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Article
Publication date: 28 October 2014

Liam Magee and James A. Thom

The purpose of this paper is to examine the history of the standardisation of two largely overlapping electronic document formats between 2005 and 2008, and its implications for…

425

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the history of the standardisation of two largely overlapping electronic document formats between 2005 and 2008, and its implications for future IT standards development.

Design/methodology/approach

The document format controversy is researched as an exemplary case study of the institutional rivalries, perspectives and strategic interests at play in standardisation processes. The study adopts a methodological lens of discursive institutionalism in order to explain how actors assume and perform a variety of roles during the controversy. It consults a range of documentary sources, including media commentary, corporate press releases and blog posts, financial reports and technical specifications.

Findings

The study shows that: first, intentions to increase competition in the office software market through the standardisation of document formats led to a standards “arms race”; second, this further entrenched the position of a single market actor; and third, the resulting public debate nevertheless has reinvigorated the push for genuinely open standards.

Social implications

Information technology standards are often touted as mechanisms for increasing the competitiveness of a market, thereby benefitting consumers and the greater public. In the presence of dominant institutional actors, efforts to standardise can, perversely, undermine this benefit. Increased public scrutiny through online media offers a potential remedy.

Originality/value

This research presents a novel account of the controversy over the document format standardisation process, understood through the lens of discursive institutionalism. It also shows the increasing and potentially putative role of online media in the development of IT standards generally.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 27 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

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Article
Publication date: 9 September 2014

Fahad Alahmari, James A. Thom and Liam Magee

Previous work highlights two key challenges in searching for information about individual entities (such as persons, places and organisations) over semantic data: query ambiguity…

486

Abstract

Purpose

Previous work highlights two key challenges in searching for information about individual entities (such as persons, places and organisations) over semantic data: query ambiguity and redundant attributes. The purpose of this paper is to consider these challenges and proposes the Attribute Importance Model (AIM) for clustering and ranking aggregated entity search to improve the overall users’ experience of finding and navigating entities over the Web of Data.

Design/methodology/approach

The proposed model describes three distinct techniques for augmenting semantic search: first, presenting entity type-based query suggestions; second, clustering aggregated attributes; and third, ranking attributes based on their importance to a given query. To evaluate the model, 36 subjects were recruited to experience entity search with and without AIM.

Findings

The experimental results show that the model achieves significant improvements over the default method of semantic aggregated search provided by Sig.ma, a leading entity search and navigation tool.

Originality/value

This proposal develops more informative views for aggregated entity search and exploration to enhance users’ understanding of semantic data. The user study is the first to evaluate user interaction with Sig.ma's search capabilities in a systematic way.

Details

Aslib Journal of Information Management, vol. 66 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-3806

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Book part
Publication date: 25 March 2021

Gemma Bridge

Purpose: Forces of fragmentation make achieving climate change goals difficult. Social media is enabling more stakeholders to get involved in sustainability debates. This study…

Abstract

Purpose: Forces of fragmentation make achieving climate change goals difficult. Social media is enabling more stakeholders to get involved in sustainability debates. This study aimed to investigate the debates taking place about sustainability on Twitter using the hashtag #ClimateAction as a search term, to identify influential actors and their connections with other users on the platform.

Methodology: NodeXL was used to investigate the social network structure of actors discussing #ClimateAction on Twitter. Tweets were thematically used to identify the topics being discussed. The most influential actors involved in the network were identified. The tweets included in the analysis were posted between Saturday 17 August and Thursday 22 August 2019. The data set was obtained from Twitter on 22 August 2019 and was downloaded from NodeXL Graph Gallery.

Findings: The network included 14,512 Twitter users whose recent tweets contained #ClimateAction, or who were replied to or mentioned in those tweets. The network included 38,855 unique edges with an average geodesic distance of 4.19, indicating a close network. Five key themes were identified: Encouraging action, Citizen movements and activists, Climate change and its effects on the planet, Politics, policies and approaches for climate change and Climate research.

Originality: The study provides new qualitative insights into how Twitter is used as a platform for debate and agenda setting for sustainability. The debate was not as polarized as previous research suggests which may reflect the global nature of Twitter and the increased capacity for advocates to shape policy debates about sustainability on social media.

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Article
Publication date: 21 March 2018

Oliver James Bradley and Gloria Oforiwaa Botchway

The purpose of this paper is to identify the sustainability indicators disclosed by ten British Coffee Association corporate members in their sustainability reporting and examine…

3602

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify the sustainability indicators disclosed by ten British Coffee Association corporate members in their sustainability reporting and examine whether the indicators correspond to the sustainability challenges faced by the coffee industry, as identified in the literature.

Design/methodology/approach

A normative account of sustainability challenges was developed based on a review of extant literature. A content analysis of the sustainability reports and/or Webpages of the companies was conducted to identify quantitative and qualitative sustainability indicators. Frequency and thematic analysis enabled the subsequent examination.

Findings

A total of 94 sustainability indicators (44 environmental, 30 social and 20 economic) were identified in company reporting. The indicators correspond to the sustainability challenges identified in the literature. In addition to broad challenges, indicators are used to communicate specific issues. A significant number (47) of single-use indicators were identified, communicating less frequently reported challenges. Some companies account for sustainability from bean to cup, attributed to crucial differences in organisational characteristics (degree of vertical integration). Furthermore, the findings highlight the discretionary nature of sustainability reporting, finding considerable variance in indicators disclosed.

Research limitations/implications

As this paper relies on self-reported corporate disclosures, it critically examines the reporting practices of organisations, as opposed to verifying the activities associated with their claims. The authors minimised subjectivity by reducing the interpretation of what constituted “an indicator” using a clearly agreed definition and multiple rounds of coding.

Practical implications

This paper examines the reporting practices of organisations, providing a useful insight and a competitor benchmark. By comprehensively examining the sustainability challenges faced by the coffee industry, it offers “sustainability context” that can be used by organisations to improve their accounting and reporting practices.

Social implications

This paper acknowledges and addresses social initiatives that call for the systematic development of practical and appropriate sustainability indicators that can become embedded in policy and decision-making, affecting the measurement of progress and responses to important sustainability challenges.

Originality/value

This paper presents the first systematic review of sustainability indicator disclosure in an industry that faces significant sustainability challenges.

Details

Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, vol. 9 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-8021

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Article
Publication date: 6 July 2015

Hepu Deng

The purpose of this paper is to formulate the process of measuring and benchmarking the performance of sustainability development of organizations as a multi-criteria analysis…

1124

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to formulate the process of measuring and benchmarking the performance of sustainability development of organizations as a multi-criteria analysis problem and presents an objective approach for solving the problem in a simple manner.

Design/methodology/approach

An objective approach is developed for benchmarking the sustainability development performance of individual organizations in the context of multi-criteria analysis. The relative importance of the sustainability indicators is determined independent of the subjective preferences of the decision maker using the concept of information entropy. A modified technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solutions is used for effectively incorporating the objective indicator weights into the process of determining the overall performance of sustainability development of each organization. As a result, an unbiased overall ranking of individual organizations on the performance of their sustainability development can be obtained.

Findings

The proposed approach is applicable for measuring and benchmarking the performance of organizational sustainability development through the presentation of an example.

Originality/value

The originality of the paper is on the development of the objective approach within the context of multi-criteria analysis for measuring and benchmarking the performance of sustainability development of individual organizations.

Details

Benchmarking: An International Journal, vol. 22 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-5771

Keywords

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Publication date: 23 December 2010

G.M. Ditchfield

It is not difficult to understand why the Sketches would be credited to Sharp. His death four years before the publication of Ricardo's Principles placed him within the period…

Abstract

It is not difficult to understand why the Sketches would be credited to Sharp. His death four years before the publication of Ricardo's Principles placed him within the period under discussion by Seligman. Sharp possessed an extremely wide range of interests and was a prolific writer on a remarkable variety of topics. By 1809 he was a prominent public figure and had produced more than 40 separate works, several of which had reached second or third editions. He had established a reputation as a controversialist and his oeuvre is certainly consistent with Seligman's generalisation that the ‘greater part of the economic literature’ between 1776 (the year of The Wealth of Nations) and 1817 consisted of ‘pamphlets dealing with current practical problems’ (Seligman, 1903, p. 336). Sharp had published on the conditions in West Africa, the illegality of the press-ganging of sailors, parliamentary reform, colonial law, frankpledge, a popular militia and public charities.

Details

English, Irish and Subversives among the Dismal Scientists
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-85724-061-3

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Article
Publication date: 28 October 2021

Husna Sarirah Husin, James Thom and Xiuzhen Zhang

The purpose of the study is to use web serer logs in analyzing the changes of user behavior in reading online news, in terms of desktop and mobile users. Advances in mobile…

236

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to use web serer logs in analyzing the changes of user behavior in reading online news, in terms of desktop and mobile users. Advances in mobile technology and social media have paved the way for online news consumption to evolve. There is an absence of research into the changes of user behavior in terms of desktop versus mobile users, particularly by analyzing the server logs.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, the authors investigate the evolution of user behavior using logs from the Malaysian newspaper Berita Harian Online in April 2012 and April 2017. Web usage mining techniques were used for pre-processing the logs and identifying user sessions. A Markov model is used to analyze navigation flows, and association rule mining is used to analyze user behavior within sessions.

Findings

It was found that page accesses have increased tremendously, particularly from Android phones, and about half of the requests in 2017 are referred from Facebook. Navigation flow between the main page, articles and section pages has changed from 2012 to 2017; while most users started navigation with the main page in 2012, readers often started with an article in 2017. Based on association rules, National and Sports are the most frequent section pages in 2012 and 2017 for desktop and mobile. However, based on the lift and conviction, these two sections are not read together in the same session as frequently as might be expected. Other less popular items have higher probability of being read together in a session.

Research limitations/implications

The localized data set is from Berita Harian Online; although unique to this particular newspaper, the findings and the methodology for investigating user behavior can be applied to other online news. On another note, the data set could be extended to be more than a month. Although initially data for the year 2012 was collected, unfortunately only the data for April 2012 is complete. Other months have missing days. Therefore, to make an impartial comparison for the evolution of user behavior in five years, the Web server logs for April 2017 were used.

Originality/value

The user behavior in 2012 and 2017 was compared using association rules and Markov flow. Different from existing studies analyzing online newspaper Web server logs, this paper uniquely investigates changes in user behavior as a result of mobile phones becoming a mainstream technology for accessing the Web.

Details

International Journal of Web Information Systems, vol. 18 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1744-0084

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Article
Publication date: 1 January 1983

DOUGLAS J. THOM

The path analysis technique was introduced in educational research relatively recently. It is very effective for conceptualizing research and for linking theory and the “real…

166

Abstract

The path analysis technique was introduced in educational research relatively recently. It is very effective for conceptualizing research and for linking theory and the “real world”. Major advances are possible if more researchers in education would adopt this technique. However, the outward complex appearance of path analysis diagrams with their many variables, straight and curved arrows and numerical coefficients, and the terminology such as “residuals” and “recursive” associated with discussions of the technique tend to deter researchers. In this article the author gives an overview of the technique in simple terms. Its strengths and weaknesses are discussed and suggestions are made about how to commence use of the technique. Several examples of path analysis used in educational research are presented. The discussion is of an introductory nature with the hope that readers will develop a confidence to investigate the technique further. The intention of the author here is not to debate the many specific, provocative and complex issues about definition, terminology and interpretation surrounding the technique which methodology specialists continue to discuss as the use of the technique grows.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 21 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

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Book part
Publication date: 26 March 2020

Llewella Chapman

On 2 September 2015, it was announced that Tom Ford would again be ‘dressing James Bond’, Daniel Craig, in Spectre (Mendes, 2015) after tailoring his suits for Quantum of Solace

Abstract

On 2 September 2015, it was announced that Tom Ford would again be ‘dressing James Bond’, Daniel Craig, in Spectre (Mendes, 2015) after tailoring his suits for Quantum of Solace (Forster, 2008) and Skyfall (Mendes, 2012). Ford noted that ‘James Bond epitomises the Tom Ford man in his elegance, style and love of luxury. It is an honour to move forward with this iconic character’.

  With the press launch of ‘Bond 25’(and now titled No Time to Die) on 25 April 2019, it is reasonable to speculate that Ford will once again be employed as James Bond’s tailor of choice, given that it is likely to be Craig’s last outing as 007. Previous actors playing the role of James Bond have all had different tailors. Sean Connery was tailored by Anthony Sinclair and George Lazenby by Dimitro ‘Dimi’ Major. Roger Moore recommended his own personal tailors Cyril Castle, Angelo Vitucci and Douglas Hayward. For Timothy Dalton, Stefano Ricci provided the suits, and Pierce Brosnan was dressed by Brioni. Therefore, this chapter will analyse the role of tailoring within the James Bond films, and how this in turn contributes to the look and character of this film franchise more generally. It aims to understand how different tailors have contributed to the masculinity of Bond: an agent dressed to thrill as well as to kill.

Details

From Blofeld to Moneypenny: Gender in James Bond
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-163-1

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 13 September 2022

Swaminathan Ramanathan and Raine Isaksson

This paper explores quality science and quality management as a potential pathway to resolve the challenges of corporate sustainability reporting (CSR) by establishing the need…

7102

Abstract

Purpose

This paper explores quality science and quality management as a potential pathway to resolve the challenges of corporate sustainability reporting (CSR) by establishing the need for a common understanding of sustainability and sustainable development.

Design/methodology/approach

Secondary research on key documents released by regulatory institutions working at the intersection of sustainability, corporate reporting, measurement and academic papers on quality science and management.

Findings

Existing measurement frameworks of CSR are limited. They are neither aligned nor appropriate for accurately measuring a company's ecological footprint for mitigating climate change. Quality for sustainability (Q4S) could be a conceptual framework to bring about an appropriate level of measurability to better align sustainability reporting to stakeholder needs.

Research limitations/implications

There is a lack of primary data. The research is based on secondary literature review. The implications of Q4S as a framework could inform research studies connected to sustainable tourism, energy transition and sustainable buildings.

Practical implications

The paper connects to CSR stakeholders, sustainability managers, company leaderships and boards.

Social implications

The implications of sustainability on people, purpose and prosperity are a part of World Economic Forum's stakeholder capitalism.

Originality/value

This paper fills a research gap on diagnosing and understanding the key reporting challenges emerging from the lack sustainability definitions.

Details

The TQM Journal, vol. 35 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2731

Keywords

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