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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 31 January 2023

Kristoffer Vandrup Sigsgaard, Julie Krogh Agergaard, Niels Henrik Mortensen, Kasper Barslund Hansen and Jingrui Ge

The study consists of a literature study and a case study. The need for a method via which to handle instruction complexity was identified in both studies. The proposed method was…

Abstract

Purpose

The study consists of a literature study and a case study. The need for a method via which to handle instruction complexity was identified in both studies. The proposed method was developed based on methods from the literature and experience from the case company.

Design/methodology/approach

The purpose of the study presented in this paper is to investigate how linking different maintenance domains in a modular maintenance instruction architecture can help reduce the complexity of maintenance instructions.

Findings

The proposed method combines knowledge from the operational and physical domains to reduce the number of instruction task variants. In a case study, the number of instruction task modules was reduced from 224 to 20, covering 83% of the maintenance performed on emergency shutdown valves.

Originality/value

The study showed that the other methods proposed within the body of maintenance literature mainly focus on the development of modular instructions, without the reduction of complexity and non-value-adding variation observed in the product architecture literature.

Details

Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering, vol. 29 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2511

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 May 2014

Irene Valsecchi

The idea of Simon according to which instructions are premises for further decisions is formalized with respect to informationally decentralized organizations. The paper aims to…

Abstract

Purpose

The idea of Simon according to which instructions are premises for further decisions is formalized with respect to informationally decentralized organizations. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is built on the economic theory of teams by Marschak and Radner. Team theory is particularly suited to the analysis of informationally decentralized systems. Teams are composed of agents who strive for a common aim, but are informed of different parameters that characterize the state of nature. In particular, the members want to maximize the team payoff function that depends on both the actions of the members and the state of nature.

Findings

For teams à la Marshack-Radner, since every member needs to compute optimal action rules, the paper shows that two types of expertise are required: forecasting expertise (as competence over the randomness of the parameters that affect the team payoff function) and organizational expertise (as comprehension of the relevant characteristics of the other members). When the members are supposed to have complete expertise, the only role of orders is the communication of information about the state of nature. Instead, when instructions report actions under the control of the senders, the team population can be classified into ranks, each one having a particular computational problem to solve. The paper analyzes the conditions under which instructions can correspond to different and ordered degree of intelligibility of the team operations. Through instructions non-decodable information is built directly into the decision rules chosen by the receivers, and instructions can realize economies in the use of expertise.

Originality/value

Instructions are formally shown to play a crucial role when expertise is differently distributed across agents.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 22 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 March 2019

Carmit Rapaport and Isaac Ashkenazi

The official earthquake protection instructions for schools and kindergartens in Israel have recently been updated from the traditional “drop, cover and hold on” approach to the…

Abstract

Purpose

The official earthquake protection instructions for schools and kindergartens in Israel have recently been updated from the traditional “drop, cover and hold on” approach to the “flee outside to an open space” approach. This paper aims to describe the decision-making process, discuss the dilemmas behind it and suggest new insights for challenging current instructions in other countries.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors analyze human behavior patterns during earthquakes in general, and at schools in particular, while taking into consideration the environment (in terms of applying building codes and the level of earthquake risk in various zones), personal characteristics (age, gender and past experience) and earthquake characteristics (intensity and duration).

Findings

Five aspects should be taken into consideration when changing current earthquake instructions: the general official earthquake protection instructions, the structure and construction of schools and kindergartens, common behavior during emergencies, warning systems and the need to establish standardized protection instructions and guidelines for every school and kindergarten in the country.

Practical implications

Policymakers in other countries should critique current instructions to maximize citizens’ chances of survival and mitigate possible earthquake hazards, including by improving risk communication with the public.

Originality/value

The paper describes a national decision-making process which questions current official earthquake instructions at schools and kindergartens, based on evidence gained from current construction conditions, human behavior analysis and other countries’ experiences.

Details

International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, vol. 10 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1759-5908

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 June 2021

Husameddin Alshaer, Muhamad Helmi Md. Said and Ramalinggam Rajamanickam

This paper aims to highlight the role of the Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA) in combating money laundering. The discussion will focus on the sectors under the PAM authority by…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to highlight the role of the Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA) in combating money laundering. The discussion will focus on the sectors under the PAM authority by examining the issued instructions.

Design/methodology/approach

The current study is a pure legal study. The methodology used in this paper is the qualitative approach by focussing on the doctrinal mechanism. Thus, it focussed on procedures, processes, laws, and regulations.

Findings

This paper found serious organisational inefficiencies within the governance framework of anti-money laundering (AML) for both the currency exchange and specialised lending institutions sectors. Moreover, the PMA’s role in combating money laundering is insufficient where its efforts are limited by random inspection visits and the installation of surveillance cameras in the money changers shops.

Practical implications

The findings may influence both the currency exchange and specialized lending institutions sectors to adopt a more vigilant approach to prevent the occurrence of money laundering in Palestine and to undertake more responsibility in ensuring compliance with the current AML legal framework. The study also highlighted that their current practice might place them in danger of non-compliance.

Originality/value

The paper demonstrated in, an exceptional way, the role of the PMA in combating money laundering by focussing on both legal and regulatory requirements for the three sectors under the PMA supervision authority. This paper made a valuable contribution to the study of combating money laundering in Palestine, where it is one of the first studies dealing with this issue involving this country.

Details

Journal of Money Laundering Control, vol. 24 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1368-5201

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 April 2024

Bahman Arasteh and Ali Ghaffari

Reducing the number of generated mutants by clustering redundant mutants, reducing the execution time by decreasing the number of generated mutants and reducing the cost of…

Abstract

Purpose

Reducing the number of generated mutants by clustering redundant mutants, reducing the execution time by decreasing the number of generated mutants and reducing the cost of mutation testing are the main goals of this study.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, a method is suggested to identify and prone the redundant mutants. In the method, first, the program source code is analyzed by the developed parser to filter out the effectless instructions; then the remaining instructions are mutated by the standard mutation operators. The single-line mutants are partially executed by the developed instruction evaluator. Next, a clustering method is used to group the single-line mutants with the same results. There is only one complete run per cluster.

Findings

The results of experiments on the Java benchmarks indicate that the proposed method causes a 53.51 per cent reduction in the number of mutants and a 57.64 per cent time reduction compared to similar experiments in the MuJava and MuClipse tools.

Originality/value

Developing a classifier that takes the source code of the program and classifies the programs' instructions into effective and effectless classes using a dependency graph; filtering out the effectless instructions reduces the total number of mutants generated; Developing and implementing an instruction parser and instruction-level mutant generator for Java programs; the mutant generator takes instruction in the original program as a string and generates its single-line mutants based on the standard mutation operators in MuJava; Developing a stack-based evaluator that takes an instruction (original or mutant) and the test data and evaluates its result without executing the whole program.

Details

Data Technologies and Applications, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9288

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 September 1999

Diane Nahl

In response to the proliferation of information retrieval systems in academic libraries since the early 1980s, librarians have created many written search aids designed to help…

1081

Abstract

In response to the proliferation of information retrieval systems in academic libraries since the early 1980s, librarians have created many written search aids designed to help users learn how to search database systems. Written instructional material continues to increase in quantity and in importance with the rise of remote users and the advent of asynchronous distance learning. Since many users will have only written instructions to consult, it is crucial to determine the effectiveness of these materials. How useful are these instructions? Do people consult them? Do they help users make progress in their searches? There is a small but useful body of research on the effectiveness of both print and online search aids. This research points to the need to test materials on user groups. The findings from studies of novices using written instructions identify specific guidelines for creating effective materials.

Details

Reference Services Review, vol. 27 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 February 2010

Stephen Fox

There are guidelines for information and communication technology (ICT) applications which are already established in manufacturing. These guidelines include recommendations such…

2185

Abstract

Purpose

There are guidelines for information and communication technology (ICT) applications which are already established in manufacturing. These guidelines include recommendations such as: alignment of ICT applications with strategy, involvement of the full range of stakeholders, and careful planning and monitoring. A recommendation from outside of manufacturing is that information and communication design should be carried out in conjunction with ICT applications. The purpose of the research reported in this paper is to investigate the relevance of information and communication design to applications of advanced ICTs used in the instruction of manual skills.

Design/methodology/approach

Literature review, interviews, and five quasi‐experimental studies are used.

Findings

The design of information and its communication is relevant to the instruction of manual skills with ICTs and, in particular, important for instruction with augmented reality (AR).

Research limitations/implications

There are only 92 participants in the five quasi‐experimental studies.

Practical implications

This paper provides an overview of information and communication design issues. Examples are provided of how these issues manifest themselves in the application of advanced ICTs, such as virtual reality and AR, which can be used in the instruction of manual skills.

Originality/value

The originality of the research reported in this paper is that it goes beyond further investigation of established guidelines for ICT applications. The value of this paper is that it draws attention to the potential of information and communication design to improve ICTs implementations. It also draws attention to the need for balanced comparisons in the assessment of all ICTs prior to their implementation.

Details

Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, vol. 21 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-038X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2005

G. Bugmann, J.C. Wolf and P. Robinson

Service robots need to be programmable by their users who are in general unskilled in the art of robot programming. We have explored the use of spoken language for programming…

Abstract

Purpose

Service robots need to be programmable by their users who are in general unskilled in the art of robot programming. We have explored the use of spoken language for programming robots.

Design/methodology/approach

Two applications domains were studied: that of route instructions and that of game instructions. The latter is work in progress. In both cases work started by recording verbal instructions representative of how human users would naturally address their robot.

Findings

The analysis of these instructions reveals references to high‐level functions natural to humans but challenging for designers of robots. The instruction structure reflects assumptions about the cognitive abilities of the listener and it is likely that some human capabilities for rational thinking will be required in service robots.

Research limitations/implications

Some of the high‐level functions called for by natural communication stretch current capabilities and there is a clear case for more effort being devoted in some areas. Instruction analysis provides pointers to such research topics.

Practical implications

It is proposed that service robot design should start with investigating the way end‐users will communicate with the robot. This is encapsulated in the “corpus‐based” approach to robot design illustrated in this paper. This results in more functional service robots.

Originality/value

The paper stresses the importance of considering human‐robot communication early in the robot design process.

Details

Industrial Robot: An International Journal, vol. 32 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 April 2021

Hussein Haruna, Asad Abbas, Zamzami Zainuddin, Xiao Hu, Robin R. Mellecker and Samira Hosseini

This paper aims to evaluate the students’ perception of their learning experiences concerning serious gaming and gamification instructions and determines whether they were…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to evaluate the students’ perception of their learning experiences concerning serious gaming and gamification instructions and determines whether they were motivated enough and engaged during the educative process in a resource-poor context. Moreover, the study evaluated the impact of interactive instructional environment outcomes in terms of students’ perceptions of the learning catalysed by gamified systems, particularly in enhancing attitude change coupled with knowledge acquisition.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used a qualitative research design technique to collect the data. A total of 108 first year secondary school students participated in a sexual health literacy course that lasted for a five-week learning period. Using a cluster-sampling technique, three classes were randomly assigned to serious gaming, gamification and teacher-centred instructions. Individual face-to-face interviews were used to assess students’ perceives required satisfaction with three instructions. Data were audio-recorded, and coding analysis was used using NVivo software facilitated qualitative data analysis.

Findings

The results show that serious gaming and gamification instructions trumped the traditional teacher-centred instruction method. While intervention students were all positive about the serious gaming and gamification instructions, non-intervention students were negative about conservative teacher-centered learning whose limited interactivity also undermined learning relative to the two innovative interventions.

Research limitations/implications

As a justification to limit face-to-face classes, this study may be useful during an emergency phenomenon, including the current situation of amid COVID-19. The implementation of serious gaming and gamification as remotely instructional options could be among the measures to protect educational communities through reducing close-proximity, and eventually, control contamination and the spread of viruses.

Originality/value

The application of serious gaming and game elements should not be conceptualised as universal but context-specific. This study shows that particularism is essential to optimise the results in terms of coming up with a specific design based on the scope of evaluation for positive results and develop an intervention that will work, especially in the resource-poor context of the developing world.

Details

Information and Learning Sciences, vol. 122 no. 5/6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-5348

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 November 2011

Mariamma Chacko and K. Poulose Jacob

The purpose of this paper is to describe an approach towards code validation of RISC microcontrollers, which helps to automate software debugging. A static machine code analysis…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe an approach towards code validation of RISC microcontrollers, which helps to automate software debugging. A static machine code analysis which checks the appropriateness of instructions in a sequence to identify any logical mistakes and also to identify redundant codes appearing in a program for the target processor is presented.

Design/methodology/approach

Validation is done with the help of rules of inferences formulated for the target processor. The rules govern the occurrence of illegitimate/out of place instructions and code sequences for executing the computational and integrated peripheral functions. The stipulated rules are encoded in propositional logic formulae and their compliance is tested in all possible execution paths of the application programs. An incorrect sequence of machine code pattern is identified using slicing techniques on the control flow graph generated from machine code.

Findings

The results explain that the technique is independent of compiler/assembler and contributes to early detection of software bugs that are otherwise hard to detect. Program states are identified mainly with machine code pattern, which drastically reduces the state space creation contributing to an improved state‐of‐the‐art model checking.

Research limitations/implications

Though the technique described is general, the implementation is highly architecture oriented, and hence the feasibility study is conducted only on PIC16F87X microcontrollers.

Practical implications

This validation tool can be integrated to the system development environment resulting in improved software quality and reduced debugging time.

Originality/value

It is a novel and original approach at machine code level applicable to a wide range of processors once appropriate rules are available.

Details

International Journal of Intelligent Computing and Cybernetics, vol. 4 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-378X

Keywords

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