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Article
Publication date: 21 January 2019

James Welch

Following the diesel emissions debacle of 2015, Volkswagen Group has rebounded significantly in terms of sales and market value. When examining Volkswagen’s dramatic recovery, it…

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Abstract

Purpose

Following the diesel emissions debacle of 2015, Volkswagen Group has rebounded significantly in terms of sales and market value. When examining Volkswagen’s dramatic recovery, it is clear to notice four distinct elements that helped to bring about this rapid turnaround. To push through the public relations nightmare and regain sales traction, Volkswagen embarked on a four-step process that centered on four key words: Replace, Restructure, Redevelop and Rebrand. The purpose of this study is to examine that process.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is a case study examining the performance of Volkswagen Group and their recovery from the 2015 diesel emissions scandal. To achieve their significant turnaround, the company sought to: replace the leadership, restructure the organization, redevelop the strategy and rebrand the product. This study examines those four steps in the recovery process as a model for other firms.

Findings

To try and achieve an unprecedented turnaround, the company sought to: replace the leadership, restructure the organization, redevelop the strategy and rebrand the product. These four strategic elements formed the basis of a newly focused company and continue to push the company forward and further away from the scandal. This four-step process of recovery provides an excellent case study for other firms who may find themselves in the midst of turmoil and crisis.

Originality/value

To push through the public relations nightmare and regain sales traction following their 2015 emissions testing scandal, Volkswagen embarked on a four-step process that centered on four key words: Replace, Restructure, Redevelop and Rebrand. These four strategic elements formed the basis of a newly focused company and continue to push the company forward and further away from the scandal. This four-step process of recovery provides an excellent case study for other firms who may find themselves in the midst of turmoil and crisis.

Details

Journal of Business Strategy, vol. 40 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0275-6668

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 April 2012

Matthias Müller

This paper offers two starting points bridged by a question: The first point is the field of sustainability concepts that can help transform a resource-wasting society into a…

Abstract

This paper offers two starting points bridged by a question: The first point is the field of sustainability concepts that can help transform a resource-wasting society into a sustainable one. The second point is the field of design-driven innovation that can generate sustainable economic success by designing products and services that meet people's needs. A question bridges these two starting points: How do we design sustainable products to make them more successful? This essay introduces a tool to help companies develop innovative products and services that are sustainable for the environment, the economy and society: the Sustainable Value Proposition Tool (SVPT).

Details

International Journal of Innovation Science, vol. 4 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-2223

Article
Publication date: 15 February 2008

Ulrich Herb and Matthias Müller

The purpose of this article is to describe the open access archiving of scientific primary and secondary literature on the institutional and the disciplinary repository of the…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to describe the open access archiving of scientific primary and secondary literature on the institutional and the disciplinary repository of the Saarland University and State Library. The challenges, opportunities and success factors of both repositories are compared and evaluated.

Design/methodology/approach

The article is based on the findings and experiences of eight years of open access archiving practice.

Findings

Basic requirements for success and acceptance are: quality control and standardisation that could be proved for example by an official certificate; and visibility and dissemination – researchers emphasize that their documents are indexed by the databases most common within their community. This applies especially to disciplinary repositories.

Originality/value

Universities should undoubtedly offer an institutional repository. Usually the university library runs this repository. The article lists some key points that should be considered when an organisation plans to start and run an institutional or disciplinary repository.

Details

OCLC Systems & Services: International digital library perspectives, vol. 24 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1065-075X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 28 December 2020

Cristina Florio and Alice Francesca Sproviero

This study aims to explore how corporate discourses enact legitimation strategies aimed at repairing pragmatic, moral and cognitive legitimacy types (Suchman, 1995) after a…

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore how corporate discourses enact legitimation strategies aimed at repairing pragmatic, moral and cognitive legitimacy types (Suchman, 1995) after a scandal involving sustainability, namely, the Volkswagen’s 2015 diesel scandal.

Design/methodology/approach

By drawing on the discursive nature of legitimacy, this study conducts a critical discourse analysis to identify how the scandal is depicted and which semantic, grammatical and lexical features characterise discourses. It then relates discourses and their features to legitimation strategies that help repair diverse types of legitimacy.

Findings

To repair pragmatic legitimacy, discourses on a few actors and processes enact strategies of creating monitors and avoiding panic. Such discourses include grammatical features only. Discourses on the event, actors, processes and topics of apology, trust and integrity aim to repair moral legitimacy. Enriched with grammatical and lexical features, they mobilise disassociation, excuse, justify and restructure strategies. Discourses on the event, actors, processes and topics of corporate qualities, history and future strategy help repair cognitive legitimacy by enacting an avoiding panic strategy. Grammatical, lexical and semantic features characterise such discourses.

Research limitations/implications

The study reveals the potentials of critical discourse analysis to bring out from texts practical modes of communicating, and specifically those discourses and features of discourses that serve legitimacy purposes.

Originality/value

This study offers insights into the connection among discourses, relegitimation strategies and legitimacy types by combining the discursive nature of legitimacy with critical discourse analysis. It also contributes to the growing literature on how organisations face the legitimacy challenges raised by scandals involving sustainability.

Details

Meditari Accountancy Research, vol. 29 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-372X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 January 2017

John Dumay and James Guthrie

The purpose of this paper is to present an exploratory essay evaluating whether involuntary intellectual capital disclosure (ICD) is value relevant to stakeholders. The authors…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present an exploratory essay evaluating whether involuntary intellectual capital disclosure (ICD) is value relevant to stakeholders. The authors define involuntary disclosure as “what external stakeholders and stakeseekers disclose about a company”. This essay is timely because it lays the foundations for future ICD research that departs from traditional analyses of corporate reports, especially annual reports.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper provides a critical reflection on current and future developments in ICD research. The normative arguments rely on the experience and expertise along with examples from the ICD literature and contemporary business media to critique existing ICD research and practice and to offer new ways forward for future research.

Findings

In highlighting the limitations of the traditional ICD literature, the authors provide a foundation from which researchers should contemplate a powerful new force in ICD brought about by the rapid transformation in technologies and forces of mass communication. The authors introduce the concept of “involuntary disclosure”, and highlight several key issues that intellectual capital (IC) researchers should consider if they want their academic endeavours to contribute not only to practice, but to a wider environmental and social good.

Practical implications

Involuntary disclosures produced by stakeholders and stakeseekers introduce opportunities and threats to organisations, bringing new risks that impact share value and reputations. How well organisation manage these risks, and the impact inside and outside organisational boundaries, to provide economic, environmental and social value, should provide ample fuel for future transformational IC research.

Originality/value

The most value relevant disclosures are not what an organisation discloses or reports about itself, but rather what stakeholders and stakeseekers communicate. However, how reliable are involuntary disclosures and how can stakeholders and organisations verify IC disclosures coming from outside the organisation? If involuntary IC disclosures are value relevant, how might organisations seek to influence and manage them to serve their ends?

Article
Publication date: 14 July 2020

Hongjuan Yang, Jiwen Chen, Chen Wang, Jiajia Cui and Wensheng Wei

The implied assembly constraints of a computer-aided design (CAD) model (e.g. hierarchical constraints, geometric constraints and topological constraints) represent an important…

Abstract

Purpose

The implied assembly constraints of a computer-aided design (CAD) model (e.g. hierarchical constraints, geometric constraints and topological constraints) represent an important basis for product assembly sequence intelligent planning. Assembly prior knowledge contains factual assembly knowledge and experience assembly knowledge, which are important factors for assembly sequence intelligent planning. This paper aims to improve monotonous assembly sequence planning for a rigid product, intelligent planning of product assembly sequences based on spatio-temporal semantic knowledge is proposed.

Design/methodology/approach

A spatio-temporal semantic assembly information model is established. The internal data of the CAD model are accessed to extract spatio-temporal semantic assembly information. The knowledge system for assembly sequence intelligent planning is built using an ontology model. The assembly sequence for the sub-assembly and assembly is generated via attribute retrieval and rule reasoning of spatio-temporal semantic knowledge. The optimal assembly sequence is achieved via a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation.

Findings

The proposed spatio-temporal semantic information model and knowledge system can simultaneously express CAD model knowledge and prior knowledge for intelligent planning of product assembly sequences. Attribute retrieval and rule reasoning of spatio-temporal semantic knowledge can be used to generate product assembly sequences.

Practical implications

The assembly sequence intelligent planning example of linear motor highlights the validity of intelligent planning of product assembly sequences based on spatio-temporal semantic knowledge.

Originality/value

The spatio-temporal semantic information model and knowledge system are built to simultaneously express CAD model knowledge and assembly prior knowledge. The generation algorithm via attribute retrieval and rule reasoning of spatio-temporal semantic knowledge is given for intelligent planning of product assembly sequences in this paper. The proposed method is efficient because of the small search space.

Details

Assembly Automation, vol. 40 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-5154

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 18 February 2020

Helge H.O. Müller, Caroline Lücke, Matthias Englbrecht, Michael S. Wiesener, Teresa Siller, Kai Uwe Eckardt, Johannes Kornhuber and J. Manuel Maler

Kidney transplantation (KT) is the treatment of choice for end-stage chronic kidney disease (CKD) and is well known to improve the clinical outcome of patients. However, the…

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Abstract

Purpose

Kidney transplantation (KT) is the treatment of choice for end-stage chronic kidney disease (CKD) and is well known to improve the clinical outcome of patients. However, the impact of KT on comorbid psychological symptoms, particularly depression and anxiety, is less clear, and recipients of living-donor (LD) organs may have a different psychological outcome from recipients of dead-donor (DD) organs.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 152 patients were included and analyzed using a cross-sectional design. Of these patients, 25 were pre-KT, 13 were post-KT with a LD transplant and 114 were post-KT with a DD transplant. The patients were tested for a variety of psychometric outcomes using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (assessing physical and mental health-related quality of life), the Resilience Scale, the Coping Self-Questionnaire and the Social Support Questionnaire.

Findings

The mean age of the patients was 51.25 years and 40 per cent of the patients were female. As expected, the post-KT patients had significantly better scores on the physical component of the Short Form Health Survey than the pre-KT patients, and there were no significant differences between the two post-KT groups. There were no significant differences among the groups in any of the other psychometric outcome parameters tested, including anxiety, depression and the mental component of health-related quality of life.

Research limitations/implications

KT and the origin of the donor organ do not appear to have a significant impact on the psychological well-being of transplant patients with CKD. Although the diagnosis and early treatment of psychological symptoms, such as depression and anxiety, remain important for these patients, decisions regarding KT, including the mode of transplantation, should not be fundamentally influenced by concerns about psychological impairments at the population level.

Originality/value

CKD is a serious condition involving profound impairment of the physical and psychological well-being of patients. KT is considered the treatment of choice for most of these patients. KT has notable advantages over dialysis with regard to the long-term physical functioning of the renal and cardiovascular system and increases the life expectancy of patients. However, the data on the improvement of psychological impairments after KT are less conclusive.

Details

Mental Illness, vol. 12 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN:

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 February 2020

Wolfram Höpken, Marcel Müller, Matthias Fuchs and Maria Lexhagen

The purpose of this study is to analyse the suitability of photo-sharing platforms, such as Flickr, to extract relevant knowledge on tourists’ spatial movement and point of…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to analyse the suitability of photo-sharing platforms, such as Flickr, to extract relevant knowledge on tourists’ spatial movement and point of interest (POI) visitation behaviour and compare the most prominent clustering approaches to identify POIs in various application scenarios.

Design/methodology/approach

The study, first, extracts photo metadata from Flickr, such as upload time, location and user. Then, photo uploads are assigned to latent POIs by density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (DBSCAN) and k-means clustering algorithms. Finally, association rule analysis (FP-growth algorithm) and sequential pattern mining (generalised sequential pattern algorithm) are used to identify tourists’ behavioural patterns.

Findings

The approach has been demonstrated for the city of Munich, extracting 13,545 photos for the year 2015. POIs, identified by DBSCAN and k-means clustering, could be meaningfully assigned to well-known POIs. By doing so, both techniques show specific advantages for different usage scenarios. Association rule analysis revealed strong rules (support: 1.0-4.6 per cent; lift: 1.4-32.1 per cent), and sequential pattern mining identified relevant frequent visitation sequences (support: 0.6-1.7 per cent).

Research limitations/implications

As a theoretic contribution, this study comparatively analyses the suitability of different clustering techniques to appropriately identify POIs based on photo upload data as an input to association rule analysis and sequential pattern mining as an alternative but also complementary techniques to analyse tourists’ spatial behaviour.

Practical implications

From a practical perspective, the study highlights that big data sources, such as Flickr, show the potential to effectively substitute traditional data sources for analysing tourists’ spatial behaviour and movement patterns within a destination. Especially, the approach offers the advantage of being fully automatic and executable in a real-time environment.

Originality/value

The study presents an approach to identify POIs by clustering photo uploads on social media platforms and to analyse tourists’ spatial behaviour by association rule analysis and sequential pattern mining. The study gains novel insights into the suitability of different clustering techniques to identify POIs in different application scenarios.

摘要 研究目的

本论文旨在分析图片分享平台Flickr对截取游客空间动线信息和景点(POI)游览行为的适用性, 并且对比最知名的几种聚类分析手段, 以确定不同情况下的POI。

研究设计/方法/途径

本论文首先从Flickr上摘录下图片大数据, 比如上传时间、地点、用户等。其次, 本论文使用DBSCAN和k-means聚类分析参数来将上传图片分配给POI隐性变量。最后, 本论文采用关联规则挖掘分析(FP-growth参数)和序列样式勘探分析(GSP参数)以确认游客行为模式。

研究结果

本论文以慕尼黑城市为样本, 截取2015年13,545张图片。POIs由DBSCAN和k-means聚类分析将其分配到有名的POIs。由此, 本论文证明了两种技术对不同用法的各自优势。关联规则挖掘分析显示了显著联系(support:1%−4.6%;lift:1.4%−32.1%), 序列样式勘探分析确立了相关频率游览次序(support:0.6%−1.7%。

研究理论限制/意义

本论文的理论贡献在于, 根据图片数据, 通过对比分析不同聚类分析技术对确立POIs, 并且证明关联规则挖掘分析和序列样式勘探分析各有千秋又互相补充的分析技术以确立游客空间行为。

研究现实意义

本论文的现实意义在于, 强调了大数据的来源, 比如Flickr,证明了其对于有效代替传统数据的潜力, 以分析在游客在一个旅游目的地的空间行为和动线模式。特别是这种方法实现了实时自动可操作性等优势。

研究原创性/价值

本论文展示了一种方法, 这种方法通过聚类分析社交媒体上的上传图片以确立POIs, 以及通过关联规则挖掘分析和序列样式勘探分析来分析游客空间行为。本论文对于不同聚类分析以确立不同适用情况下的POIs的确立提出了独到见解。

Article
Publication date: 19 March 2013

Sheng-Yen Chang, Hsi-Peng Lu and Chiung-Ju Liang

The following teaching case study details an exciting and modern case of an integrated circuit distribution company in Taiwan (the Sunnic Group) as it transitions through several…

Abstract

The following teaching case study details an exciting and modern case of an integrated circuit distribution company in Taiwan (the Sunnic Group) as it transitions through several major innovation initiatives creating new products and a new role for itself in the industry while simultaneously fending off market forces, competition, and degrading profits. This case study delivers important lessons about conducting innovation via four major areas. The first area details how market forces, intense competitions, entry barriers, and corporate growth can create situations where innovating on a large scale has strong advantages over the alternatives. The second area shows how theories on innovation and customer value propositions are used to create realistic strategies for new products and feasible plans for organizational change. Topics like knowledge management, creating new capabilities, and key performance indicators are discussed. Next, the actual implementations of several innovation initiatives are explained in dramatic fashion with characters demonstrating resistance to innovation, competitor's reactions, and conflicts of interest; more importantly, it demonstrates how product development strategies can actually play out. This section also captures how transforming an organization can be stressful, leadership intensive, and difficult. Finally, the case reviews the results of the transformation and innovation efforts via the patent and financial results. This case is designed to teach students a mix of theory and practical skills. A lengthy list of questions for students is also provided and a teacher's edition from page 21 onwards of this text contains lecture notes that help in guiding class discussions and aid in creating assignments.

Details

International Journal of Innovation Science, vol. 5 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-2223

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 December 2012

James Harrington and Frank Voehl

There is an ongoing need to explore opportunities and build a healthy and prosperous future, create new revenue streams and wealth, discover new solutions, and transform our…

Abstract

There is an ongoing need to explore opportunities and build a healthy and prosperous future, create new revenue streams and wealth, discover new solutions, and transform our organizations, industries, and societies. This need leads us to focus on innovation management. Through innovation management, order can be found in chaos, while nations, industries and economies can be pulled out of crisis. This will lead to a new foundation for growth and prosperity, which may be realized sooner rather than later.

Despite the growing awareness that innovation is the only sustainable source of growth, competitive advantage, and new wealth, the Council on Competitive Report [1] and a recent Arthur D. Little survey of 700 global companies and their executives found fewer than 25 percent of the companies believe innovation performance is where it needs to be if they are to be successful in the competitive global marketplace. Having tried endless alternatives, company leaders are now ready to accept innovation management as a key operational discipline, just as in the past they adopted the disciplines of quality, strategic planning, and performance management systems [2]. Innovation management is not a new concept in most organizations. However, the old tried and true ways, even those that may have worked in the past, are no longer adequate for the organizations of tomorrow. Across the board, organizations are engaged in new and exciting experiments to reinvent the way they conceptualise and create the future, because the old business-as-usual approaches have not produced the desired results [3].

Details

International Journal of Innovation Science, vol. 4 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-2223

1 – 10 of 85