Search results
1 – 10 of 59John Devapriam, Lammata Raju, Niraj Singh, Richard Collacott and Sabyasachi Bhaumik
The prevalence rate of arson in offenders with intellectual disabilities (ID) has been reported to be higher than that in the general population. This retrospective study focuses…
Abstract
The prevalence rate of arson in offenders with intellectual disabilities (ID) has been reported to be higher than that in the general population. This retrospective study focuses on examining the characteristics of offenders with ID and the range of identified reasons for the index offence. The findings indicate a higher prevalence of arson in this population, along with the fact that the majority of people with ID who have committed arson tend to bypass the Criminal Justice System. A significant number are likely to repeat the behaviour and will also commit other offences. The most common reason for arson appears to be revenge, closely followed by suggestibility. The majority had an associated diagnosis of personality disorders along with an Axis 1 psychiatric diagnosis. Other factors include large family size, history of childhood psychiatric disorders, abuse, homelessness, unemployment and relationship difficulties.
Bhathika Perera, Abdul Shaikh and Niraj Singh
The literature on the use of Community Treatment Orders (CTOs) is primarily focused on people without intellectual disabilities. This paper aims to explore how CTOs are used in…
Abstract
Purpose
The literature on the use of Community Treatment Orders (CTOs) is primarily focused on people without intellectual disabilities. This paper aims to explore how CTOs are used in people with intellectual disability in the UK.
Design/methodology/approach
An audit was conducted among Consultant Psychiatrists in intellectual disability psychiatry in Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust. Each consultant was asked to provide information on demographic data of their patients on CTOs, reasons for being on a CTO, conditions specified, patients' capacity to consent and their understanding of their CTOs. Conditions of CTOs were analysed using thematic analysis.
Findings
There were 17 CTOs done for patients with intellectual disability from November 2008 to May 2011. Mean age was 38 with a range of 20‐59. All patients had a mild or moderate intellectual disability. Only a small percentage of patients had a diagnosis of schizophrenia. More than 50 per cent had a diagnosis of pervasive developmental disorder (PDD). All patients had behavioural problems as a reason for being on a CTO. About one third of patients did not have any understanding of their CTOs. Themes of conditions were focused on providing a structured life to prevent relapse of the mental disorder.
Originality/value
This paper highlights that CTOs are used differently in the intellectual disability population. CTOs are adapted to use for patients with behavioural challenges and PDD in an intellectual disability population. This contrasts with its common use to manage non‐compliance with medication in patients with schizophrenia in the general adult population. This paper also suggests the main themes of conditions which clinicians can use when deciding on CTO conditions.
Details
Keywords
The specific purpose of this article is to describe customer profitability analysis and evaluate its compatibility with quality management systems. Besides, its more general…
Abstract
Purpose
The specific purpose of this article is to describe customer profitability analysis and evaluate its compatibility with quality management systems. Besides, its more general objective consists in shedding further light on the links between management accounting and quality management, which is still an emerging topic.
Design/methodology/approach
The first part of the document presents a theoretical description of the disciplines and tools that are relevant to the study. Afterward, an explanation of the way in which customer profitability analysis is operationalized in practice is provided. Subsequently, a framework for the incorporation of customer profitability analysis into a quality management system is introduced. The final section includes some recommendations for future research.
Findings
Through the analysis of the benefits of the incorporation of customer profitability analysis into an ISO 9000 model, the study provides further support to the premise that the joint consideration of management accounting techniques and quality management tools is beneficial to organizations.
Originality/value
The article combines two disciplines closely related in practice but seldom concurrently addressed in the literature.
Details
Keywords
Vibhav Singh, Niraj Kumar Vishvakarma, Hoshiar Mal and Vinod Kumar
E-commerce companies use different types of dark patterns to manipulate choices and earn higher revenues. This study aims to evaluate and prioritize dark patterns used by…
Abstract
Purpose
E-commerce companies use different types of dark patterns to manipulate choices and earn higher revenues. This study aims to evaluate and prioritize dark patterns used by e-commerce companies to determine which dark patterns are the most profitable and risky.
Design/methodology/approach
The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) prioritizes the observed categories of dark patterns based on the literature. Several corporate and academic specialists were consulted to create a comparison matrix to assess the elements of the detected dark pattern types.
Findings
Economic indicators are the most significant aspect of every business. Consequently, many companies use manipulative methods such as dark patterns to boost their revenue. The study revealed that the revenue generated by the types of dark patterns varies greatly. It was found that exigency, social proof, forced action and sneaking generate the highest revenues, whereas obstruction and misdirection create only marginal revenues for an e-commerce company.
Research limitations/implications
The limitation of the AHP study is that the rating scale used in the analysis is conceptual. Consequentially, pairwise comparisons may induce bias in the results.
Practical implications
This paper suggests methodical and operational techniques to choose the priority of dark patterns to drive profits with minimum tradeoffs. The dark pattern ranking technique might be carried out by companies once a year to understand the implications of any new dark patterns used.
Originality/value
The advantages of understanding the trade-offs of implementing dark patterns are massive. E-commerce companies can optimize their spent time and resources by implementing the most beneficial dark patterns and avoiding the ones that drive marginal profits and annoy consumers.
Details
Keywords
Vibhav Singh, Niraj Kumar Vishvakarma and Vinod Kumar
E-commerce companies use dark patterns to manipulate customer decisions to survive in the crowded online market and make profit. Although some online customers are aware of the…
Abstract
Purpose
E-commerce companies use dark patterns to manipulate customer decisions to survive in the crowded online market and make profit. Although some online customers are aware of the dark patterns, they cannot overcome such manipulations. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify and model the barriers to overcoming dark patterns using total interpretive structural modeling (TISM).
Design/methodology/approach
Barriers to overcoming dark patterns were identified from the extant literature and were validated by a panel of 18 domain experts. In the modeling phase, TISM technique was used to identify the relationships between the barriers and assign priority to the barriers. Finally, the barriers were plotted and classified into three categories.
Findings
User unawareness, trust in brands and normalization of aggressive marketing were found to be the highest priority barriers. Whereas, designer bias, user fatigue, short-term user benefits and design complexity were identified as the most challenging barriers because they have least dependence over the other barriers.
Research limitations/implications
Because TISM results are based on the opinion of domain experts, other statistical techniques could be applied for validation.
Practical implications
This study would educate online customers, while assisting online user communities and regulatory bodies to devise strategies to overcome dark patterns. Additionally, business managers could use the study’s findings to encourage designers to embrace ethical design methods as a competitive advantage.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the research as it is first of its kind to examine the link between dark pattern barriers.
Details
Keywords
Rohit Kumar Singh, Surendra Kansara and Niraj Kumar Vishwakarma
The aim of this paper is to identify the criteria that are used for vendor or supplier rating, prioritize these criteria based on the industry inputs and develop a vendor rating…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to identify the criteria that are used for vendor or supplier rating, prioritize these criteria based on the industry inputs and develop a vendor rating model. The data were collected from an Indian start-up working in product development using three-dimensional printing (3DP).
Design/methodology/approach
Factors of importance for vendor rating were identified through industry visits, and interacting with the industry experts from the start-up under consideration, substantiated by extensive review of relevant literature. A questionnaire-based survey was carried out to further narrow down the factors important to the industry, prioritizing them with a pairwise comparison analysis as envisaged in the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) technique along with the calculation of consistency ratios. Technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) methodology was further used for data aggregation.
Findings
This research brought forward the criteria that are useful for rating vendors or suppliers with reference to 3DP sector.
Originality/value
This paper integrates AHP and TOPSIS to solve a multi-criteria vendor rating problem. The attempt was made to make vendor rating process universal so that it can encompass all the vendors of the firm.
Details
Keywords
Sarbjit Kaur, Niraj Bala and Charu Khosla
The biomaterials are natural or synthetic materials used to improve quality of life either by replacing tissue/organ or assisting their function in medical field. The purpose of…
Abstract
Purpose
The biomaterials are natural or synthetic materials used to improve quality of life either by replacing tissue/organ or assisting their function in medical field. The purpose of the study is to analyze the hydroxyapatite (HAP), HAP-TiO2 (25 percent) composite coatings deposited on 316 LSS by High Velocity Flame Spray (HVFS) technique.
Design/methodology/approach
The coatings exhibit almost uniform and dense microstructure with porosity (HAP = 0.153 and HAP-TiO2 composite = 0.138). Electrochemical corrosion testing was done on the uncoated and coated specimens in Ringer solution (SBF). As-sprayed coatings were characterized by XRD, SEM/EDS and cross-sectional X-ray mapping techniques before and after dipping in Ringer solution. Microhardness of composite coating (568.8 MPa) was found to be higher than HAP coating (353 MPa).
Findings
During investigations, it was observed that the corrosion resistance of steel was found to have increased after the deposition of HAP and HAP-TiO2 composite coatings. Thus, coatings serve as an effective diffusion barrier to prohibit the diffusion of ions from the SBF into the substrate. Composite coatings have been found to be more corrosion resistant as compared to HAP coating in the simulated body fluid.
Research limitations/implications
It has been concluded that corrosion resistance of HAP as well as composite coating is because of the desirable microstructural changes such as low porosity high microhardness and flat splat structures in coatings as compared to bare specimen.
Practical implications
This study is useful in the selection of biomedical implants.
Social implications
This study is useful in the field of biomaterials.
Originality/value
No reported literature on corrosion behavior of HAP+ 25%- TiO2 has been noted till now using flame spray technique. The main focus of the study is to investigate the HAP as well as composite coatings for biomedical applications.
Details
Keywords
Niraj Kumar Vishwakarma, Rohit Kumar Singh and R.R.K. Sharma
The technology used by an organization is significantly influenced by the organization’s preferred competitive capabilities. The Internet of things (IoT) is an important…
Abstract
Purpose
The technology used by an organization is significantly influenced by the organization’s preferred competitive capabilities. The Internet of things (IoT) is an important technology, which is implemented by most prominent business organizations. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between an organization’s strategies and the IoT architectures implemented by the organization.
Design/methodology/approach
This study has been carried out on primary data collected with the help of a structured questionnaire. The data have been analyzed by statistical techniques like cluster analysis and discriminant analysis through SPSS.
Findings
The empirical investigation of data revealed that there is a relationship between organizational strategy and IoT architectures. The three-layered architecture of the IoT is most suitable for caretakers; the three-, four- or five- layered architectures are suitable for marketeers; whereas innovators find it more suitable to use five- or more-layered architecture of the IoT. This paper draws the conclusion based on maximum likelihood rather than using statistical analyses like ANOVA. The idea behind using the maximum likelihood estimate is that there are many subjective parameters in deciding the architectures of the IoT. These subjective parameters are difficult to quantify, so it is not possible to apply ANOVA on these parameters.
Research limitations/implications
This study considers three organizational strategies; the relationship between other organizational strategies and IoT architecture will be studied in future.
Practical implications
This study offers multiple opportunities to practitioners and consulting firms of the IoT to adopt a suitable IoT architecture according to the organizational strategy. This study equips IoT development engineers to select suitable technology for data capturing, data transmission, and data management and access for an IoT architecture.
Originality/value
Although a lot of work has already been done on the architecture of IoT for different industries and businesses, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that relates organizational strategies to IoT architectures. This study applies to all the major industry types.
Details
Keywords
Hoshiar Mal, Manishkumar Varma and Niraj Kumar Vishvakarma
The use of natural resources by organizations has a significant impact on society, resulting in business firms playing a vital role in developing sustainable development. As a…
Abstract
Purpose
The use of natural resources by organizations has a significant impact on society, resulting in business firms playing a vital role in developing sustainable development. As a result, corporate sustainability has become an integral aspect of a company’s vision and policy in the modern days. Companies issue sustainability reports based on various criteria and metrics, thereby attempting to gain a competitive edge. This study aims to assess and prioritize the numerous factors that influence corporate sustainability performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is used to prioritize the identified determinants of corporate sustainability performance based on the literature. Several experts from business and academia were engaged to build a comparison matrix for assessing the various aspects of corporate sustainability performance. As a result, various corporate sustainability determinants were determined and prioritized following an extensive literature review using the AHP.
Findings
The most critical component for companies is an economic indicator. Developing environmentally and socially responsible suggestions must be a priority for the organization’s economic performance. Economic performance is believed to be most heavily influenced by innovation and in the other category like environmental and social performance are highly influenced by environment management policies and shareholder responsibility, respectively. Researchers’ findings suggest that to promote sustainability, top executives should devote all of their attention to innovation, environment management policies and shareholder responsibility.
Research limitations/implications
These studies are primarily concerned with developed countries. And, the other fundamental constraint of the AHP study is that the rating scale adopted in the analysis is conceptual. Therefore, pairwise comparisons with a variety of indicators have the potential to introduce bias into the results.
Practical implications
This paper proposes a methodical and operational technique for selecting the ultimate priority of sustainability indicators when it comes to exploiting competitive information on business performance. The paper also recommended sustainability rating technique might be carried out once every six months to improve the overall quality and performance of the organization.
Originality/value
The advantages of adopting and executing corporate sustainability are enormous, and managers must determine whether sustainability is profitable or not. This question prompts further inquiries. For example, what are the numerous critical determinants of corporate sustainability performance? Several scholars throughout the world are looking at it for this reason. As a result, it is essential to comprehend and prioritize the various determinants of corporate sustainability performance.
Details
Keywords
Amita Rani, Niraj Bala and C.M. Gupta
Hot corrosion is the major degradation mechanism of failure of boiler and gas turbine components. The present work aims to investigate the hot corrosion resistance of detonation…
Abstract
Purpose
Hot corrosion is the major degradation mechanism of failure of boiler and gas turbine components. The present work aims to investigate the hot corrosion resistance of detonation gun sprayed (D-gun) Cr2O3-75 per cent Al2O3 ceramic coating on ASTM-SA210-A1 boiler steel.
Design/methodology/approach
The coating exhibits nearly uniform, adherent and dense microstructure with porosity less than 0.8 per cent. Thermogravimetry technique is used to study the high temperature hot corrosion behavior of bare and coated boiler steel in molten salt environment (Na2SO4-60 per cent V2O5) at high temperature 900°C for 50 cycles. The corrosion products are analyzed by using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and field emission scanning electron microscope/energy-dispersive analysis (EDAX) to reveal their microstructural and compositional features for elucidating the corrosion mechanisms.
Findings
During investigations, it was found that the Cr2O3-75 per cent Al2O3 coating on Grade A-1 boiler steel is found to be very effective in decreasing the corrosion rate in the molten salt environment at 900°C. The coating has shown lesser weight gains along with better adhesiveness of the oxide scales with the substrate till the end of the experiment. Thus, coatings serve as an effective diffusion barrier to preclude the diffusion of oxygen from the environment into the substrate boiler steel.
Research limitations/implications
Therefore, it is concluded that the better hot corrosion resistance of the coating is due to the formation of desirable microstructural features such as very low porosity, uniform fine grains and the flat splat structures in the coating; as compared to the bare substrate under cyclic conditions.
Practical implications
This research is useful for coal-fired boilers and other power plant boilers.
Social implications
This research is useful for power generation plants.
Originality/value
There is no reported literature on hot corrosion behavior of Cr2O3-75 per cent Al2O3 coating deposited on the selected substrates by D-gun spray technique. The present work has been focused to study the influence of the Cr2O3-75 per cent Al2O3 coating developed with D-gun spraying technique on high temperature corrosion behavior of ASTM-SA210-A-1 boiler steel in an aggressive environment of Na2SO4-60 per cent V2O5 molten salt at 900°C under cyclic conditions.
Details