bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Total quality management in developing countries
Authors: Usman Awan Muhammad , Raouf Abdul , Ahmad Niaz , Sparks Leigh 
Published: November 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the critical success factors of total quality management (TQM) in pharmaceutical wholesale distribution companies in Pakistan. The paper also seeks to contribute to reduce the existing lack of TQM studies in developing countries.Design/methodology/approachA 29‐item survey questionnaire is sent to 90 pharmaceutical distributors. Response rate is 56.7 per cent. Confirmatory factor analysis deletes one item in the scale purification process.FindingsData analysis reveal that “process design” (PD) is critical TQM success factor in pharmaceutical wholesale distribution companies in Pakistan. Like other studies in developing countries, top management in pharmaceutical wholesale distribution companies in Pakistan does not adequately support the TQM implementation.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is based in Pakistan only. Convenience sampling is done. The response size of the study is small (n=51) though the response rate and significance are high. Small response size prevents more complex analysis such as structural equation modelling.Practical implicationsPharmaceutical wholesale distribution companies are more focused on “PD”. Increased top management support is required for proper TQM implementation.Originality/valueThis research provides framework to researchers to build up more TQM critical success factor studies in similar sector and situations so that more concrete generalizations can be made.
Short term price forecasting in deregulated electricity markets
Authors: Aggarwal Sanjeev Kumar , Saini L.M. , Kumar Ashwani 
Published: November 2009

PurposeSeveral research papers related to electricity price forecasting have been reported in the leading journals in last 20 years. The purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive survey and comparison of these techniques.Design/methodology/approachThe present article provides an overview of the statistical short‐term price forecasting (STPF) models. The basic theory of these models, their further classification and their suitability to STPF has been discussed. Quantitative evaluation of the performance of these models in the framework of accuracy achieved and computation time taken has been performed. Some important observations of the literature survey and key issues regarding STPF methodologies are analyzed.FindingsIt has been observed that price forecasting accuracy of the reported models in day‐ahead markets is better as compared to that in real time markets. From a comparative analysis perspective, there is no hard evidence of out‐performance of one model over all other models on a consistent basis for a very long period. In some of the studies, linear models like dynamic regression and transfer function have shown superior performance as compared to non‐linear models like artificial neural networks (ANNs). On the other hand, recent variations in ANNs by employing wavelet transformation, fuzzy logic and genetic algorithm have shown considerable improvement in forecasting accuracy. However more complex models need further comparative analysis.Originality/valueThis paper is intended to supplement the recent survey papers, in which the researchers have restricted the scope to a bibliographical survey. Whereas, in this work, after providing detailed classification and chronological evolution of the STPF techniques, a comparative summary of various price‐forecasting techniques, across different electricity markets, is presented.
The value of unused interregional transmission
Authors: Pineau Pierre‐Olivier , Lefebvre Vincent 
Published: November 2009

PurposeThis paper aims at assessing the actual use of interregional transmission lines and the opportunity cost of unused capacity. The 13 electric power lines connecting the province of Quebec (Canada) to its neighbours (New Brunswick, New England, New York, Ontario) are analysed for the years 2006, 2007 and 2008.Design/methodology/approachHourly electricity transmission data from the Quebec Open Access Same‐Time Information System (OASIS) are analysed and matched with hourly market prices in New Brunswick, New England, New York and Ontario, for the years 2006, 2007 and 2008.FindingsCapacity factors of about 50 per cent are found for these lines. Although increasing from 2006 to 2008, this finding shows that interregional lines are far from being heavily congested. Furthermore, about 25 TWh of additional profitable exports could have taken place every year, given the market conditions and the availability of transmission lines. These exports represented an opportunity cost of about $1 billion per year.Research limitations/implicationsOther network constraints and transaction costs could explain why these profitable transactions have not taken place. However, the lack of available energy most likely explains why exports were limited. The opportunity cost could also be overestimated by not taking into account the price impact of additional exports.Practical implicationsPrice regulation in Quebec (with priority given to local loads) should be reviewed to maximize economic efficiency and environmental benefits in the Northeast region.Originality/valueThis is the first analysis of the use of interregional electricity transmission lines. It provides a preliminary estimate of the economic cost of not further integrating different neighbouring regions.
Monitoring profile shifts and differences among WISEs in Flanders
Authors: Van Opstal Wim , Deraedt Eva , Gijselinckx Caroline 
Published: November 2009

PurposeThe sector of work integration social enterprises (WISEs) has grown considerably all across Europe during the last few decades. Unfortunately, many governments do not have a clear sight on the profile of WISEs they are supporting. The purpose of this paper is to provide a detailed profile of WISEs in Flanders and identify shifts and differences within and between WISE work forms.Design/methodology/approachData are utilized from a newly designed monitoring instrument to capture the profile of WISEs in Flanders (Belgium). This paper discusses some methodological issues in using administrative data to monitor this sector, and present a profile at the enterprise level and at the worker level. Parametric and nonparametric tests are applied to assess the significance of profile shifts and differences within this sector.FindingsOne of the dominant features of the analysis has been the identification of profound differences that can be observed between the work forms and the slighter differences that are observed within the work forms while comparing start‐ups to their mature counterparts. Therefore, it might be concluded that the policy framework on the social insertion economy as it currently exists in Flanders has a strong regulative impact on the WISEs in Flanders. This impact translates itself through differences in the profile of enterprises, as well as differences in the profile of the target group workers they employ.Originality/valueA dataset combining administrative data are created to estimate enterprise and target group worker profiles in this sector. The discussion on methodological aspects involved contributes to the literature on monitoring this sector.
Societal entrepreneurs in the health sector: crossing the frontiers
Authors: Tillmar Malin 
Published: November 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore societal entrepreneurship in the turbulent health‐care sector in a changing welfare state, Sweden. Empirically oriented questions about the businesses explored in this paper are: how do the entrepreneurs see combining “health‐driven” and profit‐driven enterprises? What mindset and strategies guide their enterprises? What organizatorial solutions are used?Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on two case‐entrepreneurs, selected due to the author's perception of them as successful both as businesses and as societal change agents. The entrepreneurs have been interviewed by means of unstructured dialogues.FindingsBoth entrepreneurs prove to be frontier crossing combiners in several dimensions; they unite ideological commitment with economically sound businesses, they bring together their medical professions and complementary methods of treatment, they combine bridge building with challenging and they reconcile part‐time entrepreneurship with employment.Research limitations/implicationsWith regard to the long‐term preconditions for societal entrepreneurship, it is concluded that these two entrepreneurial processes have traits of both opportunity‐ and self‐exploitation. The long‐term social sustainability of enterprises of this kind is an issue for further research.Originality/valueThe paper goes beyond non‐profit research by exploring societal entrepreneurship in the for‐profit sector, with focus on entrepreneurship which crosses sectoral borders.
Routinizing the offshore choice: applying diffusion of innovation to the case of EDS
Authors: Carmel Erran , Dedrick Jason , Kraemer Kenneth L. 
Published: November 2009

PurposeWe treat offshoring as a managerial innovation. Should it still be considered an innovation? The purpose of this paper is to use innovation theory, especially, Rogers' diffusion of innovation theory (DOI) to examine this question.Design/methodology/approachThe paper examines the case of electronic data systems (EDS), a very large Information Technology Professional Services (ITPS) company, using a case study approach based on interviews, internal documents and secondary sources.FindingsAt EDS it was found that offshoring has been fully assimilated within just a few years. During the early 2000s, EDS faced the challenge of a large‐scale shift in the competitive landscape and moved a large share of its global operations to offshore locations. The paper shows how this innovation has been diffused within the firm through the creation of an assessment and migration organization that has institutionalized and routinized the process of offshoring. At EDS, each client project goes through a centralized offshoring assessment process to determine where best to send the work and how to perform the knowledge transfer quickly and effectively. Observations are made about the speed of diffusion: about 7‐10 years in this case, from initial innovation agenda setting to its routinization.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper filled a gap in studying managerial innovation; made some estimates of the speed of diffusion; and applied the hypothesized stages of innovation diffusion to the context of offshore software services. The limitation is that this is a case study and therefore generalization may be qualified.Originality/valueThis paper is among the first that studies offshoring (as opposed to outsourcing) in terms of DOI theory.
Managing change in IT outsourcing arrangements
Authors: Plugge Albert , Janssen Marijn 
Published: November 2009

PurposeClients and IT outsourcing service providers are regularly confronted with changes in their business and IT environment. This paper aims at understanding the need for adaptability and the capabilities of service providers in outsourcing arrangements.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses a combination of literature research and case study research. A retrospective view on the case study was investigated using interviews, and analyses of reports and observations.FindingsClients are dependent on their service providers to adapt to changes and their service providers can help to better deal with their ever‐changing environment. This case study shows that the level of adaptability of service providers affects their sourcing capabilities, which results in improved customer retention by service providers and in their clients gaining competitive advantage. Service providers can create adaptability by developing their organizational capabilities, specifically by managing relationships and developing procedures for dealing with change.Research limitations/implicationsAs the aim was to improve the understanding, an explorative, single case study was performed. More detailed research of the various factors influencing the level of adaptability of services providers is recommended. Multiple case studies are recommended to gain a more in‐depth overview of a variety of causes and effects in different situations.Practical implicationsFor outsourcing service providers this study suggests that they should create and continuously evaluate capabilities to remain competitive. In the case study the offshore service provider gained a larger share of the outsourced business. Furthermore, contracts are more likely to be extended. This research suggests that the service provider's ability to adapt should be part of the sourcing decision process of clients. During both the sourcing strategy and the tender selection phase, clients can identify to what extent an outsourcing partner will cater for environmental uncertainty.Originality/valueThe role of service providers in outsourcing arrangements has received only limited research attention so far. Furthermore, adaptability in sourcing arrangements has hardly been investigated at all.
Customer perception on service quality in retail banking in Middle East: the case of Qatar
Authors: Hossain Mohammed , Leo Shirley 
Published: November 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate the service quality in retail banking in the Middle East in general, and Qatar in particular, based on different levels of customers' perception regarding service quality.Design/methodology/approachThis is an analytical study based mainly on the primary data collected through a scientifically developed questionnaire. The questionnaire have been personally administered on a sample size of 120, chosen on a convenient basis from four Qatari banks, i.e. Qatar National Bank, Doha Bank, Qatar International Islamic Bank, and Arab Bank. The questionnaire has been designed on the basis of the study of previous scholars such as Berry et al., Parasuraman et al., Zeithaml and Bitner, and Stafford.FindingsThe result indicates that customers' perception is highest in the tangibles area and lowest in the competence area.Practical implicationsIn order to achieving higher levels of quality service in retail banking, banks should deliver higher levels of service quality and in the present context customers' perceptions are highest in the level of infrastructure facilities of the bank, followed by timing of the bank, and return on deposit. Owing to the increasing competition in retail banking, customer service is an important part and bank managers should be rethinking how to improve customer satisfaction with respect to service quality.Originality/valueThis paper makes a useful contribution given that there are only a few studies dealing with the assessment of service quality in banking environments.
Shifts in species and phylogenetic diversity between sapling and tree communities indicate negative density dependence in a lowland rain forest
Authors: Gonzalez Mailyn A. , Roger Aurélien , Courtois Elodie A. , Jabot Franck , Norden Natalia , Paine C. E. Timothy , Baraloto Christopher , Thébaud Christophe , Chave Jérôme 
Published: November 2009

Summary 1. As trees in a given cohort progress through ontogeny, many individuals die. This risk of mortality is unevenly distributed across species because of many processes such as habitat filtering, interspecific competition and negative density dependence. Here, we predict and test the patterns that such ecological processes should inscribe on both species and phylogenetic diversity as plants recruit from saplings to the canopy. 2. We compared species and phylogenetic diversity of sapling and tree communities at two sites in French Guiana. We surveyed 2084 adult trees in four 1‐ha tree plots and 943 saplings in sixteen 16‐m2 subplots nested within the tree plots. Species diversity was measured using Fisher’s alpha (species richness) and Simpson’s index (species evenness). Phylogenetic diversity was measured using Faith’s phylogenetic diversity (phylogenetic richness) and Rao’s quadratic entropy index (phylogenetic evenness). The phylogenetic diversity indices were inferred using four phylogenetic hypotheses: two based on rbcLa plastid DNA sequences obtained from the inventoried individuals with different branch lengths, a global phylogeny available from the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, and a combination of both. 3. Taxonomic identification of the saplings was performed by combining morphological and DNA barcoding techniques using three plant DNA barcodes (psbA‐trnH, rpoC1 and rbcLa). DNA barcoding enabled us to increase species assignment and to assign unidentified saplings to molecular operational taxonomic units. 4. Species richness was similar between saplings and trees, but in about half of our comparisons, species evenness was higher in trees than in saplings. This suggests that negative density dependence plays an important role during the sapling‐to‐tree transition. 5. Phylogenetic richness increased between saplings and trees in about half of the comparisons. Phylogenetic evenness increased significantly between saplings and trees in a few cases (4 out of 16) and only with the most resolved phylogeny. These results suggest that negative density dependence operates largely independently of the phylogenetic structure of communities. 6. Synthesis. By contrasting species richness and evenness across size classes, we suggest that negative density dependence drives shifts in composition during the sapling‐to‐tree transition. In addition, we found little evidence for a change in phylogenetic diversity across age classes, suggesting that the observed patterns are not phylogenetically constrained.
Sexually antagonistic co‐evolution: a model and an empirical test
Authors: HOYLE A. , GILBURN A. S. 
Published: November 2009

AbstractModels reveal that sexually antagonistic co‐evolution exaggerates female resistance and male persistence traits. Here we adapt an established model by including directional sexual selection acting against persistence. We find similar equilibria to previous models showing that sexually antagonistic co‐evolution can be limited by counteracting sexual, as well as, natural selection. We tested the model using empirical data for the seaweed fly, Coelopa ursina, in which body size acts as a persistence and a resistance trait. Our model can generate continuous co‐evolutionary cycles and stable equilibria, however, all simulations using empirically derived parameter estimates reach stable equilibria. Thus, stable equilibria might be more common in nature than continuous co‐evolutionary cycles, suggesting that sexual conflict is unlikely to promote speciation. The model predicts male biased sexual size dimorphism for C. ursina, comparable with empirically observed values. Male persistence is shown to be more sensitive than female resistance to changes in model parameters.
Calcium‐dependent physiological processes in trees
Authors: Lautner S. , Fromm J. 
Published: November 2009

AbstractAmong the various plant nutrients, calcium appears to occupy a unique position, acting as an important regulator in many processes related to both growth and responses to environmental stresses. This applies to stomatal function, cell division, cell wall synthesis, signalling functions in plant defence, repair of damage from biotic and abiotic stress and to the structural chemistry and function of woody tissues. The calcium content in the cambium of poplar was shown to rise transiently by as much as 40% in spring, indicating the significant role that calcium plays in the onset of cambial reactivation. Moreover, during bud flush and the beginning of cell division, calcium was reported to increase significantly in the apical meristem. A reduction in calcium supplies also proved to strongly affect wood formation, as evidenced in the pronounced reduction in wood increment, vessel size and fibre length, as well as in reduced carbonyl and methoxy groups from S‐lignin. Induced wounding revealed that calcium acts as an intracellular signal and, furthermore, proved its involvement in long‐distance electrical signalling. Environmental stimuli such as cold shock or wounding showed that poplar grown under calcium‐starved conditions was incapable of responding to this type of stress. The above evidence highlights the important role of calcium in tree functions, both as a signal in minute physiologically active pools within the cytoplasm, and in higher concentrations for its impact on the structural integrity of cell walls and woody tissues.
Genetic divergence between morphologically and acoustically cryptic bats: novel niche partitioning or recent contact?
Authors: Sedlock J. L. , Weyandt S. E. 
Published: November 2009

AbstractMolecular tools have confirmed the presence of morphologically cryptic bat species initially detected by divergent echolocation calls. Here we document the presence of two sympatric, genetically distinct populations of bats whose echolocation calls were similar in peak frequency. They differed only slightly with respect to size, skull and wing morphology, and noseleaf shape, but the individuals, all initially identified as Rhinolophus arcuatus, fell into two groups exhibiting 3–4% sequence divergence in the cytochrome b gene. The coexistence of cryptic bats with only modest echolocation and physical differences challenges our understanding of niche partitioning in rhinolophid bats and suggests the possibility that a novel mode of niche partitioning may be used. Alternatively, their distributions may have only recently intersected as a result of forest loss, especially in the lowlands.
OBCAM, an immunoglobulin superfamily cell adhesion molecule, regulates morphology and proliferation of cerebral astrocytes
Authors: Sugimoto Chiaki , Maekawa Shohei , Miyata Seiji 
Published: November 2009

J. Neurochem. (2010) 112, 830–839.AbstractOpioid‐binding cell adhesion molecule (OBCAM) is a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily. In the present study, we investigated the expression and functional significance of OBCAM in cerebral astrocytes in vitro and in vivo. The confocal microscopic study revealed that the expression of OBCAM was prominent at filopodia and cellular processes of type‐1 and ‐2 astrocytes. Moreover, the expression of OBCAM was shown to be stronger at the growth phase than the stationary one in type‐1 ones. Ki‐67‐positive proliferating type‐1 astrocytes showed higher frequency of OBCAM expression as compared with Ki‐67‐negative cells. The application of the anti‐OBCAM IgG facilitated the proliferation of type‐1 astrocytes at relatively low concentration (1 and 5 μg/mL) and had no effects at relatively high concentration (25 and 50 μg/mL). The cellular proliferation was not promoted when the anti‐OBCAM Fab fragment was used, indicating that the antibody‐induced clustering of OBCAM promotes the proliferation. The over‐expression of OBCAM increased the cell size of type‐1 astrocytes. Moreover, intense expression of OBCAM was observed on reactive astrocytes in the injured cerebrum in vivo. These results suggest that OBCAM is responsible for controlling the cell proliferation and growth in cortical astrocytes.