bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The effect of clean development mechanism projects on human resource management practices in Brazil
Authors: Fernández Luz , Ventura Andrea Cardoso , Andrade Jose Célio , Lumbreras Julio , Cobo-Benita Jose Ramon 
Published: August 2017

PurposeThe clean development mechanism (CDM) project is a cost-effective instrument to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to transfer technology and capital from industrialized to developing countries. HRM practices are important sustainable development co-benefits of CDM projects and Brazil is the third largest CDM project developer in the world. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the HRM practices declared by Brazilian CDM projects and how these practices have been, in fact, implemented by the proponents of these projects.Design/methodology/approachA mixed methodology was developed, based especially on qualitative and quantitative methods, in the Brazilian context.FindingsThe authors found that CDM activities are improving recruitment, human resource participation and training practices in Brazilian companies, influencing the integration of environmental management into HRM practices – green HRM. In addition, the study presents hints of interesting avenues to explore in further studies. For example, why is it that some organizations are able to change the routines associated with organizational learning and/or culture while others are not.Originality/valueThe overall results suggested that there is further potential within GHG emissions reduction projects to improve green HRM.
Third-party logistics providers (TPLs) and environmental sustainability practices in developing countries
Authors: El Baz Jamal , Laguir Issam 
Published: August 2017

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the environmental sustainability practices of third-party logistics providers (TPLs) in a developing country and analyze the efforts made by TPLs to implement green practices through a case study of Moroccan TPLs.Design/methodology/approachThis qualitative case study of Moroccan TPLs was conducted using an interview guide.FindingsThe findings indicate that the internal and external drivers motivate TPLs to implement green practices while internal and external obstacles hinder them. The authors identified two groups of TPLs, each with a specific environmental sustainability approach. The results indicate also that environmental sustainability is at an early stage of development in Moroccan TPLs. Based on these findings, the authors were able to develop several propositions for further research. It is suggested that TPLs market coverage can influence positively their green initiative; the lack of collaboration and partners involvement hinders TPLs environmental initiatives; and the lack of clear environmental strategy limits TPLs environmental sustainability initiatives.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has some limitations that provide future research opportunities. Because this study is qualitative, further statistical support is needed to justify wider generalization of its findings. The possibility of generalizing the present findings to countries beyond Morocco is limited by the fact that data were collected exclusively there. Studies might therefore do well to investigate TPLs in developing countries other than Morocco to increase the external validity of the results. Also, the research could be expanded by taking into account how shippers or client companies collaborate with TPLs to improve sustainability initiatives.Practical implicationsThe results can be used to inform companies about environmental sustainability initiatives that have been implemented or to identify practices that can be adopted.Originality/valueThe relevant literature has centered on advanced countries, and few studies have been conducted in the logistics market. Research on the sustainable initiatives of TPLs in developing countries in general and African countries in particular is sparse. This paper addresses this gap by investigating the sustainable practices of TPLs in Morocco.
Re-examining manufacturing strategy from knowledge advantages
Authors: Wang Jue-Fan , Tarn David D.C. 
Published: August 2017

PurposeDuring this current era of the knowledge economy, knowledge activities have greatly impacted manufacturing activities, with knowledge being treated as a critical factor that creates and sustains competitive advantages. Past studies tended to relate knowledge works with organizational tasks and assumed that knowledge workers implement those tasks to achieve organizational goals. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to employ the perspective of task domain as the basis to clarify the impact of manufacturing task domains on the manufacturing strategy, as well as the mediating effects of knowledge advantage on such an impact.Design/methodology/approachThe authors follow Becerra-Fernandez and Sabherwal’s (2001) task which focus/task breadth dichotomy as the basis to define market-based task domains, employs Leonard-Barton’s (1995) T-shaped skill as the theoretical base to construct knowledge advantages, i.e., knowledge depth (I-shaped skill), diversity (hyphened skill), and convergence (T-shaped skill), and uses the conventional typology to measure the manufacturing strategy (i.e. cost, quality, flexibility, and delivery). The empirical study is conducted via a questionnaire survey and selects Taiwan’s top 600 manufacturers as the population and accordingly collects 131 effective observations.FindingsThe empirical evidence indicates that firms’ priorities on cost and delivery are positively caused by the focus orientation of the tasks, while their priorities on quality and flexibility are positively caused by both focus and diversity orientations of the tasks. The results also signify that knowledge advantages perform complete mediation on the previous relationships. In more detail, knowledge depth presents mediation on focus orientation, and knowledge convergence exhibits mediating effects both on focus and breadth orientations. The statistics point out that knowledge depth has the highest impact on the manufacturing strategy, but knowledge diversity fails to significantly explain the manufacturing strategy.Originality/valueLiterature assumed that knowledge activities are task-driven issue; this study hence examines knowledge advantage based on the task domain perspective to clarify the architecture and contents of knowledge advantages.
Supply chain collaboration for ERP implementation
Authors: Li Yulong , Wu Feng , Zong Wei , Li Bo 
Published: August 2017

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop and empirically test a conceptual framework to analyze how inter-organizational knowledge sharing facilitates enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation.

Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from a 2014 survey on 283 Chinese companies. Structural equation modeling was used to test the structural model of the framework.

Findings
The results of the study indicated that organizational preparedness (in terms of internal culture, organizational structure, availability of resources, and technological capabilities), positive benefits and costs perception, and external influences (in terms of environmental uncertainty, competitive pressure, and partner readiness) would facilitate inter-organizational knowledge sharing, which in turn, would enhance ERP implementation effectiveness.

Research limitations/implications
Convenience samples from an author’s MBA classes were used in the survey, and a single respondent from each organization answering all questions for such complicated issues also posed the risk of measurement bias and inaccuracy.

Practical implications
The study provided evidences to practitioners about how organizations should collaborate with supply chain partners at a full scale in knowledge generation, maintenance, dissemination, and application in order to enhance their effectiveness on ERP implementation.

Originality/value
ERP projects are predominately observed in existing research as internal initiatives that companies take independently within their own organizational boundaries. This study represents one of the early large-scale empirical efforts to investigate ERP implementation from an inter-firm supply chain collaboration perspective. Additional contribution includes some interesting empirical evidences on the current state of ERP utilization in the Chinese market.
The role of employee empowerment in the implementation of continuous improvement
Authors: Hirzel Ann-Kathrin , Leyer Michael , Moormann Jürgen 
Published: August 2017

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand the role of increasing employees’ level of continuous improvement (CI) empowerment, i.e. employees’ knowledge and understanding of CI, the possibility of open communication and support from the work environment regarding CI, in the implementation of CI over time.

Design/methodology/approach
Based on the theory of structural empowerment, the authors test the research question using evidence from a case study in a European financial services provider. Data are gathered with questionnaires on a team level and cover a period of 2.5 years including 780 participants.

Findings
The findings show that after conducting a CI programme in the case, there is a significant increase in employees’ CI empowerment over time, which has a positive but time-lagged relationship with the level of CI implementation.

Research limitations/implications
Implications are that CI empowerment can be created sustainably and is an important factor in establishing CI in a company, but that it takes time until empowerment leads to changes in behaviour. However, it has to be considered that these implications are solely derived from empirical results from a single company.

Practical implications
Financial service providers should invest in establishing CI empowerment and consider a delay in realising measurable benefits in terms of the level of CI implementation.

Originality/value
This paper is the first empirical study to examine the relationship between employee CI empowerment and the implementation of CI from a longitudinal perspective.
Heavyweight extension to the UML class diagram metamodel for modeling context aware systems in ubiquitous computing
Authors: Boudjemline Haider , Touahria Mohamed , Boubetra Abdelhak , Kaabeche Hamza 
Published: August 2017

Purpose
The development of context-aware applications in ubiquitous environments depends not only on the user interactions but also on several context parameters. The handling of these parameters is a fundamental problem in these systems. The key purpose of this work is to enrich the unified modeling language (UML) class diagram with new constructs to provide a universal model capable of coping with the context-awareness concerns.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors provide a review of existing context handling approaches. Afterward, they relied on the UML extensibility mechanisms to propose a heavyweight extension for the UML class diagram. This generic approach allows describing the different context parameters since the modeling phase.

Findings
Existing solutions for context handling apply the contextual constraints on finished applications or tend to be dependent on a specific development process. This paper presents a solution based on UML, which allows dealing with context since the modeling phase, and independently of development processes. This proposal is implemented as an eclipse editor and illustrated through a case study in the healthcare field.

Originality/value
This paper addresses the problem of context handling, and it presents a review of the foremost existing solutions. The paper also presents a heavyweight extension for the UML class diagram, which consists in enriching it with additional constructs, capable of monitoring how applications are linked to context parameters and how the values of these parameters may affect the application behavior.
A survey and comparative analysis of the various routing protocols of Internet of Things
Authors: Agnihotri Shailja , Ramkumar K.R. 
Published: August 2017

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into various swarm intelligence-based routing protocols for Internet of Things (IoT), which are currently available for the Mobile Ad-hoc networks (MANETs) and wireless sensor networks (WSNs). There are several issues which are limiting the growth of IoT. These include privacy, security, reliability, link failures, routing, heterogeneity, etc. The routing issues of MANETs and WSNs impose almost the same requirements for IoT routing mechanism. The recent work of worldwide researchers is focused on this area.

Design/methodology/approach
The paper provides the literature review for various standard routing protocols. The different comparative analysis of the routing protocols is done. The paper surveys various routing protocols available for the seamless connectivity of things in IoT. Various features, advantages and challenges of the said protocols are discussed. The protocols are based on the principles of swarm intelligence. Swarm intelligence is applied to achieve optimality and efficiency in solving the complex, multi-hop and dynamic requirements of the wireless networks. The application of the ant colony optimization technique tries to provide answers to many routing issues.

Findings
Using the swarm intelligence and ant colony optimization principles, it has been seen that the protocols’ efficiency definitely increases and also provides more scope for the development of more robust, reliable and efficient routing protocols for the IoT.

Research limitations/implications
The existing protocols do not solve all reliability issues and efficient routing is still not achieved completely. As of now no techniques or protocols are efficient enough to cover all the issues and provide the solution. There is a need to develop new protocols for the communication which will cater to all these needs. Efficient and scalable routing protocols adaptable to different scenarios and network size variation capable to find optimal routes are required.

Practical implications
The various routing protocols are discussed and there is also an introduction to new parameters which can strengthen the protocols. This can lead to encouragement of readers, as well as researchers, to analyze and develop new routing algorithms.

Social implications
The paper provides better understanding of the various routing protocols and provides better comparative analysis for the use of swarm-based research methodology in the development of routing algorithms exclusively for the IoT.

Originality/value
This is a review paper which discusses the various routing protocols available for MANETs and WSNs and provides the groundwork for the development of new intelligent routing protocols for IoT.
Medicine, madness and murderers: the context of English forensic psychiatric hospitals
Authors: McDonald Ruth , Furtado Vivek , Völlm Birgit 
Published: August 2017

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to add to the understanding of context by shedding light on the relationship between context and organisational actors’ abilities to resolve ongoing challenges.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors used qualitative data collection (interviews and focus groups with staff and site visits to English forensic psychiatry hospitals) and the analysis was informed by Lefebvre’s writings on space.

Findings
Responses to ongoing challenges were both constrained and facilitated by the context, which was negotiated and co-produced by the actors involved. Various (i.e. societal and professional) dimensions of context interacted to create tensions, which resulted in changes in service configuration. These changes were reconciled, to some extent, via discourse. Despite some resolution, the co-production of context preserved contradictions which mean that ongoing challenges were modified, but not resolved entirely.

Originality/value
The paper highlights the importance of viewing context as co-produced in a continuous manner. This helps us to delineate and understand its dynamic nature and its relationship with the everyday actions and beliefs of the organisational actors concerned.
Bringing humanity into view: action research with Qatar’s ambulance service
Authors: Coleman Gill , Wiggins Liz 
Published: August 2017

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to argue for the widening of attention in healthcare improvement efforts, to include an awareness of the humanity of people who work in the sector and an appreciation of the part human connection plays in engagement around good quality work. Theoretical frameworks and research approaches which draw on action-based, interpretive and systemic thinking are proposed, as a complement to current practices.

Design/methodology/approach
The paper describes the early stages of an action research (AR) project, which used the appreciative inquiry “4D” framework to conduct participative inquiry in Hamad Medical Corporation’s ambulance service in Qatar, in which staff became co-researchers.

Findings
The co-researchers were highly motivated to work with improvement goals as a result of their participation in the AR. They, and their managers, saw each other and the work in new ways and discovered that they had much to offer.

Research limitations/implications
This was a small-scale pilot project, from which findings must be considered tentative. The challenges of establishing good collaboration across language, culture and organisational divides are considerable.

Practical implications
Appreciative and action-oriented inquiry methods can serve not only to find things out, but also to highlight and give value to aspects of humanity in the workplace that are routinely left invisible in formal processes. This, in turn, can help with quality improvement.

Originality/value
This paper is a challenge to the orthodox way of viewing healthcare organisations, and improvement processes within them, as reliant on control rather than empowerment. An alternative is to actively include the agency, sense-making capacity and humanity of those involved.
The significance of unforeseen events in organisational ethnographic inquiry
Authors: Green Trevor , Swailes Stephen , Handley Janet 
Published: August 2017

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to emphasise the importance for the practicing ethnographer of responding to unforeseen events that occur during periods of data collection.

Design/methodology/approach
An analysis of four unforeseen events occurring during prolonged periods of study amongst workplace cleaners is undertaken and the changes in researcher acceptance resulting from the outcomes of these events are reported.

Findings
This paper shows how awareness of the possible incidence of unforeseen events and the ability to carefully yet spontaneously manage the ethnographer’s reaction to them can substantially influence the degree of acceptance achieved by the observer within the group under study.

Originality/value
Though the need for an ethnographer to get close to the participants in a study is well documented, detailed examples as described in this paper are rare. The documentation of the nature and effects of such episodes and how they unfold serve to enhance the credibility of the research.
“Confucian management” or a confused and epistemologically questionable view on Chinese management?
Authors: Friend Anthony 
Published: August 2017

PurposeIn the wake of the ongoing financial crisis, US managerialism has been denounced as a professional caste that has slowly served to erode the competitiveness of the US economy. In light of this, there is an increasing search for possible alternatives to US managerialism, with some authorities putting forward that one enviable alternative is “Confucian management”, which they claim is a means of organising in Chinese institutions that gets things done by pulling on the rich heritage of Ancient Chinese philosophy. The purpose of this paper is to interrogate “Confucian management”.Design/methodology/approachThis paper questions the common view of “Confucian management” through an ethnography of Baiyun University (a pseudonym) in South China, where the author worked as a “foreign” English lecturer for one academic year, and in order to do this the author draws on participant-observation and semi-structured interviews. Ethnography has long been associated with colonialism and has more recently been connected with post-colonialism, so in an attempt to decolonise the methodology, the author analyses the generated research data through a Chinese sensitive cultural framework.FindingsThis paper argues that “Confucian management” offers a confused and epistemologically questionable view on Chinese management. It points to some of the limitations of management and organisation studies brought about by claims being made without sufficient empirical evidence.Research limitations/implicationsThe focus is on “Confucian management” at Baiyun University so findings are specific to this empirical research site. It is also acknowledged that universities have a divergent form of management to other institutions. The paper’s intent is ideographic rather than nomothetic; therefore, no claims to generalisation are made.Originality/valueThe paper makes three substantive contributions. First, the empirical contribution is an ethnographic description of “Confucian management” at Baiyun University. Second, the methodological contribution attempts to decolonise methodology by analysing the generated research data through a Chinese sensitive cultural framework. Third, the epistemological contribution queries to what extent “Confucian management” as an idea that is enunciated from the Global North is able to effectively speak about a practice that is supposedly performed in the Global South.
Investor sentiment and US presidential elections
Authors: Colón-De-Armas Carlos , Rodriguez Javier , Romero Herminio 
Published: August 2017

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the shifts in investor sentiment around the last seven US presidential elections (1988 through 2012).

Design/methodology/approach
Investor sentiment is measured by changes in closed-end funds discounts, and the results are corroborated with three robustness tests, including an alternate measure of investor sentiment obtained from the survey conducted by the American Association of Individual Investors.

Findings
Closed­end funds discounts are significantly diminished from two weeks before a US presidential election to a week before the election, and persist until the week after the election, suggesting an increase in investors’ optimism during that period, particularly when a Democrat is elected president. More than the particular party prevailing, however, investors appear to be more interested in avoiding the entrenchment of power since the results suggest that they become optimistic when a change in the ruling party takes place, but become pessimistic when there is power continuity in the White House. The increase in investor optimism that is observed around the time of US presidential elections is not replicated during non-election years, which seems to corroborate that the elections are indeed driving the results.

Originality/value
This paper is the first to formally examine the relation between investor sentiment and US presidential elections using closed-end funds discounts as the measure for sentiment.