bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Novel preparation of Ag2S nanoparticles embedded in photoluminescent polymer nanofibres
Authors: Wang C. , Yan P. , Wang S. , Bai X. , Yuan J. , Yan E. , Huang Z. 
Published: December 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the preparation process and the photoluminescent properties of poly‐(phenylene vinylene) (PPV)/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/Ag2S composite nanofibres.Design/methodology/approachA simple method coupling electrospinning technology and in situ self‐assembly was used to prepare PPV/PVA/Ag2S nanofibres from the solution containing precursory PPV, PVA and silver nitrate (AgNO3). The photoluminescent properties of the PPV/PVA/Ag2S composite nanofibres were characterised by fluorescence microscopy and eclipse fluorescence spectrophotometer.FindingsThe Ag2S nanoparticles were well dispersed in the PPV/PVA/Ag2S composite nanofibres, and their dimension was in the range of 10‐40 nm. Excessive doping of Ag2S nanoparticles will lead to rough and uneven fibres' surface.Research limitations/implicationsThe size of Ag2S nanoparticles in the fibres was not uniform enough and the orientation of composite nanofibres was hardly controlled.Practical implicationsThe coupling of electrospinning technology and in situ self‐assembly opened a new gate for preparing other nanoparticles doped composite nanofibres.Originality/valueThe in situ growing of Ag2S nanoparticles in PPV nanofibre improved the excellent properties of composite nanofibres. The morphology of composite nanofibres can be efficaciously controlled via adjusting the ratio between AgNO3 and polymer. The obtained PPV/PVA/Ag2S composite nanofibres will have potential applications in nano‐optoelectronic devices.
Aniline and oligoaniline modified cyclohexanone‐formaldehyde resins
Authors: Ateş E. , Kızılcan N. 
Published: December 2010

PurposeCyclohexanone‐formaldehyde resins (CF‐Rs) were in situ modified with aniline, 4‐aminodiphenylamine, and N‐N′‐diphenyl‐1,4‐phenylene diamine in presence of sodium hydroxide. The purpose of this paper is to report the synthesis of conducting resins with aniline, dimer and trimer aniline, with a one‐step method of in situ modification of ketonic resin. The roles of ketone, aniline concentration, the conductivity of the product are investigated.Design/methodology/approachKetone, formalin (37 per cent aqueous solution), aniline or oligoaniline were mixed and 20 per cent aqueous NaOH solution was added to produce the resin.FindingsThe aniline‐modified (CF‐Rs) were found to have conductivity values of 10−3‐10−5 S/cm and may be considered as conductive ketonic resin.Research limitations/implicationsThe reaction mixture must be stirred continuously. Amount of aniline and oligoaniline is limited. Subsequently, 37 per cent formalin was added dropwise in total while refluxing. The amount of aniline is limited since the formed resin may become insoluble in common organic solvents.Practical implicationsThis work provides the application of conducting resins. The modified resins containing aniline groups may also promote the adhesive strength of a coating and corrosion inhibition to metal surfaces.Originality/valueAniline formaldehyde, N‐N′‐diphenyl‐1,4‐phenylenediamine‐formaldehyde, aniline‐ and oligoaniline‐modified (CF‐Rs) have been synthesised in the presence of a base catalyst. These resins are conductive resins and the ketonic resins formed have physical properties of both aniline‐formaldehyde resins such as conductivity.
Lessons to jumpstart disruptive innovation
Authors: Skarzynski Peter , Rufat‐Latre Jorge 
Published: December 2010

PurposeDisruptive innovation is particularly important during recovery periods, as companies need to win back customers with radically new value propositions. The purpose of this paper is to pull back all of the clutter and to present three critical lessons that companies must consider in their pursuit of disruptive innovation.Design/methodology/approachThe lessons were extracted from systematic observations of successful and unsuccessful industry disruptors.FindingsThree key lessons were uncovered: the ability to anticipate and act on market discontinuities and unmet customer needs, with a particular focus on the business model; The ability link incremental and breakthrough innovation efforts by focusing on a single, shared aspiration; and the recognition that disruptive innovation can inform strategy, just as strategy can (and should) inform disruptive innovationPractical implicationsThese three lessons could help companies envision and commercialize disruptive innovation that dramatically reshape the competitive landscape of their industries.Originality/valueThis paper is targeted at companies seeking to offer dramatically new values to their customers and fundamentally alter the competitive balance of their industries. Envisioning and commercializing disruptive innovations is a means to this end. By applying the lessons learned from successful and not so successful innovators, companies have a better chance at winning.
Time‐value economics: competing for customer time and attention
Authors: Ott Adrian C. 
Published: December 2010

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the impact of time on customer behavior and decision making. Even though people factor time into decisions on a daily basis, businesses tend to focus resources and efforts on other aspects of consumer behavior such as pricing and demographics, resulting in many executives overlooking this key element of the customer decision process.Design/methodology/approachThis paper provides a framework for understanding how customers value offerings in relation to time and attention priorities. It also demonstrates the evolution of today's time scarcity in relation to commerce and why it is more salient today using time‐use data.FindingsCompanies that understand how customers value time in relation to their offerings were more successful in today's economy and often achieved competitive advantage.Practical implicationsThe framework guides executives in determining actions and market opportunities for products or services based on a time and attention‐centric mindset.Originality/valueTime‐value economics provides a new lens for organizations to understand how time shapes customer behavior and decisions. The associated framework provides a useful market segmentation model. It enables businesses to identify new innovation opportunities and actions to foster growth.
Economic crime and illegal markets integration: a platform for analysis
Authors: Nardo Massimo 
Published: December 2010

PurposeThe conventional wisdom regarding economic crime analysis has so far mainly focused upon “structural” issues. The field has been analysed mostly under the organisational aspect (how criminals organisations are structured, how illicit activities they perform are organised). Attention has been paid to “methods” – more in terms of case‐studies and search of “models” than in terms of opportunities dynamics – rather than to the economic profile (what are the special features of markets, supply, demand, production and distribution of illicit goods and services). It seems useful to increase the analysis by opening the quest to economic and sociologic aspects. The paper is an attempt to introduce a wider conceptual framework for a complementary approach, and a proposal aimed at deepening some focal points.Design/methodology/approachIllegal economic activity is – not less than the legal one – a process of making choices among the alternatives available, for the aim of achieving a profit. It is therefore intrinsically an open, flexible activity, which may assume all the schemes and formulas that contingency suggests. In this perspective, the paper addresses observation and analysis towards detecting features and mechanisms of illegal economy market in a market approach, trying to give account thereby of structure and functioning processes of economic crime.FindingsA crucial element resides in the possibility of gathering wider information on the structure and internal dynamics of grey economy. Grey markets may indeed provide supporting structures like optional channels, instruments, or professional expertise, which show fungible for different legal or illegal goals. The goal of preserving the system from the threatens of economic crime must be rooted in an adequate knowledge of the internal operational dynamics of the system itself. Equipping more proactive instruments becomes essential. There is a need for awareness of the trends taking place in the markets: their causes, the alternative option they may grant to illegal players, the probable choice these players will consequently make, and the final effect of such choice on the system. It is necessary to gain the capability to foresee, anticipate and influence behaviour changes.Originality/valueThe paper offers a contribution to more robust methodology for confronting systemic issues.
A methodology for analyzing the credential marketplace
Authors: Watters Paul A. , McCombie Stephen 
Published: December 2010

PurposeCybercrime has rapidly developed in recent years thanks in part to online markets for tools and credentials. Credential trading operates along the lines of a wholesale distribution model, where compromised credentials are bundled together for sale to end‐users. Thus, the criminals who specialize in obtaining credentials (through phishing, dumpster diving, etc.) are typically not the same as the end‐users. This research aims to propose an initial methodology for further understanding of how credentials are traded in online marketplaces (such as internet relay chat (IRC) channels), such as typical amounts charged per credential, and with a view to preliminary profiling, especially based on language identification.Design/methodology/approachThis research proposes an initial methodology for further understanding of how credentials are traded in online marketplaces (such as IRC channels), such as typical amounts charged per credential, and with a view to preliminary profiling, especially based on language identification. Initial results from a small sample of credential chatroom data is analysed using the technique.FindingsThe paper identified five key term categories from the subset of the 100 most frequent terms (bank/payment provider names, supported trading actions, non‐cash commodities for trading, targeted countries and times), and demonstrated how actors and processes could be extracted to identify common business processes in credential trading. In turn, these elements could potentially be used to track the specific trading activities of individuals or groups. The hope in the long‐term is that we may be able to cross‐reference named entities in the credential trading world (or a pattern of activity) and cross‐reference this with known credential theft attacks, such as phishing.Originality/valueThis is the first study to propose a methodology to systematically analyse credential trading on the internet.
CEO letters as legitimacy builders: coupling text to numbers
Authors: Jonäll Kristina , Rimmel Gunnar 
Published: December 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe and interpret the CEO letter in the annual reports of three multinational Swedish companies. This study focuses on the CEOs' comments on accounting principles and rules, on company decisions and actions, and on external events. Examination of CEO letters reveals how CEOs make themselves accountable to readers and establish their own and their companies' legitimacy.Design/methodology/approachA strategic design was used to select the three companies;.the three criteria used in making the selection were company nationality, age, and stock market listing. A fourth criterion was that the company had been a nominee in the Stockholm Stock Exchange “Best Annual Report” contest. Based on a social constructivist approach, with inspiration from the field of discourse psychology, a discursive action model (DAM) is applied in this research.FindingsThe analysis shows that the CEO letters at two of the three companies do not emphasize numbers and text. In the third company's CEO letters, the numbers are an important component and are balanced with text. It was found that one explanation of the CEO letter format is the CEO's wish to persuade readers of the company's legitimacy, excellence, and future survival. The CEO letter is intended to strengthen readers' confidence in the company.Originality/valueThis paper provides insight into how CEOs use CEO letters in annual reports to craft a corporate image for readers.
Human capital disclosure practices of top Bangladeshi companies
Authors: Khan Habib‐Uz‐Zaman , Khan Rashidozzaman 
Published: December 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the extent of human capital (HC) reporting in leading Bangladeshi firms using the HC reporting framework, thereby making a contribution to the body of knowledge in the area of HC reporting practice in a developing country context.Design/methodology/approachUsing the technique of content analysis, three years of annual reports of 32 leading manufacturing and service sector companies listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), selected on the basis of the market capitalization, were examined to identify any HC reporting trends.FindingsThe findings reveal that the HC reporting practices of leading Bangladeshi firms are not as low as projected in relation to the total list of items reported. The most commonly disclosed HC items are information on employee training, number of employees, career development and opportunities that firms provide, and employee recruitment policies. Moreover, as a result of a degree of intervention on the part of some Bangladeshi regulators, the extent of reporting has increased during 2009/2010.Research limitations/implicationsThe principal limitations of the study are that it is based on a small non‐random sample of firms taken from a single country and drawing solely annual reporting information.Originality/valueThis is the first paper that documents HC‐related disclosures in the context of a transitional economy such as Bangladesh using multi year‐data. The study contributes to the HC literature by providing empirical evidence of the status of HC reporting in a developing country context.
Knowledge management through technology strategy: implications for competitiveness
Authors: Ahmad Sohel , Schroeder Roger G. 
Published: December 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to conceptualize a learning‐based technology strategy along three dimensions: proactive technology posture, process adaptation and experimentation, and collaborative technology sourcing; also to investigate their relationships with plant competitiveness (cost, quality, delivery, flexibility, and innovation).Design/methodology/approachHypothesized relationships are tested from three perspectives – direct effects perspective, co‐alignment perspective, and mediation perspective – using structural equation modeling with an international dataset.FindingsResults show that although the three dimensions of learning‐based technology strategy are not individually related to plant competitiveness (direct effects perspective), their co‐alignment strongly impacts plant competitiveness (co‐alignment perspective). Furthermore, this co‐alignment creates an environment in which employee suggestion and feedback can help make sense of novel situations, leading to superior plant competitiveness (mediation perspective).Practical implicationsMany plants develop some aspects of a learning‐based technology strategy while paying little or no attention to the rest. As the findings of the present study show, such an approach will contribute very little to achieving competitive advantage in the marketplace. More specifically, it is shown that three dimensions of learning‐based technology strategy, when used together, have a significant effect on plant competitiveness. Additionally, it is shown that employee suggestions for improvements drive a learning‐based approach to technology strategy. Therefore, managers should adopt a comprehensive approach to technology strategy using all three dimensions and engage their employees in the process of technology development and improvement.Originality/valueThe literature has stressed the need for proactive technology posture, process adaptation and experimentation, and collaborative technology sourcing to gain competitive advantage. However, little is known about their mutual interdependence and their combined impact on plant competitiveness. This paper attempts to fill in this gap in the literature.
An analytical hierarchy process‐based tool to evaluate value systems for lean transformations
Authors: Badurdeen Fazleena , Wijekoon Ken , Marksberry Phillip 
Published: December 2010

PurposeTrue lean transformation has proved notoriously difficult for non‐Toyota companies. One hypothesis is excessive focus on tools/techniques without building the necessary organizational culture. However, empirical evidence is not available to confirm (or refute) this hypothesis. The complex question of the relationship between an organization's culture and its ability to implement lean is a long‐term effort. As a first step, the purpose of this paper is to offer the results of a survey conducted to discover the relative (in)consistency of lean cultures in terms of values held explicitly.Design/methodology/approachA survey tool was developed to compare what employees of lean (or attempting to be lean) organizations say explicitly about what their culture values. The Toyota Way, considered by Toyota as guiding its values, was used as the basis to develop the survey which was administered to individuals in several different organizations.FindingsA higher degree of lean implementation in a company was assumed to show more consistent organizational values (in explicit form). However, the responses varied even from the company considered a leader in lean implementation. Though not conclusive, these preliminary findings suggest that the relationship between cultural type, explicit values and successful lean practice should be examined further.Originality/valueNo empirical studies have investigated the role of culture in success with lean transformations. This paper presents an initial attempt at addressing that issue with a tool developed to evaluate what an organization's culture says its values are, in terms of what is important for lean implementation.
How can teleworking be pro‐poor?
Authors: Kanellopoulos Dimitris N. 
Published: December 2010

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to examine evidence in order to discover if teleworking has a pro‐poor growth impact – reducing inequality. For this reason, the paper seeks to propose a telework taxonomy for the poor and research questions that trigger future empirical research on poor teleworkers.Design/methodology/approachThe paper's approach is a literature review. The focused literature includes articles that analyze telework issues with a potential for the poor. Such issues are mainly workforce and organizational issues.FindingsThere is some evidence that provision of teleworking infrastructure has a dramatic effect on the income and quality of life of the rural poor. Special knowledge management tasks and types of telework can be proper for poor people. Economic and organizational aspects of telecentres for poor workers must be analyzed in depth.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper provides a foundation for future research directions in the teleworking domain for the poor. For instance, the discussed implementation aspects of teleworking and the proposed telework taxonomy for the poor as well as the proposed research questions could be used to explore effective penetration of teleworking in poor countries. New conceptual frameworks for implementing telework for the poor can be generated.Practical implicationsAn overview is provided of which issues/prerequisites are being considered most broadly and which might provide the most potential for policy makers/managers fighting poverty by using telework.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the teleworking literature by analyzing how telework can be pro‐poor. It provides a useful overview of the topic. It proposes a telework taxonomy for the poor and three research questions that trigger future empirical research on poor teleworkers.
ICT adoption in developing countries: perspectives from small‐scale agribusinesses
Authors: Aleke Bartholomew , Ojiako Udechukwu , Wainwright David W. 
Published: December 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to critically examine how social augmented parameters impact on the effective adoption of information and communication technology (ICT) by small‐scale agribusinesses operating in Southeast Nigeria. The relevance of incorporating social imperatives in scholarship focused on technology adoption is due to its role in sustaining the process of adoption and diffusion.Design/methodology/approachData were gathered from a focus group made up of 27 agribusiness proprietors affiliated with a state cooperative based in the south‐eastern Nigerian state of Ebonyi.FindingsThis paper puts forward an argument that to ensure successful diffusion of innovation, a balance must be maintained between the amount of effort expended in the design of ICT and social factors such as language and traditional life. The paper finds that a willingness of indigenous ICT users is particularly influenced by the recognition and incorporation of visible social imperatives during the adoption process.Research limitations/implicationsThe outcome of this study highlights important issues for ICT adoption. One particular area that must be taken into consideration is the adoption channel. Perceptions of ICT adoption will differ significantly among adopters. For this reason, the need for developing an appropriate adoption channel that ensures successful diffusion of the innovation should be recognised.Originality/valueThis study contributes to ongoing research in ICT innovation adoption in small agribusinesses operating in indigenous societies. The theoretical implications of this paper are the development of a conceptual ICT adoption framework that emphasises social imperatives. The paper also demonstrates that agricultural enterprises should be treated as ‘normal’ firms in their own right.
Simulation to help calibration of a MEMS sensor network
Authors: Dedu Eugen , Bourgeois Julien , Boutoustous Kahina 
Published: December 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a calibrator to determine the best grid size of a Smart Surface. The Smart Surface is a micro‐electro mechanical systems (MEMS) whose goal is to sort micro‐parts.Design/methodology/approachThe possible micro‐parts are rotated and translated, and their characteristics are stored in a database. Afterwards, when such a micro‐part is laid off the Smart Surface, its characteristics are compared to database values. Simulations show that some grid sizes are better than others in terms of success in part recognition.FindingsThe tests performed on all groups of three out of four models show that a sensors grid of (35, 35) is an appropriate parameter for the Smart Surface.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors plan to work on a more general case, using any kinds of parts.Practical implicationsThe work allows the automation of the process of sorting micro‐parts, in assembly lines for example.Originality/valueFew works exist for part recognition on very small parts and for choosing the best discretization scale.