Search results

In this paper, the problem of the elasto‐viscoplastic dynamic and thermal behaviour of geometrically non‐linear plates and shells is studied under the assumption of small strains and large rotations. The first‐order shear deformation shell theory and the Chaboche constitutive viscoplastic model taking the temperature fields into account are used for computations. An effective procedure using the central difference method of solving the equations of motion is applied. The trapezoidal method is used to integrate the constitutive viscoplastic law. A nine node isoparametric shell element has been utilised for the finite element algorithm. Finally, some examples are presented and compared with the results obtained by moderate rotation theory.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the data profile of manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with specific emphasis on understanding the data readiness of SMEs for discrete event simulation (DES) modelling.

Research was conducted through a review of literature and a survey research strategy of manufacturing SMEs.

This paper illustrates the data profile of manufacturing SMEs. Insight is provided on the types of data collected by SMEs, the collection methods used and how these data are stored by the SMEs. Additionally size and age effects are considered. Based on this data profile, conclusions are made regarding an indication of data readiness of manufacturing SMEs for DES modelling.

This research is focused specifically on manufacturing SMEs in Ireland, other countries and sectors are not investigated.

This paper provides owner-managers and senior management insight into the data profile of manufacturing SMEs and their potential for utilisation of DES for performance improvement and decision support.

This paper addresses the gaps that exist in the knowledge of the data profile of manufacturing SMEs and consequently the status of this profile with regard to the readiness of SMEs for DES modelling.

Health education that integrates community participation is essential for malaria control. However, children’s participation is not generally as active as that of adults, thus turning children into recipients, as opposed to partners in malaria control. The purpose of this paper is to develop a better understanding of how children can transform from mere recipients to active partners in malaria control efforts, by exploring the implementation of a school health education program in Uganda.

A qualitative multi-case study involving six schools where the health education program was implemented was undertaken, using six focus group discussions with 72 school children and respondent interviews with 14 teachers and district health promotion staff.

Children acted as health messengers, offered peer support and engaged in environmental management to minimize mosquito breeding. The benefits of the school malaria program included increasing access to malaria information, boosting malaria knowledge, improving children’s self-esteem and their skill as health educators. However, implementation was undermined by hostility from adults, inadequate time and tight school schedules, which should be addressed in future malaria programs.

The findings suggest that children can play an important role in malaria programs. Therefore, programs should be sufficiently structured to facilitate children’s participation. Practitioners should be encouraged to be conscious of the applicability of the health promoting school approach to malaria control.

This research facilitated a more comprehensive understanding of the role children can play in malaria control, thus providing a basis for their involvement in malaria programs. It also adds to a relatively scarce area of literature on the school health-malaria control nexus.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the major drivers behind the choice of centralising versus decentralising warehousing locations from a small‐ and medium‐sized enterprise (SME) perspective. Previous literature has investigated this solely from a large company perspective.

An in‐depth literature review was carried out and, in addition, a single case study was conducted in order to investigate the issue at hand. A Danish medium‐sized do‐it‐yourself (DIY) retailer was chosen, as this company faced the challenge of deciding between centralisation vs decentralisation of its warehousing structure.

The paper has two findings: existing literature does not deal with the difference between SMEs and large companies when speaking of centralised vs decentralised warehousing; and the difference between SMEs and large companies with regard to centralised vs decentralised warehousing lies in the fact that SMEs generally have scarcity in competences and fewer resources, have fewer advantages of economies of scale in a centralised setting, and, finally, have fewer management resources to carry out a centralisation project.

It is a limitation of this research that a statistical generalisation is not possible. Therefore, the findings in this paper might not be applicable for all SMEs.

When speaking of centralising vs decentralising warehousing, SMEs should be aware that different drivers are at play when compared with larger companies.

Research in supply chain management and logistics has not addressed the consequences of warehousing structure from an SME perspective.

This paper seeks to investigate the role of information systems integration in Irish small and medium‐sized enterprises operating in the manufacturing sector.

Research was conducted through a review of literature and subsequent primary research involving qualitative (semi‐structured interviews) and quantitative (questionnaires) research strategies.

The paper reveals the sophistication of internal IT infrastructure within Irish manufacturing SMEs and whether the IT systems are integrated with one another, and, if so, how well that integration is done. Moreover, the owner‐managers' and senior managers' attitude to IS integration issues is explored, including the reasons that prompt them to integrate IT systems within their businesses, their expectations of IS integration, the challenges they recognise when integrating the systems and their criteria regarding IS integration.

The research focuses on manufacturing SMEs operating in Ireland; other sectors are not investigated.

The paper helps the owner‐managers and senior managers to understand the issues of IS integration and points towards possible solutions to the problem of disparate IT systems.

The negative impact of disparate systems and the benefits of integrating them in an SMEs environment have not been thoroughly examined to date.

The main aim of this study is to provide a framework for technology-based factors for knowledge management in supply chain.

This is an applied research and has been done as a survey in Iran Khodro and Saipa Company as the largest companies in automotive industry of Iran. In this study, 206 experts participated. Reliability methods were Cronbach’s alfa, and validity tests were content and construction analyses. In response to one main question and three sub-questions in this research, first and second confirmative factor analysis were used.

In this research, after a literature review, a comprehensive framework with three factors is presented. These factors are information technology (IT) tools, information systems integration and information security management. The findings indicate that the first framework in supply chain of the automotive industry has a good fitness and perfect validity. Second, in this framework, factors have also been considered based on importance. The technique of factor analysis was given the highest importance to the information systems integration. Then, IT tools and, ultimately, information security management are considered. In addition, findings indicate that information systems integration has the highest correlation with IT tools.

The main innovation aspect of the research is to present a comprehensive framework for technology-based factors and indices for knowledge management in supply chain. In this paper, in addition to presenting a grouping for IT tools for knowledge management processes in supply chain, key indices for information systems integration and information security management are also referred.

The purpose of the paper is to establish whether Enterprise Content Management (ECM) and Records Continuum Model (RCM) frameworks could be used to mitigate long-term preservation challenges.

Qualitative research was undertaken using two case studies and interviews were conducted with the different categories of the municipal personnel to solicit answers to the research questions. The questions were designed using the lens of the RCM and its four dimensions that cover the creation, capture, organization and pluralization of records and prescribed factors of ECM which include business process management, enterprise architecture, collaboration, system integration, re-purposing of information, change management, knowledge management and the life cycle management of information. Not all the ECM factors are dealt with in this paper: the remainder have been dealt with in the author's earlier works.

Challenges of long-term preservation of information still persist despite the enormous research that has been generated over the years. The municipalities that were subjects of this research are still grappling with issues of lack of long-term information management policies, enterprise architecture, disparate information systems, collaboration and system integration. This is likely to work against the investments that are being ploughed into e-Government developments should the municipalities fail to espouse strong information and records management regimes. Embracing the ECM prescribed factors and the RCM thinking might mitigate these challenges.

The author's licentiate research proved that there was no discourse between records managers/archivists and ECM proponents. Therefore, the originality of this article lies in the application of the two frameworks of ECM and RCM. The findings confirmed that even within the records management framework the municipalities were addressing factors similar to ECM prescribed factors. Embracing both the RCM model and the ECM prescribed factors might mitigate the challenges of long-term preservation and hence the re-use of information and enhancement of the societal memory.

The purpose of this paper is to apply Paulo Freire’s writings from Pedagogy of the Oppressed to critique current efforts to reduce cancer health disparities (CHDs) among Latinos in the USA.

Freire’s writings on oppression, critical consciousness, praxis and dialogical education are applied to recent efforts to reduce CHDs among Latinos in the USA through the use of promotores.

Freireian teachings can provide insight on ways to engage Latino communities in culturally sensitive conversations that respect deeply rooted beliefs, and address the political and socioeconomic inequities many continue to face. Programs must revisit Freire’s political and transformative roots to ensure efforts to reduce CHDs also promote health equity and community empowerment.

Public health initiatives should incorporate Freireian principles of dialogical education and critical consciousness in the development of cancer prevention and screening programs tailored to Latinos in the USA to ensure program longevity and success.

Approaching conversations and interactions dialogically can foster critical engagement and empower collective action among Latino communities in efforts to improve their environments and reduce health disparities.

This is a multi-layered analysis of different social and structural factors influencing CHDs among Latinos in the USA, and is coupled with a historical overview of colonialism and oppression in Latin America. It culminates in suggestions on ways to improve future public health efforts that embrace Freireian approaches and promote health equity.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the researches reported in literature on Lean Six Sigma (LSS) and determine the avenues by which lean anchorage can be improved in LSS implementation.

The literature on lean manufacturing, Six Sigma and LSS was reviewed. The literature has been reviewed from four major perspectives. The findings of this review were used to find the methods for the improvement of lean anchorage. The proposed model is explained with a hypothetical case study.

The major finding of the exploration reported in this article is that the lean anchorage in LSS process is found to be weak and it has to be enhanced for improving the effectiveness of LSS approach. The results derived from the hypothetical case study have been presented.

The researches on LSS from the perspective of implementation in small- and medium-sized enterprises have been explored. But the lean anchorage method proposed could be extended to other organizations also.

The findings of this literature exploration pinpoint the need for enhancing the efficacy of LSS approach.

This article has identified and presented systematically four major perspectives of LSS. The deficiency has been identified and the improvement methods have been proposed. Hence, the contributions of this article are original and valuable.