bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Protocols, policy directives and choice provision: UK midwives' views
Authors: Hollins Martin Caroline J. , Bull Peter 
Published: January 2009

PurposeWithin maternity hospitals midwives are expected to follow the protocol‐driven culture and orders issued by senior staff. Simultaneously, midwives are expected to follow social policy documents and the Midwives Rules and Standards that advocate choice provision for childbearing women. Quality assurors and auditors of clinical practice need to be aware that these two directives sometimes clash. Allegiance to a hierarchical system driven by protocols and orders from the top down, at the same time as providing “woman‐centred” care is often unattainable. In order for a midwife to action the woman's choice, resourceful thinking may be required. This paper aims to examine this issue.Design/ methodology/approachA descriptive interview study set out to discover strategies which midwives use to resolve conflict produced from competing directives. An appraisal of 20 midwives' views were gained from semi‐structured interviews conducted in seven maternity units in the UK. Taking a post‐positivist approach, inductive thematic analysis was used to interpret the data.FindingsThree main categories represented resourceful ways of pleasing both authority and the childbearing woman. Midwives occasionally: are economical with the truth; circumvent face‐to‐face confrontation with senior staff; and persuade women to refuse what they perceive are unnecessary and invasive interventions.Originality/valueThis paper offers unique insights into methods that midwives use to resolve conflicts in direction issued by management. It is important that auditors are aware that midwives sometimes struggle to support the preferences of healthy childbearing women. This reduces job satisfaction, delivery of care and consequently requires address.
An assessment of diagnostic efficiency by Taguchi/DEA methods
Authors: Tolga Taner Mehmet , Sezen Bulent 
Published: January 2009

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to propose a new, objective and consistent method for the calculation of the diagnostic efficiency in medical applications.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, a hybrid method of Taguchi and DEA is proposed. This method reflects the diversity of inputs and outputs by incorporating the stepwise application of sensitivity, specificity, leveling threshold, and efficiency score. A hypothetical case study is given which involves eight readers of X‐ray films in clinical radiology.FindingsThe selected pairs of sensitivity and specificity yielded two efficient readers. After super efficiency analysis, Reader 6 is found to be the most efficient reader.Originality/valueThe paper presents a new, objective and consistent method for the calculation of the diagnostic efficiency in medical applications.
Wine list engineering: categorization of food and beverage outlets
Authors: Gil Irene , Berenguer Gloria , Ruiz María Eugenia 
Published: January 2009

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to identify and measure the main standards of the wine lists of upscale restaurants.Design/methodology/approachWine lists of a sample of 50 upscale restaurants were analyzed. A cluster analysis was performed.FindingsThree differentiated profiles of restaurants are identified according to their wine list management: selection, specialization and complementarity.Research limitations/implicationsThis study was exploratory and similar studies need to be performed covering more geographic locations.Practical implicationsRestaurants differ in their current practices and key standards of their wine lists according to their positioning strategy. Upscale restaurants need to define their positioning strategy and elaborate their wine lists according to their strategy because this allows restaurants to target their customers more effectively.Originality/valueThis study focuses on upscale restaurants and their wine lists, while most of the previous research in this area has been on lower‐category restaurants and food menus. The present paper shows the relevance of wine lists as a positioning tool and, in this sense, the current practices followed by upscale restaurants can be considered as a reference in this industry.
What environmental factors influence creative culinary studies?
Authors: Horng Jeou‐Shyan , Lee Yi‐Chun 
Published: January 2009

PurposeThis study aims to explore and analyze the extrinsic environmental factors that influence the development of culinary creativity.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses in‐depth interviews and content analysis. A total of 13 internationally famous and/or award‐winning culinary artists and contest judges from the USA, Singapore, and Taiwan were interviewed to provide the data for the project.FindingsThere is a close relationship between the creativity of culinary artists and the quality of their environment. Therefore it is important to develop and maintain a physical, social, cultural and educational environment that is conducive to culinary creativity.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study can serve as a basis and frame of reference for the future planning of culinary education, the purpose of which is to cultivate a more creative mode of culinary thinking in students.Originality/valueThis is the first research project to focus primarily on identifying specific factors in the environment which have a positive impact on individual, creative, culinary artists. Having identified those factors and described the ideal “culinary environment”, some specific suggestions for the culinary industry are made, indicating how to create such a potentially stimulating environment and thereby cultivate more, and more creative, culinary artists.
Managers' perceptions of tacit knowledge in Edinburgh's Indian restaurants
Authors: Abdullah Faurouk , Ingram Arthur , Welsh Rita 
Published: January 2009

PurposeThis paper aims to explore tacit knowledge and managers’ supervision styles in a sample of Edinburgh's Indian restaurants.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reports a qualitative fieldwork of managers’ perceptions of their role in directing tasks, supervising operations and staff recruitment.FindingsThe research findings describe tacit knowledge contexts derived from restaurant owner‐managers directing operations.Research limitations/implicationsThis is an exploratory study of views and perceptions of a small sample of ethnic managers. It asks questions of tacit knowledge within Scottish‐based Indian restaurants, and attempts to place these within a cultural context of kinship networks.Practical implicationsThe research questions how academic researchers may make nebulous concepts such as tacit knowledge accessible to practical hospitality managers, policy‐makers, students and teachers.Originality/valueThe research findings describe the context to relationships in small ethnic hospitality businesses. Conceptual development emerges from deductions made from literature, fieldwork, shadowing, interviews, and by asking questions.
Breaking the virtuous cycle
Authors: Abeles Tom P. 
Published: January 2009

PurposeThis paper aims to outline the challenges that the current forces of technology change pose for the traditional K‐16 education system and to assess whether the rise of the social networking web 2.0 internet provides the opportunity and sufficient power to influence the change.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is discusive and explores the key issues.FindingsThe paper finds that technological change is in motion throughout education, but the majority of efforts are simply transferring brick spaced learning into “click” or internet space which validates the possibilities of educational technologies, but scarcely realizes them. Real change will happen outside of the system.Practical implicationsThere exists a strong possibility that the existing K‐16 system will fragment into a variety of overlapping pieces, including a divide between the “haves” and “have‐nots” and a fragmented curriculum.Originality/valueThis paper highlights some of the challenges that the current forces of technology change pose for the traditional K‐16 education system.
Customer‐centric relationship management system development
Authors: Yen Teoh Say , Pan Shan L. 
Published: January 2009

PurposeThis study aims to create and deploy new configurations of resources via understanding issues concerning generative knowledge integration (KI) to create a customer‐centric relationship management system.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative case study of a public‐listed housing developer was conducted to analyze its main issues and conceptualize the underlying generative knowledge integration process.FindingsIssues concerning generating KI were identified from the case study. The conceptualization of generative KI encompasses three main generative KI mechanisms, knowledge conceptualization, knowledge convergence, and knowledge assimilation, that are connected by three generative KI processes: accessing and exchanging knowledge, articulating and exchanging knowledge, and combining and exchanging knowledge.Practical implicationsThe importance of understanding the concept of generative knowledge integration for practitioners is emphasized, and suggestions are given to promote the deployment of knowledge integration generation throughout system development.Originality/valueThe research conducted is unique in that a new model of generative knowledge integration is proposed, contributing to the knowledge integration literature in terms of the uncovering the three new generative KI mechanisms and processes.
Case study illustrations of a scorecard to measure IT strategy improvements in UK SMEs
Authors: Williams John , Rowlands Hefin 
Published: January 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to demonstrate a means of measuring information technology (IT) strategy improvements in small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs).Design/methodology/approachA longitudinal study of eight SMEs was carried out over a two‐year period, applying an IT development scorecard which uses a Likert scale to measure changes during the study period.FindingsThe paper finds that seven of the eight companies assessed during the period of the study showed improvements in their IT development, with only one company showing negligible improvement. The company that made negligible improvement went into receivership 12 months after completion of the study.Research limitations/implicationsThe key limitations were that only eight companies were prepared to participate fully in the study, and the diversity of type of company was large. Future research should include a larger sample size and use of companies from within the same industry/sector.Practical implicationsThe scorecard has practical implications in that instead of having to choose complicated IT planning systems or pay high consultancy charges, SME owner managers can use the scorecard themselves at no cost and make informed decisions on IT investments.Originality/valueThis particular design of scorecard has not been used before, it is original, and will be of use for SME owner managers and IT practitioners, as it provides an easy‐to‐use tool to help plan and measure IT development within SMEs.
Enhancing the curriculum: shareable multimedia learning objects
Authors: MacKenzie Niall , Walsh Andrew 
Published: January 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report on an action research initiative designed to facilitate the creation of shareable multimedia learning objects at a UK higher education institution. The use of multimedia learning objects in educational settings has been the subject of much interest in recent years. However, it has been suggested that a significant barrier to the uptake and use of these resources has been the lack of technical ability and support available to teachers. The Faculty of Health at Birmingham City University (BCU) was committed to the use of learning objects in the university's learning environment. However, creating innovative and exciting resources had been out of the reach of most lecturing staff due to time, financial and technical barriers. The Centre for Enhancing Learning and Teaching (CELT) at BCU collaborated with the Department of Community Health and Social Work in the Faculty of Health to produce a number of shareable learning objects to be used for enquiry‐based learning.Design/methodology/approachThe paper begins by discussing some theoretical background and existing studies before going on to outline the collaboration and the pedagogy that inspired the creation of the learning objects and the processes involved in creating the resources.FindingsThe paper discusses some preliminary research results and plans for future development.Originality/valueThe objective of this initiative was to explore ways in which we could overcome barriers to the creation of pedagogically sound learning objects.
Social constructionism and entrepreneurship
Authors: Lindgren Monica , Packendorff Johann 
Published: January 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to develop a social constructionist approach to entrepreneurship and to discuss its consequences for entrepreneurship research.Design/methodology/approachBased on a review of current methodological debates in the entrepreneurship field concerning the need and implications of explicit references to basic scientific assumptions in research texts, a social constructionist perspective is outlined and its theoretical and methodological consequences are discussed.FindingsA social constructionist perspective may contribute to the development of entrepreneurship research both through opening up possibilities for the inclusion of new theoretical fields, and through the demands on new methodological approaches following such theoretical inclusions.Originality/valueBased on an identified lack of research literature discussing underlying scientific assumptions within entrepreneurship, the paper provides a thorough discussion and summary of existing and future social constructionist developments.
Assessment practice in enterprise education
Authors: Pittaway Luke , Hannon Paul , Gibb Allan , Thompson John 
Published: January 2009

PurposeThis paper aims to introduce current debates on assessment practice in higher education and to explore educational research on assessment.Design/methodology/approachThe paper progresses by exploring a number of outcomes and highlights their role in helping one to understand the potential reasons for engaging in enterprise education. The paper then applies this outcomes framework to assessment practice. It does so by reporting a series of focus groups undertaken at the International Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE) Conference in 2005.FindingsThe focus groups engaged over 40 entrepreneurship and small business academics in a brainstorming exercise, which explored forms of assessment that could be used to meet particular outcomes in enterprise education. These results are presented according to different potential entrepreneurial outcomes.Originality/valueThe concluding part of the paper categorises these practices to develop and present the views of the participants and it provides a detailed analysis of assessment practice in enterprise education.
Evaluating informal entrepreneurs' motives: evidence from Moscow
Authors: Williams Colin C. , Round John 
Published: January 2009

PurposeRecently, distinctions between “necessity‐driven” entrepreneurs who have limited options for work and “opportunity‐driven” entrepreneurs pulled into the exploitation of a perceived business opportunity have been transcended by commentators displaying the co‐presence of opportunity and necessity in entrepreneurs' motives and how their relative importance shifts over time. This paper aims to evaluate, critically, whether this re‐theorisation is also valid when considering the motives of informal entrepreneurs.Design/methodology/approachA household survey of entrepreneurship is reported conducted in Moscow during late 2005 and early 2006. In the 313 households surveyed, 81 entrepreneurs were identified who had started‐up a business venture in the past 42 months, all of whom reported that they were operating wholly or partially in the informal economy.FindingsFor some 80 per cent of informal entrepreneurs, both necessity‐ and opportunity‐drivers were co‐present in their decision to start up an enterprise. There was also a clearly identifiable shift in their motives away from necessity‐ and towards opportunity‐drivers as their ventures became more established.Research limitations/implicationsAkin to recent literature on mainstream (legitimate) entrepreneurs' motives, the survey thus displays the need for a less bifurcated understanding of informal entrepreneurs' motives that recognises the co‐existence of necessity‐ and opportunity‐drivers and the temporal changes in their relative importance.Originality/valueThe study reveals the need to transcend the currently dominant simplistic portrayals of informal entrepreneurs as either universally necessity‐driven or universally opportunity‐driven.
Internet adoption by Saudi public relations professionals
Authors: Al‐Shohaib Khalid , Al‐Kandari Ali A.J. , Abdulrahim Masaud A. 
Published: January 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the influence of individual, organizational, and social contexts on internet adoption by Saudi public relations professionals.Design/methodology/approachUsing the diffusion of innovations model, this study investigates the responses of 354 Saudi public relations professionals to a survey about internet adoption in public relations‐related tasks.FindingsThe paper finds that only 46 per cent of Saudi public relations professionals adopted the internet for public relations. Organizational context variables were the influential predictors of internet adoption.Research limitations/implicationsIn the light of the intense bureaucracy in Arab organizations, scholars should be cognizant of the roles played by Arab organizational structures in the adoption of innovations.Practical implicationsWhile the adoption of innovations in Western organizations is more likely to be influenced by commercial needs, organizational structures play more defining roles in Arab organizations' adoption of innovations.Originality/valueThe study is one of the few to investigate the influence of organizational contexts on the adoption of innovations in Arab societies.
The role of branding in public health campaigns
Authors: Basu Ambar , Wang Jian 
Published: January 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the role of branding in public health campaigns.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reviews public health campaigns, and their goals and objectives vis‐à‐vis the current health market conditions. The imperatives for branding public health campaigns are enumerated. The paper then discusses salient features of branding that can be applied to health campaigns before drawing on an exemplar to illustrate how branding can be effectively harnessed in the realm of public health campaign theorizing and praxis.FindingsGiven the clutter of campaigns and their messages in a saturated health consumer market, uptake and sustained use of health campaigns needs alternative pathways to keep consumers interested and gainfully engaged with the products being offered. Branding, as a communicative strategy, can meet this need.Originality/valueAs the fundamental goal of a public health campaign is to induce and sustain health behavior among the public, efforts must be kept up to theorize about improved modes of delivering campaign products to consumers. This paper takes the initial steps in that direction.
Spatial concentration in institutional investment in the UK
Authors: Byrne Peter , Lee Stephen 
Published: January 2009

PurposeGeographic diversity is a fundamental tenet in portfolio management. Yet there is evidence from the USA that institutional investors prefer to concentrate their real estate investments in favoured and specific areas as primary locations for the properties in their portfolios. Work done in the UK, focusing on the office sector, has drawn similar conclusions. The present paper seeks to examine the extent of real estate investment concentration in institutional Retail portfolios in the UK at two points in time; 1998 and 2003, and to present some comparisons with equivalent concentrations in the Office sector.Design/methodology/approachTo examine this issue two datasets are used at two dates, 1998 and 2003. The analysis is confined to England and Wales because of data considerations relating to the availability of comparable data for the rest of the UK. The first dataset relates to floor space and rateable value statistics for the so‐called “bulk classes” of commercial property at Unitary Authority and District (local authority area, LA) level. The more specific institutional real estate investment data for the study come from the IPD analysis “UK Local Markets”. This provides a detailed view of the performance of institutional real estate investment, by sector, in a number of localities across the UK. For the purposes of this study, IPD made data available showing (but with much less detail) other LAs where the number of properties held was greater than zero, but fewer than the four required normally for disclosure. The approach taken is to map the basic data and the results from a standardising measure of spatial concentration – the Location Quotient.FindingsThe findings indicate that retail investment correlates more closely with the UK urban hierarchy than that for offices when measured against employment, and is focused on urban areas with high populations and large population densities which have larger numbers of retail units in which to invest.Originality/valueUsing data sets that account for the entire “population” of observations at these two dates the paper demonstrates the relationships between economic theory and the market performance of the sector. The comparisons with the Office sector also show the differences that would be expected between the sectors, emphasising the point that these markets are dynamic and that their structure, form and content can change dramatically even over quite short periods.
Client influence on valuation: does language matter?
Authors: Yao Chen Fong , Ming Yu Shi 
Published: January 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to attempt to analyze client influence on valuation in both Taiwan and Singapore. Both countries are chosen because of the similar level of economic development as well as professionalism amongst valuers. However, although both are Chinese‐dominated by population, the culture and language used are substantially different.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a survey questionnaire to sample valuers' response to client influence in both Taiwan and Singapore. The questionnaire is organized into five parts: social economic data, client influence situation, potential factors, influence method, and influence abilities. The survey findings were analyzed using SPSS and subjected to a number of standard procedures to check for missing values and multivariate normality. Mean difference and F‐test were used to judge whether the valuers in the two countries have significantly different views on client influence.FindingsThe results show that client influence on valuation practices does exist in both Taiwan and Singapore. This is despite the differences in the market structures, development background and modes of doing business. Furthermore, the study finds that the degree and extent of the problem are different. These differences, as reflected in the differing views and opinions on the causes and factors leading to client pressure, are largely due to the systemic differences in the two countries, particularly, in the way businesses are conducted as well as the medium of communication being used.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the research on client influence on valuation through a comparative study of two countries with substantially different business environments and language of communication. These differences seem to have an impact on how valuers view client influence despite their similar economic, educational and professional backgrounds.