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Article
Publication date: 6 April 2020

Diana Floegel

This pilot study explores how queer slash fanfiction writers reorient cis/heteronormative entertainment media (EM) content to create queer information worlds.

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Abstract

Purpose

This pilot study explores how queer slash fanfiction writers reorient cis/heteronormative entertainment media (EM) content to create queer information worlds.

Design/methodology/approach

Constructivist grounded theory was employed to explore queer individuals' slash fanfiction reading and creation practices. Slash fanfiction refers to fan-written texts that recast cis/heteronormative content with queer characters, relationships, and themes. Theoretical sampling drove ten semi-structured interviews with queer slash writers and content analysis of both Captain America slash and material features found on two online fanfiction platforms, Archive of Our Own and fanfiction.net. “Queer” serves as a theoretical lens through which to explore non-cis/heteronormative perspectives on gender and sexuality.

Findings

Participants' interactions with and creation of slash fanfiction constitute world-queering practices wherein individuals reorient cis/heteronormative content, design systems, and form community while developing their identities over time. Findings suggest ways that queer creators respond to, challenge, and reorient cis/heteronormative narratives perpetuated by EM and other information sources, as well as ways their practices are constrained by structural power dynamics.

Research limitations/implications

This initial data collection only begins to explore the topic with ten interviews. The participant sample lacks racial diversity while the content sample focuses on one fandom. However, results suggest future directions for theoretical sampling that will continue to advance constructs developed from the data.

Originality/value

This research contributes to evolving perspectives on information creation and queer individuals' information practices. In particular, findings expand theoretical frameworks related to small worlds and ways in which members of marginalized populations grapple with exclusionary normativity.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 76 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 July 2014

S. Udhayakumar, P.V. Mohanram, S. Yeshwanth, Manas Ranjan Biswal and A. Sabareeswaran

The purpose of this paper is to discuss a linear vibratory part feeder for handling brake liners, typical sector-shaped components. Part feeders have been used in the industries…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss a linear vibratory part feeder for handling brake liners, typical sector-shaped components. Part feeders have been used in the industries for a long time to present the parts in a desired orientation. Berretty et al. (1999) discussed a class of mechanical filters that are capable of removing polygonal sections from the track of the feeder which are referred to as traps. The traps eliminate or reorient the parts until they reach the final desired orientation. A part feeder was developed using traps, to reorient the sector-shaped part to desired orientation. The desired orientation was the most probable natural resting orientation. The trap was mounted on a linear vibratory feeder. The adaptive part feeder developed was capable of identifying the size of the incoming part and adjust the trap to accommodate that. This set-up eliminates the use of different traps for different-sized sector-shaped parts and wastage of productive time in changing the traps for different sizes. A regression model was developed to predict the conveying velocity of part on the feeder.

Design/methodology/approach

A part feeder was developed using traps, to reorient the sector-shaped part to desired orientation. Acrylic material was found to be suitable for trap compared to aluminium. The adaptive part feeder developed was capable of identifying the size of the incoming part using proximity sensors. Depending on the size of the incoming part, the track width was adjusted dynamically with the help of a stepper motor, rack and pinion arrangement. A regression model was developed to predict the conveying velocity.

Findings

Typical brake liners in the size range of 40-60 mm (radius) were considered for developing the adaptive part feeder. Based on performance studies, the acrylic trap was found better than aluminium traps. The appropriate frequency and amplitude of vibration for maximum conveying velocity of the adaptive part feeder were found experimentally. Regression equation was developed to determine the conveying velocity based on input frequency and amplitude. The regression results were found to be in close agreement with the experimental results.

Research limitations/implications

The developed part feeder is suitable for handling sector-shaped parts only.

Originality/value

This paper demonstrates an inexpensive adaptive part feeding device for handling sector-shaped parts which can be extended for handling other asymmetric parts also.

Details

Assembly Automation, vol. 34 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-5154

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 July 2006

Onno C. Goemans, Ken Goldberg and A. Frank van der Stappen

Proposes a simple bowl feeder primitive, consisting of one horizontally mounted convex polygonal metal “blade” that can feed a broad class of three‐dimensional polyhedral parts by…

Abstract

Purpose

Proposes a simple bowl feeder primitive, consisting of one horizontally mounted convex polygonal metal “blade” that can feed a broad class of three‐dimensional polyhedral parts by reorienting and rejecting all but those in a desired orientation. Owing to its simplicity, the proposed primitive allows for the development of methods to automate its design process.

Design/methodology/approach

Presents a computational geometric approach to construct the solution space for a given part and then use this space to report all designs that feed the part.

Findings

Given a polyhedral part and its center of mass as input, the complete algorithm identifies all single blade solutions that feed the part. The output is either the set of all valid blade designs or a notification that the part cannot be fed using a single blade.

Research limitations/implications

Aims to take a first step in the design of complete algorithms for three‐dimensional parts in the context of vibratory bowls. Future research encompasses the relaxation of several simplifying assumptions with regard to the physical modeling of the motion and interaction with the part.

Practical implications

Algorithms like the one proposed can be applied to generate an initial vibratory bowl design. The strength of our algorithm lies in its completeness which means that it identifies the complete universe of all possible designs. Such a rigorous exploration can neither be accomplished through human trail‐and‐error nor through heuristic approaches to automated design.

Originality/value

Proposes the first complete algorithm for automated design of a 3D part manipulator for vibratory bowls, which may serve as a building block for fully automated bowl design.

Details

Assembly Automation, vol. 26 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-5154

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 October 2013

Florian Röthlin

Reorienting health services towards health promotion is one of the major health promotion strategies stipulated by the Ottawa Charter). Important contradictions, tensions and…

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Abstract

Purpose

Reorienting health services towards health promotion is one of the major health promotion strategies stipulated by the Ottawa Charter). Important contradictions, tensions and barriers to health promotion implementation associated with organisational structures have, thus far, been underexposed in the hospital health promotion discourse. This paper aims at identifying risks and the chances for hospital management to strategically and sustainably reorient their hospitals towards health promotion.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper combines theories and findings from organisational science and management studies as well as from capacity development in the form of a narrative literature review. The aim is to focus on the conditions hospitals, as organisational systems with a highly professionalised workforce, provide for a strategically managed reorientation towards health promotion. Models and principles helping managers to navigate the difficulties and complexities of health promotion reorientation will be suggested.

Findings

Hospital managers have to deal with genuine obstacles in the complexity and structural formation of hospital organisations. Against this background, continuous management support, a transformative leadership style, participative strategic management and expert governance can be considered important organisational capacities for the reorientation towards a new concept such as health promotion.

Practical implications

This paper discusses managerial strategies, effective structural transformations and important organisational capacities that can contribute to a sustainable reorientation of hospitals towards health promotion. It supports hospital managers in exploring their chances of facilitating and effectively supporting a sustainable health promotion reorientation of their hospitals.

Originality/value

The paper provides an innovative approach where the focus is on enhanced possibilities for hospital managers to strategically manage the reorientation towards health promotion.

Details

Journal of Health Organization and Management, vol. 27 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7266

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 September 2008

Roland Tormey, Mags Liddy, Helen Maguire and Amanda McCloat

Higher education has a key role and responsibility in creating change and addressing issues of fundamental human concern such as inequality and social justice, globalisation and…

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Abstract

Purpose

Higher education has a key role and responsibility in creating change and addressing issues of fundamental human concern such as inequality and social justice, globalisation and development, environmental protection and sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to describe how RCE‐Ireland, established in September 2007, aims to develop awareness and engagement with these realities and ensure they become integrated into education in Ireland.

Design/methodology/approach

Action research is based on a cyclical process of action, observation, reflection and adaptation, and has been adopted by RCE‐Ireland as key to reorienting the practice of education towards sustainability. Two case studies of action research projects are the focus of the paper: Critical Thinking in Large Scale Lectures, University of Limerick, and Reorienting Course Content towards Ethical and Ecological Consumerism, St Angela's College, Sligo. The methodologies employed include both qualitative and quantitative data collection, and address critiques of action research while remaining true to the aims of democratic teaching and engaged scholarship.

Findings

The case studies demonstrate action research as a valuable and valid research methodology in itself, as well as recognising its appropriateness in reorienting education towards sustainability. The University and University‐based educationalists have a unique role here by linking research and practice, blurring the boundaries of research as objective and value‐free, and in demonstrating innovation and leadership in addressing global challenges and human concerns.

Originality/value

The University can provide opportunities for reorientation towards sustainability, as well as presenting challenges to this work. There is much evidence that higher education settings find it more difficult to adjust their practices than to adjust their content. One approach to engender such change in practice is the promotion of action research in higher education settings, where the twin roles of the academic practitioner as teacher and as researcher are brought together to adapt educational practice.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 9 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 January 2016

Jianhua Su, Zhi-Yong Liu, Hong Qiao and Chuankai Liu

Picking up pistons in arbitrary poses is an important step on car engine assembly line. The authors usually use vision system to estimate the pose of the pistons and then guide a…

Abstract

Purpose

Picking up pistons in arbitrary poses is an important step on car engine assembly line. The authors usually use vision system to estimate the pose of the pistons and then guide a stable grasp. However, a piston in some poses, e.g. the mouth of the piston faces forward, is hardly to be directly grasped by the gripper. Thus, we need to reorient the piston to achieve a desired pose, i.e. let its mouth face upward, for grasping.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper aims to present a vision-based picking system that can grasp pistons in arbitrary poses. The whole picking process is divided into two stages. At localization stage, a hierarchical approach is proposed to estimate the piston’s pose from image which usually involves both heavy noise and edge distortions. At grasping stage, multi-step robotic manipulations are designed to enable the piston to follow a nominal trajectory to reach to the minimum of the distance between the piston’s center and the support plane. That is, under the design input, the piston would be pushed to achieve a desired orientation.

Findings

A target piston in arbitrary poses would be picked from the conveyor belt by the gripper with the proposed method.

Practical implications

The designed robotic bin-picking system using vision is an advantage in terms of flexibility in automobile manufacturing industry.

Originality/value

The authors develop a methodology that uses a pneumatic gripper and 2D vision information for picking up multiple pistons in arbitrary poses. The rough pose of the parts are detected based on a hierarchical approach for detection of multiple ellipses in the environment that usually involve edge distortions. The pose uncertainties of the piston are eliminated by multi-step robotic manipulations.

Details

Industrial Robot: An International Journal, vol. 43 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1991

Balaji S. Chakravarthy and Peter Lorange

If strategic planning systems have failed it is because managershave failed to adapt them to the changed contexts of their businesses.Four distinct contexts are identified…

Abstract

If strategic planning systems have failed it is because managers have failed to adapt them to the changed contexts of their businesses. Four distinct contexts are identified: Pioneer, Expand, Reorient, and Dominate. These labels are chosen to indicate the primary challenge for the business unit in each of these contexts. The contexts vary in their risk and in the adaptation and/or integration orientation that they demand of the strategic planning system. Four key elements of the strategic planning system: direction of goal setting, time‐spending patterns in planning, the relative importance of the strategic budget, and the linkage between the financial plan and the budgets, are identified. Each can be manipulated to adapt the system to suit the firm′s business context.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 4 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 22 August 2022

Suman Billa

The chapter explores the perils of the unbridled growth of tourism and offers some approaches to optimise the benefits of tourism for the stakeholders. It also discusses the…

Abstract

The chapter explores the perils of the unbridled growth of tourism and offers some approaches to optimise the benefits of tourism for the stakeholders. It also discusses the catalysing role of the COVID-19 pandemic in reorienting consumer preferences and thereby government policies towards a more responsible paradigm. India's fast-growing economy and rapid build-up of infrastructure would unleash a commensurate growth in its tourism sector and hence call for a need to approach it from the perspective of responsible tourism. It assesses the model of the Responsible Tourism initiative of Kerala based on the three pillars of environmental, economic and social responsibility. The chapter also proposes pilot initiatives at select destinations across the nation with primacy placed upon carrying capacity. It calls for reorienting the approach to the destination level instead of state-level and preparing a framework of administrative structures and financing. It also proposes a responsible tourism classification for tourism enterprises to which incentives and subsidies could be aligned to encourage onboarding.

Article
Publication date: 19 August 2022

Sini V. Pillai and Jayasankar Prasad

This paper aims to investigate the continuing experience of the employer and employees in terms of work–life balance (WLB) and productivity from the employees engaged in knowledge…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the continuing experience of the employer and employees in terms of work–life balance (WLB) and productivity from the employees engaged in knowledge work working from home. Based on the findings, this study expands the key performance indicators (KPIs) of remote work and future policy decision including reorienting training practices that can be implemented to manage the workforce in a hybrid model.

Design/methodology/approach

Focus group interviews with the corporate executives and human resources (HR) managers of information technology (IT) sectors were conducted to pool critical success and challenging variables in various phases as in the initial and matured phase of work from home (WFH) followed by administering a structured questionnaire to identify employee perceptions toward work from office, home and hybrid mode among knowledge work employees.

Findings

WLB and lower stress were the highlights of WFH, and women employees benefit from flexibility of work as the major highlighted success factor. But there were challenges ahead; teams have become more siloed with issues of ineffective communication resulting in team coherence issues, increased health risks and also can result in attrition. Productivity increased throughout, but in the extended phase of WFH, it has affected the WLB of a major portion of technology-driven employees in terms of health risks, burnout and job attrition.

Research limitations/implications

Only the current employees working at IT companies in Kerala were surveyed, and this limited scope may not be consistent with other types of industries. The companies can approach the next phase of work by embracing the positives and learning from the challenges of WFH. The employers need to identify what exactly the employees feel through their interpersonal relationship through connect and trust.

Practical implications

A model with listed KPIs which will address the strategy enhancement for the future of work to uphold the success of work from anywhere at any time is suggested guaranteeing the best talent and productivity to progress forward. To foster the positive experience of WFH and hybrid mode of work, human resources (HR) interventions by reorienting effective training among employees are investigated and suggested as best practices to manage WLB and drive in flexibility to bring out the productivity potential among employees.

Social implications

Coworking spaces can be arranged for those employees who have space and location issues and also taking into consideration, the nature of work. Out of five to six working days, three days of work can be from office desk based on employee preference as quality of deliverables and performance seem to be the established striking factor of traditional mode of work.

Originality/value

A model with listed KPIs and investigating the role of training which will address the strategy enhancement for the future of work to uphold the success of work from anywhere at any time is recommended guaranteeing the best talent and productivity to progress forward.

Details

Industrial and Commercial Training, vol. 55 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0019-7858

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 February 2019

Quang Evansluong, Marcela Ramirez Pasillas and Huong Nguyen Bergström

The purpose of this paper is to conduct an inductive case study to understand how the opportunity creation process leads to integration.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to conduct an inductive case study to understand how the opportunity creation process leads to integration.

Design/methodology/approach

It examines four cases of immigrant entrepreneurs of Cameroonian, Lebanese, Mexican and Assyrian origins who founded their businesses in Sweden. The study relies on process-oriented theory building and develops an inductive model of integration as an opportunity creation process.

Findings

The suggested model shows immigrants’ acculturation into the host society via three successive phases: breaking-ice, breaking-in and breaking-out. In the breaking-ice phase, immigrants trigger entrepreneurial ideas to overcome the disadvantages that they face as immigrants in the host country. In the breaking-in phase, immigrants articulate their entrepreneurial ideas by bonding with the ethnic community. In the breaking-out phase, the immigrants reorient their entrepreneurial ideas by desegregating them locally. The paper concludes by elaborating theoretical and practical implications of the research.

Originality/value

Immigrants act when they are socially excluded and discriminated in the labor market by developing business ideas and becoming entrepreneurs. By practicing the new language and accommodating native customers’ preferences, immigrants reorient their entrepreneurial ideas. The immigrants tailor their ideas to suit their new customers by strengthening their sense of belonging to the local community.

Details

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, vol. 25 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2554

Keywords

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