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1 – 10 of over 295000The field of transportation research, and the World Conferences on Transport Research Society (WCTRS), has an illustrious history. The challenge today is to look to the future in…
Abstract
The field of transportation research, and the World Conferences on Transport Research Society (WCTRS), has an illustrious history. The challenge today is to look to the future in a deep and thoughtful way, to identify emerging issues and opportunities for practice and for research.
This chapter identifies several critical issues in transportation research. We then explore one issue in depth, the need to increase individual and collaborative effectiveness.
This issue points to the need for a new direction in transportation research. Historically, transportation research has focussed on two major thrusts. The analysis thrust has focussed on predicting the consequences of a given transportation plan, project, or service proposal. Associated “design” research has dealt with algorithmic and heuristic techniques for finding “good” plans or policies. The policy thrust has focussed on the organizational issues and processes around making decisions on and implementing transportation plans, projects, or services. This thrust includes public policy issues and approaches, market structures and regulatory processes, organization design issues, distributional consequences, environmental policy issues, and related areas.
Today, we see the need to add a third major thrust to the field of transportation — cognition and action:
to manage transportation services and enterprises better;
to use analysis more effectively to inform and influence decisions;
to use computer support more effectively in transportation organizations and enterprises.
to manage transportation services and enterprises better;
to use analysis more effectively to inform and influence decisions;
to use computer support more effectively in transportation organizations and enterprises.
Research in cognition and action examines how people think and act, and aims to develop aids to thinking and acting that result in significant improvements in peoples' behaviours and performance. Promising research directions draw on cognitive psychology and cognitive science, and especially empirical research on managerial cognition and problem-solving. We introduce the theory of cognitive informatics, describe some applications to transportation management, and discuss relevant software tools.
Gustavo A.C. Guzman and John Wilson
This paper aims to advance a theoretical framework that integrates knowledge management, change management and “soft” issues, focussing on uncovering the nature of “soft” issues…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to advance a theoretical framework that integrates knowledge management, change management and “soft” issues, focussing on uncovering the nature of “soft” issues embedded in knowledge management and change management processes.
Design/methodology/approach
Both empirical work (case study at an electronics contract manufacturing plant) and literature review were used in order to build the proposed theoretical framework.
Findings
It argues that the “soft” dimension assists in better understanding the process of organizational knowledge transfer. In this context, “soft” issues refers to the mutual understanding – of both sender and receiver units – of underlying assumptions, the role of macro‐institutional factors affecting firm level actions (the macro‐micro link) and interpretative aspects that permeate the process of organizational knowledge transfer, including knowledge management and change management issues.
Practical implications
Guidelines for managerial action were formulated in order to make explicit, be aware of and understand embedded “soft” issues. Presented guidelines represent an attempt to uncover the crucial “soft” issues that are usually overlooked by the conventional literature.
Originality/value
This paper offers an alternative framework for guiding both practical intervention and further research on knowledge management‐related issues. It contributes to a better understanding of the process of organizational knowledge transfer.
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Fabiana Jack Nogueira Santos, Claudia Cappelli, Flávia Maria Santoro, Julio Cesar Sampaio do Prado Leite and Thaís Vasconcelos Batista
The aspect‐oriented paradigm provides mechanisms to modularize crosscutting concerns. Applying aspect‐oriented concepts in business process modeling raises the possibilities of…
Abstract
Purpose
The aspect‐oriented paradigm provides mechanisms to modularize crosscutting concerns. Applying aspect‐oriented concepts in business process modeling raises the possibilities of modularization, but brings out several concerns related both to process and to product. This paper aims to provide an overview of the aspect‐oriented business process modeling area, point out the open issues and analyze possible solutions to such issues.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on a research project, where real business process models from a large oil and gas organization were analyzed, re‐modeled and re‐analyzed to put the AO‐BPM approach in practice.
Findings
The paper indicates the need for more research on aspect‐orientation applied to business process models, backed by open issues that are faced in this research. The authors categorized the open issues as: aspects identification, elements used in the models, levels used to modularize business process models, assignment of aspects to organizational actors, and ways that an aspectized model can be generated or visualized. The authors listed initial thoughts on possible solutions that they foresee based on previous work in software engineering.
Originality/value
This paper is the first one in analyzing research questions facing AO‐BPM. By now there have just been papers focusing on presenting its understanding on how to apply the aspect‐orientation approach to solve business process models modularity issues as can be seen in the related works section. The paper's main contribution is making explicit the roadblocks that are faced and opening up new avenues of research on BPM modularization, in particular with respect to AO‐BPM.
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Concurrent engineering or concurrent new product development (CNPD) is gradually becoming the norm for developing and introducing new products to the market place. Through the use…
Abstract
Concurrent engineering or concurrent new product development (CNPD) is gradually becoming the norm for developing and introducing new products to the market place. Through the use of three in‐depth case studies looks at the seldom discussed problems in CNPD implementation and day‐to‐day management, and tries to provide a clear picture of the current state of its development, at three companies in three different countries across Europe. Identifies a number of issues emerging from the study, in particular the lack of process understanding for a concurrent or integrated product development effort and the abundance of “organisational” factors as the main barrier to its success. The results identified both differences and commonalties in CNPD experiences between each of the three case study companies. The case studies highlight the importance of process management, with a focus on process modelling and analysis of organisational factors, to improve the existing implementations of CNPD.
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Contemporary literature reveals that, to date, the poultry livestock sector has not received sufficient research attention. This particular industry suffers from unstructured…
Abstract
Contemporary literature reveals that, to date, the poultry livestock sector has not received sufficient research attention. This particular industry suffers from unstructured supply chain practices, lack of awareness of the implications of the sustainability concept and failure to recycle poultry wastes. The current research thus attempts to develop an integrated supply chain model in the context of poultry industry in Bangladesh. The study considers both sustainability and supply chain issues in order to incorporate them in the poultry supply chain. By placing the forward and reverse supply chains in a single framework, existing problems can be resolved to gain economic, social and environmental benefits, which will be more sustainable than the present practices.
The theoretical underpinning of this research is ‘sustainability’ and the ‘supply chain processes’ in order to examine possible improvements in the poultry production process along with waste management. The research adopts the positivist paradigm and ‘design science’ methods with the support of system dynamics (SD) and the case study methods. Initially, a mental model is developed followed by the causal loop diagram based on in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and observation techniques. The causal model helps to understand the linkages between the associated variables for each issue. Finally, the causal loop diagram is transformed into a stock and flow (quantitative) model, which is a prerequisite for SD-based simulation modelling. A decision support system (DSS) is then developed to analyse the complex decision-making process along the supply chains.
The findings reveal that integration of the supply chain can bring economic, social and environmental sustainability along with a structured production process. It is also observed that the poultry industry can apply the model outcomes in the real-life practices with minor adjustments. This present research has both theoretical and practical implications. The proposed model’s unique characteristics in mitigating the existing problems are supported by the sustainability and supply chain theories. As for practical implications, the poultry industry in Bangladesh can follow the proposed supply chain structure (as par the research model) and test various policies via simulation prior to its application. Positive outcomes of the simulation study may provide enough confidence to implement the desired changes within the industry and their supply chain networks.
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In this paper, we explore a new leadership theory termed “Issue Leadership,” where a leader is considered to be a person who looks for critical issues in the ordinary, involves…
Abstract
In this paper, we explore a new leadership theory termed “Issue Leadership,” where a leader is considered to be a person who looks for critical issues in the ordinary, involves the audience (i.e. those who are directly or indirectly related to a particular issue) in an effective way, and achieves outstanding performances and desired changes through efficient implementation of a proposed issue. Specifically, an issue leader is required to exhibit three distinctive behaviors: issue-creating, audience-involving, and issue-implementing. Antecedents and moderators of issue leadership behavior are identified, and their interrelationships are proposed in a comprehensive issue leadership model. After a detailed explanation of the issue leadership theory, we researched, and tried to answer the question, “How do we apply the theory to global business settings?”
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the online auction mechanism in the USA is more effective at pricing initial public offerings (IPOs) than the traditional book…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the online auction mechanism in the USA is more effective at pricing initial public offerings (IPOs) than the traditional book building process.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis compares the performance of online auction IPOs with traditional IPOs issued in the same industry area and in the same year to assess the differences in first day mispricing and its persistence. The paper compares the characteristics of firms choosing the auction process relative to the traditional process. It also uses regression models to examine whether online auction IPOs had a significantly lower first day price increase than traditional IPOs.
Findings
The results indicate that for 60 percent of the auction IPOs, over 40 percent of the traditional IPOs issued in that year and in that three‐digit Standard Industry Classification (SIC) area had greater mispricing. The mispricing of online auction IPOs relative to traditional IPOs persist over time for 50‐80 percent of online auction IPOs. Regression analyses controlling for industry effects, year effects, size of the issue, and type of traditional underwriter (low, medium, and high volume underwriters) suggest that the auction's first day price surges are not significantly lower than those of traditional underwriters. Moreover, high volume traditional underwriters have statistically significantly higher first day price surges than low volume traditional underwriters, supporting the theory that they intentionally misprice to benefit their preferred clients. Firms choosing the auction process tend to be smaller in terms of the number of shares of their IPO and their annual sales than firms choosing the traditional IPO process. There is some overlap in industry sector and age, although this varies by year.
Originality/value
This paper suggests that the auction process may not be as efficient in pricing IPOs as was initially intended and that there are opportunities for further innovation and improvement.
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This paper has two parts, namely, Part 1 and Part 2. The purpose of this paper (Part 1) is to explain an adaptive relational paradigm that can efficaciously respond to the complex…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper has two parts, namely, Part 1 and Part 2. The purpose of this paper (Part 1) is to explain an adaptive relational paradigm that can efficaciously respond to the complex issues in wicked problems. A relational paradigm can work across the disciplines and fields that characterise wicked problems. It is also methodologically plural – that is it uses various inquiry instruments together. It becomes a hybrid approach when involving narratives and structured processes enabling the adopted instruments to converge to a coherent (living) story. The purpose of Part 2 will be to provide a theoretical framework that with illustration responds to Part 1.
Design/methodology/approach
Wicked problems and their issues do not respect academic disciplines, and as they are multidisciplinary, they require a cross-disciplinary approach when seeking resolution. Autonomous agency theory is adopted capable of structuring cross-disciplinary inquiry processes and formulating a hybrid inquiry paradigm. The paper sets up a narrative agency approachable of delivering a structure that results in a general theory of hybrid inquiry.
Findings
The paradigm, which traditionally defines a field of study conceptualises and regulates approaches that enable inquiry into behavioural systems. Mono-disciplinary, they are not suitable for the resolution of issues that arise from cross-disciplinary wicked problems. To resolve this, a relational paradigm has been defined within which sits a cross-disciplinary hybrid inquiry system. A general theory of hybrid inquiry has been offered. It is shown that agency theory can successfully embrace a relational paradigm.
Research limitations/implications
To determine the limitations of this theory there is a need to provide exemplars, which is currently premature. Another outcome is to centre on modes of practice in hybrid inquiry, but there is insufficient space for this here.
Originality/value
This paper makes an original contribution by formulating a structured approach on the creation of a relational paradigm capable of supporting hybrid inquiry. It also adopts cross-disciplinary theory to make its case for a relational paradigm, recognising that wicked problems are cross-disciplinary. As part of the regulatory process, it connects Rittel’s IBIS schema intended to resolve wicked problems issues and the Johari Window and explains how they would relate. A means is suggested for determining the degree of undecidability of wicked problems issues, and hence, that of the models that inquiry produces. This uses formative characteristics that define a modelling space. The paper also adopts Husserl’s concept or lifeworld, which acts as a channel for complex narrative theory through which regulative processes are enabled.
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Mercedes Ruiz-Lozano, Marta De Vicente-Lama, Pilar Tirado-Valencia and Magdalena Cordobés-Madueño
This paper aims to assess the disclosure of the materiality process in the preparation of sustainability reports of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). This paper also explores the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to assess the disclosure of the materiality process in the preparation of sustainability reports of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). This paper also explores the effects of regulation mandating that SOEs prepare sustainability reports. In the specific case of port authorities, the study analyses the influence of a sector guideline that determines what should be included and the structure of the report. Another aim of this paper is to delve into SOE's motivations for disclosing information on materiality assessments, using the assumptions of the different theories to explain their reporting practices.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a sample of SOEs sustainability reports, a content analysis is undertaken. The methodology involves the analysis of the information disclosed by SOEs in Spain and the development of a materiality disclosure index. This index enables sampled entities to be classified on a scale of 0–5, based on the extent of their disclosures of the materiality determination process. This study also identifies several variables that explain differences in these disclosures.
Findings
A low rate of information disclosed about the materiality process can be attributed to the desire of SOEs to create symbolic legitimacy. In a context where the disclosure of sustainability information is mandatory, only few organisations apply the principle of materiality to define the content of their sustainability reports. These results highlight that institutional isomorphism has only had a limited effect on the materiality process.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations associated with the sample size and composition of the sample by sector apply.
Practical implications
This research shows that generally accepted reporting guidelines constitute a reference framework for sustainability reporting but that the principles underpinning these frameworks are not always implemented.
Originality/value
This study extends the literature on the implementation of the principle of materiality and uses disclosure theories to explain the actual reporting by SOEs of their materiality process.
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