bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Leadership practices that encourage strategic thinking
Authors: Goldman Ellen F. 
Published: February 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to define and then investigate the incidence of organizational leadership practices that encourage a culture of strategic thinking.Design/methodology/approachDiscussions with 400 US healthcare executives attending focused educational seminars identified 18 leadership practices that encourage strategic thinking and 117 participants in subsequent seminars completed a survey assessing their use of the practices. Central tendencies, patterns across high and low users, and demographic differences were analyzed.FindingsThe two most frequently used practices involved reactions to crises. Executives using most of the practices employed long time horizons and made investments in human resource development and organizational learning. Industry suppliers and those responsible for parts of organizations were more likely to formally develop subordinates' strategic thinking ability.Research limitations/implicationsWhile the study used a convenience sample with self‐ratings, it identified salient leadership practices for encouraging strategic thinking. This research should be expanded to other industries and countries. Case study methods would provide additional insight.Practical implicationsThe findings support enhanced practitioner education regarding strategic thinking and provide practitioners with a place to start in looking for ways to enhance strategic thinking among individuals in their organizations.Originality/valueThe study fills a gap in the literature regarding specific ways in which organizational culture may impact strategic thinking in others. The study also provides a model for scholar‐practitioner inquiry, exemplifying practitioner involvement in methodology development and the interpretation of findings.
Knowledge management and organisational resilience
Authors: Mafabi Samuel , Munene John , Ntayi Joseph 
Published: February 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report the findings of the mediation effect of innovation in the relationship between knowledge management and organisational resilience.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopts a cross‐sectional design to collect data used to carry out mediation analysis.FindingsInnovation had an effect on organisational resilience. Knowledge management did not have a direct effect on organisational resilience, except through the full mediation of innovation. This suggests that without organisational innovation, parastatal organisations may not improve their level of resilience.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample size was small, covering only parastatals. The results may be different in the private sector. The study was cross‐sectional which is limited to trace long‐term effects of knowledge management and organisational innovation on organisational resilience. Therefore, a longitudinal study may be undertaken, subject to resource availability.Practical implicationsManagers in parastatals should carry out organisational innovations as a gateway for knowledge management to build organisational resilience.Originality/valueThe study generates empirical evidence on less studied phenomena in the parastatal sector. The evidence highlights the powerful influence of organisational innovation in building resilience based on knowledge management.
Strategies for change: adaptation to new accounting conditions
Authors: Carlström Eric D. 
Published: February 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify middle managers' strategies during changed accounting conditions.Design/methodology/approachMiddle managers from hospitals, primary care and community care were interviewed about their strategies during change processes. Each middle manager selected changes that had played the greatest part in a ten‐year period.FindingsEach change was dominated by one strategy that corresponded to the tactics of middle managers during change. They questioned new control models, they experimented with smart budget strategies and they implemented new IT technology. These strategies formed transitions in a continuous circular change model based on Hinings and Malholtra. The study points to two key findings. First, strategies that can be perceived as irrational are organised within a context of plausible explanations; and second, middle managers in public organisations are likely to adopt innovations supported by management policy voluntarily and to question or even reject those prohibited.Research limitations/implicationsCriticism may be directed towards the fact that the theoretical model presented in the analysis has an element of determinism. In the model, the managers' control strategies are given limited influence. The theoretical model's strength is that it measures the development in slow‐to‐change public organisations with long histories and deeply rooted practices.Practical implicationsThe results can be used to understand the motives of the middle managers' strategies for change. It provides support to management that hesitates between defending a well‐established but criticised organisational model, and implementing new and untested approaches.Originality/valueTheoretical change models frequently originate from a management perspective or differentiate between “top‐down” and “bottom up” change. In this paper, change is regarded as a generalised process where different phenomena are connected. This forms a circular model that moves between stable phases without change and transformative phases of major change.
Publicly owned accounting firm consolidators: executive benefit expectations
Authors: Pickering Mark Edward 
Published: February 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the company‐related benefits expected by executives of public accounting companies consolidating accounting practices and the implications of these expectations for company performance.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses a case study approach involving the review of publicly available information and interviews with executives and senior professionals of two Australian, publicly‐owned accounting companies. Analysis of the financial performance of the two companies was performed using data from annual reports.FindingsExecutives predominantly expected to achieve revenue growth and efficiency benefits through consolidation and change in ownership form. In one of the cases these benefit expectations emerged over the course of the acquisition program. The paper highlights the difficulty in estimating and realising the magnitude, timing and associated costs of consolidation benefits and the consequences of failure to achieve expected benefits; also it suggests advantages in a more conservative consolidation approach.Research limitations/implicationsCare is required generalising findings to other professions and other geographic jurisdictions.Practical implicationsThis paper has implications for entrepreneurs and executives consolidating professional service firms, partners considering selling their firms and investors in publicly‐owned professional service firms.Originality/valueThis is the first study to consider the benefits expected by executives of the recently emerged, publicly‐owned accounting companies and the associated costs of implementation. The paper highlights opportunities for researchers provided by the availability of data for publicly‐owned accounting and other professional service firms.
Firm's information environment and stock liquidity: evidence from Tunisian context
Authors: Loukil Nadia , Yousfi Ouidad 
Published: February 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of public and private information of Tunisian firms on stock liquidity.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses a sample of 41 Tunisian firms listed in Tunis Stock Exchange for the year 2007. Public information disclosed in annual reports and in web sites is measured by two self‐constructed disclosure indexes. To assess private information the authors use imbalance order flows. The stock liquidity proxy used in the study is Liu's multidimensional measure. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression is applied to model the relationship between firm's information environment and stock liquidity.FindingsFirst, the results provide evidence that public and private information are independent. Second, Tunisian investors do not trust the information disclosed in both annual reports and web sites, consequently it has no effect on stock liquidity, in contrast with private information. This result implies that Tunisian investors are overconfident and rely only on their private information.Practical implicationsThe paper's findings indicate that Tunisian regulation efforts to enhance corporate transparency are not sufficient. Hence, Tunisian firms need more incentives to disclose more information to investors.Originality/valueThis paper, to the authors’ best knowledge, is the first to investigate the effect of both private and public information on stock liquidity. Moreover, the authors were not limited to annual reports as the only source of public information, as were prior papers, because public information was assessed in both annual reports and corporate web sites.
Employability skills development: strategy, evaluation and impact
Authors: Andrews Georgina , Russell Marilyn 
Published: February 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report how one University has sought to test the effectiveness of strategies to enhance employability skills, and the key themes which emerged from this investigation.Design/methodology/approachA survey tool has been used to record staff perceptions of where employability skills are strongly developed and assessed in a sample of courses. The results have been triangulated against explicit statements/mapping in course documentation, and top level University strategies and policies. Key performance indicators have been reviewed, and focus groups have been conducted to appraise student perceptions. An external scan of selected comparator benchmark institutions has also been undertaken.FindingsKey emerging themes include issues surrounding the role of higher education; deficiencies in the classification of graduate destinations; the challenge of predicting the needs of employers of the future; and gaps between strategies, perceptions and realities.Research limitations/implicationsA number of the outcomes of the audit are University specific. However, some of the key themes and issues that have emerged are relevant to the sector as a whole. This paper highlights these broader issues, whilst acknowledging that individual Universities will find their own unique responses to these challenges.Originality/valueThis paper shares an approach to the critical evaluation of the effectiveness of strategies to enhance employability skills development, which may be of value to educational establishments wishing to review their own provision. The paper also draws attention to key issues relating to the enhancement of graduate employability.
Changing policies, their impact on the provision of work‐based learning and the development of an e‐portfolio based pedagogy for WBL
Authors: Felce Alison , Purnell Emma 
Published: February 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify how key external and internal policies can impact on the internal policies of a University in the UK. It explains how the internal structures can be changed to meet the policy demands and how the need to meet those demands can lead to the development of an innovative pedagogy to broaden engagement with the business community, to offer work‐based learning to employees within small to medium‐sized enterprises.Design/methodology/approachThe objectives of the case study are to review the key external policies and drivers for change and how these led to internal policy and structure changes. The paper reviews past practice in the university around employer engagement, how this is affected by the external changes and identifies opportunities for change offered through the availability of external project funding. The key requirements for the new pedagogical approach are outlined, along with its primary concepts and how an e‐portfolio has been designed to meet the needs of the target group.FindingsThe paper shows how imperatives arising from policies and drivers outside the university can be contextualised by that university to develop a cost‐effective, sustainable and scaleable pedagogy to widen access to cohorts of learners that would otherwise not be able to access higher education.Originality/valueThe paper showcases an innovative pedagogic approach to enable access to higher education for work‐based learners in small to medium‐sized enterprises.
Corporate governance research applied at a private university
Authors: Kyriakos Georgiou Andreas , Koussis Nicos , Violaris Ioannis 
Published: February 2012

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review the evidence regarding the link between accounting education and the industry, with particular emphasis on the links between accounting education and firm performance. In particular, the paper investigates corporate governance education and its relation to firms’ performance, to improve the content of business‐related programs at Frederick University.Design/methodology approachSurvey analysis, action research and literature review are used in order to apply the findings of corporate governance research on course programmes at the university.FindingsThe main recommendation of the research is that new modules have to be introduced for both the accounting and finance and business administration degrees so as to meet the increasing need for corporate governance education. This is reflected in the interviews of managers, the student questionnaires, the faculty interviews and the literature review on the subject. These new modules will serve the increasing needs of the Cyprus business world towards better corporate governance practices. These modules should cover the main theoretical aspects concerning corporate governance and the empirical findings concerning corporate governance education and its relation with performance.Originality/valueThe paper provides new insights as to how corporate governance research could be applied to business‐related degree courses at a university in Cyprus.
Childhood stunting and caries increment in permanent teeth: a three and a half year longitudinal study in Peru
Authors: DELGADO‐ANGULO ELSA K. , HOBDELL MARTIN H. , BERNABÉ EDUARDO 
Published: February 2012

International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry 2013; 23: 101–109
Background.  Malnutrition has been consistently associated with caries in primary teeth, although an effect on permanent teeth has not been established because of the few longitudinal studies.Aim.  To explore the association between stunting and caries increment in permanent teeth over 3.5 years.Design.  In 2003, 121 children aged 7–9 years were randomly selected from nine underserved communities in Lima (Peru). Parents provided demographic information and a food diary for their children. Clinical examinations included assessments of height, weight, oral hygiene, and dental caries. Stunting was defined using the 2000 CDC and 2007 WHO standards. In 2006, 83 children were re‐examined, and the 3.5‐year net DMFS increment was calculated. The association between stunting and net DMFS increment was assessed using negative binomial regression.Results.  Stunting was related to net DMFS increment after adjustment for sex and age, oral hygiene, sugary snacks between meals, and caries experience in primary and permanent teeth. Consistent results were found when using either the 2000 CDC (incidence rate ratio: 1.61; 95%CI: 1.07, 2.44) or 2007 WHO standards (IRR: 1.79; 95%CI: 1.28, 2.51).Conclusion.  Stunting was a significant risk factor for caries increment in permanent teeth over a 3.5‐year period, independent of other well‐known risk factors for caries development.
A computer tool for cardiovascular risk estimation according to Framingham and SCORE equations
Authors: Ramírez‐Rodrigo Jesús , Moreno‐Vázquez José Antonio , Ruiz‐Villaverde Alberto , Sánchez‐Caravaca María Ángeles , Lopez de la Torre‐Casares Martín , Villaverde‐Gutiérrez Carmen 
Published: February 2012

AbstractBackground  Currently, we have different scales to estimate the cardiovascular risk of one individual. The most commonly used in clinical practice are the Framingham method and the SCORE project. Both are based on mathematical models that take into account the presence and intensity of various risk factors for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.Aims and objectives  The aim of our study was to develop a measurement system that allows unifying criteria of both models. Thus, we will be able to estimate the cardiovascular risk globally in a cohort of patients instead of individually.Methods  The study included a representative subgroup of 50 patients treated at in the Endocrinology Service of Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital, Granada, below 30 years or above 75 years. The equations used in the present study were in strict compliance with the original publications. The reliability and validity of results were tested, comparing them with results obtained using calculation programs developed, available on‐line. The degree of similarity was determined by means of the Dice index and the distance between our values and those of the other programs were compared by using the expression: Da–b = √Σ(a − b)2Results  The results of the present study demonstrated our application to be reliable and valid for cardiovascular risk assessment. Our observations also demonstrated differences in the criteria applied to create cardiovascular risk calculation tools. This may have repercussions on clinical decisions for some patients, suggesting a need to compare and standardize these criteria, ensuring that programs developed for this calculation correctly manage the different risk categories considered.Conclusion  The present study validates a computer tool developed for the simultaneous calculation of cardiovascular disease probability by applying Framingham‐Anderson and Framingham‐Wilson methods, the Spanish adaptations of Regicor and Dorica, and the SCORE project.
Time trends in socio‐economic factors and risk of hospitalisation with infectious diseases in pre‐school children 1985–2004: a Danish register‐based study
Authors: Biering‐Sørensen Sofie , Søndergaard Grethe , Vitting Andersen Karen , Andersen Anne‐Marie Nybo , Mortensen Laust Hvas 
Published: February 2012

SummaryBiering‐Sørensen S, Søndergaard G, Vitting Andersen K, Andersen A‐MN, Mortensen LH. Time trends in socio‐economic factors and risk of hospitalisation with infectious diseases in pre‐school children 1985–2004: a Danish register‐based study. Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology 2012; 26: 226–235.The purpose of this study was to examine socio‐economic differences in the risk of hospitalisation among children aged 0–5 years in Denmark from 1985 to 2004. All children born between 1985 and 2004 (n = 1 278 286) were followed for hospital admissions for infectious diseases from the 29th day of life until the children reached the age of 6 years or the end of 2004, whichever came first. Information on parental socio‐economic position (education, labour market attachment and household income) was gathered through record linkage with administrative registries. Infections were grouped into upper respiratory, lower respiratory, gastrointestinal, ear and fever infections. The data were analysed using Cox regression. Children of parents on sick leave or early retirement had an increased risk of being hospitalised with an infection compared with children of employed parents. A clear inverse educational gradient in risk of offspring hospitalisation was also found. From 1985 to 2004 the inverse associations between parental education and risk of hospitalisation grew stronger, whereas the comparatively weaker association between household income and risk of offspring hospitalisation decreased in magnitude. The association between socio‐economic status and hospitalisation was strongest for lower respiratory, gastrointestinal and ear infections. This study documented a socially patterned hospitalisation of pre‐school children in Denmark. Future studies should investigate possible explanations for the increased risk among children from families with low socio‐economic status.
The SAUR19 subfamily of SMALL AUXIN UP RNA genes promote cell expansion
Authors: Spartz Angela K. , Lee Sang H. , Wenger Jonathan P. , Gonzalez Nathalie , Itoh Hironori , Inzé Dirk , Peer Wendy A. , Murphy Angus S. , Overvoorde Paul J. , Gray William M. 
Published: February 2012

SummaryThe plant hormone auxin controls numerous aspects of plant growth and development by regulating the expression of hundreds of genes. SMALL AUXIN UP RNA (SAUR) genes comprise the largest family of auxin‐responsive genes, but their function is unknown. Although prior studies have correlated the expression of some SAUR genes with auxin‐mediated cell expansion, genetic evidence implicating SAURs in cell expansion has not been reported. The Arabidopsis SAUR19, SAUR20, SAUR21, SAUR22, SAUR23, and SAUR24 (SAUR19–24) genes encode a subgroup of closely related SAUR proteins. We demonstrate that these SAUR proteins are highly unstable in Arabidopsis. However, the addition of an N‐terminal GFP or epitope tag dramatically increases the stability of SAUR proteins. Expression of these stabilized SAUR fusion proteins in Arabidopsis confers numerous auxin‐related phenotypes indicative of increased and/or unregulated cell expansion, including increased hypocotyl and leaf size, defective apical hook maintenance, and altered tropic responses. Furthermore, seedlings expressing an artificial microRNA targeting multiple members of the SAUR19–24 subfamily exhibit short hypocotyls and reduced leaf size. Together, these findings demonstrate that SAUR19–24 function as positive effectors of cell expansion. This regulation may be achieved through the modulation of auxin transport, as SAUR gain‐of‐function and loss‐of‐function seedlings exhibit increased and reduced basipetal indole‐3‐acetic acid transport, respectively. Consistent with this possibility, SAUR19–24 proteins predominantly localize to the plasma membrane.
Smoking and the skin
Authors: Ortiz Arisa , Grando Sergei A. 
Published: February 2012

AbstractCigarette smoking has been associated with significant morbidity affecting all systems of the body, including the integumentary system. We review the many dermatologic hazards of tobacco use. It is important to distinguish between the effects of tobacco smoke from effects of pure nicotine on the skin. All skin cells express several subtypes of the nicotinic class of acetylcholine receptors, including the α7 receptor. Many chronic dermatoses are affected by smoking either negatively or positively. Elucidation of positive associations with a particular disease can lead to improvement from smoking cessation, whereas inverse correlation may lead to development of a disease‐specific treatment with nicotinergic agonists.