bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Why us? Arranged marriage: libraries and computer centers
Authors: Hwang Chiou‐shu J. 
Published: November 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the factors of the decision for merging libraries and computing centers on Taiwanese academic campuses.Design/methodology/approachDescribes the differences, similarities, and missions between the academic libraries and computing centers from the past to the present, gives a brief introduction toward the historical development of the merger, and uses multiple‐case study approach by interviewing relative decision‐makers of four colleges of Taiwan.FindingsTwo categories of factors, which are environment and decision‐makers, are found for impacting the decision of the merger.Originality/valueContributes to library and information sciences by giving five suggestions, which are: curriculum design; communication skills; law knowledge; partnership; and working attitude adjustment.
Creating a new library for Macquarie University: are we there yet?
Authors: Brodie Maxine , Martinelli Meredith 
Published: November 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to document the long‐term, transformational change strategies that the authors are using to create a new Library at Macquarie University.Design/methodology/approachThe strategies are explained using the metaphor of a journey, with a roadmap, or guiding principles, the milestones reached and next steps for the future. They are also discussed in the context of University and Library strategic planning and with reference to the concepts emerging from Library 2.0 discussions.FindingsDuring 2005/2006 the authors transformed the design of jobs and structure to build a more flexible Library that is agile, resilient, informed, connected, successful and responsible. These changes are being implemented during 2006/2007, supported by extensive training and new approaches to planning, team building, performance monitoring and governance. Two significant changes are being made. One is the construction of a new library building to reaffirm the centrality to research and learning. Also, strategies to maximise the visibility and use of physical resources in this new environment are being implemented. A new technical architecture to underpin all of the activities is being designed.Originality/valueThe aim in creating a new Library is to make the services client‐centric rather than library‐centric.
Reaching out, building bonds: NUS Libraries for knowledge, for inspiration, for life
Authors: Yap Sylvia , Yeo Gabriel 
Published: November 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to look at the National University of Singapore's Libraries' (NUSL) efforts in moving forward to assert its place as an institutional service organisation, not solely in the traditional area of providing access to information, but also in developing itself as a place for knowledge, for inspiration and for life to its user community.Design/methodology/approachThe article takes the form of a case study, giving details about the seven libraries that together make up the NUSL. It looks at how the libraries face competition from a number of information sources.FindingsThe NUSL needs to understand its users, use the correct branding and reach out to the community.Originality/valueNUSL has embarked on a new proactive journey to reach out, bond with its users and seize every opportunity to promote its brand.
Temporary agency work and the business cycle
Authors: de Graaf‐Zijl Marloes , Berkhout Ernest E. 
Published: November 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to test the relationship between gross domestic product (GDP) and agency work.Design/methodology/approachThe paper develops a theoretical model for the time interdependence of GDP, agency work and regular employment and tested model predictions using a VAR model.FindingsResults show that on the macro level temporary agency work leads GDP development. Temporary agency work is an excellent instrument for employers to adjust the size of their workforce to fluctuations in product demand. Temporary work agencies, however, have a tough job finding qualified personnel in tight labour markets because workers generally prefer the security of a permanent contract. It is shown in this paper that, as a result of these two countervailing forces, the number of hours worked through temporary work agencies precedes GDP development. Agency work increases in the last phase of a recession after regular workers have been dismissed. It expands further, in line with GDP, when the trough is passed until agency worker's labour supply stagnates. This leads to a decrease in agency hours even before the business cycle reaches its peak. Then agency work declines further, in line with GDP, until regular workers are dismissed and the cycle start again.Originality/valueTemporary work arrangements have become a key area of interest for firms, academics and policy makers. This paper shows how the use of these work arrangement fluctuates over time. Also, this paper shows that agency work can be used in predicting future GDP development.
Do the unemployed become successful entrepreneurs?
Authors: Andersson Pernilla , Wadensjö Eskil 
Published: November 2007

PurposeMany unemployed people become self‐employed. Self‐employment, however, does not necessarily lead to success. The main objective of the paper is to compare the economic outcome and success as self‐employed between those who entered self‐employment from paid employment, unemployment and inactivity. The question is if individuals who enter self‐employment from a weak position on the labour market are equally successful as those who enter self‐employment from a stronger position.Design/methodology/approachMicro‐econometric methods are used to estimate first the propensity to become self‐employed in the period 1998‐2002 among Swedish‐born men aged 20‐60 years who were unemployed, inactive or wage earners in 1998, and second, the economic outcome of self‐employment. Economic outcome in 2002 is measured using income from self‐employment and having employees in the firm.FindingsThe study finds that the unemployed, and even more the inactive, are overrepresented among those who become self‐employed. Those who were wage earners in 1998 have higher incomes and are also employing other people in their business to a much higher extent in 2002 than those who were unemployed or inactive in 1998.Practical implicationsThe results indicate that support for unemployed to become self‐employed should be implemented with great care. The economic outcome of self‐employment is inadequate for many who were unemployed earlier.Originality/valueThe study will be valuable for those who are interested in those who become self‐employed and in the economic outcome of self‐employment for different groups.
Designing the optimal length of working time: a counterfactual policy analysis
Authors: Altavilla Carlo , Garofalo Antonio , Paolo Vinci Concetto 
Published: November 2007

PurposeHow many hours per week should workers in the USA and Germany spend at their paying jobs? The present paper aims to address this question by constructing policymakers' reaction functions capable of modelling the optimal length of working time as a function of the relevant labour market variables.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on a counterfactual policy experiment. Given a policymaker's loss function and a structural model of the labour market alternative specifications of reaction functions are defined where the response coefficients indicate how policymakers should react to any news in the labour market in order to stabilise employment and wages.FindingsThe results suggest that simple rules perform quite well and that the advantages obtained from adopting an optimal control‐based rule are not so great. Moreover, the analysis emphasises the success of the wage‐based rule and of the employment‐based rule in the USA and Germany, respectively.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is based on a counterfactual policy experiment, which perhaps limits its operational value.Practical implicationsLabour market authorities might stabilise employment and wages by implementing policy rules.Originality/valueThe paper proposes a policy rule to capture the dynamics of the weekly working hours. According to the rule in the paper the length of the workweek is an inverse function of the deviation between the actual and potential employment level.
Outsourcing (the) economy to India: utopian and dystopian discourses of offshoring
Authors: Knights David , Jones Beverley 
Published: November 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine critically both utopian and dystopian discourses of offshoring so that a more considered, nonetheless theoretically informed, view of the global offshore phenomenon can be formed.Design/methodology/approachDrawing upon some preliminary research on offshoring ventures from the UK to India, and the extant literature, the practice of business process outsourcing (BPO) via offshoring is explored and critiqued.FindingsIt is argued that neither dream nor nightmare is the adequate discursive metaphor to capture what we have discerned through our research on offshore outsourcing.Originality/valueThe primary contribution of this paper is that demonstrates that utopian and dystopian discourses fail to adequately explain the practice of offshore BPO and that in cultural, economical, ethical, and political terms, it is much more complex.
Facing culture: the (de)legitimation of social work
Authors: Gastelaars Marja , van der Haar Marleen 
Published: November 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore how Dutch social workers make sense of the cultural otherness produced by clients with migrant origins and relates this to the various discourses that constitute the legacy of Dutch social work.Design/methodology/approachThe paper relies on a historical discourse analysis based on secondary sources and on a fieldwork study performed in a contemporary organization.FindingsThe analysis reveals three different discourses. The first relates to how the association of social work with government policy produces a generalised “otherness” as the practical starting point for the social workers’ interventions, and a specific kind of cultural indifference. The second concerns a discourse around lifestyle interventions influenced by a specific tradition of institutionalised diversity called pillarization. Finally, there is a discourse in which social workers are expressly expected to be “open” to their individual clients’ specific backgrounds which generates scope for a “constructivist” conceptualization of cultural diversity.Originality/valueThe paper offers insights into the discursive construction of social work.
Institutional transformation through positive textual deviance
Authors: Zandee Danielle P. , Bilimoria Diana 
Published: November 2007

PurposeThe paper aims to explore an affirmative, discursive perspective for its potential to expand the current understanding of processes of institutional transformation.Design/methodology/approachFirst the notion of institutional transformation is discussed and the “discursive model of institutionalization” as developed by Phillipset al.is described. Then the concept of “positive textual deviance” is introduced and defined. The discursive model is read to explore possibilities for institutional transformation through instances of positive textual deviance.FindingsThe insertion of the concept of positive textual deviance into the discursive model of institutionalization reveals openings for transformation which are captured in propositions that address the agency of texts and their authors in the creation of desired change.Originality/valueThe paper is unique in its synthesis of three distinct theoretical perspectives – institutional, discursive, and affirmative – in the definition and application of positive textual deviance. Its affirmative, constructionist stance goes beyond a critical deconstruction of taken for granted practice by proposing a hopeful, emancipatory approach that enables institutional actors to become agents of change.
A discursive study of institutionalisation in community organisations
Authors: O'Shea Peri 
Published: November 2007

PurposeThe institutionalisation of neo‐liberalist discourse has significantly changed the way in which the relationship between government and community organisations is described and regulated in Australia. These changes are most clearly articulated in government policy discourse as a move away from “funding” community service organisations to “purchasing” the delivery of community services. This research aims to explore institutionalisation in the community sector: how institutionalisation interplays with increased central control, the impact on practice and the continued relevance of community organisations.Design/methodology/approachThis research applies critical discourse analysis, within the framework of neo‐institutional theory, to examine data from “conversations” with workers in community organisations.FindingsImposed institutionalisation, seen to threaten flexibility and autonomy, is spurned. However, some evidence of increased internal institutionalisation revealed some potential to strengthen the sector from within.Originality/valueDue to significant devolution of government services, the extent of welfare provision provided by community organisations is now so great that a crisis in the community sector would result in severe disruption in the delivery of welfare services in Australia. An examination of how the community sector can be resilient and relevant in this new policy environment has important practical implications at the local and international level.
The ideology of markets and the practice of policy: objectivity, control and the objectionable
Authors: Lightfoot Geoff , Lilley Simon 
Published: November 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to briefly explore some recent curious interlocking of the ideology of markets and the practice of policy.Design/methodology/approachThis particular discursive combine has most visibly been apparent in the concatenated birth and death of the US Defense Department's so‐called “Policy Analysis Market” (PAM). Yet PAM is but the most notorious example of a more sustained and pervasive attempt to use the technologies and disciplines of markets to render policy both better informed and more amenable to control through robust and seemingly incontestable systems of accountability. Given its prominence, our way in is through a brief description of PAM's origins and demise.FindingsIt is found that PAM and its similar brethren of markets for use in policy formation and judgement are less concerned with the capture of reality and more with the disciplining power of a curious “objectivity”.Originality/valueProjects such as PAM are thus not easily challengeable on grounds of their veracity. Rather research that seeks to interrogate the use of market technologies in policy must look to their context and effects.
Selection of planned supply initiatives: the role of senior management expertise
Authors: Fraser Johnson P. , Klassen Robert D. , Leenders Michiel R. , Awaysheh Amrou 
Published: November 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess the selection of planned supply initiatives and the role of senior management expertise. The drivers that influence the selection of particular supply initiatives by firms are of major interest to both practitioners and academics, as choices indicate priorities for resources, potential performance gaps and needs for future research. Moreover, theory indicates that senior management expertise and firm‐level resources might influence the likelihood of selecting particular initiatives.Design/methodology/approachA synthesis of the literature supported the development of a five‐dimensional framework of major supply initiatives. Logistic regression was conducted with data from a survey of chief purchasing officers at large North American firms. The impact of firm‐level resources and senior management expertise, including background and experience, was assessed for the selection of supply initiatives.FindingsAfter controlling for general industry‐level factors, both firm resources and senior management expertise were found to systematically affect the likelihood of a firm planning to pursue particular initiatives. First, hiring senior management from outside the firm decreased the likelihood that network‐based initiatives were planned, while senior management who last worked in supply were found to be negatively related to planned supply strategy initiatives. Second, firms with greater use of e‐business technologies favored additional investment in supply networks.Research limitations/implicationsThis research focused on large firms in developed countries, and additional research is needed to explore the generalizability to small and medium‐sized enterprises and less‐developed countries. Moreover, additional work is needed to explore trade‐offs between planned and emergent initiatives, as only the former were empirically assessed.Originality/valueSenior management expertise has received relatively little attention in prior research, yet was found to be a significant factor influencing strategic, process and network‐related supply initiatives. Moreover, the framework of supply initiatives provides a basis for assessing and benchmarking firm‐level supply chain strategy and investment patterns. Finally, empirical evidence emerged that both firm and individual‐level factors influenced the probability of selecting particular initiatives.
Strategic profiling
Authors: Hill Alex , Brown Steve 
Published: November 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this exploratory research paper is to present a strategic profiling managerial framework that enables businesses to show visually the level of internal strategic fit in their organisation. Using this framework, service operations managers are able to understand the level of fit that exists, how it is created and identify actions for improving it.Design/methodology/approachCase‐based research was conducted in eight service organisations to investigate their level of internal fit and the corresponding characteristics of their market, operating strategy and service delivery system. Based on these findings, a strategic profiling framework was developed.FindingsThe strategic profiling framework allows a service organisation to compare the characteristics of its market, operating strategy and service delivery system and determine the level of internal strategic fit. This enables it to see more clearly where conflicts exist and to start to understand the steps required to improve the level of fit in its organisation.Research limitations/implicationsThe research used the Heskett strategic service vision and Hill's order‐winner and qualifier technique to investigate the level of internal fit. It looked at how they can be applied and the insights they reveal rather than whether the elements they contain are correct. The research focused on developing and presenting a method of visualizing internal fit, rather than investigating the link between fit and performance. The strategic profiling framework developed needs to be tested on a wider sample of organisations to see whether high‐fit profiles have high performance and whether the insights it reveals are true for other businesses.Practical implicationsService organisations can use the strategic profiling framework to understand their level of internal strategic fit, and why it exists, in order to understand how to improve it.Originality/valueThe strategic profiling framework presented in this paper starts to address the gap in the literature around research into the field of internal strategic fit. It also meets the need for more management tools to help businesses develop strategies and understand the level of fit they create.
Responsiveness through buyer‐focused cells: exploring a new supply strategy
Authors: Pieter van Donk Dirk , van der Vaart Taco 
Published: November 2007

PurposeThe concept of buyer focus has recently been introduced as a new supply chain strategy, although the design and operation of buyer‐focused cells have hardly been investigated. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how buyer‐focused cells realise responsiveness.Design/methodology/approachThe paper explores the origins of buyer focus by synthesising the literature on focus and supply chain management (SCM). The recent model of responsiveness by Holweg is used to analyse two cases in the semi‐conductor industry. Based on the literature and the case‐findings the model is further developed.FindingsThe main findings of the paper are that: the model of responsiveness can be used to better understand buyer‐focused cells as a supply chain strategy, but needs to be enhanced with additional elements; two of the dimensions of Holweg's model (product and volume) seem to determine the third (process) dimension; designing and operating buyer‐focused cells is a blend of well‐chosen and proven solutions combined with close integration with the buyer.Research limitations/implicationsThe extended model and the operation of buyer‐focused cells need further refinement and research using the key factors so far established.Practical implicationsThe paper explores both the contingency factors and the major design and operating factors related to a new supply chain strategy (buyer‐focused cells) which is aimed at increasing responsiveness, and investigates two practical cases. Managers can use the developed framework to better understand their own situation and guide decision making.Originality/valueThe paper aims at further developing and understanding the responsiveness of buyer‐focused cells by drawing on previous contributions in the literature on SCM and the focused factory. Through this, the authors add to the theory of responsiveness and to empirical knowledge on the design and operation of buyer‐focused cells.
Diversity learning, knowledge diversity and inclusion
Authors: Andresen Maike 
Published: November 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present knowledge as an important diversity dimension in globally operating companies and to illustrate how companies with corporate universities (CUs) proceed in order to achieve knowledge inclusion.Design/methodology/approachA model is developed regarding the management of knowledge diversity methodologically based on the grounded theory approach and examples in existing CUs are given.FindingsDifferent diversity learning approaches in corporate university programmes are explained and integrated in a model. The paper recognises the need to more actively manage knowledge diversity in companies.Practical implicationsThe paper gives advice to companies on how to better manage their diversity of knowledge and knowledge bearers for strategic learning purposes. The paper is a first step in the academic discussion of knowledge as a diversity dimension.Originality/valueKnowledge is defined as a diversity dimension by scientists but has not been discussed in depth so far. The paper distinguishes between knowledge diversity and inclusion and shows in which way companies can proceed in order to profit from the diversity in learning environments.