bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Higher development, brain integration, and excellence in leadership
Authors: Harung Harald , Travis Fred , Blank Warren , Heaton Dennis
Published: June 2009

Purpose

Today, there is a global need for more effective leaders. The purpose of this paper is to present a model of human development which covers the psychological, physiological, and sociological dimensions of leadership.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors review three research studies in which they have investigated the relationships between consciousness, psycho‐physiological integration, and leadership performance using physiological measures, psychological tests, and self‐reports.

Findings

These studies support the model that leadership ability is closely related to psycho‐physiological refinement – the authors found that higher integration of the electrical brain activity, more mature moral reasoning, and more frequent peak experiences are found in top performers compared to average performers.

Research limitations/implications

The high frequency of peak experiences among top performers reveals the importance of such gratifying inner experiences for the business community.

Practical implications

The research suggests that practical methods for psycho‐physiological refinement – such as the widely researched Transcendental Meditation technique – can be useful in developing more effective leadership. The brain integration scale presented here may be a reliable objective instrument for assessing an individual's leadership and performance capacity.

Originality/value

A unique contribution of the authors' research is to recognize that integrity – an essential requisite for leadership – has a physiological counterpart in the integration seen in the functioning of the brain through electroencephalography.
Deconstructing market responses
Authors: Arend Richard J.
Published: June 2009

Purpose

The aim is to present, explain and illustrate an improved method for decomposing an event‐based change in market value into its cash flow and risk elements.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach is two‐fold. There is an algebraic comparison of the existing and improved decomposition to prove and delineate the benefits of the new method. There is an event study, using 130 firms, contrasting the results of the existing and improved methods.

Findings

The new, alternative method of decomposition is easier to use, provides a cleaner delineation of the components, and results in increased statistical significance in tests.

Research limitations/implications

Researchers now have access to an improved methodology for decomposing market value changes. Explicit limitations reveal when the new method provides benefits over the current method.

Practical implications

Managers considering strategic decisions now have an improved method to understand the main impacts on market value. For example, by decomposing the market's reaction to an acquisition announcement, managers can gauge better whether following through that decision is likely to have intended effects on the firm's cash flow and risk profile.

Originality/value

The value of this paper is the presentation of an improved method for event‐study type research, where delineation of the basis elements of changes in market value is required. Originality lies in the use of implied standard deviation (ISD) as an even more focused way to apply this new method when the target firms regularly trade financial options.
Intuition, prayer, and managerial decision‐making processes: a religion‐based framework
Authors: Ferreira Vasconcelos Anselmo
Published: June 2009

Purpose

Executives are challenged every day to make important decisions that affect the performance of their business enterprises and, as a result, the success of their own careers. Based on that scenario, one cannot expect that only the rational approach works like a panacea for all managerial problems. This paper aims to propose that the best solution tends to embrace a complementary or integrated decision‐making approach.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper seeks to demonstrate that the convergence between rational and non‐rational decision‐making processes can be optimized by integrating several religious tenets.

Findings

The paper finds strong evidence that a religion‐based framework might enrich the sensitive topic of decision‐making processes in organizations.

Practical implications

Overall, the paper strives to show that intuition and prayer are two faces of the same coin, and argues that both forms of decision processes (e.g. rational and non‐rational analysis) might coexist perfectly in an integrative frame.

Originality/value

The article proposes prayer as a transcendent coping mechanism whereby executives might refine their intuition flux. As a result, it depicts a conceptual framework encapsulating all those constructs.
The role of luck in the strategy‐performance relationship
Authors: Parnell John A. , Dent Eric B.
Published: June 2009

Purpose

Strategic management scholars seek to link strategic factors to performance. When specific causal links cannot be identified, however, other potential explanations should be considered, including the notion of luck. This paper aims to introduce a distinction between scholarly and practitioner perspectives of luck and identifies why this distinction is critical to both scholars and practitioners.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper proposes a framework linking luck and competitive advantage. It also reports the results of an exploratory empirical investigation on the perceived role of luck in firm performance.

Findings

Scholars and practitioners have different views of luck's role in organizational performance. Managers are more likely to assign luck for bad outcomes rather than good. In addition, the more quantitative a manager's work function, the less likely he or she is to perceive a luck‐performance linkage, and the higher the manager is in the organization, the more likely he or she is to perceive luck as affecting outcomes.

Research limitations/implications

There are a number of reasons why luck should receive prominence when considering the strategy‐performance relationship: many of the linkages between strategic factors and performance are identified after the fact – they are viewed as causal when they were actually lucky; empirical research may identify relationships whether they actually exist; researchers tend to find what they are looking for; and academics will be more likely to explain “luck” if they are using the appropriate tools to reveal it.

Practical implications

The positive link between management level and luck's role in performance identified in this study suggests that the more a manager knows about a firm's resources and attributes, the more likely he or she is to downplay the role they actually play in performance. From this perspective, managers seem more willing to acknowledge the role played by luck as they progress into greater levels of responsibility and control.

Originality/value

A significant portion of empirical work seeks to explain differences in performance across organizations by identifying the links between various strategic factors and performance. Although this research has contributed much to the knowledge about the strategy‐performance nexus, it assumes that strategy‐performance linkages necessarily exist and that they can be readily identified. In other words, most scholarly work in this area is based on assumptions that minimize or preclude the role of luck or randomness in the determination of firm performance. Building on previous work, this paper adopts an alternative perspective on the strategy‐performance relationship, highlighting the often overlooked role of luck.
A deterministic way of planning and controlling biped walking of LOCH humanoid robot
Authors: Xie M. , Zhong Z.W. , Zhang L. , Xian L.B. , Wang L. , Yang H.J. , Song C.S. , Li J.
Published: June 2009

Purpose

Planning and control of humanoid biped walking has been an active research topic for many years. But, there is no definite answer to the question of how to practicre‐examinedally achieve speedy and stable walking in real‐time and in a changing environment. The purpose of this paper is to re‐examine the issue of planning and controlling humanoid biped walking, then to propose two new ideas.

Design/methodology/approach

The first idea is to treat the supporting foot of a biped to be part of the ground. In this way, there is a foot reaction force acting at a fixed virtual joint, which can be at, or below, the ankle joint. And, a new concept is come our that is named as in‐foot ZMP in contrast to the existing concept of on‐ground ZMP. The unique benefit with this new concept of in‐foot ZMP is that the ZMP control is no longer an issue because the in‐foot ZMP can be controlled so as to to be at a fixed virtual joint during a stable walking. Such a fixed virtual joint can be called a ZMP joint.

Findings

The second idea is to focus on hip's trajectory (instead of on‐ground ZMP's trajectory) and to split a hip's dynamic response into two independent parts: one is the steady‐state response contributing to the stability of walking (or standing), and the other is the transient response contributing to the speed of walking. This idea allows us to explicitly postulate the necessary and sufficient condition for achieving leg stability as well as the necessary and sufficient condition for achieving foot stability. The paper shows that the implementation of these two new ideas help realize a unified framework for task‐guided, intention‐guided, and sensor‐guided, planning and control of humanoid biped walking.

Originality/value

This paper first re‐examines the issue of planning and controlling humanoid biped walking, then proposes two new ideas. The first idea is to treat the supporting foot of a biped to be part of the ground. The second idea is to focus on hip's trajectory (instead of on‐ground ZMP's trajectory) and to split a hip's dynamic response into two independent parts: one is the steady‐state response contributing to the stability of walking (or standing), and the other is the transient response contributing to the speed of walking.
Robotic system for inspection of test objects with unknown geometry using NDT methods
Authors: Sattar Tariq P. , Brenner Alina‐Alexandra
Published: June 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a portable non‐destructive testing (NDT) robotic arm that can be carried by climbing and walking robots (CLAWAR). The arm is required to maintain, during a scanning trajectory, a desired NDT probe contact force and orientation to evaluate defects in geometrically complex industrial infrastructure and products such as turbine blades.

Design/methodology/approach

A seven‐axis arm transportable by CLAWAR was developed to deploy NDT probes with suitable dexterity. It was equipped with a force sensor to scan a complex shape by keeping the NDT probe normal to the surface while maintaining a constant contact force with it. Two approaches were used. One used permanent magnet adhesion to obtain secure contact while the other used position‐force‐moment (PFM) feedback to adapt the arm.

Findings

Tests were performed on turbine blades with eddy‐current inspection techniques to assess the quality of defect data using manual inspection and automated inspection. Significant improvements in the quality of inspection were observed when using robotic scanning as compared to manual inspection.

Practical implications

The results have practical implications for the remote inspection of very large infrastructures such as petrochemical storage tanks, bridges, pressure vessels, etc. or where the inspection is performed in hazardous environments and the test surface is not known a priori with any accuracy.

Originality/value

The work is a novel application of the PFM control of a seven‐axis robot arm to scan unknown contoured surfaces to ensure reliable NDT data acquisition at scanning speeds of up to 0.5 mm s−1.
The DLR Crawler: evaluation of gaits and control of an actively compliant six‐legged walking robot
Authors: Görner M. , Wimböck T. , Hirzinger G.
Published: June 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present and evaluate methods of control and gait generation for the DLR Crawler – a six‐legged walking robot prototype based on the fingers of the DLR Hand II.

Design/methodology/approach

Following the institutes philosophy, the DLR Crawler is a highly integrated mechatronic device. As in all DLR robots, joint torque sensing plays an important role to allow actively compliant interaction with the environment. To control the Crawler a joint compliance controller is implemented and two different methods of gait generation are in use. The first method, intended for moderately uneven terrain, employs scalable patterns of fixed coordination combined with a leg extension reflex. For the second method, used in rougher terrain, a set of rules found by biologists in stick insect studies is applied. Based on these rules gaits emerge according to a velocity command. These gaits are combined with several reflexes to a reactive walking algorithm.

Findings

The compliance controller together with the reactive gaits allows the robot to autonomously master uneven terrain and obstacles with height differences within the nominal walking height. Further, the controller reduces internal forces compared to pure joint position control. The sensitive joint torque sensors allow fast collision detection and reactions thereafter.

Originality/value

This paper introduces a six‐legged walking robot test bed with comprehensive force‐torque sensing capability. Joint compliance controllers are implemented and successfully combined with reactive gait algorithms. For the second gait algorithm inspired by Cruse's rules, which were identified for forward walking stick insects, an implementation has been found for the DLR Crawler that gives the robot full omnidirectional mobility.
Climbing cleaning robot for vertical surfaces
Authors: Akinfiev Teodor , Armada Manuel , Nabulsi Samir
Published: June 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a climbing cleaning robot with reasonably high productivities for vertical surfaces.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper analyzes the reasons for the low productivities or unreliable work of cleaning robots for vertical surfaces. Based on this analysis, a design of a new robot is created. Pilot studies were performed of laboratory and industrial prototypes of a new robot.

Findings

The paper shows that the new design provides a reliable and high‐performance work of the cleaning robot for vertical surfaces. Thus, the new design provides increasing in productivities more than ten times compared with the known robot.

Research limitations/implications

In this paper, it is assumed that the speed of the robot during the process of surface cleaning is constant. For future research the algorithm is proposed that automatically maintains such speed of the robot, which depends on the degree of dirtiness and is optimal for the surface to be cleaned.

Practical implications

The results of the research have been used in the manufacture of the robot TITO 500 industrial prototype. Currently, the company RatioForem is implementing small‐lot production of the robots TITO 500.

Originality/value

A new design has been developed for a high‐performance climbing robot for vertical surfaces cleaning, and algorithms for control of the robot.
An underground explorer robot based on peristaltic crawling of earthworms
Authors: Omori Hayato , Nakamura Taro , Yada Takayuki
Published: June 2009

Purpose

An earthworm moves by peristaltic crawling which brings a large surface into contact during motions and requires less space than other mechanisms. A peristaltic crawling is suitable for moving in excavated space by an anterior (front) of a robot. Therefore, a peristaltic crawling robot is useful for an underground explorer. The purpose of this paper is to develop a peristaltic crawling robot with several parallel links and compare with motion of an actual earthworm. Then we had some experiments on a plane surface and in a tube, and in vertical perforated dirt.

Design/methodology/approach

The proposed robot, which consists of several parallel mechanisms, has four units for being controlled in 3‐DOF. A unit expands in a radial direction when it contracts to increase the friction between the unit and surroundings. Dustproof covering is attached for preventing dirt from getting inside units. Locomotion mechanism is as the same as an actual earthworm's peristaltic crawling. The robot makes an anterior unit contract, and then the contraction propagates towards the posterior (rear). Therefore, it requires no more space than that of an excavation part on the front of the robot.

Findings

It was found that three units of robot consists of several parallel mechanisms had wide range of manipulation; four units of robot moves with peristaltic crawling compared with motion of an actual earthworm. It was confirmed that the robot could turn on a plane surface and move upward and downward in a vertical pipe. Finally, the robot could move in vertical perforated dirt faster than in a pipe.

Originality/value

The robot is designed with several parallel links and equipped with dustproof covering. The locomotion of an actual earthworm is videotaped and analysed for comparing with the analysed movements of the robot. It was confirmed the robot could move with peristaltic crawling and turn on a plane surface. In addition, it was confirmed that some experiments were done in a narrow pipe and in vertical perforated dirt.
Robust navigation system based on RFID transponder barriers for the interactive behavior‐operated shopping trolley (InBOT)
Authors: Göller Michael , Steinhardt Florian , Kerscher Thilo , Marius Zöllner J. , Dillmann Rüdiger
Published: June 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a navigation system designed for highly dynamic environments which is independent from a metrically exact global map.

Design/methodology/approach

A navigation system is developed to cope with highly dynamic environments. Here, this refers especially to changes in the environment itself, like the daily deployment or removal of advertisements or special offers in a supermarket. The navigation system is split into a global part, relying on non‐concealable artificial landmarks and a local part containing a behavior‐based control using a dynamic potential field approach. The required information are the definitively static structures and the actual sensor information only.

Findings

The system proved to be useful in environments that change frequently and where the presence of many people complicates the perception of landmarks.

Practical implications

The presented navigation system is robust against changes in the environment and provides reliable collision avoidance capabilities.

Originality/value

It is a useful navigation system for autonomous robots dedicated to frequently changing and populated environments.
Energy harvesting and wireless sensors: a review of recent developments
Authors: Bogue Robert
Published: June 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review the development of energy harvesting techniques and their use with wireless, self‐powered sensors.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper first considers the need for wireless sensors and then discusses a number of products and recent development activities.

Findings

Energy harvesting devices based on electrodynamic, piezoelectric and thermoelectric effects, implemented through electromechanical, microelectromechanical systems and nanotechnological approaches, are attracting strong academic and commercial interest. A limited number of sensors and systems exploiting these effects are in production and many more are under development. Some actual and anticipated applications include industrial condition monitoring, structural monitoring and healthcare.

Originality/value

This provides a technical insight into energy harvesting techniques and their applications to wireless sensing.
Using the mouth as a computer keyboard
Authors: Connolly Christine
Published: June 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review work at the Georgia Institute of Technology that uses magnetic sensor arrays to construct assistive technology systems for disabled people.

Design/methodology/approach

The innovative Tongue Drive system is described, along with its advantages over other mouth‐based control devices. The results of practical tests on able‐bodied volunteers are reported. Finally, there is a review of other related projects by the same researchers.

Findings

Magnetic field sensors, wireless communications and feature extraction algorithms take advantage of the dexterity of the tongue to form an unobtrusive and non‐invasive control system with a large set of commands. Novice users achieved an information transfer rate of about 150 bits/min.

Originality/value

This paper displays the ingenuity and effectiveness of systems built on magnetic sensor arrays.
Sensing with electromagnetic radiation: a review. Part 2: long wavelengths
Authors: Bogue Robert
Published: June 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review the industrial sensing applications of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) and is in two parts. This, the second part, considers the infrared (IR) to radio‐frequency (RF) spectral regions.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper discusses the sensing applications of EMR in the IR to RF region, through reference to the techniques employed, products and their applications.

Findings

This paper shows that this spectral region is used in a diversity of sensors for the measurement of physical variables, gases and chemical compounds. The most widely used phenomena are absorption and reflection. Applications are found in a wide range of industries.

Originality/value

This paper provides a detailed review of the sensing uses of EMR with wavelengths longer than visible light.
Measurements in harsh RF propagation environments to support performance evaluation of wireless sensor networks
Authors: Remley Kate A. , Koepke Galen , Holloway Chris , Camell Dennis , Grosvenor Chriss
Published: June 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe common methods for evaluating the performance of wireless devices such as wireless sensors in harsh radio environments.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper describes how measurements of real‐world propagation environments can be used to support the evaluation process, then presents representative measurement data from multipath environments where sensor networks are likely to be deployed: a fixed‐infrastructure, process‐control environment (here an oil refinery), and a heavy industrial environment (here an automotive assembly plant).

Findings

Results on the characterization of multipath in the propagation channel are summarized and how these results may be used in the performance evaluation of sensor networks is discussed.

Originality/value

The paper describes measurement results from environments where little open‐literature data exists on point‐to‐point propagation, specifically high‐multipath environments. These highly reflective scenarios can present difficulties for deployment of sensor networks.
Modeling of pulsed GTAW based on multi‐sensor fusion
Authors: Chen Bo , Wang Jifeng , Chen Shanben
Published: June 2009

Purpose

Welding process is a complicated process influenced by many interference factors, a single sensor cannot get information describing welding process roundly. This paper simultaneously uses different sensors to get different information about the welding process, and uses multi‐sensor information fusion technology to fuse the different information. By using multi‐sensors, this paper aims to describe the welding process more precisely.

Design/methodology/approach

Electronic and welding pool image information are, respectively, obtained by arc sensor and image sensor, then electronic signal processing and image processing algorithms are used to extract the features of the signals, the features are then fused by neural network to predict the backside width of weld pool.

Findings

Comparative experiments show that the multi‐sensor fusion technology can predict the weld pool backside width more precisely.

Originality/value

The multi‐sensor fusion technology is used to fuse the different information obtained by different sensors in a gas tungsten arc welding process. This method gives a new approach to obtaining information and describing the welding process.
Combined active triangulation, morphology scheme for active shape retrieval
Authors: Omar Mohammed , Zhou Yi , Planting Eric , Parvataneni Rohit , Hung Stephen
Published: June 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a combined scheme of active laser‐based triangulation and a morphological edge detection, to quantify features dimensions (width and depth) over smooth plastic surfaces. The inspected target is an automotive polyethylene, optically black fender, with average roughness of 1μm, while the sought features are mold sinks with depth variations of 0.3‐1.0 mm and a width of ∼3 mm.

Design/methodology/approach

Several non‐contact scanning and reconstruction optical modalities are discussed along with its associated noise for current application; such techniques include interferometry and triangulation. The proposed system projects a linear coherent illumination and scans its reflection profile to infer the reflected component position using trigonometry and its width using a Sobel morphological operator. The retrieved dimensions are then reconstructed into feature boundaries that enable a depth and width quantification.

Findings

The proposed setup and processing are validated through experimental scans of actual molded fenders with artificial deviations. The proposed system accuracy is then analyzed and its spatial resolution is found to be 0.14 mm using the current charge‐coupled device format of 640 × 480. Additionally the proposed system is benchmarked against a commercial 3D stereo‐based scanner; proposed system proved to be more accurate with faster scanning rates.

Research limitations/implications

The post processor combines the predicted width and depth values in real‐time to synthesize a 3D surface profile for sought features, with a resolution of 0.14 mm, an accuracy of 0.09 mm, and a repeatability of 0.11 mm. The proposed scheme is customized to current laser illuminant and to the plastic surface profile, which further modifications for other illuminations and roughness values.

Originality/value

New image processing code is used to reduce the laser speckle effect and the moving mechanism vibration using a moving Gaussian illuminant and a double thresholding scheme coupled with sequential averaging, respectively.
Understanding the effect of discrimination in the workplace
Authors: Regmi Krishna , Naidoo Jennie , Regmi Sharada
Published: June 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of discrimination in the workplace; and to draw general lessons, which might help to develop appropriate policies to reduce discrimination in the workplace setting.

Design/methodology/approach

A mixed‐methods approach was used in the research, which consisted of self‐administrated questionnaires (n = 115), in‐depth interviews (n = 10) and group consultations (n = 20).

Findings

The paper provides empirical evidence that workers continue to face subtle forms of discrimination despite the implementation of numerous Employment Acts, designed to protect employees from unequal treatment due to their gender or ethnic origin. Workers' perceptions of discrimination were found to be positively associated with increased stress, intentions to seek new employment positions, and decreased satisfaction, commitment and citizenship behaviours. More education and awareness, coupled with changing managers' and employees' attitudes, perceptions and behaviours in today's organizations, are important strategies in tackling discrimination and promoting a more diverse workforce.

Originality/value

This paper brings together a number of important themes, highlighting and synthesising the complex relationship between discrimination and its manifestations, and its impact on discriminated‐against individuals and groups in terms of access to, and progression within, the labour market. Research assistants from the target group were employed. This innovative research method not only enabled authors to get closer to the knowledge and experience of the target groups in relation to the barriers affecting these groups but also empowered them and enhanced the research.
Affirmative action decisions: when ignorance is bliss
Authors: McMillan‐Capehart Amy , Lee Grubb W. , Herdman Andrew
Published: June 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to show how various organizational justifications for hiring decisions influence the beneficiary's perceptions of fairness. Specifically, the paper investigates the relative impacts of no justification, affirmative action justification and justifications based on attempts to improve organizational creativity.

Design/methodology/approach

Participants were asked to read several vignettes in which the justification for the hiring decisions was manipulated. Fairness perceptions were then assessed for each scenario. Paired‐sample t tests were used to test hypotheses.

Findings

The paper finds that perceptions of both procedural and distributive justice appeared to follow a common theme across Hispanic and African American subgroups where the hiring decision was perceived to be fairer when no justification was provided. Hiring decisions based on affirmative action and diversity programs designed to promote creativity were perceived as less fair by both African Americans and Hispanics.

Research limitations/implications

The study used a sample of minority students, thereby limiting the generalizability of these findings.

Practical implications

The current study has practical implications in that it may help both academicians and practitioners better understand what applicants perceive regarding the fairness of affirmative action and diversity programs.

Originality/value

Past research has investigated the preferential selection of women and minorities, however, there has been little systematic inquiry into the possible justifications that might reduce the negative reactions of beneficiaries.
Managerial and professional women in “extreme jobs”
Authors: Burke Ronald J. , Fiksenbaum Lisa
Published: June 2009

Purpose

Interest in the potential negative effects of long work hours has increased over the past ten years. The purpose of this paper is to compare personal demographics and work situation characteristics, stable individual difference factors, job behaviors, work and extra‐work satisfactions and psychological well‐being of female MBA graduates in managerial and professional jobs working 56 h a week or more with those working 55 h a week or less.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 247 female MBA graduates of a single Canadian business school, using anonymously completed questionnaires, with about a 35 percent response rate.

Findings

Females working more hours reported both benefits and costs. The benefits included higher levels of job satisfaction, future career prospects and salary; the costs included higher levels of job stress and psychosomatic symptoms and lower levels of family satisfaction and emotional health.

Research limitations/implications

All data were self‐reports and the sample of women managers and professionals working 56 or more hours a week was relatively small. The research needs to be replicated in other countries as well.

Practical implications

Organizations need to consider the potential costs to both employees and themselves from long working hours.

Originality/value

This paper is one of few studies of the effects of long work hours on the experiences of managerial and professional women.
Challenges of successful reform: an international perspective
Authors: Analoui Farhad
Published: June 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review a collection of research papers concerned with challenges commonly faced when initiating, implementing and evaluating the results of reform in an international context.

Design/methodology/approach

A review of the literature on reform, mainly in the public sector, was undertaken.

Findings

Reform, in particular within the public sector, has been undertaken in many countries and has proved to be challenging and difficult to manage. The challenges involved in managing reform, as experienced by Western as well as developing economies, have many aspects in common. These include the need to pay attention to appropriate structure, relevant skills and competencies, legislative support, appropriate behaviour and attitudes, and most importantly a visionary leadership.

Originality/value

The reform experiences and concepts documented and reviewed in these papers are original in nature and offer value to scholars, researchers and students of public administration, government, as well as reform policy makers and practitioners.
Renewing the Holy Grail of human motivation in the delivery of public service
Authors: Barima Antwi Kwabena
Published: June 2009

Purpose

This paper draws on a recent case study in Ghana that explored the human resource development (HRD) challenges facing local government in a reforming public sector. It aims to investigate how public sector reform (PSR) has affected worker motivation and effectiveness among civil servants (bureaucrats) serving local government at all levels of operation.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on an exploratory case study design, the work triangulates both secondary and primary sources of data. Primary data were generated from self‐completing questionnaire and interview schedule tools covering 105 local government employees from national, regional and district levels. Key person interviews also solicited views from 16 senior public officers and managers in nine public and quasi‐public organisations. These primary sources are complemented with relevant secondary documents from the organisations investigated.

Findings

The main finding of the study is that while the new public management reform expects public sector leadership to behave and act as private sector entrepreneurs, it is difficult to pursue a worker motivation agenda based on a “private sector management model”, since the public and private sectors have different policy goals and business objectives to accomplish.

Originality/value

The value of this paper lies in its ability to argue that although the managerial assumptions of new public management reform seem to be realistic for public sector actors, they are more often than not challenged to be innovative and adaptive, unlike their private sector counterparts, on the question of worker motivation.
A troubled relationship: corruption and reform of the public sector in development
Authors: Fitzsimons Vincent G.
Published: June 2009

Purpose

This paper aims to present an analysis of the nature and determinants of corruption, using recent data to clarify the nature of the corruption phenomenon and answer the question of whether corruption can categorically be said to be a problem requiring public sector reform, or is a consequence of it.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper analyses data on corruption in relation to the timing of the introduction of public sector reform in recent economic transitions, and examines the persistence of increased corruption following the introduction of reforms.

Findings

The theoretical model suggests that events that negatively affect administrators in positions of trust create some reactive tendency towards corruption, and this is supported by the evidence from transition economies. There is a significant increase in corruption following transitional economies' public sector reform, and this demonstrates an unusual degree of persistence even after general institutional reforms have been completed.

Research limitations/implications

Further research could try alternative measures of corruption, instead of “perceptions” data analysed here, and examine the strength of persistence across a larger set of countries to test the confounding effect of other institutional reforms in the transition countries examined.

Practical implications

The costs of new public management reform programmes are broader than is currently suggested, and significant short‐ to medium‐term deterioration might be expected in the aftermath of reform.

Originality/value

The paper provides a new approach to corruption research examining the importance of the corruption “tipping points” of individual administrators and how these are significant in modelling corruption.
Public sector managers and entrepreneurship in Islamic Republic of Iran
Authors: Analoui Farhad , Mohmmad Moghimi Seyed , Khanifar Hossein
Published: June 2009

Purpose

In Iran the role of entrepreneurs in developing communities is considered to be a special issue by planners and policy‐makers; thus the aim of this paper is to explore and examine some of the main structural, behavioural and environmental barriers faced by entrepreneurs in Iranian public industrial corporations.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey (questionnaires and interviews), observation and available documentation formed the main methods (triangulation) for the generation of relevant data. Thirteen public organisations responsible for social affairs in the country's budget document were involved. Using an unlimited sampling formula and a categorised random sampling method 220 organisations were accessed, from which 169 questionnaires were received and analysed.

Findings

There is a direct relationship between managerial characteristics and organisational entrepreneurship. Also, there is a significant correlation between employees' characteristics and organisational entrepreneurship in public social cultural organisations. However, a host of constraints such as low income and a lack of research have caused a decrease in organisational entrepreneurship.

Research limitations/implications

The survey is concerned with managers in public organisations. Future studies should include private‐sector organisations, which ought to provide a basis for comparative analysis.

Practical implications

There is a need for sustained structural and managerial reform. To achieve this, realistic human resource development policies should be formulated which lead to changes of attitude and behaviour in managers.

Originality/value

This is a first attempt to study managers and their entrepreneurial tendencies in public sector organisations. It has policy implications for future development of the sector.
Convergence in ICT use expectations between the public and private sectors
Authors: Mitra Amit
Published: June 2009

Purpose

Examination of the challenges of dependence on the private sector of public‐sector projects is the central concern of the paper. With ongoing research suggesting that dependence on the private sector is inevitable, this paper tries to assess whether the dependence is an imperative or a yardstick for gauging efficiency.

Design/methodology/approach

A literature review, consideration of flagship projects as well as trends in implementation of ICTs in government have been central to the development of analysis for the paper.

Findings

The research found that when the public sector is interested in developing applications that require acceptance among citizens, then initial support of the private sector is a necessity. Countries that have depended on strict government control on delivery of internet‐based services are finding out that a degree of independence at the point of delivery tends to be more effective. It is only after a passage of time post rolling out of web‐based delivery of services that measurement of service quality can be deemed to be a measure of efficiency.

Research limitations/implications

This research was desk‐based and reliant on international flagship initiatives. There is a wide range of resource endowments between developed and developing nations. This research showed that developed nations are more appropriate for study of efficiency through private‐sector involvement, and private‐sector engagement in web‐based government initiatives is an imperative in the case of developing nations.

Practical implications

Government agencies ought to be able to think more expansively when they are developing applications for citizens, as there are a variety of private sector solutions that can be used.

Originality/value

The theme itself is new in a context where new ways of running government projects are constantly being revisited.
Managers of small and medium enterprises: mission statement and enhanced organisational performance
Authors: Taghi Alavi Mohammad , Karami Azhdar
Published: June 2009

Purpose

The main purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between mission statements and firm performance in the small to medium‐sized enterprise (SME) sector.

Design/methodology/approach

This research is based on an empirical survey of small and medium‐sized enterprises located in science parks in the UK. A postal questionnaire was the main data collection instrument for this research. A combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches is employed for data analysis.

Findings

The important conclusions reached are that the existence of mission statements in the studied firms was associated with firm performance. It is also found that organisational performance is significantly associated with the degree of non‐managerial employees' involvement in the process of mission statement development. Finally, the presence of financial goals in the studied firms' mission statements were negatively associated with firm performance.

Research limitations/implications

The present study is concerned with the relationship between mission statement and organisational performance in SMEs. A further study is recommended to investigate the impact of involvement and engagement with both mission statement formulation and evolution and the strategic decision‐making process, specifically decision‐making processes in SMEs.

Practical implications

In order to increase firm performance, it is recommended that practitioners develop a meaningful mission statement and increase the involvement of their non‐managerial employees in the development of the mission statement.

Originality/value

The principal contribution of this first study is the attempt to explore the nature and role of the mission statement in enhancing organisational performance.
Preconditions for the economic mobility of immigrants working in the countryside
Authors: Labrianidis Lois , Sykas Theodosis
Published: June 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the preconditions for an upward economic mobility in time of immigrants working in agriculture. It argues this through an analysis of immigrants in the Greek countryside and a comparison of their performance to immigrants working in rural areas of other major host countries, for which the research has shown stagnant or even deteriorating economic conditions over time.

Design/methodology/approach

Field research in two Northern Greek rural prefectures between May 2007 and January 2008. Use of questionnaires addressed to 165 immigrants and 40 key‐informants.

Findings

The immigrants' ability to improve their economic conditions stems mainly from three labour market characteristics which differentiate the Greek countryside from other major host countries' rural areas. The first is the interpersonal relation of mutual trust that is built between immigrants and farmers. This relationship provides immigrants with a steady employment and allows them to develop strategies to increase their income by either working within or outside agriculture. The second is the lack of intermediaries in the labour market which allows immigrants to freely negotiate their wages, to move from agriculture to non‐agricultural jobs, and thus to achieve upward occupational mobility. The third is the lack of competition between old and new immigrants, which does not negatively affect their day wages. Therefore, we conclude that the structural differences in the agricultural labour markets of different countries lead to different opportunities of immigrants' economic improvement.

Originality/value

Fills the major gap in the European and Greek literature of immigrants in the countryside and especially their socioeconomic mobility over time.
Measuring and ranking of economic, environmental and social efficiency of countries
Authors: Malul Miki , Hadad Yossi , Ben‐Yair Avner
Published: June 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to measure and rank nation‐states' governance effectiveness and quality on a quantifying scientific basis, by means of data envelopment analysis.

Design/methodology/approach

The principles are first analyzed from a theoretical and normative standpoint, linking to earlier literature. One dimension of the approach is adding the equality in income distribution as an output. Another dimension boils down to environmental performance.

Findings

The addition of the Gini index affects the ranking of the developing countries in a more significant manner. Similar results are obtained when the authors add the environmental performance as an input. Another interesting result suggests that conventional ranking methods (i.e gross domestic product per capita or human development index) could be used for representing the country's efficiency only for developed countries.

Research limitations/implications

Future research may be aimed at applying the developed methodology to more countries, both developed and developing, as well as considering inclusion of additional ranking parameters.

Practical implications

The obtained procedure may be regarded as a comprehensive, holistic, mostly objective, and quantifiable method of ranking countries according to their governmental performance accomplishments. The addition of the Gini index and the environmental performance influences the ranking and is a significant improvement as compared to contemporary procedures.

Originality/value

The innovation in this paper is that the authors suggest to measure efficiency of countries not only by their income, but also, looking on wider aspects of efficiency as equity and environmental performance.
Social capital and subjective happiness in Taiwan
Authors: Chang Wen‐Chun
Published: June 2009

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to test the theoretical predictions of the social capital investment model and examine the relationships between different forms of social capital and subjective happiness in Taiwan.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses the data from theSurvey of Social Development Trends in Taiwan 2003for empirical investigations with ordinary least squares and ordered probit estimations.

Findings

The findings are mostly consistent with the characteristics implied by the social capital investment model. Moreover, to some extent, the individual impacts of different measures of social capital – including contributions to non‐profit organizations, volunteering, social and community involvement, and trust – on subjective happiness are identified.

Practical implications

The results from this paper provide valuable policy implications for researchers and policymakers who are concerned about the impacts of changes of social structures and political institutions on people's well‐being during democratic developments.

Originality/value

Studies on the relationship between social capital and subjective happiness for the new democratic Asian societies have received much less attention. Since the late 1980s, Taiwan has experienced a political transition from an authoritarian to a democratic regime along with rapid economic development and further opening of society toward different individual beliefs, cultures, and global views. During this process, there have been various changes in the socio‐cultural context of society that is critical for the formation of social capital. This paper is considered as one of very few studies on the linkage between social capital and subjective happiness for a new democratic society.