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Highlights the importance, when undertaking survey work, of being aware of the potential damage to property from encroachment by tree roots. Reviews the general principles and legislation, citing specific cases of liability for damage, the question of foreseeability, other contributory factors and remedies.

A Consultation procedure over redundancies which forms part of the employer's obligations towards the recognised union(s) has been introduced by Part IV of the Employment Protection Act, 1975. The relevant provisions impose an obligation upon the employer to consult with the authorised representatives of the union(s) he recognises on matters concerning, not only mass redundancies of employees within the class for which the union is recognised, but also when one employee within that class is to be made redundant. The employer's obligation to consult extends not only to employees who are members of the recognised union, but also to employees who are not union members.

The purpose of this paper is to examine intrinsic forms of motivation and particular incidents of play, socialisation, fun and amusement on an online crowdsourced citizen science platform. The paper also investigates gamised activity (Greenhill et al., 2014) as a form of intrinsic motivation adding a sense of play to work and tasks (Xu et al., 2012). These concepts are explored through close scrutiny of the online citizen science platform Zooniverse.org.

Qualitative techniques with an interpretivist approach are used to analyse online content found within citizen science platforms, related forums and social media by examining incidents of play, socialisation, fun and amusement to investigate how these aspects are applied as a form of user motivation.

The authors find that when users classify crowdsourced tasks voluntarily it does not matter how users are classifying as long as it is accurately. However, what does matter is why they are doing it particularly because of the complex processes that builds relationships between users and the platform. The authors present a conceptual model to enable deeper understandings of how forms of social interaction and play are motivating users contributing to citizen science project to participate in the online processes.

The findings of this paper provide practical implications for how citizen science, and also other crowdsourcing platforms, can engage with notions of play and gamification to motivate participation.

Using detailed examples of online content, the authors reveal how participants of the Zooniverse.org demonstrate aspects of “gamised” behaviour. The authors argue that the exploration of gaming as well as play provides evidence that contributing to citizen science projects can be both utilitarian and hedonic.

In the initial Employment Bill there existed no provision on secondary action. What accelerated the issue was the great damage caused by secondary action, such as indiscriminate blacking and blockading of customers and suppliers extraneous to the dispute and the resultant spate of cases which came before the courts in 1978 and 1979 and in particular the decision of the House of Lords in Express Newspapers v. McShane which clarified the law on industrial conflict. The Labour Government's Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1974 as amended by the 1976 Amendment Act created a virtually unlimited immunity to take industrial action however remote from the original dispute and however slight its connection with it. The events of the winters of 1979 and 1980 illustrated how the 1974–76 statutes enabled industrial action to be extended well beyond the original dispute. Employees and employers not connected with that dispute consequently had their livelihood put at risk and their business damaged. S.17 of the Employment Act 1980 which deals with secondary action other than picketing therefore represents the Government's immediate response to the legislation on trade union immunities enacted under the 1974–76 legislation.

Bacterial exopolysaccharides (eps) have fascinating chemical compositions, properties and structures which could be used in the modification of natural fibres. Bacterial eps have therefore been used to modify plant cellulose fibre surface and impart desired properties. The purpose of this paper is therefore to investigate the influence of gin trash cultured bacteria eps on the physical and structural properties of cotton fibres.

Gin trash soil sample was collected from a ginnery in Kenya, and physiochemical and microbial characterization was done. The soil sample was then fermented for 24 h before being used to treat raw cotton fibres at varied conditions of temperature, pH and treatment time periods. Physical and structural properties of the treated fibres were then determined using USTER HVI-1000 M700, Fourier transform infrared, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) and compared with those of the raw fibres.

The bacteria broth treated fibres were found to have increased in strength, spinning consistency index, elongation and fineness by 25.44, 24.30, 11.70 and 3.60%, respectively. The variations were attributed to interactions of bacterial eps with cotton cellulose through hydrogen bonding. SEM and XRD analysis revealed an increase in fibre surface roughness and crystallinity, respectively.

Bacterial eps have been used to modify plant cellulose fibre surface and impart desired properties. Eps producing bacteria have been isolated from different habitats such as saline water, soil samples, food wastes and petroleum-contaminated soil. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, bacterial eps cultured from gin trash soil sample for modification of cotton fibres have however not been previously done, hence the originality of the current study.

Social return on investment (SROI) has received increasing attention, both academically and professionally, since it was initially developed by the Roberts Enterprise Development Fund in the USA in the mid-1990s. Based on a systematic review of the literature that highlights the potential and limitations related to the academic and professional development of the SROI model, the purpose of this study is to systematize the academic debate and contribute to the future research agenda of blended value accounting.

Relying on the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses approach, this study endeavors to provide reliable academic insights into the factors driving the usage of the SROI model and its further development.

A systematic literature review produced a final data set of 284 studies. The results reveal that despite the procedural accuracy characterizing the description of the model, bias-driven methodological implications, availability of resources and sector specificities can influence the type of approach taken by scholars and practitioners.

To dispel the conceptual and practical haze, this study discusses the results found, especially regarding the potential solutions offered to overcome the SROI limitations presented, as well as offers suggestions for future research.

This study aims to fill a gap in the literature and enhance a conceptual debate on the future of accounting when it concerns a blended value proposition.

The study aims to explore the available academic literature on the decision-making frameworks used in additive manufacturing management (AMM).

This research formulates a systematic literature review to determine the research trend of the decision-making framework in AMM. Further, the theory, context, characteristics, and methodology (TCCM) framework is used to identify the research gaps and suggest future research directions.

The systematic literature review (SLR) delves into overarching research themes within decision-making frameworks in AMM. Additionally, it uncovers trends in article publication, geographical distribution, methodologies utilized, and industry applications. This review not only reveals research gaps but also proposes directions for future exploration.

The key novelty of this research lies in revealing the five most contributing themes of decision-making frameworks in AMM, with the highest contributing theme being AM process selection, followed by part selection for AM. This finding enables decision-makers to make informed decisions to address similar problems while exploring AM technology. Moreover, this research introduces an AM part fabrication roadmap inspired by the literature review. Lastly, the paper highlights key research gaps for future research.

The problem statement is how to identify and analyze the corporate risks involved in the relationships with external agents involved in the open product innovation process (OPIP)? Seeking to extend this investigation, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the enterprise risks identified in corporate relations with external agents of the OPIP. This study proposes the systematization of the process of identification and analysis of the enterprise risks involved in the process of open product innovation.

The case explored in this study is the OPIP of Volkswagen do Brasil (VWB), one of the most important subsidiaries of the Volkswagen Group. Criteria were selected to both assessing corporate relations with external agents of the open innovation of VWB and analyzing the enterprise risks identified in these relations. Data collection included interviews with management-level professionals engaged in the OPIP activities and technical visits to a VWB’s industrial plant.

Results demonstrate that the enterprise risks mostly affecting the OPIP have a critical impact on the manufacturing process and initial sales of the new product.

The originality of the study focuses on the proposal of a systematization of how to identify and analyze the corporate risks involved in the process of open product innovation. The study focuses on the theoretical frontier on the open innovation and enterprise risk management (ERM) in the open innovation process.

Expert systems have come to the forefront in the modeling of problems. One of the major problems facing the expert system designers is to develop an accurate knowledge base and a meaningful model of uncertainty associated with complex models. Decision-making is based on knowledge, and decision system support needs a knowledge base as well. An adequate knowledge acquisition (KA) process leads to accurate knowledge and improves the decision-making process. To manage the risk of a medical service (twin pregnancy in this case) a knowledge management system was created. The captured knowledge may be associated with an uncertainty. This study aims to introduce a method for evaluating the reliability of a tacit KA model. It assisted engineering managers in assessing and prioritizing risks. The study tried to use this method in risk management and new case in the health domain.

In this study, relevant variables were identified in the knowledge management literature reviews and the domain of expertise management. They are validated by a group of domain experts. Kendall’s W indicator was used to assess the degree of consensus. On the basis of combined cognitive maps, a cognitive network was constructed. Using Bayesian belief networks and fuzzy cognitive maps, an uncertainty assessment method of tacit KA was introduced. To help managers focus on major variables, a sensitivity analysis was conducted. Reliability of model was calculated for optimistic and pessimistic values. The applicability and efficacy of the proposed method were verified and validated with data from a medical university.

Results show that tacit KA uncertainty can be defined by independent variables, including environmental factors, personality and acquisition process factors. The reliability value shows the accuracy of the captured knowledge and the effectiveness of the acquisition process. The proposed uncertainty assessment method provides the reliability value of the acquisition model for knowledge engineers, so it can be used to implement the project and prevent failures in vital factors through necessary actions. If there is not a satisficed level of reliability, the KA project reliability can be improved by risk factors. The sensitivity analysis can help to select proper factors based on the resources. This approach mitigated some of the disadvantages of other risk evaluation methods.

The contribution of this study is to combine the uncertainty assessment with tacit KA based on fuzzy cognitive maps and the Bayesian belief networks approach. This approach used the capabilities of both narrative and computational approaches.