bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
International Committee of the Red Cross: emblems of humanity
Authors: Torres Ann M. 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the branding and communications strategy of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The ICRC is the world's oldest non‐religious organisation dedicated to humanitarian relief. The ICRC's remit includes civilian and military victims of armed conflicts and internal disturbances, as well as human rights issues that transcend conflict situations, such as disaster response and preparedness, health and care in the community and humanitarian principles and values. The ICRC is the founding body of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and coordinates the efforts of the National Societies and their International Federation.Design/methodology/approachVarious secondary sources are used to collate the information from which the case study is developed.FindingsThe ICRC's longevity is attributed to its ability to evolve, albeit at times slowly. However, the environment in which the ICRC operates is changing rapidly. Like many international non‐profit organisations, the ICRC faces considerable challenges to ensure it remains relevant by responding to the shifting environment in a flexible and creative manner. Consequently, the ICRC's communication efforts have become increasingly important.Originality/valueThe case study provides the opportunity to examine the branding and communications strategy for a prominent non‐profit organisation.
Low‐cost strategy through product architecture: lessons from China
Authors: Wang Hua , Kimble Chris 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThe article shows how changes in product architecture have become the driving force behind a breakthrough strategy that has enabled Chinese carmakers to produce vehicles that are broadly equivalent to the products of western carmakers but at a fraction of the price.Design/methodology/approachThe article presents an analysis of the development of a strategy based in an innovative product architecture used by a Chinese carmaker. The analysis covers the period between 1998 and 2006 and presents the results of a longitudinal study carried out by one of the authors in China between 2002 and 2007.FindingsThe article uses the literature on product architecture and breakthrough strategy to describe a quasi‐open modular product architecture used by Chinese carmakers. It provides an historical account of one company's approach to car making using this strategy and describes how it has allowed it to move from being a manufacturer of refrigerators to the ninth largest carmaker in China in period of ten years.Practical implicationsThe article highlights the strategic potential of innovations in product architecture in general and that of quasi‐open modular architectures in particular. It also highlights the role of the emerging markets in China as the source of potential drivers for breakthrough strategies and as a threat to the current position of western carmakers.Originality/valueThis article uses evidence based on direct observation to describe a novel approach to product architecture that has been pioneered in the emergent markets in China.
Is the price right? Strategies for new introductions
Authors: Docters Rob , Katz Raul , Bernstein Jerry , Schefers Bert 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThis paper aims to describe best practice in pricing strategy for new products and services being introduced to a market.Design/methodology/approachA review of introductory pricing patterns across a number of industries shows there are some common patterns in customer evaluation of new products and services. Study of customer behavior can be closely tracked where there is an ongoing relationship with the buyer, e.g. online services, software as a service, professional or technical services, consumables, consumer products and sometimes capital items with service suites and warranties (e.g. medical devices). The means for inferring and tracking customer understanding, beliefs and values is to quantify usage patterns, service call‐ins, warranty requirements and trade‐out of the new product/service for newer products and services.FindingsThis article examines customer behaviors to suggest that there are three phases to customer product or service adoption: a “learning” phase, where the customer or potential customer (in trial) learns about the products, its attributes, features, utility and value; a “use” phase where the customer has learned how to use the service or product, and is appreciating the value of the product, and using a lot; and a “reassessment” phase. Now the customer is very familiar with the product, the novelty and mystery has worn off, and they wonder if there is an equivalent substitute available for a lower cost.Originality/valueA bad introductory pricing strategy can destroy price levels and destroy a market, not to mention cost a company a lot of money. For some years many new product/service sponsors believed the best pricing approach for new products and services was to offer it for free. This paper shows that this simple approach is both ineffective and impracticable for most companies. The better approach is to understand customer product adoption cycles, and link the introductory pricing strategy to customer understanding and behavior.
Ultimate ownership structure and corporate disclosure quality: evidence from China
Authors: Liu Guoping , Sun Jerry 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine whether the type of ultimate controllers (i.e. private vs state) affects corporate disclosure quality and whether the relationship between the type of ultimate controllers and corporate disclosure quality is moderated by the separation of ownership and control.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs the data of 405 Chinese listed firms in 2005. Annual reports were reviewed to collect the data including the type of ultimate owners, cash‐flow rights, and control rights; and the ratings of corporate disclosure quality were obtained from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange website. Ordered logistic regression tested the hypotheses.FindingsIt was found that corporate disclosure quality is lower for firms ultimately controlled by individuals than for firms ultimately controlled by the state. Also, the negative effect of private ultimate ownership on corporate disclosure quality is stronger for firms with high deviation of cash‐flow rights and control rights.Practical implicationsThese findings suggest that privatizing state‐owned companies may increase the expropriation of minority shareholders by controlling shareholders if the privatization does not reduce the separation of cash‐flow rights from control rights. Thus, it may be necessary to strengthen the governance role of minority shareholders and constrain the divergence between cash‐flow rights and control rights of the ultimate owners when state‐owned companies are privatized.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature on the expropriation of minority shareholders by examining the main effect of the type of ultimate controllers and the interactive effect of ultimate ownership type and the divergence of ownership and control on corporate disclosure quality.
Vulnerable American options
Authors: Klein Peter , Yang Jun 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to extend the models of Johnson and Stulz, Klein and Klein and lnglis to analyse the properties of vulnerable American options.Design/methodology/approachThe presented model allows default prior to the maturity of the option based on a barrier which is linked to the payoff on the option. Various measures of risk denoted by the standard Greek letters are studied, as well as additional measures that arise because of the vulnerability.FindingsThe paper finds that the delta of a vulnerable American put does not always increase with the price of the underlying asset, and may be significantly smaller than that of a non‐vulnerable put. Because of deadweight costs associated with bankruptcy, delta and gamma are undefined for some values of the underlying asset. Rho may be considerably higher while vega may be smaller than for non‐vulnerable options. Also, the probability of early exercise for vulnerable American options is higher and the price of the underlying asset at which this is optimal depends on the degree of credit risk of the option writer.Originality/valueThis paper makes a contribution to understanding the effect of credit risk on option valuation.
Linear and nonlinear interest rate exposure in Spain
Authors: Ferrer Román , González Cristóbal , Soto Gloria M. 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThis paper aims to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the influence of interest rate risk on Spanish firms at the industry level.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology employed has its origin in the two‐index linear regression model proposed by Stone. This traditional interest rate exposure model has been extended in this paper to allow for a nonlinear exposure component as well as the presence of asymmetric behaviour in the exposure pattern.FindingsInterest rate exposure is not homogeneous for all the Spanish industries. In line with other markets, highly leveraged industries (construction and real estate), regulated industries (electrical and utilities), and banking industry are the most interest rate sensitive. Nevertheless, the interest rate exposure of Spanish firms also shows some distinctive features due to the peculiar structure of the Spanish market. It is also documented that the classical linear exposure profile prevails over the nonlinear and asymmetric exposure patterns, and that the introduction of the euro seems to have weakened the degree of interest rate risk.Practical implicationsThe evidence presented in this paper can be used as input in decision making by corporate managers, investors, and regulators interested in assessing the impact of interest rate risk at the sector level for hedging, portfolio management, or risk assessment purposes.Originality/valueThis is the first paper which tackles the analysis of the impact of interest rate risk on Spanish firms, taking into account not only the standard linear interest rate exposure profile but also the nonlinear one. The results found in the Spanish case reveal the existence of particularities which might also be present in countries immersed in a process of dramatic economic transformations similar to that experienced by Spain over the past two decades. This is the case of the Central and Eastern European countries which recently joined the European Union.
God, souls, and Turing: in defense of the theological objection to the Turing test
Authors: Bringsjord Selmer 
Published: May 2010

PurposeIt is widely known that when Turing first introduced his “imitation‐game” test for ascertaining whether a computing machine can think, he considered, and found wanting, a series of objections to his position. It seems safe to say that one of these objections, the “theological objection” (TO), is regarded by Turing to be positively anemic, and that ever since he delivered his rapid (purported!) refutation over half a century ago, the received view has been that, indeed, this objection is as weak as can be. The purpose of this paper is to show that TO is not the pushover Turing, and others since, take it to be.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is devoted to the TO within the Turing test (TT) and to Turing's reply to this objection.FindingsThe paper reaches the conclusion that Turing's response to TO fails.Originality/valueThis paper is a defense of the TO to the TT.
Fair play for machines
Authors: Hodges Andrew 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to consider Alan Turing's philosophical paper on “Computing machinery and intelligence”, in which he defined the “imitation game”, now usually known as the Turing test.Design/methodology/approachThe paper shows that Turing's paper contained more than the test; it contained a wide survey of what a computer could do and its relation to human thought.FindingsThis paper discusses how Turing's paper represented the outcome of many years in which Turing has both developed the concept and the design of the digital computer, and considered how its action could be related to human thought.Originality/valueAnalysis of Turing's paper provides an understanding and appreciation of Turing's contributions and the significance of the Turing test.
Testing Turing's five minutes, parallel‐paired imitation game
Authors: Shah Huma , Warwick Kevin 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to consider Turing's two tests for machine intelligence: the parallel‐paired, three‐participants game presented in his 1950 paper, and the “jury‐service” one‐to‐one measure described two years later in a radio broadcast. Both versions were instantiated in practical Turing tests during the 18th Loebner Prize for artificial intelligence hosted at the University of Reading, UK, in October 2008. This involved jury‐service tests in the preliminary phase and parallel‐paired in the final phase.Design/methodology/approachAlmost 100 test results from the final have been evaluated and this paper reports some intriguing nuances which arose as a result of the unique contest.FindingsIn the 2008 competition, Turing's 30 per cent pass rate is not achieved by any machine in the parallel‐paired tests but Turing's modified prediction: “at least in a hundred years time” is remembered.Originality/valueThe paper presents actual responses from “modern Elizas” to human interrogators during contest dialogues that show considerable improvement in artificial conversational entities (ACE). Unlike their ancestor – Weizenbaum's natural language understanding system – ACE are now able to recall, share information and disclose personal interests.
Plastic machines: behavioural diversity and the Turing test
Authors: Wheeler Michael 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to consider Turing's test and his objections to the idea that a machine might eventually pass it. Discusses behavioural diversity in relation to the Turing test.Design/methodology/approachThe paper argues that this objection cannot be dismissed easily, taking the view that the diversity exhibited by human behaviour is characterised by a kind of context‐sensitive adaptive plasticity. Draws on Descartes' arguments and artificial intelligence to interpret the Turing test.FindingsIt is found that the distinctive context‐sensitive adaptive plasticity of human behaviour explains why the Turing test is such a stringent test for the presence of thought and why it is much harder to pass than Turing himself may have realised.Originality/valueThis paper provides an unique view of Turing's test that will assist researchers in assessing its value and its goals.
Not just Norbert
Authors: Bissell Chris 
Published: May 2010

PurposeAlthough Norbert Wiener is justifiably granted the epithet “father of cybernetics”, a number of other engineers from a control or telecommunications background also turned to areas that can broadly be categorised as cybernetic during and immediately after WW2. The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of some of these lesser‐known technologist contributors to the emerging ideas of cybernetics.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on primary and secondary literature, as well as two interviews from the early 1990s.FindingsIn Germany, Hermann Schmidt, Chair of the Verein Deutscher Ingenieure (Society of German Engineers) committee on control engineering (established in 1939) gave a talk on control engineering and its relationship with economics, social sciences and cultural aspects as early as October 1940. Winfried Oppelt, another member of the committee, also researched non‐technological applications of control ideas in his subsequent career (economics, biology), as did the communications engineer Karl Küpfmüller (pharmacokinetics, models of the human nervous system). In the UK, Arnold Tustin developed a mathematical model of a human gun operator during the war, and then applied control ideas to economic systems from the mid‐1940s.Originality/valueThe material presented here is not well‐known even within the control and communications engineering sectors, and is largely absent from histories of cybernetics – at least those in the English language.
Cybernetics of Tao
Authors: Ye Zude , Yolles Maurice 
Published: May 2010

PurposeTaoist thought is not easily penetrable for Westerners, though it has growing importance with the globalisation of Chinese commerce. The purpose of this paper is to explore some aspects of Chinese and Taoist thought, and how they can be expressed in cybernetic terms, using a knowledge cybernetics (KC) schema.Design/methodology/approachKC operates through metaphor the role of which is considered with respect to its application to the specific area of urban landscaping.FindingsA new methodological approach is indicated that is capable of linking Western landscape theory with Taoist feng shui. The traditional approach to critical planning has been in principle enhanced through the idea of landscape canonical harmony that comes from Taoist feng shui. It is also shown that the activity phases in urban landscape design are ontologically different, and use distinct types of energy measures.Research limitations/implicationsThe research uses KC as a vehicle for the development of a landscaping methodology that draws on both traditional Western and Chinese Taoist approaches. It requires application to real situations to draw out its practical capacities.Practical implicationsThis is apparently the first time that a synergy between Western and Chinese approaches to landscape design and development has been attempted that results in the proposal of a complete methodology.Originality/valueThe successful use of this methodology could demonstrate that Western and Chinese approaches to landscape design are relatable.
Elements of a cybernetic epistemology
Authors: Nechansky Helmut 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate necessary cybernetic structures that allow complex adaptive systems to develop system‐specific behavior.Design/methodology/approachFollowing Holland's concept of “adaptive agents”, it is argued that the development of system‐specific forms of goal‐oriented behavior requires a decision to deviate from some default behavior and to trigger any new one, and a mechanism to evaluate the goal‐orientation of this new behavior. Using a functional approach cybernetic structures are developed that are able to carry out these two tasks. Then these structures are added as subsystems to the structure of a simple one‐level adaptive system.FindingsThe paper finds that a hierarchical adaptive system can recognize with a higher level controller, if lower level decisions lead to an insufficient degree of goal‐approximation and can use preprogrammed higher level decisions to intervene on the lower level to trigger new system‐specific actions. An additional controller can evaluate the “success” achieved with these new actions and can select the “best” actions found, i.e. the behavior leading to the highest degree of goal‐approximation.Practical implicationsThe paper shows necessary cybernetic structures that are seen as core of all complex adaptive systems able to develop system‐specific behavior. It is suggested that the underlying basic concept of “success” understood as a degree of goal‐approximation holds for any adaptive, learning or otherwise improving endeavor.Originality/valueThe paper is the second in a series of three on a cybernetic theory distinguishing system capable of preprogrammed adaptation, system‐specific adaptation, and learning. It shows necessary cybernetic structures that a system can develop individual actions.
A method for solving nonlinear differential equations
Authors: Ben Zitoun Feyed , Cherruault Yves 
Published: May 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a method for solving nonlinear differential equations with constant and/or variable coefficients and with initial and/or boundary conditions.Design/methodology/approachThe method converts the nonlinear boundary value problem into a system of nonlinear algebraic equations. By solving this system, the solution is determined. Comparing the methodology with some known techniques shows that the present approach is simple, easy to use, and highly accurate.FindingsThe proposed technique allows us to obtain an approximate solution in a series form. Test problems are given to illustrate the pertinent features of the method. The accuracy of the numerical results indicates that the technique is efficient and well suited for solving nonlinear differential equations.Originality/valueThe present approach provides a reliable technique, which avoids the tedious work needed by classical techniques and existing numerical methods. The nonlinear problem is solved without linearizing or discretizing the nonlinear terms of the equation. The method does not require physically unrealistic assumptions, linearization, discretization, perturbation, or any transformation in order to find the solutions of the given problems.
On neutrosophic paraconsistent topology
Authors: Gallego Lupiáñez Francisco 
Published: May 2010

PurposeRecently, F. Smarandache generalized the Atanassov's intuitionistic fuzzy sets and other kinds of sets to neutrosophic sets (NSs). Also, this author introduced a general definition of neutrosophic topology. On the other hand, there exist various kinds of paraconsistent logics, where some contradiction is admissible. The purpose of this paper is to show that a Smarandache's definition of neutrosophic paraconsistent topology is not a generalization of Çoker's intuitionistic fuzzy topology (IFT) or Smarandache's general neutrosophic topology.Design/methodology/approachThe possible relations between the IFT and the neutrosophic paraconsistent topology are studied.FindingsRelations on IFT and neutrosophic paraconsistent topology are shown.Research limitations/implicationsClearly, the paper is confined to IFSs and NSs.Practical implicationsThe main applications are in the mathematical field.Originality/valueThe paper shows original results on fuzzy sets and topology.