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Article
Publication date: 4 November 2014

Sara J. Wilkinson

The purpose of this study was to investigated the importance of environmental attributes for office building adaptation and whether the importance of environmental attributes for…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to investigated the importance of environmental attributes for office building adaptation and whether the importance of environmental attributes for adaptation has changed over time from 1998-2008 to 2009-2011. With 1-2 per cent added to the total stock of buildings each year and the need to take action to mitigate the impacts of predicted climate change (IPCC, 2013), it is necessary to focus efforts on adaptation of existing buildings.

Design/methodology/approach

This research adopted a quantitative approach, using a database of office building attributes and applying principal component analysis to ascertain the respective importance of various building attributes in adaptation. Using two databases; the first dating from 1998 to 2008 and comprising 5,290 adaptation events and the second covering the period 2009 to 2011 and comprising 1,272 adaptation events, a comparison of results was undertaken.

Findings

The findings indicate the importance of some environmental attributes in building adaptation has changed and that legislation and changes market perceptions towards to promote built environment sustainability may be having a positive impact. The research demonstrates that different property attributes vary in importance over time and used existing buildings in an international city to confirm application to urban settlements elsewhere where existing buildings can be adapted to reduce the effect of climate change.

Research limitations/implications

The databases are limited to Melbourne, Australia and to these specific points in time. It is possible that other cities are seeing changes in adaptation practices to accommodate increased awareness and the growing importance attributed to environmental issues; however, additional studies would be required to ascertain whether the level of importance was stronger or weaker than that found in Melbourne.

Practical implications

The impacts of the mandatory The National Australian Built Environment Rating System energy rating tool and the Green Star voluntary tool provide actionable data for property stakeholders and the academic community. Policy-makers can see that building owners are integrating environmental attributes into their stock and that the market is shifting towards increased sustainability. This study uses real world data to feed the scholarship process, with real economic and commercial impacts. New buildings account for about 1-2 per cent of the total building stock annually and existing buildings must be adapted, and thus the questions of the success of voluntary or mandatory measures are essential to future environmental decision-making.

Originality/value

This research reports on data covering all office building adaptation conducted from 1998 to 2011 in the Melbourne CBD. As such, it is a comprehensive analysis of all works undertaken and how the significance of different physical, social, economic and environmental attributes is changing over time.

Details

Journal of Corporate Real Estate, vol. 16 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-001X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 February 2015

Narjes Ahmadian, Alireza Khosravi and Pouria Sarhadi

The purpose of this paper is to design a stable controller such that the control input is applied to the delta-wing aircraft in order to adjust the roll dynamics. The controller…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to design a stable controller such that the control input is applied to the delta-wing aircraft in order to adjust the roll dynamics. The controller must provide a desired tracking performance with minimum tracking error.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, the second level adaptation (SLA) strategy is applied to control a delta-wing aircraft using multiple models. The implemented control structure is compared with the first level adaptation (FLA) and model reference adaptive control (MRAC) techniques.

Findings

SLA architecture not only copes with a wide uncertainty domain caused by aerodynamic effects, but also its rapid and accurate convergence is one of its most important features. Furthermore, this strategy makes a smoother control signal with respect to FLA and MRAC even at the same initial times. It should be also noted that SLA using three models, copes with uncertainty that may occur to the aircraft at high Angle Of Attacks (AOAs) at the entire flight envelope.

Originality/value

In this paper for the first time the application of this strategy is used to identify and control a delta-wing aircraft. Furthermore a systematic block diagram approach is proposed for the design.

Details

International Journal of Intelligent Unmanned Systems, vol. 3 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-6427

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 June 2019

Marcelo Martins de Sá, Priscila Laczynski de Souza Miguel, Renata Peregrino de Brito and Susana Carla Farias Pereira

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how resilience at different nodes in the supply chain influences overall supply chain resilience (SCRES) during an extreme weather…

3793

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how resilience at different nodes in the supply chain influences overall supply chain resilience (SCRES) during an extreme weather event.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on 41 in-depth interviews, this qualitative study examines two Brazilian agri-food supply chains (AFSC). The interviews explored the impacts, preparedness, response and adaptation strategies adopted by farmers, processors and manufacturers during Brazil’s extreme drought of 2014–2015.

Findings

SCRES does not depend on all organizations in the supply chain but rather on the company able to reconfigure the resources to control for the disruption. In a supply chain with low interdependence among players, individual firm resilience elements might be preferable to interorganizational ones.

Research limitations/implications

This study is based on the context of AFSCs with low interdependence among players and during the experience of a climatic event. The results might not be generalizable to other sectors and phenomena.

Practical implications

Firms must evaluate their positions in supply chains and their interfirm relationships to determine which resilience strategy to invest in and rely on. Moreover, to leverage resilience at the supply chain level, firms must intensify information sharing and improve proactive resilience strategies upstream as well as downstream in the supply chain.

Originality/value

This study presents a broader perspective of resilience by comparing resilience elements at both the node and supply chain levels and by discussing their interactions and trade-offs.

Details

International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. 40 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3577

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 9 April 2021

Jeanette Kirk, Thomas Bandholm, Ove Andersen, Rasmus Skov Husted, Tine Tjørnhøj-Thomsen, Per Nilsen and Mette Merete Pedersen

The aim of this study is to explore and discuss key challenges associated with having stakeholders take part in co-designing a health care intervention to increase mobility in…

2700

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study is to explore and discuss key challenges associated with having stakeholders take part in co-designing a health care intervention to increase mobility in older medical patients admitted to two medical departments at two hospitals in Denmark.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used a qualitative design to investigate the challenges of co-designing an intervention in five workshops involving health professionals, patients and relatives. “Challenges” are understood as “situations of being faced with something that needs great mental or physical effort in order to be done successfully and therefore tests a person's ability” (Cambridge Dictionary). Thematic content analysis was conducted with a background in the analytical question: “What key challenges arise in the material in relation to the co-design process?”.

Findings

Two key challenges were identified: engagement and facilitation. These consisted of five sub-themes: recruiting patients and relatives, involving physicians, adjusting to a new researcher role, utilizing contextual knowledge and handling ethical dilemmas.

Research limitations/implications

The population of patients and relatives participating in the workshops was small, which likely affected the co-design process.

Practical implications

Researchers who want to use co-design must be prepared for the extra time required and the need for skills concerning engagement, communication, facilitation, negotiation and resolution of conflict. Time is also required for ethical discussions and considerations concerning different types of knowledge creation.

Originality/value

Engaging stakeholders in co-design processes is increasingly encouraged. This study documents the key challenges in such processes and reports practical implications.

Details

Journal of Health Organization and Management, vol. 35 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7266

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 16 August 2014

Anne-Maria Holma

This study provides a comprehensive framework of adaptation in triadic business relationship settings in the service sector. The framework is based on the industrial network…

Abstract

This study provides a comprehensive framework of adaptation in triadic business relationship settings in the service sector. The framework is based on the industrial network approach (see, e.g., Axelsson & Easton, 1992; Håkansson & Snehota, 1995a). The study describes how adaptations initiate, how they progress, and what the outcomes of these adaptations are. Furthermore, the framework takes into account how adaptations spread in triadic relationship settings. The empirical context is corporate travel management, which is a chain of activities where an industrial enterprise, and its preferred travel agency and service supplier partners combine their resources. The scientific philosophy, on which the knowledge creation is based, is realist ontology. Epistemologically, the study relies on constructionist processes and interpretation. Case studies with in-depth interviews are the main source of data.

Details

Deep Knowledge of B2B Relationships within and Across Borders
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-858-7

Keywords

Abstract

Purpose

Ubiquitous web applications (UWA) are a new type of web applications which are accessed in various contexts, i.e. through different devices, by users with various interests, at anytime from anyplace around the globe. For such full‐fledged, complex software systems, a methodologically sound engineering approach in terms of model‐driven engineering (MDE) is crucial. Several modeling approaches have already been proposed that capture the ubiquitous nature of web applications, each of them having different origins, pursuing different goals and providing a pantheon of concepts. This paper aims to give an in‐depth comparison of seven modeling approaches supporting the development of UWAs.

Design/methodology/approach

This methodology is conducted by applying a detailed set of evaluation criteria and by demonstrating its applicability on basis of an exemplary tourism web application. In particular, five commonly found ubiquitous scenarios are investigated, thus providing initial insight into the modeling concepts of each approach as well as to facilitate their comparability.

Findings

The results gained indicate that many modeling approaches lack a proper MDE foundation in terms of meta‐models and tool support. The proposed modeling mechanisms for ubiquity are often limited, since they neither cover all relevant context factors in an explicit, self‐contained, and extensible way, nor allow for a wide spectrum of extensible adaptation operations. The provided modeling concepts frequently do not allow dealing with all different parts of a web application in terms of its content, hypertext, and presentation levels as well as their structural and behavioral features. Finally, current modeling approaches do not reflect the crosscutting nature of ubiquity but rather intermingle context and adaptation issues with the core parts of a web application, thus hampering maintainability and extensibility.

Originality/value

Different from other surveys in the area of modeling web applications, this paper specifically considers modeling concepts for their ubiquitous nature, together with an investigation of available support for MDD in a comprehensive way, using a well‐defined as well as fine‐grained catalogue of more than 30 evaluation criteria.

Details

International Journal of Web Information Systems, vol. 4 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1744-0084

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 March 2017

Mustafa Ismail Mustafa Eid and Hani I. Abbas

The purpose of the study is to measure the impact of user adaptation of enterprise resources planning (ERP) post implementation through an appreciation of the benefits ERP…

2089

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to measure the impact of user adaptation of enterprise resources planning (ERP) post implementation through an appreciation of the benefits ERP provides to its users in Saudi Arabia (SA). The study will also measure the moderation effect of user experience with ERP on the relationship between user adaptation of ERP and user benefits from ERP.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a survey questionnaire study of 253 ERP users and tested the research model through the application of a hierarchical multiple regression analysis.

Findings

The findings show that user adaptation of ERP has a strong positive impact on ERP user benefits. In addition, it is found that the level of user experience with ERP has no significant moderation effect on the relationship between user adaptation of ERP and ERP user benefits.

Practical implications

The study findings suggest that functional management should develop appropriate strategies to effectively manage user adaptation of ERP. An equally important implication is for the ERP vendors to consider making their ERP systems as flexible and maintainable as possible by offering effective tools to easily accommodate changes in user requirements with minimum effort and cost.

Originality/value

This study provides insights into the inter-relationships between the motivation for improving user adaptation of ERP and gaining more benefits from ERP systems. It will also extend our understanding of the moderation effect of user experience with ERP on the relationship between user adaptation of ERP and ERP user benefits in developing countries.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 46 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 30 July 2018

Abstract

Details

Marketing Management in Turkey
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-558-0

Book part
Publication date: 8 April 2005

Ricardo Madureira

This paper illuminates the distinction between individual and organizational actors in business-to-business markets as well as the coexistence of formal and informal mechanisms of…

Abstract

This paper illuminates the distinction between individual and organizational actors in business-to-business markets as well as the coexistence of formal and informal mechanisms of coordination in multinational corporations. The main questions addressed include the following. (1) What factors influence the occurrence of personal contacts of foreign subsidiary managers in industrial multinational corporations? (2) How such personal contacts enable coordination in industrial markets and within multinational firms? The theoretical context of the paper is based on: (1) the interaction approach to industrial markets, (2) the network approach to industrial markets, and (3) the process approach to multinational management. The unit of analysis is the foreign subsidiary manager as the focal actor of a contact network. The paper is empirically focused on Portuguese sales subsidiaries of Finnish multinational corporations, which are managed by either a parent country national (Finnish), a host country national (Portuguese) or a third country national. The paper suggests eight scenarios of individual dependence and uncertainty, which are determined by individual, organizational, and/or market factors. Such scenarios are, in turn, thought to require personal contacts with specific functions. The paper suggests eight interpersonal roles of foreign subsidiary managers, by which the functions of their personal contacts enable inter-firm coordination in industrial markets. In addition, the paper suggests eight propositions on how the functions of their personal contacts enable centralization, formalization, socialization and horizontal communication in multinational corporations.

Details

Managing Product Innovation
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-311-2

Book part
Publication date: 26 August 2010

Sergio Biggemann

This paper reports the results of a three-year-long research on business relationships, relying on qualitative data gathered through multiple-case study research of four focal…

Abstract

This paper reports the results of a three-year-long research on business relationships, relying on qualitative data gathered through multiple-case study research of four focal companies operating in Australia. The industry settings are as follows: steel construction, vegetable oils trading, aluminum and steel can manufacture, and imaging solutions. The research analyzes two main aspects of relationships: structure and process. This paper deals with structure describing it by the most desired features of intercompany relationships for each focal company. The primary research data have been coded drawing on extant research into business relationships. The main outcome of this part of the research is a five construct model composed by trust, commitment, bonds, distance, and information sharing that accounts for all informants’ utterances about relationship structure.

Details

Organizational Culture, Business-to-Business Relationships, and Interfirm Networks
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-85724-306-5

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