bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The impact of an intelligent classroom on pupils' interactive behaviour
Authors: Tibúrcio Túlio , Finch Edward F. 
Published: May 2005

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to determine whether new intelligent classrooms will affect the behaviour of children in their new learning environments.Design/methodology/approachA multi‐method study approach was used to carry out the research. Behavioural mapping was used to observe and monitor the classroom environment and analyse usage. Two new classrooms designed by INTEGER (Intelligent and Green) in two different UK schools provided the case studies to determine whether intelligent buildings (learning environments) can enhance learning experiences.FindingsSeveral factors were observed in the learning environments: mobility, flexibility, use of technology, interactions. Relationships among them were found indicating that the new environments have positive impact on pupils' behaviour.Practical implicationsA very useful feedback for the Classrooms of the Future initiative will be provided, which can be used as basis for the School of the Future initiative.Originality/valueThe behavioural analysis method described in this study will enable an evaluation of the “Schools of the Future” concept, under children's perspective. Using a real life laboratory gives contribution to the education field by rethinking the classroom environment and the way of teaching.
Transparency: a two‐way mirror?
Authors: Bessire Dominique 
Published: May 2005

PurposeTransparency is assumed to improve markets' efficiency, to enhance better corporate governance and finally, to ensure moralisation of business life. The paper aims to the realities that prevailing discourses on transparency dissimulate.Design/methodology/approachFirst, a genealogical method is used to explore the theoretical roots, which underpin claims for a greater transparency (reduction of information asymmetry in academic discourses). Second, the analogies between mainstream theories on corporate governance (which legitimate the demand for transparency) and the Panopticon, the famous architecture conceived by Bentham are pinpointed. Finally, the reflections developed by philosophers such as Ricoeur and Henriot on ethics are exploited to explain why transparency is unable to produce the expected effects.FindingsFirst, discourses on transparency often conceal reinsurance manœuvres and power struggles. Second, transparency appears as a modernised manifestation of panopticism: a common base (the concept of utility), the same fundamental assumption (the opportunistic nature of man) and a similar answer (discipline). More generally, panopticism and discourses on transparency are embedded in the same utilitarian philosophy which does not grant any space either for responsibility or for ethics and therefore, favours generalised amorality.Research limitations/implicationsAs a consequence it is suggested that one should explore the possibility of elaborating an economics theory, which would get rid of the concept of utility and a theory of the enterprise, which would take as key concepts creativity and trust, instead of opportunism.Originality/valueThrough the deconstruction of prevailing discourses on transparency, the paper points to the intrinsic anti‐humanistic character of mainstream economics and organisation theories and suggests alternative issues. It therefore may contribute to both enlightenment and emancipatory aims (in the Habermasian sense).
Closing the gender gap in Bangladesh: inequality in education, employment and earnings
Authors: Hossain Mohammad A. , Tisdell Clement A. 
Published: May 2005

PurposeTo provide and assess trends on the status of women in Bangladesh in terms of key macro level indicators namely, women's labour force participation, educational attainments and earnings vis‐à‐vis men.Design/methodology/approachThe trends in women's workforce participation, educational attainments and earnings compared with those of men are evaluated on the basis of descriptive statistics. Correlation and regression techniques are used to examine the relationship between women's education and workforce participation, and to predict the equalisation of female‐male educational attainment.FindingsThe study finds evidence of growing commercialisation of women's work in Bangladesh. Although most women in the workforce are self‐employed or employed in low‐skill jobs, their participation in high skill and entrepreneurial jobs as well as policy‐making bodies is on the rise. While gender wage differentials have been considerably reduced in many industries, in general, women tend to be paid less than men. There have been remarkable improvements in women's educational attainments. Further, female education is found to be positively correlated with their workforce participation. Overall, the findings indicate an improvement in women's status in Bangladesh.Research limitations/implicationsThe suggested relationship between women's education and employment needs to be further investigated using rigorous econometric techniques in order to distinguish between productivity‐enhancing effects of education and other determinants of increased female employment (FEMPL).Practical implicationsThe research should be a useful reference to international and domestic policy‐makers as well as members of the academia and future researchers on the issue.Originality/valueThis study represents the first of its kind in the Bangladesh context. It provides valuable information about, and an independent assessment of, women's status in Bangladesh at the national level.
Technology revolutions and social development
Authors: Daniels Peter L. 
Published: May 2005

PurposeAims to assess the potential for a broad “green” technoeconomic paradigm (TEP) to effectively achieve and sustain higher levels of welfare from economic and environmental sources in manylower income countries (LIC). A green TEP comprises a new socioeconomic system based upon a set of inter‐related technologies that increase human welfare, but focus upon saving material, energy and other environmental resources. TEPs have pervasive social and economic effects that include substantial productivity, trade competitiveness, and environmental quality advantages. The desirability of such economic change must incorporate the general approach of social economics and alternative notions of well‐being.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is largely discursive in nature and provides a systematic identification of the LIC conditions that are likely to promote, and benefit from, the pervasive adoption of material‐ and energy‐saving technologies. Some results of an exploratory cross‐country study of the empirical link between technology capability and the human development index (HDI) are utilized in the discussion.FindingsThe paper concludes that a green TEP may well provide a viable alternative development approach in the LICs. The main advantages are derived from related resource efficiency gains and reductions in the socioeconomic metabolism, and the benefits of a relative production factor shift toward labor (and away from materials, energy, and environment‐intensive capital). The potential for LICs is also facilitated by the positive spillovers and decreasing cost of green TEP‐related knowledge and technology diffusion in the expanding, decentralizing global communication network. The higher income nations would need to play a significant role in this process.Originality/valueEcological modernisation and material and energy‐saving technologies are widely viewed as essential for achieving long‐term economic and social well‐being improvements in the twenty‐first century and beyond. Discussion of this promising approach typically assumes that this transformation is only viable in the technological and economic context of the higher income nations. However, this paper provides a detailed case for the strategic encouragement and adoption of a green TEP for sustainable economic development and environmental conditions in LICs.
Effects of the internet on the marketing communication of service companies
Authors: Lagrosen Stefan 
Published: May 2005

PurposeThe purpose is to gain an understanding of how traditional service companies use the internet in their marketing communication and what effect the internet has had on their use of other marketing communication channels.Design/methodology/approachMultiple case studies have been carried out at 19 Swedish service companies.FindingsThe findings show that three different communications strategies are used depending on the scope of internet use and the extent to which the companies utilise relationship marketing. Small or decentralised companies use the personalised relationship communication strategy. Large companies have the option of using either the mass relationship communication strategy or the mass transaction communication strategy. The characteristics of the strategies and their respective effects on the other marketing communications tools are described.Research limitations/implicationsThe conceptualisation of the communications strategies provides a framework that gives added understanding and is useful for further studies.Practical implicationsThe presentation of the strategies and their implications should be useful for managers of service companies when planning their communication activities. The managers will benefit from making a conscious choice between the strategies and considering their features and implications.Originality/valueThe conceptualisation of the internet communications strategies provides a novel view of the communications options for service firms. This framework is useful for further research and for managers of service firms.
An integrative approach to diagnosing service quality of public parks
Authors: Eng Teck‐Yong , Niininen Outi 
Published: May 2005

PurposeAims to examine the services and facilities provided by public parks revealing that the attributes corresponding to performance of service delivery involve the interaction between non‐human aspects of physical environment and emotional experience of users which differ from common human aspects of service quality. Also, a service quality programme without reference to other service providers can easily lead to misguided or counterproductive service improvement strategies.Design/methodology/approachThe present study suggests an integrative approach to diagnosing service quality of public parks that comprises an assessment of performance outcomes and desires to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of service quality and visitor satisfaction as regards frequent users and low users of public parks. Measures pertaining to this approach were examined by a survey of nine public parks in the county of Derbyshire in the UK.FindingsThe results show the effect of individual attributes on visitor satisfaction and their diagnostic value for service improvements. The analysis of desires highlights the differences of pre‐visit (prepurchase) evaluation variables between frequent users and low users.Research limitations/implicationsThe integrative approach of service quality analysis proposed by this study accounts for the limitations of relying on a single conventional measure of service quality.Originality/valueThe differences may help identify new dimensions for further research and suggest future behavioural intentions such as loyalty and repeat visits. With the knowledge of individual service components that affect overall visitor satisfaction, managers can pin‐point areas for improvement to overcome service shortcomings, and allocate scarce resources more effectively.
Crossing the great divide: critiquing the sacred secular dichotomy in accounting research
Authors: McPhail Ken , Gorringe Tim , Gray Rob 
Published: May 2005

PurposeTo introduce the three papers in the special section, an overflow from a recent special issue of the journal.Design/methodology/approachProvides a brief review of the papers.FindingsThe three papers focus on a common concern: the sacred secular dichotomy that has been employed in studies of accounting in religious organisations.Originality/valueThis introduction focuses on papers that encourage interdisciplinary research in accounting that draws specifically on theological insights.
The sacred and the secular: examining the role of accounting in the religious context
Authors: Jacobs Kerry 
Published: May 2005

PurposeThis paper explores the role of accounting in a religious setting and evaluates the sacred‐secular divide developed by Laughlin and Booth who suggested that accounting is antithetical to religious values, embodying the secular as opposed to the sacred. Yet Christian thinkers such as Wesley and Neibuhr reject this position and indicate the accounting and financial issues do not necessarily conflict with religious values.Design/methodology/approachThis paper explores narratives drawn from the Church of Scotland, the life and practices of Charles Wesley and the Christian doctrine of stewardship as a way of determining the verisimilitude of the “accounting as secular” claim.FindingsThese accounts and individual perceptions drawn from the Church of Scotland were more consistent with the concept of a jurisdictional conflict between accountants and clergy than a sacred‐secular divide. The life of John Wesley and the doctrine of stewardship show that accounting can be part of practices of spirituality. Sacred or secular accounting was found to be an issue of perception.Research limitations/implicationsThere is scope for future research into perceptions of accounting and the role(s) of accounting in sacred spaces.Originality/valueThis paper highlights the sacred role and aspects to accounting.
Does one size fit all? The sacred and secular divide revisited with insights from Niebuhr's typology of social action
Authors: Hardy Les , Ballis Harry 
Published: May 2005

PurposeThis paper offers a critique of the sacred and secular dichotomy, a theoretical framework recently introduced into the accounting and accountability literature primarily by Laughlin and Booth. The divide has been used to interpret the ambiguous roles of accountants and accounting practices within religious organizations.Design/methodology/approachThe present paper examines the divide by drawing on H. Richard Niebuhr's narrative theology, and in particular, the distinction that he draws between “internal history” and “external history”. Niebuhr's discussion of internal/external history and his typology of social action are used to demonstrate the many ways that religious communities balance faith and social practice.FindingsThe paper argues that the activities and contributions of accountants and accounting practices are not by virtue of their secularity antithetical to the values of religious organizations. It contends that within many religious settings, secular activities, such as accounting, often co‐exist, promote and are used to support religious beliefs and practices.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper challenges the dominant paradigm by highlighting the importance of adopting flexible theoretical frameworks.Originality/valueIt will be of value to accounting and accountability researchers who are seeking to gain a better understanding of the fit between accounting practices and the internal histories of religions.
Accountability and control in a cat's cradle
Authors: Berry Anthony J. 
Published: May 2005

PurposeTo examine control and accountability in an expressive organisation.Design/methodology/approachThe paper was based upon a longitudinal case study of events in the Church of England from 1994 to 2001 and was based on documents, debates in the governing body, conversations and interviews and participants' observation.FindingsAs a response to a financial crisis a group of financiers from within the Evangelical theological tradition (which places stress on headship and control) proposed the creation of a new church governance body (a national council) with strongly integrated central control and severely diminished conciliar participation. This group described the complex church organisations and structures (disparagingly) as “a cats cradle of autonomous and semi autonomous organizations”. This conflicted with the values of the other covenant traditions (Anglo‐Catholic and Liberal). The new body was created, but the proposed centralised control was unraveled, the existing constitution and governance was maintained, the “cats cradle” was enriched within the ground metaphor of autonomy. The case shows how the loosely coupled nature of this expressive institution with its multiple theological (value and belief) stances and multiple organisations, relationships and accountabilities was almost impervious to the attempt to shift them into an ordered and controlled hierarchy.Research limitations/implicationsThe great complexity of an ancient Church constrains the researcher to a limited account.Practical implicationsChange in expressive organisations happens by emergent negotiation and cannot be directed because the various value positions infuse everything.Originality/valueThe conception of control and accountability as being constructed and reconstructed in the interplay of the constructs of covenant, constitution and contract. This theorising may have a wider application both to expressive, public institutions and private organisations.
Born again accountants
Authors: Burrowes Ashley , Novicevic Milorad 
Published: May 2005

PurposeTo call for more critical reflection in accounting to avoid business disasters and raise public confidence.Design/methodology/approachPoetic exposition.FindingsObserves recent business disasters and identifies a lack of critical examination of current accounting directions as a significant contributor to these failings.Research limitations/implicationsPoints to issues requiring further critical study in the accounting field.Originality/valueOffers a unique interpretation of current business problems.
Chip packaging challenges … a roadmap based overview
Authors: Longford Andy 
Published: May 2005

PurposeTo provide an insight and view of the expected directions for microelectronic packaging, at chip level, that ties in current developments to the needs envisaged by emerging technology roadmaps.Design/methodology/approachThe requirements for packaging semiconductor devices have become a new technology driver for the electronics “Final Manufacturing” industry. In line with forecasts and roadmaps, the expected multitude of options are being developed in order to meet the demand of an industry which requires ever more complex devices which exhibit both higher reliability and lower cost.FindingsAs application potentials develop, so package cost becomes the driver. In turn, low cost package solutions are becoming the drivers for new technologies such as “last‐mile” fibre optic Telecom systems, 3G phones, bluetooth and sensors. MEMS devices are a key example of how applications are pushing the technologies to create cost effective packaging.Research limitations/implicationsThe emerging packaging technologies, currently BGA's and chip size packaging's (CSP), continue to develop to meet the needs of electronic devices, driven by the “smaller, faster, cheaper” paradigm. However the final manufacturing and testing aspects of such needs are often overlooked and as such the test industry faces a number of severe challenges in terms of handling these new package technologies.Practical implicationsBy looking at the market trends and how these new technologies are developing, especially with respect to emerging developments in CSP, flip chip and wafer level packaging, solutions for many of the challenges posed can be determined.Originality/valueThis paper provides a market analysis of the trends and directions of the chip packaging industry. It has taken data from a wide number of sources of market information and compared the expectations of each to actual emerging applications. The resulting information is expected to become a benchmark for this aspect of the semiconductor manufacturing industry.
Reliability assessment for SnPb solder and Ag‐Pd bond pad metallization
Authors: Choon Teo Kiat , Lin Ting Yu 
Published: May 2005

PurposeTo predict the reliability life for SnPb solder and Ag‐Pd bond pad metallization. The aim of selected artificial aging using temperature shock test (TST) and high temperature storage test (HTS). These tests are produced in a short time, the same deterioration in solder joint strength that would occur by natural aging in the actual field condition of up to 10 years or 5,000 h service life.Design/methodology/approachThis paper using Arrhenius model describes the results of TST and HTS. The TST is aimed to verify the resistance of the assembly to cyclic temperature loading. The HTS test is aimed to check the effect of inter‐diffusion between solder and component and substrate finish, on the mechanical strength of the joints. The paper is organized in four sections: introduction, experimental procedure, experimental results and discussion, conclusion and recommendation.FindingsThe accelerated aging procedures used in this study had successfully modified mainly the outer surface and the interface between a solderable coating and the base metal. The tests that rely on higher temperature increase the diffusivity and the reactivity of the species and so modify internal interfaces such as the intermetallic compound layer, as well as the surface oxide layer. This has provided an effective screening test in understanding the reliability field performance.Research limitations/implicationsFor future work it is recommended to run HTS at 175C to validate the estimate for the effective activation energy for diffusion. Next, perform scanning electron microscopy & energy dispersive X‐ray (SEM/EDX) analysis to compare results at 150C for SMD components and studs and explain the different behaviour. Finally, continue T‐shock testing to 2000 cycles.Practical implicationsThis has provided an effective screening test in understanding the reliability field performance.Originality/valueThis paper provides a cost effective and practical procedure in screening test for SnPb Solder and Ag‐Pd bond pad metallization. It is an effective solution to electronic manufacturing industry.
A faster power MOSFET device with electrical stress treatment
Authors: Salame C. , Habchi R. , Tazibt W. , Khoury A. , Mialhe P. 
Published: May 2005

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to provide some specific information on the effects of DC voltage stress on the current, rise time (Tr) and fall time (Tf), at switching between on and off state of power n‐MOSFET devices.Design/methodology/approachA constant positive electrical stress voltage technique is used to study the devices in this work by giving the gate a positively bias with respect to source and a short circuit of the drain with the grounded source. Voltage stress is gradually increased by automatic 1 V step until it reaches the max tolerated value by the gate dielectric (70 V for device studied in this paper). Response of the device for electrical stress was measured for different doses (stress time).FindingsThe experimental results show that the rise time increases the beginning of stress dose and then it almost stabilises with time, while fall time decreases at first and then starts to increase for higher stress time. The modification of the device switching time parameters were associated to positive oxide charge and interface state Si/SiO2 effects.Originality/valueThis paper offers new information concerning a very important field in microelectronic devices where the switching speed of the components becomes a major requirement. The technique used to improve the device speed has a very low cost and a simple feasibility.