Estefania Julia Dierings de Souza, Aline Machado Pereira, Mauro Fontana, Nathan Levien Vanier and Marcia Arocha Gularte
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of rice flour obtained from rice grains with different levels of amylose on technological, nutritional and sensory…
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of rice flour obtained from rice grains with different levels of amylose on technological, nutritional and sensory properties of cookies made with a blend of rice and cowpea flour.
Design/methodology/approach
The cookies preparation was set at a ratio of rice flour and cowpea beans 70:30. The studied formulations were: LA: low amylose rice flour; MA: medium-amylose rice flour; HA: high amylose rice flour. The quality of the obtained cookies was analyzed for proximate composition, in vitro protein digestibility, thickness, diameter, dispersion factor, texture, color, amino acid profile and sensory properties.
Findings
Proximate composition and in vitro protein digestibility showed no differences between the three studied formulations. The medium and low amylose rice flour cookies showed the lowest hardness values. The combination of rice and beans allowed a good balance of essential amino acids. The cookies formulated with high amylose rice flour presented lighter coloration, low hardness and greater sensory preference.
Originality/value
Rice and cowpea flours are an alternative source for the preparation of gluten-free bakery products, such as cookies. The high amylose content of rice flour has less negative interference in the texture characteristics of the cookies. The combination of rice and beans flour provides a balance of essential amino acids.
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Mauro Paoloni, Daniela Coluccia, Stefano Fontana and Silvia Solimene
The purpose of this paper is to analyze within the knowledge management (KM) stream the relationship between KM and intellectual capital (IC) and entrepreneurship (E). IC is a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze within the knowledge management (KM) stream the relationship between KM and intellectual capital (IC) and entrepreneurship (E). IC is a pivotal intangible resource to firms to generate knowledge. Knowledge and information are strategic for today’s company life. IC is generated and dynamically recombined by knowledge, produces knowledge and is feed by knowledge itself, both codified and tacit. For those reasons, the paper is motivated to understand how IC can represent valuable knowledge and how it can turn into innovation, through KM and practices. It is also voted to stimulate literature on understanding how innovation can serve E capabilities for firms’ business models, as innovation is not necessarily linked to a technological breakthrough. IC is functional to KM practices, as entrepreneurs can use IC and knowledge as a strategic management toolbox to innovate.
Design/methodology/approach
The main aim of the paper is to understand the state of the art on these central issues in KM literature. The paper uses a structure literature review (SLR) methodology, gathering papers by Scopus database for the period 2000–2019, on the relationship between KM and IC and E. The second aim is to understand for future research how do managers use IC as an opportunity to innovate and as a vehicle to transfer knowledge. The authors wondered about the qualification/quantification of “knowledge” as a crucial component of IC, which is in turn the riskier, but the more representative, a component of intangibles assets in the era of knowledge.
Findings
As for the first research question, the findings show that, actually, as the research has been started, IC, KM and E are still engaged separately by scholars, even if few efforts to match them together have been performed. The results depict a general fragmented and unsystematic vision of the relationship between the three topics. As for the future of the research about these topics, the authors found that scholars should catch the opportunity to go beyond the traditional theoretical mainstream on these issues. There is an urge to move the focus of KM and IC research toward new models of their interconnection, by including the social capital, namely, knowledge capabilities (explicit or not), etc., which are able to turn knowledge in innovation and competitive advantage, from an accounting perspective (recognizing IC’s components affecting the performance of firms, among which knowledge is the most important) and from a theoretical point of view (reducing the misalignment between the epistemological concept of KM requirements and the effective perception of organizational KM activities to extract value from KM initiatives).
Research limitations/implications
The results, even if suffering from some limitations due to the performing of the methodology, offers several implications for academic research. The future of KM of the IC resources is clearly likely to lie on the recognition of the component of knowledge, as well as on the recognizing of new forms of social capital such as entrepreneurial capital, which is connected to innovation and creativity and firm value. An integrative framework of IC measurement should be built to link IC with KM and E. This is to guarantee that the measurement of IC does contribute to the efficiency and effectiveness of KM.
Practical implications
Practical contribution to accounting perspective. In fact, the relations between these three topics could be highly beneficial to validate, in the dynamic societies and organizations, how it is important the entrepreneur’s learning process and its content is fundamental in the quest for new business opportunities/innovations, stated that learning is a crucial factor for entrepreneurial activity and has a structural impact on business models of industrial organizations. The difficulty to recognize in the balance sheet human capital relation could be limited by the introduction of the component of KM practices codification and E attitude and influence to operate this transformation of human capital in organized structural capital. The authors would not give the solution to that problem. The authors just want to address the discussion.
Social implications
The inspiring conclusion from previous studies is to think in a new way at the role of knowledge-based IC in organizational E. Starting from the assertion that knowledge-based process of innovation and E are linked, it can be tested, also from case studies help or empirical application that organizations with a pleasant level of IC are more likely to be more innovative and in conclusion, have a higher market value.
Originality/value
The main contribution of this paper is to afford for the first time, to the best knowledge, an SLR on the interaction in literature among KM, IC and E, simultaneously, to understand where literature research actually is focusing and to lead future thoughts, at a managerial level, toward the interacting implications of KM and IC on value creation by innovation, which is one stream E literature. Although recently scholars have been concerning more empirically about the relationship between KM, IC and E, they are more focused on theoretical aspects than about new ways to look at IC. The future of KM and IC research is clearly likely to lie on the recognition of the component of knowledge, as well as recognizing new forms of social capital such as entrepreneurial capital, which is connected to innovation and creativity. An integrative framework of IC measurement through KM should be built to link IC measurement with KM. This is to guarantee that measurement of IC does contribute to the efficiency and effectiveness of KM practices.
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Anderson Ferreira De Lima, Walter Cardoso Satyro, José Celso Contador, Marco Aurélio Fragomeni, Rodrigo Franco Gonçalves, Mauro Luiz Martens and Fabio Henrique Pereira
This study aims to broaden the understanding of the additive manufacturing (AM) body of knowledge, presenting a model better suited to the current level of technological…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to broaden the understanding of the additive manufacturing (AM) body of knowledge, presenting a model better suited to the current level of technological development that supports the decision to implement AM in industries, based on the experience of companies in the industry of orthopedic medical implants.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the design-science research, the model for the decision to adopt the AM was designed and submitted to experts from the industry of orthopedic implants in Brazil for refinement. For the empirical test of the final model, interviews were used in a company that was considering implementing AM and in another that was not, to evaluate the model.
Findings
The model considers seven dimensions for decision analysis of AM implementation: legal constraints, financial, technological, operational, organizational, supply chain and external factors, being subdivided into 42 criteria that play a relevant role in the implementation decision. The analysis factor of each dimension and criteria are also presented.
Originality/value
The model seeks to be as complete as possible and can be used by various industrial productive sectors, incorporating the analysis of the requirements of health regulatory agencies, suitable for the analysis of the decision to implement AM for the manufacturing of medical implants, not found in other models.
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Marisela Montenegro, Joan Pujol and Silvia Posocco
Contemporary governmentality combines biopolitical and necropolitical logics to establish social, political and physical borders that classify and stratify populations using…
Abstract
Purpose
Contemporary governmentality combines biopolitical and necropolitical logics to establish social, political and physical borders that classify and stratify populations using symbolic and material marks as, for example, nationality, gender, ethnicity, race, sexuality, social class and/or disability. The social sciences have been prolific in the analysis of alterities and, in turn, implicated in the epistemologies and knowledge practices that underpin and sustain the multiplication of frontiers that define essential differences between populations. The purpose of this paper is to develop a strategy that analyze and subvert the logic of bordering inherent in the bio/necropolitical gaze. In different ways, this paper examines operations of delimitation and differentiation that contribute to monolithic definitions of subject and subjectivity.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors question border construction processes in terms of their static, homogenizing and exclusionary effects.
Findings
Instead of hierarchical stratification of populations, the papers in this special issue explore the possibilities of relationship and the conditions of such relationships. Who do we relate to? On which terms and conditions? With what purpose? In which ethical and political manner?
Originality/value
A critical understanding of the asymmetry in research practices makes visible how the researcher is legitimized to produce a representation of those researched, an interpretation of their words and actions without feedback or contribution to the specific context where the research has been carried out. Deconstructive and relational perspectives are put forward as critical strands that can set the basis of different approaches to research and social practice.
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Camila Lee Park, Mauro Fracarolli Nunes and Alessio Ishizaka
This study aims to examine the extended effects of corporate (ir)responsibilities in supply chains. More specifically, the authors compare the impact of social and environmental…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the extended effects of corporate (ir)responsibilities in supply chains. More specifically, the authors compare the impact of social and environmental initiatives and failures in the reputational capital of supply chain partners. The authors investigate how (and if) companies’ decisions to prioritize different sustainability dimensions in their supplier selection processes (i.e. sustainability trade-offs) affect consumers’ perception of corporate image, corporate credibility-expertise, attitude towards the firm and word-of-mouth.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted three behavioural vignette-based experiments with 562 participants from the USA, relying on analysis of variance and t-tests analyses.
Findings
Results show that consumers perceive social irresponsibility cases as more severe than environmental ones in suppliers’ operations, penalizing buyers’ corporate image, corporate credibility-expertise and word-of-mouth. Corporate image, attitude towards the firm and word-of-mouth also have significant differences between social and environmental trade-offs. Statistically significant differences were also found between scenarios that portrayed the discovery of an irresponsible action and ones that reinforced the previous irresponsible practice in companies’ suppliers.
Practical implications
When types of irresponsibility practices are presented, the discovery of child labour and modern slavery conditions in suppliers damage how consumers perceive the company on corporate image and their attitude towards the organization and how they will spread word-of-mouth, reinforcing the importance of considering sustainability issues when making supplier selection decisions.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the understanding of how companies are perceived by their consumers regarding irresponsible practices and their impact on firms’ supplier selection decisions. Furthermore, data suggests that consumers might hierarchize sustainability dimensions, perceiving social irresponsibility cases as more severe than environmental irresponsibility ones.
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Soon after the Lehman crisis, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) surprised its critics with a reconsideration of its research and advice on fiscal policy. The paper traces the…
Abstract
Soon after the Lehman crisis, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) surprised its critics with a reconsideration of its research and advice on fiscal policy. The paper traces the influence that the Fund’s senior management and research elite has had on the recalibration of the IMF’s doctrine on fiscal policy. The findings suggest that overall there has been some selective incorporation of unorthodox ideas in the Fund’s fiscal doctrine, while the strong thesis that austerity has expansionary effects has been rejected. Indeed, the Fund’s new orthodoxy is concerned with the recessionary effects of fiscal consolidation and, more recently, endorses calls for a more progressive adjustment of the costs of fiscal sustainability. These changes notwithstanding, the IMF’s adaptive incremental transformation on fiscal policy issues falls short of a paradigm shift and is best conceived of as an important recalibration of the precrisis status quo.
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Giulia Achilli, Cristiano Busco and Elena Giovannoni
The paper explores the process of construction of the “accountable self”, particularly as this process engages with the spirituality of the self. This study examines the “space of…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper explores the process of construction of the “accountable self”, particularly as this process engages with the spirituality of the self. This study examines the “space of accountability” within which the accountable self constructs itself as such and investigates how different accounts of the self are drawn upon in the making of this space, both defining and transcending it.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper relies upon archival material concerning accounting and accountability practices about the project for building the altar of St. Ignatius in the Church of Gesù, Rome, Italy (1691–1706). This study examines calculative and narrative accounts about the project from the perspective of the superintendent, who was the sole person accountable for the building works.
Findings
Whereas calculative accounts enabled the self to account for actions within the specific space of accountability of the project, narrative accounts opened up this space, providing for a testimony of actions and a gift of accountability towards future indefinite others. This process was prompted by the spirituality of the self and the narcissistic gratification of fulfilling this spirituality.
Originality/value
The paper adds to the literature on the accountable self and to theological perspectives into accountability. This study suggests exploring how different accounts of the self engage with each other through testimony, gift, narcissism and spirituality in the construction of the accountable self, providing for a “transcendent” space of accountability. This research also adds to studies on narrative accounts by showing that they are drawn upon alongside calculative accounts in the construction of the transcendent, accountable self.
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Elza Saitova and Carmela Di Mauro
This study aims to analyze and contrast the role of organizational and individual level factors in influencing the effective participation of women managers in decision-making in…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyze and contrast the role of organizational and individual level factors in influencing the effective participation of women managers in decision-making in Japanese business organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative study based on 21 in-depth interviews with women and men in managerial positions in Japanese organizations is adopted.
Findings
Results show that gender equality structures and practices are not effectively institutionalized within Japanese organizations. In particular, corporate social responsibility programs are perceived by women respondents to be formally adopted to gain legitimacy in the eyes of foreign investors. However, they lack effectiveness in giving the woman manager a “voice” in business decisions. Organizational practices such as leadership development and mentoring are generally not evident in the organizations analyzed. Conversely, the personal traits of the woman manager, such as determination, self-confidence and “being able to confront men colleagues” are the factors perceived to be crucial in influencing women’s participation in decisions.
Social implications
The study suggests that to increase the weight of women managers in Japanese organizations’ decision-making, action is still needed within organizations to create a true diversity-culture. Additionally, action at the educational level has to remove women’s own self-segregation.
Originality/value
The study offers novel evidence on the “glass ceiling” in Japanese businesses by investigating whether women’s access to management positions corresponds to effective decision power. The study also highlights the key enabling factors, therefore contributing to the analysis of how to create more effective gender “diversity” within Japanese businesses.
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Sami Barmada, Alessandro Formisano, Dimitri Thomopulos and Mauro Tucci
This study aims to investigate the possible use of a deep neural network (DNN) as an inverse solver.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the possible use of a deep neural network (DNN) as an inverse solver.
Design/methodology/approach
Different models based on DNNs are designed and proposed for the resolution of inverse electromagnetic problems either as fast solvers for the direct problem or as straightforward inverse problem solvers, with reference to the TEAM 25 benchmark problem for the sake of exemplification.
Findings
Using DNNs as straightforward inverse problem solvers has relevant advantages in terms of promptness but requires a careful treatment of the underlying problem ill-posedness.
Originality/value
This work is one of the first attempts to exploit DNNs for inverse problem resolution in low-frequency electromagnetism. Results on the TEAM 25 test problem show the potential effectiveness of the approach but also highlight the need for a careful choice of the training data set.