bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Guidance of surface waves in a micron-scale phononic crystal line-defect waveguide
Authors: Benchabane Sarah , Gaiffe Olivier , Salut Roland , Ulliac Gwenn , Laude Vincent , Kokkonen Kimmo
Published: February 2015

We report on the direct observation of trapping and guiding of surface-guided elastic waves in a linear defect introduced into a micron-scale phononic crystal. Elastic field amplitude detection using laser scanning interferometry was used to characterize the different transmission regimes of the one-period wide line defect in a phononic crystal structure as a function of frequency and to discriminate phononic waveguiding from transmission outside the band gap. Surface density-of-states computations support the experimental observations.
Study of tunneling transport in Si-based tunnel field-effect transistors with ON current enhancement utilizing isoelectronic trap
Authors: Mori Takahiro , Morita Yukinori , Miyata Noriyuki , Migita Shinji , Fukuda Koichi , Mizubayashi Wataru , Masahara Meishoku , Yasuda Tetsuji , Ota Hiroyuki
Published: February 2015

The temperature dependence of the tunneling transport characteristics of Si diodes with an isoelectronic impurity has been investigated in order to clarify the mechanism of the ON-current enhancement in Si-based tunnel field-effect transistors (TFETs) utilizing an isoelectronic trap (IET). The Al–N complex impurity was utilized for IET formation. We observed three types of tunneling current components in the diodes: indirect band-to-band tunneling (BTBT), trap-assisted tunneling (TAT), and thermally inactive tunneling. The indirect BTBT and TAT current components can be distinguished with the plot described in this paper. The thermally inactive tunneling current probably originated from tunneling consisting of two paths: tunneling between the valence band and the IET trap and tunneling between the IET trap and the conduction band. The probability of thermally inactive tunneling with the Al–N IET state is higher than the others. Utilization of the thermally inactive tunneling current has a significant effect in enhancing the driving current of Si-based TFETs.
In-plane longitudinal converse magnetoelectric effect in laminated composites: Aiming at sensing wide range electric field
Authors: Xue Fen , Hu Jun , Wang Shan X. , He Jinliang
Published: February 2015

The converse magnetoelectric (CME) effect, a coupling effect resulted from compositing piezoelectric phase and piezomagnetic phase, is explored insightfully concerned with applying chip-scale CME composite into extensive electric field measurement. To establish the in-plane longitudinal CME effect, comparable mathematical models elastomechanical tensile model and elastomechanical flexural model are proposed. Grounded on generalized theoretical frameworks, the models utilized some classical magnetoelectric modeling methods. Furthermore, groups of CME composite are taken as examples to simulate and experiment for consistency verification. What highlights in the proposed models is for the purpose of forecasting and evaluating the most favorable composite and structure for CME effect applied in sensing wide range electric field.
Designing an online resource for people with low back pain: health-care provider perspectives
Authors: Nielsen Mandy , Jull Gwendolen , Hodges Paul W.
Published: February 2015

People with low back pain (LBP) seek education and information from the Internet. Existing LBP websites are often of poor quality, and disparities have been identified between patient and health-care provider evaluations of LBP websites. This study aimed to identify health-care provider perspectives on desirable content for a proposed LBP website and how this information should be presented. It complements an earlier study of LBP patient (consumer) perspectives. A qualitative descriptive study, encompassing focus groups and telephone interviews, was conducted with 42 health-care professionals practising in the LBP field. Four categories of information were identified: explaining LBP; treatment and management options; myth-busting information; and communication with health-care professionals. Presentation preferences included: use of visual media; interactivity; and useability and readability. Comparison with the consumer study identified differences with regard to: depth and breadth of diagnostic and treatment information; provision of lay person experiences and stories; and capacity for consumer-to-consumer interaction online. Views of both consumers and health-care providers are critical when developing an online LBP resource. Failure to address the needs of both stakeholder groups diminishes the potential of the resource to improve consumer outcomes.
What would invasive feedstock populations look like? Perspectives from existing invasions.
Authors: Quinn L. D.
Published: February 2015

As the bioenergy industry develops globally, nations will be importing a variety of novel crops to be produced on large scales. Commercial and other intentional introductions of novel plants are not new, and have, in many cases, resulted in escape and establishment of invasive populations that negatively impact native ecosystems. Several authors have postulated that the influx of novel bioenergy feedstocks could have similar results, but because the production of second-generation crops is still in an early phase in most locations, the rate and impacts of escape remain to be seen. However, several taxa now being considered or used as feedstocks have previously been moved and established outside of their native regions. To prepare for the worst-case scenario in which invasive feedstocks are planted and allowed to escape and establish unchecked, four representative feedstocks with existing invasive populations are examined: (i) Arundo donax L. (giant reed); (ii) Miscanthus spp. Andersson; (iii) Eucalyptus spp. L'Her; and (iv) Robinia pseudoacacia L. (black locust). Looking at the dispersal biology, habitat preferences, and impacts of these taxa can guide the development of best management practices to prevent further invasion as the industry matures.
Using weed risk assessments to separate the crops from the weeds.
Authors: Barney J. N. , Smith L. L. , Tekiela D. R.
Published: February 2015

The characters of the ideal bioenergy crop are shared by many of our worst invasive plants, and we are in need of methods to identify their invasive potential prior to large-scale introduction. Unfortunately, predicting which species will be invasive and in what location is often viewed as a near impossible task to most ecologists. Despite the underlying complexity of invasions, and the predictability challenge, weed risk assessments (WRA) have emerged as promising biosecurity tools designed to prevent the introduction of new invaders. WRAs are simple questionnaires on the species traits, introduction history, impact, and management that yield high or low risk scores, generally employed prior to the introduction of new species. WRAs have been used widely across the globe and boast >90% accuracy in predicting invasive species. We examined Australian and US WRA tools, and compared the WRA outcomes of several bioenergy crops against invasive species introduced for agronomic purposes and several traditional row crops. Candidate bioenergy crops were found to vary tremendously in their WRA scores, while current invaders all received high risk scores. Interestingly, several row crops received high risk scores, which we attribute to feral populations or weedy variants. We also examined how the WRAs would respond to infraspecific variation for several crops. Overall, the WRAs were not capable of distinguishing cultivar-level information, nor did they do well for species with little available information. Thus, the outcomes of WRAs should be viewed carefully and within the context of how much we know about that taxon. WRAs are useful biosecurity tools, but we do not recommend they be used exclusively; rather they should be a component of an integrated system that includes field studies to best understand the invasion risk posed by bioenergy crops.
Bioenergy and novel plants: the regulatory structure.
Authors: Endres A. B.
Published: February 2015

In response to agricultural concerns, US legislatures in the late 19th and early 20th centuries enacted laws to regulate invasive plant species whose presence negatively affected crop yields. More recently, these laws regulating noxious weeds have expanded their focus to protect the environment and ecosystem functions. Concurrently, federal mandates have incentivized the commercialization of high-yielding and, in some cases, potentially invasive bioenergy feedstocks. This chapter considers the invasion potential of novel bioenergy crops within the context of conflicting regulatory provisions designed to prevent invasion and promote development of novel feedstocks. The fragmented nature of environmental regulations across multiple jurisdictions (local, state, national) necessitates increased attention by stakeholders to ensure cultivation of bioenergy crops do not result in a largescale invasion. To mitigate such an eventuality, it is recommended that pre-market invasion risk assessments and post-introduction negligence liability actions be codified into new and revised bioenergy laws at all levels of government.
Good intentions vs good ideas: evaluating bioenergy projects that utilize invasive plant feedstocks.
Authors: Nackley L. L.
Published: February 2015

This chapter evaluates the sustainability of using naturalized or cultivated invasive plant species as feedstocks for bioenergy, including electrical power, liquid biofuels, and chemical substitutes. The evaluations apply a sustainability framework that recognizes economic and social development, as well as environmental protection. The necessity of using a sustainability framework is illustrated by revealing how historical bioenergy developments, which did not consider multiple aspects of sustainability (e.g., only economics), fell short of providing socially acceptable and environmentally neutral/beneficial bioenergy. There are two divergent issues regarding the use of invasive plants in bioenergy: (i) dedicated energy feedstocks that may foster biological invasions; and (ii) harvesting existing invasive plant biomass for bioenergy conversion. Fertile dedicated feedstocks are shown to be a less sustainable option than sterile species with no history of invasion. No species with a history of invasion should be used as a dedicated energy feedstock. Harvesting existing invasive populations is shown to be economically unsustainable if the bioenergy conversion process is dependent on the invasive plant population. When invasive plant populations represent a small portion of the overall energy supply (<10%) there are possible synergies available for thermal energy conversion processes (e.g., bioelectricity, or syngas production), but not for liquid biofuels, which currently cannot tolerate a heterogeneous feedstock mix. Lastly, invasive plant-based biochar is deemed the most suitable option, because it meets all sustainability criteria. The value generated in improved ecosystem services (e.g., carbon sequestration, improved soil fertility, improved crop production, substitute for fossil fertilizers) would greatly outweigh the costs of a simple biochar oven. This report is important because it provides a useful tool for policy makers who are challenged with decisions regarding which bioenergy technology to support. Additionally, by using the sustainable development framework, this is the first work to highlight the potential for invasive plant-based biochar.
Functional reassignment of Cellvibrio vulgaris EpiA to cellobiose 2-epimerase and an evaluation of the biochemical functions of the 4-O-β-d-mannosyl-d-glucose phosphorylase-like protein, UnkA
Authors: Saburi Wataru , Tanaka Yuka , Muto Hirohiko , Inoue Sota , Odaka Rei , Nishimoto Mamoru , Kitaoka Motomitsu , Mori Haruhide
Published: February 2015

The aerobic soil bacterium Cellvibrio vulgaris has a β-mannan-degradation gene cluster, including unkA, epiA, man5A, and aga27A. Among these genes, epiA has been assigned to encode an epimerase for converting d-mannose to d-glucose, even though the amino acid sequence of EpiA is similar to that of cellobiose 2-epimerases (CEs). UnkA, whose function currently remains unknown, shows a high sequence identity to 4-O-β-d-mannosyl-d-glucose phosphorylase. In this study, we have investigated CE activity of EpiA and the general characteristics of UnkA using recombinant proteins from Escherichia coli. Recombinant EpiA catalyzed the epimerization of the 2-OH group of sugar residue at the reducing end of cellobiose, lactose, and β-(1→4)-mannobiose in a similar manner to other CEs. Furthermore, the reaction efficiency of EpiA for β-(1→4)-mannobiose was 5.5 × 104-fold higher than it was for d-mannose. Recombinant UnkA phosphorolyzed β-d-mannosyl-(1→4)-d-glucose and specifically utilized d-glucose as an acceptor in the reverse reaction, which indicated that UnkA is a typical 4-O-β-d-mannosyl-d-glucose phosphorylase.
Dietary freshwater clam (Corbicula fluminea) extract suppresses accumulation of hepatic lipids and increases in serum cholesterol and aminotransferase activities induced by dietary chloretone in rats
Authors: Chijimatsu Takeshi , Umeki Miki , Kobayashi Satoru , Kataoka Yutaro , Yamada Koji , Oda Hiroaki , Mochizuki Satoshi
Published: February 2015

We investigated the ameliorative effect of freshwater clam extract (FCE) on fatty liver, hypercholesterolemia, and liver injury in rats exposed to chloretone. Furthermore, we examined the effects of major FCE components (fat and protein fractions) to determine the active components in FCE. Chloretone increased serum aminotransferase activities and led to hepatic lipid accumulation. Serum aminotransferase activities and hepatic lipid content were lower in rats fed total FCE or fat/protein fractions of FCE. Expression of fatty acid synthase and fatty acid desaturase genes was upregulated by chloretone. Total FCE and fat/protein fractions of FCE suppressed the increase in gene expression involved in fatty acid synthesis. Serum cholesterol levels increased twofold upon chloretone exposure. Total FCE or fat/protein fractions of FCE showed hypocholesterolemic effects in rats with hypercholesterolemia induced by chloretone. These suggest that FCE contains at least two active components against fatty liver, hypercholesterolemia, and liver injury in rats exposed to chloretone.
Safety evaluation of the consumption of high dose milk fat globule membrane in healthy adults: a double-blind, randomized controlled trial with parallel group design
Authors: Hari Sayaka , Ochiai Ryuji , Shioya Yasushi , Katsuragi Yoshihisa
Published: February 2015

Consumption of milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) in combination with habitual exercise suppresses age-associated muscle loss. The effects of high dose MFGM, however, are not known. A double-blind, randomized controlled trial with parallel group design was conducted to evaluate the safety of consuming high dose MFGM tablets. The subjects were 32 healthy adult men and women. Subjects were given 5 times the recommended daily intake of the tablets containing 6.5 g of MFGM or whole milk powder for 4 weeks. Stomach discomfort and diarrhea were observed; however, these symptoms were transitory and slight and were not related to consumption of the test tablets. In addition, there were no clinically significant changes in anthropometric measurements or blood tests. Total degree of safety assessed by the physicians of all subjects was “safe.” These findings suggest that consumption of the tablets containing 6.5 g MFGM for 4 weeks is safe for healthy adults.
The role of community in the development of elite handball and football players in Denmark
Authors: Rossing N. N. , Nielsen A. B. , Elbe A.‐M. , Karbing D. S.
Published: February 2015

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the place of early development in a sample of Danish male elite and youth handball and football players. The sample included 366 handball and football players from the elite Danish league in the season 2011–2012 and a comparison sample of youth players under the age of 12 from 2003, including 147,221 football and 26,290 handball players. Odds ratio analysis showed that both population size and density significantly affected the proportional number of youth players per community and the odds of athletes reaching an elite level in football and handball. The odds for youth player registrations in both handball and football increased in rural in contrast to urban communities. However, elite football players primarily came from communities of high density (>1000 pop./km2), whereas elite handball players primarily came from less densely populated communities (100 to <250 pop./km2). Furthermore, there seems to be a relation between representation of elite and talent clubs in different communities and the probability of becoming an elite player in both sports. The limited number of elite players in both sports from rural communities may be due to national talent development strategies that do not incorporate development support for clubs in rural areas. Additionally, the results of the study clearly suggest the need to include the youth player population to advance research findings in birthplace effect studies.
Modeling parameters that characterize pacing of elite female 800‐m freestyle swimmers
Authors: Lipińska Patrycja , Allen Sian V. , Hopkins Will G.
Published: February 2015

Pacing offers a potential avenue for enhancement of endurance performance. We report here a novel method for characterizing pacing in 800‐m freestyle swimming. Websites provided 50‐m lap and race times for 192 swims of 20 elite female swimmers between 2000 and 2013. Pacing for each swim was characterized with five parameters derived from a linear model: linear and quadratic coefficients for effect of lap number, reductions from predicted time for first and last laps, and lap‐time variability (standard error of the estimate). Race‐to‐race consistency of the parameters was expressed as intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). The average swim was a shallow negative quadratic with slowest time in the eleventh lap. First and last laps were faster by 6.4% and 3.6%, and lap‐time variability was ±0.64%. Consistency between swimmers ranged from low‐moderate for the linear and quadratic parameters (ICC = 0.29 and 0.36) to high for the last‐lap parameter (ICC = 0.62), while consistency for race time was very high (ICC = 0.80). Only ~15% of swimmers had enough swims (~15 or more) to provide reasonable evidence of optimum parameter values in plots of race time vs. each parameter. The modest consistency of most of the pacing parameters and lack of relationships between parameters and performance suggest that swimmers usually compensated for changes in one parameter with changes in another. In conclusion, pacing in 800‐m elite female swimmers can be characterized with five parameters, but identifying an optimal pacing profile is generally impractical.
‘A habitual disposition to the good’: on reason, virtue and realism
Authors: Pabst Adrian
Published: February 2015

Amidst the crisis of instrumental reason, a number of contemporary political philosophers including Jürgen Habermas have sought to rescue the project of a reasonable humanism from the twin threats of religious fundamentalism and secular naturalism. In his recent work, Habermas defends a post-metaphysical politics that aims to protect rationality against encroachment while also accommodating religious faith within the public sphere. This paper contends that Habermas’ post-metaphysical project fails to provide a robust alternative either to the double challenge of secular naturalism and religious fundamentalism or to the ruthless instrumentalism that underpins capitalism. By contrast with Habermas and also with the ‘new realism’ of contemporary political philosophers such as Raymond Geuss or Bernard Williams, realism in the tradition of Plato and Aristotle can defend reason against instrumental rationality and blind belief by integrating it with habit, feeling and even faith. Such metaphysical–political realism can help develop a politics of virtue that goes beyond communitarian thinking by emphasising plural modes of association (not merely ‘community’), substantive ties of sympathy and the importance of pursuing goodness and mutual flourishing.
Shapes, fingerprints and rational lemniscates
Authors: Younsi Malik
Published: February 2015

It has been known for a long time that any smooth Jordan curve in the plane can be represented by its so-called fingerprint, an orientation preserving smooth diffeomorphism of the unit circle onto itself. In this paper, we give a new, simple proof of a theorem of Ebenfelt, Khavinson and Shapiro stating that the fingerprint of a polynomial lemniscate of degree

n
n

is given by the

n
n

-th root of a Blaschke product of degree

n
n

and that, conversely, any smooth diffeomorphism induced by such a map is the fingerprint of a polynomial lemniscate of the same degree. The proof is easily generalized to the case of rational lemniscates, thus solving a problem raised by the previously mentioned authors.
Mycoplasma pneumoniae Pneumonia Associated With Methemoglobinemia and Anemia: An Overlooked Association?
Authors: Khoury Tawfik , Abu Rmeileh Ayman , Kornspan Jonathan David , Abel Roy , Mizrahi Meir , Nir-Paz Ran
Published: February 2015

We report a case of acute methemoglobinemia and anemia in a patient with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia. We suggest that M. pneumoniae secretes a putative protein that can induce methemoglobin in red blood cells. Thus, Mycoplasma pneumoniae may induce methemoglobinemia in patients who have low oxygen saturation and anemia.
Functionality and Organoleptic Properties of Maize Tortillas Enriched with Five Different Soybean Proteins
Authors: Chuck‐Hernández Cristina , Perez‐Carrillo Esther , Soria‐Hernández Cintya , Serna‐Saldívar Sergio O.
Published: February 2015

Soybean proteins are ideally suited to enhance the essential amino acid balance of cereal‐based foods. The aim of this investigation was to assess the functionality of different soybean proteins in maize tortillas with yield and with sensorial and textural shelf‐life characteristics as criteria to select the best supplement. Four different defatted soybean flours (SBF1, SBF2, SBF3, and SBF4) and one soybean protein concentrate (SBC) were added to increase protein content of dry masa flour between 25 and 30%. The evaluated soybean ingredients displayed urease activity of 0.1–2.25, water absorption index of 4.02–8.34, protein dispersibility index of 23–75%, and fat absorption index ranging from 2.5 to 3.1. Moisture, crude protein, crude fat, and rollability were not different among enriched tortillas, but maximum force after five days of storage was higher for SBF1 and lower for SBF 3. The control and SBF1 followed by SBC were the best evaluated overall according to the most relevant parameters for consumers and producers. Correlation analyses displayed a negative association among yield‐related parameters and protein dispersibility index, urease activity, and water solubility, opposite to the relationship for texture‐related properties. The best soybean proteins to be used in maize tortilla supplementation should have, preferably, reduced water solubility, urease activity, and protein dispersibility index.
The brain of the beholder: honouring individual representational idiosyncrasies
Authors: Charest Ian , Kriegeskorte Nikolaus
Published: February 2015

In the early days of neuroimaging, brain function was investigated by averaging across voxels within a region, stimuli within a category, and individuals within a group. These three forms of averaging discard important neuroscientific information. Recent studies have explored analyses that combine the evidence in better-motivated ways. Multivariate pattern analyses enable researchers to reveal representations in distributed population codes, honouring the unique information contributed by different voxels (or neurons). Condition-rich designs more richly sample the stimulus space and can treat each stimulus as a unique entity. Finally, each individual’s brain is unique and recent studies have found ways to model and analyse the interindividual representational variability. Here we review our field’s journey towards more sophisticated analyses that honour these important idiosyncrasies of brain representations. We describe an emerging framework for investigating individually unique pattern representations of particular stimuli in the brain. The framework models stimuli, responses and individuals multivariately and relates representations by means of representational dissimilarity matrices. Important components are computational models and multivariate descriptions of brain and behavioural responses. These recent developments promise a new paradigm for studying the individually unique brain at unprecedented levels of representational detail.
Multiple hypothesis correction is vital and undermines reported mtDNA links to diseases including AIDS, cancer, and Huntingdon’s
Authors: Johnston Iain G.
Published: February 2015

The ability to sequence mitochondrial genomes quickly and cheaply has led to an explosion in available mtDNA data. As a result, an expanding literature is exploring links between mtDNA features and susceptibility to, or prevalence of, a range of diseases. Unfortunately, this great technological power has not always been accompanied by great statistical responsibility. I will focus on one aspect of statistical analysis, multiple hypothesis correction, that is absolutely required, yet often absolutely ignored, for responsible interpretation of this literature. Many existing studies perform comparisons between incidences of a large number (N) of different mtDNA features and a given disease, reporting all those yieldingp-values under 0.05 as significant links. But when many comparisons are performed, it is highly likely that severalp-values under 0.05 will emerge, by chance, in the absence of any underlying link. A suitable correction (for example, Bonferroni correction, requiringp< 0.05/N) must therefore be employed to avoid reporting false positive results. The absence of such corrections means that there is good reason to believe that many links reported between mtDNA features and various diseases are false; a state of affairs that is profoundly negative both for fundamental biology and for public health. I will show that statistics matching those claimed to illustrate significant links can arise, with a high probability, when no such link exists, and that these claims should thus be discarded until results of suitable statistical power are provided. I also discuss some strategies for responsible analysis and interpretation of this literature.
Balanced Scorecard – a strategic management system of the higher education institution
Authors: Hladchenko Myroslava
Published: February 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to focus on the comparative analysis of the Balanced Scorecards of four higher education institutions and aims to define the general framework of the Balanced Scorecard for the higher education institution which concerns: the structure and elements of the Balanced Scorecard; development of the Balanced Scorecards on the different levels of the management system of the higher education institution; definition of the main functions of the Balanced Scorecard which it performs in the process of the strategic management of the German higher education institutions. Balanced Scorecard is analyzed as a strategic management system that translates a higher education institution’s strategy into a comprehensive set of performance measures that provides a framework for a strategic measurement and management system.

Design/methodology/approach

– The comparative content analysis of the Balanced Scorecards of one Austrian and three German higher education institutions – Johanes Gutenberg University Mainz, Münster University of Applied Sciences (Fachhochschule Münster), Cologne University of Applied Sciences (Fachhochschule Köln), Montan University Leoben.

Findings

– Using a comparative analysis of the Balanced Scorecards of four higher education institutions this paper argues that Balanced Scorecard provides a systemic view of the strategy of a higher education institution. It ensures a full complex framework for implementation and controlling of the strategy and sets a basis for further learning in the process of the strategic management of the higher education institution according to the scheme “plan-do-check-act”.

Research limitations/implications

– This paper provides a basis for the substantial further work on the development of the general framework of the Balanced Scorecard for the higher education institution.

Practical implications

– The framework presented in this paper can be used as the basis for the development of general framework of the Balanced Scorecard of the higher education institution.

Social implications

– The framework presented in this paper can be used as the basis for the development of general framework of the Balanced Scorecard of the higher education institution.

Originality/value

– This paper indicates the particularities of the structure and elements of the Balanced Scorecard, its development in the different levels of the management system of the higher education institution.
Key factors for developing a cross-cultural education program
Authors: Yang Keeyung , Chung Sock H.
Published: February 2015

Purpose

– As universities and colleges face an increasingly global environment, internationalization is viewed as a critical aspect of education, a fact that has significant academic and economic implications for higher educational institutions worldwide which need to be current with cultural education to adapt to change. Learning from other cultures is essential and valuable for students to connect with other cultures even as they enrich their own lives. Practical processes for developing successful cross-cultural education programs merit serious attention from higher educational institutions. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– The case study explored in this paper demonstrates a practical application of internationalization of music education by examining the experience and outcomes from a cross-cultural program jointly developed by a US and a Korean university. The success of the case study under review hinged on three critical factors for developing a cross-cultural program between international academic partners: organizational commitment, teamwork, and pedagogical content.

Findings

– The findings support the assertion that the three key factors introduced in the framework can be applied to develop a cross-cultural program between international academic partners.

Originality/value

– This study proposes a practical framework for developing cross-cultural education programs among higher educational institutions.
Transitivity, hierarchy and reciprocity of organizational communication network during crisis
Authors: Murshed Shahriar Tanvir Hasan , Uddin Shahadat , Hossain Liaquat
Published: February 2015

Purpose

– This paper aims to explore changes in communication networks during organizational crisis. In the literature, various terms such as organizational mortality, organizational death, bankruptcy, decline, retrenchment and failure have been used to characterize different forms and facets of organizational crisis. Communication network studies have typically focussed on nodes (e.g. individuals or organizations), relationships between those nodes and subsequent affects of these relationships upon the network as a whole. Email networks in contemporary organizations are fairly representative of the underlying communication networks.

Design/methodology/approach

– The changing communication network structure at Enron Corporation during the crisis period (2000-2001) has been analyzed. The goal is to understand how communication patterns and structures are affected by organizational crisis. Drawing on communication network crisis and group behaviour theory, three propositions are tested: communication network becomes increasingly transitive as organizations experience crisis; communication network becomes less hierarchical as organizations are going through crisis; and communication network becomes more reciprocal as organizations are going through crisis.

Findings

– In this research analysis, the support of these three propositions was noticed. The results of tests and their implications are discussed in this paper.

Originality/value

– This study builds on an emerging stream of research area that applies social network analysis to organizational interaction data to study various questions related to organizational change and disintegration. These findings could help managers in designing an effective approach to monitor regular functionalities of their organizations.
The moderating effects of a board of directors on FDI’s international diversification in Turkey
Authors: Şahin Kader , Artan Seyfettin , Tuysuz Seda
Published: February 2015

Purpose

– This paper aims to investigate the moderating effects of a board of directors on foreign direct investment (FDI)’s international diversification in Turkey.

Design/methodology/approach

– A sample of Turkish multinational firms with FDI was used. Two different aspects of international diversification were considered: the relationship between international diversification and financial performance and the moderating effect of board composition on the relationship between international diversification and the firm’s financial performance. Firm-level data were obtained from the Istanbul Stock Exchange in Turkey.

Findings

– The findings reveal that international diversification leads to better financial performance according to market-based measures. On the other hand, this study indicates that the board characteristics have a moderating effect on international diversification and financial performance.

Research limitations/implications

– The study is based on a sample of publicly listed firms in Turkey, and this restriction limits the generalizability of the findings.

Practical implications

– The internalization efforts of Turkish FDI have led to better financial performance in terms of market-based measures. The results have stated that the interest of independent outside directors is aligned with lower-risk investment decisions. Independence of independent outside directors in Turkey is interrogated by practitioners or the Capital Markets Board of Turkey. The larger board size which a moderator variable is provided, the wider shareholder value in Turkey is.

Social implications

– One can understand that the development of market-supporting institutions provides the support for entry to an emerging economy which is inefficient or incomplete markets and highly concentrated family ownership.

Originality/value

– These findings provide important implications for corporate governance and highlight the need for further research on the role of governance in firm internationalization. This study not only helps to understand how board characteristics affect the choice of international diversification decisions, but the results also allow to assess the performance implications of these choices for a particular period.
Employee silence and the authoritarian personality
Authors: Timming Andrew R , Johnstone Stewart
Published: February 2015

Purpose

– This paper aims to, drawing from Adornoet al.’s (1950)The Authoritarian Personality, explain why some workers reject participation in decision-making on principle, preferring instead to defer to managerial authority and remain silent.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper reviews the literatures on employee voice and silence and then builds a conceptual framework that can be used to explain employee silence in relation to personality structures.

Findings

– It is argued that some employees have personality structures that make them more susceptible to anti-democratic thoughts. Potentially fascistic personalities, as measured by the F-scale, are expected to derive pleasure in submission to the will of management.

Research limitations/implications

– The paper has implications for political and social psychologists, especially those seeking to understand how best to promote employee voice in the workplace.

Originality/value

– This study makes an original contribution to the employee voice and silence literatures by being among the first of its kind to examine the political psychology of fascism in the micro-context of the workplace.
A mathematical model for exploring the evolution of organizational structure
Authors: Gibson Linda K. , Finnie Bruce , Stuart Jeffrey L
Published: February 2015

Purpose

– This paper aims to explore organizational structure, efficiency and evolution, and its relationship to bureaucracy. A new mathematical model is utilized to generate theoretically consistent relationships between economic performance and organizational scale and structure, and to develop a taxonomy of organizational structure.

Design/methodology/approach

– A systems approach is used to model structural evolution and generate consistent, testable hypotheses concerning organizational sustainability and financial performance. This theoretical treatment seeks to reconcile contradictory views of bureaucracy, modeling both positive and negative impacts on performance and behavior. A variant of agency theory is used as an organizing paradigm, based on three competing organizational needs: control, autonomy and ownership of consequences.

Findings

– Simulations reveal that organizations evolve through five stages of development: from an entry (flat/parallel) stage, through a hybrid or mixed stage, to the massively serial (hierarchical) stage. As firms evolve, the risk/return ratio first falls as employment expands, but later rises as higher levels of hierarchy appear. Eventually, organizational complexity rises sufficiently to produce lower levels of managerial ownership of consequences and professional autonomy, as well as higher levels of control, leading to a collapse of organizational efficiency. A subtle variation of agency theory is revealed: upper-management may maximize organizational depth, increasing salary differences between levels.

Originality/value

– This paper uses an internally consistent, deductive framework to elucidate relationships between task complexity, skill level, industry life-cycle and firm age – providing the first known attribute-based metric for organizational complexity. This approach is reminiscent of Perrow’s (1999) non-mathematical treatment of organizational systems complexity.
Location determinants of market expansion in China’s second-tier cities: a case study of the biotechnology industry
Authors: Wang Kung-Jeng , Dwi Lestari Yuliani , Yang Tsau-Tang
Published: February 2015

Purpose

– This study aims to examine the location determinants of market expansion of the biotechnology industry to China’s second-tier cities.

Design/methodology/approach

– The authors involved 68 top management officials of biopharmaceutical firms in China by applying triangulation data collection, which comprises depth interview, questionnaire survey and focus group discussion.

Findings

– Data collection results reveal the following: 20 location determinants are determined and categorized into 5 clusters (i.e. 3 cost/tax factors, 5 demand factors, 1 macroeconomic factor, 3 socio-political factors and 8 strategic factors); among these 20 factors, 9 factors contribute to firm benefits, 5 factors open opportunities for business growth and 6 factors pose potential risks.

Originality/value

– This study proposes a framework of location determinants for biotech pharmaceutical industry in expanding second-tier cities of China market. The findings of this study can be used as a reference for multinational companies, specifically in market expansion to second-tier cities in China.
Understanding B2B customer loyalty in the mobile telecommunication industry: a look at dedication and constraint
Authors: Yang Shuiqing
Published: February 2015

Purpose

– This paper attempts to investigate the simultaneous effects of dedication and constraint factors on business-to-business (B2B) customer loyalty in the context of transforming the mobile telecommunication industry. Maintaining a successful inter-organizational relationship with the key players becomes increasingly critical to the performance and competitiveness of the mobile network operator (MNO) in the mobile telecommunication industry.

Design/methodology/approach

– A dual customer loyalty model which reflected both dedication-based and constraint-based mechanisms is developed and empirically tested against data collected from 129 content providers (CPs) which currently have business relationships with China Mobile.

Findings

– The structural equation modeling partial least squares analysis indicates that dedication-based (e.g. customer satisfaction, trust in MNO and MNO’s relationship-specific investments) and constraint-based (e.g. switching costs, dependence on MNO and CP’s asset specificity) mechanisms simultaneously, yet differentially, influence CP’s loyalty toward the MNO.

Practical implications

– To obtain CP’s loyalty, MNOs should consider both the dedication and constraint factors. In particular, they need to focus more on the constraint-based mechanism, as it exerts stronger influences on CP’s loyalty than the dedication-based mechanism.

Originality/value

– This research advances our theoretical understanding of the dual nature of customer loyalty behavior in the B2B context and offers practical implications for MNOs to leverage these two contrasting causal drivers.
Managing strategic supplier relationships: antecedents and outcomes
Authors: Jack Eric P. , Powers Thomas L.
Published: February 2015

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper was to examine the antecedents of strategic supplier relationships in conjunction with outcomes of product and service quality and financial performance. The management of strategic supplier relationships involves the selection and development of suppliers that share common goals and strategies of the partnering organization.

Design/methodology/approach

– Structural equation modeling using partial least squares is used to verify and test these relationships.

Findings

– Top management support, technological preparedness and trust were found to have significant positive influences on the management of strategic supplier relationships. Strategic supplier relationships were found to have a positive influence on product and service quality outcomes and financial performance.

Research limitations/implications

– The results provide new and original empirical evidence on the relationship between the antecedents and outcomes of strategic supplier relationships.

Practical implications

– The findings can contribute to the management of supplier relationships, resulting in improved product and service quality outcomes and financial performance.

Originality/value

– The research adds empirical evidence to the literature on the factors that contribute to effective supplier relationships and the customer- and firm-related outcomes of this process.
The enterprise system revisited: how well does it capture the company’s business network?
Authors: Ekman Peter
Published: February 2015

Purpose

– This paper aims to analyse how well enterprise systems capture the business network in which an industrial company is involved. Enterprise systems have been presented as a “dream come true” with a seamless integration of business data through a common database and software modules that can be customized to the companies’ different functions. However, research shows that companies’ utilization of enterprise systems is limited, and that internal processes are prioritized.

Design/methodology/approach

– European multinational companies and some of their partners have been followed through case studies between 2003 and 2010. The pattern-matching analysis has been supported by a theoretical framework that depicts industrial companies as engaged in business relationships in a network setting.

Findings

– The results show that the company’s relationship-oriented activities are badly captured by the enterprise system. The study highlights limitations that future enterprise systems need to address if they are to be able to offer the company a better insight into its business network.

Originality/value

– The traditionally internal focus on enterprise systems means that important business information transcending inter-organizational activities will be missed. To be worthy of the name enterprise system, more customer- and supplier-oriented activities need to be supported and captured.
The performance of bid-ask spread estimators under less than ideal conditions
Authors: Bleaney Michael , Li Zhiyong
Published: February 2015

Purpose

– This paper aims to investigate the performance of estimators of the bid-ask spread in a wide range of circumstances and sampling frequencies. The bid-ask spread is important for many reasons. Because spread data are not always available, many methods have been suggested for estimating the spread. Existing papers focus on the performance of the estimators either under ideal conditions or in real data. The gap between ideal conditions and the properties of real data are usually ignored. The consistency of the estimates across various sampling frequencies is also ignored.

Design/methodology/approach

– The estimators and the possible errors are analysed theoretically. Then we perform simulation experiments, reporting the bias, standard deviation and root mean square estimation error of each estimator. More specifically, we assess the effects of the following factors on the performance of the estimators: the magnitude of the spread relative to returns volatility, randomly varying of spreads, the autocorrelation of mid-price returns and mid-price changes caused by trade directions and feedback trading.

Findings

– The best estimates come from using the highest frequency of data available. The relative performance of estimators can vary quite markedly with the sampling frequency. In small samples, the standard deviation can be more important to the estimation error than bias; in large samples, the opposite tends to be true.

Originality/value

– There is a conspicuous lack of simulation evidence on the comparative performance of different estimators of the spread under the less than ideal conditions that are typical of real-world data. This paper aims to fill this gap.
Systematic academic instruction for students with EBD: the construction and use of a tool for teachers
Authors: van der Worp‐van der Kamp Lidy , Pijl Sip Jan , Post Wendy J. , Bijstra Jan O. , van den Bosch Els J.
Published: February 2015

Educating students with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties requires a thorough systematic approach with the focus on academic instruction. This study addresses the development of a tool, consisting of two questionnaires, for measuring systematic academic instruction. The questionnaires cover the Plan‐Do‐Check‐Act cycle and academic versus behavioural instruction. The questionnaires are both practically oriented as well as theoretically well founded. The reliability turned out to be acceptable (0.76) to high (0.89). Observation scales were developed to determine the validity of both questionnaires. Moderate correlations between questionnaires and observation scales were found (0.31, 0.32). Bland–Altman plots offered us valuable information about the differences between questionnaires and observation scales, supplying us with important issues for further research. It is concluded that the questionnaires might be a valuable tool for assessing teachers' systematic academic instruction.