bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Multinational oil companies' CSR initiatives in Nigeria
Authors: Eweje Gabriel 
Published: December 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to critically examine the multinational oil companies' (MOCs) corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in Nigeria. Its special focus is to investigate the scepticism of stakeholders in the producing communities about the long‐term effect and the beneficiaries of the oil companies' CSR/community development initiatives.Design/methodology/approachThis paper employs a qualitative methodology, drawing on semi‐structured interviews conducted in Nigeria and London. The field work was carried out in Nigeria (Abuja, Lagos and Port‐Harcourt) and in London, UK. Visits were made to the head offices of the MOCs; Ministry of Petroleum and the Nigeria National Petroleum Commission; and the office of The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People in the Niger Delta. In London, Shell International Office was visited.FindingsThe study found that expectations of host communities in the Niger Delta for CSR/community development initiatives are greater. The communities above all want social development projects that provide hope of a stable and prosperous future. The companies, on the other hand, have embraced development initiatives primarily in order to demonstrate that they are socially responsible.Practical implicationsIf the host communities do not feel that the CSR projects will create a sustainable economic development, they will keep agitating for change and create an hostile environment for multinational enterprises (MNEs).Originality/valueThis research adds to the literature on MNEs' CSR initiatives in developing countries and rationale for demands for social projects by host communities. It concludes that business has an obligation to help in solving problems of public concern.
Introduction: accessibility of electronic information resources for all
Authors: Schmetzke Axel 
Published: December 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to introduce the themed section, “Accessibility”, of this special Library Hi Tech issue.Design/methodology/approachThe paper explains the philosophical underpinnings of the concept of disability and provides an overview of the contributed papers.FindingsBy necessity, article collections on online accessibility, such as this special issue, need to be selective.Practical implicationsLibrarians are partially responsible for putting in place conditions that are either enabling or disabling to library users.Originality/valueThis paper introduces the theme of this special Library Hi Tech issue.
Web accessibility trends in university libraries and library schools
Authors: Comeaux David , Schmetzke Axel 
Published: December 2007

PurposeOnly properly designed web sites are accessible to people with print disabilities. The purpose of this paper is to follow up on earlier investigations of this kind by looking at the web sites of all 56 ALA‐accredited library schools, and of the libraries on these campuses.Design/methodology/approachBobby 3.1.1 was used to evaluate compliance with major accessible web design guidelines. In addition, key web pages were checked manually for the presence of skip‐navigation components, and the sites' re‐design status was ascertained. The results were presented in the form of basic descriptive statistics, including percentages of Bobby‐approved pages and the average number of barriers per page. Correlations of the current accessibility data with older data sets and with library school ratings were also calculated.FindingsThe results indicate that despite an increase in accessibility, only 50 to 60 per cent of the web sites were free of Bobby‐detectable errors. Canadian sites were more accessible than US sites. Contrary to previous findings, recently redesigned sites tended to be more accessible. Highly ranked sites also tended to have higher accessibility scores. US sites showed a random‐like up‐and‐down movement in accessibility status between 2002 and 2006.Research limitations/implicationsThe collected data reflect compliance with only a subset of accessible design principles.Practical implicationsMore education and continued advocacy is needed to increase web accessibility at libraries and library schools and to help establish library schools as models of program accessibility.Originality/valueThis is the only study that provides trend information about the accessibility of a broader set of library and library school web sites.
Accessibility of web‐based library databases: the vendors' perspectives in 2007
Authors: Byerley Suzanne L. , Beth Chambers Mary , Thohira Mariyam 
Published: December 2007

PurposeWeb‐based research databases are common in today's libraries, but most librarians lack the ability to evaluate them for accessibility for persons with disabilities. Consequently, they rely upon resource providers to develop products that are ADA and Section 508 compliant. Are database vendors stepping up to the plate? As a follow‐up to a study reported in 2003, the purpose of this paper is to investigate accessibility of online databases from database vendors' perspectives.Design/methodology/approachResearchers used a web‐based questionnaire to gather information from vendors of online databases concerning the accessibility of their products. The questions covered general information about product accessibility, compliance with Section 508 standards, and product accessibility/usability testing.FindingsNearly all of the companies who participated in the survey consider their products to be mostly accessible to users of assistive technologies and are committed to improving product accessibility in the future. At the same time, few companies promote accessibility in their marketing efforts. Most companies test their products for accessibility, but few conduct usability tests with actual persons with disabilities.Research limitations/implicationsThis study covered a small sample of database vendors and relied on self‐reporting by representatives from database companies. Until usability testing becomes a standard practice, product testing by independent parties is necessary to complete the accessibility report cards for online library database providers.Practical implicationsLibrarians must be proactive in encouraging vendors to continue to provide products that are accessible and user‐friendly for everybody including persons with disabilities.Originality/valueThis is the second known study that examines online database accessibility and usability based on database vendors' perspectives.
Utility of a faceted catalog for scholarly research
Authors: Olson Tod A. 
Published: December 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to determine whether a faceted OPAC interface offers improvements to information discovery in scholarly research.Design/methodology/approachThe 5.2 million records of an entire library catalog were loaded into a faceted navigation interface and an attractive search term suggestion tool. Humanities PhD students at the dissertation level and familiar with this collection were observed while using this interface to continue their research into the literature on their dissertation topic.FindingsFrom a group of 12 subjects, nine reported finding materials that they had not found in their previous use of the traditional catalog interface.Research limitations/implicationsNo attempt is made to isolate the effects of relevance ranking on discovery from those of faceted navigation or the search term suggestions. The differences between the circumstances of scholars who did and did not find previously undiscovered materials are not examined.Practical implicationsFaceted interface and search term suggestion in a library catalog may enable those scholars who are highly dependent on library materials to find materials that would remain hidden in a traditional library catalog.Originality/valueThis article considers whether faceted navigation increases the range of relevant materials that scholars discover, and is of interest to libraries which are considering adding faceted navigation and other features to their catalog interface.
Reduced temperature soldering of capacitors using Sn‐Bi plated Sn‐3.5%Ag
Authors: Jin Kim Mi , Zhou Y. (Norman) , Pil Jung Jae 
Published: December 2007

PurposeThis paper seeks to decrease the soldering temperature of capacitors using Sn‐Bi plated Sn‐3.5 wt%Ag solder.Design/methodology/approachSn‐Bi layers were electroplated on Sn‐3.5 wt%Ag solder. As soldering examples, type 1608 capacitors electroplated with Sn, and printed circuit boards (PCBs) with a surface coating of electroless‐plated Ni/Au, were selected. Sn‐3.5Ag foil coupons plated with Sn‐95.7 wt%Bi were inserted as solder between the capacitors and the lands on the PCBs. The samples were reflowed at 220°C, which is below the normal reflow temperatures of around 240 ∼ 250°C used with Pb‐free solders. During heating, Bi in the plated layer diffuses into the Sn‐3.5Ag core solder resulting in a transient decrease in soldering temperature based on the concept of transient liquid phase bonding.FindingsThe joints made with the Sn‐95.7%Bi plated Sn‐3.5Ag solder at 220°C showed good appearance, and evidence of significant Bi segregation was absent in the microstructure. The shear strengths of the capacitor joints bonded with Sn‐95.7%Bi plated Sn‐3.5%Ag solder were approximately 5,000‐6,000 gf. After 1,000 thermal cycles between −40 and +125°C, the shear strengths of the joints decreased approximately 5‐10 percent from the strengths in the as‐reflowed state for all plated solders. This confirmed that the soldered joints were stable and not significantly degraded by thermal cycles.Originality/valueReduced temperature soldering using Sn‐Bi plated Sn‐3.5%Ag solder was applied to attach capacitors to PCBs. In a production application, the foil coupons could be replaced by pre‐solder on the PCB pads.
Australian companies using globalization to disrupt the ancient wine industry
Authors: Cox Juliet , Bridwell Larry 
Published: December 2007

PurposeThis paper aims to provide a strategic analysis of how globalization has enabled Australian companies to transform the wine industry.Design/methodology/approachThe global wine industry is analyzed from two strategic management perspectives: Michael Porter's positioning concepts and the hypercompetitive framework of Richard D'Aveni with particular emphasis on the success of the Australian Yellow Tail brand.FindingsThe forces of globalization have caused significant changes in a historically stable industry. The success of the Yellow Tail brand demonstrates how a focused strategy with the right product, distribution and marketing can cause significant industry disruptions. Overall, the D'Aveni framework of hypercompetition seems to best describe the impact of Australian wine companies, although the generic strategies of Michael Porter may still be applicable when considering the French industry.Research limitations/implicationsThe focus is on using two strategic frameworks; there are others which could have been included. The example of Australian wine companies has been used to illustrate the changes in the overall market, but studying other “new world” wine producers such as Chile or Argentina may also add insight.Practical implicationsThe paper provides an example of how the academic frameworks of strategic management can be applied to different industries and shows that dynamic forces of globalization can emerge from any corner of the world and cause dramatic economic change.Originality/valueThis paper will be of interest to those studying the global dimensions of strategic management and its practical implications.
Physicians' attitudes towards knowledge transfer and sharing
Authors: Jabr Naeema H. 
Published: December 2007

PurposeThe role of medical and health organizations within their communities has been altered to include knowledge services as a basic issue facing the current era of complexities as related to health. Knowledge transfer (KT) can provide the right vehicle for transferring the needed knowledge through different means suitable to each group of receivers, including patients. This study aims to identify the management of activities that help in facilitating KT (the environment), the groups or individuals with when the respondents are communicating, the frequency and type of communications that respondents share with others, the effective forms of communications they use, and the knowledge and learning instruments which are used to transfer and share knowledge.Design/methodology/approachThe study focuses on how health organizations in the Sultanate of Oman view their corporate knowledge and utilize it to improve practices and subsequently reinforce quality standards, while sustaining the image of learning organizations. Based on that, the study attempts to gain a comprehensive picture of the process of KT to show how physicians at two hospitals look at the knowledge of its participants and to discover how participants are willing to share, transfer and receive knowledge.FindingsThe results indicate that junior physicians suffered from work overload and senior ones had negative attitudes and were unwilling to share knowledge. In addition, social activities at both places were not strong enough to encourage the communication process among physicians to share insights and reduce medical errors.Originality/valueThe paper provides a comprehensive overview of the process of KT in two hospitals.
Analysis of the mission statements of AACSB‐accredited schools
Authors: Orwig Bob , Zachary Finney R. 
Published: December 2007

PurposeResearch indicates that high‐performing firms share common components among their mission statements. The present study aims to begin a search for a similar correlation among academic schools of business.Design/methodology/approachContent and statistical analyses are used to analyze mission statements gathered from nearly all AACSB‐accredited business schools.FindingsMission statements for AACSB‐accredited schools are less than a page but not extremely short nor memorable. They address multiple stakeholders and usually do not include vision statements, goals or objectives. They often do not reference quality or the AACSB.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample was AACSB schools. As such, one should be circumspect in generalizing to other areas of business.Practical implicationsThis paper shows deans and other interested stakeholders what an average mission statement for an AACSB school looks like. It also suggests that mission statements do not effectively identify individual universities. In general, mission statements are found to be longer than expected.Originality/valueBusiness school deans need to be aware of the mission statements among their competitors in order to make better decisions in writing their own statements. Also, the research lays useful groundwork for those who want to discuss more controversial issues, such as the following: do mission statements differentiate the schools or is each school mission statement so similar to the others that there is little or no value in its expression?
Is V/P a distinct anomaly?
Authors: Xu Le (Emily) 
Published: December 2007

PurposeFrankel and Lee (1998) report significant abnormal security returns to a trading strategy based on the ratio of the intrinsic value to the market value of common equity (V/P). However, they measure the intrinsic value estimates based on the residual income model using several fundamental variables that have been documented to be associated with subsequent abnormal stock returns. The purpose of this paper is to test whether combining all these individual anomalies to V/P has generated additional predictive power, and whether the abnormal returns related to V/P are due to thepredictive ability of the residual income model or to that of the components used in constructing V/P.Design/methodology/approachTwo methods are used in this study to examine V/P's incremental effect. First, all the component variables of V/P are included in the same regression with V/P to test whether the coefficient of V/P remains significant. Second, an alternative ex ante transformation of the same component variables is developed and a test is conducted to see whether the trading profits based on V/P and the ex ante transformation differ.FindingsOverall, the paper finds that V/P does not provide additional explanatory power for subsequent abnormal returns over its component variables, especially analyst forecasts of earnings. The results imply that the source of the delayed security returns related to V/P is the biases in investors' expectations regarding the constituent anomaly variables.Originality/valueThis paper shows that V/P is not a distinct market anomaly. This finding is important to various stock market participants.
Temptations of turnout and modernisation
Authors: Pieters Wolter , van Haren Robert 
Published: December 2007

PurposeThe aim of the research described was to identify reasons for differences between discourses on electronic voting in the UK and The Netherlands, from a qualitative point of view.Design/methodology/approachFrom both countries, eight e‐voting experts were interviewed on their expectations, risk estimations, cooperation and learning experiences. The design was based on the theory of strategic niche management. A qualitative analysis of the data was performed to refine the main variables and identify connections.FindingsThe results show that differences in these variables can partly explain the variations in the embedding of e‐voting in the two countries, from a qualitative point of view. Key differences include the goals of introducing e‐voting, concerns in relation to verifiability and authenticity, the role of the Electoral Commissions and a focus on learning versus a focus on phased introduction.Research limitations/implicationsThe current study was limited to two countries. More empirical data can reveal other relevant subvariables, and contribute to a framework that can improve our understanding of the challenges of electronic voting.Originality/valueThis study shows the context‐dependent character of discussions on information security. It can be informative for actors involved in e‐voting in the UK and The Netherlands, and other countries using or considering electronic voting.
Ethics, technology development and uncertainty: an outline for any future ethics of technology
Authors: Sollie Paul 
Published: December 2007

PurposeThis conceptual paper aims to examine theoretical issues in the proactive ethical assessment of technology development, with a focus on uncertainty. Although uncertainty is a fundamental feature of complex technologies, its importance has not yet been fully recognized within the field of ethics. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to study uncertainty in technology development and its consequences for ethics.Design/methodology/approachGoing on the insight of various scientific disciplines, the concept of uncertainty will be scrutinised and a typology of uncertainty is proposed and introduced to ethical theory. The method used is theoretical and conceptual analysis.FindingsThe analysis results in questions with regard to the collection of information about the object of assessment (i.e. complex technologies and their development) and the framework of assessment (i.e. ethical theory and its practical aim of guiding the assessment of technology development). Moreover, based on the insights of the analysis of uncertainty, it is argued that substantive ethical theories prove to be inapt for the ethical assessment of complex technology development and therefore require a concomitant procedural approach. The paper concludes with requirements for any future ethics of technology under uncertainty.Originality/valueThe value of the paper consists in establishing the need of researching and incorporating uncertainty in ethics. The results are consequently of practical and theoretical interest for anyone working in the field of ethics and technology.
Pathway of Cytosolic Starch Synthesis in the Model Glaucophyte
Cyanophora paradoxa
Authors: Plancke Charlotte , Colleoni Christophe , Deschamps Philippe , Dauvillée David , Nakamura Yasunori , Haebel Sophie , Ritte Gehrardt , Steup Martin , Buléon Alain , Putaux Jean-Luc , Dupeyre Danielle , d'Hulst Christophe , Ral Jean-Philippe , Löffelhardt Wolfgang , Ball Steven G. 
Published: December 2007

ABSTRACT

The nature of the cytoplasmic pathway of starch biosynthesis was investigated in the model glaucophyte
Cyanophora paradoxa
. The storage polysaccharide granules are shown to be composed of both amylose and amylopectin fractions, with a chain length distribution and crystalline organization similar to those of green algae and land plant starch. A preliminary characterization of the starch pathway demonstrates that
Cyanophora paradoxa
contains several UDP-glucose-utilizing soluble starch synthase activities related to those of the Rhodophyceae. In addition,
Cyanophora paradoxa
synthesizes amylose with a granule-bound starch synthase displaying a preference for UDP-glucose. A debranching enzyme of isoamylase specificity and multiple starch phosphorylases also are evidenced in the model glaucophyte. The picture emerging from our biochemical and molecular characterizations consists of the presence of a UDP-glucose-based pathway similar to that recently proposed for the red algae, the cryptophytes, and the alveolates. The correlative presence of isoamylase and starch among photosynthetic eukaryotes is discussed.
Outer Membrane Components of the Tad (Tight Adherence) Secreton ofAggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans
Authors: Clock Sarah A. , Planet Paul J. , Perez Brenda A. , Figurski David H. 
Published: December 2007

ABSTRACTProkaryotic secretion relies on proteins that are widely conserved, including NTPases and secretins, and on proteins that are system specific. The Tad secretion system inAggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitansis dedicated to the assembly and export of Flp pili, which are needed for tight adherence. Consistent with predictions that RcpA forms the multimeric outer membrane secretion channel (secretin) of the Flp pilus biogenesis apparatus, we observed the RcpA protein in multimers that were stable in the presence of detergent and found thatrcpAand its closely related homologs form a novel and distinct subfamily within a well-supported gene phylogeny of the entire secretin gene superfamily. We also found thatrcpA-like genes were always linked toAggregatibacter rcpB- orCaulobacter cpaD-like genes. Using antisera, we determined the localization and gross abundances of conserved (RcpA and TadC) and unique (RcpB, RcpC, and TadD) Tad proteins. The three Rcp proteins (RcpA, RcpB, and RcpC) and TadD, a putative lipoprotein, localized to the bacterial outer membrane. RcpA, RcpC, and TadD were also found in the inner membrane, while TadC localized exclusively to the inner membrane. The RcpA secretin was necessary for wild-type abundances of RcpB and RcpC, and TadC was required for normal levels of all three Rcp proteins. TadC abundance defects were observed inrcpAandrcpCmutants. TadD production was essential for wild-type RcpA and RcpB abundances, and RcpA did not multimerize or localize to the outer membrane without the expression of TadD. These data indicate that membrane proteins TadC and TadD may influence the assembly, transport, and/or function of individual outer membrane Rcp proteins.