bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Causality in information technology business value: a review
Authors: Daulatkar Sonal , Sangle Purnima S. 
Published: May 2015

Purpose
– Through a detailed review of Literature, the purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the state-of-the-art research about the process of information technology business value (ITBV) creation, a less-traversed direction in ITBV research, from the perspective of causality since a lack of causal reasoning may be disastrous for ITBV creation.

Design/methodology/approach
– With the help of eight keywords, ten databases were searched which fetched about 415 articles of which 22 were selected based on their relevance and proved as the base papers for classifying available literature. A further forward and reverse search fetched an additional 34 articles, resulting in a total of 56 articles which were reviewed in detail.

Findings
– The five main categories of literature which emerged are ITBV (General), ITBV benefits, mediating factors and synergy (which use of organization dynamic capability (ODC) as first stream of ITBV research), and IT-enabled organizational transformation (ITOT as second stream). ODC is fairly mature, however, ITOT will benefit from a further research. Research in the ITBV (General) category suggests the development of dynamic models as opposed to the prevalent static models of ITBV creation.

Research limitations/implications
– For the period 1990-2008, only the most important articles were included in the study and hence certain pre-2008 articles’ view might have been overlooked.

Practical implications
– The literature review will give practitioners a perspective to look at specific areas in the context of their organization to develop capabilities which will lead to enhanced ITBV creation.

Originality/value
– This review focusses on ITBV creation and helps move toward building of a dynamic holistic model of ITBV creation by providing only a bird’s eye view is provided of the most important articles from 1990 to 2008 but a comprehensive view of literature from 2008 to mid-2014.
Learning and behaviour: addressing the culture change conundrum: part two
Authors: Coulson-Thomas Colin 
Published: May 2015

Purpose– Calls for culture change often result from a desire to change certain behaviours. The purpose of this paper is to summarise some key findings of a five year investigation into quicker and more affordable routes to creating high-performance organisations. It suggests a practical and cost-effective way of quickly changing the behaviour of key work-groups independently of corporate culture which integrates working and learning and simultaneously achieves multiple corporate objectives.Design/methodology/approach– A programme of critical success factor, “issue” and other surveys was complemented with a five-year evaluation of more recent case studies to understand early adoptions of performance support and to assess their results and implications. The applications examined were discussed with the relevant technical architect and the results obtained corroborated with commissioner/user performance data and/or documented assessments/reactions.Findings– The use of performance support which can integrate learning and working represents an affordable way of changing the behaviour of particular and front-line work-groups independently of corporate culture. Changing a culture defined in terms of deeply held attitudes, values and beliefs is problematic, but required changes of behaviour can often be quickly accomplished using performance support, which can also address particular problems and deliver benefits for multiple stakeholders.Practical implications– Many general corporate culture change programmes, HR policies and associated training may be unnecessary and counter-productive if the aim is to quickly change specific behaviours in particular areas. They might also be problematic in organisations that need to embrace a diversity of cultures and encourage a variety of approaches and behaviours across different functions and business units. Performance support which integrates learning and working can be a cost-effective way of changing behaviour, ensuring compliance, enabling people to innovate and remain current and competitive, and delivering multiple objectives without requiring a change of culture or structure.Originality/value– Summarises the main findings of an investigation that has identified deficiencies of contemporary responses to a requirement to change certain behaviours that involve seeking to change a corporate culture and questions their practicality, desirability, time-scale and affordability. It presents an evidence-based alternative approach that is more affordable and can more quickly deliver changes of behaviour required and ensure compliance with relevant laws, regulations, policies and codes.
Supervisor support in transfer of training: looking back at past research
Authors: Ghosh Piyali , Chauhan Ragini , Rai Alka 
Published: May 2015

Purpose– Of the various factors directly or indirectly influencing transfer of training, supervisor support as a work environment variable is found to have diverse relationships with transfer, further complicated with the perspective of time. The purpose of this paper is to bring together findings from past research to have a better insight on the impact of supervisor support on training transfer.Design/methodology/approach– A qualitative approach has been adopted to review existing research on the selected constructs.Findings– Literature reveals divergent influences of supervisor support on transfer: some researchers have established a direct-indirect relationship, some opine a positive-negative relationship and few show mixed results. Usually the relation is found to be indirect when trainee characteristics have been used as mediators. The authors may infer that the influence of supervisor support on transfer is contextual and nothing can be said affirmatively on their relation.Practical implications– Supervisors can harness trainee characteristics by enhancing their motivation to learn and motivation to transfer. They can familiarize trainees with the programme, discuss how to apply newly learnt skills to jobs, set goals and provide timely feedback. Trainers should train supervisors about how to support trainees before, during and after training. Overall, organizations must structure the role of supervisors in a way that would ensure maximized training transfer and effective management of a training programme.Originality/value– This study provides a better understanding of the association between supervisor support and training transfer, taking into consideration all dimensions, namely positive or negative, direct or indirect and even mixed.
Safety coaching: a literature review of coaching in high hazard industries
Authors: Passmore Jonathan , Krauesslar Victoria , Avery Rachel 
Published: May 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to critically review the research literature on safety coaching, with a particularly focus towards work in safety critical environments such as oil and gas, manufacturing and driving.

Design/methodology/approach
– A literature review was undertaken of existing research, specifically in high-hazard industries, to assess whether safety coaching could be applied in the offshore oil and gas industry.

Findings
– The paper suggests that coaching may offer some potential in helping support learning, behaviour change and is consistent with feedback and development approaches used in behavioural-based safety.

Research limitations/implications
– Further research would be needed to test the value of coaching to this new environment.

Practical implications
– The paper informs practice on the development of coach training for safety coaching offshore.

Originality/value
– The paper offers a new understanding of the potential of safety coaching in a new area of practice.
A financial decision support framework for the appraisal of renewable energy infrastructures in developing economies
Authors: Kozlovski Eugene , Bawah Umar 
Published: May 2015

Purpose
– The paper aims to report on an integrated techno-economic framework for the performance analysis of energy production based on the renewable energy resources (RERs). Whilst the majority of existing studies have focussed on technical aspects of RER modelling, the proposed framework incorporates financial assessment into the process of appraising the alternatives of hydropower, wind energy and solar energy infrastructures. An approach to the optimal choice of RER deployment for a specific developing region is formulated and applied to Ghana.

Design/methodology/approach
– A model comprising technical and economic parameters was developed for analysing the investment rankings of different RERs and comparing them to that of conventional energy sources such as the natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) electric plant. The analysis also included the carbon cost and power generation capacity. The total life cycle costing and levelised cost of energy generated from each resource were modelled for three corporate ownership structures: a public utility that is not tax-liable (no-tax case); organisational power generation for internal use, ultimately concerned with its after-tax costs (after-tax case); and an independent power producer for the market, with before-tax revenues covering all costs (before-tax case).

Findings
– Using the empirical data from Ghana together with the proposed framework, it is shown that when carbon incentives are provided, the hydroelectric and wind conversion infrastructures can effectively compete with the conventional NGCC in this country, whilst with no carbon credit, NGCC still appears to be the most viable option.

Practical implications
– Policy-related recommendations on carbon incentives and preferential power purchase prices, which are critical for widespread RER deployment, can be directly derived from this research.

Originality/value
– The study represents a comprehensive decision-making tool that can be used in regulatory and investment analysis on the expansion of RER systems in the developing countries.
Customer perceived service quality, satisfaction and loyalty in Indian private healthcare
Authors: Kondasani Rama Koteswara Rao , Panda Rajeev Kumar 
Published: May 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to analyse how perceived service quality and customer satisfaction lead to loyalty towards healthcare service providers.

Design/methodology/approach
– In total, 475 hospital patients participated in a questionnaire survey in five Indian private hospitals. Descriptive statistics, factor analysis, regression and correlation statistics were employed to analyse customer perceived service quality and how it leads to loyalty towards service providers.

Finding
– Results indicate that the service seeker-service provider relationship, quality of facilities and the interaction with supporting staff have a positive effect on customer perception.

Practical implications
– Findings help healthcare managers to formulate effective strategies to ensure a better quality of services to the customers. This study helps healthcare managers to build customer loyalty towards healthcare services, thereby attracting and gaining more customers.

Originality/value
– This paper will help healthcare managers and service providers to analyse customer perceptions and their loyalty towards Indian private healthcare services.
Improving ED specimen TAT using Lean Six Sigma
Authors: Sanders Janet H , Karr Tedd 
Published: May 2015

Purpose
– Lean and Six Sigma are continuous improvement methodologies that have garnered international fame for improving manufacturing and service processes. Increasingly these methodologies are demonstrating their power to also improve healthcare processes. The purpose of this paper is to discuss a case study for the application of Lean and Six Sigma tools in the reduction of turnaround time (TAT) for Emergency Department (ED) specimens. This application of the scientific methodologies uncovered opportunities to improve the entire ED to lab system for the specimens.

Design/methodology/approach
– This case study provides details on the completion of a Lean Six Sigma project in a 1,000 bed tertiary care teaching hospital. Six Sigma’s Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control methodology is very similar to good medical practice: first, relevant information is obtained and assembled; second, a careful and thorough diagnosis is completed; third, a treatment is proposed and implemented; and fourth, checks are made to determine if the treatment was effective. Lean’s primary goal is to do more with less work and waste. The Lean methodology was used to identify and eliminate waste through rapid implementation of change.

Findings
– The initial focus of this project was the reduction of turn-around-times for ED specimens. However, the results led to better processes for both the internal and external customers of this and other processes. The project results included: a 50 percent decrease in vials used for testing, a 50 percent decrease in unused or extra specimens, a 90 percent decrease in ED specimens without orders, a 30 percent decrease in complete blood count analysis (CBCA) Median TAT, a 50 percent decrease in CBCA TAT Variation, a 10 percent decrease in Troponin TAT Variation, a 18.2 percent decrease in URPN TAT Variation, and a 2-5 minute decrease in ED registered nurses rainbow draw time.

Practical implications
– This case study demonstrated how the quantitative power of Six Sigma and the speed of Lean worked in harmony to improve the blood draw process for a 1,000 bed tertiary care teaching hospital. The blood draw process is a standard process used in hospitals to collect blood chemistry and hematology information for clinicians. The methods used in this case study demonstrated valuable and practical applications of process improvement methodologies that can be used for any hospital process and/or service environment.

Originality/value
– While this is not the first case study that has demonstrated the use of continuous process improvement methodologies to improve a hospital process, it is unique in the way in which it utilizes the strength of the project focussed approach that adheres more to the structure and rigor of Six Sigma and relied less on the speed of lean. Additionally, the application of these methodologies in healthcare is emerging research.
Event-triggered robust control for networked control systems with actuator failures and time-varying transmission delays
Authors: Pan Peng , Jiang Shun , Pan Feng 
Published: May 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is with robust control problem for event-triggered networked control systems (NCSs) with actuator failures and time-varying transmission delays.

Design/methodology/approach
– A random sequence is introduced to describe the actuator faults, and a novel event-triggering communication scheme is adopted in the sensor-to-controller channel. By taking the event-triggered mechanism and network transmission delay into consideration, a delay system model is constructed.

Findings
– Based on Lyapunov stability theory and free weighting matrix method, the feasibility criteria for co-designing both the controller gain and the trigger parameters are derived. Finally, a simulation example is exploited to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) approach.

Originality/value
– The introduced approach is interesting for NCSs with actuator failures and time-varying transmission delays.
Auto-regressive multiple-valued logic neurons with sequential Chua’s oscillator back-propagation learning for online prediction and synchronization of chaotic trajectories
Authors: Mozaffari Ahmad , Azad Nasser L. , Fathi Alireza 
Published: May 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to examine the structural and computational potentials of a powerful class of neural networks (NNs), called multiple-valued logic neural networks (MVLNN), for predicting the behavior of phenomenological systems with highly nonlinear dynamics. MVLNNs are constructed based on the integration of a number of neurons working based on the principle of multiple-valued logics. MVLNNs possess some particular features, namely complex-valued weights, input, and outputs coded by kth roots of unity, and a continuous activation as a mean for transferring numbers from complex spaces to trigonometric spaces, which distinguish them from most of the existing NNs.

Design/methodology/approach
– The presented study can be categorized into three sections. At the first part, the authors attempt at providing the mathematical formulations required for the implementation of ARX-based MVLNN (AMVLNN). In this context, it is indicated that how the concept of ARX can be used to revise the structure of MVLNN for online applications. Besides, the stepwise formulation for the simulation of Chua’s oscillatory map and multiple-valued logic-based BP are given. Through an analysis, some interesting characteristics of the Chua’s map, including a number of possible attractors of the state and sequences generated as a function of time, are given.

Findings
– Based on a throughout simulation as well as a comprehensive numerical comparative study, some important features of AMVLNN are demonstrated. The simulation results indicate that AMVLNN can be employed as a tool for the online identification of highly nonlinear dynamic systems. Furthermore, the results show the compatibility of the Chua’s oscillatory system with BP for an effective tuning of the synaptic weights. The results also unveil the potentials of AMVLNN as a fast, robust, and efficient control-oriented model at the heart of NMPC control schemes.

Originality/value
– This study presents two innovative propositions. First, the structure of MVLNN is modified based on the concept of ARX system identification programming to suit the base structure for coping with chaotic and highly nonlinear systems. Second, the authors share the findings about the learning characteristics of MVLNNs. Through an exhaustive comparative study and considering different rival methodologies, a novel and efficient double-stage learning strategy is proposed which remarkably improves the performance of MVLNNs. Finally, the authors describe the outline of a novel formulation which prepares the proposed AMVLNN for applications in NMPC controllers for dynamic systems.
The social assistance policy in urban China: a critical review
Authors: Zhang Haomiao 
Published: May 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to assess China’s urban social assistance policy, mainly by examining the findings of in-depth interviews with urban Dibao recipients in Chengdu about their experiences with social assistance, and by comparing what the social assistance offers with the urban poor households’ actual needs and vulnerabilities.Design/methodology/approach– In this study, the author interviewed 15 people from urban Dibao Households in Wuhou District and Qingyang District of Chengdu, China. The interviews were conducted from April to August in 2013, usually in their homes. The small sample naturally limits generalizations, however it can point to directions for future research.Findings– It is found out that urban Dibao which is the core of social assistance policy provides insufficient cash support and other special assistance programs are more of tokenistic which do not offer much help. Besides, due to lack of psychological aid, many recipients show negative and pessimistic attitudes toward life.Originality/value– Regarding the assessment of social assistance policy in China, the international literature has shown little interest. Several Chinese scholars have analyzed urban social assistance system, but they tend to examine or assess from the perspective of policy makers and focus on making policy suggestions. Thus, there is not much information about whether what the social assistance offers could meet the urban poor households’ actual needs and vulnerabilities. An interesting endeavor would be to explore and assess the urban social assistance policy from the perspective of the recipients, and this is exactly what this paper aims to do.
Welfare reform and the street level bureaucrat in homelessness services
Authors: Alden Sarah Louise 
Published: May 2015

Purpose
– Lipsky’s street level bureaucrat conceptual framework is employed to assist in understanding the ways in which statutory frontline homelessness practitioners are engaging with the current welfare reform agenda. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach
– Draws the street level bureaucrat framework. A national baseline survey of homelessness practitioners was followed by targeted qualitative interviews involving 12 local authorities in England.

Findings
– Homelessness practitioners are facing a twofold crisis due to an increase in service users and corresponding decrease in feasible housing options or resources to tackle this. It was reported that effective service provision for all who required it was becoming increasingly difficult, which in turn fostered an environment in which unlawful gatekeeping practices could thrive. Further, it was found that a service user’s position may be additionally weakened due to the new powers conferred in the Localism Act.

Research limitations/implications
– Qualitative data were limited to North East Authorities due to limited research resources.

Social implications
– The current austere climate is negatively impacting upon the delivery of statutory homelessness provision. Differing implementation of the Localism Act will lead to inequitable service outcomes.

Originality/value
– Application of the street level bureaucrat implementation framework to English homelessness services, a national survey of English frontline service delivery in an austere climate.
Roles of perceived value and individual differences in the acceptance of mobile coupon applications
Authors: Liu Fen , Zhao Xuefeng , Chau Patrick Y.K. , Tang Qing 
Published: May 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to examine how consumers’ value evaluation and personality factors influence consumers’ intention to adopt mobile coupon (M-coupon) applications in China. The moderating effect of gender on the relationships between personality factors and consumers’ adoption intention is also tested.

Design/methodology/approach
– This study conducted a survey to collect data from M-coupon application users. In total, 271 valid responses were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) technology.

Findings
– The results indicate that perceived value, personal innovativeness, and coupon proneness positively affect consumers’ acceptance of M-coupon applications. Personal innovativeness has more positive impact on behavioral intention for males than for females. However, the differential effects of coupon proneness on behavioral intention are not significant between males and females. In addition, the findings show that perceived convenience, perceived enjoyment, and perceived money savings positively influence perceived value, whereas perceived fees and perceived privacy risk negatively influence it.

Practical implications
– This study helps M-coupon application providers to identify who is positive toward their services and how to improve consumers’ perceived value of the services, eventually expanding their user base.

Originality/value
– Prior studies mainly focussed on the usage behavior of M-coupons and overlooked the important role of M-coupon applications in promoting M-coupon use. This research fills this gap. The research findings offer insights into the factors influencing consumers’ behavioral intention to adopt M-coupon applications. Besides, the results of gender’s moderating effect advance the understanding of the differences in males’ coupon usage intentions between the contexts of M-coupon applications and paper-based coupon services, which enrich couponing research.