bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A time and place for sustainability
Authors: Ceasar Nicolas , Page Nadine 
Published: April 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe a management development intervention, facilitated by two consultants, to support the leaders of a multinational organisation to make sense of sustainability through experiential dialogue and engagement. Participants from different communities and organisations convened to develop an open and challenging framework for discussion.Design/methodology/approachThe two‐day, off‐site intervention focused on what it means to create sustainability for the business in the long term, with a particular emphasis on the responsibilities faced by the leaders and the organisation’s value chain. The workshop was designed around the principles of sensitizing, re‐visioning and transforming.FindingsThe intervention supported participants to discuss and engage with sustainability and allowed them to increase their understanding and vision, at both a personal and organisational level. Success factors included developing a solid contract between the consultant and client, the role of trust, sufficient time, open but goal‐directed facilitation skills, location congruence and being away from usual routines.Originality/valueManagement development interventions for sustainability need to take leaders away from their usual settings and relocate to a different place where they can challenge their current cognitions, values and beliefs. Human resource/Learning and development specialists need to continue to support their managers to make sense of the complex yet critical issues of sustainability.
Facilitating organizational change for embedding sustainability into academia: a case study
Authors: Exter Nadine , Grayson David , Maher Rajiv 
Published: April 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to capture, codify and communicate an implicit change‐management process to embed corporate responsibility and sustainability at the Cranfield School of Management.Design/methodology/approachTo explain the (on‐going) change‐management process, the authors retrospectively applied change‐management literature to the implicit process in which they have, themselves, been intimately involved.FindingsThe implicit change‐management process had unconsciously mobilized a variety of tactics identified in the change‐management literature; a more explicit articulation of the “as‐is” and “desired” states, and a more explicit, systematic and regular communication of the journey and goal, might have enabled faster progress. However, the nature of a highly autonomous and decentralized organization, such as an academic institution, means that sustainable change management may be slower than in commercial institutions.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors have been closely engaged in the change‐management process they describe and, inevitably, have unconscious biases and partial perspectives. Nevertheless, as a frank and self‐critical account of a five‐year‐plus process, it can assist other academic institutions.Practical implicationsAs more business schools seek to embed corporate responsibility and sustainability, the case study identifies a series of potential change‐management tactics.Originality/valueThe paper applies a change‐management model to examine how one school of management is tackling how to embed corporate responsibility and sustainability into its research, teaching, advisory services and its own operations.
A model for sustainability education in support of the PRME
Authors: Dickson Marsha A. , Eckman Molly , Loker Suzanne , Jirousek Charlotte 
Published: April 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present innovative strategies to promote sustainability‐focused education, in a case study of a multi‐institutional program designed to prepare students for management positions in global apparel and footwear companies. The program is unique in focusing upon management education occurring outside the business school, extension of faculty resources through inter‐institutional collaborations, and use of the internet for course delivery.Design/methodology/approachFaculty from three institutions collaborated to develop ten 1‐credit web‐based graduate courses and delivered them inter‐institutionally. Through collaboration with global companies and other stakeholders and through field research, the faculty built a shared vision of sustainability education, identified learning outcomes, developed practical and applied learning experiences and created tools to assess learning.FindingsIndustry experts agreed that the courses and learning outcomes were important and addressed industry needs. The internet‐based platform and learning activities engaged students and encouraged development of creative strategies for addressing sustainability issues.Practical implicationsStudents and institutions benefitted from the award‐winning program. Specific outcomes are discussed.Originality/valueThe strategies used in development of the program provide examples for other educational institutions for how to negotiate institutional factors in pursuit of the UN Principles for Responsible Management Education.
How expected benefit and trust influence knowledge sharing
Authors: Kuo Tsung‐Hsien 
Published: April 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to look at the relationships among factors which result in improved knowledge sharing, through the empirical validation of a theoretical model consisting of three dimensions: expected benefit in relation to knowledge sharing, trust at workplace, and employee knowledge‐sharing behavior.Design/methodology/approachThis study targets three technological companies with a total of employees exceeding 1,500 (n=563), utilizing a survey questionnaire as the data collection instrument to test the relationship among the three dimensions. The structural equation modeling approach is used to test the proposed model.FindingsThe results show that trust at workplace has a mediating effect on organizational knowledge‐sharing behavior. It is also discovered that there is significant correlation between expected personal benefit through sharing knowledge and the development of trust at workplace.Originality/valueThis study contributes empirical data to the predominantly theoretical literature by offering a deeper understanding of the mediating effect of trust on employee's expected benefit for the purpose of knowledge exchange behavior within teams and among teams.
Technology readiness as moderator for construction company performance
Authors: Kuo Yen‐Lin 
Published: April 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand the effect of information system quality (ISQ) and technology readiness (TR) on organizational performance (OP), from the background that the construction industry pursues higher performance and service quality.Design/methodology/approachA survey questionnaire was used. The hierarchical regression analysis was employed to analyze the 545 valid questionnaires collected (valid return rate: 54.5 percent) from construction industry employees in Taiwan.FindingsThe results indicate that ISQ directly improves OP. Particularly, TR has a moderating effect on the relationship between ISQ and OP. TR can enhance the positive influence ISQ has on OP.Research limitations/implicationsData sources for this study were restricted by the respondents' cognition and experience regarding ISQ and OP. Biases may exist among respondents. In addition, the collected data were related to the Taiwan construction industry, which may differ from operating environments and characteristics of other industries and cities. The management implications are explained in the Conclusion.Practical implicationsThis study provides meaningful information for managers of the construction industry. Management can use TR to influence the relationship between ISQ and OP and to further improve OP to meet future challenges.Originality/valueUnder the trend of market segmentation and the challenge of customized consumer requirements, brand management and product planning of the construction industry have become key factors of land value. The results of this study indicate that organization ISQ improves OP and personal TR is the moderator that influences the relationship between ISQ and OP to improve OP.
Internal and external auditor ethical decision‐making
Authors: Arnold Donald F. , Dorminey Jack W. , Neidermeyer A.A. , Neidermeyer Presha E. 
Published: April 2013

PurposeThe aim of this exploratory research is to compare three sectors of the auditing profession – internal auditors, external auditors from larger international firms, and external auditors from smaller/regional firms – in regard to the influence of situational context on their ethically‐related decision‐making and judgment evaluations.Design/methodology/approachAgainst the backdrop of five vignettes applied with a survey, the paper examines the potential influence of social consensus and magnitude of consequence on the ethical decision path of these three auditor groups.FindingsThe paper finds that, in all cases, social consensus and magnitude of consequences exert influence on the ethical decision path. In the case of social consensus, however the paper finds that the ethical decision path is fully mediated for large firm auditors but is only partial mediated for the other two groups of auditors.Originality/valueThis research examines responses from both internal and external auditors. Comparison between such groups is unique because these groups have not been well researched in the past literature.
The impact of hardiness on accounting task performance
Authors: McNellis Casey J. 
Published: April 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to expand upon accounting literature that highlights the benefits of hardiness in the accounting environment. Accordingly, the relationship between hardiness and accounting task performance is investigated across two scenarios in the presence of conscientiousness, a well‐documented predictor of performance (Barrick and Mount).Design/methodology/approachSubjects completed a bank reconciliation task with either an immediate deadline or a non‐immediate deadline. The personality traits were measured with scales from prior literature.FindingsThe relationship between the commitment dimension of hardiness and task performance was positive and significant in the presence of the immediate deadline, but not the non‐immediate deadline. Conversely, the conscientiousness‐task performance relationship was positive and significant under the non‐immediate deadline, but not the immediate deadline. Additional analysis revealed a significant association between commitment and detection of errors.Research limitations/implicationsSince task performance was measured in relation to one task, the generalizability of the results is limited. However, the results imply that hardiness serves as a relevant variable in cognitive performance models.Practical implicationsThe hardiness trait appears to produce positive outcomes in the accounting environment. Accounting educators and firm leaders should understand how the trait is expressed and activated in order to train professionals on critical accounting and auditing tasks.Originality/valueThis paper provides new evidence about the benefits of the hardy personality in accounting settings. Additionally, the results offer a basis for researchers to incorporate hardiness as an individual difference in studies on auditor performance.
Speed of convergence to market efficiency in the ETFs market
Authors: Chung Dennis Y. , Hrazdil Karel 
Published: April 2013

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to examine the informational efficiency of prices of all exchange traded funds (ETFs) that are actively traded on the NYSE Arca, based on methodology developed by Chordia et al.Design/methodology/approachThe authors estimate the speed of convergence to market efficiency based on short‐horizon return predictability from past order flows of 273 ETFs that were traded every day on the NYSE Arca during the first six months of 2008, and compare the resulting price formation process to that of shares traded on the NYSE and NYSE Arca.FindingsDespite the significant differences in trading costs, volatility, and informational effects between ETFs and regular stocks, the paper documents that price adjustments to new information for ETFs occur in about 30 minutes, which is comparable to price adjustments for traditional stocks traded on Arca. In multivariate setting, the paper further shows that the speed of convergence to market efficiency of ETFs is not only significantly driven by volume, but also by the probability of informed trading.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings provide direct answers and insights to questions posed in a recent SEC concept release document. The analysis of the speed of convergence provides a feasible measure to assess how efficiently prices of ETFs respond to new information.Originality/valueThe authors are first to utilize the short‐horizon return predictability from historical order flow approach to evaluate the price formation process of ETFs and to provide evidence on the determinants of its efficiency.
Characteristics study of an electronic systems design strategy
Authors: Ángel San Pablo Juárez Miguel , Zemliak Alexander , Ríos Silva Eduardo 
Published: April 2013

PurposeThis work seeks to present the theoretical study considerations and the characteristics of a general design methodology in optimal time for electronic systems using numerical methods and optimal control theory. Through this, the design problem of a system is formulated in terms of optimal control in minimal time.Design/methodology/approachThis general design methodology includes the traditional design strategy (TDS), and the modified traditional design strategy (MTDS), where the model of the system is part of the optimization procedure but an objective function of the optimization process is constructed such as includes the traditional objective function and some penalty functions that feign the model of the system. Many special control functions are introduced artificially to generalize the methodology and produce several design trajectories for the same optimization process – the first and final trajectories correspond to TDS and MTDS, respectively. The combination of these trajectories produce an infinite number of design strategies, some of these are quasi‐optimal in time and only one is optimal in time.FindingsQualitative and numeric results of this iterative process are generated in a personal computer in a C++ language elaborated with a visual C++ graphic user interface. An algorithm is constructed to form an optimal in time design strategy switching from a MTDS subset to a TDS subset. Results of measured times are analyzed, showing that there is a control input U, such that the objective function is minimized in a minimum time.Originality/valueThese ideas are proposed using method of gradient optimization and special acceleration effect.
On the improved computational speed and convergence of the Newton Raphson iteration method for selective harmonics elimination PWM applied to cascaded multilevel inverter with equal and non‐equal DC sources
Authors: Salam Zainal , Soon Yee Seh , Saleem Yasir 
Published: April 2013

PurposeThis paper proposes an improved algorithm to compute selective harmonics elimination pulse width modulation (SHEPWM) angles, based on the Newton‐Raphson (NR) iteration for cascaded multilevel inverter (CMI).Design/methodology/approachNewton Raphson (NR) is a very popular numerical method for transcendental equations that lack analytical solutions. It has been successfully used to compute the angles for selective harmonics elimination pulse width modulation (SHEPWM) schemes. Despite its effectiveness, NR has not been used for SHEPWM with cascaded multilevel inverter (CMI) structure with equal and non‐equal DC voltage sources. It is known that for CMI, inappropriate selection of initial angles causes long‐iteration time and possibly non‐convergence takes place. The computational difficulty is compounded by the fact that the SHEPWM switching angles need to be correctly sequenced, i.e. each angle must be assigned to the correct output voltage level of the CMI. In this work, an attempt is made to reduce the iteration time and to resolve the non‐convergence problem. The main idea is to relax the switching angle constraint by placing the switching angle sequencing outside the main loop of NR iteration. This allows for the program to run more freely and able to generate more possible solutions for the switching angles. Then these angles are selected to fulfill the requirements of multilevel sequencing. The performance of the proposed technique will be compared with the standard NR for CMI with equal and non‐equal DC sources. The latter case is quite common for CMI with renewable energy applications because the sources normally have different voltage levels.FindingsUsing MATLAB simulation, it will be shown that using this scheme, accurate SHEPWM angles can be achieved for a wide range of fundamental components. Furthermore, significant reduction in iteration time to compute the SHEPWM switching angles is achieved.Originality/valueThis paper proposes an improved algorithm to compute SHEPWM angles based on NR iteration.
Parallel computing applied to inductance calculation for flexible inductors
Authors: Jeranče Nikola , Stojanović Goran , Samardžić Nataša , Kesler Daniel 
Published: April 2013

PurposeThe motivation for this research work is the need for an efficient software tool for inductance calculation of components in flexible electronics. A software package PROVOD has been developed and it has produced very accurate results but the applied numerical method can lead to a huge amount of calculations. The aim of this research is to apply the parallel computing to this specific computational technique and to investigate the impact of increasing the number of parallel executing threads.Design/methodology/approachThe largest possible amount of operations is put in parallel using the fact that the inductance between two segments is a sum of independent elements. OpenMP and Microsoft's Concurrency Runtime have been tested as parallel programming techniques.FindingsParallel computing with a different number of threads (up to 24) has been tested with OpenMP. A significant increase in computational speed (up to 21 times) has been obtained.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is limited by the available number of parallel processors.Practical implicationsAccurate and fast inductance calculation for flexible electronic components is possible to achieve. The impact of parallel processing is proven.Social implicationsThe proposed method of calculation acceleration of inductances can be helpful in the design and optimization of new flexible devices in electronics.Originality/valueParallel computing is applied to the design of flexible electronic components. It is shown that a large number of parallel processors can be efficiently used in this type of calculation. The obtained results are interesting for people involved in the design of flexible components, and generally, for researchers/engineers dealing with similar electromagnetic problems.
Modeling of jitter in bang‐bang clock and data recovery circuits
Authors: Adrang Habib , Saleh Ghoreishi Seyed 
Published: April 2013

PurposeBang‐bang clock and data recovery (BBCDR) circuits are hard nonlinear systems due to the nonlinearity introduced by the binary phase detector (BPD). The specification of the CDR frequency response is determined by jitter tolerance and jitter transfer. In this paper, jitter transfer and jitter tolerance of the BBCDR are characterized.Design/methodology/approachThe presented method is enough to be used for designing the BBCDR loop parameters.FindingsIn this paper, jitter characteristics of the BBCDR are characterized. As a result, a new equation is presented to obtain angular frequency. Also, the jitter tolerance is expressed in closed form as a function of loop parameters. The analysis is verified using behavioral simulations in MATLAB. Simulation results show that good conformance between analytical equations and simulation results.Originality/valueThe proposed approach offers two advantages compared to conventional designing methods. First, this approach does not consider any value restriction to the capacitor. Second, a new condition has been presented to guarantee that the value of jitter peaking is approximately zero.
Exploring green consumers' product demands and consumption processes
Authors: Pedro Pereira Luzio João , Lemke Fred 
Published: April 2013

PurposeThere is a research gap in terms of understanding how green consumers perceive green products in a marketplace context. The purpose of this paper is to respond to this omission by exploring the green consumers' product demands and consumption processes.Design/methodology/approachSemi‐structured in‐depth interviews with Portuguese green consumers are used to discuss potential key factors (reasons to buy green products, defining green product characteristics, feelings about pricing, perceived product confidence, willingness to compromise, environmental knowledge, consideration of alternatives, product's point of purchase and use and disposal).FindingsThe analysis indicates that green consumers represent an artificial segment and provides further empirical support to the definition of sustainability as a market‐oriented concept. The paper's findings suggest that mainstreaming green products is a more positive alternative than green segmentation.Research limitations/implicationsThis research is exploratory in nature and the authors followed established guidelines to ensure objectivity. However, the study's findings are restricted to Portuguese green consumers and a replication in other countries would help to remove any potential country bias.Practical implicationsSustainable businesses are eager to learn who the green consumer is in order to define this market segment. This may not represent the best strategy, however. Targeting green products to a niche market based only on intangible environmental or ethical values may not only be hindering the progress of sustainability as a market‐oriented concept but also missing the huge opportunity of gaining competitive advantage in the inevitable future marketplace.Originality/valueMost marketing studies were unsuccessful in segmenting green consumers even “on average”, resulting in elusive and contradictory outcomes. Only very few studies are aimed at exploring the green consumer's behavior using qualitative research approaches. This paper explores the product demands of green consumers, as well as their consumption processes in detail.