unique characteristics of SM (such as interactivity and individualisation, integration of communication and distribution channels, immediacy and information collection) impact traditional marketing communications frameworks. These impacts manifested in 12 modifications specific to services and SM to traditional generic IMC frameworks encompassed by the themes of reach, service channel, word-of-mouth advocacy, consumer generated messages, listening and behavioural measurement.

Practical implications

– The rapidly evolving nature of SM means senior services marketers need to educate organisational stakeholders regarding implementation issues, which may be a barrier to effective integration of SM within marketing communications.

Originality/value

– With digital marketing communications budgets reaching 30 per cent within some organisations, it is timely to put forward a marketing communication decision-making framework that first incorporates SM and second is suitable for services marketers.
Perspectives on social impact measurement and non-profit organisations
Authors: Polonsky Michael Jay , Landreth Grau Stacy , McDonald Sharyn
Published: January 2016

Purpose

– Acknowledgement of the social impact created by organisations has become an increasingly frequent discussion among practitioners. The importance of such value creation cannot be understated, yet in an increasingly competitive funding environment, the need to articulate “true” value is paramount. The purpose of this paper is to examine how Australian and US managers of non-profit organisations (NPOs) and foundations view the measurement of the social impact of NPOs.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper includes 19 in-depth interviews of non-profit professionals in the USA and Australia. Respondents included non-profit managers, foundation managers and consultants in both countries.

Findings

– The in-depth interviews found that in both countries respondents generally agreed that objective measures of impact are desirable, but recognised the difficulties in developing objective assessment frameworks enabling comparisons across the non-profit sector. These difficulties, as well as the implications for developing assessments of social value for NPOs, are discussed. This paper demonstrates that there is an opportunity to reposition reporting expectations. The NPO sector can pool together and build on each other’s strengths and market their outcomes as a collective entity. A sector-wide approach provides potential for much needed within-sector mentoring and will showcase the rich and varied outcomes generated by NPOs.

Originality/value

– This research compares viewpoints in two Western countries, thus offering at least an exploratory examination of social impact assessment from an international perspective. Additionally, this research shows commonalities in terms of what is valued and what is most difficult for non-profits when determining social impact.
Made in India: an interview with Mr Vimal Mahendru, CEO, Indo-Asian Fusegear Ltd.
Authors: Prabhakar Guru Prakash , Saran Pankaj
Published: January 2016

Purpose

– This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

Design/methodology/approach

– This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Findings

– Great leaders in the field of business tend to have an understanding of business environments of other countries; they are quick at learning from the strengths of other leaders.

Practical implications

– The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations.

Originality/value

– The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.
The spectral calibration method for a crop nitrogen sensor
Authors: Ni Jun , Dong Jifei , Zhang Jingchao , Pang Fangrong , Cao Weixing , Zhu Yan
Published: January 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to improve the accuracy and signal-to-noise ratio (SN) of a crop nitrogen sensor.

Design/methodology/approach

– The accuracy and wide adaptability of two spectral calibration methods for a crop nitrogen sensor based on standard reflectivity gray plates and standard detector, respectively, were compared.

Findings

– The calibration method based on standard detector could significantly improve the measurement accuracy and the SN of this crop nitrogen sensor. When compared with the method based on standard gray plates, the measurement accuracy and the SN of the crop nitrogen sensor calibrated based on the standard detector method improved by 50 and 10 per cent, respectively.

Originality/value

– This research analysed the calibration problems faced by the crop nitrogen sensor (type CGMD302) based on standard gray plates, and proposed a sensor calibration method based on a standard detector. Finally, the results of the two calibration methods were compared in terms of measurement accuracy and the SN of the crop nitrogen sensor.
Optimization of magnetic hat for quartz flexible accelerometer
Authors: Wang Cuo , Li Xingfei , Kou Ke , Long Chunguo
Published: January 2016

Purpose

– This study aims to ameliorate the strength and uniformity of the magnetic field in the air-gap of quartz flexible accelerometers. Quartz flexible accelerometers (QFAs), a type of magneto-electric inertial sensors, have wide applications in inertial navigation systems, and their precision, linearity and stability performance are largely determined by the magnetic field in operation air-gap. To enhance the strength and uniformity of the magnetic field in the air-gap, a magnetic hat structure has been proposed to replace the traditional magnetic pole piece which tends to produce stratiform magnetic field distribution.

Design/methodology/approach

– Three-dimensional analysis in ANSYS workbench helps to exhibit magnetic field distribution for the structures with a pole piece and a magnetic hat, and under the hypothesis of cylindrical symmetry, two-dimensional finite element optimization by ANSYS APDL gives an optimal set of dimensions of the magnetic hat.

Findings

– Three structures of the QFA with a pole piece, a non-optimized magnetic hat and an optimized magnetic hat are compared by the simulation in ANSYS Maxwell and experiments measuring the electromagnetic rebalance force. The results show that the optimized hat can supply stronger and more uniform magnetic field, which is reflected by larger and more linear rebalance force.

Originality/value

– To the authors
'
knowledge, the magnetic hat and its dimension optimization have rarely been reported, and they can find significant applications in designing QFAs or other similar magnetic sensors.
Nanosensors and MEMS: connecting the nanoscale with the macro world with microscale technology
Authors: Bogue Robert
Published: January 2016

Purpose

– This paper aims to illustrate how sensors can be fabricated by combining nanomaterials with micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) technology and to give examples of recently developed devices arising from this approach.

Design/methodology/approach

– Following a short introduction, this paper first identifies the benefits of MEMS technology. It then discusses the techniques for integrating carbon nanotubes with MEMS and provides examples of physical and molecular sensors produced by these methods. Combining other gas-responsive nanomaterials with MEMS is then considered and finally techniques for producing graphene on silicon devices are discussed. Brief concluding comments are drawn.

Findings

– This shows that many physical and molecular sensors have been developed by combining nanomaterials with MEMS technology. These have been fabricated by a diverse range of techniques which are often complex and multi-stage, but significant progress has been made and some are compatible with standard CMOS processes, yielding fully integrated nanosensors.

Originality/value

– This provides an insight into how two key technologies are being combined to yield families of advanced sensors.
Stable coexistence of ecologically identical species: conspecific aggregation via reproductive interference
Authors: Ruokolainen Lasse , Hanski Ilkka
Published: January 2016

Stable coexistence of ecologically identical species is not possible according to the established ecological theory. Many coexistence mechanisms have been proposed, but they all involve some form of ecological differentiation among the competing species.

The aggregation model of coexistence would predict coexistence of identical species if there would be a mechanism that generates spatially aggregated distributions that are not completely correlated among the species. Our aim is to demonstrate that continued dispersal, triggered by reproductive interference between ecologically identical species, is such a mechanism. This study has been motivated by species using ephemeral patchy resources, such as decomposing fruits, fungal sporophores, carrion, and dung.

We analyse an individual‐based model with sexual reproduction, in which the progeny develops in ephemeral resource patches and the new generation disperses to a new set of patches. We assume spatially restricted dispersal, that patches differ in detectability, and that unmated females continue dispersal.

In the model, reproductive interference (males spend some time searching for and/or attempting to mate with heterospecific females) reduces the mating rate of females, especially in the less common species, which leads to increased dispersal and reduces spatial correlation in species' distributions.

For a wide range of parameter values, coexisting species show a systematic difference in their relative abundances due to two opposing forces: (1) uncommon species have reduced growth rate (Allee effect), which decreases abundance; (2) an abundance difference between the species reduces interspecific spatial correlation, which in turn reduces interspecific competition and allows the rarer species to persist at low density.

Our results demonstrate a new mechanism for coexistence that is not based on ecological differentiation between species.
Impacts of warming revealed by linking resource growth rates with consumer functional responses
Authors: West Derek C. , Post David M.
Published: January 2016

Warming global temperatures are driving changes in species distributions, growth and timing, but much uncertainty remains regarding how climate change will alter species interactions.

Consumer–Resource interactions in particular can be strongly impacted by changes to the relative performance of interacting species. While consumers generally gain an advantage over their resources with increasing temperatures, nonlinearities can change this relation near temperature extremes.

We use an experimental approach to determine how temperature changes between 5 and 30 °C will alter the growth of the algaeScenedesmus obliquusand the functional responses of the small‐bodiedDaphnia ambiguaand the largerDaphnia pulicaria.

The impact of warming generally followed expectations, making bothDaphniaspecies more effective grazers, with the increase in feeding rates outpacing the increases in algal growth rate. At the extremes of our temperature range, however, warming resulted in a decrease inDaphniagrazing effectiveness. Between 25 and 30 °C, both species ofDaphniaexperienced a precipitous drop in feeding rates, while algal growth rates remained high, increasing the likelihood of algal blooms in warming summer temperatures.

Daphnia pulicariaperformed significantly better at cold temperatures thanD. ambigua, but by 20 °C, there was no significant difference between the two species, and at 25 °C,D. ambiguaoutperformedD. pulicaria. Warming summer temperatures will favour the smallerD. ambigua,but only over a narrow temperature range, and warming beyond 25 °C could openD. ambiguato invasion from tropical species.

By fitting our results to temperature‐dependent functions, we develop a temperature‐ and density‐dependent model, which produces a metric of grazing effectiveness, quantifying the grazer density necessary to halt algal growth. This approach should prove useful for tracking the transient dynamics of other density‐dependent consumer–resource interactions, such as agricultural pests and biological‐control agents.