bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Morocco and democratic transition: a reading of the constitutional amendments – their context and results
Authors: Belkeziz Abdelilah
Published: January 2012

This article, originally delivered in the Fall of 2011 at a seminar held in Beirut at the Centre for Arab Unity Studies, examines the 2011 amendments to the Moroccan Constitution in light of the historical background. The tumultuous events of the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ brought new urgency to the issue of constitutional reforms that had been broached initially on the accession of Muhammad VI to the throne in 1999. Since independence, Moroccan political society has typically been vibrant, democratic and home to numerous political parties of various orientations and, since the 1970s, has witnessed calls by various sides for constitutional reforms as well as for the institution of a constitutional or parliamentary monarchy. On 9 March 2011 Muhammad VI gave a momentous address subjecting the issue of royal authority to public deliberations. This topic had previously ranked as one of the few unapproachable taboos of the political scene. A vital driving force in the process of constitutional reform has been the youthful February 20 Movement that was instrumental in the mobilization of millions of Moroccans and led to submitting the new draft Constitution to popular referendum and its ratification on 1 July 2011. Unlike other Arab countries, Morocco’s functioning democracy, its well-established political parties and the fact that the issue of constitutional reforms had already been on the table meant that when Moroccans descended into the streets they had a set of clearly defined demands – demands that were also less drastic than those being made in other countries. Yet while Moroccan politics have been highly developed and articulate since the 1940s, the events of the Arab Spring provided the necessary shock and catalyst to transform relative complacency into action. The dense topography of mature political parties and organizations in Morocco factored in two ways: first, it permitted a stable environment for democratic transition, which was not new as a concept; and in a somewhat less positive regard, the compromises and concessions to numerous sides dictated by Moroccan political pluralism led – in the drafting of the amended Constitution – to a document of somewhat indistinct character. The King’s authority, in particular, is not so limited as a contemporary parliamentary monarchy and he retains a distinct set of powers, particularly under the aegis of his role as ‘Commander of the Faithful’ (Amir al-Mu’minin). Nevertheless, there have been significant changes and this article examines the nature of these, their genesis and links to various political trends and parties. The uniqueness of the Moroccan model is demonstrated, though other Arab countries, notably Jordan, may follow a similar path.
The azimuthal path of myosin V and its dependence on lever-arm length
Authors: Lewis John H. , Beausang John F. , Sweeney H. Lee , Goldman Yale E.
Published: January 2012

Myosin V (myoV) is a two-headed myosin capable of taking many successive steps along actin per diffusional encounter, enabling it to transport vesicular and ribonucleoprotein cargos in the dense and complex environment within cells. To better understand how myoV navigates along actin, we used polarized total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy to examine angular changes of bifunctional rhodamine probes on the lever arms of single myoV molecules in vitro. With a newly developed analysis technique, the rotational motions of the lever arm and the local orientation of each probe relative to the lever arm were estimated from the probe’s measured orientation. This type of analysis could be applied to similar studies on other motor proteins, as well as other proteins with domains that undergo significant rotational motions. The experiments were performed on recombinant constructs of myoV that had either the native-length (six IQ motifs and calmodulins [CaMs]) or truncated (four IQ motifs and CaMs) lever arms. Native-length myoV-6IQ mainly took straight steps along actin, with occasional small azimuthal tilts around the actin filament. Truncated myoV-4IQ showed an increased frequency of azimuthal steps, but the magnitudes of these steps were nearly identical to those of myoV-6IQ. The results show that the azimuthal deflections of myoV on actin are more common for the truncated lever arm, but the range of these deflections is relatively independent of its lever-arm length.
Ion selectivity and current saturation in inward-rectifier K+ channels
Authors: Yang Lei , Edvinsson Johan , Sackin Henry , Palmer Lawrence G.
Published: January 2012

We investigated the features of the inward-rectifier K channel Kir1.1 (ROMK) that underlie the saturation of currents through these channels as a function of permeant ion concentration. We compared values of maximal currents and apparent Km for three permeant ions: K+, Rb+, and NH4+. Compared with K+ (imax = 4.6 pA and Km = 10 mM at −100 mV), Rb+ had a lower permeability, a lower imax (1.8 pA), and a higher Km (26 mM). For NH4+, the permeability was reduced more with smaller changes in imax (3.7 pA) and Km (16 mM). We assessed the role of a site near the outer mouth of channel in the saturation process. This site could be occupied by either permeant ions or low-affinity blocking ions such as Na+, Li+, Mg2+, and Ca2+ with similar voltage dependence (apparent valence, 0.15–0.20). It prefers Mg2+ over Ca2+ and has a monovalent cation selectivity, based on the ability to displace Mg2+, of K+ > Li+ ∼ Na+ > Rb+ ∼ NH4+. Conversely, in the presence of Mg2+, the Km for K+ conductance was substantially increased. The ability of Mg2+ to block the channels was reduced when four negatively charged amino acids in the extracellular domain of the channel were mutated to neutral residues. The apparent Km for K+ conduction was unchanged by these mutations under control conditions but became sensitive to the presence of external negative charges when residual divalent cations were chelated with EDTA. The results suggest that a binding site in the outer mouth of the pore controls current saturation. Permeability is more affected by interactions with other sites within the selectivity filter. Most features of permeation (and block) could be simulated by a five-state kinetic model of ion movement through the channel.
SynaptomeDB: an ontology-based knowledgebase for synaptic genes
Authors: Pirooznia Mehdi , Wang Tao , Avramopoulos Dimitrios , Valle David , Thomas Gareth , Huganir Richard L. , Goes Fernando S. , Potash James B. , Zandi Peter P.
Published: January 2012

Motivation: The synapse is integral to the function of the brain and may be an important source of dysfunction underlying many neuropsychiatric disorders. Consequently, it is an excellent candidate for large-scale genomic and proteomic study. However, while the tools and databases available for the annotation of high-throughput DNA and protein are generally robust, a comprehensive resource dedicated to the integration of information about the synapse is lacking.

Results: We present an integrated database, called SynaptomeDB, to retrieve and annotate genes comprising the synaptome. These genes encode components of the synapse including neurotransmitters and their receptors, adhesion/cytoskeletal proteins, scaffold proteins, membrane transporters. SynaptomeDB integrates various and complex data sources for synaptic genes and proteins.

Availability:  http://psychiatry.igm.jhmi.edu/SynaptomeDB/

Contact:  mpirooz1@jhmi.edu

Supplementary information:  Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Oscillators and relaxation phenomena in Pleistocene climate theory
Authors: Crucifix Michel
Published: January 2012

Ice sheets appeared in the northern hemisphere around 3 Ma (million years) ago and glacial–interglacial cycles have paced Earth's climate since then. Superimposed on these long glacial cycles comes an intricate pattern of millennial and sub-millennial variability, including Dansgaard–Oeschger and Heinrich events. There are numerous theories about these oscillations. Here, we review a number of them in order to draw a parallel between climatic concepts and dynamical system concepts, including, in particular, the relaxation oscillator, excitability, slow–fast dynamics and homoclinic orbits. Namely, almost all theories of ice ages reviewed here feature a phenomenon of synchronization between internal climate dynamics and astronomical forcing. However, these theories differ in their bifurcation structure and this has an effect on the way the ice age phenomenon could grow 3 Ma ago. All theories on rapid events reviewed here rely on the concept of a limit cycle excited by changes in the surface freshwater balance of the ocean. The article also reviews basic effects of stochastic fluctuations on these models, including the phenomenon of phase dispersion, shortening of the limit cycle and stochastic resonance. It concludes with a more personal statement about the potential for inference with simple stochastic dynamical systems in palaeoclimate science.
Robustness of estimators of long-range dependence and self-similarity under non-Gaussianity
Authors: Franzke Christian L. E. , Graves Timothy , Watkins Nicholas W. , Gramacy Robert B. , Hughes Cecilia
Published: January 2012

Long-range dependence (LRD) and non-Gaussianity are ubiquitous in many natural systems such as ecosystems, biological systems and climate. However, it is not always appreciated that the two phenomena may occur together in natural systems and that self-similarity in a system can be a superposition of both phenomena. These features, which are common in complex systems, impact the attribution of trends and the occurrence and clustering of extremes. The risk assessment of systems with these properties will lead to different outcomes (e.g. return periods) than the more common assumption of independence of extremes. Two paradigmatic models are discussed that can simultaneously account for LRD and non-Gaussianity: autoregressive fractional integrated moving average (ARFIMA) and linear fractional stable motion (LFSM). Statistical properties of estimators for LRD and self-similarity are critically assessed. It is found that the most popular estimators can be biased in the presence of important features of many natural systems like trends and multiplicative noise. Also the LRD and non-Gaussianity of two typical natural time series are discussed.
On the visualization, verification and recalibration of ternary probabilistic forecasts
Authors: Jupp Tim E. , Lowe Rachel , Coelho Caio A. S. , Stephenson David B.
Published: January 2012

We develop a graphical interpretation of ternary probabilistic forecasts in which forecasts and observations are regarded as points inside a triangle. Within the triangle, we define a continuous colour palette in which hue and colour saturation are defined with reference to the observed climatology. In contrast to current methods, forecast maps created with this colour scheme convey all of the information present in each ternary forecast. The geometrical interpretation is then extended to verification under quadratic scoring rules (of which the Brier score and the ranked probability score are well-known examples). Each scoring rule defines an associated triangle in which the square roots of the
score
, the
reliability
, the
uncertainty
and the
resolution
all have natural interpretations as root mean square distances. This leads to our proposal for a
ternary reliability diagram
in which data relating to verification and calibration can be summarized. We illustrate these ideas with data relating to seasonal forecasting of precipitation in South America, including an example of nonlinear forecast calibration. Codes implementing these ideas have been produced using the statistical software package R and are available from the authors.
A new modelling framework for statistical cumulus dynamics
Authors: Plant Robert S.
Published: January 2012

We propose a new modelling framework suitable for the description of atmospheric convective systems as a collection of distinct plumes. The literature contains many examples of models for collections of plumes in which strong simplifying assumptions are made, a diagnostic dependence of convection on the large-scale environment and the limit of many plumes often being imposed from the outset. Some recent studies have sought to remove one or the other of those assumptions. The proposed framework removes both, and is explicitly time dependent and stochastic in its basic character. The statistical dynamics of the plume collection are defined through simple probabilistic rules applied at the level of individual plumes, and van Kampen's system size expansion is then used to construct the macroscopic limit of the microscopic model. Through suitable choices of the microscopic rules, the model is shown to encompass previous studies in the appropriate limits, and to allow their natural extensions beyond those limits.
Glycolate Oxidase Modulates Reactive Oxygen Species–Mediated Signal Transduction during Nonhost Resistance in Nicotiana benthamiana and Arabidopsis
Authors: Rojas Clemencia M. , Senthil-Kumar Muthappa , Wang Keri , Ryu Choong-Min , Kaundal Amita , Mysore Kirankumar S.
Published: January 2012

In contrast to gene-for-gene disease resistance, nonhost resistance governs defense responses to a broad range of potential pathogen species. To identify specific genes involved in the signal transduction cascade associated with nonhost disease resistance, we used a virus-induced gene-silencing screen in Nicotiana benthamiana, and identified the peroxisomal enzyme glycolate oxidase (GOX) as an essential component of nonhost resistance. GOX-silenced N. benthamiana and Arabidopsis thaliana GOX T-DNA insertion mutants are compromised for nonhost resistance. Moreover, Arabidopsis  gox mutants have lower H2O2 accumulation, reduced callose deposition, and reduced electrolyte leakage upon inoculation with hypersensitive response–causing nonhost pathogens. Arabidopsis  gox mutants were not affected in NADPH oxidase activity, and silencing of a gene encoding NADPH oxidase (Respiratory burst oxidase homolog) in the gox mutants did not further increase susceptibility to nonhost pathogens, suggesting that GOX functions independently from NADPH oxidase. In the two gox mutants examined (haox2 and gox3), the expression of several defense-related genes upon nonhost pathogen inoculation was decreased compared with wild-type plants. Here we show that GOX is an alternative source for the production of H2O2 during both gene-for-gene and nonhost resistance responses.
Effect of pre‐harvest harpin and modified atmosphere packaging on quality of cherry tomato cultivars “Alona” and “Cluster”
Authors: Akbudak Bulent , Akbudak Nuray , Seniz Vedat , Eris Atilla
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The aim of this research is to determine the effects of pre‐harvest harpin (H) and modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) on the storage and fruit quality of cherry tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cvs. “Alona” and “Cluster”).

Design/methodology/approach

H was used at 50 g 100 l‐1 concentration. First application was done on the seedlings in 3‐4 leaf stages and the other four applications were repeated at 20‐day intervals. Then, treated and untreated fruits were stored in plastic film materials with various O2 and CO2 permeabilities.

Findings

Weight loss was significantly higher in tomatoes stored under normal atmosphere (NA) compared to MAP. Initial total soluble solids of 3‐4 percent increased to 7‐9 percent in without H (WH)+NA. Firmness was measured as 0.44 (“Alona”) and 1.20 kg (“Cluster”) in H+NA and 0.17 (“Alona”) and 0.30 kg (“Cluster”) in WH+NA at the end of storage. The acidity and ascorbic acid contents of tomatoes decreased during storage. Between H and WH treatments the levels of lycopene and β‐carotene were different significantly. At the end of the study, H gave successful results in both cultivars. This success was even higher especially when the H was combined with MAP. This combination slowed down the changes in TSS, firmness values. Therefore, H+50μ PE (polyethylene) treatment was effective with regard to delaying the maturity along the storage and fruit quality in cherry tomatoes.

Originality/value

He is a plant activator. It is the first bacterial hypersensitive response (HR)‐elicitor characterized. Effectiveness of H is evaluated on quality changes in treated cherry tomato fruits.
Ethnic identity and dietary habits among Hispanic immigrants in Spain
Authors: Romo Rodrigo , Gil José M.
Published: January 2012

Purpose

Focussing on Latin American immigrants in Barcelona, the objective of this paper is twofold: to measure their degree of ethnical identity; and to analyse the relationship between food habits and their ethnical identity.

Design/methodology/approach

Face‐to‐face interviews with a representative sample of Latin American immigrants in the Metropolitan area of Barcelona are undertaken. Ethnic identity is measured using the MEIM scale, which combines aspects from the social identity and personal development theories. Finally, a Multinomial Logit Model is used to identify the relationship between food habits and ethnical identity.

Findings

Results indicate that the higher the level of ethnic identity and feeling of belonging of immigrants in Catalonia, the greater the persistence of dietary habits from the country of origin. Contrasting with results from other studies, no correlation is found between the persistence of dietary habits and either the length of time spent in Spain or the level of integration into the Catalan culture (measured through use of the Catalan language).

Research limitations/implications

Findings should logically be interpreted within the context of the population and sample studied. Further research should be addressed to analyze other immigrant groups such as Muslims, Asians and Eastern Europeans.

Originality/value

This study explores the strength of traditional food habits of immigrants living in a foreign cultural environment and the role of ethnic identity in contributing to this strength. While past literature focussing on this topic is based on atheoretical and partial indicators to measure ethnic identity, this study provides evidence on the usefulness of using a theory‐based and multidimensional measure. The behaviour of Latin American immigrants in Spain is used as a case study.
The impact of emotionally intelligent leadership on talent retention, discretionary effort and employment brand
Authors: Palmer Benjamin R. , Gignac Gilles
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present research on the relationship between the emotional intelligence (EI) of managers and levels of engagement amongst their direct reports. The findings are discussed in terms of a business case for EI development as a strategy to improve employment brand, talent retention and productivity.

Design/methodology/approach

Within three different organisations, employees completed an assessment of their engagement and the EI of their manager via an online web survey system. Correlation analyses were then performed with the data.

Findings

The EI of managers was found to meaningfully correlate with employee engagement scores. A substantial amount of the variability in direct report engagement scores was accounted for by managers' EI.

Research limitations/implications

Future research needs to establish whether the EI of managers correlates with direct report engagement scores whilst controlling for direct reports' EI. Additionally, whether employee engagement scores improve as a result of improvements in managers' EI needs to be examined.

Practical implications

Organisations may be able to improve their employment brand, talent retention and productivity by developing the EI of management.

Originality/value

This paper is the first to report on the empirical relationship between managers' EI and employee engagement. It will be of interest to those who are challenged with the task of improving leadership and employee engagement more broadly.
Management of change in a multinational company
Authors: Hurn Brian J.
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The paper is based on leading a management of change simulation involving trainee managers in a global oil company who were tasked with preparing a proposal for senior management regarding the management of change to face future challenges. The purpose of the paper is to comment on models of change management, overcoming resistance to change, the necessary skills and commitment to implement change and stages in the planning. It concludes with the key outcomes of the simulation exercise.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on a management of change simulation exercise from which guidelines for good practice are deduced.

Findings

The paper identifies key factors necessary for successful change management, including anticipation of the need for change, communication at all levels, overcoming resistance, skills required and the planning stages to implementation.

Practical implications

The learning outcomes of the simulation and the discussions reflect accepted models of change management.

Originality/value

The paper provides examples of good practice arising from a two‐day simulation exercise.
Credit where it is due: drivers of loyalty to credit cards
Authors: Parahoo Sanjai K.
Published: January 2012

Purpose

In a fiercely competitive industry, credit card issuers need to develop a loyal customer base and motivate their card holders to use their cards at a sufficient level to assure profitability. The purpose of this article is to propose a consumer model of customer loyalty in the credit card industry.

Design/methodology/approach

A model of customer loyalty incorporating service quality, value and involvement is developed theoretically and validated empirically through SEM using data collected from a global sample of 114 credit card holders.

Findings

The loyalty model proposed was validated, showing that the independent variable, i.e. customer involvement, had path loadings of 0.32 and 0.26 on quality and value, respectively, while both service quality and value had direct effects on loyalty, with path loadings of 0.30 and 0.51, respectively.

Research limitations/implications

Customer involvement has been shown to directly influence both service quality and value, and it should be further investigated for its effect on sustaining relationships, as well as a variable for segmenting customers.

Practical implications

In order to develop sustainable relationships, marketers of credit cards should leverage involvement in their customers by employing strategies such as branding, positioning, and attractive and flexible frequent use benefits. Further, credit card customers desire high service quality, but at an affordable cost, therefore making value a prime consideration for achieving loyalty.

Originality/value

This study has identified “involvement” as an independent variable that provides stability and sustainability to the firm‐customer relationship. Despite its pertinence, this customer characteristic that may be also used to segment customers has not been investigated in prior quantitative studies.
Follow‐up in head and neck cancer: patients' perspective
Authors: Trinidade Aaron , Kothari Prasad , Andreou Zenon , Hewitt Richard J.D. , O'Flynn Paul
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine head and neck cancer patients' perspective of their follow‐up regime and to suggest ways in which these perspectives can be incorporated into current practice.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a prospective survey‐based study. A total of 263 patients consecutively attending a head and neck cancer clinic completed a survey about their experience of the follow‐up process in the post‐treatment period between January 2009 and October 2009.

Findings

The paper finds that, of the patients, 67 per cent (n=176) felt that the clinic met the goals they hoped would be achieved during their visit; 84 per cent (n=221) felt that their follow‐up visits were too frequent. In total 60 per cent (n=159) were booked to see both an allied health professional and the attending clinician. Of these, 84 per cent (n=134/159) felt that issues addressed at follow‐up with the clinician duplicated those addressed by the allied healthcare professionals. When asked about their opinion of a less intensive follow‐up system based on patients reporting problems and requesting appointments, 73 per cent (n=192) favoured it. When asked who they would like to contact first in such a system, most patients (n=118, 45 per cent) stated a clinical nurse specialist.

Practical implications

Current follow‐up regimes may be too prescriptive in their approach without taking patient perspective into consideration. Patients felt that being seen intensively for the first year, then having visits tapered off over the next two years and finally being seen according to symptoms thereafter to be appropriate and felt that this represented an overall better system.

Originality/value

These data suggest the need for a more patient‐focused, individualised approach to follow‐up in head and neck cancer.
The role of ideology in brand strategy: the case of a food retail company in Italy
Authors: Massa Silvia , Testa Stefania
Published: January 2012

Purpose

This paper aims to study the role of ideology in brand strategy with reference to large‐scale food retailing. By means of a thorough case study investigation of highly ideology‐focused food retailer Eataly, the paper aims to enrich existing theory on retailer branding. The various elements of Eataly's brand have been studied in order to identify how they enact the ideology for which the retailer stands. This topic is particularly relevant in a context where consumers appear increasingly committed to social responsibility and business ethics. So the final goal of the paper is to identify ideology‐focused brand choices that lead to a preference towards the retailer.

Design/methodology/approach

In order to address this paper's research aim, a well known framework developed by Esbjerg and Bech‐Larsen is adopted to conceptualize the retail brand. Case study methodology is applied.

Findings

This paper provides both research‐related and practical contributions. From a research perspective, it provides empirical evidence on the role of ideology in large‐scale food retailing, a field which has been traditionally neglected in the ideology debate. From a practical perspective, it provides a contribution to retailers and brand managers. Three main lessons can be mentioned. First, a company's ideology should be pervasively applied to each aspect of a brand and it seems to be primarily situated within tangible and physical attributes, rather than within symbolic features, at least in the case investigated. Second, an explicit ideology is not exempt from risks. Third, ideology can be subject to multiple interpretations that may give rise to unintended consequences.

Research limitations/implications

This study tries to attenuate the reliability issues that are inherent in qualitative research by interviewing multiple informants with different positions inside the company. Triangulation using different types of data sources and systematic data analysis was also employed.

Originality/value

The paper raises the importance of ideology in large‐scale food retailing. It adopts the Esbjerg and Bech‐Larsen framework and introduces the dimension of ideology as a lens through which each aspect of a brand can be interpreted. Moreover, it suggests that a brand's functional attributes play more of a leading role in transmitting ideology than symbolic features, which is somewhat counterintuitive.
The effect of competitive strategies and organizational structure on hotel performance
Authors: Tavitiyaman Pimtong , Qiu Zhang Hanqin , Qu Hailin
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of competitive strategies and organizational structure on hotel performance and to explore whether organizational structure has a moderating effect on the relationship between competitive strategies and hotel performance.

Design/methodology/approach

This study employed a causal and descriptive research design to determine the cause‐and‐effect relationships among competitive strategies, organizational structure, and hotel performance based on previous studies. A 28‐question self‐administered questionnaire comprising three sections was employed. The target population for this study was US hotel owners and general and executive managers whose e‐mail addresses were listed on a publicly available database. A census survey was carried out and e‐mails were sent to all of the hoteliers listed in the database.

Findings

The results show a competitive human resources (HR) strategy to have a direct impact on a hotel's behavioral performance, and a competitive IT strategy to have a direct impact on a hotel's financial performance. Organizational structure is found to have a moderating effect on the relationship between both of these strategies and behavioral performance, a result similar to those reported by Jogaratnam and Tse and by Tarigan. However, the results of the current study show that organizational structure has no influence on the relationship between a brand image strategy and a hotel's behavioral performance, nor does it have any moderating effect on the relationship between a hotel's financial performance and its competitive brand image, HR or IT strategy.

Practical implications

When hoteliers face an uncertain environment, they need to select which form of organizational structure to adopt with care. Hotels that adopt an organic structure allow greater flexibility in the workplace, meaning that they may lose control of their employees and productivity. A mechanistic organizational structure, in contrast, gives hoteliers the power to monitor employee behavior and productivity, which may help them to achieve goals and boost financial performance.

Originality/value

The paper provides further evidence of how competitive HR and IT strategies help to explain hotel performance, whereas a brand image strategy and organizational structure are not good explanatory factors in this regard. Hotels with a mechanistic such structure enjoy a greater relationship between a competitive HR strategy and behavioral performance than their organically structured counterparts. With regard to IT strategic implementation, in contrast, hotels with an organic structure enjoy superior behavioral performance to those with a mechanistic structure.
The paradox and fog of supervision
Authors: Cherry Nita
Published: January 2012

Purpose

Several paradoxes have been presented in the literature as inherent in supervision of doctoral students. The purpose of this paper is to explore these paradoxes and offer the concept of praxis as a way of effectively engaging with complex and paradoxical dimensions of supervision, rather than denying or avoiding them.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on sometimes provocative offerings of others, and the seminal work of Grant, views are presented that problematise supervision, challenging its representation as something to be transparently understood, planned and managed. Sophisticated theories of supervision have been offered in literature to hold its inherent paradoxes while opening up its practice for inquiry. It is suggested that supervision is usefully understood as the development of praxis: challenging supervisor and student to understand their practice journey as one of interwoven, often tacit, dimensions of knowing, doing, being and becoming (that are personally and therefore distinctively resolved.

Findings

Generative metaphors drawn from other complex domains of human experience suggest useful ways of engaging with the intensity, individuality and murkiness of supervision. Such metaphors draw attention to the identities and authorities that are in play and offer markers that can be identified even through the fog.

Originality/value

Voice work is explored as a metaphor for supervision, suggesting reflective practices that ask supervisor and candidate to pay deep attention to the sounds of their voices as well as to the nuances of the dialogue they create together.
Supervisor reflections on developing doctoralness in practice‐based doctoral students
Authors: Blass Eddie , Jasman Anne , Levy Roger
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to share the reflections of a group of five academics who started supervising practice‐based doctoral students at a similar time in the same institution.

Design/methodology/approach

The supervisors engaged in a collaborative research process themselves, exploring their supervision practices, due in part to the relatively limited literature available in the field, and in part as a support mechanism to help them understand what they were doing.

Findings

As the first students have now completed, the learning from taking students through the cycle from start to finish for the first time is also now complete in itself. While the supervisors continue to learn both from and within the supervision process itself, that initial experience of supervising doctoral students is now complete and in many ways the doctoral development process of the students themselves.

Originality/value

This paper offers insight into the doctoral development process from the supervisor's perspective, and offers reflections on the supervision process itself, as well as insight into the difficulties that can be encountered when researching your own practice.
Reconstruct creative destruction knowledge through creative disruption
Authors: Nizam Zainuddin Muhammad , Fairuz Abd Rahim Mohd , Rozaini Mohd Rejab Mohd
Published: January 2012

Purpose

With internet technology, knowledge acquisition surpasses the confinement of the university's campus or syllabus. Concurrently, an entrepreneurship programme has recently been offered to students, positioning universities as an experimental ground for the breeding of entrepreneurs. Thus, this paper seeks to evaluate the effect of entrepreneurship education syllabi empowered with current information communication technology (ICT) exposure towards students' entrepreneurial self‐efficacy together with social norms and their entrepreneurial intention; and whether this latest development lives up to stakeholders' expectations.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected through a census survey of entrepreneurship students at four MSC‐Status universities that offer entrepreneurship degree programmes. Quantitative analyses such as regression were performed.

Findings

Specialised entrepreneurship education with ICT exposure significantly affects a student's entrepreneurial self‐efficacy. However social norms were found to be a poor predictor towards entrepreneurial intention, explaining the diminished level of influence lecturers had upon their students' behaviour.

Research limitations/implications

This study focuses on a group of entrepreneurship students who are exposed to ICT applications at that stipulated time, and as such, the findings cannot be generalised as technology evolves rapidly. The findings are also limited to only entrepreneurial intention and demonstrate the outcome in Malaysia's higher education industry.

Practical implications

The two direct stakeholders i.e. the university's management and lecturers, may need to reconstruct their respective initiatives by introducing “creative disruption” philosophies, policies and pedagogies to facilitate the “creative destruction” mode of education into realising its full potential.

Originality/value

This paper provides an insight into challenges that universities face in delivering distinctive knowledge consisting of theories and practices. Together, they require constructive and radical yet practical initiatives.
The convergent behavior in REIT markets
Authors: Tsai I‐Chun , Lee Cheng‐Feng
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze whether a convergent behavior exists in the price indexes of the seven Asian Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) markets.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors investigate the convergent behavior in Asian REIT indexes against Japan and the USA by conducting the unit‐root testing procedure.

Findings

Results show that the Asian REIT markets are more connected with the US REIT market than with that of Japan. The convergent behavior was more obvious since 2007.

Practical implications

The underlying assets of real estate securities in different countries are usually not directly related; hence, there should be segmentation to a certain extent between international REIT markets as well. If the performances of Asian REIT markets are converged, this linkage can be viewed as a contagion effect.

Originality/value

The results of this paper indicate that the risk of REITs might be underestimated and the benefit that investors may acquire from adding REITs to their portfolios might be overestimated.
Has the UK court created a lease guarantee nightmare?
Authors: Dowden Malcolm
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the practical difficulties resulting from the UK Court of Appeal's recent guidance on the effect of anti‐avoidance provisions in the Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper analyses the Court's guidance, focusing on the inability of a guarantor to take a valid assignment of a lease from the outgoing tenant.

Findings

The paper identifies significant implications for due diligence, valuation and pricing of property investments, arguing that the result could be to deprive landlords of access to covenant strength that is crucial to its valuation or to any sale price.

Originality/value

The paper reflects practitioner discussions since the Court of Appeal gave its ruling in K/S Victoria Street v. House of Fraser. It highlights significant new issues that must be factored into property due diligence.
Fuzzy TOPSIS‐based computerized maintenance management system selection
Authors: Uysal Fahriye , Tosun Ömür
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a structured methodology to permit the optimal selection of the best‐suited computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software within maintenance information technologies.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis has been executed adopting a multi‐attribute decision‐making methodology, namely the technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS). For the selection process, 17 criteria under five main heading have been defined. Data obtained from questionnaires and interviews with the company's maintenance managers have been used in fuzzy TOPSIS.

Findings

The application of the proposed approach allows the maintenance practitioners to concentrate on a limited subset of CMMS applications and to compare their actual capabilities in order to select the right one, rather than considering only their purchase cost.

Research limitations/implications

Comparisons with other multi‐attribute decision‐making techniques such as AHP (analytic hierarchy process) and ELECTRE (elimination and choice expressing reality) under fuzzy conditions can be done for further research.

Practical implications

This paper is a very useful source of information both for maintenance managers and stakeholders in making decisions about the selection of CMMS software.

Originality/value

This paper addresses CMMS software evaluation and selection criteria for practitioners and proposes a new multi‐attribute decision‐making methodology, hierarchical fuzzy TOPSIS, for the problem.
A fast LP‐based solution to the production planning problem with capacity constraints including setup considerations
Authors: Padron Mario , Resto Pedro , Muñoz Jennifer
Published: January 2012

Purpose

Resource capacity and product changeovers must be both considered in the preparation of a realistic production plan. The purpose of this paper is to present a heuristic for enforcing resource availability and the accompanying changeover realities into a continuous‐variable linear programming formulation that would otherwise require a mixed‐integer model. The results from both approaches are compared in terms of objective function values and computational requirements; the effectiveness of the heuristic approach is demonstrated.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study search was conducted to identify relevant data sets that could be used to exercise the optimization and heuristic models. The case studies found in the literature were too small and simple compared to the problem complexity desired. The authors developed a case study based on the development of a production plan for a typical flashlight. It includes two end‐products that differ in their bills of materials and process requirements. Basic processes include plastic part preparation and final assembly; various raw materials with pre‐defined lead times are purchased from external suppliers. The results of the LP‐based heuristic and the mixed‐integer programming (MIP) optimization algorithm are then compared through a statistical experiment. The experiment includes four factors: number of products, number of periods, number of machines, and percentage line capacity utilization.

Findings

When a MIP algorithm is applied to obtain the results, most of the time the planner would have to wait days or even weeks for the algorithm to provide a solution. However, the authors' linear programming‐based procedure provides the same quality of solution in minutes and for some problems in seconds.

Originality/value

The originality of the heuristic approach resides on the avoidance of the lengthy MIP computer runs. At each iteration, the authors solve the LP production planning problem without changeover considerations, and then subtract from the original capacity the time associated with the changeovers resulting from the last LP solution. After a small number of iterations the heuristic always converges to the optimal MIP solution. The contribution of this research can be appreciated by someone who is using this tool to generate a production plan in a real world factory where setups are important and the results can immediately suggest changes to some of the assumptions or parameters used in the planning exercise.
China‐Germany commodity trade and the S‐curve
Authors: Bahmani‐Oskooee Mohsen , Xi Dan
Published: January 2012

Purpose

Impact of currency depreciation or devaluation on the trade balance is not instantaneous. Indeed, because of adjustment lags favorable effects of depreciation is only realized in the future. This short‐run dynamics of the trade balance is summarized by the S‐Curve phenomenon. The purpose of this paper is to test this phenomenon by using commodity level data between China and Germany.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology is based on cross‐correlation function.

Findings

Out of 62 industries studied, only 22 support the S‐Curve or enjoy improvement in their trade balance in the future. The list included small and large industries as well as durable and non‐durable goods.

Originality/value

No study in the literature has considered commodity level trade between China and Germany.
The limits of guanxi from the perspective of the Israeli diamond industry
Authors: Berger Ron , Herstein Ram
Published: January 2012

Purpose

Recognizing the significant impact of guanxi (the Chinese network of reciprocal business relations) and its influence on everyday dealings in China is important for Western firms. Researchers argue that social capital has limits and is not a commodity that has a place in China aspiring to be a global business hub. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to deal with the question of whether guanxi still matters in the Chinese business arena, and if so, to what extent.

Design/methodology/approach

To illustrate the evolutional direction of the Chinese institutional system, the authors compare it to a similar system that went through the evolutionary cycle from a social to a rational institutional base of exchange and discuss what one can learn from the institutional evolution process of the global diamond industry and its implications for the current evolution of Chinese institutions. The authors compare two similar cultures/religions, Judaism and Confucianism.

Findings

This study found parallels between the evolution of the Israeli diamond industry, dominated by Orthodox Jews, from a social exchange mechanism to a transactional mechanism and the present ongoing rationalization of the Chinese economy, dominated by the Confucianism culture from a social to a transactional business mechanism.

Originality/value

Despite the vast efforts of researchers in the area of guanxi, there is very little published knowledge about its limitations and its usefulness in today's changing business environment. This paper contributes to the existing literature on the future aspects of guanxi from a unique perspective – the evolution of the Israeli diamond industry.
The historical development of segmentation: the example of the German book trade 1800‐1928
Authors: Fullerton Ronald A.
Published: January 2012

Purpose

Using the German book trade as a case example, the aim of the paper is to show how the evolution of segmentation began with increasingly sophisticated marketing practice long before formal thought was developed to explain matters.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper's approach is a careful and critical examination of exclusively primary sources.

Findings

Marketing practice developed increasingly sophisticated segmentation over the 100 years before there was formal marketing thought about it. Marketing thought developed in part because the growth of universities stimulated the development of formal disciplines, and in part because businesspeople wanted to accelerate learning what they should do to grow their businesses.

Originality/value

The paper is based on an in‐depth examination of one of the first businesses to adopt aggressive marketing.
Early schools of marketing thought and marketplace evolution
Authors: Powers Thomas L.
Published: January 2012

Purpose

The marketplace evolution associated with the development of the electronic marketplace provides the marketing discipline with a unique opportunity to examine the value of its early literature in the context of a changing market environment. The purpose of this paper is to use the early marketing literature to develop theoretical propositions related to the internet marketplace.

Design/methodology/approach

Seminal marketing thought is reviewed and used to provide a conceptual understanding of various aspects of electronic commerce.

Findings

Perspectives from the commodity, functional, regional, institutional, and functionalist schools of marketing are used to explain the evolution of the electronic marketplace as well as to provide propositions to guide future research.

Originality/value

The application of historical marketing thought to a contemporary business situation serves to validate the robustness of the early literature and demonstrates its ongoing value and usefulness to the discipline.