bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Institutional theories in management accounting change
Authors: Ribeiro João A. , Scapens Robert W. 
Published: July 2006

PurposeTo explore the contributions made by two strands of institutional research that have been applied to the study of management accounting change: “old institutional economics” and “new institutional sociology”. To propose ways of developing these theories, and in general to develop an institutional understanding of management accounting change.Design/methodology/approachAnalysis of the literature on management accounting change, with a special emphasis on the literature drawing on institutional theory. Theoretical discussion based on the concept of the “circuits of power”. Illustration with observations made during a case study of an organisation in which attempts to promote change in management accounting were conducted in recent years.FindingsIdentification of some complementarities between these two strands of institutional theorising, and suggestions of how they can be developed by drawing on insights from the “circuits of power” framework.Research limitations/implicationsThe case study analysis is limited to an illustration of the theoretical discussion. A building of bridges between the various developments in institutional approaches to management accounting change is necessary.Originality/valueThe paper is of value to researchers studying management accounting change. It clarifies the theoretical underpinnings of the institutional frameworks and suggests areas for institutional research into management accounting change.
Food retail buyer behaviour in the People's Republic of China: a grounded theory model
Authors: Sternquist Brenda , Chen Zhengyi 
Published: July 2006

PurposeSeeks to summarize relevant literature reporting on western research and to use a grounded theory approach to form the model. Also to develop a Chinese retailer new product decision process model. And consider unique aspects of Chinese culture and the ongoing economic transitions.Design/methodology/approachForeign producers have little knowledge about the internal operations of China's chain stores. As China's markets open to the world, an understanding of the ways in which retailers and suppliers interact in China – especially the ways in which they make product selection decisions – will be crucial to companies expanding into this area of the world.FindingsResults are presented from in‐depth interviews with retail food buyers in China. Interviews were conducted during 1999‐2000 in Shanghai and Beijing. The interview data are used to develop a model of buyer‐seller relationships that lends itself to a better understanding of the complexities – cultural and market‐related – of retailer‐supplier relationships in China.Research limitations/implicationsSince, China is a vast country this study forms a small part of the process in understanding its buyer‐seller interactions.Practical implicationsThe literature, including grounded theory and the research undertaken with the sample of respondents highlight the potential gains from understanding the nature of Guanxi and the culture of China. Managerial implications are discussed.Originality/valueThe study investigated buyer‐seller relationships within the Chinese market. When Chinese food retailers make decisions on new product acceptance, their criteria are similar to those of food retailers reported in research focused on western society. Supplier role performance, price, trade assistance, and relationship with supplier are primary considerations; these criteria support results from western literature.
Unethical consumers
Authors: King Tamira , Dennis Charles 
Published: July 2006

PurposePrevious research indicates that deshopping is a prevalent and growing consumer behaviour. This paper sets out to examine deshopping from a consumer perspective, and to apply the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to demonstrate how this behaviour can be managed and prevented with the help of an accompanied (de)shop. It also seeks to place deshopping within a legal and ethical context, in relation to the established literature in this field.Design/methodology/approachThis paper tests the TPB variables in a qualitative way by conducting in‐depth interviews with deshoppers, who had completed a quantitative questionnaire. The results further support and enhance the quantitative TPB results collected previously with 535 consumers. An accompanied (de)shop is also reviewed, as this qualitative research technique, enables an enhanced understanding and evidence of the deshopping process, which has not been demonstrated previously. The findings demonstrate support for these qualitative research tool, which enable a deeper understanding of the deshopping process and its management.FindingsThe findings demonstrate important use of the TPB as a qualitative research technique. The model is also expanded and redesigned by adding extra variables as a result of this research. The accompanied (de)shop findings demonstrate support for this qualitative research tool, which also enables a deeper understanding of the deshopping process and its management.Practical implicationsThe research concludes with the implications of deshopping for the industry and makes recommendations regarding how to reduce deshopping, as well as recommending the qualitative research techniques to be utilised by future researchers.Originality/valueThis is the first paper to place deshopping in a legal framework which highlights the legal loopholes in a retailer's returns policy and the implications of new directives which will influence retailers' abilities to refuse a return. This paper is also the first to explore deshopping within an ethical framework that has created new knowledge on the unethical consumer in relation to deshopping behaviour. This study also incorporates an accompanied (de)shop methodology; this form of research has never been undertaken in relation to deshopping activity and has generated completely new knowledge of what is happening when the actual behaviour is taking place.
What is expected from supervisors?
Authors: Huusko Liisa 
Published: July 2006

PurposeThis paper attempts to find out how the decade that team members enter the workforce as well as management or leadership emphasis influences different images of supervisors. Certain features of management discussion prevalent during the past decades are used as instruments in addressing the contributing research question: what is still expected from management and leadership?Design/methodology/approachIn this paper the division constructed by Kotter – management and leadership are connected and the decade that team members enter the workforce – are addressed as tools to open the problems in teamwork. The paper includes a preliminary empirical study in a timber procurement organization and ideas for further investigations.FindingsTeam member who are not the same age have different images pf supervisors. Hence, they wait partly for different actions within team organization. Though HRM issues seem to be included in supervisors' duties in every decade, for example encouraging and career‐development matters do not appear until the 1980s. Furthermore, different kinds of computer‐aided control systems are not able to respond to quick changes and uncommon situations relating to everyday duties. The image of supervisors that workers take for granted must be taken into consideration during the changes and shifts between responsible actors.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to clear advice for age‐management and to research questions for considering explanations for problems of teams.
Team performance in “leading management” – a “storming” success?
Authors: Chamberlin John E. , Dexter Barbara P. , Franco Gino 
Published: July 2006

PurposeProvide a picture of a successful postgraduate certificate in management programme designed for public sector managers. In particular the paper highlights the team development component of the course.Design/methodology/approachDescribes the team‐building intervention that was introduced into the programme.FindingsIt is perfectly possible to accelerate team building within a group at an early stage in a development and learning programme.Originality/valueUseful information to help any group setting up training and development for disparate groups of people where one of the desired outcomes is the development of an effective team.
Lot sizing, preventive maintenance, and warranty decisions for imperfect production systems
Authors: Ben‐Daya M. , Noman S.A. 
Published: July 2006

PurposeSets out to develop an integrated model that considers simultaneously inventory production decisions, PM schedule, and warranty policy for a deteriorating system that experiences shifts to an out of control state. The time to shift follows a general probability distribution with increasing hazard rate, so that time‐based PM is effective in improving the system reliability.Design/methodology/approachA profit function is used to model the production system. Optimization techniques are used to generate optimal solutions for the problem. Although global optimality cannot be guaranteed, empirical results show that global optimal solutions are obtained.FindingsThe integrated model provides decisions on inventory levels, production run length, and PM schedule simultaneously. It is illustrated through numerical examples that investment in PM can lead to savings in warranty claims for repairable products. As a result, the overall profit per unit, in certain cases, is higher with PM than without PM.Research limitations/implicationsThe production system is taken, numerical examples are presented and a sensitivity analysis is conducted to gain more insight into the developed model. In particular, the numerical analysis shows that a better PM program reduces warranty claims.Practical implicationsIn addition to the joint optimization of production/inventory decisions and PM schedule, such models can be very useful in making resource allocation decisions between warranty and PM programs. It is clear from the numerical analysis that a better PM program reduces warranty claims.Originality/valueThe paper provides a joint optimization of production inventory decisions and the PM schedule for a system subject to a time to shift that follows a general probability distribution. Previous research considered only an exponential distribution and did not consider PM.
Setting initial clearance limits for sound roller expanded tube‐tubesheet joints in shell and tube heat exchanger maintenance
Authors: Shuaib A.N. 
Published: July 2006

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop a procedure for deciding on the limits of initial clearance to which tubesheet holes can be enlarged before replacement in heat exchanger maintenance.Design/methodology/approachAn empirical model that relates the hardness of roller expanded tubes and ligaments to initial clearance is developed from experimental data to predict the extent of tolerable levels of over‐enlargement of tubesheet holes before the joint loses its structural integrity. The developed model serves as an additional criterion to decide whether to keep or discard a tubesheet having over‐enlarged holes during heat exchanger maintenance.FindingsThe current industrial criterion does not directly include the effect of material degradation for over‐enlarged holes. The empirical models indicate that both tubes and ligaments suffer strain hardenings. A new procedure is proposed to supplement the current industrial criterion.Practical implicationsThe procedure will assist maintenance managers/engineers in deciding on the replacement of heat exchanger tubesheets. The combined criteria will have an impact on the cost of heat exchanger maintenance and plant downtime.Originality/valueThe procedure proposed in this paper adds to the industrial criterion another one that caters for the degradation in properties that the tube, tubesheet, and surrounding ligaments will be subjected to during roller expansion. In other words, it considers the strain hardening of the tube and tubesheet materials in setting the initial clearance between the tube and tubesheet that ensures adequate joint integrity.
Implementation and execution of industrial service strategy
Authors: Kumar Rajesh , Markeset Tore , Kumar Uday 
Published: July 2006

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to discuss the complex issues, obstacles and factors that can have a significant role and influence on the implementation and execution of a performance‐based industrial service strategy.Design/methodology/approachA case study has been performed the oil and gas industry which maps the issues, challenges and opportunities in the process of implementing and executing a performance‐based service strategy.FindingsThe study identifies differences in practice with respect to conventional as compared to performance‐based contracts. Furthermore, performance factors (i.e. cost drivers, performance killers and critical success factors) of the service strategy implementation and execution process are discussed in relation to the oil and gas industry in the North Sea. A performance‐based service strategy needs to be upgraded, modified and customized based on performance measurements, as well as needs, wants and preferences of the involved parties during the contract period.Practical implicationsThe findings and discussions will help service strategy developers, implementers and executors to recognize the importance of a focused service strategy development process for industrial services. Moreover, the paper will guide developers, implementers and executors to decide about factors that need to be considered.Originality/valueThe framework discussed can be used to develop a performance‐based service strategy. The results of the research will ease the process of understanding and defining the implementation and execution process of a strategy by presenting the possible performance factors in advance.
Measuring maintenance performance using a balanced scorecard approach
Authors: Alsyouf Imad 
Published: July 2006

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop a strategic maintenance performance measurement system.Design/methodology/approachIn response to this purpose, a balanced scorecard framework was adopted to assess the contribution of support functions (such as maintenance) to strategic business objectives. A case study approach was used to test the suggested framework at a Swedish paper mill.FindingsIt was found that by using the suggested framework it was possible to measure and identify the cause‐and‐effect relationship of using an effective maintenance strategy, and assess its impact on the company's competitive advantages. For example, it was found that there is potential to, ideally, improve the company's return on investment (ROI) by 9 per cent. This figure represents a projected US$8.4 million in lost profits, which are caused by planned inoperative time and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) elements. At least 14 per cent of the ROI potential improvements are directly related to the maintenance function as lost profit, which is due to unplanned stoppages and bad quality caused by maintenance‐related problems.Practical implicationsUsing the modified BSC provides a framework whereby the contribution of support functions (for example, maintenance) to the strategic business objectives can be assessed. The modified BSC makes it easier for the maintenance and production staff who are technically oriented to communicate with top management in terms that managers understand, i.e. in terms of money. Furthermore, this approach facilitates the making of cost‐effective decisions.Originality/valueThe present study contributes to our knowledge of this process by changing the status of the “maintenance function”. This is done by showing that maintenance is no longer a cost centre, but should be regarded as a profit generating function.
Integrating TPM and QFD for improving quality in maintenance engineering
Authors: Pramod V.R. , Devadasan S.R. , Muthu S. , Jagathyraj V.P. , Dhakshina Moorthy G. 
Published: July 2006

PurposeTo provide maintenance engineering community with a model named “Maintenance quality function deployment” (MQFD) for nourishing the synergy of quality function deployment (QFD) and total productive maintenance (TPM) and enhancing maintenance quality of products and equipment.Design/methodology/approachThe principles of QFD and TPM were studied. MQFD model was designed by coupling these two principles. The practical implementation feasibility of MQFD model was checked in an automobile service station.FindingsBoth QFD and TPM are popular approaches and several benefits of implementing them have been reported worldwide. Yet the world has not nourished the synergic power of integrating them. The MQFD implementation study reported in this paper has revealed its practical validity.Research limitations/implicationsSince MQFD requires strategic decision making, the management commitment and support are required to test implement it. Since the case study was conducted in a public sector service station, this could not be achieved due to the requirement of following complex administrative procedures. However, the feasibility of obtaining customer voices from the practising community and translating them into technical languages has revealed the possibility of implementing MQFD in real time situations.Originality/valueBoth literature and manufacturing arenas were surveyed and found out that no model linking QFD and TPM has so far been brought out by theorists and practitioners. Hence the contribution of MQFD model is original. Since there are researches establishing the power of QFD and TPM, the essence of integrating them for attaining world class maintenance quality is of high value.
Comparison between the products of four RPM systems for metals
Authors: Abdel Ghany K. , Moustafa S.F. 
Published: July 2006

PurposeTo compare the capabilities and product quality of four state‐of‐the‐art metal rapid prototyping and manufacturing (RPM) systems. This comparison could help industrial companies to know the advantages and disadvantages of each system and decide which system is the most appropriate for their application field.Design/methodology/approachThis work evaluates and compares the quality of four identical benchmarks fabricated from different metallic powders by using four recently developed RPM systems for metals. The evaluation considers benchmark geometry, dimensional precision, material type, product strength and hardness, surface quality, building speed, materials, operation and running cost.FindingsResults show that using RPM technology for the production of metallic products proved to be successful and promising technology to fabricate high strength products such as dies and molds parts which have complicated geometry and fine features. The best quality and strength was developed by the technique of complete melting of metallic powders (selective laser melting/micro‐welding). Comparing to the technique of selective laser sintering, this gave the impression to be more successful and reliable in future in addition to the ability to prototype different types of metallic powders. However, it was very slow and costly. Results by other techniques were evaluated as well.Research limitations/implicationsThe discussed resulted were based only on one benchmark built by each evaluated system and using only one set of processing parameters (which were recommended by the machine manufacturer to be the optimum parameters). However, different results could be obtained if different processing parameters were used. Future work should include the affect of changing the process parameters for each system.Practical implicationsA very useful research study for industrial organizations need to use RPM for the production of metallic products.Originality/valueThis paper provides very important comparison between different state‐of‐the‐art metal RPM systems that are very new to the market. This paper should be very valuable to industrial organizations industrial organizations need to use RPM for the production of metallic products.
Investigation of the mechanical properties and porosity relationships in fused deposition modelling‐fabricated porous structures
Authors: Chin Ang Ker , Fai Leong Kah , Kai Chua Chee , Chandrasekaran Margam 
Published: July 2006

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the mechanical properties and porosity relationships in fused deposition modelling (FDM) fabricated porous structures.Design/methodology/approachPorous structures of numerous build architectures aimed at tissue engineering (TE) application were fabricated using the FDM. The employment of FDM to fabricate these non‐random constructs offers many advantages over conventional scaffold fabrication techniques as patient specific scaffolds with well‐defined architectures and controllable pore sizes can be fabricated accurately and rapidly. There exist several FDM parameters that one needs to specify during the scaffold fabrication process. These parameters, which can be interdependent and exhibit varying effects on scaffold properties, were identified and examined using the design of experiment (DOE) approach. Essentially, the effects of five FDM process parameters, namely air gap, raster width, build orientation, build layer and build profile, on the porosity and mechanical properties of acrylonitrile‐butadienene‐styrene (ABS) scaffold structures with three‐dimensional interconnectivity were investigated in two designed experiments. Statistical analyses of the data were performed and the respective factors that have significant influence on the porosity and mechanical properties of the scaffolds were identified. The relationship between scaffold's mechanical properties and porosity was thereafter established empirically.FindingsModels of TE scaffolds of numerous build architectures were successfully fabricated using different parameter settings on the FDM. The DOE approach determined air gap and raster width as the most significant parameters in affecting the porosity and mechanical properties of the ABS scaffold structures. The relationship between scaffolds' mechanical properties and porosity was determined to be logarithmic, with the best mechanical properties observed in scaffolds of low porosity.Originality/valueThe paper highlights how the application FDM to tissue scaffold application can overcome most of the limitations encountered in the conventional techniques.
Investigation of the overlapping parameters of MPAW‐based rapid prototyping
Authors: Aiyiti Wurikaixi , Zhao Wanhua , Lu Bingheng , Tang Yiping 
Published: July 2006

PurposeTo fabricate fully dense components with low costs, a rapid prototyping (RP) system based on micro‐plasma arc welding (MPAW) was developed. The appropriate process parameters were investigated to build the parts with good mechanical properties and surface smoothness.Design/methodology/approachA simplified overlapping model between deposited tracks was established to investigate the relationships among the overlapping parameters, such as the ratio of width to height of the deposited track cross‐section (λ), scan spacing and overlapping ratio. Some ER308L stainless steel parts were built by different overlapping parameters, and the surface smoothness, tensile strength and elongation of the parts were tested.FindingsThe overlapped surface smoothness, tensile strength and elongation of the parts built with larger λ were better than those built with smaller λ. The longitudinal tensile strength and elongation of the parts were better than the transverse data.Research limitations/implicationsThe scanning direction obviously affected the tensile strength and elongation of the parts, so the multi‐directional scanning mode should be used to get isotropic parts.Originality/valueThis MPAW‐based RP system provides a solution to build fully dense metal parts with relatively lower costs. The appropriate process parameters can be obtained with the developed overlapping model.