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1 – 10 of 25Julian Matzenberger, Nigel Hargreaves, Debadayita Raha and Priyan Dias
The purpose of this paper is to outline different notions of the term resilience used in scientific disciplines and consequently explore how the concept can be applied to energy…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to outline different notions of the term resilience used in scientific disciplines and consequently explore how the concept can be applied to energy systems. The concept of resilience has emerged recently in scientific discourse. The major questions to be addressed are: Which definitions and underlying concepts of resilience are used in the scientific literature? How can resilience be defined with respect to energy systems and which underlying principles can be identified?
Design/methodology/approach
Building on this understanding, characteristics of the resilience concept used in various contexts are described and a methodology for selection of an indicator set for an energy resilience assessment is presented. The methodology for a resilience assessment outlined in this paper requires definition and clustering of a set of indicators describing a resilient system. It contributes to understanding system properties and supports the theory of how to improve system resilience.
Findings
It is argued that resilience can be defined as a function of vulnerability and adaptability, therefore increasing adaptability or reducing vulnerability can cause higher system resilience. Further attributes, determinants and properties of resilient systems to guide indicator selection and classification are suggested.
Originality/value
Definitions of resilience, vulnerability and adaptability are very much interlinked. A novel framework is proposed to foster the understanding of the interlinkage between these three terms and to cluster indicators to assess energy system resilience.
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Sarah Hargreaves, Laura Sbaffi and Nigel Ford
This paper both supports previous findings relating to, and presents new insights into: the information needs and the information seeking processes of a sample of informal…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper both supports previous findings relating to, and presents new insights into: the information needs and the information seeking processes of a sample of informal caregivers of people with dementia (in relation to their own needs and the interrelated needs of the people they are caring for); the extent to which such information needs are and are not being met; and the factors facilitating and hindering access to the right information.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopted a qualitative approach in the form of a thematic analysis of in-depth, semi-structured interviews with a sample of 20 informal caregivers from a range of different age groups, genders and caring roles.
Findings
Thematic analysis identified significant informational challenges, with a common perception that information seeking was onerous, requiring a proactive approach. Further challenges arose from a perceived lack of focus on carer needs coming up against the boundaries of professional knowledge and inconsistent information provision across the sample. Distance carers faced specific issues. A second theme of negative impacts described burdens arising from: difficulties in accessing information from a complex array of support services closure or change in services and unfulfilled information needs. Participants employed strategies to enable access to information, for example, being open about their caring role; and building formal or informal support networks. It is important to address emotional as well as cognitive dimensions of information needs.
Practical implications
This research highlights a need for health and social care, practice and policy to acknowledge and address information needs of this diverse population and build resilience. Above all, information seeking and sharing must be understood within the context of the emotional impact of caring, and recognition of these twin needs is crucial.
Originality/value
Whilst previous research has focussed on identifying specific needs and knowledge acquisition at cross-sections, a more holistic understanding of experiences is underexplored. This approach is needed to take into account broader contexts, diversity of experiences and different caring roles, e.g. primary and secondary carers, and in situ and distance carers.
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This study examines the experiences of five teachers working in two English secondary school subject departments after being given the opportunity to engage with Lesson Study (LS…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the experiences of five teachers working in two English secondary school subject departments after being given the opportunity to engage with Lesson Study (LS) to increase student performance in their subject areas. This study aimed to reveal the drivers for the teachers' engagement in LS, and how this experience of Joint Professional Development (JPD) might be contributing to their learning as teachers.
Design/methodology/approach
This study applies an analytic approach to evidencing teacher learning, based on the work of Knud Illeris, offering this as a methodological contribution to the field of professional development literature.
Findings
Findings reveal that, despite all the teachers developing a passion for learning through LS, there are constraints on its sustainability and impact which can be attributed to the teachers' broader contexts and which affected them differently. The constraints centre on tensions between priorities and agendas within and beyond the school, related largely to budgets and visions of staff development.
Research limitations/implications
This focused study on two subject departments engaging in LS limits its generalisability in terms of findings. However, the study offers a practical research application of a model of learning for analysis of teacher reflections on collaborative learning experiences.
Originality/value
Understanding individual teacher reflections on LS experiences is under-represented in the literature, in particular studies providing insights into conditions conducive and constraining to JPD.
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If major corporations struggle to define and place a value on reputation and reputational risk, what hope is there for small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs)? It is assumed…
Abstract
If major corporations struggle to define and place a value on reputation and reputational risk, what hope is there for small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs)? It is assumed here that large corporations have greater resources available to them to do this and stronger imperatives to do so in the form of a greater number of external stakeholders, most notably shareholders and analysts. Is a structured approach to managing corporate reputation the exclusive preserve of companies with communications departments? Is corporate social responsibility (CSR), in as much as it is a voluntary activity, “good value” for SMEs and is cost versus benefit the only way to evaluate CSR? This paper reviews a spectrum of views on reputation and CSR and argues that searching for a definitive, value‐for‐money‐based formula for reputation management and CSR is at odds with stakeholder expectations, and that much evidence exists to suggest that truly effective CSR is the result more of pragmatism than theory or corporate strategy and in some ways SMEs are better placed to take advantage of CSR programmes.
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The connotations, associations, custom and usages of a name often give to it an importance that far outweighs its etymological significance. Even with personal surnames or the…
Abstract
The connotations, associations, custom and usages of a name often give to it an importance that far outweighs its etymological significance. Even with personal surnames or the name of a business. A man may use his own name but not if by so doing it inflicts injury on the interests and business of another person of the same name. After a long period of indecision, it is now generally accepted that in “passing off”, there is no difference between the use of a man's own name and any other descriptive word. The Courts will only intervene, however, when a personal name has become so much identified with a well‐known business as to be necessarily deceptive when used without qualification by anyone else in the same trade; i.e., only in rare cases. In the early years, the genesis of goods and trade protection, fraud was a necessary ingredient of “passing off”, an intent to deceive, but with the merging off Equity with the Common Law, the equitable rule that interference with “property” did not require fraudulent intent was practised in the Courts. First applying to trade marks, it was extended to trade names, business signs and symbols and business generally. Now it is unnecessary to prove any intent to deceive, merely that deception was probable, or that the plaintiff had suffered actual damage. The equitable principle was not established without a struggle, however, and the case of “Singer” Sewing Machines (1877) unified the two streams of law but not before it reached the House of Lords. On the way up, judical opinions differed; in the Court of Appeal, fraud was considered necessary—the defendant had removed any conception of fraud by expressingly declaring in advertisements that his “Singer” machines were manufactured by himself—so the Court found for him, but the House of Lords considered the name “Singer” was in itself a trade mark and there was no more need to prove fraud in the case of a trade name than a trade mark; Hence, the birth of the doctrine that fraud need not be proved, but their Lordships showed some hesitation in accepting property rights for trade names. If the name used is merely descriptive of goods, there can be no cause for action, but if it connotes goods manufactured by one firm or prepared from a formula or compsitional requirements prescribed by and invented by a firm or is the produce of a region, then others have no right to use it. It is a question of fact whether the name is the one or other. The burden of proof that a name or term in common use has become associated with an individual product is a heavy one; much heavier in proving an infringement of a trade mark.
The inspection of food labellings is a long and monotonous routine but nonetheless, a cornerstone of consumer protection. For many years complaints have been made of the loopholes…
Abstract
The inspection of food labellings is a long and monotonous routine but nonetheless, a cornerstone of consumer protection. For many years complaints have been made of the loopholes and anomalies in the statutory requirements for labelling, particularly in descriptive names and declarations of ingredients. The long‐awaited report of the Food Standards Committee on Food Labelling has now appeared and been reviewed at some length in the present and previous issues of the B.F.J. The Committee have taken a long time over their subject, but their review of it has been most thorough. Their recommendations are in the main reasonable and whilst some are new and others, if adopted, could have a not inconsiderable influence on manufacturing practice, they do not disturb the present structure of food labelling set up by the Order of 1953, which was quite a landmark in its day.
Nigel Slack, Michael Lewis and Hilary Bates
The paper presents a brief history of the development of operations management (OM). This provides the backdrop for a content analysis of journal articles published in the Journal…
Abstract
The paper presents a brief history of the development of operations management (OM). This provides the backdrop for a content analysis of journal articles published in the Journal of Operations Management and the International Journal of Operations & Production Management between January 1990 and June 2003. MBA student survey data are then used to explore any gaps that may exist between the focus of academic research and the perceived importance of given OM subject areas to practitioners. The practical and conceptual insights highlighted are then used as the basis for a discussion of extant research priorities. The paper concludes with a preliminary conceptual framework that distinguishes between OM research seeking to consolidate operations practice and that which seeks to apply theoretical concepts into a practical context.
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Index by subjects, compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals: Facilities Volumes 8‐17; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐17; Property Management…
Abstract
Index by subjects, compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals: Facilities Volumes 8‐17; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐17; Property Management Volumes 8‐17; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐17.
Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18;…
Abstract
Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.
Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐17; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐17;…
Abstract
Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐17; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐17; Property Management Volumes 8‐17; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐17.