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1 – 10 of over 182000Thorbjørn Knudsen, Nils Stieglitz and Sangyoon Yi
We extend the classical garbage can model to examine how individual differences in ability and motivation will influence organizational performance. We find that spontaneous…
Abstract
We extend the classical garbage can model to examine how individual differences in ability and motivation will influence organizational performance. We find that spontaneous coordination provided by an organized anarchy is superior when agents are equally competent. The Weberian bureaucracy of planned coordination is effective when problems require specialist knowledge. However, errors in matching problems to specialized agents are a central challenge for bureaucracies. Actual organizations, therefore, combine elements of organized anarchies and bureaucracies. Heterogeneous motivation compounds coordination problems, but is usually less important than competence. Our findings point to matching and interactive learning as fruitful areas for further study.
The purpose of this paper is to extend the ostracism literature by exploring the pragmatic impact of ostracism on performance.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to extend the ostracism literature by exploring the pragmatic impact of ostracism on performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Ostracism workplace, social relations and empowerment structures are discussed. The paper then develops a theoretical framework that explains why and under what conditions workplace ostracism undermines employees’ performance. The author proposes that empowerment structures mediate the link between ostracism and in-role and extra-role performance. In addition, it was proposed that relational links buffer the negative relationship between ostracism and empowerment structures on performance and weaken the negative indirect effect of ostracism on performance.
Findings
The theoretical arguments provide support for the model showing that empowerment structures mediate the relationship between ostracism and performance, and the mediation effect only occurred when external links were high but not when external links were low.
Originality/value
The author has expanded the extant literature by answering recent calls for research exploring the pragmatic impact of workplace ostracism where past research has typically focused solely on the psychological impacts such as psychological needs.
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Items of information that have been stored in a computer normally need to be accessed via their contents. In principle this is always possible by doing an exhaustive scan of the…
Abstract
Items of information that have been stored in a computer normally need to be accessed via their contents. In principle this is always possible by doing an exhaustive scan of the entire file of information, but to achieve the access efficiently we use some sort of organizing principle, a file organization or file structure, to reduce the amount anning. Typically the items retrieved are a response to a request which fully or partially specifies their contents. Often the file organization requires pre‐processing of the body of information so that a secondary body of information (an index or directory) may be created which in some sense reveals the contents of the file. So, ultimately file structures are time saving devices, where we pay for the time saved by extra storage. They enable us quickly to find items of information by completely or partially specifying their contents.
Subhasis Dasgupta, Pinakpani Pal, Chandan Mazumdar and Aditya Bagchi
This paper provides a new Digital Library architecture that supports polyhierarchic ontology structure where a child concept representing an interdisciplinary subject area can…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper provides a new Digital Library architecture that supports polyhierarchic ontology structure where a child concept representing an interdisciplinary subject area can have multiple parent concepts. The paper further proposes an access control mechanism for controlled access to different concepts by different users depending on the authorizations available to each such user. The proposed model thus provides a better knowledge representation and faster searching possibility of documents for modern Digital Libraries with controlled access to the system.
Design/methodology/approach
Since the proposed Digital Library Architecture considers polyhierarchy, the underlying hierarchical structure becomes a Directed Acyclic Graph instead of a tree. A new access control model has been developed for such a polyhierarchic ontology structure. It has been shown that such model may give rise to undecidability problem. A client specific view generation mechanism has been developed to solve the problem.
Findings
The paper has three major contributions. First, it provides better knowledge representation for present-day digital libraries, as new interdisciplinary subject areas are getting introduced. Concepts representing interdisciplinary subject areas will have multiple parents, and consequently, the library ontology introduces a new set of nodes representing document classes. This concept also provides faster search mechanism. Secondly, a new access control model has been introduced for the ontology structure where a user gets authorizations to access a concept node only if its credential supports it. Lastly, a client-based view generation algorithm has been developed so that a client’s access remains limited to its view and avoids any possibility of undecidability in authorization specification.
Research limitations/implications
The proposed model, in its present form, supports only read and browse facilities. It would later be extended for addition and update of documents. Moreover, the paper explains the model in a single user environment. It will be augmented later to consider simultaneous access from multiple users.
Practical implications
The paper emphasizes the need for changing the present digital library ontology to a polyhierarchic structure to provide proper representation of knowledge related to the concepts covering interdisciplinary subject areas. Possible implementation strategies have also been mentioned. This design method can also be extended for other semantic web applications.
Originality/value
This paper offers a new knowledge management strategy to cover the gradual proliferation of interdisciplinary subject areas along with a suitable access control model for a digital library ontology. This methodology can also be extended for other semantic web applications.
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Calvin W.H. Cheong, Miin Huui Lee and Marc Arul Weissmann
This study investigates the effects of credit access and tax structures on the performance of Manufacturing SMEs in Malaysia.
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates the effects of credit access and tax structures on the performance of Manufacturing SMEs in Malaysia.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses the dynamic panel system generalized method of moments, controlling for firm-specific as well as macroeconomic effects
Findings
The paper finds that (1) debt funding is not conducive to SME performance; (2) access to non-bank credit sources and tax incentives support SME performance by lowering opportunity costs of riskier projects; (3) existing tax structures in Malaysia inhibit SME growth and encourage manipulation of accounts; and (4) investors in Malaysia prefer SMEs that are more conservative in their accounting and taxation practices.
Research limitations/implications
Access to Malaysian SME data is restricted. Although robust methods are used, there is a chance that different conclusions may arise with a much larger sample.
Practical implications
The findings provide clear direction in the discussion and enactment of new policies that support SME growth especially in support of non-bank credit sources instead of revising tax policies. The paper also contributes by providing guidance to future SME studies that are inhibited by limited access to data.
Originality/value
SME-related studies on credit access and tax structures have often relied on traditional metrics (e.g. total amount of bank loans; tax expenses) to measure its impact on entrepreneurial/SME performance. Although relevant to the past, financial policies have evolved to embrace Industrial Revolution 4.0. This paper is a shift from the traditional by investigating the impact of new and innovative sources of funding such as incubators and crowdfunding. Also, since one cannot exist without the other, examining the joint impact of credit access and tax structures provides a more holistic view on policy-making, something prior studies have not addressed.
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B. Tunçer, R. Stouffs and S. Sariyildiz
Web‐based document management applications serve to store, organize, and manage a collection of documents within the context of a building project. The organization of documents…
Abstract
Web‐based document management applications serve to store, organize, and manage a collection of documents within the context of a building project. The organization of documents, using mechanisms for indexing and relating these, aims to build an information structure that supports effective searching and browsing. We present a methodology for a stronger integration of project documents of different formats into a rich, highly interrelated, information structure. Specifically, we propose a decomposition of project documents by content in relation to a semantic structure for the categorization of document components. We consider a notion of typologies from architecture as a guide for constructing such a semantic structure. We discuss the application of this methodology to building projects, and propose its use in Web‐based document management applications in the AEC industry. As an illustration of this methodology, we describe a prototype application, as a presentation tool for architectural analyses in an educational context.
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Richard J. Schmidt and Robert H. Dodds
The computational efficiency of subspace iteration is addressed relative to the data structures adopted for the very large and generally sparse coefficient matrices. The frequent…
Abstract
The computational efficiency of subspace iteration is addressed relative to the data structures adopted for the very large and generally sparse coefficient matrices. The frequent triangulations and matrix multiplications demand that access to the terms in the coefficient matrices be unbiased. Reliance on virtual memory (paging) operating systems with no special considerations for localized data access is not adequate. Specific data structures must be designed that accommodate the needs of the numerical algorithm yet eliminate unnecessary paging. An implementation of the subspace iteration method using hypermatrix data structures is presented. Use of hypermatrices is shown to provide unbiased and localized data access. The various modifications to the conventional formulation are described and an example problem illustrates the potential benefits of the hypermatrix formulation. Possibilities for adapting hypermatrix data structures to new supercomputer architectures are discussed.
Nicolai J. Foss and José F.P. dos (Joe) Santos
The role of knowledge, organizational learning and innovation as levers of competitive advantage is now a commonly acknowledged insight in research in international management…
Abstract
The role of knowledge, organizational learning and innovation as levers of competitive advantage is now a commonly acknowledged insight in research in international management, specifically in the emerging ‘knowledge-based view’. However, this view has not yet developed into a unifying framework and there are significant holes in the understanding of how knowledge may be turned into a source of competitive advantage for MNCs. In order to advance the knowledge-based view of the MNC – and particularly of the metanational company – we develop the notion of the MNC as a global knowledge system that links local knowledge structures and combines local knowledge elements that are complementary in order to achieve strategic advantage. These ideas are used to frame the changing environments, strategic intents and learning stances that characterize MNCs, and to derive a set of research challenges for MNC research.
The paper explores the links between network structures and internationalization, conceptualized as a process of value innovation. The exploration sets off from the concept of an…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper explores the links between network structures and internationalization, conceptualized as a process of value innovation. The exploration sets off from the concept of an entry node, i.e. whether network entrance is facilitated by a direct dyadic or an indirect triadic relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is mainly conceptual, but also presents an empirical cross-border actor constellation which highlights the implications of the study.
Findings
Bi-directionality implies that value innovation is contingent on the fit between the actors involved in the entry node, not on the fulfilment of the needs of a focal actor. Further, the attractiveness of an entry node depends on network structures, the network positions of the actors in the entry node, the desired outcomes of entry (immersion or reach), and the actual behavior of the actors. The dynamics of transitivity can influence triadic entry nodes. However, transitivity operates differently in business networks than in social networks constituted by inter-personal ties. Therefore, closure of open triadic entry nodes is neither an automatic outcome of strong ties, nor a normatively better outcome.
Research limitations/implications
The theorizing offered by this paper must be further explored in different empirical contexts to assess its practical adequacy. Still, the presented empirical case indicates that the expected attractiveness of entry nodes is closely linked to (in)transitivity.
Originality/value
The paper supports the relevance of expanding from a dyadic to a network perspective in order to capture the dynamics of value innovation in an international setting.
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Libraries have generally made the conceptual shift from collections based on “ownership” to more expansive models which incorporate “access” to information. A new set of…
Abstract
Libraries have generally made the conceptual shift from collections based on “ownership” to more expansive models which incorporate “access” to information. A new set of challenges is emerging as the capabilities of information technology create new potentials for publishing and new models for access. Coupled with significant changes in the scholarly communication arena, research libraries are now challenged to reconceive the prevailing notions of collection development activity and the closely related strategies of providing access. Describes critical technical, cultural, and economic factors in the 1990s, and details an emerging series of tensions which build on the ownership‐access dichotomy of the past.
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