bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An empirical investigation of brand equity: drivers and their consequences
Authors: S. Davcik Nebojsa
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– The author aims to present a model of the brand value drivers, measured by brand equity. The goal of this research is to identify the drivers, and determine how they influence brand equity performance in the researched industry, in order to develop a more effective brand strategy.

Design/methodology/approach

– The author studied an aggregate dataset for 739 food brands. Six predictors were controlled for (i.e. marketing investments, price, revenue, perceived quality [organic and functional] and brand ownership), while the impact of the brand equity drivers on brand value was estimated. The model was formulated and estimated using a robust OLS procedure. Several data sources have were in this study, such as market-based data from ACNielsen, as well as information and variable constructs using data from the Bureau Van Dijk Electronic Publishing AIDA financial statements database.

Findings

– Results suggest that marketing investment, price, revenue, brand ownership and perceived quality are highly associated with brand equity, and consequently with a higher brand value in the food industry.

Research limitations/implications

– This study has only studied one industry (food), one industry segment (enriched-food) and one country (Italy).

Originality/value

– The majority of marketing studies apply a single research approach and measures. This is the first study of brand equity that combines consumer, financial and marketing approaches. The model contributes to theory and practice in terms of suggesting which business drivers create brand value and what type of brand strategy a firm can apply in order to create brand value.
Hysteresis parameters estimation using a modified harmony search
Authors: dos Santos Coelho Leandro , Cocco Mariani Viviana , de Athayde Costa e Silva Marsil , Jhoe Batistela Nelson , Vianei Leite Jean
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to introduce a chaotic harmony search (CHS) approach based on the chaotic Zaslavskii map to parameters identification of Jiles-Atherton vector hysteresis model.

Design/methodology/approach

– In laminated magnetic cores when the magnetic flux rotates in the lamination plane, one observes an increase in the magnetic losses. The magnetization in these regions is very complex needing a vector model to analyze and predict its behavior. The vector Jiles-Atherton hysteresis model can be employed in rotational flux modeling. The vector Jiles-Atherton model needs a set of five parameters for each space direction taken into account. In this context, a significant amount of research has already been undertaken to investigate the application of metaheuristics in solving difficult engineering optimization problems. Harmony search (HS) is a derivative-free real parameter optimization metaheuristic algorithm, and it draws inspiration from the musical improvisation process of searching for a perfect state of harmony. In this paper, a CHS approach based on the chaotic Zaslavskii map is proposed and evaluated.

Findings

– The proposed CHS presents an efficient strategy to improve the search performance in preventing premature convergence to local minima when compared with the classical HS algorithm. Numerical comparisons with results using classical HS, genetic algorithms (GAs), particle swarm optimization (PSO), and evolution strategies (ES) demonstrated that the performance of the CHS is promising in parameters identification of Jiles-Atherton vector hysteresis model.

Originality/value

– This paper presents an efficient CHS approach applied to parameters identification of Jiles-Atherton vector hysteresis model.
Elimination of common mode voltage using phase shifted dual source matrix converter with improved modulation index
Authors: Mahadevan Senthilkumaran , Raju Siddharth , Muthu Ranganath
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– The high-frequency common-mode voltage introduced by power converters, using conventional modulation techniques, results in common-mode current that has the potential to cause physical damage to the shaft and bearings of electric drives as well as unwanted tripping of ground fault relays in motor drives and electrical networks. The paper aims to provide a complete elimination of common mode voltage using a matrix converter (MC) with a new modulation strategy that reduces the size of the power converter system considerably. Further, a new MC topology is proposed to eliminate the common mode voltage with improved voltage transfer ratio (VTR).

Design/methodology/approach

– The direct MC topology is selected, as it is the only converter topology that has the potential to eliminate common mode voltage in direct AC to AC systems. Using the rotating space vector technique, common mode voltage is eliminated but this reduces the VTR of the converter. To improve the VTR, a modified MC topology with a modified rotating space vector strategy is proposed. In addition, for improving the power factor at the input, the input current control strategy is developed.

Findings

– The use of rotating space vector technique eliminates the common mode voltage even under all input abnormalities like unbalance and harmonics. By applying positive and negative rotating space vectors, input power factor control can be achieved. However, the control range is limited from unity power factor to the output power factor. It is observed that in the current controlled technique the modulation index reduces further. It is also found that there is a reduction in switching stresses of individual switches in proposed topology compared to direct MC topology.

Originality/value

– In this paper, a modified rotating space vector technique is applied to the proposed converter topology for elimination of common mode voltage with an increased VTR. The topology can be used for common mode voltage elimination in existing electric drives without the need for modifying the drive system.
A novel approach to analysis and design of bang-bang CDR circuits
Authors: Adrang Habib , Miar-Naimi Hossein
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– Bang-bang clock and data recovery (BBCDR) circuits are hard nonlinear systems due to the nonlinearity introduced by the binary phase detector (BPD). The specification of the CDR frequency response is determined by jitter tolerance and jitter transfer. In this paper, jitter transfer and jitter tolerance of the BBCDR are characterized. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– The presented method is general enough to be used for designing the BBCDR loop parameters to meet SONET jitter transfer requirements (loop bandwidth and jitter peaking).

Findings

– In this paper, jitter transfer and jitter tolerance of the BBCDR are characterized by formulating the time domain waveforms. As a result, a new equation is presented to obtain angular frequency. Also, the jitter tolerance is expressed in closed form as a function of loop parameters. The validity of the resulted equations is verified through HSPICE simulations using TSMC 0.18-μm CMOS process. Simulation results show that good conformance between analytical equations and simulation results.

Originality/value

– The proposed approach offers two advantages compared to conventional designing methods. First, this approach does not consider any value restriction to the capacitor. Second, a new condition has been presented to guarantee that the value of jitter peaking is approximately zero. The presented method is general enough to be used for designing the BBCDR.
Electromagnetic funneling through a single-negative slab paired with a double-positive transformation slab
Authors: Castaldi Giuseppe , Galdi Vincenzo , Alù Andrea , Engheta Nader
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– The work is aimed at studying the electromagnetic interaction between a homogeneous, isotropic single-negative (SNG) slab and an inhomogeneous, anisotropic double-positive (DPS) slab.

Design/methodology/approach

– The approach is based on the transformation optics framework, which allows systematic design and modelling of anisotropic, inhomogeneous metamaterials with inherent field-manipulation capabilities.

Findings

– The paper finds that a transformation-optics-based DPS slab can compensate the inherent opaqueness to the electromagnetic radiation of a SNG slab. Here, “compensation” means that the resulting bi-layer may give rise to zero-reflection for a normally-incident plane wave at a given frequency. Such phenomenon is inherently accompanied by (de)funneling effects for collimated-beam illumination, and it turns out to be quite robust to material losses as well as geometrical and constitutive-parameter truncation.

Originality/value

– The results provide further evidence and insight in how SNG-like responses may be emulated (within narrow parametric ranges) by suitably-engineered spatial inhomogeneity and anisotropy in DPS media. Moreover, they also show that resonant transmission phenomena through SNG materials may be engineered via the powerful framework of transformation optics.
Electroporation of bone cancer: numerical evaluation of the electric field in treated tissues
Authors: Bisceglia Bruno , de Terlizzi Francesca , Scaglione Antonio , Francesco Tallarino Nicola
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– Electrochemotherapy (ECT) is an outstanding technique for treatment of tumor nodules which is currently used for treatment of skin metastases, and now it is being developed for treatment of internal organs such as, bone, liver, etc. In this work the authors' goal was finding a simple and proper needles configuration, allowing electroporation of whole cancer cell membranes, possibly minimizing direct cell death of healthy tissue.

Design/methodology/approach

– This work shows numerical analysis of the ECT of a deep-seated tumor, like in bone tissue of human limb. The tumor is excited by a sequence of square-wave electric pulses (5 kHz), inducing a 1,000 V/cm electric field through a suitable configuration of 30 mm long steel needle electrodes inserted in a part of limb long 20 cm. Treated element is numerically modeled in a very simplified 3D geometry. All materials are assumed as homogeneous, linear and isotropic mediums.

Findings

– Electrochemotherapy is based on the local application of short and intense electric pulses that transiently permeabilizes neoplastic cells membrane, thus allowing cytotoxicity increase of a chemotherapeutic drug, bleomycin, and reducing its dosage. The local field in target tissues depends on geometry and position of electrodes, that have to be placed according cancer shape and size, and excited by electric pulses of opportune amplitude. Current efforts are aimed to test whether electric pulses can be applied to bone through invasive needles without affecting the recovery of osteogenetic activity.

Originality/value

– The results of the simulation study can help to establish the appropriate geometric and electric setup for treatment of bone metastases in clinical ECT trials. This paper reports results from different needles configurations and show that a proper needle positioning allows complete electroporation of the whole tumor

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Be successful – be male and masculine? On the influence of gender roles on objective career success
Authors: Alewell Dorothea
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of the paper is to analyse the influence of individual gender role specifications on objective career success (measured by gross yearly income) in the context of different gender job contexts whilst controlling for human capital and working time variables. Typical economic, sociological and psychological variables are combined to improve explanations of the gender wage gap.

Design/methodology/approach

– Starting from Eagly and Karau's role incongruity theory, the paper derives hypotheses on the influence of gender role specification, gender job context and biological sex on gross yearly income. These hypotheses are analysed by logistic regressions with a data set from Germany. The paper presents results of a quantitative empirical survey of employees on wages, gender role-related self-descriptions and human capital variables.

Findings

– The paper results show that even in this highly qualified sample, male biological sex, masculine gender roles and non-female job context have a positive effect on individual income. The results hold true when the paper controls for human capital, working time, professional experience and jobs in the public sector.

Research limitations/implications

– Because of the limited size of the data set and some problems with selectivity, the research results lack generalizability. Researchers are thus encouraged to test the propositions with other data sets.

Practical implications

– The paper includes implications for wage design and for reaching wage equality in firms. An important implication for policy and practice is that under a gender and equal opportunity perspective, ensuring non-discriminating behaviour with regard to women may be only one (albeit an important) element of equal opportunity activities. Equal wage policies should further consider the gender characteristics of the job context, which may influence job-related roles and thus role incongruities. Additionally, individual interpretations of gender roles might have effects on wages. Human resource (HR) managers could support such policies by shaping job descriptions carefully with regard to gender role aspects, by influencing the gender composition of job contexts and by paying attention to the individual development of gender role interpretations in HR development programmes.

Originality/value

– The paper fulfils an identified research need to study simultaneously the influence of human capital variables and gender roles on wages. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study, which studies the influence of gender roles as defined by Born (1992) on income in a German context of highly qualified individuals while controlling for human capital, working time and professional experience. The existing lack in the literature with regard to empirical analyses on the combined influence of economic, sociological and psychological variables is mitigated.
Nonlinear evaluation of status and signal effects
Authors: Schneck Stefan
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to describe whether workers in high positions and workers in low positions think differently about status and possible future career advancement opportunities.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper uses German panel data to examine the effects of relative standing on individual satisfaction with the job, the propensity to change jobs, and intentions to start-up an enterprise in the near future.

Findings

– The relationship between relative wage positions and job satisfaction is inversely U-shaped. This is interpreted as evidence that low status translates into low utility while employees with high relative standing seem to be more concerned about the lack of future career prospects in paid employment. Workers who gather utility from status and career advancement opportunities simultaneously are more satisfied with their jobs. The paper also shows that lower satisfaction with the job translates into considerations to leave the job.

Practical implications

– The described relationships explain individual determinants of voluntary quits and workforce fluctuations, which are of special interest in debates about possible shortages of skilled labor or tightening labor markets for skilled workers.

Social implications

– Individual comparisons with peers affect individual reasoning.

Originality/value

– The paper aims to enhance the discussion about nonlinear effects in status considerations as well as future career advancement opportunities. The paper shows that workers in very high and very low positions value these important psychological traits differently.
Scenistic performance tools for management and employee development
Authors: Lyons Paul , Paul Bandura Randall
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– The purposes of this article are to familiarize the reader with scenistic learning tools, provide theory bases for the tools, present details for use of the tools in an organization, and offer details with reference to the efficacy of scenistic learning tools.

Design/methodology/approach

– The approach taken is to provide sufficient information for a practitioner to apply scenistic tools with confidence. The paper provides the background and explicit details for using scenistic tools in practice.

Findings

– The findings demonstrate positive effects of training with scenistic tools. The effects are limited to specific areas.

Practical implications

– Several different instructional and/or training approaches may come under the rubric, scenistic, to include case analyses, use of critical incidents, story board and others. This article offers a complete model of how to create and apply a scenistic approach in an orchestrated manner to achieve positive change in an organization.

Originality/value

– The article demonstrates how managers, training staff, and employees (trainees) work in a partnership to create and apply script-based practice guides and interventions to assist in solving actual organizational issues and problems.
Who owns the gap? (part two): the application of Appreciative Inquiry to evaluation
Authors: Elaine Watson Sally
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– The aim of the paper is to report on application of Appreciative Inquiry to the evaluation of a management development programme involving 72 managers from an organisation delivering further and higher education. The structure and ethos of Appreciative Inquiry resulted in stories of both individual and collaborative learning and the resultant impact on organisational performance. The evaluation data were compared with the outcomes of a previous appreciative inquiry and the discourse generated by participants indicated a shift to a more collaborative culture.

Design/methodology/approach

– Part one of this article outlined a successful application of Appreciative Inquiry to the diagnosis of individual and organisational development needs involving the collaboration of participating managers. The same managers agreed to be part of a second Appreciative Inquiry, in 2012, to generate evaluation data on the impact of their management development on college performance. Content analysis was used with the qualitative data produced to formulate key themes. Deeper meanings and insights into organisational culture were derived from a later discourse analysis.

Findings

– Evidence of a significant change in cross college collaboration was seen in both the content and discourse of the 2012 Appreciative Inquiry. The impact of this collaboration was demonstrated through stories of strategic thinking, innovative solutions and tangible performance improvement. Impact stories also revealed an interesting discursive shift amongst the management population and indicated a greater sense of personal accountability. Discourse analysis also revealed an emerging realisation that interdependent nature of college business was the source of learning about individual and organisational performance.

Research limitations/implications

– The workshop teams from the second Appreciative Inquiry were not the same configuration as the original diagnostic workshops described in part one of this article. During the management development programme, action learning sets were created with team coaching support. The impact of team coaching on the sustainability of learning became clear during the second Appreciative Inquiry. The teams were more experienced at working collaboratively and their self-management of the process more confident and effective.

Practical implications

– Appreciative Inquiry can be used to diagnose development needs, create an evaluation framework and later conduct an impact evaluation. In this case study, a management population of 72 were actively engaged in all three outcomes.

Originality/value

– Appreciative Inquiry used as an evaluation tool ensured that managers had an active role in creating impact stories. The resultant discourse was the collaborative effort of 72 managers. The evaluation research was the co-creation of managers working in cross business and multi level action learning sets.
360 degree assessments of team role behaviours in different contexts
Authors: Manning Tony
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– This article aims to present and discuss research findings on 360 degree assessments of team role behaviours in different contexts. In so doing, it brings together and develops two themes previously explored by the author, namely: the need to introduce a significant social dimension into thinking about team roles; the need to recognise that appropriate leadership behaviour is not universal but contingent upon context.

Design/methodology/approach

– A mixed sample of public sector managers in the UK completed a team role self-assessment questionnaire and had a 360 degree assessment completed on them. The research looked at the degree of correlation between the self-assessments and the 360 assessments and its statistical significance, exploring the ways in which the nine team roles are more or less valued in different contexts.

Findings

– Statistically significant relationships were found between measures of leadership contexts and team role behaviours. More importantly for this research, 360 degree assessments of team role behaviours were also found to vary in different contexts. Similarities and differences were found in the team roles behaviours that were typical in particular contexts and those that were valued in such contexts.

Research limitations/implications

– The range of contexts explored in this article was limited. Two contextual variables derived from the model of “dynamic” leadership were examined, namely the level of influence over change and the level of influence over others. In both cases, high and low levels of influence were considered. It would be useful to explore other contextual variables. It would also be useful to see if the observed relationships were found in situations other than the UK public sector.

Practical implications

– First, the findings reinforce the view that there is a significant social dimension to team roles, they cannot be viewed merely as clusters of personality traits, they are related to social roles and the influence people have in such roles. Second, teams are likely to be more effective if the behaviour of individual team members is appropriate to the social roles and contexts that they find themselves in. Third, what people tend to do in particular situations is not necessarily the same as that which is valued in such situations.

Originality/value

– The findings reinforce the conclusions of earlier research by the author and associates. In so doing, they lend support to original team role and leadership models developed by these individuals, as well as highlighting links between the two models. They also highlight differences between what people tend to do in particular situations and what is likely to be valued in such situations.
Health and safety risks, implications and training in hospitals
Authors: Brinia Vasiliki , Antonaki Eleni
Published: September 2013

Purpose

–This paper was written in order to present research undertaken in several hospital units in Greece, in order to explore: nurses' knowledge on health risk factors associated with their work responsibilities, the ways that these factors interfere with their general condition of health (physically and psychologically) and their views on future training interventions on health and safety (H&S) issues.

Design/methodology/approach

–The methodological tools used were questionnaires completed by 213 nurses, who were working in various units of three Greek hospitals and structured interviews conducted with ten nurses, which allowed the researchers to explore more thoroughly the respondents' views/feelings on H&S risks, implications and training.

Findings

–The most frequent hazard identified by nurses was hepatitis (biohazard), latex gloves and antiseptics (chemical hazards). The respondents declared that they consistently apply self-protection measures. They also acknowledged the importance of having a support mechanism among colleagues, which would provide them help when needed. They also appeared very keen on attending regularly H&S training programs, especially if these programs were administered during working hours.

Originality/value

–The research has explored all types of health hazards (physical, chemical, biological and psychosocial) faced by nurses. The results of this study could be useful to hospital managers and H&S professionals who wish to take active measures in order to provide a safer working environment. There could also be comparisons with other similar research in other units/hospitals/health systems/countries, so as to examine whether – and for what reasons – there are differences in the way health professionals experience exposure to risk factors. Finally, this study might be useful to training designers/providers, who need to obtain a better understanding on nurses' educational/training needs when they organize and administer their various H&S training interventions.
Crisis communication strategies: a case of British Petroleum
Authors: C. Valvi Aikaterini , C. Fragkos Konstantinos
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– Every unexpected and sudden event (crisis) operates as a threat for an organization's reputation. British Petroleum (BP) came face to face with a crisis on 20 April 2010 when an explosion in the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig caused a huge oil spillage in the Gulf of Mexico. The present case study aims to describe BP's serious communication mistakes with its stakeholders managing a serious hit to BP's reputation.

Design/methodology/approach

– The present case study attempts to provide a detailed outline of BP's communication failures by conducting in-depth investigation of secondary data (newspapers, audiovisual material, social network sites).

Findings

– BP's crisis communication was a weak link in its crisis management strategy. The lessons to learn are various, both for practitioners and researchers. Practitioners should learn from the leadership, culture and public relations (PR) mistakes made by BP and avoid them in a crisis of their organisation. They should select those strategies that foster their organization's strengths and correct its weaknesses in order to take advantage of external opportunities and counter external threats.

Originality/value

– This study could be a valuable asset in communication literature, since BP's PR strategies during this oil spill have not been studied extensively. The communications solutions BP took during the crisis were examined and certain strategies BP should have followed in order to avoid its failed PR plan are suggested, which can help both practitioners and researchers to learn from BP's mistakes and give more attention to communication strategies, which are of critical essence to all crises.
Management training to ensure excellent team performance
Authors: Brodke Michelle
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– This paper aims to highlight areas in which targeted management training will have the greatest impact on creating effective teams.

Design/methodology/approach

– The current best practices from the research literature are presented such that a reasonable program of management training for effective teamwork is proposed.

Findings

– Training professionals have an opportunity to demonstrate their value to organizations by delivering targeted training about how to manage teams through the planning, staffing, launch, and conclusion of a team.

Practical implications

– Professional trainers can provide a needed link from the known best practices for managing teamwork to educating team managers about how to instill those best practices within their teams.

Originality/value

– This paper links factors leading to effective teamwork with a rational for and the key subjects areas that should comprise management training focused on the effective management of teams.
Effect of delamination on nonlinear transient response of composite shells in hygrothermal environments
Authors: Nanda Namita , Sahu S.K. , Bandyopadhyay J.N.
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to study the nonlinear forced vibration responses of delaminated composite shells in hygrothermal environments.

Design/methodology/approach

– Finite element method using an eight-noded C0 continuity, isoparametric quadrilateral element is employed. The theoretical formulations are based on the first order shear deformation theory and von Kármán type nonlinear kinematics. For modeling the delamination, multipoint constraint algorithm is incorporated in the finite element code.

Findings

– The effect of delaminations on the nonlinear transient response of delaminated composite shells is dependent not only on the size but also on the location of the delaminations and hygrothermal environments.

Research limitations/implications

– The present study is limited to cylindrical and spherical shells having rectangular planform containing single delamination. Studies on different shell forms having non rectangular planforms containing multiple delaminations can be taken up for future research.

Originality/value

– Nonlinear transient response of delaminated shells in hygrothermal environments is studied for the first time. It will assist researchers of nonlinear dynamic behavior of elastic systems.
Governance in adult safeguarding in Scotland since the implementation of the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007
Authors: Cornish Sally , Preston-Shoot Michael
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of the paper is to report the findings from research into the governance of adult protection in Scotland, with particular focus on the outcomes of provision for multi-agency leadership and management of adult safeguarding in the Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007. Comparisons will be drawn between these findings and the evidence on the governance of adult safeguarding in England.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study comprised a thematic analysis of Adult Protection Committee (APC) biennial reports on implementation of the 2007 Act to the Scottish Government, associated documentation, and key informant interviews with professionals involved in adult protection leadership and practice.

Findings

– A rich and complex pattern of arrangements, activities, experiences and challenges were identified across a number of dimensions, including management structures of APCs, development of policies and procedures, multi-agency working, training, performance assessment and quality management, engagement of service users and carers and operation of the 2007 Act.

Research limitations/implications

– Service users and carers were not directly involved in the documentary review or key informant interviews. There remains a need to investigate the impacts on practice and service user experience of different forms of governance of adult protection arrangements.

Practical implications

– The paper identifies outcomes and challenges in respect of multi-agency approaches to governance taken by APCs in Scotland.

Originality/value

– The paper offers the first formal evaluation of governance of adult protection systems in Scotland and includes comparative analysis with research findings on the governance of adult safeguarding in England.
Differences in causal attributions of caseworkers and elderly clients in the USA: impact on case resolution and cessation of abuse
Authors: L. Jackson Shelly , L. Hafemeister Thomas
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper was to test whether differences in attributions between caseworkers and their elderly clients regarding the cause of reported elder abuse occurring in a domestic setting impact the ability of caseworkers to effectively intervene in elder abuse cases.

Design/methodology/approach

– Interviews were conducted with 63 pairs of caseworkers and either the elderly client with a substantiated report of elder abuse or their surrogate.

Findings

– Initially, 61.9 percent of the pairs of interviewees held discordant attributions regarding the cause of the elderly person's abuse. However, at the close of the investigation, only 41.3 percent of the pairs of interviewees held discordant causal attributions, with 13 elderly persons having changed their attributions to be in alignment with the caseworker. Discordant causal attributions at the close of the investigation was related to an inability to find a resolution and achieving cessation of abuse.

Research limitations/implications

– It will be beneficial to determine methods APS caseworkers can employ to narrow the causal attribution gap.

Practical implications

– Reconciling discordant causal attributions while maintaining victim autonomy can enhance the likelihood of effective interventions and lead to greater victim safety. However, this takes more time than most APS caseworkers in the USA are allowed by statute to allocate to one case and may necessitate statutory changes that accompany changes in practice.

Originality/value

– This is the first study to assess differences between caseworkers and their elderly clients regarding their causal attributions of reported abuse occurring and whether those differences are related to the likelihood of reaching a resolution and the cessation of abuse.
How Mary P. Follett's ideas on management have emerged
Authors: Damart Sébastien
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– The aim of this paper is to highlight the way Mary P. Follett's ideas on management have emerged.

Design/methodology/approach

– The research explores the different opportunities Mary P. Follett has regarding management issues. It also analyses Follett's way of reasoning in some of her conferences on management.

Findings

– Follett's ideas on management have been based on her practical management experience and on her political philosophy. The paper particularly demonstrates that Follett was currently proceeding in three different areas: instantiation, conceptual linkage and deduction of management principles. A management problem becomes a particular instance of social interaction situation, within a broader category of problems and situations: that is what we identify as “instantiation”. Follett makes connections with concepts she has developed about democracy: that is what we named “conceptual linkage”. Deduction of management ideas is then made possible by combining instantiation and conceptual linkage.

Originality/value

– This paper helps to explain why so many management authors have considered Mary P. Follett as a pioneer, a “prophet of management”.
Environmental efficiency, advances in environmental technology and total factor of environmental productivity of China
Authors: Song Ma-Lin , Guan Youyi , Song Feng
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– This paper aims to estimate the values of environmental efficiency of each province in China. Subsequently, it analyzes the changes of total factor productivity (TFP) before and after taking the environmental factors into account. Finally, the paper measures the effect of the components of environmental TFP on the convergence of economic growth.

Design/methodology/approach

– The environmental control variables are taken as output variables and combined with a traditional data envelopment analysis model to build an environmental TFP Index. The growth of environmental TFP is compared among regions and the differences are analyzed. Furthermore, the decomposed components (advances in environmental technology and environmental technical efficiency) are used for regression analysis with labor productivity.

Findings

– The environmental efficiency of most provinces in China has improved although some regions' efficiency remains low in Northeastern China. The value of environmental TFP is higher and more fluctuant during the period of 1997-2009 than that of traditional TFP. Technical efficiency has a convergence effect on economic growth of regions/provinces, but, after adding environmental factors, it turns into a divergence effect.

Research limitations/implications

– Because of data limitations, this paper does not consider the impacts of human capital and other factors on in the convergence analysis on economic. Neither does it consider the use of panel data to analyze the convergence of economic growth and validate the conclusions. These are potential further research directions.

Practical implications

– The study confirms that improvements in environmental technologies play a dominant role in enhancing China's environmental TFP. Furthermore, it demonstrates that China's economic growth largely depends on technological progress. This finding, that China's economic growth depends on advances in environmental technology, implies that China should strive to improve its capacity for technological innovation.

Originality/value

– The paper measures the value of environmental efficiency in the China's provinces and analyzes the relationship between pollution and economic development in each province. Panel data are used to compare the difference among environmental TFP, environmental factors and traditional TFP. The convergence of economic growth is analyzed in respect of environmental control variables.
Intention to use internet marketing
Authors: Sin Tan Khong , Chong Siong-Choy , Lin Binshan
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– This is a pilot study that aims to investigate the factors influencing the intention to use internet marketing among Malaysians and South Koreans, the two fast developing Asian countries with good internet infrastructure. Many businesses in these countries have leveraged on the rapid growth of World Wide Web by investing in internet marketing due to the anticipation that its acceptance and usage rates are on the increasing trend. However, the extent of intent to use internet marketing remains a question of interest.

Design/methodology/approach

– This research adopts unified theory of acceptance and use of technology as the underpinning theory to assess the intention to use internet marketing. Data were collected using convenience sampling method from 150 Malaysians and 150 South Koreans through the use of self-reporting questionnaires. The questionnaire was prepared in two languages, English and Hangul to obtain accurate responses.

Findings

– The findings suggest that different factors affect intentions to use internet marketing between Malaysians and South Koreans.

Research limitations/implications

– This is a pilot study and due to its exploratory nature, future research directions are provided for an actual scientific study to be conducted.

Practical implications

– The results inform various stakeholders in the two countries and recommend strategies from the perspective of internet marketing's increased adoption.

Originality/value

– The theoretical and practical contributions of this paper are articulated to guide organizations and policy makers in terms of the strategies to increase internet marketing acceptance and use among the young Malaysians and South Koreans.
The impact of IT infrastructures on Iranian nurses' and students' health information-seeking strategies
Authors: Kahouei Mehdi , Babamohamadi Hassan , Sadat Ghazavi shariat panahi Soheila , Mahdi Zadeh Jamileh
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– Health departments of Iran have attempted to encourage nursing staff to incorporate research findings into practice since 2005. Consequently, significant changes have occurred in nursing area including holding computer skills courses, digital library workshops, establishing web sites in hospitals, and developing information technology (IT) training in nursing students' curriculum to increase accessibility to best practice information and opportunity for nurses and students to use research-based information in their clinical decision. So a question has raised, what information resources are used by nursing staff and students in hospitals? The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– A total of 412 nurses and students working in hospitals connected to web and digital libraries participated. They are evaluated with a questionnaire.

Findings

– The results indicated that the students and the nurses preferred experiential knowledge to research-based information in their clinical decisions and they had little tendency to high-level evidence. Results showed that lack of skill in using library was the most important deterrent in using research-based information.

Originality/value

– It could be concluded that provision of the infrastructures for using research-based information in clinical decisions was not sufficient. In addition to infrastructures, the paper must invest on organizational, system-wide approaches such as organizational culture, information literacy culture, acceptance of innovation, role of clinical librarians and advanced nursing informatics, and social marketing in evidence-based practice to facilitate the use of higher-level evidence in practice.
Evaluation of librarianship and ICT skills of library and information professionals working in the engineering college libraries in Karnataka, India: a survey
Authors: Fakkirappa Kattimani Shivaputrappa , R. Naik Ramesh
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the competences in librarianship and information communication and technology (ICT) skills between different designations of library professionals (librarian, deputy librarian, assistant librarian and library assistants and others) working in the engineering college libraries affiliated with Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), Belgaum (www.vtu.ac.in) in Karnataka state, India.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study adopts a combined methodology of theory, fieldwork and the data gathering tools used which included questionnaire, observation and interaction with library and information professionals.

Findings

– The majority of the library professionals working in the engineering colleges in Karnataka state have chosen this profession by accident. The significant difference is observed between different designations towards competence on operation of computers, creation of files and folders, radio frequency identification, library automation software modules, various operating systems, internet-related skills, web design/web editors, search engines and digitization of IR. Compared to all designations, librarians have more skills on web designs. The majority of the professionals are facing financial problems, overload of work and negative attitude of the higher authority in acquiring ICT skills.

Originality/value

– This is the first ever study of library professionals working in technical institutions in Karnataka state (India) about the competences in ICT and librarianship.
The importance of a “Lasting Power of Attorney”
Authors: Martins Roberto
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to outline the importance of putting a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) in place, particularly as you plan for your older years.

Design/methodology/approach

– This article takes the form of a review of the current LPA and offers advice on how to register a LPA.

Findings

– By registering a LPA both the donor and their family benefits from peace of mind.

Originality value

– The Public Guardian Board Annual Report 2012 stated that the aim is for every adult in England and Wales to have a LPA.
Looking through tools and situations
Authors: Béjean Mathias , Gentès Annie
Published: September 2013

Purpose

– This paper aims to contribute to the field of research that considers how artefacts and information and communication technologies (ICT) shape organizational practices. In particular, it aims at understanding how tools not only reconfigure relations in organizations, i.e. how people coordinate between each other, but also meaning, i.e. how people interpret the fundamental meaning of their work content and tasks.

Design/methodology/approach

– The paper reports findings from a longitudinal ethnographic study which investigates the writing process of an interactive live performance written by a group of non-professional writers that was led by French video and multimedia artist Michel Jaffrennou during three months.

Findings

– The paper shows how multiplying writing software induced the group members to challenge their initial understanding of the cultural and traditional genre of “theater play”. It provides an empirically based account of the capacity of tools to reconfigure meaning in organizational contexts.

Practical implications

– The paper provides insights about how tools can be used not only as means to an end, but also as ways in which to build original strategies for exploration, especially during creative group sessions.

Originality/value

– The paper sheds light on distinctive albeit poorly studied aspects of tools and ICT within organizations, namely their capacity to reconfigure meaning, which more empirical studies could further investigate.
Novel Mutation in the KCNJ2 Gene Is Associated with a Malignant Arrhythmic Phenotype of Andersen‐Tawil Syndrome
Authors: Fernlund E. , Lundin C. , Hertervig E. , Kongstad O. , Alders M. , Platonov P.
Published: September 2013

Background

Andersen‐Tawil syndrome (ATS) is a rare inherited multisystem disorder associated with mutations in KCNJ2 and low prevalence of life‐threatening ventricular arrhythmias. Our aim was to describe the clinical course of ATS in a family, in which the proband survived aborted cardiac arrest (ACA) and genetic screening revealed a previously unknown mutation (c.271_282del12[p.Ala91_Leu94del]) in the KCNJ2 gene.

Methods

A cascade family screening was performed in a 5‐generation family after identification of the KCNJ2 mutation in the proband. Subsequently, 10 of 21 screened individuals appeared to be mutation carriers (median age 38 [range 10–75] years, 3 female).  Mutation carriers underwent clinical examination including biochemistry panel, cardiac ultrasound, Holter ECG, and exercise stress test.

Results

(1) At baseline, 2 patients had survived ACA, 3 had syncope or presyncopal attacks, and 2 reported palpitations. Exercise‐induced nonsustained bidirectional ventricular tachycardia was documented in 4 patients, 2 received implantable cardioverter‐defibrillators (ICD) for primary prevention and 2 for secondary prevention. (2) During follow‐up, 1 primary prevention and 1 secondary prevention patient received in total 4 adequate ICD shocks. Life‐threatening ventricular arrhythmias were documented during childhood in 5 of 10 mutation carriers. (3) All mutation carriers presented with characteristic mild dysmorphic features. Only 1 patient suffered from periodic paralysis. All had normal serum potassium level at repeated assessments and none had any other extracardiac disease manifestation.

Conclusion

Our findings suggest that the novel KCNJ2 mutation is associated with a predominantly cardiac phenotype of Andersen‐Tawil syndrome with high propensity to life‐threatening ventricular arrhythmias presenting from childhood and young adulthood.
Hybrid Solar and Coal-Fired Steam Power Plant Based on Air Preheating
Authors: Deng Shimin
Published: September 2013

In this paper, a hybrid solar and coal-fired steam power plant with secondary air preheating is proposed, which has much higher thermal efficiency than existing hybrid solar and coal-fired power generation systems. Five cases in total are modeled using GateCycle™. The simulation indicates that the solar-to-power efficiency of the new system is 5.5–6.5% points higher than solar-feedwater (HP) systems. The performance of the base case is compared with other cases to identify the potentials of the new system. Thermodynamic analysis is carried out and bleed steam heat-to-power conversion ratios are calculated for comparison. In addition, boiler operating parameters are investigated and fuel saving mode and power boost mode are compared.