Francisco Barros, Susana Aguiar, Pedro J. Sousa, António Cachaço, Nuno V. Ramos, Paulo Tavares, P.M.G. Moreira, Luís Oliveira Santos, Min Xu and Elsa Franco
Part of the runway at Madeira Airport is a platform above the sea at a 60 m height, supported by a series of frames. When aircraft land on this section, a load is exerted on the…
Abstract
Purpose
Part of the runway at Madeira Airport is a platform above the sea at a 60 m height, supported by a series of frames. When aircraft land on this section, a load is exerted on the structure, resulting in bending of the beams which constitute the frames. A vision-based monitoring system was devised and implemented to measure the deflection of the runway's beams when a landing occurs.
Design/methodology/approach
An area on the midspan of two beams, located on the area where aircraft are most likely to land, was prepared with a speckle pattern, and a camera was assembled above a column on each of the adjacent frames, enabling the computation of displacements using digital image correlation (DIC). The camera continuously acquires images of the monitored area and compares them to a reference using DIC. If a displacement is detected, a number of frames before and after this event are saved for further DIC processing.
Findings
The installed systems successfully detected several events corresponding to landings and, for each of those events, measured the deflection of the beams over time and computed displacement fields for critical images, with strain values obtained up to this point being too small to measure using the current system.
Originality/value
This work provides novel insights into the behaviour of a unique structure and constitutes the first use of a vision system in its structural monitoring operations. It is also a valuable development in the implementation of automated DIC monitoring systems in locations of difficult access.
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Małgorzata Pawłowska, Krzysztof Gajewski and Wojciech Rogowski
The aim of this study is to understand the determinants of relationship between banks and nonfinancial corporations within Poland (which are considered relationship banking from…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study is to understand the determinants of relationship between banks and nonfinancial corporations within Poland (which are considered relationship banking from this point onward).
Design/methodology/approach
The main sources of data used in the study are the large credit database (credit register of the National Bank of Poland (NBP)) and other aggregated data, including data from the Warsaw Stock Exchange and the NBP. Econometric panel logit methods have been used to test how different factors affect bank–firm relationships. Three main groups of factors have been investigated: the characteristics of the firm (i.e., size, ownership type, and R&D activity); the characteristics of the financial sector (i.e., competition in the banking sector); and macroeconomic conditions.
Findings
The findings demonstrate that Polish firms readily establish single-bank relationships, and firms with the highest quality of credit portfolios borrow often from multiple creditors. All conducted estimations demonstrated that the relationship between financing from a single bank and from foreign capital had a positive sign. Also, a decrease in concentration in the banking sector, which may be identified with an increase in competition, supports the establishment of relationship banking.
Research limitations/implications
The study was performed using the data from large exposure database collected for supervisory purposes. Exposures (credits, derivatives, etc.) larger than 500 thousand PLN (approx. 120 thousand EUR) were only considered. Future research on bank–firm relationships should focus on the influence of financing costs, maintaining relationships when the borrower is in a difficult financial position, and other unique features of banks using the strategy of relationship financing.
Practical implications
The understanding of the characteristics of bank–firm relationships can help to improve banking practice and supervisory policy in Poland.
Originality/value
This study makes a noticeable contribution to the understanding of the banking sector and its relationships with nonfinancial corporations in Poland. It is the first empirical study on such a large sample of panel data from Polish banking sector and industries, too.
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Paras Kanojia and Gurcharan Singh
This paper empirically explored the influence of external and internal factors on technological and non-technological innovation of 5747 Indian firms. The study also explored…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper empirically explored the influence of external and internal factors on technological and non-technological innovation of 5747 Indian firms. The study also explored novel insights about manufacturing firms by segregating them into high-technology and low-technology industries.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employed hierarchical regression analysis to analyse a cross-sectional dataset gathered from the World Bank enterprise survey. The firms are segregated into high-technology and low-technology industries based on the technology-intensity classification of the manufacturing industry given by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Findings
The main results highlight that technological and non-technological innovation was primarily driven by internal resources and capabilities rather than external factors. The authors found the highest effect of research and development spending on both forms of innovation. In both high-tech and low-tech industries, technology transfer is positively associated with technological innovation and negatively associated with non-technological innovation. Furthermore, external business support has substantially influenced non-technological innovation in low-tech industries.
Originality/value
This study used two-step hierarchical regression to explore the influence of external and internal factors on technological and non-technological innovation separately. Exploring determinants of innovation in high-technology and low-technology industries also brings the distinct prerequisites of enhancing innovation to the attention of policymakers and industry experts.
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Riccardo Bellofiore and Scott Carter
Resurgent interest in the life and work of the Italian Cambridge economist Piero Sraffa is leading to New Directions in Sraffa Scholarship. This chapter introduces readers to some…
Abstract
Resurgent interest in the life and work of the Italian Cambridge economist Piero Sraffa is leading to New Directions in Sraffa Scholarship. This chapter introduces readers to some of these developments. First and perhaps foremost is the fact that as of September 2016 Sraffa’s archival material has been uploaded onto the website of the Wren Library, Trinity College, Cambridge University, as digital colour images; this chapter introduces readers to the history of these events. This history provides sharp relief on the extant debates over the role of the archival material in leading to the final publication of Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities, and readers are provided a brief sketch of these matters. The varied nature of Sraffa scholarship is demonstrated by the different aspects of Sraffa’s intellectual legacy which are developed and discussed in the various entries of our Symposium. The conclusion is reached that we are on the cusp of an exciting phase change of tremendous potential in Sraffa scholarship.
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Johanna Sumiala, Katja Valaskivi, Minttu Tikka and Jukka Huhtamäki
Hannah R. Marston, Linda Shore, Laura Stoops and Robbie S. Turner
Sharon Esquerre-Botton, Aldo Alvarez-Risco, Luigi Leclercq-Machado, Maria de las Mercedes Anderson-Seminario and Shyla Del-Aguila-Arcentales
Business models are constantly innovating to adopt international trends. Business models are shifting toward sustainable practices to meet expectations and standards and keep on…
Abstract
Business models are constantly innovating to adopt international trends. Business models are shifting toward sustainable practices to meet expectations and standards and keep on with the rest of the competitors in their industries. Recently, sustainability took a greater emphasis, and this chapter seeks to describe the main sustainability initiatives generated in international markets. Through a qualitative study made of secondary sources, strategies aligned to different sustainability initiatives are shown. Interestingly, adopting technology, digital transformation, and blockchain can enhance sustainable development.
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Elizabeth Breeze, Nicola Jean Hart, Dag Aarsland, Catherine Moody and Carol Brayne
– The purpose of this paper is to scope potential and gaps in European cohort studies with focus on brain ageing and neurodegeneration.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to scope potential and gaps in European cohort studies with focus on brain ageing and neurodegeneration.
Design/methodology/approach
Combined and augmented two scoping exercises conducted for European Union Joint Programme on Neurodegenerative Diseases (JPND) and the Alzheimer Society UK.
Findings
In total, 106 cohorts initially identified with a further 52 found on second sweep. Strengths include gender balance, diversity of measures and much detail on health and health behaviours, and lifecourse representation. Major gaps identified were the oldest old, non-Caucasians, people in Eastern Europe, migrant populations, rural residents and people in long-term care. Quality of life, psychosocial and environmental factors were limited. Relatively few cohorts are population representative. Analytical methods for combining studies and longitudinal analysis require careful consideration.
Research limitations/implications
European studies and published information only.
Practical implications
Collaboration across disciplines and studies, greater dissemination of methods and findings will improve knowledge about cognitive and functional decline in current and future older populations.
Social implications
Better understanding of brain ageing and the dementia syndrome will improve investment decisions for primary, secondary and tertiary prevention.
Originality/value
Building on the work of JPND and the Alzheimer Society is the first study of the scope and limitations of current cohorts in Europe. It is designed to help researchers and policy makers in their planning.
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Francine Richer and Louis Jacques Filion
Shortly before the Second World War, a woman who had never accepted her orphan status, Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, nicknamed ‘Little Coco’ by her father and known as ‘Coco’ to her…
Abstract
Shortly before the Second World War, a woman who had never accepted her orphan status, Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, nicknamed ‘Little Coco’ by her father and known as ‘Coco’ to her relatives, became the first women in history to build a world-class industrial empire. By 1935, Coco, a fashion designer and industry captain, was employing more than 4,000 workers and had sold more than 28,000 dresses, tailored jackets and women's suits. Born into a poor family and raised in an orphanage, she enjoyed an intense social life in Paris in the 1920s, rubbing shoulders with artists, creators and the rising stars of her time.
Thanks to her entrepreneurial skills, she was able to innovate in her methods and in her trendsetting approach to fashion design and promotion. Coco Chanel was committed and creative, had the soul of an entrepreneur and went on to become a world leader in a brand new sector combining fashion, accessories and perfumes that she would help shape. By the end of her life, she had redefined French elegance and revolutionized the way people dressed.