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1 – 10 of 320Varsha Shirwalkar, T.A. Dwarakanath and Gaurav Bhutani
The purpose of this paper is to conduct a reliable remote manipulation with good contact perception of the remote site. The long-term experience of the authors’ repeatedly confirm…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to conduct a reliable remote manipulation with good contact perception of the remote site. The long-term experience of the authors’ repeatedly confirm that the highest relevance lies in monitoring the wrench acting at a structurally weak point of the work piece rather than monitoring the wrench experienced by the robot end-effector.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach followed here is to sense the wrench at the interface of the robot end-effector and the environment. Position and orientation data and environment model are used to arrive at the contact point in real time. The intent of remote contact procedure is understood based on the knowledge of motion trajectory. All the above information is used to develop a wrench transformation to obtain the force diagrams.
Findings
The haptic solutions greatly suffer from objectivity, and therefore may result in inconsistency in an operator’s role. Intermediary telepresence through the visual communication of the wrench at the remote site in the form of force diagram provides excellent consistency across the operators and operations. Observing six components of the wrench in separate graphs does not provide on-line error estimate. Force diagrams suggested in the paper are found to be highly effective in perceiving the wrench.
Practical implications
The contact mode operations like assembly, surgery, docking, etc. still suffer due to the lack of easily perceivable wrench visualization. This paper provides solution to such practical issues.
Originality/value
The concept is original, and has evolved steadily over a period of time.
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Dima Jamali, Hanin Abdallah and Soha Hmaidan
The purpose of this paper is to examine the understanding and practice of diversity management in a Middle Eastern context, based on interviews with two sets of stakeholders…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the understanding and practice of diversity management in a Middle Eastern context, based on interviews with two sets of stakeholders (Lebanese women managers and HR managers) directly concerned and involved with diversity management efforts in the Lebanese context.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper adopts an integrative multi‐level research design and an interpretive research methodology, capitalizing on in‐depth interviews with eight HR managers and 18 women managers to explore their perceptions and interpretations of diversity management in the Lebanese context.
Findings
The findings presented in this paper clearly illustrate the relevance of micro, meso, and macro level factors in diversity management research and the need to accord attention to cultural differences and peculiarities of national contexts.
Originality/value
The paper offers a critical perspective on diversity management in an unusual context. It makes unequivocally clear that the goals for alleviating specific sources of discrimination need to be locally articulated/defined. Furthermore, the paper questions the laissez faire management approach to diversity and warns against a tendency to ignore serious gender related issues at work as more women enter the workforce in the Middle East.
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The purpose of this paper is to offer scholars an analytical framework to identify what the fundamental choices are in the definition of diversity (the what), in the motivation…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to offer scholars an analytical framework to identify what the fundamental choices are in the definition of diversity (the what), in the motivation for diversity within organisations (the why), and in diversity policy as an organisational strategy (the how). It also hopes to stimulate diversity professionals to reflect upon the underlying assumptions of their policies and, if needed, provide inspiration as to how to align them towards a more coherent approach.
Design/methodology/approach
Academic contributions from political, social and management theory on diversity and diversity policy are analyzed on their conceptual coherence to identify important research gaps and construct an analytical framework that can serve to fill these gaps.
Findings
Although increasing societal diversity challenges many organisations to change and facilitate diversity within their structures, defining diversity and diversity policy is an uncommon habit both in the professional practice and in academic studies, while this definition influences the scope and validity of research results and can have a considerable impact on the practical consequences of diversity initiatives. The few studies in this field tend to be quantitative and jump to explanations for differences. The proposed analytical framework contains fundamental choices in the definition of diversity (the selection, interpretation, and categorization of modes of differentiation), the motivation for diversity within organisations (the desired base of difference is individual or collective, and arguments are moral or practical), and the diversity policy approach (the intensity is high or low, and the relevance of collective difference is high or low).
Originality/value
A theoretical exploration of the concept of diversity and diversity policy draws on sources from three distinct disciplines that have not been combined in such a way before, resulting in a new analytical framework that facilitates theory building and policy learning on the topic.
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THERE have been various suggestions that the return of man from his trips of exploration into space may best be effected by glider. The design of such an unusual form of aircraft…
Abstract
THERE have been various suggestions that the return of man from his trips of exploration into space may best be effected by glider. The design of such an unusual form of aircraft will present many unusual and difficult problems, and here we shall merely be content to remark upon those which fall into the category of stability and control.
Benjamin Abrams, Sebastian Büttner and Amanda Machin
On 23 June 2016, 51.9% of those who voted in the UK referendum on membership of the European Union (EU) opted to leave. The impact of this result upon both British and European…
Abstract
On 23 June 2016, 51.9% of those who voted in the UK referendum on membership of the European Union (EU) opted to leave. The impact of this result upon both British and European politics has been profoundly disruptive and divisive. It not only marks a ‘seismic moment in post-war British politics’ (McGowan, 2018, p. 4) but has also disrupted expectations for the European project; no Member State had previously left the Union. Political institutions have been thrown into disarray, many citizens remain in a situation of existential uncertainty, and the political realm is cleaving. What has come to be known as ‘Brexit’ seemingly marks a crisis; a tear or a wrench in the very fabric of European politics, or perhaps a knot in which different socio-political tendencies have become entangled. In this chapter, the authors are interested not so much in diagnosing the factors that led to Brexit as they are the different interpretations that the ‘Brexit crisis’ is now being given. The authors map out five readings of ‘the Brexit crisis’ and contend that any attempt to grasp the meaning of Brexit demands drawing on all of them.
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This chapter focuses on the diversity management concept which emerged in the United States at the end of the 1980s. As a strategic tool for effective use of the diverse…
Abstract
This chapter focuses on the diversity management concept which emerged in the United States at the end of the 1980s. As a strategic tool for effective use of the diverse workforce, the concept started to diffuse globally in recent years. However, there are concerns about the transferability of diversity management as a readymade practice. From this point of view, this chapter questions the universality of diversity management by providing evidence from the Turkish context. Findings reveal that due to cross-national differences and the local sensitivities, diversity management is subject to customization in the different contexts. In a sense, the local context reconstructs the content of the practice. On this basis, the chapter demonstrates the need for a context-specific diversity management approach.
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The purpose of this paper is to introduce an interpretive approach to examining the relation between information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the good life, based on…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce an interpretive approach to examining the relation between information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the good life, based on Michael Walzer's view of (connected) social criticism.
Design/methodology/approach
Through a discussion of Michael Walzer's view of social criticism, an interpretive approach to normative analysis of ICTs and the good life is introduced. The paper also offers an additional argument for the indispensability of prudential appraisals of ICTs in normative analysis of ICTs and the good life, which in turn strengthens the basis for the Walzerian approach proposed in the paper.
Findings
It is argued that an interpretive approach to normative analysis of ICTs and the good life, i.e. the Walzerian approach, is as viable as – if not superior to – a theory‐driven approach. It is also argued that actual appraisals of ICTs and the good life must be taken into account in the normative analysis.
Originality/value
It is only recently that “the good life” has become more visible in normative analysis of ICTs. This paper continues this relatively new line of research and proposes an alternative approach – as opposed to a theory‐driven approach – to this research programme.
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The purpose of this paper is to discuss the ways in which Derridean deconstruction can be used for image research.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the ways in which Derridean deconstruction can be used for image research.
Design/methodology/approach
Derridean concepts, mainly located in literary criticism, are adapted to image research.
Findings
The paper presents four concepts of visual deconstruction: logocentric vision; close reading images; seeing the Other; and problematising not solutionising the image.
Research limitations/implications
Many more aspects of Derridean deconstruction can be related to the economy of the image.
Originality/value
Little work to date in management studies has considered how Derridean deconstruction can be used to investigate images.
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