Yi-Chun Kuo, Yueh-Hsia Huang, Lan Sun, Garrick Small and Shih-Jung Lin
Financial institutions have a role in harmonising economic purposes with environmental and social purposes through transmission mechanisms whereby the institutions provide…
Abstract
Purpose
Financial institutions have a role in harmonising economic purposes with environmental and social purposes through transmission mechanisms whereby the institutions provide channels to promote socially and environmental desirable activities. This study explores the sustainability criteria disclosed at firm-level corporate social responsibility reports for the purpose of providing direction for financial institutions committed to enhancing the contribution to sustainability objectives.
Design/methodology/approach
The Delphi Method and the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) system have been employed to systematically analyse the opinions of 15 experts regarding the operation of the 7 Taiwanese financial institutions listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index in 2019 with respect to the capacity to affect sustainability objectives.
Findings
The findings reveal a high prominence level for corporate governance, law compliance, risk management and occupational safety and health, representing amongst the sustainability criteria considered. This suggests that financial institutions may benefit from focussing resources on these areas, starting with corporate governance, when considering means for enhancing the sustainability performance.
Research limitations/implications
The study is limited by the small number of financial institutions available in Taiwan which suggests that further research could be directed towards a larger sample of financial institutions, say by international comparison, expanding the range of industries studied or the inclusion for additional sustainability indicators.
Practical implications
Overall, the study has shed light on Taiwan's financial institutions' capacity to contribute to sustainable practices which is an area that has not been extensively investigated. This study may have useful implications for financial institutions in Taiwan.
Social implications
The authors also recognise other factors that are likely to contribute to social impacts. These include human capacity building and development, information security, green procurement, green building and climate-related financial products.
Originality/value
This study fills the gap by providing useful insights for a better understanding of sustainable development in financial institutions by promoting sustainability practice in general. The authors' analysis will assist decision-makers in identifying and prioritising the driving factors and thus adopting suitable strategies to strengthen sustainability performance.
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Christopher McCahill and Norman Garrick
This chapter explains the primary factors influencing the growth in parking supply, what the impacts have been in urban areas throughout the United States, efforts that are…
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter explains the primary factors influencing the growth in parking supply, what the impacts have been in urban areas throughout the United States, efforts that are underway to better manage urban parking supply, and how these findings relate to international cities.
Methodology/approach
This chapter offers a review of prior research and literature, and further explores the impacts of parking using historical data from six cities and by focusing on two specific case studies. It also includes a discussion of global implications.
Findings
Parking supply has increased by anywhere from 70% to 160% in urban areas throughout the United States, thereby contributing to considerable land consumption and increases in local automobile use. These increases were driven in large part by minimum parking requirements and perceived market demand. Since 1980, parking growth has slowed considerably in cities that have implemented parking limits and parking management strategies.
Practical implications
Parking is typically viewed as a valuable amenity that should be provided indiscriminately. This work outlines the consequences associated with this view and highlights isolated cases in which policies have been successfully implemented to address the negative outcomes of conventional policy approaches.
Originality/value of paper
This chapter offers a comprehensive overview of prior research in parking policy and ties the findings to specific outcomes in urban areas throughout the United States. No other study to date has tracked long-term changes in urban parking supply or its impacts. This work provides a valuable perspective on the magnitude of those impacts and the potential to mitigate those impacts thorough policy reform.
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Hongmei Liu and Tat Leung Chan
The purpose of this paper is to study the evolution and growth of aerosol particles in a turbulent planar jet by using the newly developed large eddy simulation…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the evolution and growth of aerosol particles in a turbulent planar jet by using the newly developed large eddy simulation (LES)-differentially weighted operator splitting Monte Carlo (DWOSMC) method.
Design/methodology/approach
The DWOSMC method is coupled with LES for the numerical simulation of aerosol dynamics in turbulent flows.
Findings
Firstly, the newly developed and coupled LES-DWOSMC method is verified by the results obtained from a direct numerical simulation-sectional method (DNS-SM) for coagulation occurring in a turbulent planar jet from available literature. Then, the effects of jet temperature and Reynolds number on the evolution of time-averaged mean particle diameter, normalized particle number concentration and particle size distributions (PSDs) are studied numerically on both coagulation and condensation processes. The jet temperature and Reynolds number are shown to be two important parameters that can be used to control the evolution and pattern of PSD in an aerosol reactor.
Originality/value
The coupling between the Monte Carlo method and turbulent flow still encounters many technical difficulties. In addition, the relationship between turbulence, particle properties and collision kernels of aerosol dynamics is not yet well understood due to the theoretical limitations and experimental difficulties. In the present study, the developed and coupled LES-DWOSMC method is capable of solving the aerosol dynamics in turbulent flows.
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To overview the gamut of issues that on-street parking impacts in mixed-use centers including: parking demand, land use, vehicle speed, road safety, the pedestrian environment…
Abstract
Purpose
To overview the gamut of issues that on-street parking impacts in mixed-use centers including: parking demand, land use, vehicle speed, road safety, the pedestrian environment, and travel behaviors.
Methodology/approach
In addition to reviewing existing literature, the following two case studies are presented. The first study explores the impact in centers built before the advent of parking regulations as compared to more contemporary, conventional developments. The second study investigates how street design factors affected vehicle speeds and safety, based on a study of over 250 roads.
Findings
On-street parking typically: serves the highest demand; is efficient in terms of land use and cost; induces lower vehicle speeds; increases safety on low-speed streets; enhances walkability; and fosters less driving, more pedestrian activity, and increased vitality.
Practical implications
On-street parking is one piece of a larger puzzle of complementary factors that influence issues such as travel behavior and safety, and therefore, it is difficult to isolate. On-street parking plays a crucial role in helping create places that are walkable, require less parking, and have more vitality. On-street parking is not purely a device to be used in the right environment; rather, it is a tool to help create that right environment.
Originality/value of chapter
Prevailing thought on the subject of on-street parking has shifted back-and-forth for generations, in part because most studies focus on one or two impacts. This chapter takes a more comprehensive approach in order to increase our understanding of on-street parking in mixed-use, commercial centers.
Enrique Sanmiguel-Rojas and Ramon Fernandez-Feria
This paper aims to analyze the propulsive performance of small-amplitude pitching foils at very high frequencies with double objectives: to find out scaling laws for the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyze the propulsive performance of small-amplitude pitching foils at very high frequencies with double objectives: to find out scaling laws for the time-averaged thrust and propulsive efficiency at very high frequencies; and to characterize the Strouhal number above which the effect of turbulence on the mean values cannot be neglected.
Design/methodology/approach
The thrust force and propulsive efficiency of a pitching NACA0012 foil at high reduced frequencies (k) and a Reynolds number Re = 16 000 are analyzed using accurate numerical simulations, both assuming laminar flow and using a transition turbulence model. The time-averaged results are validated with available experimental data for k up to about 12 (Strouhal number, St, up to 0.6). This study also compares the present numerical results with the predictions of theoretical models and existing numerical results. For a foil pitching about its quarter chord with amplitude α0 = 8o, the reduced frequency is varied here up to k = 30 (St up to 2), much higher than in any previous numerical or experimental work.
Findings
For this pitch amplitude, turbulence effects are found negligible for St ≲ 0.8, and affecting less than 10% to the time-averaged thrust coefficient
Originality/value
Pitching foils are increasingly studied as efficient propellers and energy harvesting devices. Their performance at very high reduced frequencies has not been sufficiently analyzed before. The authors provide accurate numerical simulations to discern when turbulence is relevant for the computation of the time-averaged thrust and efficiency and how their scaling with the reduced frequency is affected in relation to the laminar-flow predictions. This is relevant because some small-amplitude theoretical models predict high propulsive efficiency of pitching foils at very high frequencies over certain ranges of the structural parameters, and only very accurate numerical simulations may decide on these predictions.
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This paper looks at how over the past 14 years we have seen the licensing business grow from a small almost cottage industry into the multi million dollar marketing operation…
Abstract
This paper looks at how over the past 14 years we have seen the licensing business grow from a small almost cottage industry into the multi million dollar marketing operation today. Licensed properties are now one of the tools which many FMCG brands and products use to create new products and/or increase sales for existing ones. In fact there is a genre of products that rely solely on the licenced property as the main marketing proposition to gain distribution and sales based on the strength of the licence. We have seen businesses as diverse as BT (with their ET adverts) through publishing, especially children's magazines (Sorry, but Roy of the Rovers doesn't cut any ice any more!) to petrol companies and greeting cards. It is undeniable that the use of a licenced property is a very very powerful tool in the armoury of a brand manager. In addition, many brands and companies also like to use licences tactically and ‘rent’ in licenced properties in key periods of the year to give their brands a ‘sales boost’. This is more a short‐term relationship but still ongoing as the brands use licences regularly. Some companies such as McDonalds and Nestle have gone further by purchasing the rights to all Disney properties exclusively for their categories and become ‘preferred partners’. The cost of the purchase of these licences is often not small and a brand that buys into a licence that fails to deliver is an expensive and costly business. It is often said that choosing a licenced property is an art and one in which there is little or no guarantee of success.
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Regional policy instruments are typically driven by economic rationales, from either a firm or industrial perspective. Yet too often, these rationales are taken as ex ante to the…
Abstract
Regional policy instruments are typically driven by economic rationales, from either a firm or industrial perspective. Yet too often, these rationales are taken as ex ante to the contexts within which firms and industries compete. Recent regional development research has urged a better link be developed between the individual, the firm, and their context, so as to understand the role of regions in supporting effective competitiveness of organizations. In this article, recent research themes are explored that may shed light on the nature of this relationship and that can be developed into an investigative methodology that could aid policy practitioners in generating policy instruments that reflect differing societal constructions of SME reality.
This paper aims to draw on Latour’s (1991) conceptual “performative” framework to investigate the role of management control systems (MCSs) in the establishment of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to draw on Latour’s (1991) conceptual “performative” framework to investigate the role of management control systems (MCSs) in the establishment of post-acquisition integration. The study adopts a qualitative case study approach, where data are collected and analysed from an Australian company which had recently completed a number of acquisitions. Findings demonstrate the performative powers and effects of MCSs, which contribute to shaping customer and sales integration activities, including the forms some resistance may take. In this case, a bitter betrayal was perceived to have occurred in an early stage of the merger, and this paper argues that the use of a performative theoretical framework has enabled subsequent post-acquisition integration strategies to be rendered more visible and thus actionable.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts a qualitative approach where data are collected and analysed from an Australian case study company which had recently completed a number of acquisitions. Research methods used include semi-structured interviews, a review of archival documents and observations to capture daily integration activities and practices of actors operating in the company.
Findings
Findings demonstrate the performative powers and effects of MCSs, which structure customer and sales integration activities and make post-acquisition integration relations strategy visible and actionable.
Research limitations/implications
Findings are only on one case study, and there is a need to undertake further detailed case studies across a range of industries and timeframes, plus, where possible, revisit such studies post hoc to assess the stability of success of the integration.
Practical implications
Integration strategy and strategic change may be constituted by non-human actants such as MCSs. Practitioners who are engaged in acquisitions and making integration decisions need to recognise that MCSs do not merely play a subordinate role to integration strategies, but rather is an important moderating variable that play an active role in their formulation, configuration and enactment.
Originality/value
A performative approach is taken to provide a broader analytical framework for analysing the construction and sustaining of post‐acquisition integration relations, where there is no distinction between technical and social dimensions of action but, rather, the two are merged. This makes it possible to overcome the limitations inherent in existing theoretical frameworks. Using this approach, integration relations involve construction of a network of entities that are enrolled to support, create and sustain the integration.
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I SHOULD like first to say how much I appreciate the honour of being invited to deliver the Wright Brothers Lecture. To anyone whose work is associated in any way with the…
Abstract
I SHOULD like first to say how much I appreciate the honour of being invited to deliver the Wright Brothers Lecture. To anyone whose work is associated in any way with the aeronautical sciences, it must be a source of pride and gratification to be invited to be a chief participant in one of the greatest occasions in the world of aeronautical research, an occasion designed in honour of the two great pioneers, Wilbur and Orville Wright. In my own case these feelings are shared with a feeling of humility and of my own unworthiness for the task.
Beverlee B. Anderson and Hanadi AL‐Mubaraki
One of the most notable enterprises designed to accelerate the successful development of entrepreneurial companies through an array of business support resources and services is…
Abstract
Purpose
One of the most notable enterprises designed to accelerate the successful development of entrepreneurial companies through an array of business support resources and services is the business incubator. There are many key components to developing a successful business incubator. However, when one or two of these components are missing or inadequate, failure can follow. The purpose of this paper is to identify the key components to developing a successful business incubator as an effective tool for economic development, based on the case study of an unsuccessful effort.
Design/methodology/approach
The Gateway Innovation Center case study presents an opportunity to examine some possible pitfalls of developing a business incubator. A scant four months after opening, the organizers of the incubator decided to give up on the project. Exploring the various missteps in the formation of the Gateway Innovation Center provides a better understanding of key issues in developing successful incubators.
Findings
The lack of success was attributed to five features: function following form; lack of planning; lack of expertise; lack of due diligence; and market area would not support a technology incubator.
Originality/value
Very few business incubator failures are examined. This is one of the first case studies to examine the short life of a highly anticipated business incubator in an area of Southern California that was seeking to foster new businesses and create jobs in a region of relatively high unemployment.