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The building design processes today are complex, involving many disciplines and issues like collaboration, concurrency and collocation. Several studies have focused on understanding and modeling formal information exchange in these processes. Few past studies have also identified the importance of informal information exchanges in the design process and proposed passive solutions for facilitating this exchange. The purpose of this paper is to term the informal information as ad hoc information and explores if components of ad hoc information exchanges can be actively managed.

An MDM-based framework integrating product, process and people dependencies is proposed and a prototype platform to implement this framework is developed. The demonstration on the usage of this platform to identify information paths during collaboration and hence manage ad hoc information exchanges is presented through an example problem.

Based on the effectiveness of the prototype platform in identifying information paths for design queries, it is concluded that the proposed framework is useful for actively managing some components of ad hoc information exchange.

This research enables the design manager/participants to make a more informed decision on requesting and releasing design information.

This paper aims to propose a system for automatically forming ad hoc networks using mobile phones and battery-powered wireless routers for emergency situations. The system also provides functions to send emergency messages and identify the location of victims based on the network topology information.

Optimized link state routing protocol is used to instantly form an ad hoc emergency network based on WiFi signals from mobile phones of the victims, backup battery-powered wireless routers preinstalled in buildings and mobile devices deployed by search and rescue teams. The proposed system is also designed to recover from partial crash of network and nodes lost.

Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed system in terms of battery life, transmission distance and noises.

A novel message routing schedule is proposed for conserving battery life. A novel function to estimate the location of a mobile device which sent an emergency message is proposed in this paper.

Short-term problem solving during production launch may result in extended lead times and increased overall costs of new product development, thereby reducing the overall profitability of a new product. While the previous literature suggests formalized procedures and systematic problem solving approaches, empirical analyses indicate improvised, non-systematic, and ad hoc responses actually being used in firms’ real world problem solving processes. The purpose of this paper is to explain the role of such non-systematic approaches for the efficiency and effectiveness of problem solving processes during production launch.

The paper empirically explores the impact of improvisational problem-solving behavior on a firm's production launch efficiency and on the success of new products. Moreover, the paper investigates the moderating role of technology familiarity, project complexity, and the number of occurring problems during production launch.

The paper finds evidence for a positive curvilinear effect of improvisational problem-solving behavior on new product success and production launch efficiency. Additionally, the paper finds that improvisation is especially reasonable in complex and familiar projects or in the case of many unplanned changes during production launch.

The study provides evidence for the relevance of routinized and improvisational behavior during production launch.

Improvisational behavior decreases the performance of the production launch and the financial performance of a new product in the case of frequent product changes or complex projects.

For the first time behavioral theory is applied to the phenomenon of production launch and problem solving.

The purpose of this paper is to present the development of a multi‐agent system (MAS) used to simulate a crisis response organization.

Following an agent‐based approach, the model is developed using the GAIA methodology and implemented in the Java Agent Development framework.

The GAIA methodology can be combined with an additional GAIA2JADE process to bridge the gap between design and implementation. Keeping the MAS organization separate from the crisis scenario model enables testing different configurations of the crisis response organization in different scenarios.

The simulation model is provided as proof of concept along with preliminary experiments. Additional detailed experiments and validation are ongoing.

The model can be configured differently to deal with an emergency scenario developed separately, providing a test bed for simulating coordination in crisis response. Such simulation forms the basis for exploring different coordination mechanisms and can also be adapted and extended for training and decision support.

The characteristics of the response organization and the study of structured vs emergent coordination fit with the capabilities and nature of a MAS. The structure and process are useful for modelling similar ad hoc, multidisciplinary organizations.

The purpose of this paper is to gain a systematic and comprehensive understanding of deploying temporary agency work (TAW) in China in relation to the adoption, staffing pattern, and human resource (HR) configuration.

Based on the literature and theory of strategic human resource management, this inquiry identifies and analyzes three major components in the utilization of temporary agency work (TAW) in Chinese organizations.

The paper derives a framework to conceptualize the relationships among strategic vs ad hoc adoption of TAW, separated and mixed staffing patterns, as well as four HR on the utilization of TAW in the Chinese context..

This is an initial effort in exploring the phenomenon of TAW in China prior to the enactment of Labor Contract Law. The paper offers a conceptual base for further examining the evolution of TAWs in Chinese organizations.

The context‐based analysis of TAW's challenges existing frameworks in the Western literature. The resulting framework is an innovative effort for a comprehensive understanding of TAW in China, thus enriches the existing literature.

Mergers have increased at a fast rate in the last 10 years. Nevertheless, practitioners and consultants point out the low rate of success for mergers. Considering this paradoxical situation, it would appear opportune to question the possibility of developing a specific competence within an organization for carrying out mergers and acquisitions. This research aims to propose a model for analyzing the development of such a competence. This paper presents a study of competence-building according to two aspects: level of recognition by the organization and level of use. The study model defines four forms that competence may take: ad hoc responses, capitalization, institutionalization, and dynamic competence. This model is used for the study of the development by the Lafarge Group of a competence in managing cultural integration after international mergers and acquisitions.

The purpose of this study is to analyse the crisis network response of European countries and the role played by defence organizations (DOs) during the early response phase of the pandemic, here set to encompass 75 days.

Published materials – reports, news and communications – provided by authorities and DOs were used. Some of the authors actively participated in national pandemic response networks. An exploratory approach and qualitative content analysis were applied. The data were collected in national languages from 13 European countries, and they were coded and analysed using the actors, resources and activities (ARA) framework.

This study identified three main categories of activity structures in which the DOs interacted with civilian members of response networks, health-related services, logistics services and public support services. These networks among actors were found within formal response systems and emergent networks. The DOs engaged as actors that provided a range of services when civil authorities could not cope with the huge demand for specific services and when resources were scarce in the initial response phase.

This study contributes by filling an important research gap with regard to the civil-military relations associated with the use of DO resources in the civil response to the pandemic crisis in Europe, which is described as an untraditional response. The ARA network approach provides a framework for arranging ARA and extends the wider civil-military network to expand the formal networks of the early crisis response. The study lays knowledge about the co-operation between civilian and military actors in different contexts and provides a broader understanding of the roles that DOs played in the response operations.

Crises constitute stress tests for public sectors, with public financial management (PFM) systems having to respond to emergency needs. In this study, the authors analyze (1) what elements of the Austrian PFM system have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and (2) what mechanisms have been applied to close identified gaps in the PFM system and to ensure alignment with budget principles. The authors then reflect on these PFM measures.

The research departs from the pre-crisis configuration of the Austrian PFM system. Making use of a data triangulation strategy, the paper analyses draft laws and regulations with corresponding explanatory notes and impact assessments, transcripts from debates in the federal Parliament and articles and commentaries issued by various stakeholders.

The analysis of five areas relevant to the reconfiguration of the Austrian PFM system shows that the pandemic has caused an external shock, but at the same time, the current system has not been challenged in substance and has been utilized to react to the pandemic—resulting in (ad hoc) modifications. The system has proved robust and crisis responsive; however, in a reactive pattern, emerging ad hoc elements have been integrated, with a number of defensive mechanisms ensuring compliance with budget principles. In addition, in some areas, more proactive actions have been taken for closing system gaps (e.g. risk disclosure).

The authors evaluate the likelihood of (proposed, decided and implemented) emerging elements or revisions to a PFM system being embedded into the existing PFM system, alongside reflecting on results and necessary further adjustments.

Crisis management entails among other things developing organizational systems that are capable of reacting to unpredictable and different types of crises. It also involves designing cohesive operational elements to deal with the local dynamics of an actual crisis situation. This challenge of responsiveness – where organizations simultaneously need to react to change demands of different task environments – has hardly been investigated in management theory. The purpose of this paper is to initiate to shed more light on this blind spot.

Modular organizing and organizational sensing are introduced as key drivers of organizational responsiveness. Based on a large-scale survey among 1,200 senior officers the study investigates how these two variables have influenced the responsiveness of the Netherlands armed forces for crisis response deployment.

The findings indicate that the level of modularization is an important facilitator of organizational responsiveness. Organizational systems that are made up of semi-autonomous work groups are in a better position to simultaneously live up to the change demands of different environmental levels than organizations that follow a fine-grained modularization approach.

It uses the military crisis response organization as an exemplary case for project-based organzations in general to take advantage of.

The purpose of the paper is to explore the issues of dyslexia and the management of learning support within two Scottish suppliers of premier HE hospitality education: Napier and QMU universities of Edinburgh.

This exploratory, qualitative fieldwork outlines course managers', teachers' and disabilities support staff perceptions of dyslexia support. Students' views are noted, not interviewed. The paper describes the views of 12 of a sample of (eight female and four male) staff interviewees. Napier University and Queen Margaret University are post‐1990 “new” universities; Napier has a larger student/staff population than QMU.

The emergent findings in this paper highlight the fact that managers, teachers and support staff operate an under‐resourced and largely ad hoc system of dyslexic support, although Napier, with greater central funding, shows signs of more strategic insight with the appointment of a full‐time dyslexia coordinator with strategic potential. The findings pinpoint the strengths (personal attention) of decentralised support with ambiguity problems and the need for a generic centrally coordinated support system capable of codifying tacit experience into customised support packages for hospitality students.

The paper is a small exploratory study of the views and perceptions of dyslexia of course managers', hospitality teachers' and support staff from two of Edinburgh's new universities. Both have decades of internationally respected work in hospitality education and elsewhere in higher education.

The fieldwork draws attention to this situation and suggests ways to make concepts of dyslexia and disability more relevant to academic hospitality managers teaching in higher education and to those practising in the field.

The paper examines the proposition that, while dyslexia is a condition open to support and improvement, it is for many practitioners a vague concept. What emerges from the interviews is that disability and what to do about it seems to be an attitude of mind, a question of perceptions, frames of references, intangible properties: that the essence of enhanced dyslexic support is how to do things better. Napier and QMU give valuable ad hoc examples here on which to design future practice. What is needed is a systematic approach to design, implementation and sustainability, and an understanding of the tacitly held knowledge that underpins experience‐generated systems of knowledge. Bringing out such tacit and explicit notions of the complexity of perceptions of knowledge lies in future studies.