bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Assessment of critical failure factors (CFFs) of Lean Six Sigma in real life scenario
Authors: Sreedharan V. Raja , V. Gopikumar , Nair Smitha , Chakraborty Ayon , Antony Jiju 
Published: October 2018

Purpose
Many projects focus on the reliable operation of the activities in the project. Any failure in the process activities leads to major problems resulting in waste, defects, equipment damage, which has a direct impact on the consumers. In addition, Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is not new to this issue. LSS projects have faced an interruption in the process flow and unforeseen defects. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to identify the vital failure factors of LSS projects.

Design/methodology/approach
Through extant literature review, the researchers found 44 critical failure factors (CFFs) of LSS. Using the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) SIMOS approach, the decision makers’ (DMs) rating and weight for each factor were collected. Moreover, the study was conducted in both the manufacturing and service industries to identify the impact of CFFs in LSS projects.

Findings
CFFs and their evaluation have received little attention in the literature. Most of the previous studies deal only with the identification of the success factors in general. Therefore, the study identified 44 CFFs and ranked them through DMs. In addition, the TOPSIS SIMOS approach ranked the vital failure factors enabling the management to avert the LSS project from failures.

Research limitations/implications
The study focused on project failures due to CFFs of LSS. Nevertheless, it did not consider other failure factors of project and knowledge management. Further, the sample used to test the approach was considerably small. Therefore, the study can be repeated with significant samples and the vital failure factors compared.

Practical implications
In real-life application, all the parameters in the LSS project need to be understood in a better manner. In such a condition, the practitioner needs to know that the project never fails due to the CFFs and TOPSIS SIMOS approach can prevent the LSS project failures.

Originality/value
The study applied TOPSIS SIMOS approach to rank the CFFs in an LSS project, which is first of its kind and aids the practitioners to make the right decisions in the business environment.
Performance measurement in the natural gas industry
Authors: Yusuf Yahaya , Gunasekaran Angappa , Papadopoulos Thanos , Auchterlounie Wendy , Hollomah Delphine , Menhat Masha 
Published: October 2018

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop a performance measurement model for the entire supply chain that includes balanced set of performance measures.Design/methodology/approachThe conceptual model was validated empirically in case companies through semi-structured interviews and content analysis of documents.FindingsPerformance measures are important to companies in the natural gas (NG) supply chain to assess performance against set objectives in order to identify loopholes in performance. This is important in order to remain competitive. The research found that both financial and non-financial performance measures are employed by companies to measure performance. The results also indicate that six performance criteria of the conceptual model are vital to the NG supply chain. In addition, all identified measures under each of criteria impact on performance of the supply chain with customer service and financial criteria considered as most important.Research limitations/implicationsThe empirical data collected from the NG supply chain in Ghana were relatively small; however, additional information was obtained from company data and relevant magazines. Also, getting through to specific target participant was a challenge due to busy work schedule but, in case companies where it proved impossible, other staff who were also involved in supply chain were interviewed instead.Practical implicationsThis research provides a useful source of information on performance measures for practitioners in the NG industry who wish to measure performance of their supply chain. It also provides areas from which further and additional research can be carried out.Originality/valueThis research provides performance measures for the NG supply chain of Ghana. Typically, performance measures have been evaluated in discrete manufacturing supply chain, petroleum industry supply chain and oil industry supply chain. This research expanded on ideas from these studies and applied them in the NG industry.
Innovation driven ecosystem for quality skill development in India
Authors: Shrotriya Shishir , Dhir Sanjay , Sushil  
Published: October 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate and analyze the challenges of quality skill development in complex and large economies like India and develop innovative processes of improving employability.

Design/methodology/approach
The problem areas and gaps have been identified through literature survey and published reports by governmental agencies on employability and quality skill development in India. The research focuses on prevalent challenges for large-scale skill development and utilizes TRIZ (Russian acronym for “Theory of Inventive Problem Solving”) for finding innovative solutions to the grand challenge of employability.

Findings
The applied research methodology in the paper leads to a model for the “Innovation driven ecosystem for quality skill development” and also defines the role and responsibilities of each stakeholders in the ecosystem.

Research limitations/implications
Solutions derived through TRIZ are qualitative in nature. The actual implication of solution needs to be tested after implementation. Further, intangible costs incurred, and harmful and useful effects cannot be easily quantified.

Practical implications
The parameter mapping for the TRIZ matrix was undertaken in this paper and this methodology when applied to other problem statements renders an organized process for improving total quality and innovative process management. The inventive principles were applied to find solution to contradictions and arrive at an integrated ecosystem which binds all stakeholders efficiently, to generate higher employability. The innovative solutions derived through the process are applicable to policy makers, researchers and practitioners.

Social implications
The process of improving employability through quality skill development, benchmarked by the TRIZ methodology can have far reaching social implications.

Originality/value
The research extends the body of knowledge of TRIZ modeling concepts in areas other than engineering, and depicts a unique total quality methodology which can be easily applied for other problem-solving contexts. The contribution can serve as a reference technique/tool for improving reliability and quality through a methodical process of working out innovative solutions to solve operational problems.
Characterising performance measurement systems as used in SMEs: a field study
Authors: Marchand Marie , Raymond Louis 
Published: October 2018

Purpose
As calls have been made to characterize and theorise performance measurement systems (PMS) and as these systems are highly contextualised because of their mission-critical nature, the purpose of this paper is to generate empirically-valid and useful findings with regard to their characterisation as information technology artefacts through an approach founded upon the user’s perspective.

Design/methodology/approach
Using both qualitative and quantitative data collection approaches, the authors conducted a field study through extensive interviews in situ with the owner-managers of 16 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Findings
The PMS are characterised, from their users’ point of view, in terms of their functional attributes as information systems dedicated to the management of organisational performance, that is, as being either operational, functional, managerial or organisational systems.

Research limitations/implications
Having modelled the PMS artefact in terms of its artefactual dimensions and features, the authors have empirically validated a characterisation approach that allows researchers to circumscribe this artefact within its specific usage context and to identify its salient attributes as study variables.

Practical implications
The research findings provide an empirical basis for the design and evaluation of PMS that is coherent with the specific context of their use in SMEs.

Originality/value
This study validates a novel and demonstrably useful artefactual perspective to characterize and theorise PMS as objects of empirical research.
Information management – a skills gap?
Authors: Kolding Marianne , Sundblad Martin , Alexa Jan , Stone Merlin , Aravopoulou Eleni , Evans Geraint 
Published: October 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore very recent data about how large organizations are dealing with a shortage of information and communications technology (ICT) specialists, in terms of its implications for information management.

Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on qualitative interview-based research with 11 large European companies, with an estimated ICT workforce of around 400,000 (about 14 per cent of ICT professionals in Europe), covering hiring, retention and upskilling of ICT staff, and expectations concerning graduates from European universities. These data are combined with International Data Corporation (IDC) analyst reports on the demand for different categories of ICT products and services, and data from the authors’ consulting work.

Findings
Larger organizations expect hiring to be a challenge, with strong competition for talent, whether from existing users or from the many rapidly digitalizing companies – digitalizing their organizations; their products and services; and their relationships with customer, suppliers and business partners. Upskilling and retraining workforces is seen by large organizations as a better approach than hiring, allowing them to create the right skills balance and retain their workers better. However, softer skills, such as communication and problem solving, are seen as just as important. ICT workers will benefit from a lifelong approach to learning, acquiring new skills and adapting existing skills. Many ICT companies have created academies for developing employee skills and certifications related to their own technologies, while the education sector has been working on creating curricula (alone or sometimes in partnerships with vendors) to improve graduate employability.

Research limitations/implications
The research is based on a small sample of large companies. The situation may be different in other companies and smaller organizations.

Practical implications
Organizations can cope with the skills shortage by anticipating and working with the market forces rather than trying to oppose them.

Social implications
ICT employees will show the way for employees in other sectors where skills are scarce, by demonstrating how to reinvent themselves as the skills needed change.

Originality/value
This paper demonstrates that employers have changed their expectations of universities. They expect less that graduates will be ICT-employment ready, and more that they will have the skills to make and keep themselves employment ready. This has significant implications for university course design.
Professional development: investigating the relationships between employee motives, learning opportunities, and activities
Authors: Dutton Kelly 
Published: October 2018

Purpose
This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

Design/methodology/approach
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Findings
Employees are increasingly becoming facilitators of their own professional career path and development. A highly motivated employee wanting to learn and train for their own personal development will be more aware of potential learning opportunities available to them, and will be more inclined to engage in them. For improved productivity and success, organizations need both engaged and committed employees and to offer a range of learning opportunities.

Practical implications
The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations.

Originality/value
The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.
Do brands compete or coexist? A response to the responses
Authors: Koschmann Anthony , Sheth Jagdish 
Published: October 2018

Purpose
This paper aims to respond to the responses made by Aaker, Keller and Tellis to “Do brands compete or coexist? How persistence of brand loyalty segments the market”.

Design/methodology/approach
This paper is a response to the comments of Aaker, Keller and Tellis.

Findings
The paper finds the comments by Aaker, Keller and Tellis recognize the role of innovation for mature brands to maintain relevance and, by extension, loyalty.

Research limitations/implications
Scholars are encouraged to question conventional wisdom (such as brands compete head-to-head) and build their case for important ideas with strong arguments.

Originality/value
This paper suggests that only through innovation can mature brands hold on to loyal customers. Becoming the relevant brand in a given product space is challenging, but possible through evolutionary and revolutionary innovation of the brand architecture.
The influences of transformational leadership on employee employability
Authors: Yizhong Xie , Baranchenko Yevhen , Lin Zhibin , Lau Chi Keung , Ma Jie 
Published: October 2018

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating role of job characteristics and social exchange in transformational leadership (TFL) and employability relationship.Design/methodology/approachThe sample is composed of 760 participants employed in Yangtze Delta and Pearl River Delta in China. The participants have worked under their line manager for more than one year. In order to better prevent data from possible common method bias, two waves of surveys (in 2014) on a stratified sample, included a mix of industries, such as construction, manufacturing, finance, insurance and communications, were used to investigate the proposed relationship between TFL, job characteristics, social exchange and employability.FindingsThe research has empirically tested the relationship between TFL and employability. While previous research has analyzed the relationship between them, the authors have enriched existing literature by exploring the mediating factors and illustrating the importance of indirect effects. Besides the direct effect, the results of this study showed that TFL could also improve employees’ employability through job demands, skill discretion, decision authority, perceived organizational support and team–member exchange, but not leader–member exchange.Originality/valueThe study opens up a debate around the employability of employees as it stands apart from the performance measurement. The authors believe that this new mediating model can provide an insight into complex mechanisms of employability enhancement from the perspective of leader development.
Challenges to the Omohundro–Bostrom framework for AI motivations
Authors: Häggström Olle 
Published: October 2018

PurposeThis paper aims to contribute to the futurology of a possible artificial intelligence (AI) breakthrough, by reexamining the Omohundro–Bostrom theory for instrumental vs final AI goals. Does that theory, along with its predictions for what a superintelligent AI would be motivated to do, hold water?Design/methodology/approachThe standard tools of systematic reasoning and analytic philosophy are used to probe possible weaknesses of Omohundro–Bostrom theory from four different directions: self-referential contradictions, Tegmark’s physics challenge, moral realism and the messy case of human motivations.FindingsThe two cornerstones of Omohundro–Bostrom theory – the orthogonality thesis and the instrumental convergence thesis – are both open to various criticisms that question their validity and scope. These criticisms are however far from conclusive: while they do suggest that a reasonable amount of caution and epistemic humility is attached to predictions derived from the theory, further work will be needed to clarify its scope and to put it on more rigorous foundations.Originality/valueThe practical value of being able to predict AI goals and motivations under various circumstances cannot be overstated: the future of humanity may depend on it. Currently, the only framework available for making such predictions is Omohundro–Bostrom theory, and the value of the present paper is to demonstrate its tentative nature and the need for further scrutiny.
Dissecting knowledge hiding: a note on what it is and what it is not
Authors: Issac Abraham Cyril , Baral Rupashree 
Published: October 2018

Purpose
There are always ways of giving answers without actually giving them. This is highly visible across different organizations these days. When the emphasis is on openness and knowledge sharing, there is an equivalent construct which takes up a totally different position known as knowledge hiding. The purpose of this paper is to decipher this novel construct knowledge hiding and to understand how unique and different it is from other prominent organizational behaviors.

Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws from published literature on knowledge hiding research to illustrate the uniqueness of the construct within organizational contexts and possible knowledge management strategies.

Findings
The paper dissects the construct knowledge hiding in organizations, illustrates how different it is from other prominent organizational behaviors, identifies the strategic factors engendering knowledge hiding, and warrants the effective addressal of the same.

Practical implications
The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations.

Originality/value
The most critical element in the knowledge management process is not to facilitate knowledge sharing rather prevent inherent knowledge hiding. This paper attempts to address different dimensions of knowledge hiding and how to properly understand, analyze, and master the construct of knowledge hiding for organizational benefit.
The Kyoto Protocol and CO2 emission: is India still hibernating?
Authors: Bhat Aaqib Ahmad , Mishra Prajna Paramita 
Published: October 2018

Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between CO2 emission and its core determinants, namely, economic growth, energy consumption and trade openness in the pre- and post-Kyoto Protocol era in the Indian economy.

Design/methodology/approach
The study uses the ARDL bounds test to analyze the long-run and short-run empirical relationship between the interested variables for the time period 1971-2013. A dummy variable representing the Kyoto Protocol regime has been included to examine the likely impact of international climate policies (Kyoto Protocol) in controlling and reducing CO2 emission in India.

Findings
The empirical results indicate the possibility of increase in CO2 emission from India even after the Kyoto Protocol regime. Evidence of inverted U-shaped relationship between CO2 emission and economic growth (EKC hypothesis) has been confirmed. However, compared to increase in CO2 emission, the magnitude of decrease due to improvement in economic growth is relatively lesser. Energy consumption and trade openness are also found to increase CO2 emission.

Research limitations/implications
The results indicate that there is a lack of commitment on the part of India to curtail CO2 emission, which can be disastrous for future prosperity. Financing the renewable electricity generation, R&D subsidy and tax-free renewable energy seems to be imperative to address this catastrophic problem.

Originality/value
This study is the first attempt to analyze the impact of international climate policy (Kyoto Protocol) on CO2 emission by incorporating a fixed dummy in the ARDL specifications.
Credit risk management
Authors: Akram Hassan , Rahman Khalil ur 
Published: October 2018

PurposeThis study aims to examine and compare the credit risk management (CRM) scenario of Islamic banks (IBs) and conventional banks (CBs) in Pakistan, keeping in view the phenomenal growth of Islamic banking and its future implications.Design/methodology/approachA sample of five CBs and four IBs was chosen out of the whole banking industry for the study. Secondary data obtained from the banks’ annual financial reports for 13 years, starting from 2004 to 2016, were analyzed. Multiple regression, correlation and descriptive analysis were used in the examination of the data.FindingsThe results show that loan quality (LQ) has a positive and significant impact on CRM for both IBs and CBs. Asset quality (AQ), on the other hand, has a negative impact on CRM in the case of IBs, but has a significantly positive relation with CRM in the case of CBs. The impact of 16 ratios measuring LQ and AQ have also been individually checked on CRM, by making use of a regression model using a dummy variable of financial crises for robust comparison among CBs and IBs. The model proved significant, and CRM performance of IBs was observed to be better than that of CBs. Moreover, the mean average value of financial ratios used as a measuring tool for these variables shows that the CRM performance of IBs operating in Pakistan was better than that of CBs over the period of the study.Practical implicationsThe research findings are expected to facilitate bankers, investors, academics and policy makers to build a better understanding of CRM practices as adopted by CBs and IBs. The findings would be useful in formulating policy measures for the progress of the banking industry in Pakistan.Originality/valueThis research is unique in terms of its approach toward analyzing and comparing CRM performance of CBs and IBs. Such work has not been carried out before in the Pakistani banking industry.