Tony Cragg, Tom McNamara, Irena Descubes and Frank Guerin
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how small manufacturing firms develop and manage relationships with global suppliers and distributors. In so doing the authors aim to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how small manufacturing firms develop and manage relationships with global suppliers and distributors. In so doing the authors aim to contribute to knowledge about SMEs and supply chain management (SCM).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted 12 in-depth case studies of SME final assemblers of machinery in the French farm equipment sector.
Findings
The most effective form of global supply chain governance used by successful SMEs is informal networks involving managers in similar complementary firms, which serve to concatenate links with foreign suppliers and distributors.
Research limitations/implications
The principal limitation of this research is that it is specific to one sector and therefore questions of transferability are raised.
Practical implications
The important implication for managers in manufacturing SMEs is that links with other complementary local firms in the same sector need to be developed, leveraged and valued.
Originality/value
The originality of this case research is that the authors draw on inter-organisational boundaries, power asymmetries and network governance to develop a conceptual framework for the study of SMEs and global supply chains. By focusing on the perceptions of boundary-spanning managers, the authors show how, in circumstances of demand uncertainty, soft network governance is an effective strategic choice.
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Helmut Meisel and Ernesto Compatangelo
This paper describes an architecture for the usage of Instructional Design (ID) knowledge in intelligent instructional systems. In contrast with other architectures, ontologies…
Abstract
This paper describes an architecture for the usage of Instructional Design (ID) knowledge in intelligent instructional systems. In contrast with other architectures, ontologies are used to represent ID knowledge about both what to teach and how to teach. Moreover, set‐theoretic reasoning is used for the provision of inferential services. In particular, the paper shows how set‐theoretic deductions can be applied (i) to support the modelling of ID knowledge bases, (ii) to retrieve suitable teaching methods from them, and (iii) to detect errors in a training design. The intelligent knowledge management environment CONCEPTOOL is used to demonstrate the benefits of the proposed architecture.
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Juanita Ryan, Pauline B. Thompson Guerin, Fatuma Hussein Elmi and Bernard Guerin
The purpose of this paper is to review all the research on Somali refugee communities’ “explanatory models” of “mental health” or psychological suffering, and also report original…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review all the research on Somali refugee communities’ “explanatory models” of “mental health” or psychological suffering, and also report original research in order to allow for more contexts on their “mental health” terms to emerge.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors talked in a conversational manner with a small number (11) of Somali people (10 females and 1 male), but this was done intensively over time and on multiple occasions. They discussed their community terms for “mental health” issues but in their own contexts and with their own examples.
Findings
The results showed that Somali as a community had three main groupings of symptoms: Jinn or spirit possession; waali or “craziness”; and a group of terms for serious anxieties, rumination, worrying and thinking too much. What was new from their broader descriptions of context was that the community discourses were based on particular contexts of the person and their behavior within their life history, rather than aiming to universal categories like the DSM.
Practical implications
Both research and practice on mental health should focus less on universal diagnoses and more on describing the contexts in which the symptoms emerge and how to change those contexts, especially with refugee and other less well-understood groups.
Originality/value
The review and original results support symptom-based or contextual approaches to mental health; we should treat the “mental health” symptoms in their life contexts rather than as a disease or disorder. We can learn from how Somali describe their “mental health” symptoms rather than treat their descriptions as crude forms of the “correct” western diagnostics.
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Mathieu Guerin, Fayu Wan, Konstantin Gorshkov, Xiaoyu Huang, Bogdana Tishchuk, Frank Elliot Sahoa, George Chan, Sahbi Baccar, Wenceslas Rahajandraibe and Blaise Ravelo
The purpose of this paper is to provide the high-pass (HP) negative group delay (NGD) circuit based (RL) network. Synthesis and experimental investigation of HP-NGD circuit are…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide the high-pass (HP) negative group delay (NGD) circuit based (RL) network. Synthesis and experimental investigation of HP-NGD circuit are developed.
Design/methodology/approach
The research work methodology is organized in three phases. The definition of the HP-NGD ideal specifications is introduced. The synthesis method allowing to determine the RL elements is developed. The validation results are discussed with comparison between the calculated model, simulation and measurement.
Findings
This paper shows a validation of the HP-NGD theory with responses confirming NGD optimal frequency, value and attenuation of about (9 kHz, −1.12 µs, −1.64 dB) and (21 kHz, −0.92 µs, −4.81 dB) are measured. The tested circuits have experimented NGD cut-off frequencies around 5 and 11.7 kHz.
Research limitations/implications
The validity of the HP-NGD topology depends on the coil self-inductance resonance. The HP-NGD effect is susceptible to be penalized by the parasitic elements of the self.
Practical implications
The NGD circuit is usefully exploited in the electronic and communication system to reduce the undesired delay effect context. The NGD can be used to compensate the delay in any electronic devices and system.
Social implications
Applications based on the NGD technology will be helpful in the communication, transportation and security research fields by reducing the delay inherent to any electronic circuit.
Originality/value
The originality of the paper concerns the synthesis formulations of the RL elements in function of the expected HP-NGD optimal frequency, value and attenuation. In addition, an original measurement technique of HP-NGD is also introduced.
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Joanie Caron, Hugo Asselin, Jean-Michel Beaudoin and Doïna Muresanu
While companies in developed countries are increasingly turning to indigenous employees, integration measures have met with mixed results. Low integration can lead to breach of…
Abstract
Purpose
While companies in developed countries are increasingly turning to indigenous employees, integration measures have met with mixed results. Low integration can lead to breach of the psychological contract, i.e. perceived mutual obligations between employee and employer. The purpose of this paper is to identify how leadership and organizational integration measures can be implemented to promote the perceived insider status (PIS) of indigenous employees, thereby fostering fulfillment of the psychological contract.
Design/methodology/approach
A search for relevant literature yielded 128 texts used to identify integration measures at the level of employee–supervisor relationships (leader-member exchanges, inclusive leadership) and at the level of employee–organization relationships (perceived organizational support, pro-diversity practices).
Findings
Measures related to leadership included recruiting qualified leaders, understanding cultural particularities, integrating diverse contributions and welcoming questions and challenges. Organizational measures included reaching a critical mass of indigenous employees, promoting equity and participation, developing skills, assigning meaningful tasks, maintaining good work relationships, facilitating work-life balance, providing employment security, fostering support from communities and monitoring practices.
Originality/value
While PIS has been studied in western and culturally diverse contexts, it has received less attention in indigenous contexts. Yet, some indigenous cultural values are incompatible with the basic assumptions of mainstream theories. Furthermore, colonial policies and capitalist development have severely impacted traditional indigenous economic systems. Consequently, indigenous people are facing many barriers to employment in ways that often differ from the experiences of other minority groups.
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The purpose of this paper is to study how several brands like Poulain, Liebig and Guérin have helped to disseminate the French roman national through their chromolithographs at…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study how several brands like Poulain, Liebig and Guérin have helped to disseminate the French roman national through their chromolithographs at the beginning of the 20th century. By doing so, the paper highlights the participation of brands in the co-construction of the French roman national, a historical narrative that articulates state-supported collective memories.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 1,106 historical trade cards have been collected and analyzed. Historical studies of the roman national have been used as secondary sources to aid in the interpretation of the motifs conveyed in those chromolithographs.
Findings
Chromolithographic images produced by various brands at the beginning of the 20th century contributed to the roman national. They provide an ethnocentric, patriotic and linear view of history but are also crossed by political fault lines, opposing secular and Catholic visions of history.
Originality/value
The chromolithographs produced and disseminated by companies have so far only been analyzed as promotional tools, aimed at popularizing brands and stores. By studying roman national motifs, this paper helps us understand what role businesses have played in building other narratives and forging a national spirit.
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Jonathan Murphy and Hugh Willmott
The paper adopts an organizational perspective to explore the conditions of possibility of the recent re-emergence of overt class-based discourse on one hand, epitomized by the…
Abstract
The paper adopts an organizational perspective to explore the conditions of possibility of the recent re-emergence of overt class-based discourse on one hand, epitomized by the ‘We are the 99%’ movement, and the rise on the other hand of a populist, nativist and sometimes overtly fascist right. It is argued that these phenomena, reflecting the increasingly crisis-prone character of global capitalism, the growing gap between rich and poor and a generalized sense of insecurity, are rooted in the dismantling of socially embedded organizations through processes often described as ‘financialization’, driven by the taken-for-granted dominance of neoliberal ideology. The paper explores the rise to dominance of the neoliberal ‘thought style’ and its inherent logic in underpinning the dismantling and restructuring of capitalist organization. Its focus is upon transnational value chain capitalism which has rebalanced power relations in favour of a small elite that is able to operate and realize wealth in ways that defy and often succeed in escaping the regulation of nation states.
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David D. Franks and Jeff Davis
Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to be as comprehensive as possible about what is known about mirror neurons at this time.Design/methodology/approach – This chapter offers…
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to be as comprehensive as possible about what is known about mirror neurons at this time.
Design/methodology/approach – This chapter offers a comprehensive critique including Churchland's hesitations about findings on mirror neurons (2011) which are balanced by Ramachandran's conviction that much of the research on mirror neurons is valid (2011). Following this is a summary of the results of the Mirror Neuron Forum (2011) wherein leading mirror neuron researchers exchange their views and conclusions about this subject.
Findings – The few single cells measures that we have show that they are much wider distributed throughout the brain than we have previously imagined. It should be stressed that single measures of mirror neurons have occurred albeit in limited situations. This establishes once and for all their relevance to humans.
Originality/value – The work on mirror neurons is a critical contribution from neuroscience to bringing the social brain into sociology and refining our understandings of intersubjectivity and of our biologically driven connections with others.
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Xiaojun Chu and Yating Gu
This paper aims to enhance the predictability of stock returns. Existing studies have used investor sentiment to forecast stock returns. However, it is unclear whether…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to enhance the predictability of stock returns. Existing studies have used investor sentiment to forecast stock returns. However, it is unclear whether high-frequency intraday investor sentiment can enhance the forecasting performance of low-frequency stock returns.
Design/methodology/approach
Thus, we employ the MIDAS model and the high-frequency intraday sentiment extracted from the Internet stock forum to forecast Chinese A-shares returns at daily frequency.
Findings
The results illustrate that high-frequency sentiment data are better than daily sentiment data in predicting daily stock returns, and the sentiment in non-trading hours has been proved superior to those in trading hours.
Originality/value
First, our study adds to the growing literature on investor sentiment. We are the first to construct a proxy for high-frequency investor sentiment using intraday postings collected from Chinese Internet stock forum. Second, we confirm that sentiment in non-trading hours has a stronger predictive ability than those in trading hours. Third, we also contribute to the performance comparison of MIDAS-class models. The good performance of U-MIDAS is confirmed in our empirical applications.