bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Assessing insulating fabric performance for extremely cold weather
Authors: Seames Wayne , Ficek Ben , Line William 
Published: September 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present the quantification of the thermal conductivities and thermal resistances of 12 insulating fabrics extracted from commercial clothing products under static, simulated sweating, and simulated wind chill conditions.Design/methodology/approachTriplicate coded (blind test) samples of each fabric were tested in a modified ASTM 1518‐85 test apparatus enclosed in a cold box capable of temperatures as low as −85°C to determine thermal conductivity and thermal resistance. Sweat and wind chill were also simulated and evaluated.FindingsOne fabric, Vaetrex0, was clearly found to be superior under all conditions to the other 11 fabrics tested. The performance of many of the other fabrics varied when exposed to simulated sweat.Practical implicationsAn objective evaluation of fabrics that can assist manufacturers in fabric selection for cold weather clothing manufacture.Originality/valueThe paper provides an extension of the ASTM 1518‐85 method to cold conditions and a unique blind comparison test of commercial clothing fabrics under these extreme conditions.
An approach to predicting bra cup dart quantity in the 3D virtual environment
Authors: Ping Wang Jian , Yuan Zhang Wei 
Published: September 2007

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to explore a method of predicting the amount of personalized bra cup dart in the 3D virtual environment for supporting the made‐to‐measure research of the optimum fitted brassiere pattern design.Design/methodology/approachVery useful enhanced FFD (free‐form‐deformation) techniques used in both computer animation and geometric modeling were skillfully transplanted to the female breast model deformation. Meanwhile, on the basis of 3D scan and surface modeling technologies, the realization approach of the abstract female breast model library focusing on the individual variations of shapes and sizes was presented. Then according to the principle of isometric area and flabellate segments, the personalized bra cup dart quantity and its distributive information were provided by 3D‐2D transformation.FindingsThe paper finds that personalized female breast shapes and various aesthetic breast forms sculpted by different bras could be interactively simulated. Accordingly, the amount of corresponding individual bra cup dart and its distributive information were provided. The cup darts were mainly distributed below the bust line. Moreover, dart shapes were curvy.Research limitations/implicationsThe principles of virtual breast library construction and 3D‐2D transformation are also suitable for other parts of the human body such as buttocks, abdomen and, etc. for intimate apparel research.Originality/valueThe method of predicting the personalized bra cup dart quantity based on the 3D virtual breast model library was delivered for the first time. The novel findings provided an important guideline for designers to improve the well‐fitted bra pattern design technique. Furthermore, it would reduce the manufacturing cost without keeping physical dummies.
Perceived justice and consumption experience evaluations
Authors: Aurier Philippe , Siadou‐Martin Béatrice 
Published: September 2007

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the role of perceived justice in service consumption/purchase experiences.Design/methodology/approachIn an initial study, using the critical incident method, the authors show that customers are strongly concerned by perceived injustice. Their judgments involve the three components of justice described in organizational and service marketing literature: distributive, procedural and interactional justice. They also identify a macro‐level justice factor which characterizes the perception of collective practices at the industry level. In an experiment applied to the dining experience, the authors manipulate distributive, procedural and interactional justice perception to study their impact on service evaluation (quality, value), satisfaction and relationship quality (trust, commitment).FindingsContrary to the satisfaction literature, the authors observe a slight direct effect of justice on satisfaction, but rather indirect impacts through perceived quality (outcome and interaction) and value. Moreover, perception of justice has substantial effects on trust (credibility and benevolence) but not on commitment.Originality/valueThe paper studies the impact of justice in the context of a customer experience evaluation (service delivery) which is not limited to service recovery. It examines the entire evaluation process, including service evaluation (quality, value), satisfaction and relationship quality (trust, commitment).
Changing roles of customers: consequences for HRM
Authors: Graf Albert 
Published: September 2007

PurposeThe objective of this paper is to provide researchers and practitioners with an understanding of the implications and consequences of changes in customer roles and involvement on human resource management (HRM) within a service context.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is conceptual and the approach adopted is analytical. Extant research and concepts have been used to analyse customer roles and customer involvement and their effects on employees. Based on these insights, managerial and research implications are discussed.FindingsThe insights from this study provide conceptual support for including customers as a relevant reference and/or extension of HRM beyond the organisational boundaries. Customers can actually significantly influence the success of a company's HRM.Research limitations/implicationsAnalysis of the interrelatedness of customer involvement and HRM is limited to services than encompass emotional and communicative aspects. It is argued that an extension of HRM concepts by considering customers' influence provides great potential for future research opportunities.Practical implicationsThe paper discusses the contribution of central HRM functions in increasing the customer orientation of employees and companies, reducing role conflicts and role ambiguity, and creating added value for customers. The aspects described here have the potential to contribute to a more sophisticated understanding of HRM and to increase the added value of the HRM function to the organisation.Originality/valueTo date, HRM and customer roles generally have been investigated separately. The analysis of the interrelatedness of these two worlds is likely to trigger and encourage innovative research designs and alternative methodological approaches to new research problems, leading to the added potential of novel research findings with important implications for practice.
The effectiveness of hospitality service operations: measurement and implementation concerns
Authors: Gomes Carlos F. , Yasin Mahmoud M. , Lisboa João V. 
Published: September 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose a systematic approach to measuring, tracking, monitoring and continuously improving service efficiency, availability and quality in hospitality operational settings.Design/methodology/approachThe proposed measure of service operational effectiveness (SOE) consists of three indicators. They include the availability indicator, the quality indicator, and the efficiency indicator.FindingsThe paper finds that the proposed operational performance approach based on the SOE is consistent with the themes of performance measures and measurement reported in the literature.Research limitations/implicationsIn this paper, the proposed service operational effectiveness approach represents a serious attempt at quantifying the key facets of service effectiveness in hospitality operational settings. The validation of this performance assessment and measurement approach is worthy of future research.Practical implicationsThe paper sees that the approach advocated by the SOE has operational and strategic relevance to decision‐makers of hospitality organizations. Field interviews with hospitality operating managers in different operating base cultures confirmed this.Originality/valueThis paper presents a practical, systematic approach to the problem of enhancing service operational effectiveness in hospitality organizations. Relevant implementation issues associated with the proposed approach are also addressed. Interviews with operational managers representing different types and sizes of hospitality organizations in different operational cultures were utilized to provide initial validation of the proposed approach and to shed some light on relevant practical implementation issues.
Applying the “cloak of invisibility” technology to security and privacy in the hotel industry
Authors: Goh Carey K.L. , Law Rob 
Published: September 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to bring a new scientific theory into practice in the hotel industry.Design/methodology/approachIn‐depth open‐ended interviews were used with eight hospitality practitioners, consumers, and academic researchers.FindingsThe article lays out current practices of security and privacy measurements in the hospitality industry and points out the related limitations. More importantly, it provides insights to hotel operators on possible future applications of a new scientific invention and how it could help alleviate the limitations found in the existing security and privacy measures.Practical implicationsThe paper raises the awareness of a new scientific breakthrough that sheds new lights to security and privacy strategies in hotel operations. Hotels, which are able to react quickly to gain the first‐mover‐advantage in leading the industry on the application of such technology, will certainly gain tremendous publicity, and more importantly will be the first to create a new level of confidence in the market on security and privacy strategies implemented in their daily hotel operations.Originality/valueThis paper communicates a recent scientific development and its possible applications in the hotel industry. In this way, it bridges the gap between a scientific invention and its real‐world application. It is expected to provide insights for hoteliers who are interested in technology applications.
Gender differences within 360‐degree managerial performance appraisals
Authors: Millmore Mike , Biggs David , Morse Laura 
Published: September 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of gender on the performance assessments of managers arising from the 360‐degree scheme operated within the UK headquarters of a large multi‐international financial services organisation.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire approach was used to collect data on 66 managers (33 males and 33 females) against four broad capabilities on the 360‐degree appraisal system. Data were gathered on each of the 66 managers from eight different sources including the individual being appraised, three of their peers, three of their direct reports (subordinates) and their manager (supervisor).FindingsPerformance ratings were either gender neutral or higher for female than for male managers. Within the case company there was no evidence of unfavourable discrimination against female managers, if anything the reverse with female managers showing superior performance compared to their male counterparts.Research limitations/implicationsAs with all cross‐sectional research causality cannot be confirmed and difficulties in accessing 360‐degree appraisal information for a large number of managers led to constraints on research methodology.Practical implicationsThe implication for human resource management is that the 360‐degree appraisal system did not necessarily fulfil the degree of objectivity claimed by its adherents and that possible adverse influence may be inherent within the 360‐degree rating system of managers particularly.Originality/valueThe paper offers insights into gender differences within 360‐degree managerial performance appraisals.
Managerial women and the work‐home interface: does age of child matter?
Authors: Moore Sarah , Sikora Patricia , Grunberg Leon , Greenberg Edward 
Published: September 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore whether empirical support exists for two commonly held beliefs about the work‐home interface: women, and particularly managerial women, are prone to “super‐mother” or “super‐manage” in an effort to balance both career and child‐rearing, and these demands diminish markedly when children reach school age.Design/methodology/approachVia a survey mailed to their home, 1,103 managerial and non‐managerial men and women completed measures of work‐home and home‐work conflict, work‐related stress and strain, and reported their number of work, domestic, and leisure hours per week.FindingsSomewhat consistent with the popular beliefs, the authors found that managerial women reported working significantly more in the home; measures of conflict and strain, however, while showing some effect were not impacted to the degree that managerial women's combined number of work and home hours per week might suggest. The authors also found that measures of hours, conflict, and strain did not diminish abruptly when children entered school, due perhaps in part to manager's increased work hours and managerial women's renewed work emphasis when children entered school. Measures of hours, conflict, and strain did show some reduction for parents of teenaged children, although they were still significantly higher than those of nonparents.Originality/valueAside from being one of the few empirical papers to examine the impact of child rearing on managerial women, our data show how these demands are not confined to working parents of preschoolers.
Symptom and problem focused coping strategies of business women expatriates and their socio‐cultural adjustment in Hong Kong
Authors: Selmer Jan , Leung Alicia S.M. 
Published: September 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore coping strategies of female business expatriates and to examine how these strategies are associated with the women's international adjustment.Design/methodology/approachData were collected through mail surveys to western female business expatriates in Hong Kong regarding their coping strategies and adjustment.FindingsAs predicted, the results showed that the female expatriates more often used problem focused than symptom focused coping strategies. Surprisingly, there was no association between problem focused coping strategies and socio‐cultural adjustment. However, as expected, symptom focused coping strategies were negatively related to adjusting in socio‐cultural terms. As presumed, there was no relationship between any of the coping strategies and psychological adjustment.Research limitations/implicationsThe special contextual circumstances in Hong Kong could have contributed to the unanticipated findings that there was no association between problem focused coping strategies and any type of adjustment studied. Through cross‐cultural training, female business expatriates could benefit from being informed that applying symptom focused coping strategies may make them less well adjusted to a host location.Originality/valueWomen still represent a relatively untapped source for expatriation and the research on female business expatriates is still inadequate in many respects. An important issue examined by this study is how women cope with the stress of international assignments and how that may affect their international adjustment.
Comply! Resistance is futile
Authors: Lazarides Themistokles 
Published: September 2007

PurposeThe goal of the paper is to detect any gaps in the legislator's and practitioner's approaches in information systems design and implementation and to evaluate their impact on an organizational and managerial level.Design/methodology/approachBasic information system requirements are presented for compliance with the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act. These requirements are compared with the provisions made by the vendors (like SAP, Microsoft, etc.) to address the issues raised by the legislators and the OECD's corporate governance principles and guidelines to provide a holistic approach to the problem of corporate governance system alignment.FindingsThe questions raised by the author are: did the legislators encapsulate the real essence of the OECD principles and did the ES designers manage to fully cover the letter and the spirit of the law or find a legalist‐normative solution to the problem of compliance (not alignment) with the laws and principles leading to a deviation from the original principles? It is shown that the latter is the case in a number of systems or modules designed to address the issue.Practical implicationsPractitioners, academics and developers‐vendors may alter their perspective of how an information system is placed within the context of the firm.Originality/valueA new approach in designing information systems is needed in order to comply with the new legal‐regulatory framework and market needs.
Toward viable information security reporting systems
Authors: Olav Sveen Finn , Sarriegi Jose M. , Rich Eliot , Gonzalez Jose J. 
Published: September 2007

PurposeThis research paper aims to examine how incident‐reporting systems function and particularly how the steady growth of high‐priority incidents and the semi‐exponential growth of low‐priority incidents affect reporting effectiveness. Social pressures that can affect low‐ and high‐priority incident‐reporting rates are also examined.Design/methodology/approachThe authors reviewed the incident‐reporting system literature. As there are few studies of information security reporting systems, they also considered safety‐reporting systems. These have been in use for many years and much is known about them. Safety is used to “fill in the gaps”. The authors then constructed a system dynamics computer simulation model. The model is used to test how an incident‐reporting system reacts under different conditions.FindingsIncident reporters face incentives and disincentives based on effects on through‐put but have limited knowledge of what is important to the organization's security. Even if a successful incident‐reporting policy is developed, the organization may become the victim of its own success, as a growing volume of reports put higher pressure on incident‐handling resources. Continuously hiring personnel is unsustainable. Continuously improving automated tools for incident response promises more leverage.Research limitations/implicationsThe challenges in safety may not be the same as those in information security. However, the model does provide a starting‐point for further enquiries into information security reporting systems.Originality/valueAn examination of basic factors that affect information security reporting systems is provided. Four different policies are presented and examined through simulation scenarios.
Availability analysis of a generalized maintainable three‐state device parallel system with human error and common‐cause failures
Authors: Dhillon B.S. , Shah Aashish S. 
Published: September 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study the combined effect of human error, common‐cause failure, redundancy, and maintenance policies on the performance of a system composed of three‐state devices.Design/methodology/approachGeneralized expressions for time‐dependent and steady state availability of a generalized maintainable three‐state device parallel system subjected to human errors and common‐cause failures are developed in the paper under two maintenance policies: Type I repair policy (i.e. only the completely failed system is repaired); and Type II repair policy (i.e. both partially and completely failed system is repaired). The Markov method is used to develop general and special case expressions for state probabilities, and system time‐dependent and steady state availabilities.FindingsIn the case of three‐state devices, it is demonstrated that by increasing the number of redundant devices in parallel do not necessarily lead to the improvement in the system availability. In fact, the availability of the system depends significantly on the dominant failure mode of the devices (i.e. short‐mode or open‐mode). When comparing the effect of maintenance policies on the system availability, it is observed that the Type II repair policy does not lead to an improvement in the system availability. Furthermore, it is observed that both human error and common‐cause failure independently lead to lower system availability.Practical implicationsThis study will help maintenance engineers and reliability practitioners to become aware of the combined impact of redundancy, human error, common‐cause failure, and maintenance policies on the performance of the three‐state device systems. Consequently, they will make better maintenance related decisions in organizations such as oil refineries and power stations that use three state devices quite extensively.Originality/valueMost of the past models have independently studied the effects of redundancy, human error, and common‐cause failure on maintainable system made up of three‐state devices. This effort is one of the first attempts to study the combined effects of all these factors in a parallel system composed of three state devices.
Managing vision and the brand within the creative industries
Authors: Powell Shaun , Dodd Chris 
Published: September 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to help answer “To what degree can creative employees be encouraged or motivated to align with a leader's creative vision and what issues may be faced along the way?” The management and communication of vision in relation to the organisational brand within the creative industries can face many unique challenges.Design/methodology/approachAs much of the existing creativity literature at an organisational level is not empirically based, a rigorous, inductive and exploratory case study approach was employed to explore emergent issues relating to the management and communication of the brand within creative small to medium‐sized organisations. Recent research attempts to uncover the link between organisational creativity and the brand are reviewed. The inductive case study approach undertaken is discussed. This incorporates interviews and thematic analysis with the aid of various qualitative data software packages.FindingsThe inductively generated themes uncover interrelating issues of relevance to owners and managers relating to: vision and alignment; creative growth; creative evaluation and rewards. The themes also help to draw attention to some of the potential barriers to achieving a desired or effective creative brand.Originality/valueIt can be argued that by taking an exploratory and inductive approach, a wide number of potential effects on creativity and the ensuing brand have been identified. Practitioners within the creative industries can potentially benefit from the observations because they are empirically based rather than being purely theoretical, and focus on both employees and clients. These also appear to go beyond the themes identified within previous studies within these same creative industry sectors. The investigation and reflections may act as a useful starting‐point for further research into the formation and management of a creative brand.