Research Framework

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to determine the underlying dimensions of supply chain management (SCM) practices and to empirically test a framework identifying the relationships among SCM practices, operational performance and SCM‐related organizational performance with special emphasis on small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) in Turkey.Design/methodology/approachData for the study were collected from a sample of 203 manufacturing SMEs operating in the manufacture of fabricated metal products and general purpose machinery (NACE codes 28 and 29) within the city of Istanbul in Turkey. The research framework was tested using partial least squares method, which is a variance‐based structural equation modeling approach.FindingsBased on exploratory factor analysis (EFA), SCM practices were grouped in two factors: outsourcing and multi‐suppliers (OMS), and strategic collaboration and lean practices (SCLP). The results indicate that both factors of SCLP and OMS have direct positive...

... This led to a larger nation-wide research project that aimed at identifying the next ... The purpose of this paper is to establish a research framework for the IMERAS project. ... Second intellectual resistance, this has to do with the employees not understanding the integration within the ...

ABSTRACT: This paper considers the problems, the properties, and the prospects of using ‘English as a lingua franca ’ as a construct and as a reality. It will therefore focus on what is meant by the term ‘lingua franca’, what is represented as a ‘lingua franca’, and what the debates are about English as a lingua franca. The point of departure is Kachru’s description of English as a lingua franca as ‘a communicative tool of immense power’. How this tool is used in the Outer Circle and elsewhere has been addressed elsewhere, but the discussion is an attempt to examine the issues in Singapore, where English has indeed become an international lingua franca as well as a national lingua franca for Singaporeans. The hope is that this paper will contribute to the ongoing dialog by asking questions rather than offering definitive answers to a very complex emergent phenomenon: the character and traits of English as a lingua franca in the 21st century and the sociolinguistic realities of its e...

Interest in all aspects of the politics, financing, planning, management and operation of mega sporting events has been highlighted both by success stories and ongoing problems associated with Olympic Games, Football World Cups and other similar events. There is a growing literature that addresses these and related matters through both case history and comparative analyses. Within the context of mega sporting events, the issue of employment creation is an important motivator for host cities and features high on the political justification agenda for bids to host events. At the same time, the most significant working contribution to major mega events in sports, as in other areas, is provided by the very large numbers of volunteers who undertake tasks across the range of opportunities afforded by such events. Numbers of volunteers between 40,000 and 60,000 have been noted for some recent major events. Relatively little is known about these volunteers at mega sporting events and yet th...

User involvement is a need-based motivational attitude toward information systems and their development. As such, it has important implications for the successful creation and deployment of information systems in organizations. This paper reports on the development and validation of an instrument to determine if the distinction between a user's involvement in the process of information system diffusion can be measured independently of that user's involvement with the information system innovation itself. Utilizing previously-validated instruments from consumer behavior research, these two object-based categories of user involvement were operationalized.A longitudinal field study was conducted of users in a large financial institution during the implementation phase, in particular the later activities of the adaptation stage, of the information system diffusion process. During adaptation, the information system product becomes available for use in the organization. Late adapt...

A fuel cell is an electrochemical engine that converts the chemical energy of a fuel, such as hydrogen, and an oxidant, such as oxygen, directly into electricity. The emerging fuel cell industry may represent a major opportunity for the global platinum mining industry. This is because low temperature fuel cell systems use platinum group metals as catalysts. Fuel cell vehicles

A fuel cell is an electrochemical engine that converts the chemical energy of a fuel, such as hydrogen, and an oxidant, such as oxygen, directly into electricity. The emerging fuel cell industry may represent a major opportunity for the global platinum mining industry. This is because low temperature fuel cell systems use platinum group metals as catalysts. Fuel cell vehicles

Using the research framework recommended by L. Rogler, R. Malgady, and D. Rodriguez (1989), the current paper examines the barriers to providing effective mental health services to Asian Americans. Beginning with the recognition that Asian Americans consists of numerous heterogeneous subgroups, the issue of the stereotype of Asian Americans as the "model minority" was also discussed. The primary focus of the paper is on Stages 2, 3, and 4 within the Rogler et al. (1989) model and the identification and discussion of cultural factors that hinder the delivery of mental health services to Asian Americans. The paper is therefore organized into these three sections: (a) help-seeking or mental health service utilization, (b) evaluation of mental health problems, and (c) psychotherapeutic services. In each of the sections, not only are the barriers to delivery of effective mental health services discussed but so are the research and methodological problems as well as some directi...

In this paper we propose a complete computational system for Auditory Scene Analysis. This time-frequency system localizes, separates, and spatializes an arbitrary number of audio sources given only binaural signals. The localization is based on recent research frameworks, where interaural level and time differences are combined to derive a confident direction of arrival (azimuth) at each frequency bin. Here, the

As the number of open source software (OSS) projects in healthcare grows rapidly, researchers are faced with the challenge of understanding and explaining the success of the open source phenomenon. This article proposes a research framework that examines the roles of project sponsorship, license type, development status and technological complements in the success of open source health information technology (HIT) projects and it develops a systematic method for classifying projects based on their success potential. Drawing from economic theory, a novel proposition in the authors’ framework suggests that higher project-license restrictiveness will increase OSS adoption, because organizations will be more confident that the OSS project will remain open source in the future. Applying the framework to a sample of open source software projects in healthcare, the authors find that although project sponsorship and license restrictiveness influence project metrics, they are not significant...

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of relationship marketing on customer loyalty in banking sector in the case of Dashen Bank SC. The study considered five construct dimensions of relationship marketing such as, Trust, Commitment, Communication, Conflict handling and competence, to measure the customer loyalty of Dashen Bank SC. The researcher used both qualitative and quantitative research design, where much emphasis has been given for the latter. Among the various quantitative methods, the researcher used explanatory study, where emphasis is given on studying a situation or a problem in order to explain the relationship between variables.15 (Fifteen) representative Area Banks was selected out of the total population based on judgmental (purposive) sampling technique and customer of the Bank are selected based on convenient random sampling technique. 250 customers were selected based on statistical formula developed by Danie (1999). The data collection instruments w...

What are the fundamental features that characterize a research framework in mathematics education? What types of questions are important to ask in order to contrast and evaluate the potential associated with different frameworks? What vision of mathematics is endorsed or appears as important in particular perspectives? What types of tasks are used to promote learning within those perspectives? What instructional environments favor students learning under those frameworks? These questions were used as a guide to examine three important conceptual frameworks widely used in research and practice in mathematics education: Problem-solving, representations and visualization, and models-modeling perspectives.

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a brief introduction to the concept of open data politics and its key terms, which are actively used in other parts of the book, especially in understanding its fundamental elements such as phenomena of open data, open data platforms, open data-driven projects, open government, e-government, and e-participation, as well as its key political and socioeconomic values such as transparency of government, civic engagement, public–private partnership, public sector innovations, and digital democracy. Another goal of the chapter is to develop a conceptual framework for the empirical analysis. The framework is built in accordance with key research questions and analytical approaches that shape conceptually the methodology of the case study investigation hereinafter. In particular, the author explains why these topics are important and relevant as part of the current research on open data to propose new policy agendas in academic and professional literature. Also, he tries to justify the use of descriptive analysis to address the chosen research questions, especially in understanding different institutional stakeholders, their perspectives on open data policies, and operation of related networking platforms at different institutional levels of government.

By analyzing bidders' behaviors, the author proposed a new model which is based on the Bagging arithmetic and decision tree for predicting final prices of online auctions. The author collected 3310 transaction data and corresponding 8275 bids from Taobao. Data analysis shows that the final prices of 40.4% transactions can be calculated by using the times of bids. Instead of

This paper explores research issues and methods for experimentally assessing the effectiveness of interactive and dynamic geographic visualization displays for knowledge discovery and knowledge construction. Based on a research framework from cognitive science, and utilizing the eye- movement data collection approach, a series of controlled animation experiments are proposed. These empirical studies adhere to experimental design standards in cognitive psychology,

The study of accounting in its environmental contexts requires an understanding of accounting beyond its technical and numerical aspects. To obtain social, cultural and political legitimacy, organizations tend to adopt formal structures and practices � including accounting � that have been widely accepted by society as social norms and values without necessarily using them in actual practices. Seen from this

In 2003 the UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) agreed to fund a research network – Rethinking Project Management – to define a research agenda aimed at enriching and extending the subject of project management beyond its current ...

Collaborative learning is well suited to online learning environments built around threaded discussion. Research frameworks have developed around these practices providing methodological guidance for examining learning as a collective endeavor within the boundaries of a course. Understanding how to use the powerful learning techniques involved in collaborative learning in an online context is imperative. In this article, the focus is based on the importance of collaboration in online instructions. The major concerns are centering on the following questions: What is Collaboration? Why choose collaboration as a strategy? What collaboration tools are commonly used online? This paper will also examine the techniques used to facilitate good collaboration and the proper implementation of collaborative online discussions.

Understanding the socio-economic and environmental implications of rural change requires the active participation of many research disciplines and stakeholders. However, it remains unclear how to best integrate participatory and biophysical research to provide information useful to land managers and policy makers.This paper presents findings of a RELU scoping study that has formulated and applied a research framework based on stakeholder participation and adaptive learning to model rural change in the Peak District National Park in the north of England. The paper describes a learning process that integrates different types of knowledge to produce future scenarios that describe possible economic and environmental changes due to a national review of burning practices on heather moorland and blanket bogs. We stress the need for using social network analysis to structure stakeholder engagement and outline how a range of participatory approaches can facilitate more inclusive environmenta...

This paper has several aims. First, it is a propaedeutic paper concerned with thinking and understanding the critical accounting literature. Secondly, it examines some inner contradictions in philosophical assumptions, the problematic 'knowledge claim' and diversities of perspectives that have been advanced in the critical accounting literature. Thirdly, a prescriptive understanding of the nature of organisational 'culture' and its transition processes in order to focus on the necessity of perspective choices is advanced. Fourthly, it is argued that the concepts of 'organisational change' and 'change in a (pedagogic) discipline' are not parallel. This view ultimately leads us to argue, from a 'research student perspective', that it is not possible to start a major research study in a vacuum: it is necessary to examine the history of existing thought and theories of a discipline in order to focus on a research interest and as well as determine ...