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Critical realism is an increasingly popular “lens” through which complex events, entities and phenomena can be studied. Yet detailed operationalisations of critical realism are at present relatively scarce. This study's objective here is built on existing debates by developing an open systems model of reality, a basis for designing appropriate, internally consistent methodologies.

The authors use a qualitative case study examining changing practices for client contact management in professional services firms during restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 crisis to show how the model can be operationalised across all stages of a research study.

This study contributes to the literature on qualitative applications of critical realism by providing a detailed example of how the research paradigm influenced choices at every stage of the case study process.

More importantly, this model of reality as an open system provides a tool for other researchers to use in their own operationalisation of critical realism in a variety of different settings.

The purpose of this paper is to present analysis of the feedback predictive encoder-based analog-to-digital converter (ADC).

The use of feedback predictive encoder-based ADCs presents an alternative to the traditional two-stage pipeline ADC by replacing the input estimate producing first stage of the pipeline with a predictive loop that also produces an estimate of the input signal.

The overload condition for feedback predictive encoder ADCs is dependent on input signal amplitude and frequency, system gain and filter order. The limitation on the practical usable filter order is set by limit cycle oscillation. A boundary condition is defined for determination of maximum usable filter order. In a practical implementation of the predictive encoder ADC, the time allocated to the key functions of the gain stage and loop quantizer leads to optimization of the power consumption.

A practical switched capacitor implementation of the predictive encoder-based ADC is proposed. The power consumption of key circuit blocks is investigated.

This paper presents a methodology to optimize the bandwidth of predictive encoder ADCs. The overload and stability conditions may be used to determine the maximum input signal bandwidth for a given loop quantizer. Optimization of power consumption based on the allocation of time between the gain stage and the successive approximation register ADC operation is investigated. The lower bound of power consumption for this architecture is estimated.

The aim of this study was to appraise the delivery of information communication technology (ICT) projects and identify key determinants for stakeholder integration.

Given that empirically, little was known about stakeholder integration in the ICT sector and its influence or effect on project delivery; qualitative method was used. Forty-seven semi-structured interviews were carried out to derive senior project practitioners and policymakers' constructs of stakeholder integration and infrastructure performance improvement of ICT projects. The verification and validation of the proposed assessment tool were achieved through the use of focus group discussion.

As established in this research study, there is a need for project delivery teams to evaluate the level of stakeholder integration, the formulation of a project business case, the project processes and issues of compliance and regulation in ICT projects. What is evident in the findings of the study is that the management model adopted for the stakeholders in the Kenyan ICT sector ought to make communication the fulcrum of their engagement.

The inferences made herein are critical in contributing to knowledge regarding the ICT infrastructure project management terrain in developing countries. There is evidence in the study to conclude that the concept of stakeholder management and integration has implications for the sustainability of ICT projects. One of the issues that predominantly featured in the research was the input of stakeholder integration in terms of project sustainability.

How public relations practitioners in the United Kingdom create and maintain social capital in support of organizational objectives is considered in a research project addressing a research gap identified in its literature review. The project informs the work of a new Working Party on Social Capital established by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations. The project’s empirical phase is informed by a conceptual model developed by the authors and presented in the chapter. It draws on research from behavioural economics and evolutionary biology building on theories associated with community organizing and leadership studies. The conceptual framework also features a phronetic planning tool to help practitioners balance organizational requirements against wider social responsibilities. This aspect of the framework serves as an antidote to social capital being viewed as a resource which can be appropriated for narrow organizational ends. The chapter argues that such an instrumental approach to building social capital is both counterproductive and unethical.

This article argues that critical realism (CR) offers an ontological position suited to understanding the dynamic relations between multinational companies (MNCs) and the complex political spaces within which they operate. After outlining the core assumptions of CR, the key arguments are elaborated through two case studies which focus on issues of staffing and expatriation. The first case concerns recent developments in the Middle East, highlighting the shifting reality of nationality-based definitions of staffing the MNC, and the second examines the internationalisation of Chinese firms, exploring the way MNCs restructure space to retain access to home-country advantages.

Deals with a way of designing structures of superconducting coils able to generate uniform flux densities, or uniform force field. An inverse methodology, which is valid for structures with plane symmetry (2‐D field), has been worked out. Currents are modeled by purely surface (or thin shell) current densities. Several original structures are then presented: one is especially well adapted to energy storage and the others give relevant solutions to the problem of uniform force field generation.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the scope of sourcing research in Sub-Sahara African (SSA) from scholarly journals published from 1980 to 2013 on sourcing-related issues. The study identifies what is known about sourcing from this region and the implications for managers and researchers in supply chain management.

Totally, 40 scholarly journals (supply chain journals and other journals publishing on diverse business topics) were found relevant and reviewed. Content (all field) search using the names of each SSA countries (e.g. Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, etc.) was carried out in the supply chain journals to filter out articles discussing sourcing-related topics. For other business journals, keyword search was performed (procurement, sourcing, purchasing, outsourcing, supplier relations, supplier selection, supplier development, supply management, offshore, supply chain and logistics).

The literature review suggests that studies discussing sourcing issues in SSA have focussed mainly on challenges of sourcing from SSA, and they provide some insights on implementation of supply chain tools such as total quality management, negotiating and selecting suppliers from SSA, and just-in time purchasing. However, the authors found that there is an under-representation of this region in supply chain management literature. More so, the articles discussing sourcing issues in Africa are limited in scope empirically and theoretically in comparison with the large amount of contributions in other emerging economies of Asia and developed economies.

The limited amount of publications and contributions does not allow us to provide an integrated framework for sourcing from SSA.

There is a need for future research to explore how the SSA context could enhance theorizing in supply chains. Also, there is need for researchers to extend the sourcing debate from the over emphasis on technology sourcing, knowledge intensive service outsourcing and component sourcing to other lower value-added products such as agricultural products and other raw materials sourced in SSA.

This paper is one of the first to explore the scope of sourcing in Africa. As the findings suggest, there have been limited amount of papers published about this region. The review provides a perspective for researchers to explore this region and to aid theory development in supply chains. It also provided implications on how to support research publication focussing on this region and how to inform managerial perceptions on sourcing from SSA.

The psycho-oncology and social work services recognised that a cancer diagnosis and treatment can result in considerable emotional consequences for patients, yet the referral rate to both services was extremely low. Only very visibly distressed patients were being referred to the service. The “Distress Thermometer” (DT), a distress screening tool, was introduced as a pilot project with day care and inpatient oncology patients of St Vincent ' s University Hospital, Dublin, in an effort to improve the identification, management and treatment of psychological distress in oncology patients. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of this new intervention.

The Psycho-oncology service in conjunction with the Medical Social Work Department and Nursing Management at St Vincent ' s University Hospital, Dublin, initiated a Distress Education Management and Training Programme (DEMP). The initiative involved providing a training programme for oncology nursing staff and the introduction of a distress-screening tool for patients. In 1998, the DT was developed and validated for evaluation of distress (and depression) in cancer. It was adopted into recommendations made by the US National Comprehensive Cancer Network. The DT is a simple, self-report, pencil and paper measure consisting of a line with a 0-10 scale anchored at the zero point with “No distress” and at scale point ten with “Extreme distress”. Patients are given the instruction, “How distressed have you been during the past week on a scale of 0-10”? Patients indicated their level of distress with a mark on the scale. Patients scoring 4 or above were regarded as requiring intervention. The DT includes a problem checklist. The patient is asked to identify those problems from the checklist which are contributing to their score. The use of the DT was evaluated through interviews with patients and professionals.

Patients who scored four or above (38 per cent of patients), were seen by the Oncology Social Worker for psychosocial assessment and mental health triage. Patients who scored above a certain level (usually above 12/20) in the clinical range on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (3 per cent) were referred to Psycho-oncology. That 38 per cent of oncology patients required intervention from a specialist service accurately reflects international findings on the rate of distress among cancer patients.

Assessment of cancer patients ' distress levels in a structured and planned manner with a Distress Thermometer, as recommended by best international practice, works very effectively and should be considered for all cancer out-patients This will have implications in terms of staff that will be required to manage such a service.

This was the first time that this internationally recognised tool was used to such an extent and to positive effect in an Irish context.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate factors affecting e-banking usage based on electronic service (e-service) quality, attitude and customer satisfaction.

A conceptual model to investigate factors that influence e-banking usage was developed based on review of existing literature. The model employed e-services quality variable, diffusion of innovation construct and self-efficacy to better reflect the users’ views of e-banking usage. Data collected from 254 e-banking users were used to test the model. The data were analysed based on PLS-SEM using SmartPLS 3.0.

The result reveals that perceived e-service quality has a strong influence on customer satisfaction and use of e-banking, which means that greater quality of e-service has the potential to increase satisfaction and consequently result in to more use of e-banking. In this research findings, competence of e-service support staff, system availability, service portfolio, responsiveness and reliability, in that order, were found to be most significant in rating e-service quality.

This offers financial institutions and professional relevant information e-banking services that will promote greater customer satisfaction and use of e-banking.

This paper contributes to knowledge advancement in bank marketing by providing insight into motivational factors of e-banking services quality and personal characteristics.

The purpose of this paper is to suggest a conceptual analysis and design of knowledge management (KM) system for “Ifa” divination. In previous research, a randomized expert system for “Ifa” was proposed. In the system, the signatures of the divine‐chain are simulated through randomization process from 1 to 16, triggering the inference engine and knowledge base. This system has been experimented and it works.

The paper proposes a conceptual analysis and design of KM system for “Ifa.” In this system, applying KM to “Ifa” oracle consultation plays the core role. Moreover, the formal explanation of the whole process is given.

“Ifa” knowledge visualization was designed with Visual Basic 6.0 and MS‐Access for storing “Ifa” data. The paper presents an application tagged “Ifagraph” – an oracle browser version 1.0.0 that displays the signatures when executed.

This is a novel approach that promotes indigenous technology from an African perspective.