bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Knowledge management in supporting collaborative innovation community capacity building
Authors: An Xiaomi , Deng Hepu , Chao Lemen , Bai Wenlin 
Published: July 2014

Purpose– This paper aims to investigate the role of knowledge management in collaborative innovation and identifies the knowledge management approaches for supporting collaborative innovation community capacity building (CICCB) in organizations. The importance of collaborative innovation in developing organizational competitiveness is increasingly being recognized in both theory and practice worldwide. Collaborative innovation, however, is still under-explored from the trans-disciplinary perspective of knowledge management and community capacity building.Design/methodology/approach– A comprehensive review of the related literature in collaborative innovation and knowledge management is conducted. Three demands for CICCB, including trust building for enhancing the effectiveness, sustainability building for improving the efficiency and extensibility building for developing the competitiveness in organizations, are identified, which paves the way for the development of a holistic approach to effective CICCB.Findings– Three roles of knowledge management in supporting CICCB are identified, including the reformation of knowledge management for convergence in collaboration, the remediation of knowledge activities for synergy in communication and the reconfiguration of knowledge artifacts for the integration of knowledge management activities in connectivity. A holistic approach is proposed for effective CICCB in organizations, including the multi-dimensional convergence for trust building in collaboration, the multi-directional synergy for sustainability building in communication and the multi-layer integration for extensibility building in connectivity.Research limitations/implications– Insights about how organizations can better support CICCB through effective knowledge management for improving their competitiveness are provided based on the identification of the demand for CICCB and the role of knowledge management in collaborative innovation. The development of a holistic approach to effective CICCB can help organizations better utilize their limited resources for developing their competitiveness in today’s dynamic environment.Originality/value– This paper is the first step of a comprehensive study on the role of knowledge management in supporting CICCB in organizations in today’s dynamic environment. It provides a solid foundation for the investigation of the models, approaches and mechanisms for effective CICCB through knowledge management in organizations.
MBA at the cross road
Authors: Li-Hua Richard , Lu Lucy 
Published: July 2014

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to bridge the knowledge gap in designing MBA strategy between China and the West by examining the content, context and process of MBA delivery. This paper challenges the assumptions and pedagogical approach underpinning the current design and delivery of MBA programmes that were originally moulded with Western management history and development in the era of globalization. There is consensus that MBA was used to train business managers; however, nowadays, people are inclined to state that MBA is used to develop global business leaders or full-fledged global competitors. How can we develop global business leaders without a global vision when designing MBA strategy?Design/methodology/approach– Based on extensive literature review and critical analyses through the strategic management approach, this paper examines the status quo of current MBA programmes in the West and in China. This paper presents a conceptual framework that draws on the current MBA literature and on-going debates around management education and development in the West and in China.Findings– The designing strategy of MBA has been originally strongly influenced by Western ideology and ethos. Therefore, the difficulties of management knowledge transfer are often explained through culture acclimatization and emphasize has been on cultural divergence rather than convergence. With synthesis between Western and Eastern management identified, we argue that the appropriateness and effectiveness of the traditional philosophy of MBA designing strategy based on Western management history has been challenged in the 21st century. The perception has fuelled criticism of business schools in the post-recession. They have come under fire for allegedly failing in their obligations to educate socially responsible business leaders (Barker, 2010). This leads to rethinking of the philosophy and vision underpinning the MBA designing strategy. A new philosophical approach – integration of Western management with Eastern philosophy has been under scrutiny, which is necessary in business education to enable future business leaders to become full-fledged competitors in the global market.Originality/value– The output of this discussion helps to establish a conceptual framework which will provide strategic insight in enabling business/management school and MBA providers to address the current deficiency in MBA teaching and learning strategy and develop more appropriate arrangement when considering the design and development of a successful MBA programme in the 21st century.
Linking strategy with open innovation and performance in SMEs
Authors: Crema Maria , Verbano Chiara , Venturini Karen 
Published: July 2014

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to analyze the linkages between company’s strategy, open innovation and innovation performance, focusing on small and medium enterprises (SMEs). In more detail, the aim is to investigate the influence of firm strategy on the level of openness adopted and then the impact of open innovation on firm performance. Finally, the influence of context-specific variables (such as firm size, technology intensity, geographical area, experience of the company and technology turbulence) on the relations mentioned above will be verified.Design/methodology/approach– A survey has been conducted in the Italian manufacturing context and a database of 107 responses was obtained. The constructs of the research framework were created and validated using factor analysis; further, structural equation modeling was performed to verify the hypothesis about the studied relations.Findings– The obtained model confirmed most of the relations hypothesized, giving useful indications on how to define competitive strategy and coherent level of open innovation to pursue improved firm performance. Results highlight that firms, which pursue an innovative strategy are those who invest more on technical skills and core competencies. Companies who choose a strategy of diversification are likely to use, exclusively, managerial practices of open innovation, while firms focused on a strategy of efficiency are inclined toward open innovation practices and, to a lesser extent, to the development of core competencies.Originality/value– The main original contribution is the development of an integrated model that links company’s strategy, open innovation and innovation performance in SMEs.
Optimal decision methods in two-echelon logistic models
Authors: Watada Junzo , Waripan Thisana , Wu Berlin 
Published: July 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate optimal decision methods under a cooperative situation in two-echelon logistic models.

Design/methodology/approach
– The authors propose the optimal strategies of exporters in the three types of rival game behaviors: Stackelberg, Collusion, and Cournot, each of which provides the optimal decision for the duopolistic shippers and the oligopolistic forwarders in each scenario.

Findings
– From the empirical studies the paper finds that among three scenarios, the oligopolistic treatment of forwarders’ actions demonstrates that Stackelberg behavior can carry out the maximum profit, and Collusion game can achieve the maximum profit for the shippers.

Originality/value
– Proposed an optimal decision methods in two-echelon logistic models.
Alternative strategies to change negative output gaps rate in China
Authors: Xu Bing , Hu Xiaowen 
Published: July 2014

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to find alternative strategies to change negative output gaps in China.

Design/methodology/approach
– A path Philips curves approach is proposed to investigate output gaps, which develops hybrid Philips curves with the control variables of money, house prices and interest rates.

Findings
– An alternative strategy to stop the decline in output gaps rate is to perform interest rate, house price, and money growth rate about 3, 1 and 15 percent, respectively. The results also indicate that only one of monetary increase, changes in interest rates, and house price adjustments are difficult to change the negative output gap.

Practical implications
– Alternative strategies cannot only change the negative output gap, but also succeed in pushing the inflation rate down to 3 percent.

Originality/value
– This study provides a new path Philips curves to simulate how the macroscopic control variables influence output and inflation. It provides a useful insight for stopping the decline in output gaps.
A quantile regression forecasting model for ICT development
Authors: Hui-Kuang Yu Tiffany 
Published: July 2014

Purpose
– Because quantile regression gets more popular and provides more comprehensive interpretations, it is important to advance quantile regression for forecasting. By extending the convention quantile regression, the purpose of this paper is to propose a quantile regression-forecasting model to forecast information and communication technology (ICT) development.

Design/methodology/approach
– This paper proposes an approach to forecasting based on quantile regression method.

Findings
– Via quantile information criterion, the proposed approach can identify whether the independent variables are predictable. For those which are predictable, the proposed approach can be used to forecast these variables.

Practical implications
– The proposed approach is used to forecast ICT development. It can also be used to forecast other problem domains.

Originality/value
– Based on the empirical results, the proposed approach advances the application of quantile regression model to forecast. The applicability of quantile regression model is greatly enhanced.
Talent identification and development tools
Authors: Natacha Golik Mariela , Rita Blanco María 
Published: July 2014

Purpose
– This paper aims to contribute to talent management literature by examining empirically the relationship between talent identification and development tools.

Design/methodology/approach
– The study sample consisted of 112 Argentina-based companies. All participants completed an online survey containing a list of identification and development practices. Responses were analyzed with SPSS 19.

Findings
– Results show that companies running more talent identification processes (performance management and potential identification) make use of a greater number of development tools. Significant differences were observed in the use of all development tools analyzed, with the exception of formal education and job rotation. Results indicate that the presence of a Development Department encourages the implementation of identification and development tools.

Practical implications
– The study suggests that the better the quality of the information involved during the identification stage, the higher the contribution to development investment decisions. Companies should do well to rely on higher-quality diagnostic information to facilitate a better selection of development tools to fulfill specific objectives. The existence of a Development Department favors the implementation of a greater number of identification and development tools.

Originality/value
– This paper adds to fill a perceived gap in the literature investigating, empirically, the relationship between talent identification processes and development tools.
Occupational identity of staff and attitudes towards institutional closure
Authors: T. Vesala Hannu , Teittinen Antti , Heinonen Pilvikki 
Published: July 2014

Purpose
– Deinstitutionalization has impacts also on direct care workers and their work. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the attitudes of direct care workers towards the closure of the institution, and these attitudes’ relation to workers’ occupational identity.

Design/methodology/approach
– Data were collected by postal questionnaire before the closure of the institution. The respondents consisted of two groups: direct care workers of the institution (n=93) and direct care workers of community-based residential units run by the same organization (n=117).

Findings
– The results clearly show that direct care workers in the institution, as a group, were against the closure of the institution. This is quite understandable, because the closure will irrevocably affect their work and also private life. Although this opposing is evident, there was also variance in the attitudes within this group: some were more willing to accept the change, some were more against it. Those opposing the closure seemed to be more reluctant in adopting the new kind of identity as supporters of the self-determination of their clients and also they felt more insecure about their own competence.

Originality/value
– In deinstitutionalization research a staff perspective has not been very common. To successfully accomplish the change process it is important to take into account also the staff and how they experience the change. It would be far more beneficial to have staff promoting change than resisting it.
Ebola and Marburg virus diseases in Africa: Increased risk of outbreaks in previously unaffected areas?
Authors: Changula Katendi , Kajihara Masahiro , Mweene Aaron S. , Takada Ayato 
Published: July 2014

AbstractFiloviral hemorrhagic fever (FHF) is caused by ebolaviruses and marburgviruses, which both belong to the family Filoviridae. Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) are the most likely natural reservoir for marburgviruses and entry into caves and mines that they stay in has often been associated with outbreaks of MVD. On the other hand, the natural reservoir for ebola viruses remains elusive; however, handling of wild animal carcasses has been associated with some outbreaks of EVD. In the last two decades, there has been an increase in the incidence of FHF outbreaks in Africa, some being caused by a newly found virus and some occurring in previously unaffected areas such as Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, in which the most recent EVD outbreak occurred in 2014. Indeed, the predicted geographic distribution of filoviruses and their potential reservoirs in Africa includes many countries in which FHF has not been reported. To minimize the risk of virus dissemination in previously unaffected areas, there is a need for increased investment in health infrastructure in African countries, policies to facilitate collaboration between health authorities from different countries, implementation of outbreak control measures by relevant multi‐disciplinary teams and education of the populations at risk.
Individual and species‐specific traits explain niche size and functional role in spiders as generalist predators
Authors: Sanders Dirk , Vogel Esther , Knop Eva 
Published: July 2014

Summary

The function of a predator within a community is greatly based on its trophic niche, that is the number and the strength of feeding links. In generalist predators, which feed on a wide range of prey, the size and position of the trophic niche is likely determined by traits such as hunting mode, the stratum they occur in, their body size and age.

We used stable isotope analyses (13C and 15N) to measure the trophic niche size of nine spider species within a forest hedge community and tested for species traits and individual traits that influence stable isotope enrichment, niche size and resource use.

The spiders Enoplognatha, Philodromus, Floronia, and Heliophanus had large isotopic niches, which correspond to a more generalistic feeding behaviour. In contrast, Araneus, Metellina and Agelena, as top predators in the system, had rather narrow niches. We found a negative correlation between trophic position and niche size. Differences in trophic position in spiders were explained by body size, hunting modes and stratum, while niche size was influenced by hunting mode. In Philodromus, the size of the trophic niche increased significantly with age.

Fitting spiders to functional groups according to their mean body size, hunting mode and their habitat domain resulted in largely separated niches, which indicates that these traits are meaningful for separating functional entities in spiders. Functional groups based on habitat domain (stratum) caught the essential functional differences between the species with species higher up in the vegetation feeding on flying insects and herb and ground species also preying on forest floor decomposers.

Interestingly, we found a gradient from large species using a higher habitat domain and having a smaller niche to smaller species foraging closer to the ground and having a larger niche. This shows that even within generalist predators, such as spiders, there is a gradient of specialism that can be predicted by functional traits.
Species richness–productivity relationships of tropical terrestrial ferns at regional and local scales
Authors: Kessler Michael , Salazar Laura , Homeier Jürgen , Kluge Jürgen 
Published: July 2014

Summary

The species richness–productivity relationship (SRPR), by which the species richness of habitats or ecosystems is related to the productivity of the ecosystem or the taxon, has been documented both on regional and local scales, but its generality, biological meaning and underlying mechanisms remain debated.

We evaluated the SRPR and three mechanistic hypotheses using terrestrial ferns in 18 study plots along an elevational gradient (500–4000 m) in Ecuador. We measured annual increases in above‐ground biomass of 6175 fern individuals from 91 species over 2 years, and estimated plot‐level tree productivity from increases in above‐ground woody biomass of 560 trees. Analyses were conducted by (i) comparing plots along the elevational gradient (regional scale) and (ii) comparing plots within each elevational belt (local scale).

Fern diversity was related to the productivity of the fern assemblages, but not to above‐ground productivity of the trees. At the regional scale, we found a positive relationship of fern species richness to fern productivity that appeared to be determined by an increase in the number of fern individuals and niche availability. In contrast, at the local scale, this relationship was negative and likely driven by interspecific competition.

Synthesis. Plot diversity of ferns appears to be limited by the number of available niches and competition to occupy these niches. At the local scale, this is reflected in a negative SRPR probably driven by competition, whereas with increasing scale, the positive influence of productivity emerges. This represents the first evidence that productivity and competition affect the diversity of tropical herb assemblages at the plot scale.
How much exposure to English is necessary for a bilingual toddler to perform like a monolingual peer in language tests?
Authors: Cattani Allegra , Abbot‐Smith Kirsten , Farag Rafalla , Krott Andrea , Arreckx Frédérique , Dennis Ian , Floccia Caroline 
Published: July 2014

AbstractBackgroundBilingual children are under‐referred due to an ostensible expectation that they lag behind their monolingual peers in their English acquisition. The recommendations of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) state that bilingual children should be assessed in both the languages known by the children. However, despite these recommendations, a majority of speech and language professionals report that they assess bilingual children only in English as bilingual children come from a wide array of language backgrounds and standardized language measures are not available for the majority of these. Moreover, even when such measures do exist, they are not tailored for bilingual children.AimsIt was asked whether a cut‐off exists in the proportion of exposure to English at which one should expect a bilingual toddler to perform as well as a monolingual on a test standardized for monolingual English‐speaking children.Methods & ProceduresThirty‐five bilingual 2;6‐year‐olds exposed to British English plus an additional language and 36 British monolingual toddlers were assessed on the auditory component of the Preschool Language Scale, British Picture Vocabulary Scale and an object‐naming measure. All parents completed the Oxford Communicative Development Inventory (Oxford CDI) and an exposure questionnaire that assessed the proportion of English in the language input. Where the CDI existed in the bilingual's additional language, these data were also collected.Outcomes & ResultsHierarchical regression analyses found the proportion of exposure to English to be the main predictor of the performance of bilingual toddlers. Bilingual toddlers who received 60% exposure to English or more performed like their monolingual peers on all measures. K‐means cluster analyses and Levene variance tests confirmed the estimated English exposure cut‐off at 60% for all language measures. Finally, for one additional language for which we had multiple participants, additional language CDI production scores were significantly inversely related to the amount of exposure to English.Conclusions & ImplicationsTypically developing 2;6‐year‐olds who are bilingual in English and an additional language and who hear English 60% of the time or more, perform equivalently to their typically developing monolingual peers.
A Review of Poly(Lactic Acid)‐Based Materials for Antimicrobial Packaging
Authors: Tawakkal Intan S. M. A. , Cran Marlene J. , Miltz Joseph , Bigger Stephen W. 
Published: July 2014

AbstractPoly(lactic acid) (PLA) can be synthesized from renewable bio‐derived monomers and, as such, it is an alternative to conventional petroleum‐based polymers. Since PLA is a relatively new polymer, much effort has been directed toward its development in order to make it an acceptable and effective option to the more traditional petroleum‐based polymers. Commercially, PLA has received considerable attention in food packaging applications with a focus on films and coatings that are suitable for short shelf life and ready‐to‐eat food products. The potential for PLA to be used in active packaging has also been recognized by a number of researchers. This review focuses on the use of PLA in antimicrobial systems for food packaging applications and explores the engineering characteristics and antimicrobial activity of PLA films incorporated and/or coated with antimicrobial agents.
Utilization of a Maltotetraose‐Producing Amylase as a Whole Wheat Bread Improver: Dough Rheology and Baking Performance
Authors: Bae Woosung , Lee Sung Ho , Yoo Sang‐Ho , Lee Suyong 
Published: July 2014

AbstractA maltotetraose‐producing enzyme (G4‐amylase) was utilized to improve the baking performance of whole‐grain wheat flour. Whole‐grain bread dough prepared with G4‐amylase showed reduced water absorption and increased development time, while the dough stability was not affected. Also, the G4‐amylase‐treated samples exhibited lower Mixolab torque values than the control upon heating and cooling. Rheological measurements showed the decreased ratio of Rmax/E and increased tan δ, clearly demonstrating that the viscous characteristics of whole‐grain bread dough became dominant with increasing levels of G4‐amylase. The use of G4‐amylase produced whole‐grain wheat breads with a variety of maltooligosaccharides, primarily maltotetraose that positively contributed to the bread volume (1.2‐fold higher than the control). Moreover, G4‐amylase delayed the crumb firming of whole‐grain wheat bread during a 7‐d storage period, showing that it can function as an antiretrogradation agent to enhance the quality attributes of whole‐grain wheat bread.