bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A study of AMT in North America
Authors: Mora‐Monge Carlo A. , González Marvin E. , Quesada Gioconda , Subba Rao S. 
Published: September 2008

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report the findings of an exploratory survey administered in North America on advanced manufacturing technologies (AMTs). The objective of the survey is to compare the status of AMT investment, planning and implementation, and performance in two different regions: Anglo America (developed countries) and Middle America (developing countries).Design/methodology/approachResponses from 97 Anglo‐American companies (62 from Canada and 35 from the USA) were compared to responses from 125 Middle American companies (85 from Mexico and 40 from Costa Rica). The researchers used different statistical analyses such as exploratory factor analyses, analysis of variance and regression.FindingsIn general, Middle American countries representing the developing region show higher AMT investment, planning and implementation activities, and finally, higher performance due to AMT implementation. This phenomenon was hypothesized since developed countries have shifted most of their manufacturing operations into developing countries, while they keep ownership of multinational firms. Therefore, big corporations that previously invested in AMT in their home countries are now investing in AMT in their manufacturing plants in developing countries.Originality/valueThis research provides insights to the growing body of knowledge on AMT. Most AMT research has been done in developed countries. In this study, the researchers show results comparing developed versus developing countries.
Strategic consensus on manufacturing competitive priorities
Authors: Sarmiento Roberto , Knowles Graeme , Byrne Mike 
Published: September 2008

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide a critical analysis of studies on strategic consensus along manufacturing competitive priorities. Based on this analysis, a new methodology to measure strategic consensus on manufacturing competitive priorities that is more consistent with mainstream operations management theory is proposed. The paper also includes novel proposals for future research.Design/methodology/approachThe new methodology and proposals for research are mainly based on a literature review of previous studies on strategic consensus regarding manufacturing competitive priorities and also on relevant research and works in the field of operations management.FindingsPrevious methodologies used to measure strategic consensus regarding manufacturing competitive priorities are mainly based on studies in the business strategy field. Thus, these methodologies are deemed as inadequate in the operations management field. It is also found that there are very few studies that have analysed this topic in the operations management field. Moreover, since the methodologies used in those studies are based on previous research in the field of business strategy, the results of the reviewed papers are considered as questionable.Practical implicationsFor academics, the paper and its results imply a change in the methodologies and research used to study the issue of strategic consensus on manufacturing competitive priorities. The lack of research into this topic is also observed. More research and studies on this theme are needed. For practitioners, the methodology proposed in the paper could be utilised in order to assess the employees' knowledge of the relationships between manufacturing capabilities inside manufacturing firms.Originality/valueTo the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first review paper into this under‐researched theme in the operations management field. The paper also presents the first methodology that incorporates mainstream theory and research in the field of operations management into the measurement of strategic consensus on manufacturing competitive priorities.
Structural modelling and integrative analysis of manufacturing systems using graph theoretic approach
Authors: Singh Varinder , Agrawal V.P. 
Published: September 2008

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to attempt to integrate manufacturing system analysis to obtain system‐wide optimized solutions and to increase the level of comprehensiveness of the manufacturing system modelling and to develop method of characterization of manufacturing systems based on its structure.Design/methodology/approachElements constituting the manufacturing plant and the interactions between them have been identified through a literature survey and have been represented by graph‐based model. The matrix models and the variable permanent function models are developed for carrying out decomposition, characterization and the total analysis.FindingsStructural patterns and combination sets of subsystems interacting in various ways have been recognized as capabilities of manufacturing system in different performance dimensions. The permanent function of the manufacturing system matrix has been proposed as a systematic technique for structural analysis of manufacturing system. Also, the terms of permanent multinomial characterize the manufacturing systems uniquely and are highly useful for computational storage, retrieval, communication as well as analysis of the structural information of manufacturing system.Research limitations/implicationsThe structure‐based characterization technique developed has the potential of aiding the ongoing research activities in the field of benchmarking, and business process reengineering. The graph theory‐based methodology will serve as a framework to develop composite performance measures building on the performance measures of the individual elements of the manufacturing system graph in various dimensions.Practical implicationsThrough the use of proposed methodology, a manufacturing manager will be able to make better informed decisions towards organizational efforts of improving the productivity and speed. For aiding several decisions, different “what‐if” scenarios may be generated with several structural modifications.Originality/valueThis graph theory‐based methodology is a novel mechanism to seamlessly integrate manufacturing system giving way to system wide optimization. The paper is an attempt to address the need for comprehensive and integrated analysis of the manufacturing system.
Investigation into the implementation stages of manufacturing and quality techniques and philosophies within the Libyan cement industry
Authors: Abdullah Hokoma Rajab , Khan Mohammed K. , Hussain Khalid 
Published: September 2008

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the implementation level of just‐in‐time (JIT), manufacturing resources planning (MRPII) and total quality management (TQM) within the cement industry in Libya.Design/methodology/approachThis paper covers an overview of the investigated manufacturing and quality techniques and philosophies. A survey methodology has been applied in this investigation using an intensive questionnaire to the correspondent organizations.FindingsBased on the analysis of the survey questionnaire responses, the results show that the management body does not have a clear strategy towards most of the areas that are considered as being crucial in any successful implementation of the JIT and MRPII techniques/philosophies, with slightly better results for TQM. The research has identified limitations within the investigated areas and has pointed to areas where the management should take immediate action in order to achieve successful and effective implementation of JIT, MRPII and TQM within their organisations. This is an important finding for the future success of the cement industry in particular, and the manufacturing industry in general, within Libya.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research could be applied to cover other industries, in order to investigate how widely the findings from this study are reflected in other industrial sectors within Libya.Originality/valueThis research is the first to investigate the implementation status of manufacturing, planning, control and quality techniques and philosophies within the cement industry in Libya. It makes a contribution by providing an insight into what extent JIT, MRPII and TQM are understood and implemented within the Libyan cement industry.
A survey on web modeling approaches for ubiquitous web applications
Authors: Schwinger Wieland , Retschitzegger Werner , Schauerhuber Andrea , Kappel Gerti , Wimmer Manuel , Pröll Birgit , Cachero Castro Cristina , Casteleyn Sven , De Troyer Olga , Fraternali Piero , Garrigos Irene , Garzotto Franca , Ginige Athula , Houben Geert‐Jan , Koch Nora , Moreno Nathalie , Pastor Oscar , Paolini Paolo , Pelechano Ferragud Vicente , Rossi Gustavo , Schwabe Daniel , Tisi Massimo , Vallecillo Antonio , van der Sluijs Kees , Zhang Gefei 
Published: September 2008

PurposeUbiquitous web applications (UWA) are a new type of web applications which are accessed in various contexts, i.e. through different devices, by users with various interests, at anytime from anyplace around the globe. For such full‐fledged, complex software systems, a methodologically sound engineering approach in terms of model‐driven engineering (MDE) is crucial. Several modeling approaches have already been proposed that capture the ubiquitous nature of web applications, each of them having different origins, pursuing different goals and providing a pantheon of concepts. This paper aims to give an in‐depth comparison of seven modeling approaches supporting the development of UWAs.Design/methodology/approachThis methodology is conducted by applying a detailed set of evaluation criteria and by demonstrating its applicability on basis of an exemplary tourism web application. In particular, five commonly found ubiquitous scenarios are investigated, thus providing initial insight into the modeling concepts of each approach as well as to facilitate their comparability.FindingsThe results gained indicate that many modeling approaches lack a proper MDE foundation in terms of meta‐models and tool support. The proposed modeling mechanisms for ubiquity are often limited, since they neither cover all relevant context factors in an explicit, self‐contained, and extensible way, nor allow for a wide spectrum of extensible adaptation operations. The provided modeling concepts frequently do not allow dealing with all different parts of a web application in terms of its content, hypertext, and presentation levels as well as their structural and behavioral features. Finally, current modeling approaches do not reflect the crosscutting nature of ubiquity but rather intermingle context and adaptation issues with the core parts of a web application, thus hampering maintainability and extensibility.Originality/valueDifferent from other surveys in the area of modeling web applications, this paper specifically considers modeling concepts for their ubiquitous nature, together with an investigation of available support for MDD in a comprehensive way, using a well‐defined as well as fine‐grained catalogue of more than 30 evaluation criteria.
Element classification‐based transformation of XML queries
Authors: Geng Ke , Dobbie Gillian 
Published: September 2008

PurposeEngines have been built that execute queries against XML data. The aim of this paper is to describe a novel technique that can be used to improve the speed of execution of the queries based on semantics of the data in the XML document.Design/methodology/approachThe paper formally introduces algorithms for optimizing XML queries, implement the algorithms, and through experimentation demonstrate the improvement in speed.FindingsThree possible semantic query optimizations based on the values of elements were introduced and these demonstrate that two of the three optimizations improve query performance but the third does not. It is hypothesized why this is the case.Research limitations/implicationsA limitation is obviously the query engine and how it works. Future work includes, executing the experiments on a different engine and comparing results, building a system to automatically generate the characteristics that are necessary to do the optimization, describing the best way to represent and maintain the characteristics once they are found, compare the results of optimizations based on content with optimizations based on structure.Practical implicationsThe optimizations could be incorporated into new query engines.Originality/valueNovel algorithms for query optimization have been developed and proven to work. They are of value to people who are building database systems for XML data.
Efficiently answering personalized queries on XML data
Authors: Penzo Wilma 
Published: September 2008

PurposeThe semantic and structural heterogeneity of large Extensible Markup Language (XML) digital libraries emphasizes the need of supporting approximate queries, i.e. queries where the matching conditions are relaxed so as to retrieve results that possibly partially satisfy the user's requests. The paper aims to propose a flexible query answering framework which efficiently supports complex approximate queries on XML data.Design/methodology/approachTo reduce the number of relaxations applicable to a query, the paper relies on the specification of user preferences about the types of approximations allowed. A specifically devised index structure which efficiently supports both semantic and structural approximations, according to the specified user preferences, is proposed. Also, a ranking model to quantify approximations in the results is presented.FindingsPersonalized queries, on one hand, effectively narrow the space of query reformulations, on the other hand, enhance the user query capabilities with a great deal of flexibility and control over requests. As to the quality of results, the retrieval process considerably benefits because of the presence of user preferences in the queries. Experiments demonstrate the effectiveness and the efficiency of the proposal, as well as its scalability.Research limitations/implicationsFuture developments concern the evaluation of the effectiveness of personalization on queries through additional examinations of the effects of the variability of parameters expressing user preferences.Originality/valueThe paper is intended for the research community and proposes a novel query model which incorporates user preferences about query relaxations on large heterogeneous XML data collections.
Implementation of a JXTA‐based P2P e‐learning system and its performance evaluation
Authors: Matsuo Keita , Barolli Leonard , Xhafa Fatos , Koyama Akio , Durresi Arjan 
Published: September 2008

PurposeThis work is motivated by the need to develop decentralized peer‐to‐peer (P2P) approaches to support e‐learning and teaching activity in virtual universities. This paper aims to present the implementation of the JXTA‐based e‐learning P2P system.Design/methodology/approachThe design and implementation of a smart box environment that will be used for stimulating the learners to increase the learning efficiency is shown. The smart box is integrated with the JXTA‐overlay by using efficient message sending between peers in the system.FindingsThe proposed e‐learning P2P system is a useful tool for monitoring and controlling learners' activity.Research limitations/implicationsIn the future, other effective stimulation for each learner using IC tag card will be added. Also, the Servo Motor has 12 control ports, so these will be used for implementing other stimulating functions. It is planned to extend the system with functionalities for presence mechanism of students in classrooms and activities.Practical implicationsThe proposed system is evaluated by experimental results and it has a good performance.Originality/valueThis paper proposes and implements a novel e‐learning system, which is based on P2P, web and sensor technologies.
Semantic interoperability in electronic auctions
Authors: Puustjärvi Juha 
Published: September 2008

PurposeThis paper aims to report work on achieving semantic interoperability in electronic auctions. In particular, it considers the advantages and drawbacks of using hard‐coding and using semantic messages in the communication between the auction system and the participants of the auction.Design/methodology/approachIt is demonstrated that although XML‐documents are commonly used for information exchange they do not provide any means of talking about the semantics (i.e. meaning) data. It is also shown that by expressing exchanged documents by resource description framework (RDF) the semantics of the messages can be captured in the message.FindingsIt is recognized that hard‐coding is proven to be a valuable and powerful way for an exchange of structured and persistent business documents (messages). However, if we use hard‐coding in the case of non‐persistent documents and non‐static markets we will encounter problems in deploying new auction policies and extending the system by new participants.Practical implicationsThe introduction of the RDF‐technology in message exchange is challenging as it incorporates Semantic web technologies into many parts of the auction system, e.g. on data stores and query languages. The introduction of this technology is also an investment. The investment on new Semantic web technology includes a variety of costs including software, hardware and training costs.Originality/valueBy automating electronic auctions both buyers and sellers can benefit as they can achieve cost reductions and shorten the duration of the auction processes. Also new auction formats can be easily deployed.
Spending their way to adulthood: consumption outside the nest
Authors: Penman Sarah , McNeill Lisa S. 
Published: September 2008

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore consumption habits of the young adult market, as they leave home and enter into a world of personal fiscal responsibility. Prior research in this area is limited; however those studies, which have focused on young adult consumption have found increasing impulsive consumption and use of credit amongst this generation. This study seeks to extend research in this area by exploring further how young consumers are spending, their motivations for impulsive consumption choices and their attitudes towards debt.Design/methodology/approachThe study in the paper is exploratory, and takes a qualitative approach to data collection and analysis. A two‐stage design is employed, consisting of focus groups with first and second‐year university students and in‐depth interviews with selected cases from these focus groups. The data collected are content‐analysed, with an emphasis on enlightening quotation from participants.FindingsThe paper finds that the young consumers studied show a relaxed attitude to debt and consumer purchasing, with non‐essential consumption seen as “deserved” and a “reward” for behaviour such as studying or working. Social pressure is found to be the key driver of consumption choices in this group, with the majority of spending decisions made impulsively.Practical implicationsThe paper considers the influence of peers and society pressures as a whole in encouraging young adults develop particular consumption habits and attitudes to money and debt. It highlights key aspects of the “culture of consumption” that young consumers are part of today and indicates an attitude to debt that is quite different to generations before.Originality/valueThe paper shows that where consumption habits are the focus of numerous consumer behaviour studies, far fewer studies concentrate on how these consumption habits are developed. The study adds to existing knowledge on the development of consumption norms by considering the practises of the youth market as they leave home and begin making purchasing decisions away from parental influence.
The role of school in reducing the prevalence of child obesity
Authors: Ayadi Kafia 
Published: September 2008

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to show that, as a factor in the socialization of children, school can play a major mediating role in the reduction of the prevalence of childhood obesity through school programs aimed at promoting healthy and well‐balanced food intake.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is an exploratory study with children and parents, using semi‐directive interviews.FindingsThe findings indicate that parents modified their own eating habits – and consequently that of all the family – by taking into account information acquired by the children in their school context. This change in the family food habits operated through a learning mechanism called “reverse socialization” where children transmit knowledge and consumption skills to their parents.Research limitations/implicationsA small sample size was used and results should be considered as indicative.Practical implicationsThe paper provides suggestions for public and private agencies and actors to better target their messages in order to reduce child obesity prevalence by promoting school programmes aimed at reducing child obesity.Originality/valueThe paper shows that reverse socialization is a sociological concept not often included in consumer behaviour research and has not yet been applied to food habits.
What is the meaning of “price” and “being expensive” for children?
Authors: Damay Coralie 
Published: September 2008

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate how young children define prices and expensiveness.Design/methodology/approachIndividual interviews were conducted. The sample was composed of 29 French children aged between five and 13 years old.FindingsThe findings show that children acquire price and expensiveness concepts very early but that their definitions are multidimensional.Research limitations/implicationsThe method of individual interviews conducted with French children led to a limitation of the representativeness. Moreover, this research is based on data obtained by interview, therefore it is possible that some children over‐rationalized their answers.Practical implicationsBefore working on specific concepts with children, it is useful to be sure that these terms have a meaning for this specific population. The paper allows us to understand what the concepts of price and expensiveness are for children. Future research should further extend the knowledge about the way young consumers elaborate the notion of price.Originality/valueFew empirical studies have been conducted on the elaboration of prices and expensiveness concepts among children. The first step is to understand what these concepts mean for children.