Search results

There has been an increased interest in the use of semantic description and matching techniques, to support service discovery and to overcome the limitations in the traditional syntactic approaches. However, the existing semantic matching approaches lack certain desirable properties that must be present in an effective solution to support service discovery. The purpose of this paper is to present a solution to facilitate the effective semantic matching of resource requests and advertisements in pervasive environments.

The paper presents a semantic description and matching approach to facilitate resource discovery in pervasive environments; the approach includes a ranking mechanism that orders services according to their suitability and also considers priorities placed on individual requirements in a request.

The solution has been evaluated for its effectiveness and the results have shown that the matcher results agree reasonably well with human judgement. The solution was also evaluated for its efficiency/scalability and from the experimental results obtained, it can be observed that for most practical situations, matching time can be considered acceptable for reasonable numbers of advertisements and request sizes.

The proposed approach improves existing semantic matching solutions in several key aspects. Specifically; it presents an effective approximate matching and ranking criterion and incorporates priority consideration in the matching process. As shown in the evaluation experiments, these features significantly improve the effectiveness of semantic matching.

Examines the potential of predictive models in the product testing stage of new product development. Draws on experience gained from a series of interviews with senior managers in the marketing departments of advertising and market research agencies and manufacturers of fast‐moving goods in the confectionery industry. Aims to give insight into the practical problems and acceptability of such models. Identifies alternatives to the models by examining problems in new product development. Reveals that no standard approaches are common in the confectionery industry especially and suggests that evidence militates against the use of models in the product testing stage of new product development.

A growing body of research outlines how to best facilitate and ensure methodological rigor when using dictionary-based computerized text analyses (DBCTA) in organizational research. However, these best practices are currently scattered across several methodological and empirical manuscripts, making it difficult for scholars new to the technique to implement DBCTA in their own research. To better equip researchers looking to leverage this technique, this methodological report consolidates current best practices for applying DBCTA into a single, practical guide. In doing so, we provide direction regarding how to make key design decisions and identify valuable resources to help researchers from the beginning of the research process through final publication. Consequently, we advance DBCTA methods research by providing a one-stop reference for novices and experts alike concerning current best practices and available resources.

The last two decades have been difficult times for trade unions, faced with declining membership, adverse public opinion and erosion of their powers through restrictive government legislation. Economic restructuring and the decline of heavy industry have deprived the union movement of its firmest traditional basis of support, while the most dominant growth area of the economy, private services, is resistant to union organization. In the face of this hostile economic and political climate, most unions have acknowledged the need to reconsider and reform their existing structures, policies and practices. Options available may include developing a more professionalised approach, offering members a range of financial and technical services calculated to appeal to their individual needs. Alternatively unions may seek to retain their traditional collectivist stance, attempting to find ways to get their members more involved in active campaigning. Both these approaches, however, would involve a recognition of the need to cater more effectively for members' needs, especially those members who often have been marginalized in the past; in the words of the General Secretary of the TGWU, unions must now cater for “the problems and aspirations of temporary and part‐time workers, young people and members of ethnic minorities who have, quite frankly, been neglected in the past.” (quoted Payne, 1989).

This study presents evidence concerning the effects of affective and cognitive rhetoric on the underpricing of firms at the time of their initial public offering. It is suggested that firms that use less affective, and more cognitively oriented discourse in their IPO prospectus will experience better underpricing outcomes. We examine these assertions using a sample of young high-tech IPO firms where investors rely on prospectuses as accurate and informative firm communications. Results from a robust five-year time span observe initial support for the hypothesized effects. Moreover, the signaling of a higher degree of entrepreneurial orientation in the firm prospectus is found to worsen the negative effects of affective discourse

Based on a model of employee personal gender self-categorization, we examine the relationships between prejudicial attitudes and experiences of aggression in a male-dominated workplace. Data collected from 603 employees in a male-dominated global workplace revealed that individuals who self-categorize as either males or females experience differential powerful emotions. Additionally, we found that the more anger experienced by employees who self-categorize either as males or females, the stronger their female prejudicial attitudes. In contrast, we found that contempt was negatively associated with female prejudicial attitudes; that is, the more contempt experienced by employees who self-categorize either as males or females, the weaker their female prejudicial attitudes.

The purpose of this paper is to explore a number of issues pertaining to the conceptualisation, operationalisation, feasibility and effectiveness of workplace partnership arrangements in a non‐unionised setting.

The paper discusses the most common definitions of partnership to discern whether scope exists for non‐unionised forms. It then presents a detailed case study, based on 38 semi‐structured interviews with 29 interviewees, inside a non‐unionised company to analyse whether its people management arrangements conform with the definitions presented, and to examine the employees’ experience of those arrangements.

The paper notes that most partnership definitions can accommodate non‐unionised forms, if the arrangements for people management inside such firms meet certain standards on employee voice mechanisms and the exchange of mutual gains. The evidence from the case study suggests that its unusual policies and practices do conform with a viable model of non‐unionised partnership – albeit with some reservations. The benefits and concerns are discussed in the paper.

The paper presents a credible definition and observable operationalisation of partnership for researchers to adopt. It encourages future research on the extent to which so‐called “partnership” organisations, including non‐union enterprises, comply and suggests comparative research between paired unionised and non‐unionised cases. However, it is limited to one case study.

The paper's primary value is in its extension of the partnership debate beyond its current “union‐only ghetto” into examining non‐unionised forms, as well. The case study is also unique in the literature as an example of non‐unionised partnership.

The purpose of this paper is to confirm predictions that employee reports of psychological climate, appraisals of change and levels of adjustment during a change programme would be more positive for employees in higher status groups (operationalized as hierarchical level in the organization and occupational role).

Two questionnaire studies were conducted and data were analysed using Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA). Study one examined differences among 669 public sector employees as a function of status (organizational hierarchal level). Study two examined differences among 732 hospital employees as a function of role (occupational group) and status (managerial responsibility).

The results of study one revealed that upper level staff reported more positive attitudes during change, across a range of indicators. The results of study two showed that non‐clinical staff reported more negative attitudes during change than other occupational groups. In addition, managers appraised change as more stressful than non‐managers, but felt more in control of the situation.

A limitation of the paper is the cross sectional and self‐report nature of measurement. Future research could utilize a longitudinal design and collect alternative sources of data to indicate the constructs of interest, e.g. supervisor ratings of employee adjustment during change.

Together, the results of both studies highlighted the importance of implementing change management interventions that are targeted at the sub‐group level.

The findings of the paper add empirical evidence to the emerging literature on group differences in adjustment during organizational change. The paper will be of interest to academics and practicing managers, particularly those concerned with the effective management of change programmes.

The Ba River catchment and delta on the island of Viti Levu, Fiji, supports a wealth of livelihoods and is populated by diverse communities who are living with an increased frequency and intensity of hydro-meteorological hazards (floods, cyclones and droughts). Participatory mapping as part of focus group discussions is a tool that can be used to elucidate communities’ understanding of the differing impacts of multiple hazards, as well as the strategies used to prepare and respond to different hazards. In this chapter, the authors present the results of qualitative research undertaken with members of three communities along the Ba River, from the Nausori highlands to the coastal mangroves, with a particular focus on recent floods (2009, 2012) and Tropical Cyclone Winston (2016). The communities draw on a wide range of livelihood strategies from fishing and agriculture to tourism and outside work. Natural hazard events vary in their impact on these livelihood strategies across the landscape and seascape, so that community members can adjust their activities accordingly. The temporal ‘signatures’ of ongoing impacts are also variable across communities and resources. The results suggest that taking a broad, landscape (and seascape) approach to understanding how communities draw livelihoods is valuable in informing effective and inclusive adaptation strategies for environmental change. Furthermore, documenting how the landscape is used in a mapped output may be a valuable tool for future social impact assessment for resource extraction activities.