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The purpose of this study is to consider the case of Sean Pignatelli and consider surrounding commentary on the misuse of market information.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to consider the case of Sean Pignatelli and consider surrounding commentary on the misuse of market information.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reviews the Financial Services Authority's (FSA) Final Notice and related publications.
Findings
The paper finds that there may be limitations to the use of the market abuse regime and therefore the FSA may consider the greater use of Principles to “punish” those who engage in market misconduct.
Originality/value
This study will be of interest to approved persons, compliance officers and regulatory lawyers.
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Ian P. Dewing and Peter O. Russell
Under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) is the single regulator of firms in the UK financial services industry. The Act grants…
Abstract
Purpose
Under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) is the single regulator of firms in the UK financial services industry. The Act grants extensive powers to the FSA such that it can impose by rules and regulations additional corporate governance requirements on firms in the financial services industry. The legislative and regulatory requirements also extend to individuals under the FSA approved persons' regime. The purpose of the paper is to examine this individualization of corporate governance.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper first explores the rise to significance of internal control and risk management in corporate governance and regulation, and links this to Beck's risk society and individualization theses. The extent of the individualization of corporate governance by the approved persons' regime is explored by examining three sources of evidence: the FSA's documents setting out the approved persons' regime; the initial perceptions about the implementation of the approved persons' regime from interviews with high‐level individuals in the financial services industry; and the outcomes of illustrative FSA enforcement actions against individuals.
Findings
The findings are that the FSA has developed a comprehensive and formidable apparatus for the individualization of corporate governance in the UK's financial services industry. It is argued that a discourse based on the interpretive evaluations of internal control and risk management may be replacing a discourse based on the quantitative techniques of management accounting, which may be characterised as the demise of the “calculating self” and the rise of the “auditable self”.
Practical implications
The FSA's approved persons' regime could be developed as a model for other areas of the private and public sectors, where for regulatory purposes it may be desirable to identify approved or official roles.
Originality/value
The ability of regulators to “make” corporate governance by rules and regulations is relatively unexplored. Also, the focus of corporate governance is on firms rather than individuals. The paper considers the extension of corporate governance from the firm to the individual that may be achieved by regulation.
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F. Franceschini, M. Galetto, A. Pignatelli and M. Varetto
Outsourcing is a management approach by which an organization delegates some non‐core functions to specialized and efficient service providers. In the era of “global market” and…
Abstract
Outsourcing is a management approach by which an organization delegates some non‐core functions to specialized and efficient service providers. In the era of “global market” and “e‐economy”, outsourcing is one of the main pillars of the new way to conceive the relationships among companies. Despite outsourcing large diffusion, huge business cases and big deals of documentation available on network or press, there is no structured procedure able to support the govern of the evolution of a generic outsourcing process. In accordance with the principles of total quality management, this paper describes a proposal of a new approach for managing outsourcing processes. The model, which can be easily adapted to different application fields, has been conceived with the main aim of managing strategic decisions, economic factors and human resources. The approach is supported by different decision and analysis tools, such as benchmarking techniques, multiple criteria decision aiding (MCDA) methods, cost analysis, and other process‐planning methodologies. An application of the method to a real case is also provided.
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Hamad Al‐kaabi, Andrew Potter and Mohamed Naim
This paper aims to evaluate the main business models used for airlines' maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) activities and determine the activities to which these relate.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to evaluate the main business models used for airlines' maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) activities and determine the activities to which these relate.
Design/methodology/approach
A critical literature review is used to develop a conceptual model of MRO activities. This is evaluated through a SWOT analysis before an exploratory study of eight airlines is used to confirm the applicability of the conceptual model.
Findings
Four levels of MRO outsourcing are identified; from fully outsourced to fully in‐sourced. From the exploratory study it is shown that critical MRO activities such as line maintenance are frequently in‐sourced, while activities with low demand at an airline level such as engine maintenance are often outsourced.
Practical implications
MRO represent around 10‐15 per cent of an airline's operational costs. By identifying the strength and weaknesses of different MRO models, it is possible to evaluate alternative MRO strategies.
Originality/value
Unlike other research in maintenance which was aimed mainly at the manufacturing sectors, this research provides insights into the maintenance practises in a service sector. In particular this research studies the different outsourcing levels existing in airlines' MRO. The knowledge gained by understanding the mechanism of outsourcing in airlines' MRO can be further extended to other industries and help in best configuring their maintenance units.
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Sarah A. Taylor, Toni E. Steer and Glenn R. Gibson
The links between diet, bacteria and colonic cancer are examined in this article. Studies suggest that high intakes of fat and protein are associated with elevated risk of colonic…
Abstract
The links between diet, bacteria and colonic cancer are examined in this article. Studies suggest that high intakes of fat and protein are associated with elevated risk of colonic cancer whereas cereals, fruits and vegetables seem to be protective. A further aspect considered in relation to this type of cancer is metabolism by gut bacteria. Probiotics, prebiotics and synbiotics are presented as ways of stimulating the activities, certain gut flora and the use of “functional foods” is also discussed.
Jonathan Salter, Martin Chaplin, John Dickerson and Jill Davies
Bile acids are usually related to biliary problems such as gallstones, but are in fact implicated in other diseases as well. Reviews bile acid formation in the body and its role…
Abstract
Bile acids are usually related to biliary problems such as gallstones, but are in fact implicated in other diseases as well. Reviews bile acid formation in the body and its role in digestion. Discusses the concept that a diet involving fibre, particularly non‐starch polysaccharides, may be the key to health with respect to coronary heart disease and colon cancer, through interactions with the bile acids. Points out that this is not a new idea but one that still needs further investigation.
Describes the work of the Food Risk Assessment (FORA) project in the UK. Outlines the aims of: developing methodologies to measure exposure to and the effects of mutagens…
Abstract
Describes the work of the Food Risk Assessment (FORA) project in the UK. Outlines the aims of: developing methodologies to measure exposure to and the effects of mutagens associated with diet; examining differences in individual responses to similar diets; developing approaches for the identification of protective or moderating factors in diet; and using the results to develop improved methods for food safety evaluation.
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Dut Van Vo, Phú Gia Minh Phạm and Tri Giac Nguyen
This study aims to study the moderating effects of private ownership and government support on the relationship between outsourcing and product innovation in entrepreneurial…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to study the moderating effects of private ownership and government support on the relationship between outsourcing and product innovation in entrepreneurial ventures in a transition economy.
Design/methodology/approach
The data of 10,296 Vietnamese entrepreneurial ventures from the four rounds of the survey conducted by the General Statistics Office (GSO) of Vietnam to investigate the moderating effects of private ownership and government support on the association between outsourcing and entrepreneurial ventures’ product innovation performance. The Probit regression model is employed to estimate such associations.
Findings
Our research uncovered that the impact of outsourcing on the likelihood of product innovation is more significant for entrepreneurial operations characterized by a substantial degree of private ownership and government backing as opposed to those without.
Research limitations/implications
The results of our research indicated that the resource-based perspective and extended resource-based view (ERBV) are essential in examining the impact of gaining resources or skills from external sources on the growth of entrepreneurial enterprises. These ideas have significance and importance not just in industrialized economies but also in countries undergoing transition. Our findings suggest that entrepreneurial enterprises should have the ability to manage a wide range of resources and make decisions about which activities should be handled internally and which should be delegated to other parties.
Practical implications
Our findings also imply that entrepreneurial ventures should be able to control many resources and choose which tasks should be performed in-house and which should be outsourced to third parties.
Originality/value
By adopting and leveraging the resource-based view (RBV) and extended resource-based views (ERBV), our study developed a theoretical model about private ownership and government support for moderate outsourcing’s impact on entrepreneurial innovation in a transition economy.
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Manikandamaharaj T.S. and Jaffar Ali B.M.
Effective performance of a direct ethanol fuel cell (FC) stack depends on the satisfactory operation of its individual cells where it is always challenging to manage the…
Abstract
Purpose
Effective performance of a direct ethanol fuel cell (FC) stack depends on the satisfactory operation of its individual cells where it is always challenging to manage the temperature gradient, water flow and distribution of reactants. In that, the design of the bipolar fuel flow path plate plays a vital role in achieving the aforementioned parameters. Further, the bipolar plates contribute 80% of the weight and 30%–40% of its total cost. Aim of this study is to enhance the efficiency of fuel to energy conversion and to minimize the overall cost of production.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors have specifically designed, simulated and fabricated a standard 2.5 × 2.5 cm2 active area proton exchange membrane (PEM) FC flow path plate to study the performance by varying the flow fields in a single ladder, double ladder and interdigitated and varying channel geometries, namely, half curve, triangle and rectangle.
Findings
Using the 3D PEMFC model and visualizing the physical and electrochemical processes occurring during the operation of the FCs resulted in a better-performing flow path plate design. It is fabricated by using additive manufacturing technology. In addition, the assembly of the full cell with the designed flow path plate shows about an 11.44% reduction in total weight, which has a significant bearing on its total cost as well as specific energy density in the stack cell.
Originality/value
Simultaneous optimization of multiple flow path parameters being carried out for better performance is the hallmark of this study which resulted in enhanced energy density and reduced cost of device production.
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Zhe Liu, Hao Wei, Li Chen, Haihang Cui and Bohua Sun
The purpose of this study is to establish an effective numerical simulation method to describe the flow pattern and optimize the strategy of noncontact mixing induced by…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to establish an effective numerical simulation method to describe the flow pattern and optimize the strategy of noncontact mixing induced by alternating Gaussian light inside a nanofluid droplet and analyzing the influencing factors and flow mechanism of fluid mixing inside a droplet.
Design/methodology/approach
First, the heat converted by the alternating incident Gaussian light acting on the nanoparticles was considered as the bulk heat source distribution, and the equilibrium equation between the surface tension and the viscous force at the upper boundary force was established; then, the numerical simulation methods for multiple-physical-field coupling was established, and the mixing index was used to quantify the mixing degree inside a droplet. The effects of the incident position of alternating Gaussian light and the height of the droplet on the mixing characteristics inside a droplet were studied. Finally, the nondimensional Marangoni number was used to reveal the flow mechanism of the internal mixing of the droplet.
Findings
Noncontact alternating Gaussian light can induce asymmetric vortex motion inside a nanofluid droplet. The incident position of alternating Gaussian light is a significant factor affecting the mixing degree in the droplet. In addition, the heat transfer caused by the surface tension gradient promotes the convection effect, which significantly enhances the mixing of the fluid in the droplet.
Originality/value
This study demonstrates the possibility of the chaotic mixing phenomenon induced by noncontact Gaussian light that occurs within a tiny droplet and provides a feasible method to achieve efficient mixing inside droplets at the microscale.
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