Search results

The purpose of this paper is to propose a novel data-driven approach for predicting energy performance of buildings that can address the scarcity of quality data, and consider the dynamic nature of building systems.

This paper proposes a reinforcing machine learning (ML) approach based on transfer learning (TL) to address these challenges. The proposed approach dynamically incorporates the data captured by the building management systems into the model to improve its accuracy.

It was shown that the proposed approach could improve the accuracy of the energy performance prediction compared to the conventional TL (non-reinforcing) approach by 19 percentage points in mean absolute percentage error.

The case study results confirm the practicality of the proposed approach and show that it outperforms the standard ML approach (with no transferred knowledge) when little data is available.

This approach contributes to the body of knowledge by addressing the limited data availability in the building sector using TL; and accounting for the dynamics of buildings’ energy performance by the reinforcing architecture. The proposed approach is implemented in a case study project based in London, UK.

Betta is the only person there to talk to when I get home. She is my family. (Field notes, May 9, 2007)I don't know what I want but the first thing I want is for my family to come to Canada because everyone in my class has their family in Canada. (Ji-Sook's letter to Santa, December 5, 2006)

The view is taken that the study of diverse cultures can contribute to the development of environmental accounting and reporting. The focus is upon seeking to articulate insights from three indigenous cultures: the Australian Aboriginal, the Maori and the Native American. These cultures, alive today, provide relevant insights for those concerned with challenging mainstream and Western practices and seeking to develop alternatives. Attention is focused on these insights and it is hoped that further research will be stimulated.

The purpose of this paper is to examine decision making and resource allocation in a small, rural district in a Midwestern state of the USA during a time of economic retrenchment.

Qualitative case study methods were used, including focus groups and personal interviews with current and former district administrators, Board of Education members, teachers, parents, and other members of the communities the district serves. Organizational archetypes were used as an analytic framework to reveal the deeper cultural values and preferences influencing board and superintendent decisions.

Underlying historical patterns of decision making were found that were not aligned with constituents' preferences. District leaders refused to consider information that did not fit with their own beliefs and a crisis of leadership occurred, which resulted in the ousting of the superintendent and a majority of school board members. These patterns of decision making furthermore advantaged one group of constituents and disadvantaged another.

This study illustrates the potential of archetypes as an analytic framework for understanding organizational decision making. Revealing tacit patterns of decision making can help organizations recognize and change patterns that are dysfunctional and have negative outcomes.

Top managers should be future‐oriented and capable of sharing the “big picture” with their people. They need to be bridge builders, able to lead the workforce out of the industrial and into the post‐industrial age.

This paper aims to analyze idea generation in a public-private collaboration of a Brazilian Government Agency. The authors start from the following research question: How did the process of open creativity occur from collaboration, network relationships and creative practice in the experience of open innovation cycles of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Pernambuco, Brazil?

The research was characterized as a case study that empirically explored a contemporary phenomenon in a specific context. The authors conducted document research and interviews and used the content analysis technique.

The findings showed that open creativity enabled more efficient idea generation when the public-private partnership was established in a well-structured collaboration network with the private sector of the economy; when it consisted of a heterogeneous group of external collaborators who developed a wide exchange of expertise; and when practical actions were developed to make the creative process more efficient.

The study was limited to a single reality. The study was conducted in a single country and other nations may have social and institutional elements that were not considered in the analysis and that may influence the results in similar studies.

The authors investigated open creativity in the public sector, a field that still has gaps in understanding. The authors focused on social relationships for the generation and improvement of ideas among actors external to the organization involved, a niche that is still little explored in the literature.

This article addresses the critical need for exceptional leaders to shepherd the nationʼs Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in a post-Brown era where African American students enjoy unlimited access to higher education in the United States. The article spotlights the many contributions Black colleges and universities have made to American society against insuperable odds since their inception in the mid-nineteenth century. It studies selected examples of HBCUs whose graduates have distinguished themselves in areas where other institutions enjoy centers of excellence. The article traces the historical inequities between major and minority institutions, the challenges HBCUs face in surmounting these disparities, and the growing tendency of Black students to exercise their options by enrolling at White colleges and universities. With the loss of a pure monopoly on African American students, Black colleges now must find leaders of exceptional talent and vision in order to ensure their survival. The article recommends strategies designed to surmount hurdles and enhance the viability of Black colleges and universities in an increasingly competitive environment.

TWENTY‐ONE years devoted to the development of ejection seats, 24,000 seats built for more than forty nations and now one thousand lives saved—that is the proud record of the Martin‐Baker Aircraft Company. To coincide with these achievements, the following article describes the technical development of the range of seats—from the first swinging arm concept through the early manually‐operated seat to the rocket‐assisted completely automatic zero/zero ejection seats of today. From whatever standpoint Martin‐Baker's record is examined, the result is impressive. In terms of mechanical engineering, a series of ingenious features allied to robust design have resulted in ejection seats of unparalleled performance yet renowned for their simplicity and reliability. In terms of sales, this comparatively small firm has, in effect, conquered the world and won substantial export contracts—not least those for over 7,000 seats for the United States armed forces. In human terms, the company has won the grateful thanks of all those aircrew members—a long roll of highly‐skilled and dedicated young men whom some might call the cream of manhood—who but for Martin‐Baker ejection seats would have perished. Small wonder that the name Martin‐Baker has become synonymous with successful ejection.

This research explores why tourists are dissatisfied in places considered “wonders of the world”. The authors ask if the place does not match visitors' expectations or if other factors spoil the experience.

The authors analysed the lowest-rated reviews of these wonders on TripAdvisor. The authors identified the main causes of complaints and the problems tourists faced. The authors grouped the complaints into categories and used CoDa.

The results indicate that dissatisfaction does not stem from unmet expectations regarding the monument itself, but rather from other factors related to the quality of the tourist service.

The findings of this research can be implemented in those tourist spots that, despite their global popularity, have considerable proportions of unhappy visitors, not due to the attraction itself, but to shortcomings in its administration.

This study provides a deeper insight into the causes of complaints about some of the most renowned monuments, regarded as extraordinary places, where high satisfaction levels would be anticipated. It also contributes theoretically to the literature on customer complaints in tourist places.