Most traditional navigational design techniques do not provide a good mechanism for dealing with the complexity of the navigational path of multimedia hypertext (or hypermedia…
Abstract
Most traditional navigational design techniques do not provide a good mechanism for dealing with the complexity of the navigational path of multimedia hypertext (or hypermedia) systems, such as a multimedia page on the Web. When the number of pages (or nodes) of the hypermedia system grows, the links among these pages increase factorially. This makes the navigation structure diagram of a small 20‐page Web site almost impossible to read, maintain, expand and reuse. In addition, most of these techniques do not provide formal instruction, or a step‐by‐step guideline, for users to support their development of hypermedia systems. This paper, therefore, aims to introduce, step‐by‐step, a new graph‐based navigational design technique, the Navigational Graph, together with a new set of notation. It provides systems developers to visualise and manipulate the navigational structures of Web sites. This technique improves the reusability, maintainability, decomposability, readability and expandability of the development of Web sites in terms of navigational design. This paper also attempts to address the problem of lack of guidelines for users to design and document their Web sites.
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Yaw A. Debrah and Ian G. Smith
Presents over sixty abstracts summarising the 1999 Employment Research Unit annual conference held at the University of Cardiff. Explores the multiple impacts of globalization on…
Abstract
Presents over sixty abstracts summarising the 1999 Employment Research Unit annual conference held at the University of Cardiff. Explores the multiple impacts of globalization on work and employment in contemporary organizations. Covers the human resource management implications of organizational responses to globalization. Examines the theoretical, methodological, empirical and comparative issues pertaining to competitiveness and the management of human resources, the impact of organisational strategies and international production on the workplace, the organization of labour markets, human resource development, cultural change in organisations, trade union responses, and trans‐national corporations. Cites many case studies showing how globalization has brought a lot of opportunities together with much change both to the employee and the employer. Considers the threats to existing cultures, structures and systems.
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Yancy Toh, Wei Loong David Hung, Paul Meng-Huat Chua, Sujin He and Azilawati Jamaludin
The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the dialectical interplay between centralisation and decentralisation forces so as to understand how schools leverage on its autonomous…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the dialectical interplay between centralisation and decentralisation forces so as to understand how schools leverage on its autonomous pedagogical space, influence the diffusion of innovations in the educational landscape of Singapore and how a centralised-decentralised system supports (or impedes) pedagogical reform for twenty-first century learning.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper first outlines the evolutionary stance of Singapore’s decentralisation from its past to present trajectories, thus providing a broader social-historical interpretation to its tight-loose-tight coupling of the education system; followed by situating the context of reform within the national narrative of Ministry of Education’s (MOE) twenty-first century competencies framework. The authors examine how school autonomy should be accompanied by systemic enabling mechanisms, through two case illustrations of whole-school reforms.
Findings
There are four carryover effects that the authors have observed: structural, socio-cultural, economic and epistemic. Middle managers from the two schools act as a pedagogical, socio-technological and financial broker outside the formal collaborative structures organised by the MOE. Such a “middle-out” approach, complemented by centralised mechanisms for “coeval sensing mechanism”, has resulted in boundary-spanning linkages and multiplier effects in terms of knowledge spillovers.
Research limitations/implications
Socio-cultural context matters; and what constitutes as co-learning between policymakers and practitioners in Singapore may be construed as policing that stifles innovations in other contexts.
Originality/value
In addition to the conceptualisation of how school autonomy may lead to school-based innovations, the paper provided some preliminary empirical evidence of how the co-production of knowledge has been engendered within, across and beyond individual Singapore schools through the mechanism of innovation diffusion. The unit of analysis is innovation ecosystem.
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GEORGE OFORI and SWEE LEAN CHAN
Construction companies have several possible growth paths to follow in their effort to develop. Studies show that the appropriate approach depends on the features of the company…
Abstract
Construction companies have several possible growth paths to follow in their effort to develop. Studies show that the appropriate approach depends on the features of the company and the prevailing economic conditions, and support measures and incentives. This paper reports the results of a study on the paths which construction enterprises in Singapore have adopted since 1980. The main basis of the study was a mailed questionnaire survey. It was found that most local contractors have grown by working at home, either as main contractors or as specialist subcontractors. Some theoretical implications of the findings are outlined. Recommendations are offered on appropriate growth paths for Singaporean contractors under various circumstances.
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Ceramic materials and glasses have become important in modern industry as well as in the consumer environment. Heat resistant ceramics are used in the metal forming processes or…
Abstract
Purpose
Ceramic materials and glasses have become important in modern industry as well as in the consumer environment. Heat resistant ceramics are used in the metal forming processes or as welding and brazing fixtures, etc. Ceramic materials are frequently used in industries where a wear and chemical resistance are required criteria (seals, liners, grinding wheels, machining tools, etc.). Electrical, magnetic and optical properties of ceramic materials are important in electrical and electronic industries where these materials are used as sensors and actuators, integrated circuits, piezoelectric transducers, ultrasonic devices, microwave devices, magnetic tapes, and in other applications. A significant amount of literature is available on the finite element modelling (FEM) of ceramics and glass. This paper gives a listing of these published papers and is a continuation of the author's bibliography entitled “Finite element modelling of ceramics and glass” and published in Engineering Computations, Vol. 16, 1999, pp. 510‐71 for the period 1977‐1998.
Design/methodology/approach
The form of the paper is a bibliography. Listed references have been retrieved from the author's database, MAKEBASE. Also Compendex has been checked. The period is 1998‐2004.
Findings
Provides a listing of 1,432 references. The following topics are included: ceramics – material and mechanical properties in general, ceramic coatings and joining problems, ceramic composites, piezoceramics, ceramic tools and machining, material processing simulations, fracture mechanics and damage, applications of ceramic/composites in engineering; glass – material and mechanical properties in general, glass fiber composites, material processing simulations, fracture mechanics and damage, and applications of glasses in engineering.
Originality/value
This paper makes it easy for professionals working with the numerical methods with applications to ceramics and glasses to be up‐to‐date in an effective way.