bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Understanding absorptive capacity in Malaysian small and medium sized (SME) construction companies
Authors: Mustafa Kamal Ernawati , Flanagan Roger 
Published: June 2012

PurposeThe construction industry is a very important part of the Malaysian economy. The government's aim is to make the industry more productive, efficient and safe. Small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) are at the core of the Malaysian construction industry and account for about 90 per cent of companies undertaking construction work. One of the main challenges faced by the Malaysian construction industry is the ability to absorb new knowledge and technology and to implement it in the construction phase. The purpose of this paper is to consider absorptive capacity in Malaysian construction SMEs in rural areas.Design/methodology/approachThe research was conducted in three stages: first, understanding the Malaysian construction industry; second, a literature review on the issues related to absorptive capacity and discussions with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB); and third, multiple case studies in five construction SMEs operating in a rural area to validate the factors influencing absorptive capacity.FindingsNine key factors were identified influencing absorptive capacity in Malaysian construction SMEs operating in rural areas. These factors involved: cost and affordability; availability and supply; demand; infrastructure; policies and regulations; labour readiness; workforce attitude and motivation; communication and sources of new knowledge and; culture.Originality/valueThe key factors influencing absorptive capacity presented in this paper are based on validation from the case studies in five construction SMEs in Malaysia. The research focuses on how they operate in rural areas; however, the research results have wider application than just Malaysia. The key factors identified as influencing absorptive capacity can serve as a basis for considering knowledge absorption in the wider context by SMEs in other developing countries.
Axiomatic modeling of lean manufacturing system
Authors: Vinodh S. , Aravindraj S. 
Published: June 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report a research on the development of axiomatic modeling of a lean manufacturing system.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual model for lean manufacturing has been adopted. A hierarchical structure has been developed to model the design process of a lean manufacturing system composed of functional requirements, design parameters and process variables.FindingsThe theory of axiomatic design advocates the creation of process variables by mapping the design parameters in the process domain. This article serves as an efficient guideline for the design process to clarify the tools, methods and resources of designing lean manufacturing system.Research limitations/implicationsThe implications of the axiomatic model has been derived based on the experiences gained from a single manufacturing organization. Yet, the findings and contributions of this research work would be useful to the captains of thee majority of the manufacturing companies situated in the world.Practical implicationsThe axiomatic modeling approach serves as an efficient guideline for the design process to clarify the tools, methods and resources of designing a lean manufacturing system of an Indian rotary switches manufacturing organization.Originality/valueThe conceptual model of lean manufacturing has been developed from literature. Based on the conceptual model, the hierarchical model for axiomatic approach has been developed. The contributions and the inferences are original and add value to the state of the art approaches.
Automation of real time monitoring and controlling of a marine loading arm
Authors: Sastry M.K.S. , Seekumar Larry 
Published: June 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to automate the operations and real time monitoring and controlling of a marine loading arm.Design/methodology/approachA generic control strategy to automate the operation of manually controlled marine loading arms has been developed. This strategy employs state of the art, industry standard position sensors, PLC systems, interactive human machine interface (HMI) and integrates fail‐safe operation and emergency shutdown procedures.FindingsThis approach satisfies all the industry safety regulations and liminates the possible risks and/ or spurious trips during product loading. The overall engineering process is simpler, easier to implement and manage due to the fact the industry standard equipment and design tools have been used. Using this generic strategy, manually operated marine loading arms can be automated for effective monitoring and controlling purposes.Practical implicationsIt is expected that engineers around the world can benefit by this approach and will be able to design similar control equipment to automate the functionality of loading arms in their organizations.Originality/valueThis work is the authors' own. Thoughts and designs belong to them and the ideas presented are completely original, developed, implemented and tested by them over years.
Life cycle cost analysis: a case study of Lincoln on the Lake
Authors: Sacks Alec , Nisbet Adam , Ross Jarrod , Harinarain Nishani 
Published: June 2012

PurposeThe sustainable green movement is significantly gaining momentum around the globe and South Africa needs to follow suit. However, such a movement needs to be significantly tested. It is therefore essential to present both foundation and supplementary research in the primary concepts within this topic in order to lay the groundwork for future analysis. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the cost‐effectiveness of the heat recovery ventilation (HRV) technology incorporated within Lincoln on the Lake, against a direct‐expansion (DX) ducted system of conventional practice utilising the life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) to determine if the sustainable option is the better choice.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is a case study, based on a green building in KwaZulu‐Natal, South Africa using a ten step life cycle cost analysis.FindingsIn terms of the LCCA performed at Lincoln on the Lake, this case study has found that sustainable measures were far more cost effective over the 20 year study period than that of the comparable conventional system. The life‐cycle cost analysis tool has provided a simple, uniform and predetermined manner for which the life‐cycle costs of sustainable designs can be successfully quantified.Originality/valueThe value which sustainable building practices can pose, has not been fully realised among clients and professionals within the South African construction industry due to lack of proof that value incentives do exist. This paper, therefore, emphasizes that savings can be made over the long term by going the sustainable route.
Application of probabilistic finite element analysis for crane hook design
Authors: Vinodh S. , Ravikumar R. 
Published: June 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report a study in which the feasibility of conducting probabilistic finite element analysis (FEA) for crane hook design has been explored.Design/methodology/approachThis paper presents the results of probabilistic analysis, where in the input random variables are varied and corresponding variations in the output parameters were observed. In this study, material properties and load have been considered as random input variables and the maximum stress, maximum deflection variations were considered as output random variables.FindingsThe probability of occurrence of output variation and the sensitivity of output variables on the input variables are the important results generated from this analysis. By performing this probabilistic analysis, the random selection of factor of safety could be avoided.Research limitations/implicationsThe implementation study has been carried out for a single product.Practical implicationsThe usage of the approach will indicate the importance of probabilistic analysis in product design and development process. This process will enable the organization to compete in the global market.Originality/valueA case study has been reported to indicate the feasibility of performing probabilistic FEA for crane hook design. Hence, the contributions are original.
Benefits and barriers of construction health and safety management (HSM)
Authors: Chileshe Nicholas , Dzisi Emmanuel 
Published: June 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the perceptions of practitioners working within the UK design organisations on the perceived benefits of health and safety management (HSM). It further explores whether these perceptions could be influenced by the external factors such as the length of service in employment, organisation size, and the professional disciplines and educational backgrounds of the respondents. The study proposes the HSM index, an indicator reflecting the level of benefits from HSM approaches within the construction sector.Design/methodology/approachUsing a data triangulation approach involving quantitative and qualitative methods and a KAP (knowledge, attitudes and perceptions) approach, a total of 110 questionnaires were distributed to the practitioners drawn from the small and medium sized design organisations within the UK, of which only 30 were deemed usable, giving a response rate of 27.3 per cent.FindingsThe ranking analysis suggest that “safer workplace”, “enhanced company reputation”, and “decrease in accidents” as the most important benefits arising from deployment of HSM programmes among the practitioners whereas “improved work performance”, “increased organisational performance “, and “reduced sickness and absence from work” though least ranked, still attained medium level of benefits. The findings further identified organisational skills as the most desirable for the effective implementation of safety management by project managers. The overall weighted HSM Index of 3.68 implies that the small and medium sized UK constructional related organisations perceive the benefits that arise from the deployment of HSM systems as medium.Originality/valueThe findings may help construction practitioners in reviewing decisions factors when they consider implementing HSM during the various stages of the construction process, from feasibility, design, tender and actual construction stage, also for improving their HSM approaches through considerations of the cognitive impacts.
Optimal pricing and ordering policy for an integrated inventory model with quadratic demand when trade credit linked to order quantity
Authors: Shah Nita H. , Gor Ajay S. , Jhaveri Chetan A. 
Published: June 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study integrated inventory system and pricing and ordering strategy for vendor‐buyer supply chain system. Here, the vendor offers a trade credit to the buyer when the buyer's order quantity exceeds a given pre‐specified quantity. Therefore, to incorporate the concept of vendor‐buyer integration and trade credit linked, the authors analyze the model to determine the optimal strategy for an integrated vendor‐buyer inventory system under the condition of credit linked to the order quantity when demand is quadratic.Design/methodology/approachA mathematical model for integrated inventory system is developed when demand rate is increasing function of the time and decreasing function of the retail price. By analyzing the total channel profit function, the authors developed some useful results to characterize the optimal solution and provide an iterative algorithm to find the retail price, buyer's order quantity and the number of shipments per production run from the vendor to the buyer.FindingsBy developing a solution algorithm, the optimal retail price, order quantity and number of shipments from the vendor to the buyer are provided. Numerical examples and sensitivity analyses are presented to validate the proposed model. Through extensive numerical analyses, it is observed that a longer credit term increases profits of the player for the entire supply chain. The vendor should establish the threshold for allowing trade credit comprehensively to ensure the greatest benefit for both players.Originality/valueMost of the research articles available in the literature considered the constant demand or linearly changing demand. In this paper, a mathematical model is developed considering time dependent quadratic demand. Very few researchers have investigated joint optimal policy in vendor‐buyer supply chain system, considering trade credit is linked to order quantity, and still there are not many findings on the benefit of integrated policy and trade credit.
Assessment of occupational health practices in Indian industries
Authors: Shankar Beriha Gouri , Patnaik Bhaswati , Shankar Mahapatra Siba 
Published: June 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess the perceptions of safety officers on Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) norms extended to the workforce in Indian industries, understand implementation levels and find out deficiencies existing therein.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, the authors utilized factor analysis to develop an instrument specifically responsible for assessing OHS norms in three major industrial sectors through a broad‐based questionnaire survey. The pattern of influence of input parameters on outputs such as injury level and material damage is difficult to establish, possibly due to existence of some nonlinear relationship among them. Therefore, a neural network approach is adopted to carry out sensitivity analysis and identify important deficient items.FindingsExploratory factor analysis has been carried out on the responses to the designed questionnaire. In total, nine factors with 23 items have been extracted and interpreted. As neural networks are capable of mimicking human cognitive process, the perceptions mechanism of safety officers can be easily modeled via neural networks. Sector‐wise deficient items have been identified and strategies for their improvement have been proposed.Research limitations/implicationsThe major limitation may be the number of industrial sectors considered in the study. Although the proposed model is quite generic, its performance needs to be tested with other categories of industries.Practical implicationsAlthough perceptions of safety officers on their immediate work environment help to formulate constructive safety policy and procedures, involvement of a few representatives from the workforce during the implementation level may assist to substantially reduce injury level and material damage, since the workers are more conversant with work practices, are exposed to risk environments and can sustain injuries if accidents occur.Originality/valueThe paper uses advanced statistical and intelligent techniques for assessment of OHS practices. A comparative evaluation of present practices among three major types of Indian industry has been made. Further, the paper proposes an OHS instrument for Indian industry. The paper offers new directions for researchers to devise a comprehensive methodology that aims at reducing occupational health risks.
Successful R&D management cooperation between China and Australia
Authors: Sofo Francesco , Leong Ta‐Yan , Sofo Michelle 
Published: June 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify from the literature the successful R&D management cooperation factors and then examine their relevance to R&D management cooperation efforts between China and Australia.Design/methodology/approachThe case study method is used to encourage a deeper appreciation of the dynamics of R&D management projects. A theoretical framework is constructed based on the literature to highlight factors of successful R&D management, and this framework is then applied to a case study involving the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).FindingsThe result is a hybrid multi‐dimensional model incorporating cultural and social capital variables. Several critical success factors were found to exist: funding, government support, institutional support, complementary technology and expertise, mutual respect and strong commitment from leadership. One additional critical success factor was the bilingual expertise of facilitators who manage to help bridge the gaps between both intellectual capital (technical expertise) and cultural differences.Practical implicationsThe framework of successful R&D cooperation identified in this study can act as a springboard for applying the successful principles in broader cases of R&D management cooperation.Originality/valueThe value of this study lies in the development of a model for successful cross‐cultural application of R&D management cooperation between China, Australia and (by extension) other countries that may foster successful cooperation, build global empathy and create inclusive competitive advantage.
Forms of technological spillovers from multinational companies to small and medium food companies in Nigeria
Authors: Oluwajoba Abereijo Isaac , Oluwagbemiga Ilori Matthew , Olomola Phillip A. 
Published: June 2012

PurposeForeign direct investment (FDI) provides a source of new technologies, processes, products, and management skills. Thus, the inflow of foreign knowledge and technology though FDI may lead to technological spillovers to the local economy resulting in higher productivity and overall economic growth. Over the years, there have existed many FDIs in Nigeria in the form of multinational companies (MNCs), especially in food industry. The purpose of this paper is to assess the various forms of technological spillovers from MNCs to domestic small and medium food companies (SMFCs) in Nigeria, with a view to determining their nature and extent.Design/methodology/approachThe study employed a multi‐stage sampling method. First, three States from Southwestern Nigeria, where the activities of MNCs are prominent, were purposively chosen. Then, five sub‐sectors of food companies, where the majority of domestic food companies are represented were selected; out of which 200 food companies were chosen for the study through stratified random sampling technique. The primary data were collected through structured questionnaire administered on the selected companies, to elicit information on the various forms of technological spillovers that had taken place.FindingsThe various forms of spillovers from the MNCs to the domestic SMFCs in Nigeria were linkages, investment in human capital, and labour turnover. Most of the SMFCs indicated linkages with MNCs, and the relationship was mainly forward type. About 50 per cent and 7 per cent domestic SMFCs benefitted from the training opportunities and from technical assistance from MNCs, respectively. Also, 37.5 per cent of the owner managers had working experience from MNCs in the areas of research and development, production or operation, quality control, and administration. The changes effected in their production technology included embarking on more efficient production and efficient use of existing resources.Originality/valuePrevious studies on technological spillover measured spillovers in terms of productivity gains rather than through technological learning, capability building, and linkages activities. The paper re‐conceptualises technological spillover from MNCs by linking the spillover occurrence to the technological changes associated with the production capability.
Dimensions of the learning organization in an Indian context
Authors: Awasthy Richa , Gupta Rajen K. 
Published: June 2012

PurposeThe primary purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between people‐level learning dimensions, structural level‐learning dimensions and performance outcomes. The paper proposes and tests the original classification of dimensions of learning organization as given by Watkins and Marsick.Design/methodology/approachThe Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire (DLOQ) by Watkins and Marsick was adopted to gauge the relationship between people‐level learning dimensions, structural‐level learning dimensions and performance outcomes. In a modified model, empowerment was tested as a structural level dimension in the Indian context, while in previous studies carried out by Yang and Yang et al., it was treated as a people‐level dimension. This study adopted the smaller form of DLOQ and data were collected from 292 executives working in different types of organizations: manufacturing, consultancy, KPO, BPO, financial services and others, representing mostly domestic private, public sector organizations and multinational companies operating in the Indian National Capital Region.FindingsThe study results revealed that the relationship between people‐level learning dimensions and performance outcomes is mediated by structural‐level learning dimensions in the Indian cultural context. Statistical analyses revealed that the DLOQ has reasonable reliability in the Indian context. The findings are explained in relation to relevant context.Originality/valueThe value added is that the relationship between people‐level learning dimensions and performance outcomes is mediated by structural‐level learning dimensions in the Indian cultural context. This study confirms the validity of applying the DLOQ as determinants of a learning organization in the Indian context.
A comparative study of the financial problems faced by micro, small and medium enterprises in the manufacturing sector of Fiji and Tonga
Authors: Naidu Suwastika , Chand Anand 
Published: June 2012

PurposeGlobally, there is an increased recognition of the important role played by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the economic development of a country. Similarly, in the South Pacific region, MSMEs is the main engine behind the economic growth. In particular, MSMEs is one of the biggest contributors to GDP, employment and plays a core role in the supply chain of large businesses. One of the major problems faced by MSMEs in South Pacific Island countries is a lack of finance to advance business growth. Against this backdrop, the purpose of this paper will be to examine the financial obstacles faced by MSMEs.Design/methodology/approachThe main objective of this study is to explore the financial obstacles faced by MSMEs in the manufacturing sector of Fiji and Tonga. In particular, this research tries to evaluate the severity of the impact of each of the financial obstacles on the growth and survival of MSMEs in Fiji and Tonga.FindingsThe research involved conducting a survey of 200 MSMEs in Fiji and Tonga. The study concluded that financial problems faced by the MSMEs could be divided into three broad categories: financing problems; operational and administrative problems; and sales and debtors problems. The 19 financial obstacles tested in this research falls under these broad categories.Originality/valueThis research is original and highly value to a wide range of readers. Scholars, practitioners, aid donors are widely interested to understand the status of MSMEs in Fiji and Tonga. Research of this nature has never been conducted in Fiji.