bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Minimizing transmission time in 802.16‐based multi‐channel mesh networks
Authors: Du Peng , Wang Jun , Jia Weijia , Huang Liusheng , Li Huan 
Published: October 2009

PurposeTime slot allocation in world interoperability for microwave access (WiMax) mesh networks is controlled by a centralized scheduling algorithm, as specified in the IEEE standard 802.16. The scheduling algorithm should be able to minimize the total transmission time for all traffic flows. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the multi‐channel scheduling problem in WiMax mesh networks, in order to explore the potential of simultaneous transmissions and thus minimize the total transmission time.Design/methodology/approachThe paper first analyzes how many channels are sufficient for the avoidance of interference, then presents an efficient scheduling algorithm along with the channel assignment strategy for time slot allocation. Particularly, for networks with chain topology, the paper provides an optimal solution to minimize the total transmission time.FindingsThe simulation results show that this scheme can improve the system performance substantially as compared with the single‐channel system. Also, it is observed that double‐channel settings may provide a performance similar to the multiple channels.Practical implicationsThe algorithm presented in this paper is conformed to the IEEE standard 802.16‐2004; so it is suitable for WiMax mesh networks.Originality/valueThe paper is of value in presenting a scheduling and channel assignment schema for multi‐channel WiMax mesh networks. The work is also important for the study of time division multiple access (TDMA)‐based multi‐channel wireless mesh networks.
Cross‐layer scheduling over a heterogeneous opportunistic emergency‐deployed wireless network
Authors: Corvino Virginia , Carniani Andrea , Tralli Velio , Verdone Roberto 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study the radio resource assignment problem in the context of a heterogeneous ad hoc network, composed of 1EEE802.15.4 sensor devices, their coordinators, mobile terminals conveying vldeo streams, and sinks. This scenario also fits to the paradigm of opportunistic networks.Design/methodology/approachIn such hierarchical heterogeneous opportunistic networks, the focus is on cross‐layer scheduling of the video and sensor traffics toward the sink. The scheduling strategy proposed takes into account information coming from both physical and application layers. Evaluations are performed via simulations.FindingsResults show that the proposed cross‐layer strategy significantly outperforms the maximum throughput scheduling, used as a benchmark, in case of video traffic, while preseruing the same performance for 802.15.4 traffic.Practical implicationsThe architecture and the relevant algorithms proposed could be used in realistic emergency‐deployed networks composed by the kind of nodes considered in the paper.Originality/valueThe novelty introduced is related to the application of a crosslayer design strategy in a very peculiar hierarchical heterogeneous opportunistic ad hoc network. This paper is believed to be the first published combining traditional tratfic sources with sensor generated data flows.
Managing multiple speech‐enabled applications in a mobile handheld device
Authors: Schuricht Michael , Davis Zachary , Hu Michael , Prasad Shreyas , Melliar‐Smith Peter M. , Moser Louise E. 
Published: October 2009

PurposeMobile handheld devices, such as cellular phones and personal digital assistants, are inherently small and lack an intuitive and natural user interface. Speech recognition and synthesis technology can be used in mobile handheld devices to improve the user experience. The purpose of this paper is to describe a prototype system that supports multiple speech‐enabled applications in a mobile handheld device.Design/methodology/approachThe main component of the system, the Program Manager, coordinates and controls the speech‐enabled applications. Human speech requests to, and responses from, these applications are processed in the mobile handheld device, to achieve the goal of human‐like interactions between the human and the device. In addition to speech, the system also supports graphics and text, i.e., multimodal input and output, for greater usability, flexibility, adaptivity, accuracy, and robustness. The paper presents a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the prototype system. The Program Manager is currently designed to handle the specific speech‐enabled applications that we developed.FindingsThe paper determines that many human interactions involve not single applications but multiple applications working together in possibly unanticipated ways.Research limitations/implicationsFuture work includes generalization of the Program Manager so that it supports arbitrary applications and the addition of new applications dynamically. Future work also includes deployment of the Program Manager and the applications on cellular phones running the Android Platform or the Openmoko Framework.Originality/valueThis paper presents a first step towards a future human interface for mobile handheld devices and for speech‐enabled applications operating on those devices.
A new approach to web users clustering and validation: a divergence‐based scheme
Authors: Koutsonikola Vassiliki A. , Petridou Sophia G. , Vakali Athena I. , Papadimitriou Georgios I. 
Published: October 2009

PurposeWeb users' clustering is an important mining task since it contributes in identifying usage patterns, a beneficial task for a wide range of applications that rely on the web. The purpose of this paper is to examine the usage of Kullback‐Leibler (KL) divergence, an information theoretic distance, as an alternative option for measuring distances in web users clustering.Design/methodology/approachKL‐divergence is compared with other well‐known distance measures and clustering results are evaluated using a criterion function, validity indices, and graphical representations. Furthermore, the impact of noise (i.e. occasional or mistaken page visits) is evaluated, since it is imperative to assess whether a clustering process exhibits tolerance in noisy environments such as the web.FindingsThe proposed KL clustering approach is of similar performance when compared with other distance measures under both synthetic and real data workloads. Moreover, imposing extra noise on real data, the approach shows minimum deterioration among most of the other conventional distance measures.Practical implicationsThe experimental results show that a probabilistic measure such as KL‐divergence has proven to be quite efficient in noisy environments and thus constitute a good alternative, the web users clustering problem.Originality/valueThis work is inspired by the usage of divergence in clustering of biological data and it is introduced by the authors in the area of web clustering. According to the experimental results presented in this paper, KL‐divergence can be considered as a good alternative for measuring distances in noisy environments such as the web.
Customer service‐orientation of small retail business owners in Austria, The Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Slovakia, and Slovenia
Authors: Carraher Shawn , Parnell John A. , Spillan John E. 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to test the feasibility of using a biodata inventory to measure service‐orientation – one's disposition to be helpful, thoughtful, considerate, and cooperative – across cultures in a sample of 1,324 owners of businesses.Design/methodology/approachSubjects in Austria, The Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Slovakia, and Slovenia are given the inventory in order to predict their on‐the‐job service‐oriented performance.FindingsWithin the samples, the service‐orientation ratings are highly correlated with extroversion and openness to experience in all six countries, and agreeableness in five countries and conscientiousness in four countries. The correlations of these scales with service‐orientation are as high as or higher than those generally obtained with measures of service‐orientation with customer service representatives.Research limitations/implicationsThe analysis lends credence to the notion that service‐orientation may be effectively measured by biodata within small organizations across multiple cultures.Originality/valueThis paper examines the utility of a personality‐oriented biodata inventory for explaining levels of customer service‐oriented performance across six countries. Little cross‐country research has been done on the owners of business thus this paper helps to fill in gaps in the literature dealing with business owners and the importance of personality attributes to explain service‐oriented performance.
The prevalence of envelope wages in the Baltic Sea region
Authors: Williams Colin C. 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate in the Baltic Sea region the prevalence of an illegitimate wage arrangement whereby formal employers pay their formal employees both an official declared wage as well as a supplementary undeclared (envelope) wage.Design/methodology/approachA 2007 Eurobarometer survey is reported that evaluates envelope wage practices in 27 European Union (EU) member states. This paper focuses upon the 4,031 face‐to‐face interviews conducted in four countries from the Baltic Sea region that are now member states of the EU, namely Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.FindingsSome one in eight formal employees in these four countries from the Baltic Sea region received an undeclared “envelope” wage from their formal employer during the past 12 months which on average amounted to 45 per cent of their gross wage packet. Although this practice is concentrated in smaller businesses, the construction industry, and amongst younger people, manual workers and lower income groups in these four countries, it is by no means confined to specific pockets of the economic landscape. Rather, it exists throughout these countries in all business types and employee groups.Research limitations/implicationsThe existence and commonality of envelope wages reveals the need to transcend the dichotomous depiction of formal and informal jobs as always separate and discrete and to recognise how they can be inextricably interwoven.Practical implicationsThis paper outlines a range of potential policy measures for tackling envelope wages and calls for their piloting and evaluation.Originality/valueThe first cross‐national evaluation of the incidence and nature of envelope wages in the Baltic Sea region and what needs to be done to tackle this practice.
The evolution of non‐cooperative behaviour: the case of post‐transitional Estonia
Authors: Põder Kaire 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explain the emergence of non‐cooperative behaviour after the economic transition in Estonia.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses a combined research design, in that evolutionary game theory and network segregation models are enriched with semi‐structured interviews. Simulations are used to deal with analytical complexity; in this case a prisoners' dilemma situation is used and randomness is created through the exogenous shock of opening the network to “aliens”.FindingsConsequently, it is found that individuals in large and small communities differ in their behavioural strategies: in an open community, players are more self‐interested and reciprocate only benevolent behaviour; in a regular community, people rely on cooperative social norms. Case specific information leads to the suggestion that in open networks people behave cooperatively only in teams of up to four members. Increasing the random connections in a network makes people use group segregation – that is, they behave cooperatively in regular connections and in a self‐regarding manner towards others.Research limitations/implicationsThe method brings certain limitations to the implications of the results – simulations are sensitive to the initial conditions set up using qualitative data.Practical implicationsIn managerial areas the results can provide at least two insights. First, it is obvious that only small teams (with personal connections) can be fully cooperative. In this case, the ideal number of co‐operators is four. In larger teams, individuals find it more profitable to segregate an inner circle and others. Second, if players are interpreted as firms, then competition between firms will prevail even in small communities (where new players can penetrate the market) and thus any cartel or other cooperative action will fail.Originality/valueThe main value of the research is twofold: it allows to introduce the combined research methodology and explain the mental change after transition in the 1990s. The first enables to reduce the methodological impediments researchers find in the qualitative‐quantitative dichotomy. The second explains the emergence of, and changes to, the behavioural or moral codes as a result of rational social learning.
Safeguarding subjects?
Authors: Gatrell Caroline 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the long‐term effects of qualitative interviews on respondents. The paper offers a reflexive account of the author's research practices with regard to “safeguarding” research participants and researcher accountability.Design/methodology/approachIn 1999‐2002, 20 women and 18 men who are in dual earner marriages/partnerships were interviewed separately. The study was entitled “Hard Labour 1”. In this paper, It is explained how, in 2007, 17 “Hard Labour 1” participants were contacted for a follow‐up study entitled “Hard Labour Revisited”. They were asked, via telephone and e‐mail, whether (and if so, how) they perceived themselves to have been affected by their interview for “Hard Labour 1”.FindingsSome respondents are interviewed at a time of personal anxiety. This group perceived their interview as having been influential because it made them reflect deeply on their situation, bringing their thoughts to bear when they conducted subsequent negotiations with partners. However, participants do not see this as a reason to avoid qualitative research. They describe themselves as agentic beings who felt ownership of their involvement in “Hard Labour 1”. Their approach make to reflect upon the author's interpretation of “safeguarding” which is now regarded as a concept which may be co‐constructed between researcher and participants.Originality/valueThe paper explores “safeguarding” in relation to the long‐term effects of qualitative research interviews. It is suggest that undertaking a reflexive reappraisal of research practices is important because analyses of past projects may (as in the author's case) result in a “shift” in understanding of research concepts from both an empirical and a theoretical perspective.
Using triangulation to validate themes in qualitative studies
Authors: Jonsen Karsten , Jehn Karen A. 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide instructional guidance on how to increase validity and reduce subjectivity in qualitative studies, such as grounded theory. The paper also demonstrates how different techniques can help management research by including informants/managers in a time efficient way.Design/methodology/approachThis paper describes how three complementary triangulation methods can be used for validation and exploration of concepts and themes in qualitative studies. Tree graphs, concept mapping, and member checking are applied in a managerial case study, complementing a conventional grounded theory approach.FindingsThe paper suggests that naturalistic inquiries, such as grounded theory and thematic analysis, can use mixed methods and multiple sources and coders in order to offset biases and to validate and sort findings. The case study presents three different perspectives on how an organization comprehends diversity as a strategic issue.Originality/valueThe paper suggests a mixed methods design that addresses some of the potential shortcomings often found in grounded theory and other qualitative studies, their theory development and their documentation of processes. It positions the approach over the range of the triangulation literature and it argues that it is important to be aware of different triangulation mindsets, and these they are not necessarily contradictory.
Impact of the 2007 US financial crisis on the emerging equity markets
Authors: Shabri Abd Majid M. , Hj Kassim Salina 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore empirically the effects of the current financial crisis on the integration and co‐movements of selected stock markets of the emerging economies, namely Indonesia and Malaysia.Design/methodology/approachThe paper employs the standard time series technique and vector autoregressive framework.FindingsThe results of this paper support the general view that stock markets tend to show greater degree of integration or increased co‐movements during the crisis period, resulting in lesser benefit of diversification that can be gained by investors participating in these markets.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper only focuses on emerging equity markets of Malaysia and Indonesia.Practical implicationsThis paper reveals that unlike during the pre‐crisis period, the long‐run diversification benefits that can be earned by investors across the emerging equity markets of Indonesia and Malaysia during the crisis period tend to diminish.Originality/valueBy dividing the study periods into the pre‐crisis period and during the crisis period, it enables us to explore whether the cross‐market linkages between these markets change due to the crisis.
Responding to global crisis: the contribution of emerging markets to strategic adaptation
Authors: Enderwick Peter 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify and discuss ways in which exposure to the dynamic conditions of emerging markets can contribute to strategic adaptation and international competitiveness of developed market firms.Design/methodology/approachThe paper includes a conceptual discussion which considers the global market for market transactions and examines six key strategies that can be utilized to restructure strategy and structure. Illustrations are drawn primarily from the global automobile industry.FindingsThe characteristics and rapidly developing capabilities evident in emerging markets provide fertile grounds for experimenting with new business strategies and structures. The paper identifies and develops six primary strategies for improving international competitiveness.Practical implicationsInvolvement in emerging markets can provide a critical market test for conditions likely to be attached to government bailouts as well as valuable learning opportunities for international businesses.Originality/valueThe paper's originality and value lies in suggesting that emerging markets offer more than just alternative revenue streams and lower costs for firms seeking to adapt to difficult market conditions and in linking these strategic options to the global market in market transactions.
A valuation model for corporate social responsibility
Authors: Rigoberto Parada Daza José 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop an analytical model for appraising and measuring corporate social responsibility (CSR). The theoretical and conceptual grounds that sustain the model are based on previous approaches.Design/methodology/approachThe utility function, which is the basis of a company's economic dimension, is analyzed in its philosophical and ethical setting, concentrating largely on the Utilitarian and Hedonistic schools and a maximizing agent, the “homo oeconomicus”.FindingsThe resulting new approach permits an analytical explanation of the behavior of a company and its owners when incorporating both economic rationality (“homo oeconomicus”) and social responsibility.Originality/valueThe quantitative determination of a global indicator for social responsibility is shown, as is the development of a method for calculating a monetary value of CSR.
Corporate irresponsibility and corporate social responsibility: competing realities
Authors: Jones Brian , Bowd Ryan , Tench Ralph 
Published: October 2009

PurposeBuilding on the work of Carroll this article attempts to unravel, explore and explain corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a theoretical construct that has implications and consequences for corporate governance in particular, and more generally for the economy, business and society. It aims to extend Carroll's work on definitional constructs by re‐examining some of the theoretical frameworks that underpin, inform and guide CSR.Design/methodology/approachCarroll identified different levels, or a pyramid, of CSR and these are outlined and the advantages and disadvantages of a pyramid, levels‐based approach discussed. The main contributions of this article lies is in its exploration of corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) as a concept in contrast to CSR. Bowd, Jones and Tench's CSI‐CSR model is described, explained, analysed and used as a conceptual tool to make the theoretical move from a pyramid or level‐based approach to a more dynamic framework of analysis.FindingsThe proposition that CSI is better suited to a shareholder business model and CSR sits more comfortably with a stakeholder business model is examined. It is contested that people often wrongly equate CSR with irresponsible corporate actions. The CSI‐CSR model establishes a theoretical framework around which grounded empirical research can be undertaken, applied and on which it can be reported.Research limitations/implicationsThis is a new area of research that addresses a gap in the literature and puts forward innovative theoretical models. Discussing the concept of irresponsibility makes for an interesting theoretical move. It questions the idea that corporations and business per se are always or necessarily socially responsible.Originality/valueIn looking at and developing existing theoretical models, concepts and frameworks and exploring their merits, shortcomings and limitations, the article will be of interest and relevance to the business and academic communities. If there is such a thing as CSR then the implication is that there is such a thing as CSI and it is on this issue that this article seeks to promote and stimulate discussion.