bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Automating the construction of supply chain key performance indicators
Authors: Gulledge Thomas , Chavusholu Tamer 
Published: August 2008

PurposeThis paper aims to automate the supply chain operations reference (SCOR) model as an enabler for process‐oriented supply chain business intelligence.Design/methodology/approachThe hypothesis is the following: SCOR model automation is possible using data that is directly extracted from integrated enterprise systems. To test the hypothesis, an alignment product that allows the SCOR model to be automated with information that is directly extracted from the Oracle E‐Business Suite was developed.FindingsIn order to achieve the full benefits from the SCOR model, effective business process management and the SCOR key performance indicators (KPIs) must be implemented and used. Unless data collection to support KPI construction is automated, it is difficult to institutionalize the SCOR model as a measurement and benchmarking framework. We have demonstrated that automated support for KPIs is feasible and achievable.Research limitations/implicationsThe E‐Business Suite is a single enterprise solution, but we assert that the same procedures could be followed with other enterprise solutions or even applied in a legacy system environment.Originality/valueThe developed solution described in the paper can immediately be applied to the design, development, and deployment of corporate performance management systems.
The impact of market orientation on NSD and financial performance of hospital industry
Authors: Lonial Subhash C. , Tarim Mehves , Tatoglu Ekrem , Zaim Selim , Zaim Halil 
Published: August 2008

PurposeThe principal aim of this study is to determine the critical factors of market orientation (MO) and to measure its effect on new service development (NSD) and financial performance of hospital industry in Turkey.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on a self‐administered questionnaire, the data were collected from a sample of privately‐held general hospitals within the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Based on theoretical considerations, a model was proposed to examine the interrelationships among MO, NSD‐performance and financial performance.FindingsData analysis reveals that while MO has a strong and positive effect on NSD‐performance, it has no significant effect on financial performance. Also a strong and positive relationship was noted between NSD‐performance and financial performance. Finally, the findings also provided evidence for the mediating role of NSD‐performance in the relationship between MO and financial performance in the hospital industry.Research limitations/implicationsFirst, due to relatively small sample size, a caution should be exercised when interpreting the results. Second, the data were collected from hospitals in Turkey, which may restrict to some extent generalizability of findings. Third, we relied on the subjective evaluations of senior executives. It would therefore be useful to replicate the results with objective measures of performance indicators.Practical implicationsAlthough there is compelling evidence that MO has a positive effect on business performance, it alone may not be able to produce superior performance. Many hospitals are committed to MO and new services development. The framework clearly indicates that a strong commitment to both the NSD‐performance and marketing areas is essential for improving the financial performance of hospitals. Also, to remain competitive in today's healthcare industry, hospital managers should all keep pace with the daily changes in the market place and stay attuned to NSD activities and quality management practices.Originality/valueThe main thrust of this study is to investigate whether the relationship between MO and financial performance is mediated by NSD‐performance in hospital industry. This constitutes the novelty of this research as most prior empirical research investigating a mediating mechanism through which MO affects firm performance largely focused on other factors with no or little emphasis being placed on NSD activities or NSD‐performance in healthcare context.
Intangible asset management framework for long‐term financial performance
Authors: Chareonsuk Chaichan , Chansa‐ngavej Chuvej 
Published: August 2008

PurposeThis paper aims to propose a framework for intangible asset management in business and industrial organizations. The proposed framework is applied to a case example company in the Stock Exchange of Thailand.Design/methodology/approachThe proposed framework refines the strategy map concept in the balanced scorecard approach for use in intangible asset management. There are two phases, the top‐down phase involving a four‐step intangible asset identification process and the bottom‐up phase establishing the cause‐effect relationships between the intangible assets of the various functional departments in the organization and its financial performance.FindingsIntangible assets belong to different functional departments. They must be carefully monitored and properly nurtured by the organization. Intangible assets depend not only on the type of functional departments but also the type of industries. To be competitive in today's knowledge economy, it is vital for business and industry to identify and locate the intangible assets in their functional departments and then establish how they contribute to the financial performance of the organization.Originality/valueUnderstanding of the framework will lead to tangible benefits and competitive advantage once the intangible assets are brought under control, properly managed, and suitably funded.
Evaluating sustainability in organisations with a fuzzy logic approach
Authors: Muñoz Maria J. , Rivera Juana M. , Moneva Jose M. 
Published: August 2008

PurposeThe aim is to determine whether the organisations more strategically committed to their stakeholders present better social and financial performance and, based on this relationship, to determine the state of the art of the Spanish sectors' approach to sustainable development.Design/methodology/approachThis paper analyses the sustainability approach of a sample of 52 Spanish listed firms. This process is based on the study of different indexes generated in order to evaluate the company's commitment through its stakeholders, the social and financial performance of these organisations, and the relationship between them. Previous results showed a positive and not significant relationship between these variables and a positive financial performance. This paper replicates a former research by introducing a fuzzy‐ logic‐based methodology in order to generate the aforementioned indexes.FindingsThe current results support the conclusions formerly obtained and simultaneously demonstrate that big Spanish companies are at an incipient stage of development of a clearly sustainability‐oriented management.Research limitations/implicationsThe unavailability of a long series of organisations' sustainability information is an obstacle for a broader analysis. This research could motivate the usefulness of the fuzzy logic methodology for analysing the business sustainability approach and to develop studies on the corporate social performance.Originality/valueThe use of fuzzy logic methodology for the generation of indexes related to the organisation's social responsibility and sustainability results.
Performance measurement in facilities management: driving innovation?
Authors: Pitt Michael , Tucker Matthew 
Published: August 2008

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the state of knowledge of performance measurement in facilities management, in particular regarding the concepts underlying benchmarking in relation to its ability to drive innovation in the industry.Design/methodology/approachAn evaluation of the key issues surrounding performance measurement and the effective application of benchmarking systems are examined, exploring the possibility of applying a benchmarking technique to measure facilities performance.FindingsThe paper suggests that a fully developed performance measurement solution via effective benchmarking can deliver as a business tool in facilities management (FM), whilst acting as a driver in the innovation process.Practical implicationsWith the nature of performance measurement having changed over the past few decades, the paper acts as a catalyst to how performance measurement systems and techniques operate within FM and stimulate innovation.Originality/valueBy adopting the notion of innovation to performance measurement, the paper highlights new areas of thought to facilities management and how performance measurement is strategically applied to the industry.
Inflation and housing market in Shanghai
Authors: Hin Li Ling , Lin Ge Cha 
Published: August 2008

PurposeThis paper sets out to examine the inflation‐hedging ability of housing properties in Shanghai.Design/methodology/approachThis paper examines both the short‐term and long‐term hedging characteristics of Shanghai residential properties against three types of inflation: actual, expected, and unexpected in the test period of 1997‐2005 by using the OLS model. Two methods, the Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) and the Hedrick‐Prescott Filter, are used to estimate the expected inflation.FindingsThe results show that, while the Shanghai housing property market does not provide a hedge against actual expected and unexpected inflation during the period, a positive real rate of return is reported in all cases.Research limitations/implicationsData limitations are due to lack of complete market transaction records and it is necessary to rely on property indices produced by the private‐sector firms as a proxy for market movements.Originality/valueThe paper shows that government policy in this market is still a dominant factor affecting the rate of return and it has therefore implications for the construction of an efficient investment portfolio by institutional investors.
A contact detection algorithm for superellipsoids based on the common‐normal concept
Authors: Wellmann Christian , Lillie Claudia , Wriggers Peter 
Published: August 2008

PurposeThe paper aims to introduce an efficient contact detection algorithm for smooth convex particles.Design/methodology/approachThe contact points of adjacent particles are defined according to the common‐normal concept. The problem of contact detection is formulated as 2D unconstrained optimization problem that is solved by a combination of Newton's method and a Levenberg‐Marquardt method.FindingsThe contact detection algorithm is efficient in terms of the number of iterations required to reach a high accuracy. In the case of non‐penetrating particles, a penetration can be ruled out in the course of the iterative solution before convergence is reached.Research limitations/implicationsThe algorithm is only applicable to smooth convex particles, where a bijective relation between the surface points and the surface normals exists.Originality/valueBy a new kind of formulation, the problem of contact detection between 3D particles can be reduced to a 2D unconstrained optimization problem. This formulation enables fast contact exclusions in the case of non‐penetrating particles.
Model order reduction using neural network principal component analysis and generalized dimensional analysis
Authors: Bellamine F.H. , Elkamel A. 
Published: August 2008

PurposeThis paper seeks to present a novel computational intelligence technique to generate concise neural network models for distributed dynamic systems.Design/methodology/approachThe approach used in this paper is based on artificial neural network architectures that incorporate linear and nonlinear principal component analysis, combined with generalized dimensional analysis.FindingsNeural network principal component analysis coupled with generalized dimensional analysis reduces input variable space by about 90 percent in the modeling of oil reservoirs. Once trained, the computation time is negligible and orders of magnitude faster than any traditional discretisation schemes such as fine‐mesh finite difference.Practical implicationsFinding the minimum number of input independent variables needed to characterize a system helps in extracting general rules about its behavior, and allows for quick setting of design guidelines, and particularly when evaluating changes in the physical properties of systems.Originality/valueThe methodology can be used to simulate dynamical systems characterized by differential equations, in an interactive CAD and optimization providing faster on‐line solutions and speeding up design guidelines.
A new algorithm for domain decomposition of finite element models
Authors: Kaveh A. , Laknegadi K. , Zahedi M. 
Published: August 2008

PurposeDomain decomposition of finite element models (FEM) for parallel computing are often performed using graph theory and algebraic graph theory. This paper aims to present a new method for such decomposition, where a combination of algebraic graph theory and differential equations is employed.Design/methodology/approachIn the present method, a combination of graph theory and differential equations is employed. The proposed method transforms the eigenvalue problem involved in decomposing FEM by the algebraic graph method, into a specific initial value problem of an ordinary differential equation.FindingsThe transformation of this paper enables many advanced numerical methods for ordinary differential equations to be used in the computation of the eigenproblems.Originality/valueCombining two different tools, namely algebraic graph theory and differential equations, results in an efficient and accurate method for decomposing the FEM which is a combinatorial optimization problem. Examples are included to illustrate the efficiency of the present method.
An evolutionary‐based data mining technique for assessment of civil engineering systems
Authors: Rezania Mohammad , Javadi Akbar A. , Giustolisi Orazio 
Published: August 2008

PurposeAnalysis of many civil engineering phenomena is a complex problem due to the participation of a large number of factors involved. Traditional methods usually suffer from a lack of physical understanding. Furthermore, the simplifying assumptions that are usually made in the development of the traditional methods may, in some cases, lead to very large errors. The purpose of this paper is to present a new method, based on evolutionary polynomial regression (EPR) for capturing nonlinear interaction between various parameters of civil engineering systems.Design/methodology/approachEPR is a data‐driven method based on evolutionary computing, aimed to search for polynomial structures representing a system. In this technique, a combination of the genetic algorithm and the least‐squares method is used to find feasible structures and the appropriate constants for those structures.FindingsCapabilities of the EPR methodology are illustrated by application to two complex practical civil engineering problems including evaluation of uplift capacity of suction caissons and shear strength of reinforced concrete deep beams. The results show that the proposed EPR model provides a significant improvement over the existing models. The EPR models generate a transparent and structured representation of the system. For design purposes, the EPR models, presented in this study, are simple to use and provide results that are more accurate than the existing methods.Originality/valueIn this paper, a new evolutionary data mining approach is presented for the analysis of complex civil engineering problems. The new approach overcomes the shortcomings of the traditional and artificial neural network‐based methods presented in the literature for the analysis of civil engineering systems. EPR provides a viable tool to find a structured representation of the system, which allows the user to gain additional information on how the system performs.
Natural sloshing frequencies in rigid truncated conical tanks
Authors: Gavrilyuk I. , Hermann M. , Lukovsky I. , Solodun O. , Timokha A. 
Published: August 2008

PurposeThe main purpose of this paper is to develop two efficient and accurate numerical analytical methods for engineering computation of natural sloshing frequencies and modes i the case of truncated circular conical tanks.Design/methodology/approachThe numerical‐analytical methods are based on a Ritz Treftz variational scheme with two distinct analytical harmonic functional bases.FindingsComparative numerical analysis detects the limit of applicability of variational methods in terms of the semi‐apex angle and the ratio between radii of the mean free surface and the circular bottom. The limits are caused by different analytical properties of the employed functional bases. However, parallel use of two or more bases makes it possible to give an accurate approximation of the lower natural frequencies for relevant tanks. For V‐shaped tanks, dependencies of the lowest natural frequency versus the semi‐apex angle and the liquid depth are described.Practical implicationsThe methods provide the natural sloshing frequencies for V‐shaped tanks that are valuable for designing elevated containers in seismic areas. Approximate natural modes can be used in derivations of nonlinear modal systems, which describe a resonant coupling with structural vibrations.Originality/valueAlthough variational methods have been widely used for computing the natural sloshing frequencies, this paper presents their application for truncated conical tanks for the first time. An original point is the use of two distinct functional bases.
Numerical simulation of steady and unsteady aluminum profile extrusion processes using finite volume method
Authors: Lou Shumei , Zhao Guoqun , Wang Rui , Wu Xianghong 
Published: August 2008

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to find an efficient way by using finite volume method (FVM) to simulate the aluminum alloy profile extrusion processes.Design/methodology/approachBy assuming isotropic conditions, the hot aluminum material is described as a non‐linear Newtonian fluid material. Semi‐implicit method for pressure‐linked equations algorithm is used to calculate the physical fields, and the dynamic viscosity is updated then. Volume of fluid method and moving grid method are also used for unsteady flow to catch the free surface of the material and the moving bound.FindingsFVM model in this paper is an accurate and efficient method for the numerical simulation of aluminum profile extrusion processes. Compared with finite element method software, FVM model is both memory and CPU efficient.Practical implicationsProvide theoretical reference for sound extrusion process and die designs, which are the key factors to produce desirable products in industrial production.Originality/valueThe paper finds an efficient way to introduce the FVM in computational fluid dynamics field into the simulation of the steady and unsteady aluminum alloy profile extrusion processes. It provides a reference for people who are interested in FVM and extrusion processes.
Modeling country image effects through an international crisis
Authors: Heslop Louise A. , Lu Irene R.R. , Cray David 
Published: August 2008

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose and test a longitudinal country‐people image effect model involving a significant negative international incident between countries; study how such a model changes over time; and study the extent of image recovery in terms of how the offending country, people, and its products are perceived.Design/methodology/approachAustralian consumers were surveyed before, during, and a decade after the French nuclear testing in the Pacific in 1995. Model testing was conducted using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques.FindingsThe model was strongly supported in all three‐time points. During the crisis, negative feelings toward France/French rose and consumers' response to French products dropped. Country‐people competency has risen over country‐people character in explaining product evaluations. In the final period, the Australian views on country‐people character and product response had more than recovered. The country‐people character beliefs now play a significant role in influencing product evaluations after the crisis than before, while the impacts of country‐people competency on product evaluation and response have diminished dramatically. Product evaluation is fairly stable over time.Originality/valueStudies to date have focused on country image at a point in time in relatively stable environmental conditions. The proposed model is helpful in understanding the processes of country‐product image effects through the study of all attitude components and through differentiation of beliefs about country and people production‐related and non‐production related characteristics. The cross‐temporal validation of the model indicates its usefulness for general applicability in country image effects research.
Country‐of‐origin contingencies
Authors: Josiassen Alexander , Lukas Bryan A. , Whitwell Gregory J. 
Published: August 2008

PurposeThis study was undertaken to clarify how product familiarity and product involvement can moderate the importance that consumers place on COO image when they evaluate products for purchase or consumption. The authors adopted a contingency approach and empirically examined, by way of competing hypotheses, the alternative possibilities by which product familiarity and product involvement may influence the importance that consumers place on COO image when they evaluate products.Design/methodology/approachData were gathered from 388 consumers in Australia across four different product classes. Data analysis was conducted using hierarchical regression analysis with interactions and post hoc slope analysis.FindingsOverall, the study findings suggest that the importance that consumers place on COO image when they evaluate products is contingent on the product context. Specifically, the study findings show that consumers consider COO image to be more important for their product evaluations when they evaluate products from less familiar product categories and are less involved with the products that they are evaluating. An additional variable included in the study, product origin congruency, was found to enhance the importance that consumers place on COO image when they evaluate products.Originality/valueThere are competing views in the literature as to how product familiarity and product involvement can moderate the importance that consumers place on COO image when they evaluate products. This study further clarifies the moderating role of product familiarity and product involvement. The study also examines the potential moderating role of product origin congruency in a survey for the first time.