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The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a piece of research concerning the time management of Cypriot primary school principals. Time management refers to the interrelation of five independent variables: the various tasks principals perform, their frequency, the degree of accomplishment of those tasks, the use of time management techniques and time management style (from monochronic to polychronic).

Quantitative methods were used (questionnaire) together with qualitative methods (observation, interviews, collection of artifacts), in order to obtain richer, deeper data and view multiple angles of the same phenomenon.

The results of cluster analysis indicated three different time management profiles/types of principals: The Centralized Monochrons, the Procrastinative Managers and the Decentralized Polychrons. One basic conclusion is that the principals who adopt the practices of the Decentralized Polychrons manage better their time.

The three time management profiles of principals are described, analysed, and discussed in order to reach conclusions about the selection, training, and placement of school principals. Through the description of the everyday practice of Cypriot principals useful information concerning school leadership and management are also provided. Finally, the conclusions of this research may prove useful for principals, because they are provided with the opportunity to rethink and evaluate their own time management and effectiveness of their daily practices.

The creation and description of the three time management profiles is the main contribution of this piece of research, since there are not any time management types-profiles registered in the bibliography, which were produced with the use of scientific instruments and procedures.

How to depict conflict characteristics? Previous literature has overwhelmingly used intensity and frequency of conflict, resulting in an incomplete understanding of conflict itself and its impacts. To fill this knowledge gap, this paper aims to develop a comprehensive theoretical framework for conflict attributes.

Through a systematic and integrative literature review, this study has achieved the objectives by synthesizing the current state of knowledge on conflict and borrowing insights from event system theory.

A total of 16 conflict attributes were identified to constitute the event-oriented conceptualization of conflict, describing conflict from three dimensions – strength, time and space. Four promising areas for future conflict inquiry are proposed: linking the effectiveness of conflict to its attributes; exploring the interplay and configuration of multiple conflict attributes; progressing from variance- to process-oriented conflict theories; and developing symmetric/asymmetric views of conflict.

This paper conceptually clarifies conflict attributes from the event perspective and offers a nuanced understanding of conflict, which contributes to the current fragmented knowledge of conflict attributes. Scholars can build on this study’s findings to fill gaps and move conflict research forward. It also enhances researchers’ awareness of time and space and thus encourages more longitudinal exploration into the dynamics of conflict.

Semiconductor manufacturing is in the spotlight of the global manufacturing industries. Quality management is strategically and tactically important for gaining a competitive advantage. Since Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is one of the major suppliers of global semiconductor products, its quality management practice has a global impact. This research was conducted based on a proven measurement instrument for quality management practices including eight critical factors and 63 measuring items. Data were analyzed with respect to their reliability, mean rank, consistency, and correlation. Analysis results revealed insights into managers’ perception of quality management practices in the semiconductor industries.

The detection and prevention of authorised activities, by both external parties and internal personnel, is an important issue within IT systems. Traditional methods of user authentication and access control do not provide comprehensive protection and offer opportunities for compromise by various classes of abuser. A potential solution is provided in the form of intrusion detection systems, which are able to provide proactive monitoring of system activity and apply automatic responses in the event of suspected problems. This paper presents the principles of intrusion monitoring and then proceeds to describe the conceptual architecture of the Intrusion Monitoring System (IMS), an approach that is the focus of current research and development by the authors. The main functional elements of the IMS architecture are described, followed by thoughts regarding the practical implementation and the associated advantages (and potential disadvantages) that this would deliver. It is concluded that whilst an IMS‐type approach would not represent a total replacement for conventional controls, it would represent an effective means to complement the protection already provided.

While factors that influence test takers’ reactions to personality testing in selection contexts have been well researched, little empirical research evidence exists to determine whether these factors also apply to test takers’ reactions in the context of management development (MD). The purpose of this study is, therefore, to explore what explains different test takers’ reactions in the context of MD programs.

A qualitative longitudinal approach with three phases of data collection was used, resulting in participatory workshop observations and 11 semi-structured interviews with participants from two different contexts. Data were analyzed using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA).

The findings show that test takers’ reactions vary; some are more accepting, others are more neutral or rejecting, where perceived usefulness, clarity of purpose and perceived respectfulness are identified as distinguishing factors. Individuals also differ in terms of their awareness of assumptions and their perceived emotional safety, two emerging factors that are relevant in the MD context.

Data were collected during the MD workshops and three months after, but no records of immediate test takers’ reactions were included, which could be an addition for future research.

The findings of this study suggest that human resource development (HRD) professionals have significant impact on test takers’ reactions when it comes to encouraging self-reflection and learning along personality tests.

This study adds to existing research by offering insights into factors in MD settings where participants are concerned about aspects of fairness, learning and behavioral change.

As agent‐based systems are increasingly used to model real‐life applications such as the internet, electronic markets or disaster management scenarios, it is important to study the computational complexity of such usually combinatorial systems with respect to some desirable properties. The purpose of this paper is to consider two computational models: graphical games encoding the interactions between rational and selfish agents; and weighted directed acyclic graphs (DAG) for evaluating derivatives of numerical functions. The author studies the complexity of a certain number of search problems in both models.

The author's approach is essentially theoretical, studying the problem of verifying game‐theoretic properties for graphical games representing interactions between self‐motivated and rational agents, as well as the problem of searching for an optimal elimination ordering in a weighted DAG for evaluating derivatives of functions represented by computer programs.

A certain class of games has been identified for which Nash or Bayesian Nash equilibria can be verified in polynomial time; then, it has been shown that verifying a dominant strategy equilibrium is non‐deterministic polynomial (NP)‐complete even for normal form games. Finally, it has been shown that the optimal vertex elimination ordering for weighted DAGs is NP‐complete.

This paper presents a general framework for graphical games. The presented results are novel and illustrate how modeling real‐life scenarios involving intelligent agents can lead to computationally hard problems while showing interesting cases that are tractable.

This study seeks to present a simple assembly line design and its balance for a low‐volume manufacturing company.

The study presents experiences with the design and implementation of a simple assembly line. The implementation concerns three aspects; design and construction of the assembly line, the assembly analysis of the product, and then balancing of the line. It also discusses construction and implementation difficulties of this tactical tool in the case company.

The study presents some outcomes from the design, implementation, and balancing of an assembly line for SMEs.

The study is limited by the case company and its experience.

This study is not pure theoretical study, it has application stages for industry, and it provides some real interface for the people from SMEs.

The approach has an original value in respect of implementation of assembly line for a small manufacturing company which has many limitations.

A shift from collectivism to individualism in managing employees is identified in employment studies. Developments in Australia have reflected this change, accompanied by claimed organisation benefits. This paper examines an empirical data set to examine such claims on key dimensions in the employment relation. The analysis points to few differences in views between employees working under individual contracts and those not. Moreover the factors generating concern over individual and firm performance among employees differed little between the two groups. Traditional work factors underpinned attitudes for both. The differences that emerge from organisation size, union membership and gender appear to be inconsistent with the claims of individualism. The data point to the importance of general employee concerns – job satisfaction and perceived management style – in generating employee commitment and loyalty. The findings have implications for the nature of employee relations and management, which are discussed in light of their theoretical and practical ramifications.

Examines two temporal elements of organizational culture, polychronicity and speed values, and their effects on organizational performance. The study of these dimensions of culture and their effects on firm effectiveness is especially relevant for leaders who are responsible for the implementation of a firm’s culture as one of the firm’s strategic resources. The impacts of these temporal elements are examined individually and within the context of hypercompetitive industries.

This paper aims to presents Real-time Usage Mining (RUM), an approach that exploits the rich information provided by client logs to support the construction of adaptive Web applications. The main goal of RUM is to provide useful information about the behavior of users that are currently browsing a Web application. By consuming this information, the application is able to adapt its user interface in real-time to enhance the user experience. RUM provides two types of services as follows: support for the detection of struggling users; and user profiling based on the detection of behavior patterns.

RUM leverages the previous study on usability evaluation to provide a service that evaluates the usability of tasks performed by users while they browse applications. This evaluation is based on a metric that allows the detection of struggling users, making it possible to identify these users as soon as few logs from their interaction are processed. RUM also exploits log mining techniques to detect usage patterns, which are then associated with user profiles previously defined by the application specialist. After associating usage patterns to user profiles, RUM is able to classify users as they browse applications, allowing the application developer to tailor the user interface according to the users’ needs and preferences.

The proposed approach was exploited to improve user experience in real-world Web applications. Experiments showed that RUM was effective to provide support for struggling users to complete tasks. Moreover, it was also effective to detect usage patterns and associate them with user profiles.

Although the literature reports studies that explore client logs to support both the detection of struggling users and the user profiling based on usage patterns, no existing solutions provide support for detecting users from specific profiles or struggling users, in real-time, while they are browsing Web applications. RUM also provides a toolkit that allows the approach to be easily deployed in any Web application.