bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Comparison between the products of four RPM systems for metals
Authors: Abdel Ghany K. , Moustafa S.F.
Published: July 2006

Purpose

To compare the capabilities and product quality of four state‐of‐the‐art metal rapid prototyping and manufacturing (RPM) systems. This comparison could help industrial companies to know the advantages and disadvantages of each system and decide which system is the most appropriate for their application field.

Design/methodology/approach

This work evaluates and compares the quality of four identical benchmarks fabricated from different metallic powders by using four recently developed RPM systems for metals. The evaluation considers benchmark geometry, dimensional precision, material type, product strength and hardness, surface quality, building speed, materials, operation and running cost.

Findings

Results show that using RPM technology for the production of metallic products proved to be successful and promising technology to fabricate high strength products such as dies and molds parts which have complicated geometry and fine features. The best quality and strength was developed by the technique of complete melting of metallic powders (selective laser melting/micro‐welding). Comparing to the technique of selective laser sintering, this gave the impression to be more successful and reliable in future in addition to the ability to prototype different types of metallic powders. However, it was very slow and costly. Results by other techniques were evaluated as well.

Research limitations/implications

The discussed resulted were based only on one benchmark built by each evaluated system and using only one set of processing parameters (which were recommended by the machine manufacturer to be the optimum parameters). However, different results could be obtained if different processing parameters were used. Future work should include the affect of changing the process parameters for each system.

Practical implications

A very useful research study for industrial organizations need to use RPM for the production of metallic products.

Originality/value

This paper provides very important comparison between different state‐of‐the‐art metal RPM systems that are very new to the market. This paper should be very valuable to industrial organizations industrial organizations need to use RPM for the production of metallic products.
Investigation of the mechanical properties and porosity relationships in fused deposition modelling‐fabricated porous structures
Authors: Chin Ang Ker , Fai Leong Kah , Kai Chua Chee , Chandrasekaran Margam
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mechanical properties and porosity relationships in fused deposition modelling (FDM) fabricated porous structures.

Design/methodology/approach

Porous structures of numerous build architectures aimed at tissue engineering (TE) application were fabricated using the FDM. The employment of FDM to fabricate these non‐random constructs offers many advantages over conventional scaffold fabrication techniques as patient specific scaffolds with well‐defined architectures and controllable pore sizes can be fabricated accurately and rapidly. There exist several FDM parameters that one needs to specify during the scaffold fabrication process. These parameters, which can be interdependent and exhibit varying effects on scaffold properties, were identified and examined using the design of experiment (DOE) approach. Essentially, the effects of five FDM process parameters, namely air gap, raster width, build orientation, build layer and build profile, on the porosity and mechanical properties of acrylonitrile‐butadienene‐styrene (ABS) scaffold structures with three‐dimensional interconnectivity were investigated in two designed experiments. Statistical analyses of the data were performed and the respective factors that have significant influence on the porosity and mechanical properties of the scaffolds were identified. The relationship between scaffold's mechanical properties and porosity was thereafter established empirically.

Findings

Models of TE scaffolds of numerous build architectures were successfully fabricated using different parameter settings on the FDM. The DOE approach determined air gap and raster width as the most significant parameters in affecting the porosity and mechanical properties of the ABS scaffold structures. The relationship between scaffolds' mechanical properties and porosity was determined to be logarithmic, with the best mechanical properties observed in scaffolds of low porosity.

Originality/value

The paper highlights how the application FDM to tissue scaffold application can overcome most of the limitations encountered in the conventional techniques.
Investigation of the overlapping parameters of MPAW‐based rapid prototyping
Authors: Aiyiti Wurikaixi , Zhao Wanhua , Lu Bingheng , Tang Yiping
Published: July 2006

Purpose

To fabricate fully dense components with low costs, a rapid prototyping (RP) system based on micro‐plasma arc welding (MPAW) was developed. The appropriate process parameters were investigated to build the parts with good mechanical properties and surface smoothness.

Design/methodology/approach

A simplified overlapping model between deposited tracks was established to investigate the relationships among the overlapping parameters, such as the ratio of width to height of the deposited track cross‐section (λ), scan spacing and overlapping ratio. Some ER308L stainless steel parts were built by different overlapping parameters, and the surface smoothness, tensile strength and elongation of the parts were tested.

Findings

The overlapped surface smoothness, tensile strength and elongation of the parts built with larger λ were better than those built with smaller λ. The longitudinal tensile strength and elongation of the parts were better than the transverse data.

Research limitations/implications

The scanning direction obviously affected the tensile strength and elongation of the parts, so the multi‐directional scanning mode should be used to get isotropic parts.

Originality/value

This MPAW‐based RP system provides a solution to build fully dense metal parts with relatively lower costs. The appropriate process parameters can be obtained with the developed overlapping model.
Entrepreneurial firms in search of established partners: review and recommendations
Authors: Das T.K. , He Irene Y.
Published: July 2006

Purpose

To review the alliance partner selection criteria research in order to shed light on how entrepreneurial firms should choose established firms as alliance partners.

Design/methodology/approach

Critical differences between entrepreneurial and established firms are presented to emphasize the special risks in alliances between these two types of firms. Extant literature on partner selection criteria is reviewed to show that adequate research adopting the perspective of entrepreneurial firms is lacking. A list of recommendations is developed for entrepreneurial firms in their choice of established firms as alliance partners. Illustrative cases are presented of both successful and unsuccessful cases of strategic alliances between entrepreneurial and established firms.

Findings

Provides evidence that entrepreneurial firms have not been adequately recognized in the research on partner selection criteria in strategic alliances. Based on a comprehensive review of the literature, the paper identifies 15 intrinsic and alliancing difference factors between entrepreneurial and established firms.

Practical implications

Five key guidelines are developed to assist entrepreneurial firms in selecting established firms as alliance partners.

Originality/value

This paper fills a gap in the two literatures on entrepreneurship and strategic alliances regarding research‐based guidance available for entrepreneurial firms in the selection of established firms as partners in strategic alliances.
Business lecturers' perceptions of the nature of entrepreneurship
Authors: Bennett Roger
Published: July 2006

Purpose

To investigate possible connections between the ways in which university lecturers define the term “entrepreneurship” and the pedagogical methods they apply when teaching the subject.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 141 lecturers on entrepreneurship courses completed a questionnaire concerning meaning of the term “entrepreneurship”; the pedagogical techniques they employed when delivering entrepreneurship units; and their commitment to entrepreneurship as an academic discipline. The sample was analysed with respect to the respondents' subject areas (marketing, organisational behaviour, economics, etc.), amounts of business experience, types of employing institution, and socio‐demographic characteristics. An emerging model was tested using the technique of partial least squares.

Findings

Lecturers' definitions of entrepreneurship were indeed influenced by their backgrounds and by the number of years they had worked in businesses. Few of the sample had ever owned an enterprise and, in general, respondents' operational management experience was limited. There was no consensus as to how the word entrepreneurship should be interpreted or how the subject should be taught.

Research limitations/implications

Only a minority of the sampling frame (29 per cent) returned the questionnaire. The model that was tested had to be constructed ab initio due to the paucity of prior research in the field. Hence the study was wholly exploratory and could not test hypotheses explicitly derived from pre‐existing literature.

Practical implications

A consistent theory of entrepreneurship needs to be developed, to be disseminated among and accepted by lecturers who actually teach the subject, and then be incorporated into the curricula and syllabuses of entrepreneurship courses.

Originality/value

This research is the first to examine the perceptions of the nature of entrepreneurship held by lecturers on entrepreneurship programmes and to relate these perceptions to their antecedents and pedagogical consequences.
Mediated effects of export promotion programs on firm export performance
Authors: Shamsuddoha A.K. , Yunus Ali M.
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The impact of export promotion programs (EPPs) on firm export performance (FEP) has received little attention in the export literature. This paper attempts to investigate the direct and indirect impact of EPPs on FEP in a comprehensive model. The indirect effects of EPPs on FEP have been conceptualized through a set of firm‐ and management‐related antecedents for empirical testing.

Design/methodology/approach

Primary data were collected through mail survey from a sample of 203 exporting firms in three export‐oriented industries in a developing country. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques to test the hypothesized relationships.

Findings

Results suggest that in addition to its direct impact on the FEP, the usage of EPPs has direct impact on firm's export knowledge, and managers’ perception that in turn influence commitment to export, export strategy and FEP.

Research limitations/implications

Findings provide empirical support to theorize indirect effect of the usage of EPPs on FEP. Findings also provide guidelines for managers how to benefit from EPPs to gain export knowledge toward increasing commitment for successful exporting. Policy makers can also benefit from the study finding in designing policy programs. Readers should use caution in generalizing the findings unless verified in other developed and developing country contexts.

Originality value

The theoretical framework developed for the study is original and drawn on the extant literature. The empirical testing of the theoretical model in a developing country context is a significant contribution to fill the much needed gap in the literature toward generalizing similar findings.
The relationship between social capital, transaction costs, and organizational outcomes
Authors: Fussell Hilary , Harrison‐Rexrode Jill , Kennan William R. , Hazleton Vincent
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the connection between social capital, transaction costs, and organizational outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on a survey of 176 employees of a high‐tech manufacturer of electronics located in the Mid‐Atlantic region of the USA. The survey included three self‐report measures: social capital, transaction costs, and organizational outcomes. Self‐report items were used to measure three dimensions of social capital: structure, relationships, and communication. Transaction cost items measured information exchange, problem solving, conflict management, and behavior regulation. Questions measuring organizational outcomes included quality, change, equity, and fairness.

Findings

The central finding of this research is the significant association between social capital and both transaction costs and organizational outcomes. As expected, trust served as a predictor of both transaction costs and organizational outcomes. In addition, the social capital components of access, timing, and network ties were significantly associated with transaction costs and organizational outcomes.

Research limitations/implications

The items used to measure the communication dimension of social capital did not demonstrate sufficient reliability to be entered into the analysis.

Practical implications

The results suggest an alternative approach to considering the connection between communication management and organizational achievement. This approach, also, theoretically centralizes communication and communication related concerns as foundational for social capital analysis.

Originality/value

This study offers a valuable alternative theoretic approach to understanding the impact of communication on organizational affairs.
Application of artificial intelligence for the determination of package parameters for a desired solder joint fatigue life
Authors: Lee K.O. , Ong K.E. , Seetharamu K.N. , Azid I.A. , Quadir G.A. , Goh T.J.
Published: July 2006

Purpose

Aims to present a finite element analysis based methodology for estimating the characteristic fatigue life of a solder joint interconnect under accelerated temperature cycling to predict the reliability performance of a flip chip package.

Design/methodology/approach

The method uses the ANSYSTM finite element analysis tool along with Anand's viscoplastic constitutive law. Darveaux's crack growth rate model was applied to calculate solder joint characteristic life using simulated viscoplastic strain energy density results at the package substrate and printed circuit board solder joints. Two package configurations are evaluated with the above methodology, with the first being a simplified flip chip model and the second being a detailed flip chip model. Each of these configurations is subjected to two accelerated temperature cycling tests.

Findings

Generally, the results indicate that the solder joint at the corner end of the package tends to fail first. The characteristic lives of solder joint at the package ball/board interface are 24‐46 percent higher than the characteristic lives of solder joint at the package ball/substrate interface. This means that the interface between the solder ball and substrate will fail first before the interface between the solder ball and the board.

Originality/value

Demonstrates that genetic algorithms can be used as tools to predict possible package dimensional values for given constraints on solder joint life.
Test chip and substrate design for flip chip microelectronic package thermal measurements
Authors: Joo Goh Teck , Chiu Chia‐Pin , Seetharamu K.N. , Quadir G.A. , Zainal Z.A.
Published: July 2006

Purpose

This paper's purpose is to review the design of a flip chip thermal test vehicle.

Design/methodology/approach

Design requirements for different applications such as thermal characterization, assembly process optimization, and product burn‐in simulation are outlined and the design processes of different thermal test chip structures including the temperature sensor and passive heaters are described in detail. The design of fireball heater, a novel test chip structure used for evaluating the effectiveness of heat spreading of advanced thermal solutions, is also explained.

Findings

Describes the design considerations and processes of the package substrate and printed‐circuit board with special emphasis on the physical routing of the thermal test chip structures. These design processes are supported with thermal data from various finite‐element analyses carried out to evaluate the capability and limitations of thermal test vehicle design.

Originality/value

The validation and calibration procedures of a thermal test vehicle are presented in this paper.
On the inception of sound derivative products in emerging markets
Authors: Al Janabi Mazin A.M.
Published: July 2006

Purpose

Since, the early 1990s, emerging markets have started to play an important role in the trading of derivatives products. Despite the fact that these markets are characterized in general as illiquid, segmented, politically unstable, with lack of regulations and historical financial databases, they do have some advantages for markets' participants. This paper aims to discuss some of the main obstacles to the inception of successful derivative products in emerging economies and to provide a number of viable solutions.

Design/methodology/approach

The objective of this paper is to share with financial markets' participants, regulators and policymakers some of the author's real‐world experiences and observations as a derivatives trader and later as a trading risk manager in emerging economies. The endeavor here is to provide several robust guidelines that can assist emerging markets in the establishment of sound derivative markets within a prudential framework of rules and policies.

Findings

To this end, key risk management rules and procedures that should be considered before dealing with derivative products are examined and adapted to the specific needs of emerging markets. The suggested viable solutions can be implemented in almost all emerging economies, if they are adapted to correspond to each market's initial level of sophistication.

Practical implications

The real‐world guidelines and observations that are discussed in this work will be of value to financial entities, regulators and policymakers operating within the context of emerging markets.

Originality/value

This paper fills a gap in the risk management literature, especially from the emerging markets perspective, by providing a practitioner's views on how to set‐up sound and effective derivative products markets in emerging economies. The paper will be of value to those interested in founding a successful and sound trading environment of derivative products in emerging markets.
A review of financial and regulatory reforms in the gilt‐edged market
Authors: Ahmad Farooq , Lal David
Published: July 2006

Purpose

Aims to examine and evaluate the financial and regulatory reforms in the gilt‐edged market.

Design/methodology/approach

Reviews recent financial and regulatory reforms in the gilt‐edged market.

Findings

Finds that, overall, the gilts market has maintained its safe haven status during periods of both stability and uncertainty.

Originality/value

In its examination of the gilt‐edged market, this paper concludes that recent reforms have been very successful in maintaining its competitiveness.
The effect of the SEC's regulation fair disclosure on analyst forecast attributes
Authors: Yang Rong , Mensah Yaw M.
Published: July 2006

Purpose

This study aims to examine the effect of the Securities and Exchange Commission's regulation fair disclosure (Reg. FD) on analyst forecast performance for pre‐Reg. FD closed‐call (CLC) and open‐call (OPC) firms compared with the non‐conference‐call (NCC) firms in the post‐Reg. FD period.

Design/methodology/approach

Specifically, it examines whether Reg. FD influenced the earnings forecast accuracy and forecast dispersion of financial analysts for the previous‐CLC firms in the post‐Reg. FD period compared with the previous‐OPC firms, and both sets of conference call firms relative to the NCC firms in the same period.

Findings

The main findings indicate that forecast accuracy improved for both OPC and CLC firms compared with the NCC firms in the post‐Reg. FD period. More importantly, the differences in earnings forecast performance between the pre‐Reg. FD OPC and CLC firms had disappeared in the post‐Reg. FD period.

Originality/value

These results offer further confirmation of previous findings that Reg. FD has contributed to leveling the playing field for financial analysts and investors.
Court of Appeal rules on solicitor's liability to make redress to investors
Authors: Gray Joanna
Published: July 2006

Purpose

To report on the appeal by the defendants – a firm of sollcitors – against the proceedings taken by the Financial Services Authority.

Design/methodology/approach

Outlines the facts and explains the decision.

Findings

Finds that this decision serves to illustrate how difficult and fine‐turned a task it is to achieve in law effective yet fair transition between one complex regulatory regime with another that is not precisely identical in terms of its intended effects and application.

Originality/value

Shows a reason why the level of enthusiasm for much more radical substantive legislative change in the FSMA 2000 framework is relatively muted on the part of Government, regulator and industry alike.
Question of legal nature of betting scheme under FSMA 2000 considered by Court of Appeal
Authors: Gray Joanna
Published: July 2006

Purpose

To provide a summary of the action against Top Bet Placement Services, involving a betting scheme that infringed FSMA 2000.

Design/methodology/approach

A detailed exposition of the factual background to this action, including an explanation of how it changed its structure and operations over time in order to attempt to allay concerns about infringements of FSMA 2000.

Findings

From the facts that have emerged in this case that sollcitors and counsel were involved throughout this scheme's existence and those concerned, including FSA, appear to have gone to considerable lengths to clarify where exactly this betting scheme fitted into the FSMA legislative framework and how.

Originality/value

Case law on the meaning of the terms used in scoping out the definition of “collective investment scheme” is thin on the ground.
The enterprise of crime and terror – the implication for good business
Authors: Scanlan Gary
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to consider some possible future trends or developments in the fight against organised crime and the terrorist operating ostensibly within the business sphere, in the light of the threats, both present and future that such criminal activity poses, for society and for business activity in the UK.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper outlines aspects in the future fight against crime and terrorism and the promotion of good business in this regard.

Findings

The conclusions drawn are far from optimistic. The government must, in pursuing policies and strategies to combat crime and terrorism, also be committed to the provision of adequate resources to the relevant investigating and enforcement authorities so as to ensure that these objectives are achieved. The “white collar” criminal operating within the business community can be a principal operator in organised crime and the terrorist cell. By their activities they ensure that organised crime and the terrorist are given the resources by which those individuals destroy our prosperity, intimidate individuals and perpetrate outrages such as 7/7 in London. Until those in authority can accept their responsibilities in this regard, we can make little if any progress in the war against organised crime and the terrorist.

Originality/value

The paper looks to the future in the fight against crime and terror, highlighting old and new threats and describing the implications for good business.
Business of crime: the enterprise of crime and terror – the implications for good business
Authors: Henry Millard George
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The paper was presented at the Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime, September 2005. The objectives were to set a scenario for examining the criminal activities over time, the changing and transformation of transnational crime.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology used was bibliography research, completed with interviews and author's practitioner experience.

Findings

The paper emphasizes the need of a different approach to the new criminal order, and a awareness discussion involving the expropriation of results from criminal activity

Research limitations/implications

The paper is a simple overview of the subject, there is much more to be researched due to the fact that it is related to global changes, over a 30 years period, and could combine the analysis from other professional perspectives.

Originality/value

The paper intends to fill a void both descriptively and theoretically, in a field of study that is becoming increasingly important.
Corporate investigations
Authors: Coburn Niall F.
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The aim of the research is to explain the requirements for conducting a corporate investigation and to indicate that corporations must have effective corporate governance and compliance structures that are flexible and innovative to combat new and emerging frauds.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology is to give a brief overview of the major past and current frauds, explain the nature of corporate crime and how a corporation should go about conducting an effective corporate investigation. The paper gives some warnings about new and emerging frauds and emphasizes lessons have to be learned from large corporate failures, such as Enron and Parmalat.

Findings

If corporations are not vigilant and do not have innovative and adequate corporate compliance structures, they open themselves to weaknesses that can effectively cause their own demise.

Practical implications

The paper gives direction on how to conduct an effective corporate investigation and the relevant steps that should be considered if an investigation is undertaken.

Originality/value

Practical oversight of conducting financial crime investigations and warning corporations to be vigilant and ensure that there are appropriate corporate compliance structures in place to deal with emerging frauds or other financial crime.
Business service quality in an e‐commerce environment
Authors: Yang Ying , Humphreys Paul , McIvor Ronan
Published: July 2006

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate how to improve business service quality (BSQ) in an e‐commerce environment. It also serves as a basis for developing a BSQ measurement instrument in an e‐commerce environment.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper examines BSQ along four inter‐organisational business process transactions. The focus is mainly on understanding the buyer's expected service and identifying main BSQ dimensions to satisfy the buyers.

Findings

Four main BSQ quality dimensions including marketing service, logistics service, operations service and collaboration service are identified along the inter‐organisaitonal business process. Four propositions are then offered. Additionally, customised business service quality is also discussed.

Research limitations/implications

This research calls for a need to test the propositions through a questionnaire survey, where quantitative analysis will be conducted to identify the extent to which various BSQ dimensions affect the buyers' overall satisfaction. In addition, it would be worthwhile to investigate the linkage between BSQ and buyer performance.

Originality/value

With the rapid growth of e‐commerce, business environments are demanding higher level of service quality than ever before. In this context, the contribution of this paper is to look at how to improve BSQ along the inter‐organisational process transactions.
Reasons for working part‐time
Authors: Maynard Douglas C. , Thorsteinson Todd J. , Parfyonova Natalya M.
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explores the factors that might lead an individual to pursue part‐time (PT) employment.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper hypothesized that employees have very different motivations for PT working, and that these motivations will affect their work experiences. The paper builds on recent research focusing on attitudinal differences between “voluntary PT” and “involuntary PT” employees by developing and evaluating a measure of reasons for accepting PT work. Current full‐time (FT) and PT employees from several samples (n=1,069) completed a survey including our reasons scale, plus measures of facet job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intentions.

Findings

Cluster analyses of reasons indicated four groups of PT employees – voluntary, involuntary, caretakers, and students. These sub‐groups differed from each other, and from FT workers, on most outcome measures. Students and involuntary PT workers generally reported lower job attitudes and greater intentions to turnover than did caretakers, voluntary PT workers, and FT workers.

Research limitations/implications

Future research should attempt to sample a larger number of PT workers, and begin investigating understudied outcomes (e.g. task and contextual performance, actual withdrawal behavior).

Originality/value

It is shown that PT workers are heterogeneous in both their reasons and their attitudes. The paper stresses the value of examining specific factors which result in an individual choosing to work PT in an effort to better understand his or her experiences on that job. A short measure is presented which may be used to further examine the implications of various reasons behind PT job choice.
Do psychological contracts include boundaryless or protean careers?
Authors: Skromme Granrose Cherlyn , Baccili Patricia A.
Published: July 2006

Purpose

To examine the existence of career psychological contracts and consequences of perceived violations for traditional, protean and boundaryless career psychological contracts in one sample of aerospace employees.

Design/methodology/approach

Structured questionnaires were used to collect data. Regression analysis was used to test hypotheses.

Findings

Most employees consider traditional career goals like job security and upward mobility important, but believed the organization failed to meet these perceived obligations. Perceived violations of psychological contract obligations for job security and training reduced organizational commitment, and violations of perceived upward mobility opportunity obligations were related to intentions to leave. Employees' commitment to managers moderated the effect of low levels of organizational career contract violations, but had no effect on intentions to leave if managers violated psychological career contracts or if the organization had a high level of perceived career psychological contract violations.

Originality/value

Organizations could benefit from providing more training in career support for managers and scholars should examine organizational and managerial psychological contracts as separate constructs.
Attitudinal differences between Taiwanese and American police officers
Authors: Sun Ivan Y. , Chu Doris
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to compare attitudinal differences between Taiwanese and US police officers.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper studies interview and survey data collected from 288 officers in two Taiwanese departments and 638 officers in two US departments to assess police officers' role orientations and their attitudes toward aggressive law enforcement, legal restrictions, and citizen support. Mean comparison and multivariate regression were conducted to examine variation in officers' attitudes across countries.

Findings

The paper finds Taiwanese police officers differ significantly from their US counterparts in all attitudinal scales. Compared to US officers, Taiwanese officers tend to have a broader role orientation, positive attitudes toward aggressive patrol, and negative attitudes toward legal restrictions and citizen support.

Research limitations/implications

The paper sees that future studies should analyze data collected from non‐English‐speaking countries in other regions. Future research should also collect data that reflect variation in economic and political developments. Multi‐level studies that incorporate both aggregate‐ and individual‐level predictors should be conducted to further broaden our understanding of officers' attitudes from an international and comparative perspective. More attitudinal dimensions should be considered in future research.

Practical implications

The papers implies that Taiwanese and US police administrators should continue to cultivate attitudinal propensities that echo the underlying values and principles of community policing. Police administrators, especially Taiwanese police managers, should seek ways to improve officers' negative attitudes toward citizens.

Originality/value

The research in this paper examines officers' perceptions of the police role, law enforcement, and citizens, which have rarely been analyzed in previous cross‐national studies. This study enhances our understanding of police job‐related attitudes under different social and cultural contexts.
Police department and instructor perspectives on pre‐service firearm and deadly force training
Authors: Morrison Gregory B.
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine perceptions of police departments and instructors regarding academy‐based pre‐service firearm and deadly force training.

Design/methodology/approach

Surveys of department‐based instructors (n=175) and state and local police departments (n=116) in Washington State provided ratings and other data on pre‐service academy training and included department‐based training provided before and/or after attending the academy.

Findings

The paper found academy graduates' skills generally were rated as adequate. Ratings for tactics and decision making were lower, and many departments noted that these areas needed more attention. Some departments also provided extensive post‐academy training before allowing their new officers to work armed. Nevertheless, many departments used BLEA's handgun qualification course‐of‐fire for in‐service requalification and, in some cases, training.

Research limitations

The research setting was one state and the study focused on firearm and deadly force training.

Practical limitations/implications

The paper shows pre‐service firearm and deadly force training is crucial for officer and public safety at the outset of officers' employment. It also lays the foundation for department in‐service training. Because departments exercise considerable latitude over the content, techniques and instructional methods of their own programs, the nature and extent of academy training has implications for officers' skills and abilities in the long term, too.

Originality/value

This paper shows prior research has concentrated on the perceptions of academy graduates and the full spectrum job tasks associated with policing and/or taking their certification examinations. It provides detailed insights into a specific training job‐task area, as well as from important stakeholders such as departments and their instructors, not previously available.
Learning about workplace learning and expertise from Jack
Authors: Lee Yew‐Jin , Roth Wolff‐Michael
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to highlight some methodological problems concerning the neglect of participants' voices by workplace ethnographers and neglect of the highly interactional and co‐constructive nature of research interviewing. The study aims to use discourse analysis, to show the phenomena of workplace learning and expertise to be constituted in participants' talk.

Design/methodology/approach

From excerpts of natural talk and research interviews by fish culturists speaking about their learning in a salmon hatchery, discourse analysis is used to analyze how workplace learning and expertise are rhetorically performed.

Findings

The paper finds that fish culturists drew on two discursive repertoires/resources – school‐ and workplace‐based learning – to account for their learning and expertise. The main participant affirmed the primacy of interest and practical workplace experience in his job just as he presupposed a weak correlation between school‐based (theoretical) and workplace (practical) knowing. However, both kinds of learning were deemed important though articulating this view depended on the social contexts of its production.

Research limitations/implications

Discourse analysis does not establish immutable truths about workplace learning and expertise but rather it is used to understand how these are made accountable through talk in real‐time, that is, how the phenomenon is “done” by participants.

Practical implications

There is increased sensitivity when using ethnographic and interview methods. No method can avoid being theory‐laden in its conduct and reporting but discourse analysis perhaps does it better than its alternatives.

Originality/value

While some contributors to this journal have also approached workplace learning from a discursive perspective, this paper attempts to understand the phenomenon solely from participants' categories and interpretations.
Situating gendered learning in the workplace
Authors: Tanggaard Lene
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to situate the concept of gendered learning in the workplace.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents the results of two closely related, qualitative studies of apprenticeship learning in two major industrial companies in Denmark.

Findings

The paper finds that the creation of a situated‐gendered “being” or “doing” in the workplace constitutes an important and often overlooked aspect of young people's learning processes in vocational training. Two themes of gender and learning are identified and discussed in an empirical analysis. These themes are learning and gendered identities, and gender and future family life.

Research limitations/implications

The paper is exploratory in nature, so that it would be useful to confirm the results through further validation and comparison with other professions and workplaces.

Practical implications

The design of proliferate learning practices in the workplace should consider gender as a factor which influences the trajectories of the individual learner.

Originality/value

The main thrust of the paper is that young people engaged in vocational training in the workplace are “gendered” through their participation in particular work and work‐related practices. The “telos” of learning in the context of vocational training in the workplace entails more than just the pursuit of a career trajectory or an occupational identity. The main contribution of the article is therefore its emphasis on the notion that theories on workplace and apprenticeship learning should consider a broader perspective on the learner than possible when focussing only on professional or occupational identity.
Putting professional development online: integrating learning as productive activity
Authors: Slotte Virpi , Herbert Anne
Published: July 2006

Purpose

This paper aims to understand the situational appropriateness of adopting e‐learning for the in‐house company qualification, and more specifically to compare the benefits of studying online to more traditional way of studying with print material.

Design/methodology/approach

At the end of seven months study, final test results for company certification were collected and analyzed. Additionally, quantitative and qualitative data from the 59 employees' individual learning experiences were obtained to address the research questions.

Findings

The paper finds that the first year's experiences of using e‐learning course were mostly positive. The results showed that participants learning online gained similar or slightly better learning outcomes than those who used the print material. Those learning online earned the certificate in less time in comparison with those studying the print version.

Research limitations/implications

The present study is limited by its small and potentially non‐representative sample, representing those who voluntarily participated to work towards the in‐house qualification.

Practical implications

The practical implications of the results include integrating e‐learning into the real workplace environment. When enough attention is paid to the course design, e‐learning provides good possibilities for effective use of employee time. The work has relevance for other corporate training providers considering incorporating e‐learning into their professional development programs.

Originality/value

Not many companies who have moved traditionally delivered programs online, have been able to compare groups of employees who have studied from text‐based material with those who have taken the online version. Two separate research processes implemented provided a unique opportunity to analyze work‐based learning outcomes.
Knowledge management in the making: using the balanced scorecard and e‐mail systems
Authors: Edenius Mats , Styhre Alexander
Published: July 2006

Purpose

Knowledge management deals with the production, application, and distribution of knowledge within and between organizations. Such intellectual resources do not appear ex nihilo, but are always constituted through practices and undertakings in an everyday work life setting. This paper seeks to examine how two managerial tools, the balanced scorecard and an e‐mail system, are used to represent and classify various knowledge‐based resources in two organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on Foucault's perhaps least recognized work, The Birth of the Clinic and shows how what Foucault calls sensible knowledge is useful for understanding BSC and the e‐mail system. Sensible knowledge integrates a number of human faculties such as ocular, representational, and communicative skills in many cases taken for granted and poorly considered in organization theory. Two case studies serve as the primary empirical domain.

Findings

The paper concludes that knowledge can never be taken for granted, but must always be examined at the level of its constitution and reproduction, i.e. within the regimes of representation and classification in which practitioners operate. Such regimes of representation and classification are immanent in a variety of managerial tools and technological systems and must therefore be examined in greater details.

Research limitations/implications

The immediate implications from managerial tools and technological systems need to be studied in their context and understood as principal resources for managing knowledge in practice.

Originality/value

The paper bridges theoretical writings on representation classification, sensible knowledge and the more mundane everyday work life practices that constitute organizations.
Knowledge management and information technology: can they work in perfect harmony?
Authors: Mohamed Mirghani , Stankosky Michael , Murray Arthur
Published: July 2006

Purpose

Aims to impart new insights into the role of information technology (IT) in knowledge extraction, capture, distribution and personalization. The paper seeks to pin‐point the strengths and weaknesses of IT in the domain of knowledge management (KM) and to explain why the technology promise remains unfulfilled, as seen by many KM practitioners.

Design/methodology/approach

The discussion in this paper is fundamentally based on Stankosky's four KM pillars conceptual framework. Within this framework the authors attempted to shed some light on the IT role and the hidden reasons that make knowledge prominently unreachable via IT.

Findings

IT assimilation and representation of knowledge intangibility, dynamism, experience and other humanistic cognitive dimensions remain debatable. The current technology is immature to resolve such problems. For IT to be effective for KM it must shred its bivalent logic and instead learn to operate within an authentic continuum.

Originality/value

Knowledge managers need to understand that a KM initiative that considers IT as a Utopian panacea will fail. Equally, the KM initiative that undervalues IT will follow suit. Owing to IT immaturity in the area of cognitive behavior, the situation is still perplexing. This elusiveness imposes some obstacles to sufficiently represent the context of tacit knowledge. Hence, codifying knowledge with the poser of the existing IT and without the support from socio‐cultural inputs, will result in de‐contextualization, i.e. “knowledge dilution.” Hence, special considerations should be given to applications that offer some behavioral context and human cognitive dimensions.
Managerial qualities and operational performance: a proposed model
Authors: Crilley Garry , Sharp Colin
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the need for consensus on a model that encapsulates the relationship between the manager and the effective operational performance of leisure facilities. This is particularly relevant for Australian local government sports and leisure centres.

Design/methodology/approach

On‐site and postal questionnaires from 140 managers, 71 peers, and 277 staff were collected and analysed to develop an empirical model of the relationship between Australian sports and leisure centre managers and the performance of their operations.

Findings

This study proposes an initial path model of eight predictive variables, including the managerial qualities of the manager and their relationship with the operational performance of their centre.

Practical implications

The proposed model provides a new basis for reviews and changes to current practice in the development of managers, and of professional practice in this context.

Originality/value

Unlike copious studies of managers, this study includes empirical testing of a model that links the relationship between the manager and an organisation's performance; this is relatively rare in the literature.
Marketing measurement action research model
Authors: Woodburn Diana
Published: July 2006

Purpose

The paper aims to describe the purpose and objectives of research being carried out by a Cranfield School of Management forum – the Return on Marketing Investment Best Practice Research Club (RoMI) – into measuring marketing's performance, during which a model has been developed – the RoMI framework.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper shows the model as a whole and then discusses each element individually, in terms of the nature and role of each of them.

Findings

The paper finds that in many companies market segmentation is non‐existent or only dimly recognised rather than utilised, or has no external validity. It contends that, if companies could develop an appropriate framework of relevant measurements and systematically collect and capture data within the framework, then business cases for marketing activity could be built and considered in a more objective and informed manner. It claims that the RoMi Club model presented her provides a framework of measurements tailored to fit the needs of each company.

Originality/value

The paper provides interested companies with an explanation of the research approach, so that they can give it some thought while the field research takes place.