bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
State‐wide schools' maintenance audit in Victoria, Australia: the framework and process
Authors: Smith Jim , Stewart Peter 
Published: April 2007

PurposeThis article aims to provide details of the process involved in preparing a comprehensive maintenance audit of school buildings and facilities in a state government education department.Design/methodology/approachThis paper presents the framework and logistics of the survey or audit, which relied on integrating a property management system with a consistent approach to the definition of maintenance and its costing. The use of visual illustrations of maintenance categories is a feature of the process and this study.FindingsThe work was completed in three months and drew upon the department's two computerized property management and asset systems, the physical resource management system (PRMS) and the school asset management system (SAMS). The department adopted an IT‐based approach that integrated the building element‐based maintenance items with electronic plans and a standard costing approach using hand‐held pen‐activated computers under the control of the maintenance auditors. The process of conducting the maintenance audit has resulted in the most comprehensive review and updating of all the maintenance requirements in school buildings. It has provided real and accurate costing of this work on a fair, methodical and consistent basis. The size of the final costs in each maintenance category has allowed funding to be refined, targeted and focused on many key and important areas.Research limitations/implicationsWhilst categories of different maintenance work are provided in broad terms, for confidentiality reasons the client organization would not permit the financial values of these categories to be published.Practical implicationsExamples of the categorization and analysis of maintenance items are included to illustrate and demonstrate the method of approach. Details of the extensive auditing process described provide insights for any large organization with widespread facilities and property assets to adopt a similar approach.Originality/valueThe process is an exemplar for an integrated property management and maintenance auditing system using IT and the practical skills of maintenance inspectors.
Sampling strategies of indoor air quality assessment for offices
Authors: Hui P.S. , Wong L.T. , Mui K.W. 
Published: April 2007

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to propose alternative sampling schemes for indoor air quality assessments in which a balance between the sampling time required and number of sampling points chosen is allowed.Design/methodology/approachCO2was used as a reference to evaluate the existing and the proposed sampling schemes for average indoor pollutant concentration regarding the sampling time and sampling point density required and the probable errors induced at certain confidence levels of the measurement.FindingsThe results showed that increasing the number of sampling points would significantly reduce the corresponding sampling time required: at the same confidence level, doubling the sampling point density from 250 m2to 500 m2per measurement point would reduce the sampling time required from eight hours to three hours.Research limitations/implicationsThe model parameters were determined from surveys for some typical offices in Hong Kong and therefore may require adaptation for use elsewhere.Practical implicationsA useful source of information in determining the number of sampling points chosen and the duration of the measurement needed according to the “acceptable” measurement uncertainty allowed.Originality/valueProviding flexibility in IAQ assessment, the results would be useful to policymakers for making decisions on resources and manpower management for their respective sampling strategies while taking the uncertainties into account.
Monitoring building operation and maintenance contracts
Authors: Lai Joseph H.K. , Yik Francis W.H. 
Published: April 2007

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to study the use of management tools and their costs for monitoring building operation and maintenance (O&M) service contracts.Design/methodology/approachThe management tools usable for monitoring building O&M contracts were reviewed, with their characteristics highlighted and compared. A series of face‐to‐face interviews with practitioners looking after building O&M contracts was conducted to collect empirical information, followed by data analysis and discussion of the results.FindingsThe paper finds that using balanced scorecard or benchmarking to monitor building O&M contracts was unpopular. The use of customer satisfaction survey was rather common. The cost for monitoring contracts through performance review meeting and O&M audit was measured. It tended to reduce in relative amount with larger scale of contracts.Research limitations/implicationsMore research is needed to study the effect of factors, including propriety of contract, complexity of work, contractual relationship, capability and quality of the contract and management teams on contract monitoring effort. Further works may take a similar approach of the study to investigate other transaction cost elements.Practical implicationsThe cost amounts for implementing the management tools inform practitioners about their significance relative to the amounts for procuring O&M services. How to make effective use of management tools to monitor O&M contracts should be investigated.Originality/valueIt has been demonstrated how to measure the cost for using management tools to monitor building O&M contracts. The reviewed characteristics of the management tools and the unveiled amounts of contract monitoring cost are useful information to O&M practitioners.
Planned residential community developments: do they add value?
Authors: Eves Chris 
Published: April 2007

PurposeAn increasing trend in residential property markets is the concept of planned residential community developments, offering a range of services not available to the existing residential property markets in that given location. The purpose of this paper is to analyse a number of planned residential community developments in a major city to determine the demand for these developments and the impact they have in relation to price premiums and the overall residential property market.Design/methodology/approachThis study has identified four planned residential developments in the Sydney property market and all sale transactions in these developed estates or unit complexes have been analysed and compared to the sales transactions in the residential areas immediately adjoining the planned residential developments. These sales represent all sales transactions in the study areas and this database has enabled a comparison based on price trends, average annual capital return and price volatility.FindingsResults from this study have shown that residential property buyers are prepared to pay a premium for property in a planned residential community, despite the availability of cheaper housing within immediately adjoining locations, with this premium being maintained over time. The study also shows that buyers are prepared to purchase a property in a planned residential estate even though the adjoining areas are not considered to be as desirable, and in time the planned residential estate can increase the price of residential property in the adjoining areas.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the sales data for two of the planned residential developments only covers the period 1999‐2004, this limitation is offset by the greater time period of sales transactions for the other two planned residential estates in the study. The limited sale period is due to the relatively new nature of these developments in Sydney, Australia.Originality/valueThe research has indicated that, in developed residential property markets, consumers will pay a premium for property that meets their lifestyle or security requirements, irrespective of the actual location of the development.
A hybrid ant strategy and genetic algorithm to tune the population size for efficient structural optimization
Authors: Kaveh A. , Shahrouzi M. 
Published: April 2007

PurposeAlthough genetic algorithm (GA) has already been extended to various types of engineering problems, tuning its parameters is still an interesting field of interest. Some recent works have addressed attempts requiring several GA runs, while more interesting approaches aim to obtain proper estimate of a tuned parameter during any run of genetic search. This paper seeks to address this issue.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, a competitive frequency‐based methodology is proposed to explore the least proper population size as a major affecting control parameter of GAs. In the tuning stage, the indirect shared memory in ant strategies is borrowed in a discrete manner to generate a dynamic colony of the most successive recent solutions to be added into each new population. An adaptive variable band mutation based on direct index coding for structural problems is also employed to increase the convergence rate as well as to prevent premature convergence especially after determining a proper population size. As an important field of engineering problems, the method is then applied to a number of structural size and layout optimization examples in order to illustrate and validate its capability in capturing the problem optimum with reduced computational effort.FindingsIt was shown that improper fixed size population can lead to premature convergence. Applying the proposed method could result in a more efficient convergence to the global optimum compared with the fixed size population methods.Originality/valueA novel combination of genetic and ant colony approaches is proposed to provide a dynamic short‐term memory of the sampled representatives which can enrich the current population, avoiding unnecessary increase in its size and the corresponding computational effort in the genetic search. In addition, a dynamic band mutation is introduced and matched with such a search, to make it more efficient for structural purposes.
Natural neighbour Galerkin computation of the vibration modes of fluid‐structure systems
Authors: Daneshmand F. , Niroomandi S. 
Published: April 2007

PurposeThis paper seeks to extend the application of the natural neighbour Galerkin method to vibration analysis of fluid‐structure interaction problems.Design/methodology/approachThe natural element method (NEM) which is a meshless technique is used to simulate the vibration analysis of the fluid‐structure interaction systems. The method uses the natural neighbour interpolation for the construction of test and trial functions. Displacement variable is used for both the solid and the fluid domains, whereas the fluid displacement is written as the gradient of a potential function. Two classical examples are considered: free vibration of a flexible cavity filled with liquid and vibration of an open vessel containing liquid. The corresponding eigenvalue problems are solved and the results are compared with the finite element method (FEM) and analytical solutions to show the accuracy and convergence of the method.FindingsThe performance of the NEM is investigated in the computation of the vibration modes of the fluid‐structure interaction problems. Good agreement with analytical and FEM solutions are observed. Through the notable obtained results, it is found that the NEM can also be used in vibration analysis of fluid‐structure interaction problems as it has been successfully applied to some problems in solid and fluid mechanics during the recent years.Originality/valueIn spite of notable achievements in solving some problems in solid and fluid mechanics using NEM, the vibration analysis of fluid‐structure interaction problems, as considered in this paper, has not been investigated so far.
Organizational commitment and auditors in public accounting
Authors: Kalbers Lawrence P. , Cenker William J. 
Published: April 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine organizational commitment within the context of important antecedents, correlates, and consequences for auditors in public accounting. Specifically, to explore the relationships among the constructs of experience, role ambiguity, organizational commitment (affective and continuance), job satisfaction, and turnover intentions.Design/methodology/approachAn integrated model is developed and tested using structural equation modeling techniques. A sample of 334 auditors working for international and regional public accounting firms in a major metropolitan area of the USA is used to test the model.FindingsThe findings support nearly all of the hypothesized relationships. Auditors with more experience have less role ambiguity, have more affection for their organization, and are less inclined to leave their organization. Continuance commitment plays a less important role in the integrated model. However, the study lends support to the notion that the two dimensions of continuance commitment, high sacrifice and low alternatives, are distinct and have different patterns of relationships with other important variables.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample was taken from one geographic area of the US and may not be representative of all auditors. Auditors from the regional public accounting firms may not be representative of other regional firms.Practical implicationsDespite the fact that auditors with higher levels of affective organizational commitment and job satisfaction are less likely to leave their organizations, the findings also indicate a direct link with more experience and the desire to leave the firm. Role ambiguity and continuance commitment do not have direct links to turnover intentions, but deserve consideration for their indirect influence on important job outcomes.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the study of organizational commitment by using auditors from all job levels and from public accounting firms from varying sizes. Few studies have examined the sub‐dimensions of continuance commitment for auditors.
Motivations for environmental collaboration within the building and construction industry
Authors: Fiedler Terese , Deegan Craig 
Published: April 2007

PurposeThis paper sets out to document a review of environmental collaborations in the Australian building and construction industry and to identify a number of motivations that appear to drive particular environmental groups and building and construction companies to collaborate on specific projects.Design/methodology/approachThe research involves a series of in‐depth interviews with individuals from building and construction companies and from environmental groups, and utilises a number of theoretical perspectives to explain the various perspectives being adopted by the interviewees.FindingsThe results indicate that corporate managers seek to collaborate with environmental groups as a result of pressures exerted by particular stakeholder groups, particularly government, and by the desire to be aligned with an organisation that has “green credentials” – something that is valuable in enhancing the reputation and legitimacy of the company and the related building project. There was also a related financial motivation for collaborating. The representatives from the environmental groups indicated that motivations for collaboration included developing a project that could be used as a vehicle for “educating” the public, generating positive environmental outcomes, complying with the expectations of their constituents, and setting an example for other building and construction companies to follow.Originality/valueLittle research has been done in the area of environmental collaborations. In this study, environmental collaborations were considered as a vehicle for both the environmental groups and the companies to further meet their organisational objectives and were generally considered as successful initiatives from each organisation's perspective.
Making use of knowledge sharing technologies
Authors: Hedgebeth Darius 
Published: April 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to show that collaboration is a vital cog in the “wheel” of knowledge management. The exchange of knowledge between individuals and enterprises is accomplished by knowledge sharing technology, enabling tools that provide communication and knowledge capture in the form of wikis, blogs, online repositories, and instant messaging applications. In order to keep pace with the demands of the ever‐changing knowledge economy, organizations must be aware of the knowledge sharing tools that are in use today, customizing the technology to help them maintain a competitive advantage in the global marketplace. This article introduces knowledge sharing products that are readily available in the commercial market. Products distributed by SalesForce.com, BMC Software, DCASoft, and Atlassian are highlighted. An evaluation of Atlassian's Confluence collaboration product is provided.Design/methodology/approachThe paper lists the capabilities of product offerings by several companies, and provides an in‐depth product review of a web and database‐enabled collaboration application that is fully‐installed on a web server.FindingsThere have been several success stories in which government, commercial, and academic institutions have improved performance by using knowledge sharing technology. However, organizations must be prepared to identify technical staff and/or hire consultants who can integrate and customize knowledge sharing applications to suit the needs of their environments. These system integrators should have extensive internet development skills using the eXtensible Markup Language (XML), Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML), Really Simple Syndication (RSS), database connectivity, portals, and web programming languages such as Java and Perl.Originality/valueEnterprises can achieve a significant return on investment (ROI) by integrating collaborative technology into their daily operations. Benefits would be measured in terms of increased productivity, improved performance, and profitability.
STI capacity building: a knowledge‐centric strategic process
Authors: Harmon Ken 
Published: April 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to define a knowledge‐centric model of the technological innovation process which can serve as a baseline for the development of enhanced enterprise performance capabilities.Design/methodology/approachThis purpose is achieved through the integration of basic knowledge derived from a critical review of contemporary R&D, intellectual property and new product development.FindingsEmerging from this research is a holistic appreciation for technological innovation at both the micro and macro levels of practice.Originality/valueCorporate executives and technology professionals engaged in enterprise transformation initiatives; government and NGO professionals responsible for Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) capacity building; and students of technological innovation in both graduate and continuing education programs will find this knowledge‐centric portrayal of technological innovation helpful in modeling the current performance capabilities of a competitive global enterprise. A further outcome of this research is an indication that ongoing managerial effort to further enhance capabilities for technological innovation (STI capacity) is a rational strategy for improving the global competitiveness of any complex enterprise.
Learning goal orientation, formal mentoring, and leadership competence in HRD
Authors: Kim Sooyoung 
Published: April 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to suggest a conceptual model of formal mentoring as a leadership development initiative including “learning goal orientation”, “mentoring functions”, and “leadership competencies” as key constructs of the model.Design/methodology/approachSome empirical studies, though there are not many, will provide positive suggestions for the effectiveness of formal mentoring in leadership development. Then the rationale of the conceptual model will be provided with testable propositions. Further, the future direction of research on mentoring in relation to leadership development will be recommended.FindingsFormal mentoring could have great potential as a leadership development initiative.Research limitations/implicationsA conceptual model of formal mentoring for leadership development could lead HRD professionals to identify and develop learning goal‐oriented mentors and protégés.Originality/valueContributes to the literature in human resources about formal mentoring programs as a potential leadership development initiative in the workplace.
Net social capital processes
Authors: Bowey James L. , Easton Geoff 
Published: April 2007

PurposeThe paper seeks to use the concept of net social capital to help explain the behaviour of a business constellation, a group of entrepreneurial firms in different businesses that cooperate to their mutual benefit.Design/methodology/approachThe paper takes the form of an in‐depth case study of the Canadian Groupement Quebecoise.FindingsThe members of the group create and maintain net social capital among themselves in a variety of ways both social and economic and in turn use that net social capital outside the group in dealings with other organisations, profit and non‐profit.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest ways in which firms can work with other non‐competing firms.Originality/valueThe concept of net social capital is novel and the study is the first of its kind that investigates such a tightly knit and productive business constellation.