bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The role of financial communication in public share issues
Authors: Heldenbergh Anne , Scoubeau Chantal 
Published: August 2005

PurposeThe first public share offer represents a crucial step in the life of a company. When the firm places shares linked to its business activity on sale in the financial markets, it is taking a strategic decision of major importance because this is going to involve shareholders who will subsequently become real partners in the organisation. This paper attempts to determine the place of financial communication in the company with regard to its general situation.Design/methodology/approachAnalyses the key role played by the financial communicator and the organisation he represents in determining the type of communication needed so as to prepare for the first public share issue. Examines the initial results of a quantitative analysis (carried out by means of a questionnaire) of the importance attached to financial communication by managers of firms present on the Belgian financial market.FindingsFinancial communication is a form of communication that is still growing. The appearance of new technological tools seems favourable to this development. It seems that the information obtained by means of the questionnaire confirms not only the theoretical approach concerning the various targets, but also the role played by some specific players such as the press. It also seems that the development of the internet allows one to devise elaborate new approaches to the question so that one can contact a lot of people (more often with the same message) everywhere in the world and at a price which is reasonable. It is also interesting to confirm the attention given to specific events in the financial life of a firm. As a matter of fact, the budget allocated to financial communication is almost doubled in the case of a public offering.Research limitations/implicationsThe initial results are not representative enough to allow the drawing of conclusions about the global population of firms concerned.Originality/valueThe present paper can be envisaged as a pilot study insofar as it allows one to highlight certain development axes which could be interesting, such as the impact of new technologies on financial communication or the influence of the various stakeholders on a share issue and in its future enhanced value on the market.
Thermal management of multi‐chip module and printed circuit board using FEM and genetic algorithms
Authors: Jeevan K. , Quadir G.A. , Seetharamu K.N. , Azid I.A. 
Published: August 2005

PurposeTo determine the optimal chip/component placement for multi‐chip module (MCM) and printed circuit board (PCB) under thermal constraint.Design/methodology/approachThe placement of power dissipating chips/component is carried out using genetic algorithms (GA) in order to achieve uniform thermal distribution on MCM and PCB. The thermal distribution on the MCM and PCB are predicted using 2D‐finite element method (FEM) analysis. Different number of chip/component and FEM meshing size is used to investigate the placement of chips/components.FindingsThe optimal placement of chip/component using GA is compared well to other placement techniques. The coarse meshing for FEM employed here is found adequate to carry out optimal placement of components by GA.Research limitations/implicationsThe analysis is valid for constant properties of MCM or PCB and steady state conditions. The chip/component size is limited to a single standard size.Practical implicationsThe method is very useful for practical design of chip/component placement on MCM/PCB under thermal consideration.Originality/valueFEM analyses of MCM and PCB can be easily implemented in the optimization procedure for obtaining the optimal chip/component placement based on thermal constraints.
Delay analysis of a single voltage‐scaled‐repeater driven long interconnect
Authors: Chandel Rajeevan , Sarkar S. , Agarwal R.P. 
Published: August 2005

PurposeTo study the effect of voltage‐scaling on output voltage waveform, delay and power dissipation in a single inverter/repeater driven interconnect load, in different technology nodes.Design/methodology/approachAn analytical expression for the output voltage of a single CMOS‐inverter/repeater driven long interconnects is developed. Delay analysis by the use of this expression, for long interconnects, modeled asRLCload, is compared with SPICE simulations. Good agreement between analytical and SPICE derived results is obtained.FindingsThe model works well for both sub‐micron and nanometer CMOS technologies. The maximum error in 90 percent fall time of output voltage is 7.5, 2.6 and 0.28 percent in 0.8 μm, 0.18 μm and 70 nm technologies, respectively. The maximum inaccuracy in case of high to low 50 percent propagation delay is about 5 percent for 0.8 μm, 3.1 percent for 0.18 μm and 2.3 percent in case of 70 nm technologies. The model shows a very good accuracy for nanometer technologies. The analysis shows that the use of scaled technologies along with voltage‐scaling leads to significant saving in power as well as delay improvement of a repeater driven long interconnect.Originality/valueA new compact analytical expression for the output voltage of a single CMOS‐inverter driven longRLCinterconnects is developed. The analysis carried out in the paper is of value to low‐power VLSI interconnect design.
Transition time considerations in repeater‐chains
Authors: Chandel Rajeevan , Sarkar S. , Agarwal R.P. 
Published: August 2005

PurposeIn this short communication, transition times of input signals for various stages of a repeater‐chain loaded VLSI interconnects are studied.Design/methodology/approachSPICE simulations.FindingsIt is observed that for a fixed number of repeaters a smaller load will reduce transition time. The effect is not very significant, if the load is moderate.Originality/valueMethod can be very useful for short‐circuit power estimation in repeater‐chains.
Classifying e‐trainer standards
Authors: Julien Anne 
Published: August 2005

PurposeTo set‐up a classification of the types of profiles and competencies that are required to set‐up a good e‐learning programme. This approach provides a framework within which a set of standards can be defined for e‐trainers.Design/methodology/approachOpen and distance learning (ODL) has been developing in Europe, due to new tools in information technology but the way in which it is carried out varies from country to country. Up until now, the focus has usually been to study technical standards although it is now more beneficial to carry out research on non‐technical standards. The methodology is based on the Isfol methodology, created in Italy in 1998 and adapted for this survey.FindingsThis paper gives the results of a survey that was conducted in four European countries, England, France, Italy and Portugal, and gives an insight into the different professional profiles associated with this new type of learning.Research limitations/implicationsThis analysis represents just the first step towards quality and accreditation.Practical implicationsThis research highlights the best way to conduct an e‐learning project involving the best participant profiles.Originality/valueThis paper provides a pan‐European approach to ODL and outlines the major professional profiles used in each country. It highlights non‐technical standards.
Effective implementation of e‐learning: a case study of the Australian Army
Authors: Newton Diane , Ellis Allan 
Published: August 2005

PurposeThis case study identifies factors influencing the implementation of e‐learning within the Australian Army training context.Design/methodology/approachA grounded theory approach was used to gain an understanding of the concerns of stakeholders involved in e‐learning implementation. This research included interviews with Army managers, course developers, instructional designers and instructors.FindingsThe main factors that were important for respondents involved in e‐learning management, design, development and delivery could be identified. This case study demonstrates the importance of maintaining focus on organisational priorities and learning goals while meeting the demands of change pressures.Research limitations/implicationsThis is an initial study to gain an overview of the main issues. More research will be required to understand the Army's e‐learning context and to confirm these findings. Further research will include other stakeholders, including trainees' perspectives and extend to other Army sites.Practical implicationsFor effective implementation there needs to be a process of continual adaptation and alignment of e‐learning to reflect changing demands while meeting the priorities of the organisational culture and learners' needs.Originality/valueThis paper analyses the first independent external research into e‐learning in the Australian Army. Although this is a specialised context for e‐learning, the issues raised in this case study will inform research into other workplace e‐learning projects.
Inflation and rental change in industrial property
Authors: Jackson Catherine , White Michael 
Published: August 2005

PurposeThe industrial property market has traditionally been under‐researched but, in recent years, studies have ranged from examining rental change at the national level to examining supply factors at the local level. These studies are valuable to the real estate community, but there still remain significant gaps. This paper aims to focus on two of these inter‐related gaps. The interaction between inflation and rental change has been largely overlooked at all levels of data aggregation. Further, the relative importance of national factors, and regional and local factors, in rental determination has also been ignored.Design/methodology/approachNational and regional long‐run time series models are estimated accounting for the impact of inflation on real rents, using approaches adopted in macro‐economic consumption function analyses. The statistical validity of these models is confirmed from co‐integration tests. Local level spatio‐temporal rental changes are then examined using the hierarchical method of cluster analysis.FindingsThis paper finds that, at national and regional levels, inflation reduces real industrial rents. National regional and local factors are all found to be important in governing rental change in local markets. This implies that factors operating on all spatial scales must be considered in rental studies.Originality/valueThis paper combines two methodological approaches to examine the interaction between inflation and rental change, and the relative importance of national, regional and local factors in rental determination. The results suggest that factors operating on all spatial scales should be considered in rental studies.
Local government organisation on its journey to becoming a learning organisation
Authors: Sharma Bishnu 
Published: August 2005

PurposeThis study aims to make an assessment of the status of various management practices/cultural attributes in local government and investigates their relationship with organisational performance. The local government organisation concerned is going through the process of cultural change in an effort to becoming a learning organisation.Design/methodology/approachThe results of this study are based on employees' perceptions of management practices and organisational performance collected using a survey approach. The Denison Organisational Culture Survey (DOCS) was used for collecting the data.FindingsOf the various management practices considered, the study found that team orientation has received top emphasis followed by dissemination of the core values and organisational capability development. In terms of performance measures, the offering of new services to their clients ranks number one followed by brainstorming practices in problems solving. Employee empowerment has not received much emphasis from the management despite being associated with various measures of performance such as client satisfaction, job satisfaction, quality of services, revenue growth, improved skills of employees in evaluating organisational success or failures, and successful implementation of organisational programs. Although creating change, organisational learning, and team orientation indicate positive correlations with the majority of performance measures considered in this study; there is no evidence of their relationship with financial measure of performance like revenue growth.Originality/valueThe organisational managers may find the outcomes of such investigations helpful as they provide useful information on the organisation's cultural strengths and weaknesses. Such studies would also assist managers to systematically assess their change initiatives and develop a better strategy for successful implementation of managements' tactics and business processes.
Internet technology to achieve supply chain performance
Authors: Jonsson Seth , Gunnarsson Claes 
Published: August 2005

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to explore how the internet introduces opportunities for customer value and effectiveness when developing integrative logistics operations between alliance partners in a supply chain link.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on the expressed interest from the researched companies how to take advantage of the internet in building competitive business processes in the supply chain. The quest for external customer‐value creation becomes a critical managerial task in strengthening the strategic position of the supply chain. The study seeks to integrate the use of theories of marketing, strategic sourcing, core competencies, and transaction costs, in a supply chain perspective.FindingsApplying the internet with solely a focus on cost reduction could lead to high supply chain effectiveness without realizing potential customer value‐perception opportunities. Also, assuring strategic consistency when leaning on cooperation is a critical supply management subject. Finally, the internet is a driving force in managing alliances.Research limitations/implicationsThe framework of the value‐delivery system and the concept of value shortfalls, as theoretical understanding and managerial implications, deserve to be taken into certain consideration in future studies of supply chain performance.Practical implicationsThe managerial implications point out three potential routes in the internet use: as a strategic collaborative posture to compete with superior external customer‐value delivery; in increasing supply chain efficiency and gradually shifting attention toward customer‐perceived value; in extracting economic value through continual refinements of current logistics operations.Originality/valueA systemic value‐delivery view where the value‐exchange process is illustrated with delivery performance, actual achievement, and value shortfall.
ERP and the changing role of IT in engineering consultancy firms
Authors: Voordijk Hans , Stegwee Robert , Helmus Rogier 
Published: August 2005

PurposeIn recent years, large engineering consultancy firms in the Netherlands have implemented enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. The purpose of this study is to shed light on the changing role of information technology (IT) in these firms after implementing ERP.Design/methodology/approachThis change is analysed by focusing on the changing strategic role of IT, the level of IT maturity, and the implementation methods and related organisational changes before and after the ERP implementation. Empirical case study research was conducted by analysing ERP implementations in ten large Dutch‐based engineering consultancy firms. The implementation of ERP within these firms is expected to be typical of the way large engineering consultancy firms in the Netherlands have dealt with this technology.FindingsThe study shows different but consistent fits among the strategic role of IT, the level of IT maturity, and the implementation method in the different stages of the ERP‐implementation.Originality/valueIn the future, ERP will play a strategic role within engineering consultancy firms if they adopt tools for the inter‐organisational standardisation of primary processes in the context of large construction projects. Inter‐organisational use of IT tools in engineering consultancy, however, requires a substantial increase of the intra‐organisational IT maturity and a strategic orientation. If this occurs then it can be anticipated that ERP will be used as an agent for radical change.
Intellectual capital disclosure in The Netherlands, Sweden and the UK
Authors: Vandemaele S.N. , Vergauwen P.G.M.C. , Smits A.J. 
Published: August 2005

PurposeIntellectual capital (IC) disclosure is investigated over three years covering the IT bubble and its aftermath in three different countries (The Netherlands, Sweden and the UK).Design/methodology/approachContent analysis is applied to the annual reports of the sample companies; 180 annual reports from The Netherlands, Sweden and UK are analysed in order to make an inter‐country comparison. Three measurement years (1998, 2000 and 2002) were chosen in order to analyse the trend in disclosure over the years.FindingsThe study reveals that the Swedish sample companies disclose more, on average, about IC than Dutch and UK ones. In general, there is an upward trend in the average amount of IC disclosure over the observation period, although this trend is slightly reversed in Sweden over the period 2000‐2002. This could be an indication of convergence in disclosure practices (the average amount of IC disclosure) in the countries under scrutiny.Originality/valueThe paper shows convergence in IC disclosure practices in the countries under study. This could point towards the establishment of a standard of the IC disclosure level amongst companies. The findings in this paper are of value to firms that are already disclosing IC or are considering doing so.
A comparison between a smooth wire and a K‐file in removing artificially placed dentine debris from root canals in resin blocks during ultrasonic irrigation
Authors: Van Der Sluis L. W. M. , Wu M.‐K. , Wesselink P. R. 
Published: August 2005

AbstractAim  To compare the efficacy of a smooth wire with a conventional K‐file, in removing dentine debris from grooves in root canals made in resin blocks, during ultrasonic irrigation.Methodology  Each resin block containing a standard simulated canal was split longitudinally through the canal, forming two halves. In one canal wall, a standard groove 4 mm in length, 0.2 mm in width and 0.5 mm in depth was cut 2–6 mm from the apical end of the canal, to simulate uninstrumented canal extensions. Each groove was filled with fresh dentine debris mixed with 2% NaOCl to simulate a situation when dentine debris accumulates in uninstrumented canal extensions. Each canal was reassembled by joining the two halves of the resin block by means of wires and sticky wax. In each canal ultrasonic irrigation was performed for 3 min using 2% NaOCl as irrigant. In one group (n = 20) a conventional K‐file size 15 was used. In the other group (n = 20) a smooth wire was used which had the same length and diameter as the size 15 K‐file. Before and after irrigation, images of each half of the canal with a groove were taken, using a microscope and a digital camera, after which they were scanned into a PC as TIFF images. The quantity of dentine debris in the groove was evaluated using a scoring system: the higher the score, the larger the amount of debris remaining. The score data were analysed by means of the Mann–Whitney U‐test.Results  After ultrasonic irrigation, the debris was completely removed from the groove in 35 canals (87.5%), and there was no significant difference between the groups (P = 0.429).Conclusions  Using a smooth wire during ultrasonic irrigation is as effective as a size 15 K‐file in removal of artificially placed dentine debris in grooves in simulated root canals in resin blocks.
Periapical biomechanics and the role of cyclic biting force in apical retrograde fluid movement
Authors: Kishen A. 
Published: August 2005

AbstractAim  To investigate the stress distribution pattern in the periapical region caused by biting forces and to study the role of cyclic biting loads on periapical fluid movement.Methodology  In the first part, a digital photoelastic experiment was conducted to study stress distribution in the periapical region. In the second, 20 maxillary central incisors were selected and divided into three main groups: normal intact teeth (group 1), tooth specimens in which the root canal was enlarged and maintained wet (group 2), and tooth specimens in which the root canal was enlarged and maintained dry (group 3). The tooth specimens were placed in a polycarbonate support with a cavity filled with a sponge soaked in methylene blue solution to simulate a periapical defect with exudate. During testing, the specimens were placed in a water bath at 37 °C, and were loaded cyclically with a load of 20 N, at a rate of 72 cycles min−1, to a maximum of 20 000 cycles. The specimens were then sectioned and evaluated for retrograde fluid movement using light microscopy. The data were analysed using one‐way anova (post hoc tests).Results  Digital photoelastic experiments showed that the compression of teeth produced bending stresses in the periapical region. Testing with cyclic loads demonstrated retrograde fluid movement into the apical portion of the root canal and extraradicular region in all groups. There was a significant difference amongst the apical retrograde fluid movement displayed by different groups (<0.01). Group 2, in which the root canal was enlarged and maintained wet showed maximum retrograde fluid movement, whilst group 3, in which the root canal was enlarged and maintained dry showed the least retrograde fluid movement.Conclusions  Biting forces would cause bending of the periapical bone and cyclic biting forces would contribute to retrograde fluid movement into the root canal space and extraradicular region.
Cytotoxicity of MTA and Portland cement on human ECV 304 endothelial cells
Authors: De Deus G. , Ximenes R. , Gurgel‐Filho E. D. , Plotkowski M. C. , Coutinho‐Filho T. 
Published: August 2005

AbstractAim  To evaluate the cytotoxic effects of two brands of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) (Pro‐Root MTA® and MTA Angelus®) and Portland cement (PC) on the human ECV 304 endothelial cell line.Methodology  Endothelial ECV 304 cells were incubated at 37 °C in an atmosphere of 95% air, 5% carbon dioxide and 100% humidity for 7 days and grown in F12 medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum with 50 μg mL−1 of gentamicin sulphate. Effects of the materials on mitochondrial functions were measured by a colorimetric assay. At each experimental time interval (24, 48 and 72 h), a dimethyl‐thiazol‐diphenyl tetrazolium bromid assay was conducted to measure cell viability. All assays were repeated three times to ensure reproducibility. Results were expressed as average absorbance (A570\,nm) ± SD and the data were analysed statistically by one‐way analysis of variance and the Bonferroni post‐test. A P‐value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results  No statistically significant difference was shown between any of the experimental materials (P > 0.05).Conclusions  The two brands of MTA analysed, as well as the PC, initially showed a similar elevated cytotoxic effect that decreased gradually with time allowing the cell culture to become reestablished.