bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
An alternative methodology for formulating an operations strategy: the case of BTC‐Egypt
Authors: Ibrahim Sherwat E. 
Published: July 2010

PurposeThis study seeks to present a structured methodology that can be used to develop an operations strategy for the IT service sector in developing countries that would in turn help to increase strategic fit.Design/methodology/approachIn this constructive case study for BTC‐Egypt – an IT service provider, the previous success of the company's sales operations is examined with the prioritized operational strategy during their previous sales to determine the discriminating competitive priorities. Account managers used an AHP model to measure the relative importance ratings given to a comprehensive set of competitive priorities derived from the accumulated literature. Qualitative analysis for individual operations and quantitative analysis including logistic regression and correlations were used to analyze the data.FindingsThe proposed structured approach is shown to assist BTC‐Egypt in determining its differentiating competitive priorities and identify the various market segments. Results of the model showed Quality as an operational strategy rated the highest across all sales, and Customer Focus and Service Provision to be the two most discriminating variables for successful sales.Practical implicationsThe methodology used here is new to the formulation of operation strategies, and works to enhance internal consistency throughout the organization and external fit with the competitive environment.Originality/valueWhile the paper relied on previously developed competitive priorities well grounded in the literature, it used relative ratings to propose a structured methodology for determining the differentiating competitive priorities of a company based on its previous performance.
Business‐level strategy and performance
Authors: Nandakumar M.K. , Ghobadian Abby , O'Regan Nicholas 
Published: July 2010

PurposeThis study aims to examine the moderating effects of external environment and organisational structure in the relationship between business‐level strategy and organisational performance.Design/methodology/approachThe focus of the study is on manufacturing firms in the UK belonging to the electrical and mechanical engineering sectors, and respondents were CEOs. Both objective and subjective measures were used to assess performance. Non‐response bias was assessed statistically and appropriate measures taken to minimise the impact of common method variance (CMV).FindingsThe results indicate that environmental dynamism and hostility act as moderators in the relationship between business‐level strategy and relative competitive performance. In low‐hostility environments a cost‐leadership strategy and in high‐hostility environments a differentiation strategy lead to better performance compared with competitors. In highly dynamic environments a cost‐leadership strategy and in low dynamism environments a differentiation strategy are more helpful in improving financial performance. Organisational structure moderates the relationship of both the strategic types with ROS. However, in the case of ROA, the moderating effect of structure was found only in its relationship with cost‐leadership strategy. A mechanistic structure is helpful in improving the financial performance of organisations adopting either a cost‐leadership or a differentiation strategy.Originality/valueUnlike many other empirical studies, the study makes an important contribution to the literature by examining the moderating effects of both environment and structure on the relationship between business‐level strategy and performance in a detailed manner, using moderated regression analysis.
Imitative innovation strategies
Authors: Huang Ju‐Yu , Chou Tzu‐Chuan , Lee Gwo‐Guang 
Published: July 2010

PurposeImitative innovation, defined as applying innovation in the same way in another organization, has been adopted by many companies. This paper seeks to focus on how a competent follower of R&D capability can employ such an innovative strategy and minimize risk by using existing organizational resources to enhance innovation capabilities.Design/methodology/approachAn in‐depth case study is applied of resource management experience at a Taiwanese optical storage media manufacturing outlet and then the Sirmon resource management model is extended to offer a process model for imitative innovation capability development.FindingsThe imitative innovation process is deconstructed into four phases and three main sub‐processes for effective resource management, namely, structuring, bundling and leveraging activities. The study also found that there are four modes of effective resource management for a successful imitative innovation process: identifying position and confirming innovation strategy; examining core competences and exploring gaps in imitative innovation; deploying specific resources and complementary assets; and restructuring an industry's ecological environment.Originality/valueThe study offers researchers and practitioners a more detailed view of applicable resource management for successful imitative innovation.
Corporate competitive strategies in a transitional manufacturing industry: an empirical study
Authors: Chi Ting 
Published: July 2010

PurposeThis study aims to take a strategic approach to analyze how the US technical textile companies manage their business operations and to determine whether there are differences on competitive priorities between high‐ and low‐performing companies.Design/methodology/approachA competitive priority model consisting of four latent constructs – low cost, quality, delivery performance, and flexibility – was utilized to construct the analysis. Primary data were collected through a survey of senior executives in the US technical textile companies. Using 202 eligible survey returns, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis within structural equation modeling were carried out to assess adequacy of the measurements and validity of the model.FindingsThe competitive priority model is proven valid and the four constructs account for the most variance in corporate competitive strategies. High‐performing companies placed greater emphasis on quality and delivery performance strategies than low cost strategy in order to build capabilities for product or service differentiation; in contrast, low‐performing companies gave equal weight to all four competitive capabilities. The lack of clear emphasis on strategies could be one of the reasons for a relatively low business performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe study provides a springboard for future studies of corporate competitive strategies and its relationships with other key decisions and outcomes.Practical implicationsThe deployment of appropriate strategies is imperative to achieve superior business performance and, perhaps, just to survive.Originality/valueThe paper represents the first empirical investigation into corporate strategy issues in the US technical textile sector. The methodology may be transferred to other industrial sectors.
Analyzing firm performance heterogeneity: the relative effect of business domain
Authors: Houthoofd Noël , Desmidt Sebastian , González Fidalgo Eduardo 
Published: July 2010

PurposeAn ongoing discussion in strategic management concerns the relative impact of specific strategic decisions on firm performance. In line with that tradition, this research seeks to analyze the relative impact of business domain choices on firm performance. More specifically, it aims to discuss a method of assessing the relative impact of firm and business domain effects on firm performance within a specific industry and to demonstrate the value of this method.Design/methodology/approachFirst, a model was developed to estimate the relative impact of firm versus business domain on performance. Second, all members of a specific SME‐dominated industry, namely the Belgian electrical wholesale sector, were questioned in order to test the validity of the developed model.FindingsThe results indicate that: the firms in the analyzed industry operate within two distinct business domains; and business domain effects explain from 6.8 percent to 9.7 percent of the variance in the included performance variables.Practical implicationsThe findings should urge managers to carefully (re)consider where they are competing and assess the relative performance impact of business domain choices within their industry.Originality/valueIt is widely agreed that industry membership has performance implications. The effect of industry membership considers performance variation between industries. This, however, is one of the first studies to further analyze performance heterogeneity within an industry by considering the relative effect of business domain choices.
Theory of constraints contributions to outbound logistics
Authors: Bernardi de Souza Fernando , Pires Sílvio R.I. 
Published: July 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to systematically describe the key practical contributions of the theory of constraints (TOC) to outbound (distribution) logistics.Design/methodology/approachBased on theoretical research, this paper presents the main practical aspects of the approach suggested by TOC to outbound logistics and discusses the assumptions upon which it is based.FindingsThis paper corroborates the thesis defended by TOC, according to which the current ways of managing outbound logistics, based mainly on sales forecasts lead to difficulties in handling trade‐offs between logistics (stock and transportation) costs and stock‐out levels.Research limitations/implicationsThe reported research is of a theoretical nature.Practical implicationsTOC offers a proposal that is complementary in many aspects and very distinguishable in others about the way some key processes and elements of supply chain management (SCM) are managed, especially outbound logistics.Originality/valueConsidering the dearth of papers dealing with the conceptual articulation and organization of this subject, the paper contributes to systematize the knowledge currently available about the contributions of the TOC to outbound logistics, highlighting the practical implications of applying TOC to outbound logistics.
Introduction to the changing nature of retirement: an international perspective
Authors: Shultz Kenneth S. , Henkens Kène 
Published: July 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this overview is to provide a brief introduction to the topic of retirement, noting five key issues and directions for future research which are addressed collectively in the compilation of papers that follow: the changing nature of retirement; the need for an interdisciplinary perspective on retirement; the need to look at both individual and organizational perspectives; international variations in contexts and processes; and the need for a broad methodological perspective. The authors then outline and summarize the seven studies included in this special issue, as well as acknowledge those who were instrumental in bringing this special issue to fruition.Design/methodology/approachThe International Journal of Manpower's usual double blind review process was used to select the seven papers included in this special issue. The papers themselves represent a wide variety of designs, methodologies, and analytic strategies used to study retirement. In addition, a wide variety of disciplinary approaches and levels of analyses and perspectives are employed across the seven studies.FindingsThe findings of the studies included in this special issue touch on retirement planning and decision making, as well as employer perspectives on the global aging workforce.Practical implicationsEach article includes practical implications with regard to retirement for the country and/or constituents examined in the study.Originality/valueTaken as a collective, the papers in this special issue help to propel forward in significant ways the study of retirement from an international and interdisciplinary perspective.
The influences on bridge employment decisions
Authors: Pengcharoen Chanjira , Shultz Kenneth S. 
Published: July 2010

PurposePopulation aging, and changes in labor force participation among older adults, will have tremendous impacts on the aging workforce. Thus it is imperative that the factors that influence whether older workers will continue in their career employment, engage in bridge employment, or fully retire, should be understood better. This paper aims to focus on these issues.Design/methodology/approachIn the present study longitudinal data for 2,869 older workers from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) data set in the USA were used to examine the influence of demographic (e.g. income), nonwork related factors (e.g. marital satisfaction), and work related factors (e.g. job involvement) on late‐life employment decisions over a ten year period from 1992 to 2002.FindingsThe results indicate a wide variety of factors impact employment decisions later in life. Specifically, it was found that work related factors of job involvement and schedule flexibility, as well as the nonwork related factors of certainty of retirement plans, attitudes toward retirement, and job seeking self‐efficacy all distinguished the various employment statuses (e.g. completely retired, partly retirement, and not retired at all) of older workers over a ten year period.Originality/valueThis study shows that both individuals and organizations need to examine a wide variety of factors when examining bridge employment decisions at the end of workers' careers. While most studies of bridge employment use cross‐sectional data, this paper uses longitudinal data to examine actual bridge employment decisions, rather that prospective desires or potentially faulty after‐the‐fact retrospective accounts.
Older workers and organizational change: corporate memory versus potentiality
Authors: Taylor Philip , Brooke Libby , McLoughlin Christopher , Di Biase Tia 
Published: July 2010

PurposeDrawing on the recent work of Sennett and others who considered the position of older workers in dynamic economies subject to rapid change, this paper aims to examine the perceived fit between employees of different ages and their employing organizations in four Australian workplaces.Design/methodology/approachAnalysis of qualitative data, collected among workers and managers in four Australian organizations, was performed.FindingsResults suggests that potentiality tended to be prized as an asset over corporate memory. While managers were frequently paternalistic towards their older employees, ageing human capital was often devalued as managers tried to balance operational budgets and organizations sought to remain responsive to changing market demands.Originality/valueThe paper discusses the implications for the prolongation of working lives.
Powering tomorrow's sensor: a review of technologies – Part 1
Authors: Bogue Robert 
Published: July 2010

PurposeThis paper aims to provide a technical review of new and emerging power sources and their application to sensors.Design/methodology/approachThis paper comprises two parts. Following an introduction, this first part considers research and recent developments in battery, betavoltaic and supercapacitor technologies.FindingsIt is shown that these technologies are the topic of a major research effort. This aims to improve many operational features, including faster recharge times, increased power and energy densities and enhanced cycling performance. Supercapacitors offer prospects to replace rechargeable batteries in certain applications.Originality/valueThis paper provides a technical insight into the latest power source developments with relevance to sensors.
Assessment of particle filter and Kalman filter for estimating velocity using odometery system
Authors: Khodadadi A. , Mirabadi A. , Moshiri B. 
Published: July 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose multisensory integration for train positioning application, to support recent automatic train control systems and also moving block signaling systems.Design/methodology/approachReducing the cost and at the same time improving the reliability and accuracy of the overall positioning system, are primary goals of the researches going on in this field.FindingsThis paper designs and evaluates two different algorithms of Kalman filtering (KF) and particle filtering (PF), on a set of low cost positioning systems, as tachometers, Doppler radar and balises.Originality/valueThis paper's research outcomes introduce considerable improvements upon the results when compared to the current utilization of the stand‐alone tachometer and Doppler radar sensors, and slight improvements in comparison with the KF algorithm, and also upon results in recent publications on the subject.
An automatic occlusion handling method in augmented reality
Authors: Tian Yuan , Guan Tao , Wang Cheng 
Published: July 2010

PurposeTo make an augmented image realistic, the virtual objects should be correctly occluded by foreground objects. The purpose of this paper is to propose a new approach that resolves occlusion problems in augmented reality (AR). The main interest is that it can automatically obtain the proper spatial relationship between virtual and real objects in real time.Design/methodology/approachThe approach is divided into two steps: off‐line disparity map constructing and on‐line occlusion handling. In the off‐line stage, the disparity map of the real scene is constructed using the global stereo matching method prior and then the disparities are refined by means of the fast mean shift method. Since the depth values of objects in different positions are different, the real object that occludes the virtual object can be specified according to the depth value. In the on‐line stage, the contour of the specified object is tracked using the real time object tracking method with the combination of feature tracking method and minimums‐tcut method. The augmented image with correct occlusions is produced by redrawing all the tracked object pixels on the augmented image.FindingsCompared with the existing methods, the proposed approach can automatically resolve occlusion problem in real time. The effectiveness of the method is demonstrated with several experimental results.Originality/valueThis paper makes three contributions. First, a novel framework is proposed to handle occlusion problem in AR. This framework is different to the previously proposed methods. The main procedure includes: obtain occluding real object, track the object, and redraw the pixels of the object on the composed image. It is much easier to implement and can achieve satisfactory results. Second, the disparity map is used to automatically obtain the contour of the occluding real object. To get the contour of the occluding real object precisely, the mean shift method is used to refine the disparity map. By comparing the depth value, the occluding real object can be extracted automatically. Third, the tracking method combining feature tracking method and minimums‐tcut method ensures the real‐time requirement. The occlusion problem can be handled in real‐time.
Determination of tissue properties using microfabricated piezoelectric tactile sensor during minimally invasive surgery
Authors: Bonakdar Ali , Narayanan Nagarajan 
Published: July 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present the design, analysis, fabrication, and assembly of four tooth annular microfabricated tactile sensors integrated with the upper and lower jaws of an endoscopic surgical grasper tool, in order to determine the properties and particularly the compliance of the biological tissues during minimally invasive surgery.Design/methodology/approachA viscoelastic Kelvin model is employed for tissue characterization. A comprehensive closed form and finite element analysis has been carried out to express the relationship between the force ratio, compliance, and the equivalent viscous damping of the tissue. The designed sensor uses a polyvinyledene fluoride film as its sensing element. The sensor consists of arrays of rigid and compliant elements which are mounted on the tip of an endoscopic surgical grasper tool. Relative force between adjacent parts of the contact object is used to measure the viscoelastic properties.FindingsThe tactile sensor is able to characterize different viscoelastic properties of tissues. The experiments validate analytical and finite elements results.Practical implicationsThe sensor is designed to integrate with the actual endoscopic tools to measure the softness of tissues.Originality/valueA novel sensor‐tissue model is presented to characterize the variety of biological tissues.
Property taxation and mass appraisal valuations in Australia – adapting to a new environment
Authors: Hefferan Michael J. , Boyd Terry 
Published: July 2010

PurposeThis paper's aim is to examine how long established ad valorem taxation systems can be adapted so they remain relevant and equitable in the more complex contemporary property environment.Design/methodology/ approachThe research methodology involves a review of national and international literature and structured interviews with key informants from the public and private sectors, particularly Queensland, Australia, but also with the Valuer Generals and others of all mainland states and New Zealand.FindingsAd valorem taxation systems continue to provide an important and sound base for the raising of government revenue. While it is essential that the long‐standing fundamental techniques of mass appraisal be protected, a number of relatively simple modifications in policy and operational areas can enhance the effectiveness and robustness of the valuation systems.Research limitations/implicationsDespite its importance in the form of taxation in practically all countries, existing research is quite limited and largely descriptive rather than analytical. Limitations also exist because of the very significant variations in law across jurisdictions in Australia and internationally.Practical implicationsThe findings can be readily applied in valuation systems particularly as regards the consideration of national markets for certain complex properties, proposals for the better sharing of information and the introduction of improved mediation processes in the case of objections. All of these can lead to more efficient and effective application.Originality/valueDifficulties have been experienced in a number of jurisdictions where relatively simple valuation provisions are applied to highly complex property types. This paper provides some innovative ideas as to how, even within existing legislation, these problems can be addressed while protecting the well‐established, mass appraisal practices.
Virtual testing for the prediction of damping in joints
Authors: Caignot A. , Ladevèze P. , Néron D. , Durand J.‐F. 
Published: July 2010

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose a virtual testing strategy in order to predict damping due to the joints which are present in the ARIANE 5 launcher.Design/methodology/approachSince engineering finite element codes do not give satisfactory results, either because they are too slow or because they cannot calculate dissipation accurately, a new computational tool is introduced based on the LArge Time INcrement (LATIN) method in its multiscale version.FindingsThe capabilities of the new strategy are illustrated on one of the joints of ARIANE 5. The damping predicted virtually is compared to experimental results, and the approach appears promising.Originality/valueThe tool which has been developed gives access to calculations which were previously unaffordable with standard computational codes, which may improve the design process of launchers. The code is transferred into ASTRIUM‐ST, where it is being used to build a database of dissipations in the joints of the ARIANE 5 launcher.