bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Developing and applying green building technology in an indigenous community
Authors: Riley David R. , Thatcher Corinne E. , Workman Elizabeth A. 
Published: July 2006

PurposeThis paper aims to disseminate an innovative approach to sustainability education in construction‐related fields in which teaching, research, and service are integrated to provide a unique learning experience for undergraduate students, faculty members, and community partners.Design/methodology/approachThe paper identifies the need for sustainability education in fields related to construction and describes an interdisciplinary course at Penn State that addresses this need. The goals, research, and applications of the course are detailed, as is the sustainable construction technology employed in course projects. Finally, the results from two course assessments are summarized to support the authors' hypothesis that knowledge best occurs and develops in an arena of negotiation, collaboration, and creation.FindingsStudents who participate in the course experience well‐rounded growth that includes, but is not limited to, increased research, design, communication, and collaboration skills, a finding that underscores the effectiveness of the course's holistic approach to engineering and architecture education.Practical implicationsThe paper demonstrates that engaged approaches to architecture and engineering education contribute to a heightened awareness among students of the importance of sustainability. It encourages other educators to adopt similar approaches to sustainability education in their courses.Originality/valueThe paper addresses the need for sustainability education in construction‐related disciplines by detailing an innovative course developed at Penn State to raise environmental and social awareness among architecture and engineering students. The engaged approach utilized in the course is replicable in any discipline and promises to have a significant impact on the commitment of today's students to creating a tomorrow in which sustainability is the norm rather than an anomaly.
Going “out there”: learning about sustainability in place
Authors: Alvarez Amaya , Rogers Judy 
Published: July 2006

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe how the authors shifted from teaching about sustainability as though it was fixed and definable, to a way of learning about the multiple ways in which sustainability is contested and understood. This shift involved both an epistemological shift in their understanding of sustainability and a shift in teaching practice.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reflects on the authors' teaching practice and describes a shift from an investigative to an interpretative approach. This shift resulted from taking students out in the field to hear from land managers and community members in regional and rural Victoria about how they understand sustainability. Central to the shift was recognising the value of the learning occurring “out there”.FindingsThe authors argue that had the students remained in the classroom learning about sustainability with community and its socio‐environmental context at a distance the shift that occurred in the teaching and learning experience would have been less likely to occur. The authors now see themselves as facilitating a process where learners (both teachers and students) are exposed to different understandings of sustainability and are able to recognise the messy and complex reality of sustainability on‐the‐ground.Practical implicationsMuch of what is going on in sustainability education is prescriptive: environmental targets, audits, energy and water efficiency, sustainable design mapped on to the curriculum of various disciplines and fields. This paper highlights the need to broaden out the sustainability education agenda, to fully examine how it is taught, why and what is its value to learning.Originality/valueThis paper describes the development of a course that explores the complexity of on the ground sustainability in regional and rural Australia. Such an approach to teaching about sustainability is innovative in that it challenges taken for granted assumptions about what is and is not sustainable by exposing students to conversations with ordinary people making sense of and attempting to negotiate change in their lives. In this learning experience sustainability becomes a complex set of discourses and practices that interweave through and over people's lives rather than a check list of appropriate practices.
Use and non‐use of electronic information sources by undergraduates at the University of the West Indies
Authors: Ramlogan Rabia , Tedd Lucy A. 
Published: July 2006

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to gather some empirical, baseline information on the use/non‐use of selected, subscribed electronic information services (EIS) among full time Year Three undergraduates at the St. Augustine Campus of the University of the West Indies, in the Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago.Design/methodology/approachThe study's research design involved a mixed quantitative and qualitative approach: a user survey comprising self‐administered, semi‐structured questionnaires and face‐to‐face semi‐structured interviews.FindingsOver half of the total respondents had not accessed any of the EIS. Lack of awareness of the services' availability was revealed as the overriding factor for non‐use. It is concluded that undergraduates make infrequent or no use at all of certain EIS largely from lack of awareness.Research limitations/implicationsDue to the lack of an available sampling frame and data protection regulations, the study was unable to obtain a probabilistic sample.Practical implicationsThe study's findings are consistent with the results from information behaviour studies in the UK that underline the critical role of academic staff in promoting the use of subscribed EIS.Originality/valueThere are a number of studies on the use of EIS, but this is the first of its kind within the English‐speaking Caribbean.
A brief guide to mycology web resources
Authors: Pankratov Alexei N. , Tsivileva Olga M. , Nikitina Valentina E. 
Published: July 2006

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to summarize the information about web resources in the area of mycology, one of the most important spheres of biology.Design/methodology/approachThe information on mycological web resources is systematised. Scientific journals, newsletters and magazines of mycological scope, along with their publishers, are presented.FindingsIt is of use to biologists, chemists and other scientists and teachers working in the area of mycology, as well as scientists, who profess to disseminate scientific knowledge, to avail themselves of the myriad information sources on offer.Originality/valueThis is possibly the first attempt to embrace comprehensively and in minute detail the vast field of information on the sources of contemporary mycology and its representative bodies.
Web interface consistency in e‐learning
Authors: Rhee Cheul , Moon Junghoon , Choe Youngchan 
Published: July 2006

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to examine the effects of interface consistency on the learning performance of skilled and novice computer users who are studying with web‐based e‐learning systems.Design/methodology/approachA literature review was conducted, and an experiment was set up to collect data on learning performance with respect to interface consistency and e‐learning systems. Statistical methods were applied.FindingsSkilled students made more errors than novices when using a physically inconsistent e‐learning system. The learning satisfaction level of those skilled with computers was lower than that of novices using such a system. Conceptually consistent systems facilitated skilled students' learning satisfaction. Communicationally consistent systems closed the achievement gap within the novice student group. However, the effect of communicational consistency on skilled students was contradictory.Originality/valueImplications include suggestions for designing web‐based interfaces of e‐learning systems and library web sites.
Pertinence in the eye of the user
Authors: Jacsó Péter 
Published: July 2006

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss the issue of pertinence when using search databases.Design/methodology/approachSeveral information systems are evaluated to show how user preferences are accommodated.FindingsThe paper shows that the word “relevance” is the preferred term to “pertinence” when using English language databases.Originality/valueShows the importance in the choice of various search systems.
Workplace continuity: how risk and technology will affect facilities strategy
Authors: Gill Tony J. 
Published: July 2006

PurposeTo provide a summary of factors contributing toward the movement toward decentralized workplaces; this will largely be driven by the need to principles of business continuity, as well as the increasing ubiquity of broadband.Design/methodology/approachThis takes a chronological approach to the development of a few previously separate organizational movements (i.e. business continuity, telework, advances in remote technology, facility strategy) and demonstrates how recent events have caused a collision of these factors. The result of this has been to energize the movement to alternative workplace models.FindingsThe paper demonstrates how the concepts presented move from a theoretical construct to a practical one based on factors including reduced implementation costs, a greater need to protect human and physical capital, the need for organizations to remain competitive, as well as the need to address work and lifestyle balance needs of employees.Research limitations/implicationsEnterprise‐wide applications of business continuity are still relatively new, and the penetration levels of broadband are not quite at the point where change will occur immediately.Practical implicationsReal estate professionals can effectively redefine their responsibilities and enhance their strategic profiles within the organizations they represent by understanding and integrating basic principles of workplace continuity.Originality/valueThis provides a blueprint for planners considering fundamental changes in workplace configuration.
How your “stay back” can hold back your outsourcing efforts
Authors: Browne Chris , Wheeler David 
Published: July 2006

PurposeThe changing nature of corporate real estate (CRE) management and the realignment of its goals has meant that about a third of corporations have now outsourced much of their facilities management activities. The purpose of this paper is to explore the experiences of successful real estate outsourcing models and discuss how this experience could be applied more widely in the industry.Design/methodology/approachResearch was conducted by CB Richard Ellis among 32 corporations, which showed a wide range of approaches to retained CRE organizations. Further analysis was made of a number of relationships between CB Richard Ellis and their existing clients in order to determine a “best practice” organizational structure.FindingsThere were a wide variety of organizational questions that impacted on the size of the retained team and the conclusion was that, “No one size fits all”. The number of CRE personnel varied significantly, based largely on the company's approach to and degree of, outsourcing. In order for the client to receive innovative and cost effective solutions to its real estate service requirements, a collaborative and strategic partnership is critical. The “best practice” structure is flexible, stimulates cooperation and creates an environment of strategic partnership to ensure a productive level of communication and collaboration where ideas can be rewarded.Originality/valueThis paper provides useful insight into how the combined organization of client and service provider can be optimized in order to maximize the efficiency of the outsourcing process.
Disclosure biases in proxy performance graphs
Authors: Bannister James W. , Newman Harry A. 
Published: July 2006

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate whether proxy statement performance graph disclosures are influenced by the firm's governance structure and management concerns about relative performance.Design/methodology/approachLogistic regression is used to test whether the level of performance graph disclosure decreases with lower relative performance and higher insider director membership on the compensation committee of the board. Also, Z and t‐statistics test whether bias in the selected peer group benchmark is related to insider membership on the committee.FindingsThe empirical results suggest that reporting discretion was exercised for management's benefit. The amount of explicit disclosure on cumulative returns in the performance graph decreases as relative performance declines and decreases when insider directors serve on the compensation committee. Moreover, the presence of insider directors on the compensation committee is associated with a biased choice of peer group benchmark return.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample for the study consists of 141 large firms. Future research could examine a larger group of firms that vary in size or other disclosures.Practical implicationsThese findings support recent actions taken to improve corporate governance. Further public policy steps could be taken. For example, the SEC could require firms to include an explanation for appointing insiders to the compensation committee.Originality/valueThe results are consistent with managers using discretion over information disclosures and suggest that compensation committees with insider members play a less active role in providing information that is helpful to shareholders.
The effect of diversification on firm returns in chemical and oil industries
Authors: Li Diane , Jin Jongdae 
Published: July 2006

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of diversification on returns of firms in chemical and oil industries.Design/methodology/approachIn order to control for market effect, industry effect, and effects of endogenous variables of a sample firm that lead the firm to decide to diversify or refocus on stock returns, three‐factor asset‐pricing models introduced by Fama and French are used in each industry.FindingsIt is found that diversified firms have significantly higher returns than focused firms in both chemical and oil industries. It is also found that the three‐factor model explains much of the variation in the average stock returns for both focused firms and diversified firms, which is consistent with Fama and French.Originality/valueProvides new evidence for the effect of diversification on firm returns in oil and chemical industries.
Stock return autocorrelation and institutional investors: the case of American depository receipt
Authors: Diane Li DeQing , Yung Kenneth 
Published: July 2006

PurposeThough stock portfolio return autocorrelation is well documented in the literature, its cause is still not clearly understood. Presently, evidence of private information induced stock return autocorrelation is still very limited. The difficulty in obtaining foreign country information by small investors makes the private information of institutional investors in the ADR (American Depository Receipt) market more significant and influential. As such, the ADR market provides a favorable environment for testing the effect of private information on return autocorrelation. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, ADRs are sorted annually into three groups based on market equity capitalization. Within each capitalization group, ADRs are further sorted into three groups based on the fraction of shares held by institutional investors. Each ADR is assigned to one of the nine groups and group membership is rebalanced each year. The return autocorrelation of individual ADR securities and ADR portfolios for each group are then calculated.FindingsThe results demonstrate that ADR individual stock and portfolio daily return autocorrelations are positively related to institutional ownership. It is also found that other explanations, such as non‐synchronous trading, bid‐ask spread and volatility of ADR, cannot explain the positive relation between daily return autocorrelations and institutional ownership of ADR.Originality/valueSince ADR market is more suitable than other markets for testing the role of private information, stronger and clearer results are got accordingly. This paper suggests that trading strategy based on private information of institutional investors can lead to stock return autocorrelation in ADR daily returns.
Innovation accounting analysis on cross‐border mergers and acquisitions between Europe and the USA since the late 1990s
Authors: Amoateng Kofi A. 
Published: July 2006

PurposeThe aim of this research is to find out which mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market is better able to absorb all the shocks from legislations in securities and banking in Europe and the USA, 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the USA, and other global events. The most exogenous or self‐dependent market may be the mover and shaker in the M&A deals in the world. The sample period spans from October 1998 to September 2004.Design/methodology/approachThis research uses cointegration and innovation accounting techniques (variance decomposition analysis and impulse response functions) to find out: if the two M&A markets are linked and explained each other in the long‐run; which of the two markets can able to withstand all the list shocks in the observed period; how long each of the market is about to deal with the shocks (are the shocks long‐lasting or short‐lasting?).FindingsThe major findings are: The cointegration results indicate that the M&A markets in Europe and the USA tend to move together in the long‐run, particularly, the European M&A deals (EUMA) and US cross‐border M&A deals in Europe (USCROSS). On one hand, the most consistent result from the variance decomposition analysis and impulse response functions is that the European M&A market is the most exogenous or self‐dependent market in the observed period. On the other hand, the most interactive market (less able to deal with the shocks) is the US M&A market (USMA) because it is significantly impacted by the legislations in securities and banking, 9/11 and other global events. US cross‐border M&A deals in Europe (USCROSS) and European cross‐border M&A deals in the USA (EUCROSS) are able to deal with the shocks when the order of VAR is 6. However, when the order of VAR is extended to 12 they are less able to absorb the shocks.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitation of the data at that time did not allow examination of US M&A deals with individual European countries, particularly, United Kingdom that has historically invested in the US more than any country in Europe.Practical implicationsThe pivotal conclusion of this study suggests that EUMA and USCROOS move together in the long‐run and EUMA is the strongest market in dealing with shocks, the world business may be gradually shifting to Europe. Practically, most of the multinational corporations (MNCs), especially the US MNCs are craving for market niches in Europe.Originality/valueThe real value of this paper is that the changing financial landscape is the US implies that all the shake‐up may lead to Europe. Philosophically, “all roads lead to Rome” New trends in world business is that the center of gravity in business may be pointing to Europe.
Clinical governance: assuring the sacred duty of trust to patients
Authors: Halligan Aidan 
Published: July 2006

PurposeTo hammer home that clinical governance is the defining heart and inspiration of quality in the NHS and to expand on its implementation by all concerned.Design/methodology/approachLists the ideal aspects and attributes of clinical governance.FindingsFinds that clinical governance is a sine qua non and mandatory lever for achieving quality in the NHS and that whatever changes are necessary must be fully carried out.Originality/valueArguably, coming as it does from the top of the hierarchy, this posits the most soul‐searching advocacy of clinical governance's importance for the NHS so far presented.
Implementing organizational learning initiatives: integrating three levels of learning
Authors: Yeo Roland K. 
Published: July 2006

PurposeThe paper aims to describe and analyze the three levels of learning which take place in organizational contexts. It also provides practical strategies on how individual, team and organizational learning can be developed and integrated to propel collective learning.Design/methodology/approachSemi‐structured interviewing was employed in this study through four Singapore organizations. Views were gathered and collated from 24 senior management personnel representing both the private and public sectors.FindingsRich qualitative data were obtained and presented in meaningful excerpts from selected respondents. Additionally, suggestions on learning strategies were quantified according to the number of mentions and the concurrence of viewpoints. The usefulness of these strategies lies in the order in which they have been ranked, from the most to the least crucial.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough this study was limited by the single geographical context, it provides theoretical insights for further research. For instance, the integration of human resource and cognitive learning perspectives is critical to the understanding of the way individuals behave and act in the workplace.Practical implicationsAside from the specific organizational learning strategies outlined, this study has identified three overarching factors that motivate and drive individuals to learn at work. They are: a clear definition of goals; a shared vision; and an appropriate reward system.Originality/valueThe value of this study is making actionable the complex processes of organizational learning, demonstrated in the step‐by‐step approach applicable to specific levels of learning. According to the respondents, some of these steps have been proven effective in harnessing learning at work.
Organising mentoring programmes: how to be a great programme coordinator
Authors: Clutterbuck David 
Published: July 2006

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to initiate discussion on the qualities of effective mentoring programme coordinators.Design/methodology/approachThis observation is based on non‐empirical observation of practice through: assisting the design of hundreds of programmes over two decades; programme co‐ordinator training courses; and critical appraisal of coordinator training to comply with EMCC kitemarking.FindingsThe paper finds that this is a complex role and requires appropriate networks and competencesPractical implicationsPractical guidelines are provided for considering how to approach the role.Originality/valueVery little has been written about the requirements of this role. It is hoped to initiate some empirical study in due course.