bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Petrobras' study of publics: a step towards achieving the company's strategic vision for 2020
Authors: Carneiro Eraldo , André Costa Marcos , Mendes Neto Mário 
Published: August 2011

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze a study of publics that was conducted by the Corporate Communications Department of Petrobras, an integrated energy company of Brazilian origin, one of the ten largest in its sector worldwide. Petrobras' strategic vision for 2020 includes the goal of becoming the preferred company among its publics of interest. To achieve this, Petrobras had to develop a concept and categories of its publics that could be applied to all the company's areas and subsidiaries.Design/methodology/approachThe study was based on analysis of theories related to publics and stakeholders, secondary data gathering, and on consultation of Petrobras areas and subsidiaries through workshops.FindingsThe analysis of theories of publics and stakeholders enabled the identification of some variables that can provide a basis for building concepts. The project identified needs and issues of each Petrobras public and gave rise to the concept and categories of publics of interest of the company.Practical implicationsThe project brought greater understanding of the individuals and groups that compose the network to which Petrobras belongs. The participative process of internal consultation amplified the debate on the theme and enabled the conceptualization and classification of publics for Petrobras as a whole. The project represents a direct collaboration of the Corporate Communications Department with the company's strategic vision.Originality/valueThe study reinforces the perspective that, faced with myriad concepts, an organization can develop its own definition and classification of publics or stakeholders in order to help it to manage its relationships.
Communicating crisis: how culture influences image repair in Western and Asian governments
Authors: Siew‐Yoong Low Yvonne , Varughese Jeni , Pang Augustine 
Published: August 2011

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to seek to understand the differences in image repair strategies adopted by two governments that operate in the Western and Asian societies when faced with similar crises.Design/methodology/approachTextual analyses are presented of communication of Hurricane Katrina and Typhoon Morakot by the Taiwanese and US governments, respectively.FindingsFaced with similar accusations of slow response, the Asian culture, represented by the Taiwanese Government, used predominantly mortification and corrective action strategies. The Western culture, represented by the US Government, used predominantly bolstering and defeasibility and a mixed bag of other strategies such as shifting the blame and attack the accuser.Research limitations/implicationsA limitation of the study is that it depends on news reports, instead of news releases and speeches, for analysis. However, given the rapidity and volatility in the unfolding drama of each of the two crises, many of the comments made were to the media and not in prepared speeches. It is a limitation the authors accept.Practical implicationsStrategies reflected Hofstede's uncertainty avoidance and power distance dimensions. These dimensions should be considered when designing communication strategies in different cultures so as to be culturally sensitive and relevant.Originality/valueFew, if any, studies on image repair theory have addressed the role of culture in strategies used. This study fills the gap by integrating Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory.
Employee dissent in federal government organizations
Authors: Lynne Hamilton Heather 
Published: August 2011

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate how government employees perceive and react to limits on their right to express public dissent about their employer. Within the context of Canada's federal workplaces, this two‐part project sought first to analyse and clarify the nature of complex government rules on dissent, and then to explore federal employees' understanding of those rules, and the balance between the duty of loyalty owed to their employer, and their protected rights as citizens to criticize their government. The goal was to contribute to further research and improve professional practice within the federal public service in addressing employee dissent.Design/methodology/approachThis research is qualitative and exploratory. Documentary and literature analysis was conducted to review Canada's laws, policies and guidelines. These were critically analysed for consistency with each other, and with their stated objectives. Employee views and perceptions were collected through a focus group of communications employees, and three in‐depth interviews. Interviews and focus group results were analysed by inference to explore employee perceptions of their duties and rights, and the authority on which their perceptions are based.FindingsResults indicate that respondents base decisions about employee dissent on unconsciously internalized organizational values. Formal policy, training, or legal consequences had less influence on dissent than organizational culture, employee experience, and perceived career and relationship risks. Respondents valued their right to dissent, but were willing to yield it to honour a voluntary moral contract to support a higher cause (public service). The implications are that traditional theories that view employee dissent as largely self‐interested may be less relevant when employees perceive the organization's goals to be value‐driven, and that employee dissent can be minimized by promoting a value‐based organizational culture.Practical implicationsThis paper's findings suggest that organizations might better manage reputation and minimize external employee dissent by focussing on communications that foster a value‐driven organizational culture, rather than by implementing formal limits or policies to control dissent.Originality/valueThis paper offers policy analysis that fulfills an identified gap in knowledge in terms of general day‐to‐day practise when it comes to advising Canada's federal employees regarding their rights and responsibilities, and offers some challenges to traditional theories that suggest employee choices regarding dissent are primarily based on individual self‐interest or self‐actualization.
RFId adoption in the FMCG supply chain: an interpretative framework
Authors: Balocco Raffaello , Miragliotta Giovanni , Perego Alessandro , Tumino Angela 
Published: August 2011

PurposeIn 2003, Walmart issued a sensational RFId mandate for its top 100 suppliers, including a detailed deployment plan under compelling deadlines. After seven years, very little of that mandate has become a consolidated industry practice. This paper aims to try to offer a complete and thorough explanation of the reasons behind this fact, providing a sound strategic view of what is happening and could happen in the future.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on a twofold methodological approach: first, it relies on an in‐depth literature review covering the assessment of RFId applications in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry; second, it leverages on a five‐year research program carried out by the RFId Solution Center of Politecnico di Milano in cooperation with GS1 Italy, which provided both quantitative data (used to develop and feed an analytical profitability assessment model) and qualitative knowledge to understand the “soft” implications of RFId adoption in the industry.FindingsDespite the great potential of RFId technology, there are still some significant barriers preventing its diffusion. Case‐level tagging is required to enable a substantial redesign of the supply chain, but profit‐sharing and reading reliability should be carefully considered to ensure economic and technological feasibility. The comparison with the fashion industry evidences some key success factors of RFId; while some of them are industry‐specific, others can be replicated in the FMCG as well, but further efforts are still needed.Originality/valueThis is one of the first attempts to provide a comprehensive analysis of RFId potential in the FMCG supply chain, taking into account all the major factors involved. Moreover, the quantitative results illustrated in the paper could be a valuable support to companies in defining their RFId strategies.
A social network‐based organizational model for improving knowledge management in supply chains
Authors: Capó‐Vicedo Josep , Mula Josefa , Capó Jordi 
Published: August 2011

PurposeThis paper aims to provide a social network‐based model for improving knowledge management in multi‐level supply chains formed by small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs).Design/methodology/approachThis approach uses social network analysis techniques to propose and represent a knowledge network for supply chains. Also, an empirical experience from an exploratory case study in the construction sector is presented.FindingsThis proposal improves the establishment of inter‐organizational relationships into networks to exchange the knowledge among the companies along the supply chain and create specific knowledge by promoting confidence and motivation.Originality/valueThis proposed model is useful for academics and practitioners in supply chain management to gain a better understanding of knowledge management processes, particularly for the supply chains formed by SMEs.
The meaning of career success
Authors: Dries Nicky 
Published: August 2011

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which the concept of career success has been subject to reification, and identify potential implications for individuals, organizations, and societies.Design/methodology/approachThe current paper offers an in‐depth analysis of the different contextual forces contributing to the reification of careers (i.e. history, culture and ideology), and how these have impacted on the social reality of career and the definitions of career success held by different relevant actors.FindingsIn total, eight research propositions are identified that need to be addressed in future research in order to advance knowledge and understanding of career success in context.Social implicationsOne manifest outcome of career reification is the establishment of collective norms prescribing what a “normal”, “successful” career is – and what is not. Consequently, all careers not conforming to these norms are devaluated, which is inappropriate given the present‐day climate of workplace diversity.Originality/valueCareer theory, in general, has been criticized for overemphasizing individual agency while neglecting contextual issues. Furthermore, more conceptual development is necessary in relation to the career success construct. The current paper aims to address both of these gaps by presenting in‐depth analyses of the historical, cultural, and ideological contexts impacting on the meaning of career and career success.
Good Lives sexual offender treatment for mentally disordered offenders
Authors: Gannon Theresa A. , King Tracy , Miles Helen , Lockerbie Lona , Willis Gwenda M. 
Published: August 2011

PurposeThe main aim of this paper is to describe the content, structure and preliminary evaluation of a new Good Lives sexual offender treatment group (SOTG) for male mentally disordered offenders.Design/methodology/approachAs evaluation and work on the SOTG is necessarily ongoing, case study descriptions of each patient who attended the SOTG and of their progress throughout SOTG are described.FindingsOverall, the case study progress reports suggest that mentally disordered male patients made some notable progress on SOTG despite their differential and complex needs. In particular, attention to each patient's life goals and motivators appeared to play a key role in promoting treatment engagement. Furthermore, patients with lower intelligence quotient and/or indirect pathways required additional support to understand the links between the Good Lives Model (GLM) and their own risk for sexual offending.Research limitations/implicationsFurther evaluations of SOTG groups, that incorporate higher numbers of participants and adequate control groups, are required before solid conclusions and generalisations can be made.Practical implicationsPractitioners should consider providing additional support to clients when implementing any future SOTGs for mentally disordered patients.Originality/valueThis is the first paper to outline and describe implementation of the GLM in the sexual offender treatment of mentally disordered male patients group format. As such, it will be of interest to any professionals involved in the facilitation of sexual offender treatment within this population.
Pathways to episodes of deliberate self‐harm experienced by mentally ill men in a high‐secure hospital over the course of their lives: an exploratory study
Authors: Adamson Vidyah , Braham Louise 
Published: August 2011

PurposeThere is a dearth of research exploring pathways to episodes of deliberate self‐harm (DSH) within mentally ill men in high‐secure hospitals. This study aims to explore pathway(s) to episodes of self‐harm experienced by this group over the course of their life.Design/methodology/approachA total of seven men with a history of repetitive DSH participated in audio‐taped semi‐structured interviews. Transcribed interviews were analysed using grounded theory methods.FindingsTwo pathways to episodes of DSH emerged and were termed: the relief, and the response to mental health problems pathways. Participation within a dyadic suicide pact emerged as an unexpected theme.Research limitations/implicationsThere were a number of limitations within this study. Participants did not describe DSH episodes, which occurred within the high‐secure hospital and it was unclear as to the stage of their illness or whether co‐morbid difficulties were present during the episodes of DSH. Further research is required to substantiate the two pathways to episodes of DSH found within this study.Practical implicationsThe present study offers a theoretical framework for clinicians working with mentally ill men within high‐secure hospitals, who have a history of DSH and identifies the need to carefully assess each individual episode of DSH.Originality/valueThis study is the first to explore pathways to episodes of self‐harm as experienced by mentally ill men within a high‐secure hospital by interviewing patients directly.
What are we doing about weight management in forensic psychiatry? A survey of forensic psychiatrists
Authors: Haw Camilla , Stubbs Jean 
Published: August 2011

PurposePatients in secure units are at high risk of obesity because of antipsychotic medication, restrictions on freedom, and poor motivation to eat healthily and exercise. The aim of this paper is to investigate how consultant forensic psychiatrists address weight management, particularly with respect to inpatients.Design/methodology/approachBased on a review of the literature, a structured questionnaire was developed and piloted locally. After revising the questionnaire, it was sent to all 442 consultant psychiatrists listed by the Royal College of Psychiatrists as having a special interest in forensic psychiatry.FindingsA total of 183 usable questionnaires were returned (response rate 45.9 per cent). Most respondents monitored patients' weight and had some access to a dietitian. Respondents rated a median of 40 per cent of their inpatients as obese. A total of 68.9 per cent said their patients did not have unrestricted access to food. Use of weight loss drugs such as orlistat was infrequent. A few patients had been referred for bariatric surgery but most had been judged unsuitable.Research limitations/implicationsThe responses reported in this paper are based on participants' self‐report and have not been confirmed by independent observation. Further research is needed to determine which weight loss measures are effective for psychiatric patients in real‐life situations.Practical implicationsObesity appears to be common among forensic inpatients despite weight monitoring, dietetic interventions and exercise programmes. Comprehensive and continuing efforts are needed to help patients lose weight and lead healthier lifestyles.Originality/valueThis survey reports on clinicians' views and clinical practice.
Relevance ranking on Google
Authors: Hariri Nadjla 
Published: August 2011

PurposeThe main purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of relevance ranking on Google by comparing the system's assessment of relevance with the users' views. The research aims to find out whether the presumably objective relevance ranking of Google based on the PageRank and some other factors in fact matches users' subjective judgments of relevance.Design/methodology/approachThis research investigated the relevance ranking of Google's retrieved results using 34 searches conducted by users in real search sessions. The results pages 1‐4 (i.e. the first 40 results) were examined by the users to identify relevant documents. Based on these data the frequency of relevant documents according to the appearance order of retrieved documents in the first four results pages was calculated. The four results pages were also compared in terms of precision.FindingsIn 50 per cent and 47.06 per cent of the searches the documents ranked 5th and 1st, (i.e. from the first pages of the retrieved results) respectively, were most relevant according to the users' viewpoints. Yet even in the fourth results pages there were three documents that were judged most relevant by the users in more than 40 per cent of the searches. There were no significant differences between the precision of the four results pages except between pages 1 and 3.Practical implicationsThe results will help users of search engines, especially Google, to decide how many pages of the retrieved results to examine.Originality/valueSearch engine design will benefit from the results of this study as it experimentally evaluates the effectiveness of Google's relevance ranking.
Video summarisation based on collaborative temporal tags
Authors: Gyo Chung Min , Wang Taehyung (George) , Sheu Phillip C.‐Y. 
Published: August 2011

PurposeVideo summarisation is one of the most active fields in content‐based video retrieval research. A new video summarisation scheme is proposed by this paper based on socially generated temporal tags.Design/methodology/approachTo capture users' collaborative tagging activities the proposed scheme maintains video bookmarks, which contain some temporal or positional information about videos, such as relative time codes or byte offsets. For each video all the video bookmarks collected from users are then statistically analysed in order to extract some meaningful key frames (the video equivalent of keywords), which collectively constitute the summary of the video.FindingsCompared with traditional video summarisation methods that use low‐level audio‐visual features, the proposed method is based on users' high‐level collaborative activities, and thus can produce semantically more important summaries than existing methods.Research limitations/implicationsIt is assumed that the video frames around the bookmarks inserted by users are informative and representative, and therefore can be used as good sources for summarising videos.Originality/valueFolksonomy, commonly called collaborative tagging, is a Web 2.0 method for users to freely annotate shared information resources with keywords. It has mostly been used for collaboratively tagging photos (Flickr), web site bookmarks (Del.icio.us), or blog posts (Technorati), but has never been applied to the field of automatic video summarisation. It is believed that this is the first attempt to utilise users' high‐level collaborative tagging activities, instead of low‐level audio‐visual features, for video summarisation.
Drought and desertification management in arid and semi-arid zones of Northern Nigeria
Authors: Idris Medugu Nasiru , Rafee Majid M. , Johar Foziah 
Published: August 2011

Purpose
– This paper seeks to review the state of desertification in Nigeria, historical trends and past national efforts as well as ongoing programs for combating the fast-spreading desert conditions in the arid zones of the country.

Design/methodology/approach
– The approach has been carried out through a comprehensive review analysis and detailed assessment on several methods of approach which includes archival materials as well as published government documents, field observation and learned background information of the working and funding dynamics of the program to combat desertification.

Findings
– The findings of this paper reveal that the failure of the past government effort in combating desertification in Nigeria is a result of the policies and the programs not having been designed to adequately tackle the problem of drought and desertification and of the phenomena being treated as sectoral issues rather than an integrated whole.

Practical implications
– This paper has practical implication for anyone interested in sustainable management of drought and desertification in the arid and semi arid zones of the world.

Originality/value
– The paper has articulated success and failure of the government programs in combating the twin environmental problems of drought and desertification in Nigeria and also shows that government could significantly combat desertification through sustainable management of its projects/programs if adequate resources are employed.
Seasonal variations in municipal landfill leachate quality
Authors: Kalčíková Gabriela , Vávrová Milada , Zagorc-Končan Jana , Žgajnar Gotvajn Andreja 
Published: August 2011

Purpose
– The aim of this work is to compare quality of leachates from regional municipal landfill in different seasons (dry, snowy/rainy) during a three-year monitoring period due to the fact that quality of landfill leachate can rapidly change under different conditions.

Design/methodology/approach
– Raw leachates were sampled prior to biological treatment at different periods of the year (November 2007, March 2008, May 2008, March 2009, and January 2010) to detect the changes in their composition due to different physico-chemical conditions at the site (temperature, moisture, etc.). Leachates were physico-chemically characterized and the toxicity of chosen leachates was assessed by a battery of biotests.

Findings
– Most of the investigated raw leachates exceed Slovenian effluent limits. Samples from March 2008 and March 2009 generally showed higher concentration of measured parameters and also higher toxicity. It has been confirmed that the physico-chemical parameters of leachates usually decrease during rainy/snowy seasons, in addition to the change in toxicity.

Originality/value
– This paper demonstrates the need to evaluate the physico-chemical parameters and toxicity of landfill leachate during different seasons of the year to achieve an appropriate assessment of its environmental impact.