bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Skills, training and development within an insular labour market
Authors: Baum Tom 
Published: February 2007

PurposeThe paper aims to discuss growing public interest in the non‐clinical environment of hospitals and other healthcare facilities which has recently been greatly sharpened by political debate and professional concern.Design/methodology/approachThe research was based on a survey of members of the Catering Managers Association in order to determine their perceptions of their jobs, their career paths to date and future aspirations and the skills that they require for their work. Usable responses were received from 74 members or 23 per cent of the Association.FindingsThe background and training of catering professionals in healthcare are considered together with their long‐term career aspirations. The key finding is that the healthcare environment constitutes a relatively insular labour market within which inward and outward mobility is rare. Managers in the sector are probably under‐trained for their level of responsibility and are limited in their career aspirations outside of the sector.Research limitations/implicationsThis study provides a limited insight into a complex work environment and findings are based on a relatively small response rate. Non‐members of the Catering Managers Association were not surveyed.Practical implicationsThe study poses challenges to the healthcare sector in addressing the need for more effective career management and development for managers with a facilities and catering function. The issue of vocational insularity is one that needs to be addressed.Originality/valueThis paper represents the first study of its kind to address career development and training issues with respect to catering managers within healthcare in the UK and raises important questions about the insularity of this relatively large national labour market.
Clients' goals and the construction project management process
Authors: Lindahl Göran , Ryd Nina 
Published: February 2007

PurposeThe paper seeks to suggest methods that will enable innovative and effective communication and collaboration between clients and construction project management professionals.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology involves workshops with construction clients documented in working documents circulated to participants.FindingsWorkshops revealed trends that urge a re‐evaluation of the briefing process. The need for better briefing with the focus on end‐users is increasing. The findings also pointed to difficulties for construction projects to deliver what the user‐clients need. There was considered to be a lack of systems and methods to keep track of user client demands sufficiently and in a satisfactory way. Goals need to be iterated and validated on a regular and coherent basis throughout projects. An increased interest for process‐oriented and strategic briefing was indicated.Research limitations/implicationsFurther studies are required to develop a client/user driven construction process that is more than just new statements. Research needs to address not only issues in the business as such, but also what requirements should be put on the education and training of stakeholders who are active in the construction sector.Practical implicationsThe paper presents a challenge to the traditional role of several actors; there is a need to communicate core business needs to construction prerequisites in a reciprocal way. There is a need of choosing logic – however, this does not diminish the need for methodologies for capturing, processing and verifying requirements in the process of provision of facilities to a user.Originality/valueThe paper proposes the idea that different logics govern actions by construction industry stakeholders, an issue the construction sector needs to address.
Problems and prospects of housing development in Ethiopia
Authors: Tesfaye Abraham 
Published: February 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to give an analysis of the problems and prospects of housing development in Ethiopia with particular emphasis on the city of Addis Ababa.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology employed here is a descriptive analysis where the source of the data is mainly secondary data. Basic statistical tools are employed in the analyses of the data.FindingsThere is a substantial imbalance between the demand for and supply of housing units in Addis Ababa. Accumulated demand for residential housing on the one hand and the low supply of residential land on the other have pushed prices beyond the reach of the majority of the residents in the country including Addis Ababa. Overcoming the housing problem, hence, requires efforts in three main areas: housing demand; housing supply; and institutional framework. Improving the conditions in these areas, in turn, requires the combined efforts of the government of Ethiopia, regional administrations and donor agencies taking the view that overall development of the economy is crucial for the housing development in Ethiopia.Research limitations/implicationsThe article is limited to discussions on housing developments in Addis Ababa, though a brief introduction is given regarding the housing conditions in other major urban towns in the country.Originality/valueThis article specifically discusses the housing problem in Addis Ababa. So far no attempt has been made to link the strategy of the government of Ethiopia with housing problems in Addis Ababa.
Pricing inter‐neighbourhood variation
Authors: Roubi Sherif , Ghazaly Ashraf 
Published: February 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to focus on inter‐neighbourhood variation in the rental apartment market in Greater Cairo, Egypt, and its potential influence on property prices and performance of hedonic pricing models.Design/methodology/approachThe paper delves into the issue of whether comparables from different neighbourhoods are homogeneous enough to be aggregated in hedonic pricing models. This paper extends the research on rental‐property market segmentation by investigating the existence of apartment submarkets determined by neighbourhoods.FindingsResults show that parameters are unstable across neighbourhoods and Chow test provides further support for utilising spatial hedonic pricing models.Originality/valueThis paper provides further support for spatial hedonic pricing models using empirical evidence from Greater Cairo, Egypt. The paper finds that explanatory and predictive powers of hedonic pricing models are improved when separate hedonic equations are estimated for each neighbourhood in Greater Cairo. The paper does not provide an elaborate solution for implementing spatial models in Greater Cairo but rather supports the notion that one has to be developed.
A socio‐technical perspective of museum practitioners' image‐using behaviors
Authors: Chen Hsin‐Liang 
Published: February 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this project is to study how art museum practitioners use current image‐indexing practices and services to retrieve images from museum collections. The investigation examines several areas, including image needs, information‐seeking strategies, information queries, search functions, display formats, and human‐computer interaction.Design/methodology/approachThe six participating museums are in Washington, DC, and the states of California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio. The investigator interviewed 35 museum practitioners in various departments at the six museums about their image sources, search behaviors, and use of images.FindingsWide variations and internal conflicts exist among curators, IT staff, slide librarians, registrars' offices, educational staff, faculty, and photographers. Museum practitioners' knowledge and expertise should inform the design and presentation of digital images of museum collections as well as the images' relationships with the construction of digital museums.Originality/valueDigital technologies have pushed museum practitioners to initiate organizational changes to accommodate the effects of technology. Museums' digital images and their relevant information are the foundation of the digital museums. Museums must incorporate a re‐examination of their roles in the digital age. An ideal digital museum is not just an online version of the museum, if that is achievable, or an online catalog of museum collections with pictures. It is also a resource that must be founded upon museum practitioners' expertise and professional practices.
Artificial neural network modeling of creep behavior in a rotating composite disc
Authors: Gupta V.K. , Kwatra N. , Ray S. 
Published: February 2007

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the capabilities of artificial neural network (ANN) for predicting the creep response of a rotating Al‐SiCP composite disc operating at elevated temperature.Design/methodology/approachMathematical modeling of the steady state creep behavior, as described by Sherby's law, of a rotating disc made of isotropic aluminium‐silicon carbide particulate composite has been carried out. The creep response has been calculated for various combinations of particle size, particle content and temperature by extracting creep parameters from the limited experimental creep data available on similar material. The results thus obtained are used to train the ANN based on back propagation learning algorithm with particle size, particle content and temperature as input and stress and strain rates as output parameters. The trained network is used to predict the stresses and strain rates in the disc for the data set not covered in the training of network. The predictions obtained from the ANN model have been compared with the corresponding analytical values.FindingsA nice agreement between the ANN predicted and analytical values of the creep stresses and strain rates has been observed.Originality/valueANN can be used as a reliable tool for investigating the effect of operating temperature and, reinforcement‐size and ‐content, on the creep behavior of a rotating composite disc to reach at optimum design code.
Second generation wavelets based GIS terrain data compression using Delaunay triangulation
Authors: Pradhan B. , Sandeep K. , Mansor Shattri , Rahman Ramli Abdul , Sharif Abdul Rashid B. Mohamed 
Published: February 2007

PurposeIn GIS applications for a realistic representation of a terrain a great number of triangles are needed that ultimately increases the data size. For online GIS interactive programs it has become highly essential to reduce the number of triangles in order to save more storing space. Therefore, there is need to visualize terrains at different levels of detail, for example, a region of high interest should be in higher resolution than a region of low or no interest. Wavelet technology provides an efficient approach to achieve this. Using this technology, one can decompose a terrain data into hierarchy. On the other hand, the reduction of the number of triangles in subsequent levels should not be too small; otherwise leading to poor representation of terrain.Design/methodology/approachThis paper proposes a new computational code (please see Appendix for the flow chart and pseudo code) for triangulated irregular network (TIN) using Delaunay triangulation methods. The algorithms have proved to be efficient tools in numerical methods such as finite element method and image processing. Further, second generation wavelet techniques popularly known as “lifting schemes” have been applied to compress the TIN data.FindingsA new interpolation wavelet filter for TIN has been applied in two steps, namely splitting and elevation. In the splitting step, a triangle has been divided into several sub‐triangles and the elevation step has been used to “modify” the point values (point coordinates for geometry) after the splitting. Then, this data set is compressed at the desired locations by using second generation wavelets.Originality/valueA new algorithm for second generation wavelet compression has been proposed for TIN data compression. The quality of geographical surface representation after using proposed technique is compared with the original terrain. The results show that this method can be used for significant reduction of data set.
An attribution theory approach for understanding the internationalization of professional service firms
Authors: Cort Kathryn T. , Griffith David A. , Steven White D. 
Published: February 2007

PurposeThe aim is to gain an increased understanding of the factors motivating managers toward internationalizing their firms.Design/methodology/approachAttribution theory is employed in this study. Building upon the internationalization literature, an attribution model of internationalization is developed. A model of the influence of causal factors (i.e. uniqueness of offering, financial resources and competitive pricing) on a cognitive psychological consequence (i.e. expectations of success) and resulting behavioral consequence (i.e. international success) is examined in a sample of 152 managers of US‐based professional service firms through structural equation modeling.FindingsThe results, supporting the proposed model, suggest that attribution theory can provide a new lens through which greater insights into managerial mindsets driving the internationalization process can be gained.Originality/valueThis study provides new theoretical insights for international marketing academics as well as practical advice for those involved in the practice of international marketing.
Cost of quality usage and its relationship to quality system maturity
Authors: Sower Victor E. , Quarles Ross , Broussard Eric 
Published: February 2007

PurposeThe purposes of this study are to examine the relationship between the distribution of quality costs and the level of maturity of an organization's quality system, to assess the extent to which effective COQ systems and maturing quality systems affect organization performance, and to determine why some organizations do not utilize COQ systems.Design/methodology/approachA survey instrument was developed to determine the distribution of total quality cost among the four ASQ categories. The instrument also assesses the maturity of the organization's quality system using the ANSI/ISO/ASQ Q9004‐2000 performance maturity level classification system. Correlation analysis was used to examine the relationships between quality costs and quality system maturity.FindingsExternal failure costs were found to decline as a percentage of total cost of quality (COQ) as an organization's quality system matures. Total COQ was found to increase as an organization moved from a very low level of quality system maturity to a higher level. Sales and profit growth were not significantly correlated with the presence of a quality cost system or with the level of maturity of the quality system. Lack of management support was found to be the most common reason why organizations do not systematically track quality costs.Research limitations/implicationsAdditional research is needed to determine the relationship between the presence of a COQ system and its effective integration with the quality system and organizational outcomes. Future research is needed to expand the study beyond the boundaries of the USA. Future research involving longitudinal studies would be beneficial in more accurately assessing the nature of the changes in COQ distribution over time.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study suggest that organizations planning to implement a COQ system should ensure that management supports the program and is prepared for a short‐term increase in total COQ. These findings also support the often‐suggested expectation that in the long run the COQ system will lead to a significant reduction in external failure costs.Originality/valueSystematic measurement of COQ is underutilized in practice. This study systematically examines why this is the case. In addition the study provides information that can be useful in justifying implementation of COQ measurement systems.
Excellence in service: an empirical study of the UAE banking sector
Authors: Al‐Marri Khalid , Moneim M. Baheeg Ahmed Abdel , Zairi Mohamed 
Published: February 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the critical success factors of total quality management (TQM) implementation in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) banking sector.Design/methodology/approachEmpirical case studies were collected from 250 banks in UAE that have embarked on TQM successfully.FindingsSixteen factors were found to be critical to TQM implementation success. The factors are top management support, strategy, continuous improvement, benchmarking, customer focus, quality department, quality system, human resource management, recognition and reward, problem analysis, quality service technologies, service design, employees, services capes, service culture and social responsibility.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper provides a framework for future research to explore organisational excellence in making TQM happen successfully.Originality/valueThis research contributes to studies of TQM and service quality in the banking sector context by considering soft issues in its implementation.
Person‐organization fit
Authors: Morley Michael J. 
Published: February 2007

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to introduce the special issue that brings together six papers exploring aspects of person‐organization fit.Design/methodology/approachThis overarching paper contextualizes the theme and introduces the selected papers.FindingsThe findings in this paper vary according to the core theme of each of the six contributions.Originality/valueCombined the papers explore new avenues of enquiry in the person‐organization (P‐O) fit domain and showcase international theoretical and empirical work on the P‐O fit construct.
A contingency perspective of the importance of PJ fit and PO fit in employee selection
Authors: Sekiguchi Tomoki 
Published: February 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose a contingency perspective that describes the relative importance of person‐job (PJ) fit and person‐organization (PO) fit as selection criteria for hiring various types of employees.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on the theories of psychological contracts, human capital and cosmopolitan‐local perspective, propositions are developed regarding the relative importance of PJ fit and PO fit in specific hiring situations.FindingsThe propositions developed in this paper suggest that PJ fit will be more important than PO fit when organizations hire employees to form transactional psychological contracts, to obtain general human capital, and/or who are categorized as cosmopolitans. On the other hand, it is suggested that PO fit will be more important than PJ fit when organizations hire employees to form relational psychological contracts, to develop firm‐specific human capital, and/or who are likely to become locals.Research limitations/implicationsFurther empirical and theoretical work should be conducted to elaborate the contingency perspective. A more comprehensive contingency theory of person‐environment (PE) fit could include other types of PE fit, other contingency variables, and cover a wider range of management practices.Practical implicationsOrganizations should be aware of the trade‐off between PJ fit and PO fit in the selection process, and carefully examine what type of employees they will hire in order to determine the relative weights of PJ fit and PO fit as selection criteria.Originality/valueThis paper is the first attempt to consider the different types of employees and employment relationships that determine the relative importance of PJ fit and PO fit in selecting employees. It is done through incorporating different theoretical perspectives.
Gender enactment at work
Authors: Young Angela M. , Hurlic David 
Published: February 2007

PurposeThis paper seeks to explore gender‐related behavior in relation to person‐group fit, person‐organization fit, and career decisions in order to identify relevant constructs and relationships and present suggestions for further research.Design/methodology/approachA model was developed based on a review of several literature bases including gender theories, gender enactment, person‐group fit, and person‐organization fit.FindingsPropositions for future research were developed and focus on the relationships influencing an individual's perceptions of person‐group fit, person‐organization fit and career decision making. It is proposed that a deviation from a group's collective gender orientation and accepted behaviors is likely to be met with unfavorable perceptions by group members and impact person‐group fit, person‐organization fit, perceived stress, self‐efficacy, and career decision making.Practical implicationsManagers and supervisors can use ideas presented in the model and paper to better understand nuances of gender‐related behavior and its potential impact on behavior and perceptions in the workgroup and organization. Diversity managers and training professionals could incorporate aspects of gender‐related differences into training programs, and individuals might use some ideas presented in this paper to consider the important implications of person‐group and person‐organization fit to career success.Originality/valueThe model developed in this paper is a unique perspective combining historical perspectives on gender and gender‐related behavior and workplace concepts such as person‐group and person‐organization fit to identify the potential impact of gender‐related differences at work.
Work value fit and turnover intention: same‐source or different‐source fit
Authors: van Vianen Annelies E.M. , De Pater Irene E. , Van Dijk Floor 
Published: February 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to examine the relationship between work value PO fit with fit being operationalized as a same‐source or different‐source measure.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 94 employees from a company located in Curac¸ao completed a questionnaire in which they rated their personal work values, their perceptions of the work values of the organization, and their turnover intention.FindingsThe different‐source work value fit measure was significantly and more strongly related to turnover intention than the same‐source work value fit measure.Research limitations/implicationsThis study underscores the need for a careful reflection on the content and operationalization of fit measures.Practical implicationsManagers are able to manage the fit of their employees by creating positive group level perceptions of the work environment.Originality/valueThis study examines the effects of different fit measures on individuals' turnover intention. Moreover, work values fit was investigated.