bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Examining middle managers' influence on innovation in construction professional services firms
Authors: Kissi John , Dainty Andrew , Liu Anita 
Published: January 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore some of the factors that influence innovation in construction professional services firms. The paper examines the role of middle managers who have responsibility for developing the right conditions that foster innovation at the business unit level.Design/methodology/approachA theoretical framework was initially developed through a synthesis of the literature. Using a case study approach, three types of innovation were explored to illustrate the role and influence of middle managers in fostering and exploiting innovations.FindingsFindings from the study suggested that middle managers' innovation supporting behaviours influence innovation outcomes by helping development of a climate for innovation that influence championing behaviours among project managers.Research limitations/implicationsThe study was based on a single United Kingdom‐based construction professional services firm. Nevertheless, the research contributes to the call for more qualitative approaches to understanding leadership research in construction.Originality/valueLimited research has been undertaken on the impact of leadership on construction innovation beyond senior managers. This paper seeks to contribute to addressing this gap in literature by highlighting the significant role that the middle managers play in enabling innovation in construction professional services firms contrary to well‐publicised negative views on the middle managerial roles.
Innovation or business survival?
Authors: Holt Gary D. , Edwards David J. 
Published: January 2012

PurposeThe criticality of mechanical plant to construction activity is well accepted within the literature; however, the supply chain mechanisms by which that demand is satisfied, are much less documented or understood. The purpose of this paper is to address this theoretical gap by: describing Construction Plant Supply Chain (CPSC) evolvement; identifying with present sector difficulties; discussing solutions to those difficulties; and considering the role of innovation within CPSC (historically and for the future).Design/methodology/approachA mixed‐method research, i.e. qualitative and preliminary, including literature review, case study inquiry of an established multi‐purpose CPSC player, and open question survey of a limited sample of CPSC stakeholders has been employed in this study. Inductive data analysis via textual interrogation is undertaken.FindingsIn reaction to market forces and business challenges, CPSC evolution demonstrated innovative change from former contractor‐held plant fleets to predominantly private sector “external” supply chains. Of late, CPSC challenges have intensified, given its intrinsic relationship to a depressed UK (and global) economy, dependency on capital investment, and the need for sustained demand. Suggestions to encounter present challenges have been made and a difficult medium‐term future signified.Research limitations/implicationsAs a preliminary study, generalisation of findings should be viewed in a limited context; however, given the dearth of research in this subject, the findings make novel contribution to the CPSC literature while signposting fertile avenues for future and more comprehensive research.Originality/valueNo previous research in this specific field has been identified.
Searching for coherence from Viet Nam to Sweden
Authors: Elmeroth Elisabeth 
Published: January 2012

PurposeThis study seeks to capture the lived experiences of five refugees making the transition from Viet Nam to Sweden. It seeks to focus on the problems of integration in Swedish society.Design/methodology/approachThe research took a narrative approach by asking questions about the ways in which refugees make sense of the multiple and sometimes dramatic changes that exile involves. The interpretation procedure was performed in three recurring phases: naïve reading, thematic structural analysis and comprehensive understanding.FindingsIn the structural analyses, three sub‐themes were abstracted: in the hands of authorities/forced to leave home; regarded as uneducated and untrained; and lack of balance. These sub‐themes show a situation that could be interpreted by the concept of sense of coherence (SOC). The comprehensive understanding shows that the prerequisites for a stable SOC are unsatisfactory.Practical implicationsThe study reported here implies that there is a need for changes in integration policy. In an integrated society, individuals should be met with a policy that aims to empower and takes into consideration the lived experiences and different components that work together to create an SOC.Originality/valueThe contribution from this research is the combination of qualitative data, the theory about SOC, and the description of the edifice of SOC. This combination helps to understand and explain the essence of the respondents' lived experiences.
Moving forward together? Legacy issues and well‐being in post war Sri Lanka
Authors: Tribe Rachel , Calvert Harriet 
Published: January 2012

PurposeSri Lanka was subject to a civil war of almost 30 years' duration which was won militarily by the Sri Lankan army in May 2009. Sri Lanka was also seriously affected by the Asian tsunami in December 2004 which affected three‐quarters of the country's coastline and caused considerable damage. In addition, in January 2011, the east of the country suffered from serious flooding. Many Sri Lankans have therefore lived through extremely difficult times. This paper seeks to briefly discuss some of the work undertaken by the UK: Sri Lanka Trauma Group (UKSLTG) over approximately 14 years.Design/methodology/approachThe author of this paper views well‐being as multi‐faceted, and sees psychological health as influenced by familial, community, spiritual, cultural, socio‐political, and other factors. How an individual construes all these factors is likely to be important, particularly in the context of a civil war, a subsequent military victory by one side, and a recent return to peace. The ensuing legacy may be multi‐layered, and affect individuals, families, groups, and the multiple communities that people are part of in any number of ways. The lessons learned by the UKSLTG through work in a range of contexts and with a variety of groups are discussed.FindingsThe applicability of the knowledge and ideas generated through the work of the UKSLTG and their possible transferability to other contexts will also be briefly considered. The authors are not attempting to provide a definitive account of possible work but a description of what has been learned working in a war and post war situation.Originality/valueThe paper highlights the importance of working in real partnership, of community engagement, and of the need to be flexible and prepared to discount original plans and to be open to doing things differently as circumstances dictate.
How do we help children and families in the midst of collective trauma in Sri Lanka
Authors: Calvert Harriet 
Published: January 2012

PurposeThis article is a conceptual paper, based on psychoanalytic understanding of a society at war, and the author attempts to deliver psychoanalytically inspired training for psychosocial workers in Sri Lanka.Design/methodology/approachThe paper starts with a description of the kind of changes that have taken place in Sri Lanka and how these can be understood as a form of collective trauma. The training delivered by the author as part of the UK‐Sri Lanka Trauma group, are described in detail. The training described in this paper can be seen as consisting of a theoretical part, a supervision part, and of an experiential part. The training is illustrated using a lot of case material, which the participants in Sri Lanka have brought.FindingsThe author notes the fact that participants from any community in Sri Lanka would themselves have been traumatised and this has been acknowledged and worked with during the training described in the paper.Originality/valueCultural aspects and dilemmas are discussed, such as what kind of challenge does an “outsider” face in delivering mental health training in a different culture to their own.
Corporate brand building at SRF: challenge of selecting the brand consultant
Authors: Mukherjee Jaydeep , Trivedy Mukund 
Published: January 2012

Subject area
The case is about the selecting the agency to take up the brand building challenge of SRF Limited, a well established, large business in India having diverse lines of “industrial products”. The business decision problem of SRF stemmed from the fact that the corporate leadership team, which had to take a decision on the topic had considerable reservation about the appropriateness of each of short–listed agencies for the job at hand. There were also differences of opinion on what would be the criteria for selecting the brand consultant. The Managing Director had to ensure that the team arrived at a consensus, rather than being foisted with a decision from top.

Study level/applicability
This case can be taken up in executive education programs as well as the basic marketing management program at the postgraduate level or in a specialist advertising courses. The case can be taught in the core marketing course at the postgraduate level while discussing the selection on advertising agency.

Case overview
The decision–making focus of the case is about selecting an advertising agency among a set of three, which was most suited to help SRF achieve the repositioning, branding and the awareness creation challenge. The agencies, however, were mostly experienced in building brands for consumer product which was distinct from industrial intermediaries company like SRF. As an organization, SRF had no experience of dealing with an advertising agency, thus the selection was quite a challenge. It brings to focus the decision–making dilemma faced by a large number of companies in emerging markets which are making the transition to brand building.

Expected learning outcomes
The following insights could be elucidated by the case:
Help the students understand the corporate branding concept as distinct from product branding. Decision–making dilemmas associated with corporate brand building for a company with long legacy of product branding. Criteria for evaluating the proposals by advertising agency from the perspective of a client organization.

Supplementary materials
Teaching notes.
GOONJ: the power of cloth
Authors: Nanath Krishnadas 
Published: January 2012

Subject area
Strategic management and social innovation

Study level/applicability
Undergraduate and graduate level management/business school students. It can be taught in strategic management and social innovation courses.

Case overview
GOONJ is a non–profit organization which has life and dignity for lakhs of people in India over the last decade. It aimed at bringing up clothing as one of the important aspects of human life and make it available for the needy keeping their dignity intact. The case begins with Anshu Gupta, founder of GOONJ thinking deeply about the high–priority meeting to take GOONJ to the next level and scale up the operations of his social innovation. It then tries to bring up the potential problem of clothing and menstrual hygiene in India followed by explanation of the present working model of GOONJ which allows them to manage the operations with 97 paisa per cloth. With the dream of taking GOONJ to the next level and converting it into a nation–wide phenomenon, will the present model work?

Expected learning outcomes
This case will cover two important aspects: social innovation process (themes, challenges and implications for practice); and strategic management concepts (stakeholder theory, internal–external factor evaluation).

Supplementary materials
Teaching notes.
Sinolink Fine Wines
Authors: Cheng Soo May 
Published: January 2012

Subject area
International wine marketing, focusing on the emerging importance of Hong Kong as a wine business hub in the Asia Pacific region.

Study level/applicability
MBA or year 3/4 undergraduate business course. Some prior knowledge of organisational structure, management decision–making, marketing principles and consumer behaviour will be helpful.

Case overview
Sinolink is a small family business that successfully made the transition to become one of the largest local wine dealers in Hong Kong, trading internationally and growing phenomenally through a combination of management and marketing savvy. Its story is worth telling at a time when Hong Kong is emerging as an important wine business hub in the Asia Pacific region. It faces new opportunities and challenges in such a dynamic environment.

Expected learning outcomes
Some learning points are: how vision and leadership affects business strategy; international supplier relationship and product knowledge as critical foundations for the wine business; customer relationship management and marketing as competitive strategies; and flexibility in response to operational considerations and challenges is vital to success

Supplementary materials
Teaching notes.
Elevated albuminuria associated with increased risk of recurrent venous thromboembolism: results of a population‐based cohort study
Authors: van Schouwenburg Inge M. , Mahmoodi Bakhtawar K. , Veeger Nic J. G. M. , Kluin‐Nelemans Hanneke C. , Gansevoort Ron T. , Meijer Karina 
Published: January 2012

SummaryThis study examined the risk of recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients with elevated albuminuria. In 1997–1998, inhabitants of Groningen, the Netherlands, aged 28–75 years (n = 85 421), were invited to participate in the PREVEND (Prevention of REnal and Vascular ENd stage Disease) Study, an observational, population‐based cohort study. Albuminuria was measured and VTE occurrence was monitored in responding subjects (n = 40 856). Patients with first VTE between study entry and January 2009, identified through databases of the national registry of hospital discharge diagnoses, death certificates, regional anticoagulation clinic and medical records, were used for analysis. Of 351 subjects with first VTE, 37 subjects developed a recurrence during a median follow‐up period of 3·3 (interquartile range, 1·1–6·4) years. The annual incidence of recurrence in subjects with elevated albuminuria (≥20 mg/l) was 5·00% [95% confidence interval (CI); 2·16–9·85], compared to 2·38% (95%CI; 1·59–3·41) in subjects with normal albuminuria (<20 mg/l). Hazard ratio for recurrence was 1·95 (95%CI; 0·89–4·30) after adjustment for age and sex. This hazard ratio was 3·35 (95%CI; 1·18–9·47) in patients with first unprovoked, and 1·12 (95%CI; 0·25–5·01) in those with a first provoked event. This study showed that subjects with elevated albuminuria who experience an unprovoked VTE are at an increased risk of recurrence, independent of age and sex.
Telomere dysfunction and its role in haematological cancer
Authors: Jones Ceri H. , Pepper Chris , Baird Duncan M. 
Published: January 2012

SummaryObservations in human tumours, as well as mouse models, have indicated that telomere dysfunction may be a key event driving genomic instability and disease progression in many solid tumour types. In this scenario, telomere shortening ultimately results in telomere dysfunction, fusion and genomic instability, creating the large‐scale rearrangements that are characteristic of these tumours. It is now becoming apparent that this paradigm may also apply to haematological malignancies; indeed these conditions have provided some of the most convincing evidence of telomere dysfunction in any malignancy. Telomere length has been shown in several malignancies to provide clinically useful prognostic information, implicating telomere dysfunction in disease progression. In these malignancies extreme telomere shortening, telomere dysfunction and fusion have all been documented and correlate with the emergence of increased genomic complexity. Telomeres may therefore represent both a clinically useful prognostic tool and a potential target for therapeutic intervention.
Didymosphenia geminata growth rates and bloom formation in relation to ambient dissolved phosphorus concentration
Authors: KILROY CATHY , BOTHWELL MAX L. 
Published: January 2012

Summary1. The bloom‐forming freshwater stalked diatom Didymosphenia geminata is unusual among algae in that nuisance growths occur almost exclusively in oligotrophic waters. Current hypotheses to explain this phenomenon have assumed supplemental acquisition of phosphorus from novel sources within the stalk/mat matrix.2. We carried out a synoptic survey of river sites in the South Island, New Zealand, to determine whether D. geminata cell division and stalk development (measured as mat coverage or standing crop) were related to ambient phosphorus concentrations in the overlying river water.3. High coverage (>50%) by D. geminata was largely concentrated at sites with mean dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) <2 mg m−3 in the overlying water. Didymosphenia geminata was present at only one site with DRP >4 mg m−3, with very low coverage. Cell division rate (measured as the frequency of dividing cells, FDC) was positively correlated with mean DRP suggesting that division rates were controlled by the available phosphorus concentration in ambient river water. At the same time, FDC was negatively correlated with D. geminata standing crop (measured as an index incorporating percentage cover and mat thickness).4. In a single river reach with a stable cross‐channel gradient of total dissolved phosphorus (TDP) caused by inflows from a high‐nutrient tributary, again we observed a negative correlation between percentage cover by D. geminata and concentrations of TDP.5. Finally, we made a series of observations on D. geminata‐dominated communities that had been exposed to water enriched with ‐N and ‐P for 4 weeks, followed by exposure to unenriched water. After 2 weeks of nutrient deprivation, D. geminata cell division rates declined by 60%, mean stalk length increased by 250%, and total carbohydrate quadrupled relative to initial values. The appearance of the community changed from a dark brown mat to a thick pale mat typical of D. geminata blooms.6. All these results indicate that D. geminata cell division rates are actively controlled by concentrations of available phosphorus in the overlying water and that stalk production (represented by mat thickness and extent, stalk length and total carbohydrate) is inversely related to D. geminata cell division rates. They thus support an explanation for D. geminata blooms in oligotrophic rivers tied to enhanced stalk production in nutrient‐poor waters, rather than through acquisition of additional phosphorus through recycling processes within the mat.
An aerolysin‐like enterotoxin from Vibrio splendidus may be involved in intestinal tract damage and mortalities in turbot, Scophthalmus maximus (L.), and cod, Gadus morhua L., larvae
Authors: Macpherson H L , Bergh Ø , Birkbeck T H 
Published: January 2012

AbstractVibrio splendidus is a pathogen that can cause major losses during the early stages of larval turbot rearing when live feed (rotifers or Artemia) is used. As haemolytic bacteria have often been associated with larval rearing losses, we studied the role of the V. splendidus haemolysin in infection of larvae. From a bank of over 10 000 transposon mutants of V. splendidus, two different types of haemolysin‐negative mutants were obtained. Both had lost virulence for larval fish, and immunohistochemistry showed that the transposon mutant studied colonized the turbot larval intestinal tract at a similar level to the wild‐type organism but did not cause damage or signs of enteritis found with the wild‐type organism. One transposon insertion site was located within a gene with high homology to aerolysin, the cytolytic toxin produced by several Aeromonas spp. The haemolysin, which we have termed vibrioaerolysin, had properties similar to aerolysin and osmotic protection studies showed that it formed pores in the membranes of erythrocytes of similar diameter to those of aerolysin. The Tn10 insertion site of the second transposon mutant was in an adjacent ToxR‐like gene, suggesting that this might control expression of the vibrioaerolysin. The gastroenteritis caused by Aeromonas spp. in humans is considered to be due to production of aerolysin causing cyclic AMP‐dependent chloride secretion in cells of the gastrointestinal tract. Damage to the intestinal tract of marine fish larvae could occur in a similar way, and it is possible that several Vibrio spp. found in the developing bacterial flora of the larval fish gut can secrete aerolysin‐like toxins leading to death of larvae in the early rearing stages. Routine bacteriological screening on blood agar plates of live feed is recommended with measures to reduce the concentrations of haemolytic bacteria in rearing systems.
Polar assembly and scaffolding proteins of the virulence‐associated ESX‐1 secretory apparatus in mycobacteria
Authors: Wirth Samantha E. , Krywy Janet A. , Aldridge Bree B. , Fortune Sarah M. , Fernandez‐Suarez Marta , Gray Todd A. , Derbyshire Keith M. 
Published: January 2012

SummaryThe ESX‐1 secretion system is required for pathogenicity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Despite considerable research, little is known about the structural components of ESX‐1, or how these proteins are assembled into the active secretion apparatus. Here, we exploit the functionally related ESX‐1 apparatus of Mycobacterium smegmatis (Ms) to show that fluorescently tagged proteins required for ESX‐1 activity consistently localize to the cell pole, identified by time‐lapse fluoro‐microscopy as the non‐septal (old) pole. Deletions in Msesx1 prevented polar localization of tagged proteins, indicating the need for specific protein–protein interactions in polar trafficking. Remarkably, expression of the Mtbesx1 locus in Msesx1 mutants restored polar localization of tagged proteins, indicating establishment of the MtbESX‐1 apparatus in M. smegmatis. This observation illustrates the cross‐species conservation of protein interactions governing assembly of ESX‐1, as well as polar localization. Importantly, we describe novel non‐esx1‐encoded proteins, which affect ESX‐1 activity, which colocalize with ESX‐1, and which are required for ESX‐1 recruitment and assembly. This analysis provides new insights into the molecular assembly of this important determinant of Mtb virulence.