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1 – 10 of 94Aysylu Valitova and Dominique Besson
Develop an integrated model to analyze conflicts at work and apply it to a case study. The core of the conceptual model is constituted by the interpersonal relationships…
Abstract
Purpose
Develop an integrated model to analyze conflicts at work and apply it to a case study. The core of the conceptual model is constituted by the interpersonal relationships modalities using the Palo Alto school theorization (symmetrical and complementary relations framework in people's relative positioning). This model also articulates inside this interpersonal relationships structure five other dimensions: Perception processes, Life dynamics, Habitus from Bourdieu and developed by Lahire, psychosociological processes and sociological factors (including cultural ones). We apply this model to the case study of a Community center in a French city where a serious conflict happens with the final consequence of the closure of the center.
Design/methodology/approach
In-depth case study by long conversations (more than interviews) with the main protagonists of the Community center and of the conflict. These talks have been completed by secondary sources and extended review of newspaper articles.
Findings
Our model revels to be pertinent to enlighten the multiple dimensions of the conflict. In particular, we show that the dynamics of interpersonal relationships is central in the conflict development and is embedded in multiple psychosociological processes (perceptions processes with deep perceptive divergences between people, personal construction of Social Identity by protagonists, group thinking, active minority construction, etc.). The sociological factors, as well of personal habitus, have an effect but are not determinants of people's behavior. People are partially conscious of the occurring phenomena but cannot be considered as omniscient, purely strategic actors.
Research limitations/implications
1-Application of the conceptual model is applied only on one case study. 2-More attention should be given to prospective dimension of stories and storying (antenarrative).
Practical implications
The case analysis based on our reactional model of conflicts leads to point out several mistakes in the management of the considered organization and more precisely in the management of the conflictual relationships. Change of level 2 has been misconducted by the top manager of the Community center and we show which alternative decisions could have been made in order to avoid the burst of the conflict. More general conflict management methods can be deduced from our analysis.
Originality/value
Articulation of these different concepts in an integrated model has never been previously made neither applied in a case study.
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Mohamed Madani Hafidi, Meriem Djezzar, Mounir Hemam, Fatima Zahra Amara and Moufida Maimour
This paper aims to offer a comprehensive examination of the various solutions currently accessible for addressing the challenge of semantic interoperability in cyber physical…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to offer a comprehensive examination of the various solutions currently accessible for addressing the challenge of semantic interoperability in cyber physical systems (CPS). CPS is a new generation of systems composed of physical assets with computation capabilities, connected with software systems in a network, exchanging data collected from the physical asset, models (physics-based, data-driven, . . .) and services (reconfiguration, monitoring, . . .). The physical asset and its software system are connected, and they exchange data to be interpreted in a certain context. The heterogeneous nature of the collected data together with different types of models rise interoperability problems. Modeling the digital space of the CPS and integrating information models that support cyber physical interoperability together are required.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper aims to identify the most relevant points in the development of semantic models and machine learning solutions to the interoperability problem, and how these solutions are implemented in CPS. The research analyzes recent papers related to the topic of semantic interoperability in Industry 4.0 (I4.0) systems.
Findings
Semantic models are key enabler technologies that provide a common understanding of data, and they can be used to solve interoperability problems in Industry by using a common vocabulary when defining these models.
Originality/value
This paper provides an overview of the different available solutions to the semantic interoperability problem in CPS.
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Mounir Kehal and Zuopeng (Justin) Zhang
Building upon Internet of Things (IoT), Internet of Vehicles (IoV) and Social Internet of Things (SIoT), Social Internet of Vehicles (SIoV) is the latest development in the field…
Abstract
Purpose
Building upon Internet of Things (IoT), Internet of Vehicles (IoV) and Social Internet of Things (SIoT), Social Internet of Vehicles (SIoV) is the latest development in the field. SIoV allows vehicles to socialize among themselves and share information of common interests. The increasing popularity of the SIoV concept demands more research to explore its great potential. However, very few studies have systemically investigated this concept to provide a comprehensive view for readers. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper discusses the perspectives of the utilizations and limitations of SIoV, setting forward a systematic and epistemological framework.
Findings
The authors summarize the benefits of SIoV from four information-management perspectives: safety management, traffic control and convenience, productivity improvement and commercialization and exploring the factors inhibiting the development of SIoV from the following seven aspects: standardization, adaptability, scalability, infrastructure, lack of application, privacy and security.
Originality/value
The paper lays a solid foundation for researchers to find possible solutions to address the challenges to SIoV and provides valuable insights for practitioners who are interested in adopting SIoV initiatives.
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Mounir Bensalah, Abdelmajid Elouadi and Hassan Mharzi
The authors will give an overview of the railway market, with a focus on Morocco, before seeing the challenges to face, before listing some benefits of rail links in terms of…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors will give an overview of the railway market, with a focus on Morocco, before seeing the challenges to face, before listing some benefits of rail links in terms of development, ecology, security, space management, etc. The authors will then give an overview of the development of BIM, its benefits, risks and issues. The purpose of this paper is to verify that the BIM can provide the railway with the tools to face some of its challenges and improve its productivity.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is part of our research project on the integration of BIM in railway, which is the result of a partnership between Colas Rail Maroc and the ENSAK of the Ibn Tofail University of Kenitra. The objective of this paper is mainly to confirm that the integration of BIM with the railway, through a theoretical and practical study, can have positive impacts. To do this, our methodology consists in studying briefly the development of the railway, the need to improve the budgets and schedules of the projects, to increase the productivity, before showing the advantages of the BIM in the sector of the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC). The study of feedback from railway projects (chosen for their date of completion – beyond 2014, their size, their geographical situation in several countries and for the availability of literature in a new field) will confirm the initial hypotheses. Among the projects studied will be a project that has been the subject of an article written by the authors of this paper. In the discussion of the results, the authors will focus on the benefits, risks and limitations of integrating BIM into the railway. In conclusion, the authors are laying the groundwork for future research in the field.
Findings
The cases study discussed in this paper and previous research confirms the hypotheses of the literature. The integration of BIM into railway projects can have several advantages: collaboration, time saving, cost optimization, prevention of conflicts between networks, construction before construction, optimization of facility management, improvement of the quality of works, prefabrication. They also allowed us to illustrate the risks (status and appropriation of the BIM model, lack of standardization of versions or software and lack of understanding of the basics of schedules and specifications) and limitations (lack of feedback, lack of adaptability and convergence of tools). These experiences have also shown that the use of BIM is not just a technological transition, but a revolution in the project management process, which requires several key success factors (participation of all, commitment, change management and adoption of the collaborative approach). Visualization, collaboration and conflict elimination are the three main chapters where the benefits of BIM can be organized. In fact, there is a lot of intersection between these chapters, but they have been chosen as the main ideas around which all the benefits can be better understood. Visualization primarily addresses the benefits to an individual and improving one’s personal understanding as a result of using BIM. The collaboration refers to the cooperative action of several team members, which is encouraged and facilitated by BIM. Conflict elimination mainly concerns project-related benefits, such as conflict reduction, waste, risks, costs and time. For railway infrastructure projects, the main purpose of using BIM is to improve the design integration process, internal project team communication and collision detection to eliminate risk of rehabilitation.
Research limitations/implications
The application of the BIM process in railway infrastructure requires constant improvement. This concerns the development of libraries and the models available to all users in order to encourage the development of this methodology and, consequently, its use of information throughout the life cycle of an infrastructure work.
Practical implications
The case study of real projects incorporating BIM confirms the results of the literature review. The benefits of integrating BIM into rail projects are multiple and proven: cost control, decision support, avoids extra work due to design errors, improves detection of interface problems, improves planning of vision, help with prefabrication and facility management, etc. Finally, the BIM process is able to overcome delays in procedures slowing the development of the construction industry in many countries, especially in Morocco, because of the slowness of design (or downright bad design).
Social implications
The integration of BIM into rail is becoming a global trend. This integration requires government decisions and a maturation of technology and tools. The authorities of some developed countries studied (Sweden, UK, France, Germany) in the railways, at different stages of implementation, are adopting BIM in the process of setting up new railway projects. This political impulse is still behind in southern countries, such as Morocco. The trend and the data collected indicate an adoption between 2020 and 2030 of BIM in all/some AEC projects in developed countries. This will have an impact on other countries that will soon be doing the same, especially in the railway sector to adopt the BIM.
Originality/value
As part of the realization of this paper, we proceeded to the implementation of an electrical substation as part of the project to build 40 electric traction substations built by Colas Rail on behalf of ONCF.
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Younes Bahammou, Mounir Kouhila, Haytem Moussaoui, Hamza Lamsyehe, Zakaria Tagnamas, Abdelkader Lamharrar and Ali Idlimam
This work aims to study the hydrothermal behavior of mortar cement toward certain environmental factors (ambient air temperature and air velocity) based on its drying kinetics…
Abstract
Purpose
This work aims to study the hydrothermal behavior of mortar cement toward certain environmental factors (ambient air temperature and air velocity) based on its drying kinetics data. The objective is to provide a better understanding and controlling the stability of mortar structures, which integrate the sorption phenomenon, drying process, air pressure and intrinsic characteristics. This leads to predict the comportment of mortar structures in relation with main environmental factors and minimize the risk of cracking mortar structures at an early age.
Design/methodology/approach
Thermokinetic study was carried out in natural and forced convection solar drying at three temperatures 20, 30 and 40°C and three air velocities (1, 3 and 5 m.s-1). The empirical and semiempirical models tested successfully describe the drying kinetics of mortar. These models simulate the drying process of water absorbed by capillarity, which is the most common humidity transfer mechanism in building materials and contain parameters with physical significance, which integrate the effect of several environmental factors and intrinsic characteristics of mortar structures.
Findings
The models simulate the drying process of water absorbed by capillarity, which is the most common humidity transfer mechanism in building materials and contain parameters with physical significance, which integrate the effect of several environmental factors and intrinsic characteristics of mortar structures. The average activation energy obtained expressed the temperature effect on the mortar diffusivity. The drying constant and the diffusion coefficient can be used to predict the influence of these environmental factors on the drying behavior of various building materials and therefore on their durability.
Originality/value
Evaluation of the effect of several environmental factors and intrinsic characteristics of mortar structures on their durability.
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Hatem Gaffer, Mounir Salem and Magda Marzouk
The present study aims to focus on the possibility of developing new eco-friendly azo dyes with good colouristic application properties, exhibiting biological and pharmacological…
Abstract
Purpose
The present study aims to focus on the possibility of developing new eco-friendly azo dyes with good colouristic application properties, exhibiting biological and pharmacological activities.
Design/methodology/approach
Coupling of 4-hydroxycoumarin with a variety of aromatic diazonium salts of 2-aminothiazole, 2-aminobenzothiazole, 4-aminoantipyrine, 4-aminoacetophenone, adenine sulphate, a-naphthylamine and sulphadimidine to produce novel azo dyes. The compounds were fully characterised using spectroscopic and analytical methods. All of the compounds were tested for their antimicrobial, anticancer and antioxidant activities. The prepared dyestuffs were dyed on polyester fabrics and subsequently their dyeing properties, light, washing, perspiration, rubbing and sublimation fastness were determined.
Findings
The spectroscopic data of the synthesised compounds have provided decisive evidence that such compounds exist in the solid state as the azo-dike to form C and in solution in equilibrium tautomer forms A, B and D. The prepared dyestuffs are suitable for either heat transfer printing or traditional printing on polyester and nylon 6 fabrics. The prints obtained from the dyes possess high colour strength, as well as good overall fastness properties. Also the synthesised compounds exhibit good biological and pharmacology activity.
Research limitations/implications
Synthesis of these seven azo dyes for textile dyeing had never been reported previously.
Practical implications
The dyestuffs derived from 4-hydroxycoumarin are reasonable azo disperse dyestuffs giving good all round fastness properties on polyester fabrics.
Social implications
Production of less expensive and new eco-friendly dyes exhibit antimicrobial and anticancer activity.
Originality/value
It provided a potentially simple way to synthesize novel coumarin azo-dyes exhibit good biological and pharmacology activity and also exhibit good overall fastness properties.
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Mohammad Mafizur Rahman, Kais Saidi and Mounir Ben Mbarek
The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of population growth (PG), environmental quality and trade openness on economic growth of major developed and developing…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of population growth (PG), environmental quality and trade openness on economic growth of major developed and developing countries.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors have used the panel unit root and panel co-integration tests over the period 1960-2013. Granger causality test is used to find out the direction of causality between the variables.
Findings
There is a bi-directional relationship between economic growth and trade openness, and a unidirectional relation, running from trade openness to CO2 emissions in the three developed countries. PG has a positive effect on economic growth in three developing countries and there exists a bidirectional relationships between CO2 emissions and PG and a unidirectional relationship from PG to economic growth and from trade openness to economic growth. Furthermore, there is a unidirectional relationship from PG to economic growth and bidirectional relationships between trade openness and economic growth for the six selected countries.
Originality/value
This is the first comprehensive research that combined the selected three major developed and three major emerging countries of the world to explore the effects of three important variables on economic growth. The authors’ findings will help the policy makers as well as the people of these six countries. this study has shown the aggregate and disaggregate results, so a comparison between the groups of countries is possible. Therefore, this research has significant contributions.
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Mohamed Ali Feki, Mounir Mokhtari and Ismail Khalil Ibrahim
In this paper, we describe a novel approach for ontology distribution in ubiquitous environments. We present the Context Aware Explorer (CAE) framework we have developed which…
Abstract
In this paper, we describe a novel approach for ontology distribution in ubiquitous environments. We present the Context Aware Explorer (CAE) framework we have developed which allows building context aware applications. Our approach, while built upon Web Ontology Language OWL and RDF Schema, is aiming at modeling context ontology for supporting context reasoning and the design of a Smart Rule Engine that maintains a shared model of context for all computing entities in the smart space. The CAE main contribution is its ability to distribute ontology based on abstract parameters related to situation and to user profile. The ultimate goal is to decrease the response time of the reasoning engine with regards to reasoning accuracy. We also describe the implementation of CAE, and its associated ontology, in a prototype demonstrator of smart environment handling indoor and outdoor context aware services. The validation of the ontology distribution approach was applied to assistive environment dedicated to people having motor disabilities and tested within laboratory conditions. Preliminary performance results are presented to highlight the impact of distributed ontology concept.
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