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1 – 10 of 16Output stability or drift overtime has long been a major performance deficiency for gas sensors irrespective of what technology or methodology is used for their conception…
Abstract
Purpose
Output stability or drift overtime has long been a major performance deficiency for gas sensors irrespective of what technology or methodology is used for their conception. Software correction may alleviate the problem somewhat but it is not always applicable. It has long been the objective of many researchers in this field to overcome this problem fundamentally and for good. The purpose of this paper is to show that this objective has now finally been achieved.
Design/methodology/approach
Conventional non‐dispersive infrared (NDIR) dual beam methodology utilizes the ratio of signal channel output over reference channel output for signal processing. The signal filter overlaps the absorption band of the gas of interest while the reference filter does not. However, this ratio changes as the source ages. The current methodology uses an absorption bias between signal and reference channel outputs. This absorption bias is created by using a path length for the signal channel greater than that for the reference channel. Both the signal and reference detectors carry an identical spectral filter overlapping the absorption band of the gas to be measured.
Findings
Implementation of the currently patented NDIR gas‐sensing methodology has been carried out in different gas sensor configurations for over a year in the laboratory. Performance results for these sensors showing insignificant output drifts overtime have been repeatedly demonstrated via simulated aging for the source.
Originality/value
The paper puts forward the view that the recent breakthrough of the Near Zero Drift methodology for NDIR gas sensors will very quickly change the hierarchy of technology dominance and utility for gas sensors at large.
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Describes the efforts of the owner/directors of a private limitedcompany to put into place a succession strategy. Considers three majorthemes: second generation…
Abstract
Describes the efforts of the owner/directors of a private limited company to put into place a succession strategy. Considers three major themes: second generation entrepreneurs/management succession; action learning as a human resource development strategy and philosophy; and the learning organization. Concludes that people (and organizations) “learn” best from the priorities of the business, once they have been identified, and that organizational learning is really based on institutionalization of what has been learned – requisite learning.
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Public libraries are taking on business ventures that involve the selling of products and services. Most common are food services but these are primarily for customer and staff…
Abstract
Public libraries are taking on business ventures that involve the selling of products and services. Most common are food services but these are primarily for customer and staff convenience rather than profit as they generally earn less than 0.25 percent of a library’s operating budget. The real income is in services, as in managing libraries at other institutions (Martin Library, York, PA), which earns nearly half of the library’s operating budget, or services such as issuing passports, and establishing a virtual university (Palm Springs Public Library, Palm Springs, CA) which are estimated to earn 15 to 20 percent of the library’s operating budget. In considering business ventures libraries should pay attention to the following considerations ‐ the library’s mission, its capability, the financial impact, legal aspects, community relations value, and professional and ethical issues.
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Steve Winer, Leslie Ramos Salazar, Amy M. Anderson and Mike Busch
The purpose of this study is to extend Bippus and Young’s (2005) study and examine the effectiveness of the “I-you,” “I,” “You,” “We,” “But” and Question-based “Why” statements…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to extend Bippus and Young’s (2005) study and examine the effectiveness of the “I-you,” “I,” “You,” “We,” “But” and Question-based “Why” statements from Winer’s (2021) verbal coding program of conflict management using Bandura’s (1977) social learning theory (SLT).
Design/methodology/approach
Mixed methods were used using 175 university students from Texas and New York. A cross-sectional convenience sampling approach was conducted. Survey data was collected using Qualtrics.
Findings
Descriptive results demonstrated that the “We” statement was the most passive, the “I-you” statement was the most assertive and the “But,” “I,” “You” and Question statements were perceived to be aggressive. In addition, assertive “I-You” statements were perceived to be more effective in resolving the conflict and maintaining a relationship, whereas aggressive statements were less likely to resolve the conflict and maintain the relationship. Qualitative themes also support the “I-You” statement as the most assertive, while the “But,” “You” and “I” statements were found to be the most aggressive statements.
Practical implications
Implications and applications are discussed to stimulate future research among researchers and practitioners when addressing conflict. Being aware of the verbal statements that de-escalate conflict may be helpful in solving conflict in interpersonal, family and professional relationships. Future trainings can adopt effective verbal statements to resolve conflict when experiencing anger issues. Future research can continue to investigate verbal communication statements using SLT to help practitioners and managers address conflict in interpersonal relationships.
Originality/value
This study examines verbal statements in relation to communication styles and conflict management.
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Considers the effects on the mass media of China’s transition to a more open economy and the strategies which advertisers might use to overcome the problems it presents. Describes…
Abstract
Considers the effects on the mass media of China’s transition to a more open economy and the strategies which advertisers might use to overcome the problems it presents. Describes the media available (including the unofficial “black route”, the official but restricted private sector “white route”, and the state “red route”) and lists the challenges which advertisers face in using them. Suggests some strategies and practices which can help to overcome them and some hypotheses on future media use. Calls for further research in this area.
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The paper seeks to explore the implications of a critical approach to theory and method in the study of social enterprises and social entrepreneurship.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper seeks to explore the implications of a critical approach to theory and method in the study of social enterprises and social entrepreneurship.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents a re‐reading of the findings in a major case‐study based research programme. The author reflexively re‐evaluates the findings and compares them to different theoretical traditions to identify whether these theoretical lenses shed further insight on the raw findings.
Findings
The analysis indicates that the theoretical perspectives of “contractualism”, “managerialism” and “agencification” are good explanatory frameworks for the data produced in the research but so too are “militant decency”, “social movements” and “post‐liberal” theories. As well as illustrating the limits of knowledge, the exercise also indicates that the apparent weakness and failure identified in the case studies are evidence of a “recalcitrance and resistance” that is essential to the emerging identity of the social enterprises.
Practical implications
The paper highlights the importance of being honest to the complexity and ambiguity of data produced in field research and that some important findings can be missed when “outlier” data are ignored. The re‐evaluation of data on this basis also indicates that weakness and failure in social enterprises should not be avoided and worked out of the system. Rather, operating in the context of weakness, failure, recalcitrance and passivity are the grit in the pearl that make social enterprise so valuable.
Originality/value
The paper contributes, in its critical theory approach, to method and analysis in the field of social enterprise research. The paper indicates that no single theoretical structure fully explains social enterprise and that existing critical management theories shed significant new light on the field. The paper, in applying an experimental approach to theory, also highlights the small amount of work that has been done in the field on failure, doubt, weakness and humility.
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This paper aims to describe innovations at the Games + Learning + Society Center to explore the future of education.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to describe innovations at the Games + Learning + Society Center to explore the future of education.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is an overview of several published studies and design interventions.
Findings
Commercial partnerships, particularly generating copyrightable materials can maximize impact and diversify research funding, but they also run counter to the culture and purpose of many research universities.
Research limitations/implications
Researchers interested in forging new partnerships to maximize impact might explore relationships with commercial entities but be aware that they are running counter to the grain of most institutions and goals. Other universities of different sizes, ages and orientations may have different results.
Practical implications
Building private partnerships requires different staffing and skill sets than traditional research. Guidance for staffing key roles and projects are provided.
Originality/value
This paper is a reflection on unique research initiative that generated revenue and helped shape a subfield of education.
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Xin Li, Verner Worm and Peihong Xie
The paper debunks Peter P. Li’s assertion that Yin-Yang is superior to any other cognitive frames or logical systems for paradox research. The purpose of this paper is to alert…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper debunks Peter P. Li’s assertion that Yin-Yang is superior to any other cognitive frames or logical systems for paradox research. The purpose of this paper is to alert the Chinese indigenous management researchers to the danger of Chinese exceptionalism and over-confidence.
Design/methodology/approach
To show that Peter P. Li’s assertion is doubtful, the authors identify the flaws in his analysis.
Findings
The authors find that there are three serious flaws in Peter P. Li’s analysis. First, there are four defects in the typology of cognitive frames he built in order to compare Yin-Yang with the others. Second, his understanding of dialectics in general and Hegelian dialectics in particular is flawed. And finally, without resorting to Yin-Yang, many scholars can develop theories that are equivalent to those derived from Yin-Yang.
Research limitations/implications
Due to the page limit, this paper only focuses on arguing that Yin-Yang is not superior to other cognitive frames or logical systems without going one step further to explain in which situations Yin-Yang are valuable and might be more suitable than others for helping us understand some research issues.
Practical implications
This paper implies that we should not blindly believe that the Chinese way of thinking and acting is superior to other people’s. Chinese people should be open-minded in the globalized era, not only promoting their own culture but also appreciating and learning from other cultures.
Social implications
The reduction of cultural exceptionalism and ethnocentrism can make cross-cultural communication and interaction smoother.
Originality/value
This paper is a rigorous critique on the “Yin-Yang being superior” assertion of Peter P. Li.
Elliot Bendoly and Mike Prietula
The purpose of this paper is to examine how training specific to a given operational task, and subsequent experiential learning, can heighten skill and hence shift the level of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how training specific to a given operational task, and subsequent experiential learning, can heighten skill and hence shift the level of workload at which individuals are most productively motivated.
Design/methodology/approach
To analyze these effects, a laboratory experiment was used involving a vehicle routing application and 156 managers exposed to a 2 × 3 complete treatment design. Both multi‐period objective in‐task data and subjective self reports are collected to tap into skill levels, actions and behavioral variables of interest.
Findings
In the absence of additional workload challenges, the paper finds that increases in skill may in fact significantly limit and in some cases actually degrade overall motivation, as well as objective performance.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations potentially stem from specific operationalizations of the factors studied as well as selectivity of the subject pool and the context (vehicle routing task).
Practical implications
The implications of the skill‐challenge‐motivation dynamics observed have direct repercussions for existing management models in which training and experience are viewed as having strictly monotonic benefits to performance. The implications also go far to promote more informed models of worker behavior in operations modeling that otherwise view performance as static or monotonically increasing based on experience.
Originality/value
This is believed to be the first study that has explicitly studied the inverted‐U dynamics stemming from the interplay of both skill and workload on motivation and performance, over a multi‐period framework of analysis.
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This article is concerned with the role of theory in explaining the inter‐industry variation of vertical integration (VI). Why, for example, is the world aluminium industry highly…
Abstract
This article is concerned with the role of theory in explaining the inter‐industry variation of vertical integration (VI). Why, for example, is the world aluminium industry highly integrated (Stukey, 1983) whereas the tin industry is not (Hennart, 1982)? The article is not concerned with explaining differences in the average level of VI across countries, although these are undoubtedly significant (Chandler and Daeins, 1980).