bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Health‐promoting changes with children as agents: findings from a multiple case study research
Authors: Simovska Venka , Carlsson Monica 
Published: April 2012

PurposeWith the aim of contributing to the evidence base on school‐based health promotion, the authors discuss the outcomes and processes of a European intervention project aiming to prevent obesity among children (4‐16 years) and promote their health and well‐being, titled Shape Up: a school‐community approach to influencing determinants of healthy and balanced growing up.Design/methodology/approachMultiple case study research was carried out in five schools in five EU countries. Data sources included project documents, interviews, and observations. Narrative qualitative cross‐case analysis was carried out following the single case analyses.FindingsThe study showed that, if given sufficient guidance, pupils can act as agents of health‐promoting changes on both school and local community level; they were involved in actions which improved school policies, provisions and affordances for healthier diet and regular physical activity. The study identified three forms of participation, each with a different level of pupil involvement and agency.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is qualitative, based on five single cases and cross‐case analysis; this research design implies caution related to extensive non‐contextualised generalisation of the findings. However, valuable implications for research and practice can be drawn, especially in relation to structural barriers for participatory health promotion.Originality/valueThe paper is of value for researchers as well as practitioners in the field, particularly those interested in eco‐social models of health, whole‐school approaches to health promotion and pupil participation. The study's specific value is in the systematic qualitative cross‐case analysis, which contributes to the research rigour and allows for situated generalisation.
Lean vs agile from an organizational sustainability, complexity and learning perspective
Authors: Putnik Goran D. 
Published: April 2012

PurposeThis editorial aims to introduce the theme of the special issue: “Lean vs agile from an organizational sustainability, complexity and learning perspective”.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology of the editorial is that of a survey. In the first part it presents the relevance of the theme and in the second part it presents the papers included in the special issue, including their themes, findings and novel contributions.FindingsThe individual findings by the papers present significant new contributions in a deeper insight of the “lean” and “agile” philosophies, or approaches in, and to, organizations. It could be noticed that the controversies of the issue “lean vs. agile” still remain. However, it could be said that an eventual further investigation in the phenomenology of “lean” and “agile” will be more informed after consideration of the results presented in this special issue.Research limitations/implicationsFurther investigation should be undertaken on a more abstract “level” of the theories of “lean” and “agile” and their mutual relationship, such as theories about the internal processes of “lean”/“agile” users, general “lean”/“agile” theories, epistemology of “lean”/“agile”, and ontology of “lean”/“agile”, and relationship with learning organization and chaordic organization.Practical implicationsReaders, both theoreticians and practitioners, will find in this editorial a “guide” to the issues of their interest concerning the valuable explanations, ideas and tools, presented in the special issue, for both concrete applications in enterprises and organizations, and for further research and development of learning, complex and sustainable organizations, and towards new ideas and insights generation.Originality/valueThis editorial presents an analysis of the special issue on “lean vs agile”, contributing to the higher levels of the theories of “lean” and “agile” and their mutual relationship, namely to the theories about the internal processes of “lean”/“agile” users, general “lean”/“agile” theories, and epistemology of “lean”/“agile”.
How lean the machine: how agile the mind?
Authors: Reay Atkinson Simon , Goodger Amanda , Caldwell Nicholas , Hossain Liaquat 
Published: April 2012

PurposeCompetition for resources appears to be increasing at a time of political, security (including energy, food and climate) and economic change; leading to potential collapse. The purpose of this conceptual paper is to examine the impact of policies exercised at the macro level on methods and processes applied at the micro level through, for example, performance management. It looks at the impact at the micro level on the macro and upon industry, innovation and the generation of productive wealth. It contrasts the techno‐socio application of Lean with the socio‐techno dynamics of agility as impacted by the info‐techno‐socio and emerging socio‐info‐techno systems.Design/methodology/approachFrom collaborative doctoral level research and an extensive literature review – integrating the three cultures (the natural sciences, the social sciences and the humanities) – macro/global and local/micro cross level thematic complex systems models were identified and modelled across their connecting political, security and economic ecologies. Connecting models were designed considering “trust” and “risk” as applied to socio, techno and info‐techno systems. These systems were then considered in terms of lean and agility and their impact “in the extreme” and “over time” on complex political, security economic models.FindingsLean in the extreme can lead to vertical polarisation; causing conditions for competition leading to hyper‐competition.Originality/valueComplex models are considered and explained by historical reference and story‐telling so as to enable access across different disciplines and to explain and potentially inspire researchers, managers, consultants and workers to consider alternative less competitive and more agile, collaborative and adaptive futures.
A review of agile and lean manufacturing as issues in selected international and national research and development programs and roadmaps
Authors: Castro Helio , Putnik Goran D. , Shah Vaibhav 
Published: April 2012

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to analyze international and national research and development (R&D) programs and roadmaps for the manufacturing sector, presenting how agile and lean manufacturing models are addressed in these programs.Design/methodology/approachIn this review, several manufacturing research and development programs and roadmaps – national programs from the USA and Canada, and international programs from the European Union and from one international organization – are reviewed.FindingsThe major finding of this review is that the main concerns in agile manufacturing, as highlighted in these programs, are networks, supply chain and product/service customization, and lean manufacturing's inclination towards achieving better cost efficiency. Although the lean manufacturing approach has been considered in many past and present programs, analysis of the most recent programs shows a greater priority is given to the agile manufacturing approach. The path towards sustainable manufacturing is delineated by pro‐active attitude and action towards customers.Research limitations/implicationsThe study analyzes two national R&D programs from the USA, one international program from the European Union, three international roadmaps from the European Union, one business plan from Canada and one international roadmap from the global organization Intelligent Manufacturing Systems.Practical implicationsThe findings of this paper are intended to help managers, researchers and practitioners from the manufacturing sector to enhance their understanding and define suitable strategy for their organizations' sustainability and identify suitable manufacturing path with respect to agile and lean philosophies. This study could also help academics in defining course curricula for students more coherent with the R&D policies and/or requirements towards sustainable manufacturing with respect to agile and lean philosophies.Originality/valueThere are reviews comparing agile and lean manufacturing paradigms, but there are no reviews about how the two manufacturing concepts are addressed in manufacturing R&D programs and roadmaps.
Human rights training: impact on attitudes and knowledge
Authors: Redman Michelle , Taylor Eleanor , Furlong Reuben , Carney Ged , Greenhill Beth 
Published: April 2012

PurposePeople with learning disabilities are vulnerable to human rights violations, creating a need for human rights education for both services users and support staff. This research paper aims to examine factors contributing to effective human rights training for staff. It seeks to investigate human rights awareness training (HRAT) within an NHS setting and its effect on human rights knowledge and attitudes towards human rights.Design/methodology/approachA total of 23 support staff were given HRAT, completing a “human rights based approach knowledge quiz” and an “attitudes to human rights questionnaire” before and after training.FindingsThe results indicated that HRAT had a significant effect on human rights knowledge scores; however, training had no significant effect on attitudes towards human rights and no significant relationship between staff attitude and human rights knowledge was found.Research limitations/implicationsFuture training would benefit from a greater focus on psychological theories of attitudes and behaviour in the planning, execution and evaluation of the training. This may help to facilitate development of positive attitudes towards human rights. A validation of the measure of attitudinal change is needed. Training models with a greater emphasis on staff's emotional responses, defences and the impact of organisational culture may allow a deeper understanding of the complexities of delivering effective human rights training.Originality/valueThis research paper highlights the need for human rights training; one that encompasses attitudinal change as well as basic education. Without effective training to secure staff engagement in organisational change, human rights legislation is unlikely to create meaningful change in the lives of people with learning disabilities.
Analysis of factors affecting value for money in UK PFI projects
Authors: Henjewele Christian , Sun Ming , Fewings Peter 
Published: April 2012

PurposeThis paper aims to report findings from a study on factors that made value for money (VFM) in private finance initiative (PFI) projects vulnerable to variations. It seeks to identify the top influencing factors, rank them according to the relative strength of influence, and explore their interactivity.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a documentary review of full business cases of five PFI projects, published reports, and scholarly publications to identify the list of factors; and a questionnaire survey of 44 PFI projects in the UK to establish the ranking of importance.FindingsThe findings reveal that PFI projects are more strongly affected by client‐driven internal factors than external factors. Internal factors, such as design change in the development phase and requests for new works or services in the operational phase were also likely to act independently, while external factors, including conditions for approval, movement in construction costs and change in PFI guidelines, worked interactively.Practical implicationsThe research findings add to the knowledge of priority factors that need to be addressed to enhance the achievement of long‐term VFM in PFI projects.Originality/valueThe study is one of the few studies that have investigated VFM of PFI projects from a whole life cycle and dynamic perspective. It reveals not only a list of main influencing factors of project VFM, but also interrelationship between these factors.
A state‐of‐practice survey on managing FX exposure in project companies, construction companies and SMEs
Authors: Ehrlich Matthias , Woodward David , Tiong Robert 
Published: April 2012

PurposeForeign exchange risk might exist in any situation where a business' operations can be affected by changes in exchange rates. The objectives of the present paper, are therefore to identify the current state‐of‐practice in managing foreign exchange exposure.Design/methodology/approachTo present a wide perspective the analysis includes questionnaire surveys regarding foreign exchange exposure in three different sectors. The three sectors are: international special purpose companies engaged in project financing; large‐scale international construction companies; and highly export‐oriented small and medium‐sized enterprises, all based in Singapore.FindingsThe analysis demonstrates that all three sectors are exposed to a degree of foreign exchange risk. The paper also demonstrates that foreign exchange exposure is not as very well managed as it might be.Practical implicationsThe three sectors might have different needs in protecting their cash flow from foreign exchange exposure but the analysis could help them learn from one another in identifying common trends and drawing universal conclusions where appropriate.Originality/valueTo improve on the presently identified state‐of‐practice, various foreign exchange risk mitigation techniques more commonly used, their perceived effectiveness, and factors of concern in using them, are discussed.
Spatial variation as a determinant of house price
Authors: McCord M. , Davis P.T. , Haran M. , McGreal S. , McIlhatton D. 
Published: April 2012

PurposeTobler's law of geography states that things that are close to one another tend to be more alike than things that are far apart. In this regard, the spatial pattern of price distribution is defined by the arrangement of individual entities in space and the geographic relationships among them. The purpose of this paper is to provide emerging findings of research analysing the salient factors which impact on the sale price of residential properties using a spatial regression approach.Design/methodology/approachThe research develops and formulates a geographically weighted regression (GWR) model to incorporate residential sales transactions within the Belfast Metropolitan Area over the course of 2010. Transaction data were sourced from the University of Ulster House Price Index survey (2010, Q1‐Q4). The GWR approach was then evaluated relative to a standard hedonic model to determine the spatial heterogeneity of residential property price within the Belfast Metropolitan Area.FindingsThis investigation finds that the GWR technique provides increased accuracy in predicting marginal price estimates, in comparison with traditional hedonic modelling, within the Belfast housing market.Originality/valueThis study is one of only a few investigations of spatial house price variation applying the GWR methodology within the confines of a UK housing market. In this respect it enhances applied based knowledge and understanding of geographically weighted regression.
Major causes of problems between contractors and subcontractors in the Gaza Strip
Authors: Enshassi Adnan , Arain Faisal , Tayeh Bassam 
Published: April 2012

PurposeSubcontractors play a significant role in the Palestinian construction industry as about 90 per cent of the work is performed by subcontractors. The main objective of this paper is to identify and analyse the major problems which exist between the contractors and subcontractors in the construction industry in the Gaza Strip.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire was designed to elicit contractors' and subcontractors' viewpoints regarding the most important causes of problems that affect the relationship between them. A total of 53 problems were identified based on a literature review, a pilot study was considered in this study and was listed under five groups. A total of 150 questionnaires were randomly sent to contractors and subcontractors. The respondents had extensive experience in the construction industry with average working experience of 20 years. The questionnaire was validated by the criterion‐related reliability test that measures the correlation coefficients between the factors selected for in each group and for all groups as one entity, and structure validity test (Spearman test).FindingsThe result of the survey indicated that, assigning part of the works to new subcontractor without informing the original subcontractor, contractor's financial problems, delay in contract progress payments, non‐adherence to the conditions of the contract, non‐adherence of the subcontractor to the time schedule, and lack of construction quality work were the most important causes of interface problems, while involvement in several projects with the contractor at the same time, weather conditions, and geological problems on site were considered as trivial causes of potential interface problems. Spearman's rank correlation tests showed that there are no differences in the viewpoints between contractors and subcontractors.Originality/valueThe research findings might assist practitioners to focus on major problems which have existed between the contractors and subcontractors in the construction industry in their present and future projects. By eliminating or minimizing these problems, subcontractors are encouraged to contribute significantly to the capital risk, resources, managerial effort, and business expertise supporting the largest industry in Palestine. The paper would be valuable for all academics and industry professionals involved in construction business in general.
E‐reverse auction design: critical variables in a B2B context
Authors: Aloini Davide , Dulmin Riccardo , Mininno Valeria 
Published: April 2012

PurposeThis paper attempts to provide an empirical cross‐industrial study on critical success factors impacting on “price” and “process” performance in business‐to‐business (B2B) e‐reverse auction design.Design/methodology/approachBased on an online survey to a panel of academic experts and practitioners, the paper presents the empirical validation of a previous conceptual model using a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) approach.FindingsResults demonstrate that a multi facet construct consisting of six main dimensions impacts on e‐auction performance. Moreover, these dimensions differently impact on price and process performance.Research limitations/implicationsBecause of the complexity of the framework, the sample size and the qualitative nature of experts' observations, results should be seen as more indicative than conclusive and therefore generalization should be additionally tested.Practical implicationsFindings provide useful information for the formulation of managerial decisions in designing the auction event/process and supporting the definition of different negotiation strategies.Originality/valueThis article is a first attempt to test a conceptual framework on critical factors impacting on e‐reverse auction performance in a B2B context. A lot of conceptual papers try to systematize the numerous variables affecting e‐auction success and their complex relationships into a single comprehensive framework; nevertheless there is a lack of empirical evidence supporting these models especially in the B2B context.
Business process improvement of credit card department: case study of a multinational bank
Authors: Islam Samsul , Daud Ahmed M. 
Published: April 2012

PurposeThis paper aims to study the shortcomings of the business process of credit card department of a multinational bank and to improve the existing business process efficiency and effectiveness through redesigning the process that eliminates bottlenecks and improves service quality.Design/methodology/approachThe research investigates real‐life business process using case study methodology. It collects primary data through interviews of individuals, focus groups and secondary data from the investigation of company documents. It then uses SWOT analysis, Fishbone Diagram, Process Flow Diagram and a number of other tools to analyse and to redesign the existing process.FindingsThe research identifies that the business process of the credit card department of a multinational bank is unnecessarily lengthy and requires eight to nine days to complete from application processing to final account creation and to issue the card. It then designs a to‐be business process for the same business function. The proposed process reduces half of the time of the existing process.Practical implicationsThe proposed business process reduces the cycle time effectively and uses the organisational resources efficiently to achieve better customer satisfaction. It also helps in growing card market share in this highly competitive and profitable segment of consumer products.Originality/valueThis paper illustrates a unique way of investigating an existing business process and designing a new business process that is very efficient and effective. The design process is quite generic which can be applied to other organisations, especially in the banking sector.
Intra/inter process continuous auditing (IIPCA), integrating CA within an enterprise system environment
Authors: Majdalawieh Munir , Sahraoui Sofiane , Barkhi Reza 
Published: April 2012

PurposeThe pressure is on organizations to go beyond automating their internal audit activities and develop and integrate internal auditing into business processes of the enterprise. This paper aims to propose a “full power” continuous auditing (CA) model with three key components: electronic audit evidence functions; intra‐process auditing; and inter‐process auditing.Design/methodology/approachThis paper follows a design science approach by identifying relevant problems from the current literature, defining the objectives of the study, designing and developing the “full power” CA model, and evaluating the model. The model supports business process‐centric auditing and enhances the business monitoring capacities of organizations enabling the fulfillment of increasingly stringent compliance requirements with internal policies as well as external regulations.FindingsThis work has attempted to fill the gap between the enterprise solutions offered by enterprise system providers and a structured approach to auditing within enterprise environments by proposing the IIPCA model which combines the automated controls inherent in the systems with continuous audits based on electronic audit evidence. The approach provides for auditing both within and between processes ensuring comprehensiveness of the audit process.Originality/valueThe paper makes a contribution by proposing a “full power” continuous auditing model on the principle of continuous monitoring and with predefined building block components; facilitating the integration of continuous auditing within business information processing in an enterprise using different building blocks; and giving practitioners insight on the adoption of the CA in the enterprise and how it will enhance their audit effectiveness, and audit efficiency.