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1 – 10 of over 16000Milan Zorman, Bojan Žlahtič, Saša Stradovnik and Aleš Hace
Collaborative robotics and autonomous driving are fairly new disciplines, still with a long way to go to achieve goals, set by the research community, manufacturers and users. For…
Abstract
Purpose
Collaborative robotics and autonomous driving are fairly new disciplines, still with a long way to go to achieve goals, set by the research community, manufacturers and users. For technologies like collaborative robotics and autonomous driving, which focus on closing the gap between humans and machines, the physical, psychological and emotional needs of human individuals becoming increasingly important in order to ensure effective and safe human–machine interaction. The authors' goal was to conceptualize ways to combine experience from both fields and transfer artificial intelligence knowledge from one to another. By identifying transferable meta-knowledge, the authors will increase quality of artificial intelligence applications and raise safety and contextual awareness for users and environment in both fields.
Design/methodology/approach
First, the authors presented autonomous driving and collaborative robotics and autonomous driving and collaborative robotics' connection to artificial intelligence. The authors continued with advantages and challenges of both fields and identified potential topics for transferrable practices. Topics were divided into three time slots according to expected research timeline.
Findings
The identified research opportunities seem manageable in the presented timeline. The authors' expectation was that autonomous driving and collaborative robotics will start moving closer in the following years and even merging in some areas like driverless and humanless transport and logistics.
Originality/value
The authors' findings confirm the latest trends in autonomous driving and collaborative robotics and expand them into new research and collaboration opportunities for the next few years. The authors' research proposal focuses on those that should have the most positive impact to safety, complement, optimize and evolve human capabilities and increase productivity in line with social expectations. Transferring meta-knowledge between fields will increase progress and, in some cases, cut some shortcuts in achieving the aforementioned goals.
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This paper evaluates the influence of the institutional context on the dynamics of institutional change and the possibilities for human agency in this process.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper evaluates the influence of the institutional context on the dynamics of institutional change and the possibilities for human agency in this process.
Design/methodology/approach
A comparison of the emergence of the temporary work agency industry in five countries is used to illustrate the influence of three elements of the institutional context: high/low pressure field emergence, societal confidence, and power and discretion of the emerging industry.
Findings
The analysis reveals how these three elements affect the dynamics of new field development. It shows the interaction between institutionalising and de‐institutionalising pressures and the dialectical nature of the process when comparing the developments over time between different national (institutional) contexts.
Research limitations/implications
Propositions for further research are formulated. Combining the effects of the three situational variables three models of industry institutionalization are established: autonomous development, constrained development and societalisation.
Practical implications
The findings illustrate the situated condition of human and organizational agency in processes of institutional entrepreneurship. Our analysis also shows how early externally constraining effects slow down early institutionalisation of a new organizational field, but at the same time trigger processes of institutional structuration that strengthen the institutionalising role of the industry in the long run.
Originality/value
The comparative analysis helps to see how the dynamics of institutional renewal are affected by institutional context and highlights the situated nature of effective human agency.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore environmental reporting in the Australian Commonwealth public sector through the focus on departments with a primary responsibility for…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore environmental reporting in the Australian Commonwealth public sector through the focus on departments with a primary responsibility for social and environmental issues.
Design/methodology/approach
The research moves beyond the existing theorisation for environmental reporting through a legitimacy theory perspective and adopts Bourdieu's theory of practice. The practices of the two selected departments for this study are assessed through interviews and documentary data.
Findings
The findings suggest that the practice of environmental reporting in a research context moves beyond legitimacy considerations with the internal context being critical in explaining current practices. It is in this regard that the theoretical perspective provides useful insights in understanding environmental reporting in the Australian commonwealth public sector.
Research limitations/implications
The paper calls for further studies that go beyond desk‐based analysis of environmental disclosure and utilise field studies and varying theoretical perspectives which focus on the practices that lead to the production of environmental reporting via various media.
Practical implications
This paper provides insights into how internal actors influence the practice of public sector environmental reporting which has practical implications for the development and enhancement of environmental reporting in many jurisdictions.
Originality/value
The paper develops a theoretical perspective for environmental accounting that provides a comprehensive account of environmental reporting in a specific context. This approach could be utilised in different contexts and contributes towards extending the existing theorisation for environmental reporting.
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Miranti Kartika Dewi, Melina Manochin and Ataur Belal
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of volunteers and its impact on related accountability practices towards beneficiaries by a large humanitarian non-governmental…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of volunteers and its impact on related accountability practices towards beneficiaries by a large humanitarian non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Indonesia.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors adopted a qualitative case study design. The empirical evidence comes from rich fieldwork carried out in an Indonesian NGO. The authors collected the evidence mainly via 46 interviews and five focus groups.
Findings
The authors found that the case NGO drew heavily on the social and cultural capitals of volunteers in the process of serving its beneficiaries, which, in turn, facilitated the enhancement of its accountability to the beneficiaries. The authors also found that volunteers play a bridging role to reduce the distance between NGOs and beneficiaries.
Research limitations/implications
For NGO managers, this study provides necessary empirical evidence on the positive role played by the volunteers in the development and operationalisation of accountability to the beneficiaries. In the authors’ case, beneficiary accountability is enhanced by the social conduct and practices performed by the NGO’s numerous volunteers. Beneficiary accountability is of significant concern to the policy makers too. This study shows that volunteers and NGO can work in a reciprocal relationship where social and cultural capital can be mobilised to each other’s advantage. To facilitate beneficiary accountability, NGOs can draw on the socio-cultural capitals held by the volunteers who appear to share the same norms and expectations with the beneficiaries. This process can also lead to the building of social and cultural capital by the volunteers themselves as they achieve great satisfaction and gain valuable experience in this process that could lead to greater satisfaction in their spiritual and material lives.
Originality/value
The authors extend the previous literature on beneficiary accountability by highlighting the under-researched role of volunteers in such accountability practices. In this paper, the authors first discuss the facilitating role of volunteers in enhancing NGOs’ accountability towards beneficiaries. Then, this is illustrated empirically. In addition, the authors argue that although Bourdieusian concepts like field and capital have been widely used in the analysis of various organisational practices the concept of habitus received limited attention particularly from the context of developing countries. The authors undertake an examination of the habitus of volunteers in the Indonesian case organisation and explore their linkages with the field and associated capitals.
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Paul Andon, Clinton Free and Brendan O'Dwyer
The purpose of this paper is to examine attempts at jurisdictional expansion in the audit field. Specifically, the authors critically analyse the professional implications of “new…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine attempts at jurisdictional expansion in the audit field. Specifically, the authors critically analyse the professional implications of “new audit spaces”, that is, novel auditing and assurance services that have emerged at intersections between audit and other fields such as the environment, the public sector, sport and education. The purpose is two-fold. First, to better understand the dynamics of new audit spaces, and second, to highlight the major challenges and adaptations prompted by these dynamics.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on Bourdieu’s theory of practice, the authors highlight and problematise four issues central to the construction of new audit spaces: independence; reporting; professional accreditation; and the nature of the audit role.
Findings
The audit profession has experienced mixed success in seeking to annex new audit spaces; in some instances, practices initially located at the margins of auditing have moved towards its centre, while elsewhere projects have been abandoned, colonised by others or remain in flux. In these ventures, the accounting profession is brought into competition with other bodies of expertise and modes of practice. In new audit spaces, core elements of auditing, as conventionally conceived, are transmogrified as they travel.
Originality/value
This analysis calls into question some of the “sacred cows” of auditing and challenges the transferability of the capitals and habitus of the accounting profession in other domains. Future research avenues are suggested.
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Wolfgang Mayrhofer, Alexandre Iellatchitch, Michael Meyer, Johannes Steyrer, Michael Schiffinger and Guido Strunk
New forms of organising and new forms of individuals private and professional life concepts have affected organisations as well as careers. The resulting new forms of careers are…
Abstract
New forms of organising and new forms of individuals private and professional life concepts have affected organisations as well as careers. The resulting new forms of careers are characterised by two major elements: organisations are no longer the primary arena for professional careers and the diversity of careers and career paths is sharply increasing. At the level of global careers similar developments can be observed. In addition, two specifics can be mentioned: a number of additional forms of working internationally supplement expatriation in its classic sense and there seems to be an increasing pressure on the speed and diversity of international assignments. There is comparatively little theoretical insight into these developments. Departing from a sociological perspective and using the theoretical framework of late French Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, this paper takes a career field and habitus perspective of careers. Based on that, it tries to identify areas of contribution for the global career discussion that can emerge from such an approach.
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Abu Shiraz Rahaman, Jeff Everett and Dean Neu
Using the recent attempts by the Ghanaian Government to privatize its urban water services, this paper seeks to understand the role and functioning of accounting within the global…
Abstract
Purpose
Using the recent attempts by the Ghanaian Government to privatize its urban water services, this paper seeks to understand the role and functioning of accounting within the global move to “reinvent government.”
Design/methodology/approach
Unlike the attempts made in other African countries such as Kenya and Tanzania, the case of Ghana is interesting because of the vociferousness and length of the debate that has been going on. Using Bourdieu's notion of field and capital and Foucault's idea of governmentality, and relying on a variety of archival documents and interviews with 27 key participants, the study examines the positioning of accounting practices, vocabulary and experts in this debate.
Findings
The study shows how accounting is enlisted at an almost sub‐conscious level, how its use can engender significant resistance and how accounting can be used to position the debate in various terms, including “profitability” “affordability” and “accountability.”
Research limitations/implications
The paper shows that within new democracies such as Ghana policy‐making requires the enlistment of technologies of government – including accounting – to articulate and justify divergent policy options.
Practical implications
The findings of the paper have implications for regional policy‐makers and their various development partners.
Originality/value
Researchers and practitioners working in the area of public sector management and reforms should find significant value in the paper.
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Nelson K.H. Tang, Ossie Jones and Paul L. Forrester
In the past few years a considerable amount of research knowledge regarding organizational change and concurrent engineering (CE) has been accumulated. Suggests that…
Abstract
In the past few years a considerable amount of research knowledge regarding organizational change and concurrent engineering (CE) has been accumulated. Suggests that organizational growth provides a framework for the emergence of CE techniques. Organizational growth demands CE and it is important to consider how changes to the organizational structure can best enhance the implementation of CE principles.
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Ravinder Singh and Kuldeep Singh Nagla
The purpose of this research is to provide the necessarily and resourceful information regarding range sensors to select the best fit sensor for robust autonomous navigation…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to provide the necessarily and resourceful information regarding range sensors to select the best fit sensor for robust autonomous navigation. Autonomous navigation is an emerging segment in the field of mobile robot in which the mobile robot navigates in the environment with high level of autonomy by lacking human interactions. Sensor-based perception is a prevailing aspect in the autonomous navigation of mobile robot along with localization and path planning. Various range sensors are used to get the efficient perception of the environment, but selecting the best-fit sensor to solve the navigation problem is still a vital assignment.
Design/methodology/approach
Autonomous navigation relies on the sensory information of various sensors, and each sensor relies on various operational parameters/characteristic for the reliable functioning. A simple strategy shown in this proposed study to select the best-fit sensor based on various parameters such as environment, 2 D/3D navigation, accuracy, speed, environmental conditions, etc. for the reliable autonomous navigation of a mobile robot.
Findings
This paper provides a comparative analysis for the diverse range sensors used in mobile robotics with respect to various aspects such as accuracy, computational load, 2D/3D navigation, environmental conditions, etc. to opt the best-fit sensors for achieving robust navigation of autonomous mobile robot.
Originality/value
This paper provides a straightforward platform for the researchers to select the best range sensor for the diverse robotics application.
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The paper proposes to look at the transformational strategies undertaken in relation to the 1989‐1997 French administrative reform process and to examine their impact on the…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper proposes to look at the transformational strategies undertaken in relation to the 1989‐1997 French administrative reform process and to examine their impact on the ministerial field services through using Burgelman's “model of the interaction of strategic behaviour, corporate context and the concept of strategy”.
Design/methodology/approach
Empirical research was carried out in a field service of the French Education Ministry with the presentation of the findings being structured around Burgelman's criteria for autonomous strategic behaviour. These criteria – operational slack, project champion, circumvention of the structural context and organisational champion – provided a mechanism to assess whether operational and institutional factors at field service level impeded or facilitated moves towards a more managerial logic of appropriateness as envisaged by the reform programmes during this period.
Findings
The explanatory insights of Burgelman's model show how the resilience of traditional institutional features minimised the transformational impact of the reforms.
Research limitations/implications
Burgelman's model is able to facilitate a greater understanding of the 1989‐1997 French administrative reform process through identifying those conditions conducive to micro‐organisational actors exercising greater autonomy in their operational management. In this way, the organisational dynamics that constrained the transformational impact of the reforms could be highlighted and an explanation provided of why the respective reform programmes had minimal effect at field service level.
Originality/value
The paper will be of relevance to those interested in the effect of the new public management agenda on national administrations in Europe and the applicability of private sector models in affording explanatory insights into such processes of change.
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