Susanne Hertz, Johny K. Johansson and Flip de Jager
Drawing on an in‐depth case study of the Volvo automobile company’s strategy in the early 1990s, before the Ford takeover in 1999, this paper demonstrates how policies designed to…
Abstract
Drawing on an in‐depth case study of the Volvo automobile company’s strategy in the early 1990s, before the Ford takeover in 1999, this paper demonstrates how policies designed to reduce inventory costs and slim the distribution pipeline can affect a business’ network of suppliers and distributors in unexpected ways. It also shows how the implementation of cost reducing reengineering projects naturally lead to sub‐optimization and a need to consider higher‐level processes. In the Volvo illustration a manufacturer’s reengineering of its distribution chain evolved into a complete recasting of its order fulfillment process, and an adoption of a process management structure. The paper traces the effects on the network of distributors and dealers and shows how Volvo’s new structure curtails the distribution role of foreign sales subsidiaries and shifts their tasks towards market analysis, demand forecasting and customer service in foreign markets. It also shows how a process management perspective impacts a firm’s value chain, marketing function and organizational structure. In the end, the case demonstrates how a division can cut costs and still become more customer‐oriented – and become a more valuable asset for a diversified corporation.
Details
Keywords
Grant Samkin and Lesley Stainbank
Positioned within a framework of challenges facing universities, this paper aims to focus on challenges faced by teachers of accounting as a business discipline to ensure it…
Abstract
Purpose
Positioned within a framework of challenges facing universities, this paper aims to focus on challenges faced by teachers of accounting as a business discipline to ensure it remains relevant in a fast-moving and changing environment.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on a variety of sources, this paper explores a number of issues surrounding teaching and learning in the current university environment. The seven papers that make up the special issue are located within a framework which is used to illustrate how each one contributes to the field. This paper is primarily discursive in nature.
Findings
The theoretical, methodological and empirical approaches used in the papers that make up this special issue are described. In addition, the paper suggests that to remain relevant, teaching and learning will remain an important area for future research.
Practical implications
This paper on teaching and learning is of interest to accounting teachers and researchers, university managers and members of the accounting profession.
Originality/value
This special issue provides a range of examples of research relevant to teaching and learning and sets an agenda for future research.
Details
Keywords
Chandan Kumar and A. Roy Choudhury
To calculate the volume deviation between a CAD model and built‐up part in 5‐axis laminated object manufacturing employing direct slicing with first‐order approximation.
Abstract
Purpose
To calculate the volume deviation between a CAD model and built‐up part in 5‐axis laminated object manufacturing employing direct slicing with first‐order approximation.
Design/methodology/approach
It is proposed here that the deviation between the CAD model and the built‐up part, which is normally calculated as a linear dimension in specific 2D sections of the CAD model, be treated as a volume (as it actually is), for higher accuracy in subsequent calculations. An algorithm has been developed and implemented for identification and calculation of volume deviation, considering all possibilities.
Findings
It has been conclusively shown that volume deviation consideration results in improved feature recognition and less approximation.
Research limitations/implications
Increase in complexity of the CAD model leads to a considerable increase in the volume deviation computation time. Future research in this area would focus on optimization and calculation of the slice heights based on volume deviation.
Practical implications
Calculation of volume deviation would help eliminate the loss of intricate features in a complex surface and thus improve feature recognition. Slice height calculations based on volume deviation would reduce the deviation between the actual model and the built‐up part.
Originality/value
A new method has been developed for the calculation of volume deviation that could be implemented in the rapid prototyping software packages so as to build prototypes with higher accuracy.
Details
Keywords
Paul Twomey and Richard Cadman
Agent‐based modelling is a bottom‐up approach to understanding systems which provides a powerful tool for analysing complex, non‐linear markets. The method involves creating…
Abstract
Agent‐based modelling is a bottom‐up approach to understanding systems which provides a powerful tool for analysing complex, non‐linear markets. The method involves creating artificial agents designed to mimic the attributes and behaviours of their real‐world counterparts. The system’s macro‐observable properties emerge as a consequence of these attributes and behaviours and the interactions between them. The simulation output may be potentially used for explanatory, exploratory and predictive purposes. The aim of this paper is to introduce the reader to some of the basic concepts and methods behind agent‐based modelling and to present some recent business applications of these tools, including work in the telecoms and media markets.
Details
Keywords
Robert Detmering, Anna Marie Johnson, Claudene Sproles, Samantha McClellan and Rosalinda Hernandez Linares
This paper aims to provide an introductory overview and selected annotated bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy across all library…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide an introductory overview and selected annotated bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy across all library types.
Design/methodology/approach
It introduces and annotates English-language periodical articles, monographs, dissertations and other materials on library instruction and information literacy published in 2014.
Findings
It provides information about each source, discusses the characteristics of current scholarship and highlights sources that contain unique or significant scholarly contributions.
Originality/value
The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.
Details
Keywords
Marko Grünhagen, Maria Jell-Ojobor, Julia E. Hess and Haroldo Monteiro da Silva Filho
This research links the global advance of the franchise model to the geohistorical foray of shopping malls through an empirical longitudinal study in the largest emerging market…
Abstract
Purpose
This research links the global advance of the franchise model to the geohistorical foray of shopping malls through an empirical longitudinal study in the largest emerging market in Latin America, Brazil.
Design/methodology/approach
We conducted an analysis of a multi-year set of qualitative interviews with the same franchised mall tenants (23 interviews in 2017 and 12 follow-up interviews in 2022) via an iterative procedure of transcript data coding and theme identification.
Findings
Shopping malls were key catalysts in the pre-pandemic growth of franchising in Brazil, yet during the pandemic, malls became liabilities. Attitudes towards malls as franchise hosts changed, flipping the mall perception from catalytic host to burdensome trap. Mall management companies, as key gatekeepers, deserve more research attention.
Originality/value
Our study reveals the detrimental role shopping malls, with their static rules and high cost structures, have played as franchise businesses struggled to survive during the global pandemic. While franchising represents one of the most influential retail business models today, shopping malls have been among the most important brick-and-mortar retail institutions since the 1950s. Jointly, they constitute a unique retail symbiosis with little attention in the academic literature.
Details
Keywords
Sedzani Musundwa and Olayinka Moses
This study investigates the progress of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Act 2003, and its associated Chartered Accountancy Profession Sector Code. In doing so…
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates the progress of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Act 2003, and its associated Chartered Accountancy Profession Sector Code. In doing so, we explore why B-BBEE affirmative action has not yet achieved the Code's representational intentions, including systemic subtleties inhibiting this success.
Design/methodology/approach
Using semi-structured interviews, we explore the lived experiences of Black aspirant Chartered Accountants (CAs) undertaking articles in global audit firms. The experiences are thematically analysed, embracing a comprehensive theoretical approach that encompasses professional and social closure, as well as boundary work, to adequately understand why affirmative transformational endeavours persistently face uphill tasks. The utilisation of multifaceted theorisation is deemed essential for a more nuanced portrayal of the intricacies inherent in the CA profession in South Africa.
Findings
The narratives presented by Black aspiring CAs unveil a complex web of exclusionary practices entrenched in institutionalised historical, professional, and social contexts. The multifaceted nature of closures, symbolised by racial, cultural, and linguistic factors, significantly impacts the experiences of Black trainees. The findings furthermore show that deliberate intervention beyond compliance with the Government’s framework is necessary for meaningful transformation.
Practical implications
The paper brings to the fore the current lived experiences of underrepresented Black CAs in global auditing firms. In doing so, these firms are empowered with incremental knowledge of the prevailing challenges and can thus make tangible improvements towards authentic transformation. Additionally, the results help in tracking the advancements made through affirmative action, acting as a feedback loop for future developments in transformation policy.
Originality/value
Contributing to the critical accounting literature, our study extends scholarship on the barriers faced by CAs and the limitations in their capacity to challenge these obstacles within global audit firms. We offer practical policy-focused recommendations that, if implemented, can address the complex socio-political realities obstructing the success of affirmative action. By sharing first-hand accounts, our study aims to empower auditing firms and other related stakeholders with actionable insights, enabling them to improve genuine inclusivity and foster equitable representation in the accounting profession.
Details
Keywords
R. Blancquaert, Bob Turnbull, G. Forster, Lorna Cullen, Boguslaw Herod, Steve Muckett and James Lawson
ISHM‐Benelux held its 1987 Autumn Conference on 29 October, at the Antwerp Crest Hotel. This one‐day meeting focused on applications of hybrid circuit technology in various fields…
Abstract
ISHM‐Benelux held its 1987 Autumn Conference on 29 October, at the Antwerp Crest Hotel. This one‐day meeting focused on applications of hybrid circuit technology in various fields of electronic and related industries.
Helge Fischer, Linda Heise, Matthias Heinz, Kathrin Moebius and Thomas Koehler
The purpose of this paper is to introduce methodology and findings of a trend study in the field of e-learning. The overall interest of the study was the analysis of scientific…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce methodology and findings of a trend study in the field of e-learning. The overall interest of the study was the analysis of scientific e-learning discourses. What comes next in the field of academic e-learning? Which e-learning trends dominate the discourse at universities? Answering such questions is the basis for the adaptation of service strategies and IT-infrastructures within institutions of higher education.
Design/methodology/approach
Which e-learning formats dominate the current scientific discourse? To answer this question, a trend study based on a content analysis was performed. The abstracts of 427 scientific articles of leading German-speaking e-learning conferences Gesellschaft für Medien in der Wissenschaft and E-Learning-Fachtagungen der Gesellschaft für Informatik e. V. (GMW and DeLFI) – published from 2007 to 2013 – were examined. A category scheme was derived from the Horizon Report. The category scheme then was gradually expanded and adapted to the data material during the investigation.
Findings
This paper found that the detailed analysis of the frequency distribution over the seven years reflects the intensity of scientific discussion towards e-learning trends within the investigation period, and conclusions about the didactical or technical potentials of innovations can be drawn because both conferences are different in terms of their objective. The authors also classified the life stages of selected innovations based on the Gartner hype cycles, and the striking findings of the study will be formulated in the form of assumptions, which reflect the development potential of learning management, mobile learning, virtual worlds, e-portfolio, social media and Massive Open Online Courses in German Higher Education.
Research limitations/implications
Only abstracts of the selected contributions were investigated. Errors in the category allocation due to unclear terminology cannot be excluded. Organisers of the investigated conferences often define the (main) topics. This influenced the spectrum of represented topics overall, as well as the focus of individual contributions. The above-presented study was conducted at German-speaking conferences and, therefore, reflects the situation in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. No conclusions about actors or institutional relationships can be made, in contrast to the original assumptions of discourse analysis. The categorial classification of contributions does not allow any conclusions about the quality of the discourse.
Originality/value
The study shows how proceedings of scientific conferences can be used for trend studies. It became clear that discourse analytical studies can be used complementary to other methods of future studies. The advantage of this methodology lies mainly in the easy access to the text material, as conference proceedings are mostly available online. In addition, the analysis of large amounts of data (or texts) can be greatly facilitated by use of digital technologies (e.g. by automatic analysis of keyword). This paper makes an important contribution to the diffusion of digital media in higher education.
Details
Keywords
Multiple research studies show a positive correlation between library usage and student retention. At the same time, no formal research studies focusing on the effect of library…
Abstract
Purpose
Multiple research studies show a positive correlation between library usage and student retention. At the same time, no formal research studies focusing on the effect of library usage on LGBT student persistence and retention exist. The purpose of this paper is to provide information about today’s LGBT undergraduates, their personal and academic needs, and how academic libraries may meet those needs.
Design/methodology/approach
The author will challenge the grand narrative perpetuated by LGBT librarians that “libraries save [LGBT] lives” through a review of existing research literature on LGBT undergraduates and their personal and academic needs, where libraries play a role in LGBT undergraduate life, and whether or not academic libraries actually meet those needs.
Findings
No formal research studies on how libraries play a role in the retention of LGBT undergraduates exist. While LGBT undergraduates share many similarities with their peers, they seek out resources and spaces that the library may be able to provide independently or through collaborations with other units on campus. The existence of campus LGBT resource centers may impact LGBT undergraduate use of libraries.
Practical implications
The author will provide suggestions for academic libraries to create appropriate resources, services, and spaces for LGBT undergraduates so that they persist at their institutions and graduate.
Originality/value
This is the first research paper to address the role that academic libraries play in LGBT student retention.