bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Thermal and thermo‐mechanical modelling of polymer overmoulded electronics
Authors: Sarvar Farhad , Whalley David C. , Hutt David A. , Palmer Paul J. , Joo Teh Nee 
Published: July 2007

PurposeThe encapsulation of electronic assemblies within thermoplastic polymers is an attractive technology for the protection of circuitry used in harsh environments, such as those experienced in automotive applications. However, the relatively low‐thermal conductivity of the encapsulating polymer will introduce a thermally insulating barrier, which will impact on the dissipation of heat from the components and may result in the build‐up of stresses in the structure. This paper therefore seeks to present the results from computational models used to investigate the thermal and thermo‐mechanical issues arising during the operation of such electronic modules. In particular, a two‐shot overmoulded structure comprising an inner layer of water soluble and an outer layer of conventional engineering thermoplastics was investigated, due to this type of structure's potential to enable the easy separation of the electronics from the polymer at the end‐of‐life for recycling.Design/methodology/approachRepresentative finite element models of the overmoulded electronic structures were constructed and the effects of the polymer overmould were analysed through thermal and thermo‐mechanical simulations. Investigations were also carried out to explore the effect of materials properties on the overmoulded structure.FindingsModels have shown that some power de‐rating of components is required to prevent temperatures exceeding those in unencapsulated circuits and have quantified the benefits of adding thermally conductive fillers to the polymer. Simulations have also clearly demonstrated the benefits of foamed polymers in reducing thermal stresses in the assemblies, despite their poorer thermal conductivity compared with solid polymers.Originality/valueThe paper illustrates the thermal issues affecting the overmoulded electronics and gives some guidelines for improving their performance.
Predicting absenteeism and turnover intentions by past absenteeism and work attitudes
Authors: Cohen Aaron , Golan Ronit 
Published: July 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of prior absenteeism, demographic variables, and work attitudes (job satisfaction, perceptions of health, and work commitments forms) on absenteeism and turnover intentions.Design/methodology/approachThis study is a longitudinal survey. The questionnaire used established scales of the research instruments. The sample was composed of 119 female employees working in five long term nursing facilities in northern Israel.FindingsThe findings showed a strong effect of prior absenteeism on later absenteeism. They also showed that among work attitudes, job satisfaction is a strong predictor of absenteeism, while commitment forms, particularly organizational commitment, are related to turnover intentions.Research limitations/implicationsUsing a survey questionnaire for collecting most of the data might cause common method error.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study shed some more light on important work outcomes in general and in the health care industry in particular. Increasing job satisfaction and organizational commitment seem to be good strategies for reducing absenteeism and turnover intentions, as the findings here suggested. A higher rate of absenteeism provides an early indication of a withdrawal process among employees, and the organization should treat such information as more than just data on absence rates.Originality/valueVery few papers have used a longitudinal design examining the effect of both prior absenteeism and work attitudes on turnover intentions and actual absenteeism.
Work values of surviving and non‐surviving managers during economic recession
Authors: Selmer Jan , Waldstrøm Christian 
Published: July 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to compare work values of surviving and non‐surviving managers during a period of general economic recession in Hong Kong associated with the Asian financial crisis.Design/methodology/approachInvolving a natural field experiment, data on work values were collected from ethnic Chinese Hong Kong managers employed by local companies. The two sub‐samples were established over the period of study, from 1995 to 1998, but all variables concerning these two groups were measured in 1995, well before the Asian financial crisis struck in 1997.FindingsResults indicate that survivors attached more importance to independence in work and to have influence in the organisation than the non‐survivors. On the other hand, non‐surviving managers attached more importance to responsibility and to have an opportunity to meet people and interact with them than survivors.Research limitations/implicationsIn future studies, the longitudinal investigation can be improved, non‐Asian locations could be included, and more work values as well as other personal characteristics can be added.Practical implicationsThe findings may have consequences for the strategic retention of managerial staff.Originality/valueAs opposed to the traditional perspective, that firms in dire straits may lose their best and brightest first, the findings suggest that in a general economic recession, it could be possible to retain managers capable to ride out the crisis.
Career development in primary school children
Authors: Nazli Serap 
Published: July 2007

PurposeThis paper has three objectives. The first is to determine the level of primary school students' career development, the second is to test Super's childhood years career development model, and the third is to determine the level of Turkish children's career development.Design/methodology/approachEmploying qualitative research models, 145 primary school students participated in structured essay questionnaires. A descriptional and content analysis, as well as a qualitative analysis, were performed on the data collected.FindingsThe study established that the primary school students possessed the nine concepts that Super developed for childhood years. It was also determined that there were no differences in the students' level of career development in terms of gender and grades.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has two limitations. First, the study was carried out on a limited sample. Second, the data were gathered from the primary school students in a written form. Career development levels of students from different countries should be studied with qualitative and quantitative research, and then compared with each other.Practical implicationsCareer education programs in the Turkish education system should start at the primary school years. Additionally, classroom teachers and school counsellors should promote experiences to support the students' career development, and parents should provide more conscientious support for their children.Originality/valueThis study provides support for Super's childhood years career development model in Turkey.
Stakeholder assessments as a predictor of high potential and promotion to partner in professional service firms
Authors: Stumpf Stephen A. 
Published: July 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to examine multisource feedback from a stakeholder perspective, arguing that select competency assessments that different rater groups provide are valid predictors of the “partner” potential and advancement of senior professional service professionals (PSPs).Design/methodology/approachA 360‐degree assessment tool for PSPs, the Relationship Management Survey (RMS), was administered to 391 principals as part of their professional development. Six RMS dimensions (clusters of competencies) were used to predict a principal's high‐potential promise and promotion to partner three to five years later.FindingsThe results support hypotheses detailing how different rater groups assess PSPs differently, and how these differences are relevant to PSP promotion to partner. The predictability of becoming partner increased by 50 percent compared to partner‐only assessments through the use of direct report assessments of the principals' leadership and coaching, peer assessments of collaboration, and client assessments of trust.Practical implicationsProfessional service firms can improve their succession planning and promotion decisions by including multirater assessments in their decision making process; PSPs can guide their career planning and professional development by attending to the distinct competency interests of different stakeholders.Originality/valueThis article supports a broader use of different rater group assessments in promotion decisions and the career development of professionals. It suggests the need for dialogue and research regarding when different rater assessments in 360‐degree assessment tools are an index of instrument validity.
Workplace reformation, activebaand knowledge creation
Authors: Senoo Dai , Magnier‐Watanabe Remy , Salmador María P. 
Published: July 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose propose a practical framework for the design and measure of activebaand assess whether workplace reformation initiatives actively contribute to promoting knowledge creation by activatingba.Design/methodology/approachThe workplace reformation is first segmented into virtual and physical environments. Then, using the SECI knowledge‐creation process, the effects of each environment as well as their mutual interactions on activebaare analyzed. Next, the case studies of two workplace reformations are introduced, the first using a qualitative analysis and the second the results of a questionnaire survey carried out at three different stages of the implementation.FindingsThe effective implementation of workplace reformation in two separate entities enabled the creation of activeba. The influence of the physical and virtual environments on the creation of activebawere significantly different, thus justifying the assumption of the division of such environmental factors. The main factor of activebagenerated by a complete workplace reformation was shown to be direct communication.Research limitations/implicationsThe two firms studied here belong to the same group of companies, and both departments' workplace reformations were conducted by the same person, whose widely known track record may be seen as a self‐fulfilling prophecy.Practical implicationsBecause these two types of workplace reformation reversely impact the emergence of direct communication, and therefore the type of activeba, practitioners could avoid the co‐existence of groups organized under different configurations by simultaneously implementing a workplace reformation across both virtual and physical environments.Originality/valueThis research shows how workplace reformation – achieved with the same people, all things being equal, relatively immediately and inexpensively – can raise knowledge productivity.
Knowledge creation in strategy‐making: implications for theory and practice
Authors: Paz Salmador María , Bueno Eduardo 
Published: July 2007

PurposeThis paper seeks to discuss the main implications for strategic knowledge management of uncovering the different knowledge flows and interactions in the strategy formation process in emerging and high‐velocity environments.Design/methodology/approachThe study builds on the findings of a case‐study approach of four innovative firms in the internet banking sector in Spain.FindingsThe research highlights the relevance of understanding and considering the different dimensions of knowledge involved in such a process in order to promote its emergence and interaction in the organization, and trigger the creation process.Originality/valueIn sum, the paper addresses the main theoretical and practical implications of understanding strategy making as a double‐loop knowledge creating process.
Organizational politics and the “process of knowing”
Authors: Edwards Tim 
Published: July 2007

PurposeIn offering a critical account of project‐based innovation projects, this paper aims to assess the creation and sharing of knowledge from a social constructionist perspective.Design/methodology/approachUsing findings from an in‐depth longitudinal study of a UK Government Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) programme, the paper shows that the ability to adopt knowledge is linked to the efforts of actors to cope with the uncertainties that emerge from crisis events when actors can transform their social context in ways that allow them to overcome the politicisation of tasks. By conceptualising “knowledge” as a social process, this paper proposes that the individual and collective ability to introduce new meaning is not simply related to the propositional aspects of knowledge (through the acquisition of new systems and practices), it also relies on the socially embedded nature of knowledge – the legitimating role of the local context.FindingsTo ascertain a better understanding of knowledge creation and sharing this paper considers the process through which individuals appropriate knowledge where crisis events disrupt and jeopardise the social relations between the members of the innovation project. Here the paper demonstrates how actors renegotiate participation in projects and therefore reconstitute the context through which such activities are organised.Research limitations/implicationsBased on a single case study, this research offers a limited view of context. The study is also based on the appropriation of practices linked to TQM. Future work should look at a range of contexts and technologies to ascertain differentiation in the way the social context mediates knowledge communication.Originality/valueThis paper offers a critical account of knowledge management and innovation. It stands in contrast to more mainstream positivist accounts.
Offshoring, exit and voice: implications for organizational theory and practice
Authors: Mir Raza , Mir Ali , Bapuji Hari 
Published: July 2007

PurposeThis paper seeks to explore the impact of corporate offshoring moves on the economic and psychological contracts between firms and their employees.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws upon literature from diverse social sciences to explore the phenomena of social contracts and offshoring. Especially deploying the exit‐voice theory of Alfred Hirschman, it is argued here that offshoring decreases the regenerative power promised both by exit and voice in helping organizations recover from decline.FindingsOrganizational systems and processes designed to deal with the “post‐offshoring worker” only serve to accentuate the sense of alienation felt by workers at the way they are regarded. This scenario poses a serious challenge to researchers and practitioners who need to make sense of these effects and deal with them accordingly.Originality/valueThis paper highlights, honors and legitimates everyday relations at the workplace on both sides of the offshoring divide, as sites of class struggle, of worker alienation, of intra‐organizational bargaining and, sometimes, of relations of imperialism and cultural dislocation. Understanding the complexity of this context and managing the actions arising out of this are important challenges facing the managers.
Organizing: skyscrapers and multitudes
Authors: Parker Martin 
Published: July 2007

PurposeThe article aims to provoke debate about the organizational implications of international business.Design/methodology/approachThis is a conceptual argument relying on elements of social theory and contemporary politics.FindingsThe paper finds that organizing is not a synonym for hierarchy, management or markets, though they are all examples of organization.Practical implicationsThe implication for research and practice is exploring alternatives to hierarchical market managerialism.Originality/valueMany arguments and comments are put forward, suggesting alternative ways of thinking about formal organizing and organizations and will be of interest to those in the field.
Postcard from Chittagong: wish you were here?
Authors: Cairns George 
Published: July 2007

PurposeThis paper, first, seeks to bring a discussion of the ship‐breaking industry of Bangladesh and other “less developed economies” (LDEs) into the academic arena, since almost no mention of it can be found in a journal database search. Second, in engaging with the multiple representations of the industry in a range of other media, from government and NGO documents, television and press reports, to photography and books, it seeks to contribute to discourse which considers the multiple stories of, amongst others, ship owners, environmentalists, journalists, photographers and, not least, those whose lives and work are the subject of others' observation – the ship‐breakers themselves. Third, it seeks to challenge a particular hegemonic “developed world” analysis of what is “good” and “bad” in relation to the industry.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based upon alternative readings of secondary data, drawn from textual, photographic and video sources, in order to offer a range of interpretations.FindingsFrom these multiple engagements, the paper seeks to show the complexity and ambiguity of the lives of those involved, and that their situation cannot be assessed by application of “developed” world notions of ethics, environmentalism, and “good” and “bad”. From this, it argues in support of ambivalence – as a contextual concern, rather than as apathy – as a necessary approach to analysis.Originality/valueAttention is drawn to the lack of academic engagement with an industry which is of key economic importance to developing economies like those of Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, but is attacked as immoral and dangerous by developed country NGOs. The author considers the framework of (or lack of) international governance which enables its continuance in the face of this opposition.
Electronic government and network security: a viewpoint
Authors: Winkel Olaf 
Published: July 2007

PurposeCreating network security is a crucial challenge not only in the area of electronic government, but also for the information society in general. The purpose of this paper is to show that the related problems cannot be tackled successfully by technical measures alone. More wide and encompassing solutions are required.Design/methodology/approachThis paper deals with the character, preconditions and implications of network security from a managerial point of view in order to identify the starting‐points for a sustainable promotion of network security in the area of electronic government.FindingsThis paper shows that the suitable starting‐point for the development of security solutions within a social unit like a public authority and in the society altogether is viewing the problem as a socio‐technical task. A rational design of security processes is required promoted by an effective security management, which in its turn is rooted in an appropriate security culture.Originality/valueThis paper addresses the problems of network security in the area of electronic government from a comprehensive point of view and offers a basic strategy to deal with them.
Local government and social or innovation value
Authors: Orange Graham , Elliman Tony , Lian Kor Ah , Tassabehji Rana 
Published: July 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose a more realistic view of innovation in local government. A key element in this is the notion of innovation value based on people, processes and technology.Design/methodology/approachThe objectives are achieved by reviewing the background literature, a recent study of eGoverment achievement in the UK – VIEGO, and government assessments of innovation in both the EU and the UK. Some empirical evidence of the inherent complexity is also used.FindingsExtant models of innovation tend to focus on the private sector values and their transfer to the public sector is questionable. This with combined with a weak approach to evaluation leaves local government vulnerable.Originality/valueThe political rhetoric that accompanied the introduction of eGovernment expected it to produce innovation in the way government agencies conducted themselves. It is assumed that this innovation is both “good” and inevitable. This paper challenges these simplistic assumptions and proposes a more realistic view.
Exploring relationships of shared service arrangements in local government
Authors: Janssen Marijn , Joha Anton , Weerakkody Vishanth 
Published: July 2007

PurposeScant research attention has been given to investigating shared service organizations and in particular their relationships. The aim of this research is to investigate the critical decisions and design choices regarding the design of a shared service center (SSC) and the relationship with its users.Design/methodology/approachUsing a framework developed by Kern and Willcocks published in 2000, this paper investigates the case of a shared services arrangement and its relationships in the Municipality of Amsterdam using qualitative research.FindingsThere are many mutually interrelated factors that need to be taken into account during the decision and design process of shared service arrangements. Antecedent conditions provide the basis for setting the objectives that the SSC needs to meet and determine the way the SSC is operationalized and designed in terms of its service and financial model, organizational structure, and communication mechanisms. In addition, this research also found that in practice the level of trust, cooperation and satisfaction increased between collaborating parties in a shared service arrangement when strategic choices are made in a systematic, collaborative and structured way during the decision‐making process leading to the initiation of an SSC.Research limitations/implicationsA single case study was investigated, which limits statistical generalization. Further research should generalize the findings and facilitate a better understanding of the benefits, decisions, relationships and operational aspects of shared service arrangements.Practical implicationsAn essential part of any analysis and design of shared service arrangements is the relationship between the many users and the semi‐autonomous organization providing the services.Originality/valueShared services arrangements provide a solution for resource sharing among multiple users and are gaining importance in public administration as a means to innovate, reduce costs and increase service levels. There is hardly any research in the field of shared services arrangements and no research investigating the relationships among users and service providers in local government.
Factors affecting consumers' behavioural intention to adopt broadband in Pakistan
Authors: Dwivedi Y.K. , Khoumbati K. , Williams  , Lal B. 
Published: July 2007

PurposeThe aim of this study is to examine various attitudinal, normative and control factors affecting the adoption of broadband internet by consumers in a developing country by focusing on Pakistan.Design/methodology/approachA survey approach was employed to achieve the overall aim of this study. The empirical data concerning the attitudinal, normative and control variables were collected using a questionnaire. A regression analysis was performed to test the role of various variables on consumers' behavioural intentions (BIs) to adopt broadband internet in Pakistan.FindingsThe findings of the study suggest that primary influence, facilitating conditions, resources, cost, perceived knowledge and perceived ease of use were all significant factors for explaining consumers' BIs to adopt broadband.Originality/valueThe primary value of this paper lies in extending the current understanding of broadband adoption, by providing insights from a developing country perspective. This has been achieved by synthesising and empirically testing previous research on broadband adoption conducted from a developed country (i.e. the UK) perspective.