This paper is concerned with the determination of the transient stress and deformational state of plate‐like discontinua subject to flexural cracking. Such a phenomenon can be…
Abstract
This paper is concerned with the determination of the transient stress and deformational state of plate‐like discontinua subject to flexural cracking. Such a phenomenon can be easily visualized as the type of fragmentation to floating sea ice impacted by an ice‐breaker or offshore platform. The discrete element method is used to solve the dynamic equilibrium equations for each distinct deformable body and the interaction between bodies. Each body may deform elastically and fracture into further pieces if a brittle failure criterion for flexure is exceeded. The discrete plate element is a hybrid thin‐plate (Kirchhoff) mode lumped at element boundaries with transverse shear deformation computed at element centroids. Errors in computed stresses near point loads and cracks by the current element warrant the use of an improved mixed mode plate element. A three‐dimensional application of the discrete element method is presented for the case of fragmentation of floating sea ice impacting an arctic offshore platform. A semi‐implicit solution scheme is introduced to overcome the stringent explicit time step stability conditions due to stiff members in the discrete element formulation.
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Amy Sweeny, Lisa van den Berg, Julia Hocking, Julia Renaud, Sharleen Young, Richard Henshaw, Kelly Foster and Tegwen Howell
The purpose of this paper is to describe the structure and impact of a Queensland Research Support Network (RSN) in emergency medicine (EM).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the structure and impact of a Queensland Research Support Network (RSN) in emergency medicine (EM).
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents a descriptive summary of EM networks, network evaluations and the structure and development of the Emergency Medicine Foundation’s (EMF) RSN in Queensland, including an observational pre- and post-study of research metrics.
Findings
In two years, the RSN supported 33 Queensland emergency departments (EDs), of which 14 developed research strategies. There was an increase in research active clinicians, from 23 in 2015 to 181 in 2017. Collaborator engagement increased from 9 in 2015 to 276 in 2017 as did the number of research presentations, from 6 in 2015 to 61 in 2017. EMF experienced a growth in new researchers, with new investigators submitting approximately 60 per cent of grant applications in 2016 and 2017. EMF also received new applications from a further three HHS (taking EMF-funded research activity from 8 to 11 HHS).
Research limitations/implications
This paper describes changes in KPIs and research metrics, which the authors attribute to the establishment of the RSN. However, it is possible that attribution bias plays a role in the KPI improvements.
Social implications
This network has actively boosted and expanded EM research capacity and capability in Queensland. It provides services, in the form of on-the-ground managers, to develop novice clinician-researchers, new projects and engage entire EDs. This model may be replicated nationwide but requires funding commitment.
Originality/value
The RSN improves front-line clinician research capacity and capability and increases research activity and collaborations with clear community outcomes. Collaborations were extended to community, primary health networks, non-government organisations, national and international researchers and academic institutions. Evaluating and measuring a network’s benefits are difficult, but it is likely that evaluations will help networks obtain funding.
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This chapter argues that intra-firm geographic mobility is an understudied mechanism that can help mitigate coordination failures in a geographically distributed organization. The…
Abstract
This chapter argues that intra-firm geographic mobility is an understudied mechanism that can help mitigate coordination failures in a geographically distributed organization. The chapter presents an organizing framework on how intra-firm geographic mobility creates value for firms and discusses how intra-firm geographic mobility can create value for individual workers. The chapter concludes by presenting a future research agenda for intra-firm geographic mobility in light of emerging phenomena such as global collaborative patenting by multinationals, temporary colocation of knowledge workers, and nonstandard work.
Rochelle Haynes and Phil Almond
This chapter will discuss the extent to which existing models on expatriate functions within the international business literature, still effectively capture the roles currently…
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter will discuss the extent to which existing models on expatriate functions within the international business literature, still effectively capture the roles currently performed by expatriate managers. It analyse the Edstrom and Galbraith (1977) typology and present a conceptual framework on the roles currently performed by expatriate managers within MNCs. To do this, it will draw inspiration from the resource-based view (Barney, 1991; Peng, M. W. (2001). The resource-based view and international business. Journal of Management, 27, 803–829. Wernerfelt, 1984), and the organisation capability view (Grant, 1996). Following several propositions about managers’ key functions within MNCs, challenges of creating an all-encompassing framework on expatriate functions, and suggestions for future research and theoretical development will be identified.
Methodology/approach
This chapter will present a conceptual framework on expatriate functions.
Originality/value
Four decades since Edstrom and Galbraith’s seminal work, international developments have continued to impress upon the way MNCs organise and manage their worldwide activities. Yet, as the business environment progresses, theoretical models examining how international development impact the functions undertaken by expatriate managers within MNCs individuals are still relatively scarce. Hence, this chapter aims to contribute to the theoretical advancement in the area of expatriate functions by highlighting possible changes and expansion of expatriate managers within the current global business context.
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Maryam Shafiei Sarvestani, Ali Javanmard, Mohammad Ebrahim Samie and Ali Biranvand
This study aims to explore the impact of mobile learning on educating Iranian adult neo-literates within courses held by Iranian Literacy Movement Organization.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the impact of mobile learning on educating Iranian adult neo-literates within courses held by Iranian Literacy Movement Organization.
Design/methodology/approach
A concurrent mixed-methods design was used to investigate to what extent the adult neo-literates in Shiraz, Iran, were ready to use mobile phones in their courses. The qualitative section involved merging and summarizing basic themes into organizing themes. The themes were then integrated to create a single global theme.
Findings
The results showed that the participants were ready to embrace m-learning. Instrumentality was the most influential factor contributing to neo-literates’ readiness for m-learning. Findings also showed that from learners’ standpoint, mobile phones presented some unique features, enabling them to integrate elements from both distance and face-to-face courses. They also believed that mobile phones or other information and communications technology gadgets provided better opportunities for learning, although they fall short of fully replacing human instructors.
Research limitations/implications
The limitations of the study were the participants’ limited familiarity with the research procedure and the impossibility of holding joint gatherings at specific locations.
Originality/value
This applied study helps the literacy movement to take strong steps toward creating an educational environment that guarantees learning anytime and anywhere for its learners.
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Theresa Hammond, Christine Cooper and Chris J. van Staden
The purpose of this paper is to examine the complex and shifting relationship between the Anglo American Corporation (Anglo) and the South African State (“the State”) as reflected…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the complex and shifting relationship between the Anglo American Corporation (Anglo) and the South African State (“the State”) as reflected in Anglo’s annual reports.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper builds on research on the role of annual reports in ideological conflict. To examine the ongoing relationship between Anglo and the State, the authors read all the annual reports published by Anglo American from 1917 to 1975, looking for instances in which the corporation appeared to be attempting to address, criticise, compliment, or implore the State.
Findings
During the period under study, despite the apparent struggles between the South African State and Anglo American, the relationship between the two was primarily symbiotic. The symbolic confrontation engaged in by these two behemoths perpetuated the real, physical violence perpetrated on the oppressed workers. By appearing to be a liberal opponent of apartheid, Anglo was able to ensure continued investment in South Africa.
Social implications
The examination of decades’ worth of annual reports provides an example of how these supposedly neutral instruments were used to contest and sustain power. Thereby, Anglo could continue to exploit workers, reap enormous profits, and maintain a fiction of opposition to the oppressive State. The State also benefited from its support of Anglo, which provided a plurality of tax revenue and economic expansion during the period.
Originality/value
This paper provides insights into the ways the State and other institutions sustain each other in the pursuit of economic and political power in the face of visible and widely condemned injustices. Although they frequently contested each other’s primacy, both benefited while black South African miners suffered.
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Knowledge management (KM) capability plays an important role in the promotion of firm performance in the knowledge economy era. However, empirical evidence on how KM capability…
Abstract
Purpose
Knowledge management (KM) capability plays an important role in the promotion of firm performance in the knowledge economy era. However, empirical evidence on how KM capability affects firm performance is still limited. The study therefore aims to explore the impacts of internal and external KM capabilities on firm performance via the parallel mediation of efficiency-centered and novelty-centered business model innovations (BMIs).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors empirically analyzed a survey data of 295 Chinese innovative enterprises by applying partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA).
Findings
According to the results of PLS-SEM, the relationship between internal KM capability and firm performance is not significant, instead it is fully mediated by efficiency-centered and novelty-centered BMIs. External KM capability can directly and positively affect firm performance, while the relationship is also partially mediated by BMIs. Furthermore, the authors recognized the antecedent conditions for high-level and low-level firm performance by fsQCA analysis, which substantiate the above findings.
Originality/value
It not only enriches the literature that links KM and innovation management but also contributes to the new theoretical perspective on firm sustainable growth. Methodologically, it combines symmetric and asymmetric analyses together. Additionally, it provides some insights for managers to understand how KM capability drives firm performance through BMI.
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To encourage the ongoing transformation of the UN system by conceptualising leadership challenges within a cybernetics/systems paradigm.
Abstract
Purpose
To encourage the ongoing transformation of the UN system by conceptualising leadership challenges within a cybernetics/systems paradigm.
Design/methodology/approach
A grounded theory methodology was used to explore the “paradox of plenty” within the UN system in Southern Africa – how the system can more effectively metabolise the considerable latent creative synergic potential within it, to respond to the challenges of HIV/AIDS in Africa.
Findings
Statements from UN leaders call for a new paradigm of humanitarian assistance if the challenges of HIV and AIDS are to be met. However, conversations with a wide range of people both within the UN system and closely connected to it suggest a disconnect between what the system does and what the system espouses – a bias toward “doing things right” rather than “doing the right thing”. Drawing on the writings of Berry (eco‐spirituality), Beer (VSM), Argyris and Schon (double loop learning), Hock (chaordic organisation) and Ackoff (corporate planning) the sub‐optimal organisational performance is interpreted as an “autistic” condition, whereby organisations become “so locked up inside themselves that nothing and no one can get in”. Interactive dialogue with primary health care workers in Swaziland generated five interconnected principles for developing a systemic response to HIV and AIDS. These are proposed as “antidotes” to counteract autistic tendencies within the UN system.
Research limitations/implications
The principles are offered for discussion and refinement through further research by cyberneticians and systems thinkers.
Originality/value
If internalised by UN leadership the perplexing challenges that HIV/AIDS is posing could be met with renewed confidence and hope.
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Christine E. Murray, Jacquelyn White, Hamid Nemati, Anthony Chow, Allison Marsh and Samantha Edwards
Family Justice Centers, or “one-stop shops” that enable domestic violence victims to access a range of services at one location, are becoming increasingly common. However, there…
Abstract
Purpose
Family Justice Centers, or “one-stop shops” that enable domestic violence victims to access a range of services at one location, are becoming increasingly common. However, there is a limited body of research examining the outcomes and planning processes of these Centers. The early phases of planning Centers are critical to their initial and ongoing success. The purpose of this paper is to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 15 stakeholders in a community in the early phases of planning a Center were interviewed.
Findings
Content analysis procedures were used to identify themes related to participants’ ideas about what the Family Justice Center should look like (e.g. services to include and perceived benefits and challenges for the Center), the steps required for planning it (e.g. identifying the purpose of the Center, getting key people involved, and building collaborations), and desired technologies.
Originality/value
This paper is the first known research effort to examine the early phases of development in constructing a Family Justice Center.