bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A software framework for coping with heterogeneity in the shopfloor
Authors: Fernández‐Madrigal Juan‐Antonio , Galindo Cipriano , Cruz‐Martín Ana , González Javier 
Published: October 2007

PurposeThe CIM framework pursues the integration of components in a manufacturing enterprise by means of computer systems. This, however, may be obstructed due to heterogeneity in the field: programmable controllers, robots, sensors and actuators, etc. in communications: different kinds of networks and/or field buses; and in the programming tools for all these devices. Thus a solution is needed to integrate heterogeneous software/hardware components in a well‐defined and flexible fashion. This paper seeks to address these issues.Design/methodology/approachThis paper proposes a metalanguage, called H, and a set of tools that serve for designing, implementing, deploying, and debugging distributed heterogeneous software on the shopfloor. The metalanguange includes fault‐tolerance and real‐time mechanisms, among other features.FindingsThe use of a framework that can integrate different software and hardware components enables the engineer to take advantage of the best features of each existing technology. The use of object‐oriented techniques, concurrent and distributed programming, and the isolation of heterogeneous parts, have also important benefits in the reusability and optimality of the solutions.Practical implicationsThe use of a metalanguage like H, that separates the parts of the application that depend on particular (heterogeneous) components from the parts that are portable, has, as a main implication, important improvements in the development time, effort, and cost of CIM projects.Originality/valueH is the first metalanguage coping with heterogeneity through the complete development cycle of software for manufacturing applications. It also provides a formal and well‐defined framework for future extensions.
Automated assembly of fuselage skin panels
Authors: Jayaweera N. , Webb P. 
Published: October 2007

PurposeThis paper aims to describe the development and testing of a system for the automated assembly of aircraft fuselage panels.Design/methodology/approachThe system described in this paper uses a low‐cost industrial robot and laser stripe sensor to assemble stringers on to a fuselage panel prior to riveting. The method uses a combination of measurement and best fit placement algorithms to optimally locate parts relative to existing features.FindingsThe paper demonstrates that with a combination of metrology and mathematical processing standard industrial robots can be used to assemble aero‐structure subassemblies. The paper also demonstrates that the system can work within the tolerances required within the aerospace industry.Originality/valueThe paper introduces techniques for compensating for the inherent distortion that occurs in airframe components during manufacture. This is an enabling technology that will significantly increase the number of possible applications for industrial robots in the assembly of aero‐structures.
Leading UK manufacturer probes the potential of six sigma
Authors: Lee‐Mortimer Andrew 
Published: October 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to detail the reasons behind, and the successful process adopted for, the introduction of a six sigma programme within a leading, and award‐winning, UK manufacturing business.Design/methodology/approachThe paper outlines the driving factors behind the adoption of six sigma at Renishaw plc, and details how the training, along with the introduction process, has been focused on helping build firm foundations and overcome internal “scepticism”. The study also reviews successful six sigma projects undertaken within the company that have delivered significant manufacturing and transactional process improvements.FindingsDespite initiative fatigue, ongoing business success and a culture wary of any approach that may hinder the innovation that is driving this success, the six sigma programme at Renishaw, which has been supported by a specialist training organisation, has taken root and is now starting to deliver significant business benefits.Originality/valueMany companies have various concerns over implementing six sigma, including the belief that the “strict” process requires too much effort and that it can stifle innovative thinking. This case study details how one company's successful six sigma implementation programme is overcoming these and other “internal” hurdles.
Assessing collections using brief tests and WorldCat Collection Analysis
Authors: Benedetto Beals Jennifer , Gilmour Ron 
Published: October 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess the efficacy of the brief test method and OCLC's WorldCat Collection Analysis (WCA) in analyzing strengths and weaknesses of collections in three academic libraries.Design/methodology/approachMonographic collections in zoology were assessed in the study, using both the brief test method and WCA at three institutions.FindingsThe paper finds that both the brief test and WCA provide valuable insight into collection strengths and weaknesses.Research limitations/implicationsThis is an analysis of only one subject area and one format. Further studies might focus on other disciplines and might take into account a variety of formats.Practical implicationsThe study suggests ways in which collection managers might gain a better knowledge of their collection for such purposes as cooperative collection development and preservation.Originality/valueSince WCA is a newly available tool, there are few studies using this methodology. This adds to the limited literature on the brief test methodology.
Scholarly communication in educational psychology: a journal citation analysis
Authors: Liu Zao 
Published: October 2007

PurposeThis paper aims to study the scholarly communication of educational psychology by exploring its intellectual structure and general journal citation patterns.Design/methodology/approachJournal citation data were collected from Journal Citation Reports for 2004‐2005. The structure of the subject relatedness of the journals was created through a cluster analysis using the cosine as its measure. The general citation patterns were discussed in terms of cited and citing frequencies and related ratios.FindingsSix clusters of journals were identified, including general educational psychology/learning/literacy, school psychology, measurement and counseling, Germany‐based educational psychology, creativity, and the other. The following general citation patterns emerged in the study: a small number of journals accounted for a relatively high percentage of the intra‐disciplinary citations; the majority of the selected journals cited more than being cited in the field; the major general educational psychology journals, most school psychology journals, all Germany‐based journals, and creativity journals had higher level of concentration in the field than others; and journals with high cited and citing frequencies and high cited/citing ratios did not necessarily have high level of concentration in the field.Research limitations/implicationsGiven the broad scope of educational psychology, the study was limited to the journals included in the educational psychology category of Journal Citation Reports.Practical implicationsLibraries may benefit from the study results for collection development in educational psychology. Prospective authors may use the information to enhance their publishing opportunities. Academic administrators may use the citation information for promotion and tenure review.Originality/valueThe study revealed the subject relatedness and general citation patterns of educational psychology journals in a large context. The visual and quantitative presentation of the citation patterns is conducive to the understanding of educational psychology as a discipline.
From the streets to academia: a librarian's guide to hip‐hop culture
Authors: Gibbons William C. 
Published: October 2007

PurposeThis paper aims to identify a variety of titles and resources to offer both public and academic librarians guidance in establishing and maintaining a definitive core collection of past and present materials.Design/methodology/approachThe annotated bibliography includes CD recordings, films, documentaries, serials, monographs and web sites on rap music and hip‐hop culture. The entries chosen were culled from rap music periodicals, reference works, catalogs and journals.FindingsThese resources showcase the innovation of rap's formative years. They trace the broad scope of rap musical styles and document and critique hip‐hop culture.Originality/valueThese selected titles capture distinctive periods in hip‐hop history and help librarians stay current and conscious of what to include in their collections as rap becomes more mainstream and more respectable.
Native American literature in collection development
Authors: Shaffer Christopher 
Published: October 2007

PurposeThis paper aims to discusses the importance of Native American literature in library collections.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on research of recent articles.FindingsThe paper identifies many good titles on Native Americans that deserve to be in libraries so that the history and culture of Native Americans will be available to all users.Practical implicationsLibraries should identify good quality books on Native Americans and by Native Americans to add to their collections. Many are now available so that it is not difficult to find appropriate ones that reflect contemporary views of Native Americans.Originality/valueThis paper pulls together a good deal of recent information on books by and about Native Americans as well as pointing to some excellent collections.
GLBTQ content in comics/graphic novels for teens
Authors: Greyson Devon 
Published: October 2007

PurposeThis paper aims to provide an historical perspective and current guidance for youth librarians collecting graphic novels for teens.Design/methodology/approachThe paper provides a brief review of the historical issues involved with censorship/intellectual freedom and comics and of current teen‐oriented graphic novels with gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning of sexual orientation (GLBTQ) content in Canada and the USA. It also provides a context for negotiating intellectual freedom and collection management policy issues, and suggestions for targeted acquisitions of teen graphic novels with GLTBQ content.FindingsThe paper provides a brief overview of US and Canadian censorship of comics, including how this legacy affects today's market. It recognizes the difficulty of obtaining information and recommendations for teen‐appropriate graphic novels containing GLBTQ content, and makes suggestions for core collection items.Research limitations/implicationsOnly English sources from the USA and Canada are reviewed. Francophone Canadian literature is relevant but outside of the scope of this paper.Practical implicationsThe paper is a useful source of information for the librarian looking for collection development suggestions, and/or for the librarian dealing with or preparing against intellectual freedom challenges to graphic novels or GLBTQ material for teens.Originality/valueThis paper furthers discussion of censorship of graphic novels and of GLBTQ material, and provides concrete suggestions to librarians developing a teen graphic novel collection. The issue is timely, as the graphic novel industry is booming and the ALA has documented an increasing number of challenges to graphic novels in libraries. Few previous papers on graphic novels or comics have included Canadian content, although the Canada‐American library worlds, publishing industries and legal codes are historically and currently intertwined.
Collections 2007: Reinvigorating Collection Development and Management
Authors: Howard Vivian 
Published: October 2007

PurposeThis paper seeks to describe the Canadian Library Association's 2007 pre‐conference, Collections 2007: Reinvigorating Collection Development and Management.Design/methodology/approachThis paper summarizes the various papers, describing actual collections practices in a variety of library and information center settings that made up the CLA Collections pre‐conference.FindingsThe paper finds that collections development activities in academic, public and special libraries are characterized by a diversity of approaches and methods.Originality/valueThis paper provides a brief summary of some of the practical approaches to collections building in a variety of library and information center settings.
The use of fuzzy logic and expert systems for rating and pricing firms
Authors: Malagoli Stefano , Mastroleo Giovanni 
Published: October 2007

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to focus on the rating, ranking and valuing of firms.Design/methodology/approachFuzzy logic and expert systems are used in order to provide a score for the firm(s) under consideration, representing the firm value‐creating power.FindingsThe fuzzy expert system introduced is capable of dealing with both quantitative and qualitative variables and integrates financial, managerial and strategic variables. A sensitivity analysis corroborates the model.Research limitations/implicationsThe system is apt to rate and rank firms within a sector. Some regression analysis can lead to a determined price for the target firm.Practical implicationsThe expert system may be used by rating agencies for ranking firms, and by financial analysts and potential buyers to furnish a price for acquisition.Originality/valueThe use of a fuzzy expert system for ranking firms within a sector and pricing firms is a first attempt at an alternative way of measuring performance and value.
Information transparency and valuation: can you value what you cannot see?
Authors: Damodaran Aswath 
Published: October 2007

PurposeIt is clear that some firms are more forthcoming about their financial affairs than others, and that the financial statements of some firms are designed to obscure rather than reveal information about the firms. How does one reflect the transparency (or the opacity) of a firm's financial statements in its value? This paper aims to examine both the sources of complexity in financial statements and the appropriate responses in valuation.Design/methodology/approachThe paper examines both the sources of complexity in financial statements and the appropriate responses in valuation.FindingsThe paper develops a number of potential measures of complexity, ranging from a measure of opacity (developed by Price Waterhouse) to a complexity score (developed by asking a series of questions about companies).Practical implicationsIf the value of complex firms is consistently discounted, an incentive for simpler holding structures and more transparent financial statements will be created.Originality/valueWhile investors and analysts may increasingly bemoan the increasing complexity of financial statements, there is no simple measure of complexity. This paper considers some ways in which the complexity of a firm's financial statement can be measured.
Strategic options and firm value
Authors: Lin Lihui , Kulatilaka Nalin 
Published: October 2007

PurposeThis paper aims to discuss how firms make investment decisions and the impact of these decisions on firm value, considering the strategic impacts of such investments.Design/methodology/approachBuilt on real options and game‐theoretic models, simulations are used to find out how investment decisions and firm values change in face of network effects and potential competition.FindingsIt is found that high intensity of network effects lowers the investment threshold as well as the expected value of the firm at the investment threshold. It is also found that potential competition makes an innovating firm less likely to invest. Moreover, in a more competitive environment, the value of the firm when it is indifferent between investing and waiting tends to be high.Practical implicationsIt is shown that overestimating and failure to capture the network values may lead to poor investment decisions, resulting in firms or projects with little value. The research also has important implications for the management of R&D. When an innovation is likely to face fierce competition, the owner may invest more aggressively under high uncertainty. However, if competitors are likely to provide substitutes, firms should be cautious making upfront investments under high uncertainty.Originality/valueThis paper discusses the implications of new developments in the field of real options to firms’ strategic investment decisions and the valuation of firms.
Determinants of market reactions to goodwill write‐off after SFAS 142
Authors: Bini Mauro , Della Bella Chiara 
Published: October 2007

PurposeThe paper aims to analyze the reasons for the unremarkable increase in value relevance of new impairment testing of goodwill following the introduction of new accounting standards SFAS 141 and 142.Design/methodology/approachAfter surveying main research about market reactions to announcements of goodwill write‐off before and after the introduction of the new SFAS the paper shows why the two‐step procedure of impairment testing risks undermining the very economic substance of the test.FindingsThe analysis shows the inadequacy of the impairment test to measure the destruction of wealth experienced by acquiring firms’ shareholders and to supply value‐relevant information owing to the lack of disclosure of information after the first stage of the test. It also shows the consequences of management's discretionary power in setting forth projections.Originality/valueThe paper lays the groundwork for interpreting the empirical evidence on the limited information content of goodwill write‐offs.
Towards a model of human resource solutions for achieving intergenerational interaction in organisations
Authors: McGuire David , Todnem By Rune , Hutchings Kate 
Published: October 2007

PurposeAchieving intergenerational interaction and avoiding conflict is becoming increasingly difficult in a workplace populated by three generations – Baby Boomers, Generation X‐ers and Generation Y‐ers. This paper presents a model and proposes HR solutions towards achieving co‐operative generational interaction.Design/methodology/approachThis paper adapts Park's theory of race relations to explain the distinctiveness of generational work groups and the challenges and opportunities that these groups present when interacting in organisations. Rashford and Coghlan's cycle of organisational change, based on the Kübler‐Ross grief cycle, is then mapped onto Park's race relations cycle in order to link generational interaction to emotional reactions to change over time.FindingsThe paper sets out a research agenda for examining how generations interact in the workplace. It acknowledges the limitations of using Park's theory of race relations, in particular the criticisms levelled at assimilationist approaches.Originality/valueThe paper provides an alternative viewpoint for examining how generations co‐exist and interact and shows how HR solutions can respond to the needs of different generations.
Evaluating the impact of leadership development: a case study
Authors: Dexter Barbara , Prince Christopher 
Published: October 2007

PurposeThe relevance of business education is coming under increasing challenge from many quarters, who argue that business schools are not delivering research and programmes that are relevant to the needs of business and society. The purpose of this paper is to test these claims by evaluating the impact of a leadership development programme on middle managers within a city council organisation.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative methodology was employed within an evaluative research approach. Interviews were held with 32 line managers of the Leading Managers (delegates on the programme). A thematic analysis was undertaken using categories of “knowledge”, “skills” and “attributes”. Key stories were also collected as “vignettes” to illuminate where the line manager had considered the impact of the programme to have been particularly significant to their department or to the organisation as a whole.FindingsThe research was able to identify how the programme had benefited those managers who had taken part on the programme, and how the programme had positively impacted on the organisation as a whole.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper counters the claims that business schools and business education have little impact at organisational level. The paper provides evidence to support the value and relevance of training and development within the workplace.Originality/valueThere is little hard evidence available highlighting the impact of management education on organisations. This paper provides such evidence.
Professional competence enhancement via postgraduate post‐experience learning and development
Authors: Chivers Geoffrey 
Published: October 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to determine the ways in which postgraduate study in vocational fields supports the development of advanced competences amongst mid‐career professionals.Design/methodology/approachThe extensive written communications between health and safety professionals taking a postgraduate course in health and safety management and their tutor were investigated to determine the competence domains where learning was taking place or attempted. The individual written communications were analysed and each issue raised allocated to a learning area. The quantitative results for each area were determined. The learning areas were assigned to one or more competence development domains.FindingsThe quantified results demonstrate that the main domain where mid‐career professionals on this postgraduate course were most strongly challenged to learn and develop in advanced competences was the meta‐competence domain on the Cheetham and Chivers model.Research limitations/implicationsThis study was based on written communications passing between a limited number of students and one tutor on a single postgraduate study programme. There is clearly great scope to extend this form of research given the large number of postgraduate vocational study programmes now undertaken by mid‐career professionals.Practical implicationsTutors need to focus strongly on supporting the very demanding learning leading to the growth of meta‐competencies. Given the ready availability of relevant factual information to mid‐career professionals in the information age, there is much less need to focus on teaching facts, although supporting the interpretation and application of such factual information by students retains great importance.Originality/valueFew other studies exist which attempt to analyse written communications between tutors and postgraduate students on professional/vocational courses in terms of how such courses are developing professional competences.