bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A lean architecture for transforming the aerospace maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) enterprise
Authors: Mathaisel Dennis F.X. 
Published: January 2007

PurposeIncreasing global competition, free trade agreements, low cost foreign labor, and customer expectations are causing manufacturing enterprises to implement aggressive transformation plans. Should these transformations be incremental or enterprise‐wide? This paper aims to address the question by developing a Lean Enterprise Architecture (LEA) concept for an enterprise‐wide transformation.Design/methodology/approachThe LEA is an architectural framework for enterprise reengineering in the design, construction, integration, and implementation of a lean enterprise using systems engineering methods. The architecture uses a multiphase approach structured on the transformation life cycle phases.FindingsViewing lean implementation across the entire enterprise minimizes the possibility of overlooking opportunities for further performance improvement. A silo view of lean implementation may allow gaps in performance to persist, with no one assuming responsibility for the entire enterprise. Employing the principles of the LEA will help improve enterprise‐wide quality, on‐time delivery, and customer satisfaction by eliminating waste in the entire organization and supply chain.Research limitations/implicationsApplications and benefits are cited in the paper, but additional case studies are needed to benchmark the performance of the LEA against incremental lean implementations.Practical implicationsThe LEA was created for the US military aerospace industry, but it is now being adopted in other commercial sectors for major transformation designs.Originality/valueThe LEA is the first known integration of lean thinking, enterprise architectures, and systems engineering principles in a design framework for the transformation of an enterprise.
The implications of the new ISO 9000:2000 standards for certified organizations
Authors: Gotzamani Katerina D. 
Published: January 2007

PurposeTo exploit the main implications of the revised series of quality assurance standards ISO 9000:2000 for the certified organisations. The paper aims to identify the anticipated benefits of the changes in the series, as well as the main barriers and pitfalls that may deprive organisations of these benefits.Design/methodology/approachThe paper combines the ideas and views of different authors and studies in this subject and organises them accordingly, based on the author's previous experience and empirical studies on ISO 9000 implementation, in order to fully describe the subject for the reader.FindingsThe paper finds that although the revised series of standards may offer important benefits to the certified organisations in areas which were previously considered to be the weak areas of the standards, there are still important dilemmas regarding the degree to which companies will be able to overcome a number of barriers and implementation pitfalls.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper is not based on official empirical research, since it is still too early to empirically test the results of the new standard to the certified organisations. However, this would be the focus of a future survey.Practical implicationsThe paper offers important information to certified organisations, regarding the main benefits of the new ISO 9000:2000 series and the barriers that they will have to overcome in order to realise them.Originality/valueThe paper is the first one to bring all these ideas regarding the new standard's implementation together, offering a complete, comprehensive review of the new standard, and raising important questions that will have to be answered through further research.
Benchmarking operational performance: the case of two hotels
Authors: Parkan Celik 
Published: January 2007

PurposeTo present an actual case study that was carried out to investigate and benchmark the operational performances of two hotels in a large city.Design/methodology/approachThe study involves the comparison of the hotels' performances with each other as well as their respective benchmarks on the basis of data on monthly costs and revenues. The benchmark operations are stated in terms of target costs and revenues that are derived from industry standards for comparable hotels and corporate strategic goals. For performance measurement a new non‐parametric performance measurement method called Operational Competitiveness Rating Analysis (OCRA) is used for its relative simplicity, flexibility, and ability to allow for differences in hotels' guest profiles and competitive priorities.FindingsThe areas of strength and weakness are revealed in the measured performances of the two hotels' operations. While the hotels' performances converge near the end of the study period, they both fall short of reaching their respective benchmark performance levels. This may be partly due to benchmark cost/revenue levels being set unrealistically high. OCRA is shown to be an appropriate tool for measuring and comparing hotels' operational performance.Research limitations/implicationsWhile OCRA can also incorporate the intangible dimensions of performance, this study has not taken into consideration the quality dimension of hotel performance.Practical implicationsIt is shown that a service operation's performance can be profiled and benchmarked using cost/revenue data.Originality/valueThis paper demonstrates a flexible approach to measuring operational performance in service organizations, which can be used by non‐specialists.
Benchmarking: a socio‐economic interrogation of its global‐local disconnect
Authors: Saravanamuthu Kala 
Published: January 2007

PurposeTo examine how the construction of benchmarks influences the discourse of national productivity, and hence shed light on the competitive‐interdependent relationship between global capital and domestic labour.Design/methodology/approachA study of a government inquiry into the Australian automotive industry (in 1996) is used to argue that the formulation of socially conscionable public policy is made more difficult by the international legitimisation of benchmarks.FindingsThe inclusion of structural factors will mitigate the power of accounting discourse to normalise behaviour because it gives rise to glaring discrepancies between shared experiences and accounting's inscribed reality. The inscribed reality is distorted by the decontextualised nature of benchmarks. Further, the global legitimisation of benchmarks makes it more difficult for the state to disregard their influence.Originality/valueCombines, compares and re‐evaluates earlier literature and studies. Leaves the door open for the practice of benchmarking to emphasise a process of establishing sustainable local goals, rather than a means of institutionalising a dominant mode of production across the globe.
Perspectives on a personal critique of international business
Authors: Cairns George 
Published: January 2007

PurposeTo contribute to critical discussion of management education and practice in the “global economy”, engaging with fragmentation of subjects in the academic literature and of issues across zones of production and consumption in the global community. In order to highlight key elements, discusses the role and contribution of the transnational corporation (TNC) and of the export processing zone (EPZ), as illustrative examples of international business.Design/methodology/approachPlaces the discussion into a broad context, through consideration of social, political and economic implications of international business. Presents and contrasts representations of international business in various literature sets and in different contexts. Draws loosely on a broad range of literature, from the field of critical management, and from both academic and non‐academic domains that engage with issues of international business and globalization.FindingsProposes that fragmentation within the mainstream management literature and in areas of management education militates against holistic and critical understanding of the complex nature of global business. Challenges exemplars of “good” management practice from the managerial literature through engagement with a range of discipline‐specific texts, highlighting areas of divergence, contradiction and omission.Originality/valueContributes to the developing critical management literature that engages with issues in a broad societal context.
Union renewal, union strategy and technology
Authors: Cockfield Sandra 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the relationship between union renewal strategies and the adoption and implementation of information and communication technologies by trade unions.Design/methodology/approachThe research centres on a case study of an Australian trade union, exploring the fit between recent changes to the industrial strategy and information technology strategy. It involved interviews with union officials and a review of union documentation.FindingsInformation and communication technologies have the potential to promote union renewal by enabling new forms of participation and activism. However, to achieve these outcomes the technologies must be part of an integrated union renewal strategy. The internal political processes of the union will shape both the union renewal strategies and the role and use of technology in implementing these strategies.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is based on a single trade union, thus limiting the generality of the conclusions drawn.Originality/valueThe paper concerns a relatively new research area on trade unions and offers a critical perspective on the use of information and communication technologies by trade unions.
ICTs, distributed discourse and the territorialisation of labour: the case of Balkan trade unionism
Authors: Zivkovic Andreja , Hogan John 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the significance of information communication technology (ICT) for Balkan labour. Drawing on the heuristic of “distributed discourse”, this paper aims to explore virtual forms of communication and interaction. The paper aims to examine the privileged role of ICT in the: formation of autonomous trade union structures and channels of communication; evasion of the territorial structures of the nation‐state and the construction of virtual communities of international labour solidarity; and authoritative transmission of models of industrial relations practice and of capitalist modernity in virtual space.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted in‐depth interviews, followed up by further discussions, with officials and researchers from unions in the Balkan region. IR academics in Serbia and Montenegro were also consulted, as were union web sites and those of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Serbia, Association of Free and Independent Trade Unions of Serbia. The purpose of the dialogue was to build an empirically grounded framework for understanding the limits and possibilities presented by the new distributed communications technologies of the internet for labour in the era of globalisation. This article provides qualitative data to allow reflection on the possibilities inherent in ICT for the reinvigoration of trade unionism and labour mobilisation in this era of rampant neoliberalism, particularly in the area of trade union democratisation and accountability.FindingsThe article finds that key figures within the Balkan labour movement are conversant with the potential of ICTs. It is also apparent that the construction of cyber‐unionism at the official level is subject to the authoritative force of neo‐liberal imperial governance. However, this is a regime of policing that is indexed and auditable through the very distributed communication technologies which can affect forms of meta‐governance beyond the control of institutions.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings, based on the interrogation of qualitative data are provisional hypotheses and an invitation to further research on the space‐time dimensions of trade unionism in the age of globalisation.Practical implicationsThis paper highlights the situated character of ICT utilisation. While ICTs can be implicated in the reproduction of extant organisational forms and politics, this article provides the international labour movement with a viewpoint from which to build ICT strategies and appropriate organisational structures that recognise the limitations of centralised representation and control.Originality/valueThis paper represents fresh and contemporary data on the use of the internet by Balkan labour. By interrogating the qualitative data an invitation to further research on the space‐time dimensions of trade unionism in the age of globalisation is presented.
Information and communications technology use in British unions
Authors: Fiorito Jack , Todd Royle M. 
Published: January 2007

PurposeAims to review British labour union leaders’ views on the use and importance of information and communications technology (ICT) within their unions.Design/methodology/approachAn open‐ended e‐mail survey and personal interviews conducted in 2000‐2001 with union leaders provides the primary original data for this research. Responses are content analysed to assess the importance leaders assign to ICT for unions, to review the ways in which ICT is used, and the costs and benefits associated with ICT use. Charts and verbatim quotes are used to summarise respondents’ views. These views are compared and contrasted with data from the USA.FindingsUnion leaders were generally enthusiastic about the importance of ICT for unions, citing various examples of ICT‐based benefits to their unions. Some, however, expressed reservations about members’ access to ICT and potential “digital divides”, while others warned that ICT may encourage unions to neglect worker desires for “a human touch” in helping them resolve problems. British union leaders’ views generally reinforce findings from an earlier survey in the USA, although direct comparisons are limited.Originality/valueProvides information on ICT views from a reasonably broad sampling of British union leaders and demonstrates similarity of views across Britain and the USA.
Unions and cyber‐activism in South Africa
Authors: Lewis Charley 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThe paper aims to present a historical overview of the use of information communications technology (ICT) tools and platforms, particularly e‐mail and the internet, as tools of cyber‐activism by the labour movement in South Africa. The paper also aims to give some consideration to constraints and challenges facing unions in the South Africa in the effective deployment of such cyber tools.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on the experience of a participant observer, incorporating analysis of historical examples of the application of the key ICT tools, and supported by reference to relevant documentation and related literature. The use by unions in South Africa of e‐mail and the internet as tools of organisation and mobilisation is examined against the background of both access barriers and organisation constraints, and in relation to union strategies to address such challenges.FindingsDespite recognition by the South Africa labour movement of the possibilities of e‐mail, the internet and other tools of cyber‐activism, the ability of unions to exploit these tools has been limited, characterised by both successes and failures.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper has a relatively narrow focus on the experiences of specific unions in a single country, leading to conclusions which are not necessarily susceptible to generalisation. The lack of availability of both relevant primary documentation and secondary analysis makes it difficult to assess the accuracy of observations and conclusions.Practical implicationsThe paper suggests the possibilities and opportunities for unions in similar environments to exploit ICT tools, as well as the barriers and constraints facing their deployment.Originality/valueThe paper presents the analysis and reflections of a uniquely placed participant observer regarding how unions in South Africa have been able to exploit e‐mail and the internet as tools of cyber‐activism. The analysis reveals both possibilities and limitations of cyber‐activism in South Africa.
Dialectics of something and nothing: critical reflections on Ritzer's globalization analysis
Authors: Kellner Douglas 
Published: January 2007

PurposeSeeks to provide critical reflections on George Ritzer's globalization analysis.Design/methodology/approachDraws on a critical reading of Ritzer's work, in particular, his most recent bookThe Globalization of Nothing.FindingsHighlights Ritzer's neglect of the dialectic of production and consumption, a dialectic that the author views as central to globalization.Originality/valueThe contributions and limitations of Ritzer's book are identified and discussed.
Whatever happened to the revolution?
Authors: Kingsnorth Paul 
Published: January 2007

PurposeAims to discuss counter‐movements to the recent G8 summit of 2005, held at Gleneagles, Scotland, place them into a broader social and historical context, and assess their long‐term impact.Design/methodology/approachDraws upon personal interpretation of recent meetings of the G8 and WTO, in terms of both the impact of the meetings themselves on the global and on local economies, and the impact and effectiveness of counter‐movements. Critically compares previous events with the recent G8 meeting.FindingsIt is argued that, whilst high profile resistance to the G8/WTO has become less radical and elements of the resistance have been usurped by political leaders in order to neuter this resistance, grass roots resistance is alive and thriving across the world.Originality/valueDiscusses issues of contemporary relevance, and places them into a broader social/historical context.
A stochastic approach to modelling the USD/AUD exchange rate
Authors: Ellis Craig , Wilson Patrick 
Published: January 2007

PurposeTo develop an integrated approach to forecasting spot foreign exchange rates by incorporating some principles underlying long‐term dependence.Design/methodology/approachThe paper utilises the random‐walk framework to develop a stochastic forecast model wherein the sign (positive or negative) and magnitude (strong or weak) of dependence can be separately controlled. The integrated model demonstrates superior forecast performance over a conventional random walk.FindingsUsing spot log prices and log price changes (returns) for the USD/AUD exchange rate, the initial outcomes of the study suggest that a priori knowledge of the underlying sign and magnitude of long‐term dependence yields out‐of‐sample forecasts superior to those of a random walk model.Research limitations/implicationsIndependent assessment of the contribution to forecast accuracy of controlling for the sign of dependence between successive price changes only shows little additional improvement in out‐of‐sample forecast performance over the random walk null.Practical implicationsThe findings of the study have important ramifications for managerial finance as they provide important insights on expected future currency returns with potential advantages in currency hedging and/or timing of international capital flows.Originality/valueThe contribution of this paper is to develop an original forecast model explicitly incorporating the conceptual and theoretical characteristics of long‐term dependent time series. By separating the key characteristics and modelling each individually, the contribution of each to forecast accuracy can be evaluated.
Personal taxes, shareholder valuation of riskless corporate taxable cash flows, and management investment decisions
Authors: Winsen Joseph K. 
Published: January 2007

PurposeTo analyse the net present value (NPV) rule for corporate investments incorporating shareholder personal taxes, under the classical system of taxing corporate profits.Design/methodology/approachThe after‐tax payoffs to shareholders are calculated, comparing immediate distribution as dividends of corporate funds available for investment with future after‐tax dividend distributions if corporate funds are invested.FindingsShareholders will disagree on the optimal corporate NPV rule. If, as in widely held public companies, corporate management are unaware of the marginal personal tax rate of shareholders, then the only rule which will accept investment projects that no shareholder would want the company to reject, is the rule which discounts after‐corporate‐tax cash flows at a before‐tax discount rate.Research limitations/implicationsThe analysis is based on the classical system of taxing corporate profits. A number of countries have adopted an integrated system of corporate taxation. The analysis may or may not extend to such alternative systems.Practical implicationsSimplifies the choice of NPV rules for corporate management, under a classical tax system.Originality/valueThe widely held view that after‐corporate‐tax discount rates should be used in discounting after‐corporate‐tax cash flows is shown to be inadequate.
Corporate investment and financial slack: international evidence
Authors: Cleary Sean 
Published: January 2007

PurposeTo address the empirical aspect of corporate investment patterns by providing evidence in an international setting regarding the critical factors affecting firm investment policy, focusing on the relevance of financial factors.Design/methodology/approachExamines international company‐level data for capital expenditures over the period 1987‐1997 using fixed effects regression analysis.FindingsThe capital expenditures of firms that are financially constrained are much less sensitive to the availability of internal funds than unconstrained firms. The evidence is particularly strong when firms are classified according to financial health, but is also prevalent for groups formed according to dividend behavior and firm size. The results provide strong support for the generality of the results of Kaplan and Zingales and Cleary. A major reason for the weak investment‐cash flow sensitivity displayed by unhealthy firms is that they appear to be busy building up financial slack, which has long‐term value, as postulated by Myers and Majluf.Research limitations/implicationsThe conclusions in this study relate to the investment behavior of firms operating in well‐developed economies, which may not necessarily hold for firms operating in distinctly different environments. Given the critical importance of stimulating investment in developing economies, an interesting topic for future research would be to extend the analysis to firms operating in developing country environments to see whether the results herein also apply in these environments.Originality/valueThe results extend empirical evidence to an international setting, providing support for previous US results that had contributed to a debate in the literature. The results also demonstrate that a major reason for the weak investment‐cash flow sensitivity displayed by unhealthy firms is that they are reluctant to invest when debt levels increase, irrespective of the availability of internal funds. This represents an original contribution to the empirical literature.