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Article
Publication date: 1 May 2002

O. Dufaud and S. Corbel

The characteristics of PZT suspensions have been studied and fit to stereolithography restraints. On one hand, researches concern the influence of fillers contents, dispersant…

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Abstract

The characteristics of PZT suspensions have been studied and fit to stereolithography restraints. On one hand, researches concern the influence of fillers contents, dispersant concentration, temperature and resins nature and amount on suspensions rheological behaviour. On the other hand, the influence of photoinitiator and PZT concentrations, density of energy and nature of the resin on suspension reactivity was investigated. These experiments have led to the choice of two photosensitive suspensions suitable for stereolithography purpose; which use depend on the fillers content. Furthermore, the stereolithography process has been modified owing to the balance between suspensions rheological and photochemical properties in order to shape piezoelectric ceramics. Thanks to these improvements, PZT ceramics/polymer composites dedicated to transducers and medical imaging applications have been fabricated.

Details

Rapid Prototyping Journal, vol. 8 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2546

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 July 2023

Vibhash Kumar, Ashima Verma and Arnav Kumar

The primary purpose of the present research is to assess the people's awareness level of End-of-Life Vehicle (ELV) management in India. The study proposes to estimate the…

Abstract

Purpose

The primary purpose of the present research is to assess the people's awareness level of End-of-Life Vehicle (ELV) management in India. The study proposes to estimate the projected annual demand for the new ELVs over 15 years from 2020–2035 and assess the growth rate in new annual ELVs.

Design/methodology/approach

Employing a mixed method study, the authors obtained secondary data from the annual reports from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). In Study 1, the authors employed log-linear regression and compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) to compute the growth rates for these projections. After that, the authors collected the primary data of vehicle users (n = 920) using survey methodology, both open and closed-ended items completed the test battery (Study 2A and 2B). While open-ended items were analyzed qualitatively, the closed-ended items were analyzed quantitatively.

Findings

The estimation of annual ELV estimates and their cumulative figures over 15 years determined the market size in the future, outlining the importance of ELV management. The qualitative approach helped deduce the people's most prominent sentiments regarding decommissioning and the ELV management process. From the primary analysis, the authors concluded that people perceived the ELV management process positively; however, there are areas where the government's specific attention is warranted.

Originality/value

In this study, the authors have outlined how specific measures in ELV management can result in a sustainable circular economy. Additionally, the authors have designed a test battery to understand people's perception, which is first of its kind effort to understand what people think about ELV management. Studies globally considering people's perception of ELV can employ the test battery designed for this study. Additionally, countries that have ELV management in nascent stages can refer to India's experience with ELV management and the related people's perception.

Details

Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, vol. 34 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 August 2021

Zoe Riley and Jerome Carson

The purpose of this paper is to provide a profile of Zoe Riley.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a profile of Zoe Riley.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a case study approach, Zoe provides an account of her background and is then interviewed by Jerome.

Findings

Zoe’s account reveals a remarkable resilience developed through adversity but nurtured by the love of her grandparents.

Research limitations/implications

Mental illness surrounded Zoe when she was growing up. Her own mother experienced years of distress. Her grandfather effectively was her father. Despite the childhood adversity and her own teenage problems, she came through it all. These are the stories you read about in textbooks.

Practical implications

Zoe reminds us that people in distress want to find connection. They do not want us sitting there writing notes and not even looking at them!

Social implications

The authors talk about “wounded healers”. Dr Glenn Roberts said that his own bouts of depression made it easier for him to sit with people in similar turmoil. The value of peer support has been underrated by many.

Originality/value

It is of course a truism to say that everyone’s journey of recovery is unique. The author knows Zoe has already touched the lives of many people. The author is sure she has so much more to contribute.

Details

Mental Health and Social Inclusion, vol. 26 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-8308

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 June 2021

Muhammad Ali Musarat, Wesam Salah Alaloul and M.S. Liew

Labours are one of the key resources of construction projects having a significant impact on economic development. With time, the construction industry is getting a boom due to…

1123

Abstract

Purpose

Labours are one of the key resources of construction projects having a significant impact on economic development. With time, the construction industry is getting a boom due to numerous construction projects in which labours’ contribution is significant. Project betterment is associated with the project productivity which relates to the labours. Wages play a vital role in retaining labours in the construction industry.

Design/methodology/approach

This study focuses on investigating the increasing and decreasing behaviour of labour wages in the construction industry and observing the impact of the inflation rate in deviating labour wages. Initially, the percentage deviation was calculated to observe the changing behaviour of the data and then the Spearman correlation test was used to find the relationship between the inflation rate and the labour wages.

Findings

It is evident that even with a good economy and a stable construction sector, still, the labour wages faced a decline over time, which is a matter of concern. Also, based on the correlation coefficient, it was revealed that several labour wages categories are moderately and strongly correlated with the inflation rate and can impact project cost if the inflation rate is not considered while finalizing the budget. Besides that, the changing behaviour of labour wages due to the inflation rate impacts significantly on gross domestic product (GDP); therefore, it requires vital attention.

Originality/value

Changes in labour wages are not considered in budget estimation which drag the project towards cost overrun. This study brings the attention of the stakeholders on the issue with experimental justification. Also, how the inflation rate is affecting the labour wages has also been addressed.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 29 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 25 September 2012

Krystal Tribbett

Purpose – Emissions trading is often heralded as an efficient approach to environmental regulation. In the mid-90s Communities for a Better Environment (CBE), a Los Angeles-based…

Abstract

Purpose – Emissions trading is often heralded as an efficient approach to environmental regulation. In the mid-90s Communities for a Better Environment (CBE), a Los Angeles-based advocacy organization, raised concerns that emissions trading in the South Coast Air Basin, the most polluted region in Southern California, would result in environmental injustice. The organizations concerns received mixed responses from regulators. Historical analysis is used to assess the clash between emissions trading and environmental justice (EJ).

Methodology/approach – Emissions trading and EJ arose side by side between the 1960s and the 1990s, yet they disagree on how to clean the air. Historical analysis of legal documents, presidential addresses, letters, working papers, reports, and the like offers a better understanding of the development of emissions trading and EJ, and their intersection in environmental policy.

Findings – Emissions trading was grafted onto Clean Air Act policies not inherently designed for their incorporation. As a result, emissions trading came into direct philosophical opposition with EJ as political pressures calling for both economically efficient antiregulatory-ism and environmental equity forced their intersection. Formally, regional and national government accepted EJ as part of law. However, in principle, emissions trading undermined this acceptance. As a result, CBE could not easily win or explicitly lose its battle against emissions trading.

Originality/value of paper – Previous work on the relationship between emissions trading and EJ tend to focus on legal analysis and normative implications of emissions trading. Putting emissions trading and environment justice into historical perspective helps to illuminate larger questions about EJ activism and policy. Also, as California, the United States, and Europe turn to emissions trading to combat not only air pollution but also climate change, important lessons can be learned from the histories and collision of emissions trading and EJ.

Article
Publication date: 13 April 2015

Kate Parizeau and Josh Lepawsky

– This paper aims to investigate by what means and to what ends waste, its materiality and its symbolic meanings are legally regulated in built environments.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate by what means and to what ends waste, its materiality and its symbolic meanings are legally regulated in built environments.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors investigate the entanglement of law and the built environment through an analysis of waste-related legal case studies in the Canadian context. They investigate a notable Supreme Court case and three examples of Canadian cities’ by-laws and municipal regulations (particularly regarding informal recycling practices). They mobilize what Valverde calls the work of jurisdiction in their analysis.

Findings

The authors argue that the regulation of waste and wasting behaviours is meant to discipline relationships between citizens and governments in the built environment (e.g. mitigating nuisance, facilitating service provision and public health, making individuals more visible and legible in the eyes of the law and controlling and capturing material flows). They find that jurisdiction is used as a flexible and malleable legal medium in the interactions between law and the built environment. Thus, the material treatment of waste may invoke notions of constraint, freedom, citizenship, governance and cognate concepts and practices as they are performed in and through built environments. Waste storage containers appear to operate as black holes in that they evacuate property rights from the spaces that waste regularly occupies.

Originality/value

There is scant scholarly attention paid to legal orderings of waste in built environments. This analysis reveals the particular ways that legal interventions serve to construct notions of the public good and the public sphere through orderings of waste (an inherently indeterminate object).

Details

International Journal of Law in the Built Environment, vol. 7 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-1450

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 21 December 2020

R. Venkatesakumar, Sudhakar Vijayakumar, S. Riasudeen, S. Madhavan and B. Rajeswari

The star rating summarises the review content and conveys the message faster than other review components. Star ratings influence helpfulness of the reviews, and extreme reviews…

4307

Abstract

Purpose

The star rating summarises the review content and conveys the message faster than other review components. Star ratings influence helpfulness of the reviews, and extreme reviews are considered as less helpful in the decision process. However, literature has rarely addressed variations in star ratings across product categories and variations between two online retailers. In this paper, the authors have compared the distribution of star ratings across 11 products and among the retailers.

Design/methodology/approach

Online reviews for 11 product categories have collected, and the authors compared the distribution of star ratings across 11 products and retailers. Correspondence analysis has been applied to show the association between star ratings and product categories for the e-retail firms.

Findings

The Amazon site contains proportionately more number of 1-star rated reviews than Flipkart. In Amazon reviews, few product categories are closely associated with 1-star and 2-star reviews, whereas no product categories are closely associated with 1-star and 2-star reviews in Flipkart reviews. The results indicate two distinct communication strategies followed by the firms in managing online consumer reviews.

Research limitations/implications

The authors did not analyse data across demographic details because of access restriction policies of the websites.

Practical implications

Understanding the distribution of review characteristics will improve the consumer’s decision-making ability and using online review content judiciously.

Social implications

This study’s results show significant insights on online retailing by providing cues in using shopping sites and online review characteristics of two prominent retailers.

Originality/value

This paper has brought out a distinct distribution pattern of online review between Amazon and Flipkart. Amazon allows a higher degree of negative contents, whereas Flipkart allows more number of positive reviews.

Details

Vilakshan - XIMB Journal of Management, vol. 18 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0973-1954

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 2024

Paulo Ribeiro, Ricardo F. Ramos and Sérgio Moro

This study aims to identify the impact of restaurant pandemic mitigation measures on perceived service quality.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to identify the impact of restaurant pandemic mitigation measures on perceived service quality.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 15,251 reviews were collected from 300 TripAdvisor Lisbon restaurant Web pages between March 2020 and December 2021, when Covid-19 contingency measures were in place. Grounded on the online reviews, a word frequency matrix was created and used as input on partial least squares–structural equation modeling to test the proposed hypotheses.

Findings

The results suggest that precaution measures, such as the Vaccination Certificate, negative tests and restaurant layout configuration, positively influenced perceived service quality and consumer satisfaction, moderated by consumers’ beliefs.

Originality/value

This study provides relevant information for restaurant managers, which will help them implement strategies to guarantee service quality, consumer satisfaction and revisit intentions in future pandemic scenarios.

Details

Consumer Behavior in Tourism and Hospitality, vol. 19 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2752-6666

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 August 2021

David Morrison and Jerome Carson

The purpose of this paper is to provide a profile of Dave Morrison.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a profile of Dave Morrison.

Design/methodology/approach

In this case study, Dave provides a short biography of his background and is then interviewed by Jerome.

Findings

Dave has had two careers. The first as a scaffolder. The second as a nursing assistant in mental health services. He has ended up bruised and battered in both.

Research limitations/implications

Every case study tells a different story. The effects of stress can be cumulative.

Practical implications

There are many accounts of how hospitalisation has traumatised service users. Yet, working in these services can also be traumatic for the care staff.

Social implications

Professor Tony Butterworth used to say “Happy nurse equals happy patient”. If you look after staff needs, they will provide better care. Have we ever really looked after the needs of mental health-care staff?

Originality/value

Dave’s story is unique. As Nicola Adams says, “Fall down eight times, get up nine”. Dave has fallen down many more times than this. Eventually, it gets harder to get back up.

Details

Mental Health and Social Inclusion, vol. 26 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-8308

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 1987

Norman Gross

Let me start out by describing my relationship with International Harvester—so my biases will be clear. In 1972, I directed a review of the business planning procedures at…

Abstract

Let me start out by describing my relationship with International Harvester—so my biases will be clear. In 1972, I directed a review of the business planning procedures at International Harvester for Hay Associates. Perhaps the most important observation I made then was that for a good many years International Harvester had been and still was in the process of “liquidation.” That is, year after year the company earned a return lower than the cost of capital.

Details

Planning Review, vol. 15 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0094-064X

1 – 10 of 43