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Book part
Publication date: 19 August 2021

Kristine M. Kuhn, Jeroen Meijerink and Anne Keegan

This work examines the intersection between traditional human resource management and the novel employment arrangements of the expanding gig economy. While there is a substantial…

Abstract

This work examines the intersection between traditional human resource management and the novel employment arrangements of the expanding gig economy. While there is a substantial multidisciplinary literature on the digital platform labor phenomenon, it has been largely centered on the experiences of gig workers. As digital labor platforms continue to grow and specialize, more managers, executives, and human resource practitioners will need to make decisions about whether and how to utilize gig workers. Here the authors explore and interrogate the unique features of human resource management (HRM) activities in the context of digital labor platforms. The authors discuss challenges and opportunities regarding (1) HRM in organizations that outsource labor needs to external labor platforms, (2) HRM functions within digital labor platform firms, and (3) HRM policies and practices for organizations that develop their own spin-off digital labor platform. To foster a more nuanced understanding of work in the gig economy, the authors identify common themes across these contexts, highlight knowledge gaps, offer recommendations for future research, and outline pathways for collecting empirical data on HRM in the gig economy.

Details

Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-430-5

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 August 2020

Swapnali Makdey, Rajendra Patrikar and Mohammad Farukh Hashmi

A “spin-diode” is the spintronics equivalent of an electrical diode: applying an external magnetic field greater than the limit of spin-diode BT flips the spin-diode between an…

Abstract

Purpose

A “spin-diode” is the spintronics equivalent of an electrical diode: applying an external magnetic field greater than the limit of spin-diode BT flips the spin-diode between an isolating state and a conducting state [1]. While conventional electrical diodes are two-terminal devices with electrical current between the two terminals modulated by an electrical field, these two-terminal magneto resistive devices can generally be referred to as “spin-diodes” in which a magnetic field modulates the electrical current between the two terminals.

Design/methodology/approach

Current modulation and rectification are an important subject of electronics as well as spintronics spin diode is two-terminal magnetoresistive devices in which change in resistance in response to an applied magnetic field; this magnetoresistance occurs due to a variety of phenomena and with varying magnitudes and directions.

Findings

In this paper, an efficient rectifying spin diode is introduced. The resulting spin diode is formed from graphene gallium and indium quantum dots and antimony-doped molybdenum disulfide. Converting an alternating bias voltage to direct current is the main achievement of this model device with an additional profit of rectified spin-current. The non-equilibrium density functional theory with a Monte Carlo sampling method is used to evaluate the flow of electrons and rectification ratio of the system.

Originality/value

The results indicate that spin diode displaying both spin-current and charge-current rectification should be possible and may find practical application in nanoscale devices that combine logic and memory functions.

Details

Circuit World, vol. 47 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0305-6120

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 June 2018

Phongsatorn Saisutjarit and Takaya Inamori

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the time optimal trajectory of the multi-tethered robot (MTR) on a large spinning net structures in microgravity environment.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the time optimal trajectory of the multi-tethered robot (MTR) on a large spinning net structures in microgravity environment.

Design/methodology/approach

The MTR is a small space robot that uses several tethers attached to the corner-fixed satellites of a spinning net platform. The transition of the MTR from a start point to any arbitrary designated points on the platform surface can be achieved by controlling the tethers’ length and tension simultaneously. Numerical analysis of trajectory optimization problem for the MTR is implemented using the pseudospectral (PS) method.

Findings

The globally time optimal trajectory for MTR on a free-end spinning net platform can be obtained through the PS method.

Research limitations/implications

The analysis in this paper is limited to a planar trajectory and the effects caused by attitude of the MTR will be neglected. To make the problem simple and to see the feasibility in the general case, in this paper, it is assumed there are no any limitations of mechanical hardware constraints such as the velocity limitation of the robot and tether length changing constraint, while only geometrical constraints are considered.

Practical implications

The optimal solution derived from numerical analysis can be used for a path planning, guidance and navigation control. This method can be used for more efficient on-orbit autonomous self-assembly system or extravehicular activities supports which using a tether-controlled robot.

Originality/value

This approach for a locomotion mechanism has the capability to solve problems of conventional crawling type robots on a loose net in microgravity.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 90 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 April 2022

Guangyuan Wu, Haitao Zhang, Qixin Ge, Junfeng Sun and Tengjiang Yu

In order to determine the range of medium temperature zone of road asphalt, it is hoped that the evolution of viscoelastic characteristics of road asphalt under medium temperature…

Abstract

Purpose

In order to determine the range of medium temperature zone of road asphalt, it is hoped that the evolution of viscoelastic characteristics of road asphalt under medium temperature state can be deeply explored.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, the needle penetration test and temperature scanning test were designed for 90# and 70# bitumen as test materials, and the boundary of medium temperature zone of 90# and 70# bitumen was accurately determined by data analysis method. A mathematical model was established based on principal component analysis, and a comprehensive evaluation index was proposed to evaluate the evolution of temperature viscoelastic characteristics of road asphalt by means of standardization and rotational dimensionality reduction.

Findings

The test results show that the medium temperature zone of 90# asphalt is [−5 ± 1°C, 38 ± 1°C], and the medium temperature zone of 70# asphalt is [0 ± 1°C, 51 ± 1°C]. According to the viscoelastic response of road asphalt in the medium temperature zone, the medium temperature zone can be divided into three evolution stages: weak viscoelastic stage, viscoelastic equilibrium stage, strong viscoelastic weak stage. Analysis based on the intrinsic viscosity fillip target describing the various intrinsic viscoelastic index represents the viscoelastic properties of bitumen from different angles, and limitations inherent stick fillip for target put forward the integrated the inherent stick fillip mark information, as well as targeted and accurate evaluation of road asphalt temperature comprehensive evaluation indexes in the evolution of the viscoelastic properties of IM-T. Finally, the temperature data of asphalt pavement in several representative regions of China are compared with the determined medium temperature region, and it is proved that the research on the evolution of viscoelastic characteristics of asphalt pavement under the medium temperature condition has important practical significance.

Originality/value

The boundary of medium temperature zone of 90# and 70# base asphalt was determined, and the viscoelastic characteristic evolution of road asphalt under medium temperature state was studied deeply. Aiming at the limitation of intrinsic viscoelastic index, a comprehensive evaluation index IM-T which not only integrates the information of intrinsic viscoelastic index but also can accurately evaluate the evolution of temperature viscoelastic characteristics in road asphalt is proposed.

Details

Multidiscipline Modeling in Materials and Structures, vol. 18 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1573-6105

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 16 September 2017

Kevin J. Boudreau

Rather than organize as traditional firms, many of today’s companies organize as platforms that sit at the nexus of multiple exchange and production relationships. This chapter…

Abstract

Rather than organize as traditional firms, many of today’s companies organize as platforms that sit at the nexus of multiple exchange and production relationships. This chapter considers a most basic question of organization in platform contexts: the choice of boundaries. Herein, I investigate how classical economic theories of firm boundaries apply to platform-based organization and empirically study how executives made boundary choices in response to changing market and technical challenges in the early mobile computing industry (the predecessor to today’s smartphones). Rather than a strict or unavoidable tradeoff between “openness-versus-control,” most successful platform owners chose their boundaries in a way to simultaneously open-up to outside developers while maintaining coordination across the entire system.

Details

Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Platforms
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78743-080-8

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 August 2009

Jiansheng Xiang, Antonio Munjiza, John‐Paul Latham and Romain Guises

As particulate systems evolve, sliding, rolling and collision contacts all produce forces that discrete element method (DEM) methods aim to predict. Verification of friction…

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Abstract

Purpose

As particulate systems evolve, sliding, rolling and collision contacts all produce forces that discrete element method (DEM) methods aim to predict. Verification of friction rarely takes high priority in validation studies even though friction plays a very important role in applications and in mathematical models for numerical simulation. The purpose of this paper is to address sliding friction in finite element method (FEM)/DEM and rolling friction in DEM.

Design/methodology/approach

Analytical solutions for “block sliding” were used to verify the authors' tangential contact force implementation of 2D FEM/DEM. Inspired by the kinetic art work Liquid Reflections by Liliane Lijn, which consists of free balls responding within a rotating shallow dish, DEM was used to simulate rolling, sliding and state‐of‐rest of spherical particles relative to horizontal and inclined, concave and flat spinning platforms. Various material properties, initial and boundary conditions are set which produce different trajectory regimes.

Findings

Simulation output is found to be in excellent agreement when compared with experimental results and analytical solutions.

Originality/value

The more widespread use of analytically solvable benchmark tests for DEM and FEM/DEM codes is recommended.

Details

Engineering Computations, vol. 26 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-4401

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Winning Through Platforms: How to Succeed When Every Competitor Has One
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80455-298-8

Article
Publication date: 5 November 2021

Raphael Lissillour and Jean-Michel Sahut

Technological firms increasingly depend on open innovation to compete in hypercompetitive markets. To openly engage the creativity of a multitude of private actors, firms can rely…

Abstract

Purpose

Technological firms increasingly depend on open innovation to compete in hypercompetitive markets. To openly engage the creativity of a multitude of private actors, firms can rely on crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing challenges global companies as they span organizational boundaries to attract multiple local partners. Global companies must engage in boundary spanning to successfully communicate and create a sense of community with smaller local partners despite status and cultural differences. The collaboration between Google and developers in China deserves to be studied in particular, because it operates within a restricted market.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper argues that crowdsourcing for innovation on a global scale requires effective boundary spanning capabilities. These boundary-spanning practices ensure smooth cooperation with the crowd and solve problems relating to differences in status and organizational contexts. This study applies Bourdieu's theory of practice including the concept of capital (economic, intellectual, social and symbolic) to understand the social relationships between Google and a growing community of Chinese developers. It also draws on a case study including ten semistructured interviews, which have been triangulated with internal documents and data from selected websites.

Findings

Four types of capital (symbolic, intellectual, social and economic) have been identified as important devices to understand the sources of power and the stakes of Googlers and developers in the joint field. These types of capital contribute to structure the social fields in which developers and Google cooperate and their practice. The success of the collaboration between Google and Chinese developers can arguably be attributed to Google's ability to create boundary-spanning activities in order to reduce the endowment differential in the four types of capital and improve their communication. Therefore, this research provides a deep and conceptualized description of boundary-spanning practices, as well as providing a useful contribution for managers involved in crowdsourcing via platform in culturally different markets.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitation of this study is methodological in nature, relating to the absence of interviews with board members of Google China who are reluctant to speak about Google activities in China for political raisons. This restriction is partly counterbalanced by the analysis of publicly available secondary data such as news and communications.

Practical implications

This research has generated practical recommendations for managers of organizations, which require optimal boundary spanning for crowdsourcing. Managers must understand the different sources of social boundaries between their organization and the crowd. The crowd should be segmented into smaller groups with distinctive identities, and organizations should systematically design boundary-spanning activities to address each boundary of each segment. The boundary-spanning activities involve a specific set of tools, programs and platforms to address the target group. Efficient boundary spanning depends on the necessity to select boundary spanners with high cultural intelligence and communication skills.

Social implications

This paper draws on Bourdieu's theory of practice to investigate the role of boundary spanning in crowdsourcing for innovation, specifically in the joint field between Google and Chinese developers. This research reveals how boundary objects such as developer documents, websites, programs and events are essential for developers to be able to participate on Google's platform. Companies should be prepared to invest in the design and delivery of boundary-spanning activities and objects, knowing that these are also a locus for negotiation with local partners.

Originality/value

This research contributes to the literature by applying the boundary-spanner theory to Google crowdsourcing practices within a restricted market. Bourdieu's theory of practice has proven to be a potent perspective with which to better understand the positive role of boundary spanners in the joint field between Google and Chinese developers. Moreover, this practice perspective has not been used in prior research to highlight power relations in crowdsourcing for innovation. This study has shown that, in addition to boundary objects, boundary spanners can also contribute in the transfer of intellectual capital, which is the pivotal resource for boundary spanning in this field.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 35 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 1964

IN covering British activities in the inertial guidance field, it is appropriate to include a brief picture of developments in the historical sense so that British achievements…

Abstract

IN covering British activities in the inertial guidance field, it is appropriate to include a brief picture of developments in the historical sense so that British achievements can be seen in perspective especially with regard to the state‐of‐the‐art in the United States. We will also deal with the application of inertial navigation systems to the civil field for, although at the moment every production inertial quality system in service is being operated in a military rôle, civil aviation is on the threshold of adopting inertial techniques.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 36 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0002-2667

Abstract

Details

Winning Through Platforms: How to Succeed When Every Competitor Has One
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80455-298-8

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