Fei Jin Ying, Michael O’Sullivan and Ivo Adan
Materials supply is one of the important elements in construction operation and a major factor affecting the quality of construction projects. Many industries look to manage…
Abstract
Purpose
Materials supply is one of the important elements in construction operation and a major factor affecting the quality of construction projects. Many industries look to manage materials effectively by attempting to integrate logistics processes into logistics chains of suppliers and customers. Logistics processes, being crucial for successful completion of construction projects, but in fact, auxiliary, are often entrusted to external professionals specialised in logistic services, such as logistics centres. However, this tendency is yet to be developed in construction. The purpose of this paper is to develop a simulation framework for the examination of potential improvements of logistics performance using logistics centres.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study approach was adopted with computer simulation using Flexsim. Data of vehicle movements were collected during construction on-site from the start of construction to “hand-over” to the building owner.
Findings
The ideal location of a logistics centre is identified using vehicle movements data collected on the site. The potential improvements of the planned centre are then evaluated by simulating various scenarios of vehicle movements. The enclosed results from the simulations indicate that using a logistics centre will reduce waste for the construction project considered.
Originality/value
The paper emphasises that creating a logistics centre for a project can improve construction logistics performance, by consolidating and optimizing both off-site and on-site logistics, especially when the site condition is prohibitive (small footprint with limited loading bay area). Establishing logistics centres may help find ways of making the overall construction project more effective by improving the management of materials.
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Zainab Batool Rizvi, Chaudry Bilal Ahmad Khan and Michael O’Sullivan
This paper aims to explore key management actions for implementing security on the cloud, which is a critical issue as many organizations are moving business processes and data on…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore key management actions for implementing security on the cloud, which is a critical issue as many organizations are moving business processes and data on it. The cloud is a flexible, low cost and highly available technology, but it comes with increased complexity in maintaining the cloud consumer’s security. In this research, a model was built to assist strategic decision-makers in choosing from a diverse range of actions that can be taken to manage cloud security.
Design/methodology/approach
Published research from 2010 to 2022 was reviewed to identify alternatives to management actions pertaining to cloud security. Analytical hierarchical process (AHP) was applied to rate the most important action(s). For this, the alternatives, along with selection criteria, were summarized through thematic analysis. To gauge the relative importance of the alternatives, a questionnaire was distributed among cloud security practitioners to poll their opinion. AHP was then applied to the aggregated survey responses.
Findings
It was found that the respondents gave the highest importance to aligning information security with business needs. Building a cloud-specific risk management framework was rated second, while the actions: enforce and monitor contractual obligations, and update organizational structure, were rated third and fourth, respectively.
Research limitations/implications
The research takes a general view without catering to specialized industry-based scenarios.
Originality/value
This paper highlights the role of management actions when implementing cloud security. It presents an AHP-based multi-criteria decision-making model that can be used by strategic decision-makers in selecting the optimum mode of action. Finally, the criteria used in the AHP model highlight how each alternative contributes to cloud security.
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Michael K. O'Sullivan and Connie J. O'Sullivan
To examine the strategies of the intelligent design (ID) movement and their impact on the selection policies for high school libraries and the science curriculum.
Abstract
Purpose
To examine the strategies of the intelligent design (ID) movement and their impact on the selection policies for high school libraries and the science curriculum.
Design/methodology/approach
Examines the process four public high school libraries in the US took to determine whether to accept a gift offer by a parent of two books, dealing with ID. This article deals with the importance of applying selection criteria to all materials, whether gifts or recommendations.
Findings
School libraries are not immune to the tactics used by the ID movement to influence curriculum and collection development decisions.
Research limitations/implications
While this article is a case history of the ID movement's strategy to influence school curriculum, its implications and possible impact on other schools and their libraries.
Practical implications
Provides advice to practicing school librarians on what criteria to use when selecting materials and poses the question of who should be involved in selecting materials for the school library.
Originality/value
This article explores the critical aspects and the differences between selection and censorship. Emphasizes the importance of having and following board‐approved policies that deal with gifts and the selection of library and instructional materials.
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Keywords
For comments on a previous draft, I wish to thank Mary O’Sullivan, Michael Shalev and Bruce Western.
Kai Fan, Anthony Brabazon, Conall O'Sullivan and Michael O'Neill
Following earlier claims that quantum‐inspired evolutionary algorithm (QIEA) may offer advantages in high‐dimensional environments, the purpose of this paper is to test a…
Abstract
Purpose
Following earlier claims that quantum‐inspired evolutionary algorithm (QIEA) may offer advantages in high‐dimensional environments, the purpose of this paper is to test a real‐valued QIEA on a series of benchmark functions of varying dimensionality in order to examine its scalability within both static and dynamic environments.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper compares the performance of both the QIEA and the canonical genetic algorithm (GA) on a series of test benchmark functions.
Findings
The results show that the QIEA obtains highly competitive results when benchmarked against the GA within static environments, while substantially outperforming both binary and real‐valued representation of the GA in terms of running time. Within dynamic environments, the QIEA outperforms GA in terms of stability and run time.
Originality/value
This paper suggests that QIEA has utility for real‐world high‐dimensional problems, particularly within dynamic environments, such as that found in real‐time financial trading.
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This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.
Design/methodology/approach
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.
Findings
The authors examine Cloud computing systems and their benefits and pitfalls, as well as the security priorities of consumers with these servers. It is essential for firms to have secure places to store information, as trust and transparency underlie a firm's reputation.
Originality/value
The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.
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To discuss whether in an age of misinformation on the Internet, calls for censorship, continuing ethnic and religious conflict throughout the world, librarians can be ethically…
Abstract
Purpose
To discuss whether in an age of misinformation on the Internet, calls for censorship, continuing ethnic and religious conflict throughout the world, librarians can be ethically neutral in all service encounters with patrons.
Design/methodology/approach
As a review paper, it approaches the topic from a discussion of current trends in the profession vs the historical text in question.
Findings
That although Foskett posited theories that proposed a strengthening of the professional practice of librarianship, his ideas could be criticised in the modern era for placing ethical neutrality above responsibility to society, as suggested by Hauptman. Yet such criticism needs to be tempered with the notion that a profession must represent a set of values, and Foskett's call for the profession to embrace a philosophy of practice remains an important point for modern librarians.
Practical implication
As a review paper, the practical implications would be in the consideration of the content in the mind of practitioners facing potential ethical dilemmas.
Originality/value
The value of the paper is in the re‐examination of ethical debates that have been occurring in the library profession for the past 80 years.
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This article aims to focus on deaths by suicide in relation to UK welfare reform as a case study to question one of suicidology’s most dominant theories – the Interpersonal Theory…
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to focus on deaths by suicide in relation to UK welfare reform as a case study to question one of suicidology’s most dominant theories – the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide (Joiner, 2005) and its influential ideas on “perceived burdensomeness” – as well as wider ideologies on suicide and mental health reflected in this approach.
Design/methodology/approach
This article draws on evidence from disabled people’s campaigning groups (primary sources) and research literature (secondary sources), which shows the negative psychological impact of burden discourse and how this shows up in people’s accounts of feeling suicidal, in suicide notes and in family accounts of those who have died by suicide. It uses this evidence to problematise the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide (Joiner, 2005), specifically its ideas about “burden” as an individual misperception, and the assumption that suicide is always the outcome of mental health problems.
Findings
The findings highlight the systemic, intersectional and cumulative production of suicidality by governmental “welfare reform” in the UK, through positioning welfare claimants as “burdens” on society. They show that by locating the problem of burdensomeness in individual “misperceptions”, the Interpersonal Theory allows the government’s role in crafting stigmatisation and conditions of suicidality to be overlooked and to be reproduced.
Originality/value
The article raises urgent ethical questions about the application of approaches, such as the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide, to benefits-related suicides and calls for approaches to benefits-related harm and suicide to be rooted in social and disability justice.
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Olof Sundin and Hanna Carlsson
This paper investigates the experiences of school teachers of supporting pupils and their apprehensions of how pupils search and assess information when search engines have become…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates the experiences of school teachers of supporting pupils and their apprehensions of how pupils search and assess information when search engines have become a technology of literacy in schools. By situating technologies of literacy as sociomaterial the purpose of this paper is to analyse and discuss these experiences and understandings in order to challenge dominant views of search in information literacy research.
Design/methodology/approach
Six focus group interviews with in total 39 teachers working at four different elementary and secondary schools were conducted in the autumn of 2014. Analysis was done using a sociomaterial perspective, which provides tools for understanding how pupils and teachers interact with and are demanded to translate their interest to technologies of literacy, in this case search engines, such as Google.
Findings
The teachers expressed difficulties of conceptualizing search as something they could teach. When they did, search was most often identified as a practical skill. A critical perspective on search, recognizing the role of Google as a dominant part of the information infrastructure and a co-constructor of what there is to know was largely lacking. As a consequence of this neglected responsibility of teaching search, critical assessment of online information was conflated with Google’s relevance ranking.
Originality/value
The study develops a critical understanding of the role of searching and search engines as technologies of literacy in relation to critical assessment in schools. This is of value for information literacy training.
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Michael T. Krush, Raj Agnihotri and Kevin J. Trainor
This paper aims to focus on the value of marketing dashboards, a key area of interest for scholars and practitioners. This study examines two critical outcomes of marketing…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to focus on the value of marketing dashboards, a key area of interest for scholars and practitioners. This study examines two critical outcomes of marketing dashboards: marketing strategy implementation speed and market information management capability. Additionally, the research analyzes the impact of the firm’s internal structure on the relationship between marketing dashboards and the outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual model grounded in the knowledge-based view of the firm is tested. The research uses survey data collected from marketing professionals employed within business-to-business firms. Data from the key informants are analyzed using structural equation modeling.
Findings
The results demonstrate that marketing dashboards are significantly related to marketing strategy implementation speed and market information management capability. Centralization exhibits a negative moderating effect, and formalization exhibits a positive moderating effect on the relationship between marketing dashboards and marketing strategy implementation speed. Marketing strategy implementation speed and market information management capability are related to market performance.
Originality/value
Through the examination of main and moderating relationships, this paper demonstrates that marketing strategy implementation speed and market information management capability are key integration mechanisms that leverage the marketing dashboard resources.