Juan D. Gomez, Guido Bologna and Thierry Pun
The purpose of this paper is to overcome the limitations of sensory substitution methods (SSDs) to represent high-level or conceptual information involved in vision, which are…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to overcome the limitations of sensory substitution methods (SSDs) to represent high-level or conceptual information involved in vision, which are mainly produced by the biological sensory mismatch between sight and substituting senses. Thus, provide the visually impaired with a more practical and functional SSD.
Design/methodology/approach
Unlike any other approach, the SSD extends beyond a sensing prototype, by integrating computer vision methods to produce reliable knowledge about the physical world (at the lowest cost to the user). Importantly though, the authors do not abandon the typical encoding of low-level features into sound. The paper simply argues that any visual perception can be achieved through hearing needs to be reinforced or enhanced by techniques that lie beyond mere visual-to-audio mapping (e.g. computer vision, image processing).
Findings
Experiments reported in this paper reveal that the See ColOr is learnable and functional, and provides easy interaction. In moderate time, participants were enabled to grasp visual information of the world out of which they could derive: spatial awareness, ability to find someone, location of daily objects and skill to walk safely avoiding obstacles. The encouraging results open a door toward autonomous mobility of the blind.
Originality/value
The paper uses the “extended” approach to introduce and justify that the system is brand new, as well as the experimental studies on computer-vision extension of SSDs that are presented. Also, this is the first paper reporting on a terminated, integrated and functional system.
Details
Keywords
Hamid Zarei, Hassan Yazdifar, Ahmad Nasseri and Mohsen Dahmarde Ghaleno
There is a dearth of research that investigates the impact of national culture on budgeting and management indexes in the public sector across developing countries. Limited…
Abstract
Purpose
There is a dearth of research that investigates the impact of national culture on budgeting and management indexes in the public sector across developing countries. Limited studies in accounting and management have explained the role of national culture in shaping organisational and individual values. It is posited that national cultural variables impact budget transparency and performance management. This study contributes to the literature by examining these relations in 16 developing countries.
Design/methodology/approach
Adopting an unbalanced timing framework, the current paper seeks to fulfill this gap and applies four cultural dimensions from the GLOBE study (House et al., 2004) as explanatory variables to investigate whether national culture is associated with budget transparency and performance management or not, particularly in the context of developing countries. The paper uses budget transparency as the first dependent variable, based on the OECD database from Qi and Mensah (2011), along with performance management as the second dependent variable, from the BTI Project (2016), according to the leadership's political performance management.
Findings
Generally, the empirical findings reveal a minimal relation among GLOBE cultural variables with budget transparency and performance management. Particularly, the empirical findings indicate that only performance orientation has a significant relation with budget transparency and performance management.
Research limitations/implications
The findings of this paper suggest that any plan to improve a nation's budget transparency should consider the links between budgeting, performance management and the culture of those that run them.
Originality/value
The formal adoption of new methods by performance management may not be enough without accompanying efforts to transform performance orientation as an index of national culture.
Details
Keywords
Sylvain Leduc, Laure Guilbert and Gérard Vallery
– The purpose of this paper is to present the results of field research carried out within a civil army corps responsible for the security of people and property.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present the results of field research carried out within a civil army corps responsible for the security of people and property.
Design/methodology/approach
The study deals with e-leadership as it leadership practices related to information and communication technologies (ICTs).
Findings
Having initially described the position of ICTs in current workplace contexts, the authors review the question of the role of leadership as well as that of knowledge acquired in e-leadership.
Practical implications
The results reveal variations in the use of ICTs in leadership situations, which find their origins in multiple determinisms related to the types of task, the technological tools and the constraints inherent to customary situations.
Originality/value
These conclusions are discussed in the light of research centered on the predictive variables arising from the adoption of technologies in the context of the workplace.