ALBERT

Notes: Purpose - This paper aims to show that information and evidence found in the XML-based environment of web services can allow web services providers to gain a sense of the trustworthiness of web services requestors over time. Design/methodology/approach - A literature review on trust in web services environment is provided. Trust management models, and an existing trust specification for web services are discussed. Next, a conceptual framework for web services trust formation is presented. Findings - The paper makes explicit types of information that can be used for trust formation. Web services providers are given the ability to trust requestors autonomously by making use of information that is published through web services standards, defined over and above a web services interface. The approach incorporates elements of social trust as it is concerned with more than cryptographic controls. It has mechanisms that allow a web services provider to manage trust autonomously, enabling different types of trust for different situations. Research limitations/implications - A conceptual framework for trust formation has been defined that identifies a proposal for trust calculation. The paper does not address the implementation of the framework, and calculation of trust over information categories. Practical implications - The paper identifies a practical approach to autonomous web services trust by making use of web services standards such as WS-Policy and WSMetadataExchange. Originality/value - This paper identifies a taxonomy of trust information that can be used to make explicit the requirements for web services trust.

Notes: Purpose - The primary purpose was to learn about different variables of an integrated strategy associated with choosing to supply through business-to-business (B2B) intermediaries and apply the variables to a series of cases. Design/methodology/approach - A literature review served as a basis to develop an integrated model. A combination of primary and secondary research was conducted to apply the concepts of the model to different internet trading exchanges. Findings - Each trade exchange offers a different set of customers and suppliers vying for business opportunities. There are no common platforms for software and hardware. If a small company is interested in trading through an internet exchange, they want to select based on the variables identified that best meet their needs and integrate with their business strategy. Research limitations/implications - The focus was on industrial products and may not be applicable to consumer products. Practical implications - Suppliers must carefully operate in the future by evaluating each customer and determining which trade exchanges will provide them with the greatest benefit at the lowest cost. The infrastructure investment is an unavoidable cost that cannot be forgone unless the supplier wants to discontinue providing to most of its customers. The supplier needs to look at all aspects identified in the integrated business model and the foundation and facilitation for success lie in the information management of the entire entity. Originality/value - This paper takes the existing body of knowledge and applies it to the development of an integrated e-business model for industrial suppliers used to compare different internet trading exchanges.

Notes: Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for enhancing security policy management in the Grid. Design/methodology/approach - The Grid security policy reconciliation problem is presented. A generic view on the security policy notion is adopted and the security policy ontology notion is introduced and used. Findings - In the course of this work it was found that, in order to enhance security policy management in the Grid, Grid entities should have the ability to negotiate their security policies. It was also found that, in order to achieve security policy negotiation, effective security policy semantics manipulation towards security policy reconciliation is needed. Finally, it was established, through the use of an example, that if appropriate means are used for security policy reconciliation then incompatible security policy representations can be transformed into compatible ones. Research limitations/implications - Research limitations stem from the adoption of a generic view on the security policy notion and the selection of identification and authentication security policies as the focal point of the proposed framework. Research implications include the possibility of examining how existing security policy reconciliation models can be incorporated in this generic framework. The possibility of investigating how such a framework can lead to a security policy knowledge management tool for Grid administrators is also demonstrated. Practical implications - Practical implications of this work include the establishment of a common framework for security information exchange between Grid entities. Originality/value - This paper proposes a framework for enhancing security policy management in the Grid. The proposed framework can be used by researchers as a reference and by security experts in order to reduce ambiguity concerning the interpretation of security policies expressed in different forms, by negotiating Grid entities.

Notes: Purpose - To carry out a practical experiment into the feasibility of service orientation to achieve a dynamic, late-binding service architecture. Design/methodology/approach - Literature view to provide a foundation in standards and measure anecdotal opinion regarding service orientation. The review informed an architectural design based on real world requirements from a multinational mobile telecommunications organisation moving toward portal-based services. The architectural implementation took place in a lab-based setting and tested with third-party services that were integrated into the architecture dynamically to test the late bound requirements of the infrastructure. The experimental approach also enabled the testing of the opinions formed regarding service orientation. Findings - The main outcome of the study related to the open, standards-based nature purported to be possible with service orientation. The findings on the study highlighted some major problems in interoperability and operational efficiency of service-oriented technologies when applied to a complex architecture framework. Research limitations/implications - Currently this represents the findings of a single study based on a specific set of requirements. In order to generalise, further study is needed and currently ongoing. Practical implications - The study has high implications for people wishing to approach service orientation as a means to integrate both new and legacy systems. The work raises a lot of questions about the supposed ease of integration. Originality/value - The work contributes to a growing body of work examining and evaluating the usefulness of service orientation.

Notes: Purpose - The construction industry is one of the largest employment providers in the developing world. It is also one of the least safe industries, with a high frequency of accidents resulting in financial losses, injuries, disabilities and deaths. Decent working conditions and resulting improved worker satisfaction are key to sustainable productivity in the industry. International standards safeguarding construction workers are abundant and ratified by most low-income countries. This paper aims to examine if these standards are adequately reflected in contracts for construction works; and if they not, how contract clauses can be improved and put into operation. Design/methodology/approach - Based on research undertaken in Ghana, India and Zambia from 2000 to 2003, this paper explores the aforementioned points. The paper comprises analysis of contract clauses from the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) and developing country contracts, along with case study findings. Findings - This paper finds that more legislation is not the urgent issue; incorporating existing legislation into construction contracts and making clauses operational is a priority. This paper identifies practical and cost-effective procedures for bringing stakeholders together to implement and monitor labour standards, with the aim of contributing to the overall goal of providing "decent work" for all workers in the construction industry. Originality/value - This paper explores issues around implementing labour standards in construction of minor infrastructure works in low income countries and concludes with suggestions on how best to put contract clauses into operation through a process approach.

Notes: Purpose - To present a model of innovative change in higher education based on research into the factors behind the performance of highly creative historical communities. Design/methodology/approach - The article diagnoses current pressures under which academia is laboring, explains the hothouse effect, and proposes solutions based on the hothouse effect model. Findings - The article proposes restructuring of discipline-based learning, developing new methods of strategic planning, adopting new assumptions about the social role of higher education, exploring modes of perception and cognition that are critical to education, and using digital technology to create learning communities and facilitate accelerated learning models. The model of organizational change emphasizes modest and numerous grass-roots initiatives as the most efficient generator of broad cultural change. Research limitations/implications - The aim is to stimulate pilot initiatives and broad dialog on the issues raised. The research points the way to further work in the dynamics of creativity, the nature of pedagogy, and the future role of the university. Practical implications - Numerous methods are presented for strengthening the relationship of faculty and administration, utilizing technology to create learning communities and transform pedagogy, stimulating faculty collaboration, and planning for the future. Originality/value - This paper provides many fresh and practical ideas useful at an individual, department, or institutional level. The goal is not a specific type of institution or mode of operation. Instead, it the model is flexible and adaptable to creative initiatives of any scope. Ultimately, this article can contribute to revitalizing the ongoing dialog about higher education's future.

Notes: Purpose - To ascertain how scholarship will be impacted by digital media. Design/methodology/approach - This paper breaks down the vocation of scholarship into subsidiary tasks. It examines how their relative importance has changed in the modern era. Finally, it looks at which tasks will be facilitated or complicated by digital media, particularly by the internet. Findings - The tasks of collecting and storing information have been made far faster and easier by digital media. Other tasks such as sorting, evaluating and assessing the implications of information have, however, become more difficult. In consequence, theory has become far more important. Research limitations/implications - The extrapolations in this paper are about broad trends, which may manifest themselves in a variety of ways. Practical implications - In the future, one can expect scholarship to deal less with uncovering new information. Instead, scholars will have to devote more time and effort to ascertaining why information is important. Scholars will be expected to articulate not only their methods but also their purposes. Originality/value - This paper provides useful information on how scholarship will be impacted by digital media.

Notes: Purpose - To provide a past, current and future perspective of transnational higher education for academics and managers engaged in this area of education provision, to heighten awareness of the current trends and issues involved. Design/methodology/approach - An Australian/Hong Kong case study and reference to current literature are used to highlight the main issues concerning this rapidly expanding phenomenon in the provision of higher education. Findings - Identifies and discusses the main issues for consideration when planning new transnational activities, including the need for strategic approaches and risk management. Research limitations/implications - The paper focuses on Australia and the Asian region, although material related to the UK and the USA is included in some sections. Whether a country is the provider or the receiver of transnational education, the issues raised will be relevant. Practical implications - This paper provides a very useful source of information for those currently involved in or planning to become involved in a transnational higher education activity. Originality/value - This paper is timely in that it addresses the recent proliferation of transnational higher education activities by considering the past and present, as well as providing discussion of potential future directions.

Notes: Purpose - To analyze the extent of, and the reasons for, institutional change in the private corporation. Design/methodology/approach - The paper identifies seven "new rules of corporate conduct" which, in total, represent a radical change in the social contract between society and the corporation. It then speculates about future changes in corporate purpose and governance. Findings - A central feature of the new corporate charter is that it is likely to entail a redefinition of the relationship between profit and corporate purpose. The purpose is service to society (i.e. serving social needs), while profit provides the means, motive and measure. Originality/value - This paper provides the basis and rationale for moving the corporation from "profit-as-purpose" to "service-as-purpose" as the organizing principle for its strategies, values and actions.

Notes: Purpose - To examine and discuss the central features of institutional change and to compare it with organizational change. Design/methodology/approach - Use interviews with managers to highlight key issues. Findings - Results are presented of interviews with managers exploring changes that have for decades been transforming business, government, and other institutions into "organic" systems for the knowledge age. Institutional change differs from organizational change by focusing on the higher-order unspoken social rules that govern the structure of institutions in common. The study evaluated trends driving this transformation, the obstacles blocking it, and the likely timetable of implementation. Originality/value - Concludes that three central features mark the general direction of institutional evolution: "e-organizations" operating in real time, "self-organizing systems" of self-managed teams, and "stakeholder collaboration" to unify diverse interests into a more powerful enterprise.

Notes: Purpose - Highlight the management dilemma disruptive innovation poses and examine what the leading management theorists have to offer as a solution. Design/methodology/approach - The author examines six leading theories of innovation and three alternatives to disruptive innovation. Findings - The leading theories that try to solve the paradox of innovation don't work and the alternatives to disruptive innovation merely delay having to deal with the dilemma. Research limitations/implications - The author reviewed many theoretical approaches to innovation management and selected six for commentary. Practical implications - The author argues that the theorists are looking at innovation in the wrong way. Because innovation is a paradox, the solution lies in rethinking the fundamental assumptions. Originality/value - First article that examines the logic behind the leading disruptive innovation theories and refutes their advice.

Notes: Purpose - To encourage top management to recognize the need for adding new value to their organizations and commit to the creation of new internal capabilities for growth via the exploration of their company's strategic frontier. Design/methodology/approach - Explains how the CEO can select a team and initiate a project to identify strategy frontier options. Findings - The authors' experience suggests that the team should first explore all areas of future growth potential in and adjacent to their industry, creating a long list of potential options. Identifying a breadth of strategic frontier options is more important than a depth of information on any one option. Research limitations/implications - More case studies of strategy frontier projects in action, with quantitative results, would be valuable. Practical implications - The goal of this frontier team is to identify a portfolio of innovative new business opportunities that exist on the strategic frontier. It will be the responsibility of another, more qualified group with quantitative skills (strategic planners, business development) to develop a detailed business design and determine its profitability and attractiveness to the company. Originality/value - The article offers top management an innovative how-to approach to finding truly new growth opportunities.

Notes: Purpose - Managers need research-based guidance on how to find sources of new growth when their core business is maturing. Design/methodology/approach - Authors shadowed managers responsible for finding and entering new businesses, interviewing them every three or four months for an average of two years. They surveyed over 100 corporate venturing units and corporate incubators and assembled a database of over 50 stories of companies that had successfully developed or acquired a significant new business. We interviewed managers in about half of these companies that had successfully diversified and we tested our emerging hypotheses against this database. Findings - All research indicated that managers need to assess opportunities more strategically and be less activity driven. The authors concluded that managers were investing in too many projects, most of which had little chance of success. Research limitations/implications - If research is reported on in the paper this section must be completed and should include suggestions for future research and any identified limitations in the research process. Practical implications - Ashridge Strategic Management Centre has developed a screening tool - The New Businesses Traffic Lights to test opportunities before a business plan has been developed, alongside a business plan to assess the strategic logic for the proposal, or to an existing investment that is failing to meet its short-term targets. Originality/value - Applying the screen to the portfolio of new business investments in most companies will result in red lights for many projects. Not only can significant money be saved from the "new businesses" budget, but also extra resources can be focused on improving the core businesses.

Notes: Purpose - During the past year, the authors have built a framework for a suite of metrics that senior managers can customize to track and promote innovation success in their companies. Design/methodology/approach - Senior executives can use the suite of metrics to assess their company's innovativeness over time and hence combat the insidious strategy decay that often afflicts a company's business. Findings - The framework combines three views on innovation - resource, capability, and leadership - providing the perspective to develop a suite of metrics for assessing and developing a company's capacity for innovation. Research limitations/implications - The optimal selection of metrics and the optimal value or "sweet spot" of any particular metric will vary from company to company. Practical implications - As more firms develop strategic innovation metrics and a database that validates their relevance, top managers will learn to assess and guide a company's innovation capability more effectively. Originality/value - This is the first strategic guideline for building a customizable system of innovation metrics.

Notes: Purpose - This study proposes investigating the branding of small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) wineries in an Australian context. By taking a qualitative approach, the theory building research seeks further to understand branding from the perspective of the SME winery, and in doing so, go some way in addressing the current deficit in the literature. Design/methodology/approach - Bhat and Reddy's conceptualisation of brand functionality and symbolism is used as a branding framework to underlie the research. A multiple case study design was adopted as a research method to provide case data on eight SME wineries. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with the owner/manager of each winery, direct observation and document analysis. Findings - The findings are presented in the form a model of SME winery branding, which, in addition to distinguishing two approaches to branding, highlights the functional and symbolic values inherent in the brand. The findings endorse the notion that brands can simultaneously have both functional and symbolic appeal. More radically, the emergent model suggests interdependence between the functional and symbolic properties of branding. Practical implications - Practically, the findings highlight the importance of developing the symbolic values associated with the brand, which represent a more sustainable competitive advantage. Originality/value - By establishing a tentative theory on SME winery branding, this study has begun to address the current deficit in wine marketing literature and has set a foundation for further research.

Notes: Purpose - Brand management in small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is an area of study in its infancy. Although considerable literature has been published about brand management in general, all theory and case studies are based only on multinationals. This article proposes providing the results and conclusions of exploratory research into this subject, and into SMEs in particular. Design/methodology/approach - To understand the precise role of the entrepreneur and to provide answers to five research questions, a qualitative study based on in-depth interviews with mainly middle-sized companies was undertaken. Striking results were obtained from this exploratory research. Findings - The paper shows the reader what the role of brand management in SMEs is and all the variables that influence it. It also presents a new model for brand development in SMEs, one that highlights the importance of the internal role of brand management in such an organization. An important finding is that passion for the brand throughout the company is a very important factor, initiated by an active role of the entrepreneur him/herself to achieving brand recognition. It does not cost anything and the impact appeared to be significant. Of course creativity is indispensable in this process. Practical implications - The change that directors of a relatively small company should make is to place brand management in a top position in their daily mind set. Achieving brand recognition starts inside the organization itself. Originality/value - For the first time in history extensive research in brand management in SMEs has been combined with the creation of various new theories, resulting in many practical recommendations. These are recommendations that can be used by the reader in his or her own organization.

Notes: Purpose - The aim of this research is to examine the effects of congruent and incongruent brand concept extensions on consumer attitudes towards the extended product and feedback effects on the parent brand. Moreover, brand familiarity is proposed as an important moderator variable in determining feedback effects on attitude to the parent brand. Design/methodology/approach - An experimental research design was applied for testing the set of hypotheses put forth. The product category of wrist-watches was utilized as setting. A total of 205 respondents participated in the study. Findings - The study finds general support for the importance of brand concept congruency when it comes to feedback-effects, whereas no significant differences between congruent and incongruent extensions are found for attitudes to the extension itself. Brand familiarity is found to be an important moderator on parent brand feedback effects. Research limitations/implications - Before concluding on the moderating role of brand familiarity in this context, one needs to build a stronger nomological network around this variable. Moreover, the effects observed in this study should be extended and tested for other product categories and preferably also with other methodological approaches. Originality/value - The study results reemphasize the importance of investigating brand feedback effects when launching category extensions. Also, the research provides new insight into the role of parent brand familiarity when evaluating the potential risks and rewards of conducting brand concept extensions.

Notes: Purpose - Proposes exploring a unique approach to the new product development process and its implications for new product developers Design/methodology/approach - The case was written after in depth interviews with company managers and customers. Findings - Provides information and a description of an innovative guiding philosophy applied to new product development. Research limitations/implications - As with most case studies the situation, industry response and results are pertinent to this particular company. There may be limitations in generalizing to other industries or other companies. Practical implications - Demonstrates a reactive approach to new product development. Also illustrates a successful means of interacting with government markets. Originality/value - The case reflects a successful strategy based on establishing a trusted expert position in an environmental protection industry. That position allowed the company to act as a pollution avoidance advocate and to gain effective access to decision makers within their customer companies. Within this industry, the strategy is effective and may be emulated.

Notes: Purpose - Despite the increasing sophistication of new product development (NPD) research, the reliance on traditional approaches to studying NPD has left several areas in need of further research. The authors propose addressing some of these gaps, especially the limited focus on consumer brands, evaluation criteria used across different project-review points in the NPD process, and the distinction between "kills", "successes", and "failures". Moreover, they propose investigating how screening criteria change across project-review points, using real-time NPD projects. Design/methodology/approach - A postal survey generated 172 usable questionnaires from a sample of European, North American, Far Eastern and Australian consumer packaged-goods firms, providing data on 314 new product projects covering different development and post-commercialization review points. Findings - The results confirm that acceptance-rejection criteria vary through the NPD process. However, financial criteria dominate across all the project-review points. Initial screening is coarse, focusing predominantly on financial criteria. Fit with organizational, product, brand, promotional, and market requirements dominate in the detailed screen and pre-development evaluation points. At pre-launch, decision-makers focus on product, brand, and promotional criteria. Commercial fit, production synergies, and reliability of the firm's market intelligence are significant discriminators in the post-launch review. Moreover, the importance of marketing and channel issues makes the criteria for screening brands different from those of industrial markets. Originality/value - The study, although largely descriptive and involves a relatively small sample of consumer goods firms, offers new insights into NPD project evaluation behavior. Future, larger-scale investigations covering a broader spectrum of consumer product sectors are needed to validate our results and to explain the reasons behind managers' decisions.

Notes: Purpose - The paper proposes enhancing the understanding of the complex challenges inherent in the development of tourism destination brand slogans. Design/methodology/approach - Prior to completing a tourism marketing PhD, the author spent almost two decades working in the tourism industry, mostly in destination marketing organisations (DMOs). In this paper he laments a significant gap in the literature in the area of tourism destination branding, a field that has only attracted academic attention since the late 1990s. Findings - While interest in applications of brand theory to practise in tourism is increasing, there is a paucity of published research with which to guide DMOs. There has been relatively little discussion on the complexity involved in capturing the essence of a multi-attributed destination with a succinct and focused brand position, in a way that is both meaningful to the multiplicity of target audiences of interest to stakeholders and effectively differentiates the destination from competitors. Practical implications - The paper will be of interest to tourism practitioners with a vested interest in the marketing of their destination, as well as research students and supervising academics interested in destination marketing. Originality/value - The paper summarises six issues that make the application of branding theory to destinations a complex undertaking, and which are worthy of increased research attention.

Notes: Purpose - Studies on optimal discount levels have sometimes yielded contradictory results, leaving practitioners with unclear direction. This paper proposes clarifying the optimum discount levels. Design/methodology/approach - This study asked 453 consumers to choose their own optimal discount levels (from 0-80 percent) for eight product categories across two distribution channels (physical store and online merchant). Then they were asked if the reason if they did not always select the deepest discount. Findings - Only 13 percent selected the 80 percent discount level for each product and each channel, despite seeing the exact price they would pay at each level. In support of attribution theory, 88 percent of the consumers attributed at least one cause for the deepest discounts. Most frequently cited were concerns about quality problems, damaged goods, or stolen goods. Consumers also opted for lower discount levels from the online merchant than from the physical store. There was a wide divergence by product category, with consumers selecting smaller discounts on tires and cereal and the deepest discounts on shirts. Research limitations/implications - Given the divergence across product categories, it is unknown how consumers would respond to categories not studied. Practical implications - This paper has revealed strong consumer perceptions about discount risks and the tradeoffs consumer make between risk and financial benefit across different product categories, both online and off - which can help marketing practitioners in setting discount levels. Originality/value - By allowing consumers to select their own preferred discount levels, it is shown that most customers attribute some risk to them.

Notes: Purpose - To explore an emerging area in internet practice that has implications for new product developers. Design/methodology/approach - The paper integrates concepts including a range of recently published (1993-2004) theoretical works and ongoing case developments in internet practice. Findings - Provides information and action approaches to new product developers that may increase the success and accuracy of resulting new products. Outlines the benefits of monitoring and participating in online consumer communities and offers practical suggestions for maximizing their value in the product development process. Research limitations/implications - The theoretical concepts that form the foundation of the paper appear to have a significant application to the product development process but have not been tested empirically. Practical implications - Uncovers a previously unrecognized source of direct consumer input and cooperation in the design and valuation of new products. Originality/value - This paper describes the nature and application of online consumer communities to an important marketing process. It offers the potential of improving the success of new products in the marketplace reducing significant waste.

Notes: Purpose - This paper aims to explain the structure of the market from the perspective of small brands and to discuss marketing strategy implications. Design/methodology/approach - The paper uses revealed preference data of the Australian wine market, comprising 4,000 wine shoppers' purchases over a 12-month period. Standard brand performance measures such as penetration and purchase frequency are applied to the data to define niche and change-of-pace brands. Using the same data, price tier loyalty is measured using polarisation, and discussed in relation to the attribute offering required and the direct marketing approach required for true niche positions. Findings - The empirical results show that both niche and change-of-pace positions are prevalent in the wine market and small wineries, within a direct marketing channel approach, should target higher price points with branded wines but also lower price point products as well. The results suggest that attribute levels that are change-of-pace are unsustainable for small brands and can only be undertaken by large brands with the appropriate marketing resources. Research limitations/implications - The authors conceptualise that small brands should focus on attribute levels that have excess loyalty. Large brands can absorb attribute levels that are change-of-pace. This conceptualisation requires further discussion, particularly from the strategy literature, as well as further empirical testing. Practical implications - Whilst "niche" positions are the holy grail of some teaching and much practitioner endeavour, this paper has presented data that demonstrate the need for managers to ascertain if the position they occupy is in fact a niche or a change-of-pace position. Originality/value - This paper fulfils a need by using revealed preference behavioural data to highlight different strategies for small and large brands. Behavioural analysis and papers in the past have emphasised the strength and tendency towards large brands without offering insight into small brand strategies.

Notes: Purpose - This research proposes studying how consumers' familiarity with products impacts the degree to which consumers are sensitive to a seller's violation of procedural fairness norms in pricing. Past research has either studied the role of familiarity or the role of fairness in influencing consumer behavior. However, it is unclear how familiarity and fairness combine to influence consumer behavior. The present research proposes filling this gap. Design/methodology/approach - An experiment is designed to manipulate consumers' perceptions of procedural fairness of a seller's pricing tactic, and consumers' levels of familiarity with a product. Each variable is manipulated to be either high or low. Thus, outcomes are observed for four purchase conditions. Findings - Results indicate that the degree to which consumers rely on procedural fairness to evaluate a product is related to consumers' level of familiarity with a product. Consumers who are less familiar with a product are more likely to rely on procedural fairness to form purchase intentions. Also, unlike their more knowledgeable counterparts, consumers who are less familiar with a product are more likely to equate procedural fairness with perceived quality. Research limitations/implications - The research stresses the need to differentiate between the roles played by procedural and distributive fairness in shaping consumer behavior. The authors study only procedural fairness, but a natural next step for future research is to study simultaneously the role of both facets of fairness. Practical implications - The results of our study underscore the importance of following procedural fairness norms especially for retailers who deal in product categories where the pace of innovation is so rapid that it creates a large dispersion in knowledge of product attributes among consumers. The study' findings suggest that in such situations, consumers may rely excessively on cues that signal a seller's adherence to or violation of social norms relevant to business practices. Thus, the authors encourage sellers to monitor keenly levels of product knowledge among their customer base. This would enable sellers to identify situations that merit an enhanced sensitivity to upholding social norms such as procedural fairness. Originality/value - The paper brings to attention the interaction between consumers' familiarity with a product and procedural fairness in pricing. Although an expectation of procedural fairness underlies all exchanges this research identifies consumers' familiarity as a variable that influences the degree to which procedural fairness is relied on in shaping consumer behavior.

Notes: Purpose - To provide a conceptual framework to help researchers and managers understand the complex factors affecting the associations between brands. Design/methodology/approach - Brand extension, co-branding and other associative techniques together with an increasingly communicative environment are resulting in an increasingly complex set of networks and relationships between brands, with singular and multiple relationship forms. There are two key perspectives on these complex relationships, that of the customer and that of the brand owner, i.e. what is seen at the point of transaction and what is expressed by the various brand constructors. Two key perspectives on brand relationships are used that of the customer and that of the brand owner, to describe and discuss an analytical classification of these relationships. Findings - A conceptual synthesis of the dynamics of brand networks and business relationships is presented and a 2?×?2 matrix is developed to classify and describe the four categories that emerge. Practical implications - Different management strategies for different types of business-brand relationships are suggested. Originality/value - The conceptual synthesis is new and some uses of the classification for researchers and brand managers are suggested.

Notes: Purpose - The mandatory withdrawal of almost 2,000 complementary and alternative medicines, manufactured under contract on behalf of multiple brand names, primarily in the Australian and New Zealand markets, provides an opportunity to examine the impact on sales levels and both brand and category loyalty of a major product confidence crisis. Sets out to deal with this issue Design/methodology/approach - Focuses on the impact of the events surrounding the recall within both the Australian and New Zealand markets and links the events surrounding the recall with the scant international literature relating to brand management during crisis situations. Then reports on findings from an investigation of New Zealand consumer perceptions of the sector after the recall event. Findings - The substantial impact on both category and brand loyalty in the face of prolonged non-availability of some products is revealed, as is the lack of contingency planning across product supply and marketing communications dimensions. Concludes with recommendations for the future management of brands during such events. Practical implications - Lessons that may be learned in relation to brand management during crisis situations are stressed, along with implications for cross-border brand management. Originality/value - The dynamics of the complementary and alternative medicines market have not been comprehensively researched. In addition, the extant literature regarding brand management during crisis situations is not extensive. This paper therefore makes a contribution towards the understanding of an under-researched market sector and also the impact on brand management of major disruption to consumer confidence and product availability.

Notes: Purpose - Seeks to effect a comparison of the pricing strategies followed by hypermarkets, compared with those that discount stores carry out. Design/methodology/approach - Data were collected from the direct observation of the supermarket shelves of nine frequent purchase product categories in several hypermarkets and discount stores. Diverse statistical analyses were applied to these picked up data, such as mean comparisons, ANOVA and correspondence analysis. Findings - The article concludes that the hypermarkets tend to have higher mean prices, and use promotional tools more profusely than the discount stores. Research limitations/implications - For future research, it would be very important to examine consumer price evaluations based on a theoretical approach in the same formats, and in this way consumer reactions to price changes could be understood. Also, examining the cross-country differences in retail stores may be quite interesting. Practical implications - Relationships between hypermarkets and hi-lo pricing, plus discount stores and EDLP pricing, have been found. Therefore, retail managers of both formats have to know all about these pricing strategies. In this way, the managers of these firms would know the kind of customers that can be attracted and the signals and image that can be projected in the market. Originality/value - This paper directly compares the pricing and promotional activities of hypermarkets versus discount stores. Researching into whether price and promotional differences exist between the two format retailers will help consumers and managers to know the true price level of each format.

Notes: Purpose - This paper seeks to present a cultural approach to co-branding. The purpose here is to discuss issues concerning the phenomena of brand and branding with particular focus on the mythological narratives that are at stake in a brand. Design/methodology/approach - This paper conducts a case analysis of a co-branded product. Provides both a managerial and a cultural reading of the co-brand in question, before proceeding to make a "neo-Freudian" analysis of the potentially transgressive meanings involved in the co-branding in question. This is done not so much to produce an authoritative reading of the cultural and commercial sign of the co-brand as to make a bold leap and provide a daring reading of a seemingly innocent co-branded product. Findings - Through the case study of the co-branded product, the vast amount of cultural meanings that goes beyond the sets of brand identities proposed by the brand managers is explored. Discusses the limitations of traditional strategic branding models and suggests a certain degree of humility towards the mysterious and spiritual forces when trying to exploit mythological levels of social meanings and narratives in the branding process. Practical implications - For brand managers who seek to co-operate with other brands in the marketplace, this paper offers an argument for the almost limitless potential of symbolic dimensions that are inextricably linked to combining brand universes. By doing so, a more comprehensive understanding of the meaning management for co-branded products and potentially a more successful outcome of the branding process may be achieved. Originality/value - In addition to existing research, this paper illustrates that the practice of co-branding involves a play with symbolic forces that can be unpredictable and difficult to control for a brand manager. This finding has implications for the degree to which one can expect to be able to manage the social communication processes generated from a co-branded product.

Notes: Purpose - To show how a combination of hard and soft project and change management methodologies guided successful in-house development of a campus-wide information system. Design/methodology/approach - A case study of the methodologies and management structures that guided the development is presented. Findings - Applying a combination of the dynamic systems development method, rapid prototyping, PRINCE 2, Checkland's soft systems methodologies and change management helped to develop a product that met user needs, offered value for money and was delivered on time. Practical implications - The case study shows that the advantages of formal governance brought by PRINCE 2 can be retained in a softer environment where user needs generate work packages and stage gates. Originality/value - There is widespread evidence that more than half of all IT projects fail and that the softer people issues are essential for success. The paper presents an example of fusing softer approaches with formal governance. It should interest programme and project managers, senior sponsors, software developers and usability specialists.

Notes: Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of a web-based constructivist learning environment, which was developed based on a course given to students in the Faculty of Creative Multimedia (FCM) on student learning. Design/methodology/approach - In this paper, a web-based multimedia-mediated project was developed based on an Internet Applications course where students were taught to use specific web authoring tools to solve a web-related problem. The mode of learning was geared towards a student-centred, constructivist learning perspective where students were active learners, worked in a group environment and constructed knowledge and understanding in their learning process. An online survey was given to the students to assess their reactions towards this learning environment. Findings - The results obtained were positive and satisfactory. In this learning process, students were able to understand the problem, work collaboratively, construct their own solutions, and determine their own learning outcomes. Feedback on the online survey provided further support of the students' positive attitudes towards this learning environment. Research limitations/implications - The implications of this research study are that students found that the web-based learning environment allowed them to be more active participants in their learning process, increasing their critical and creative thinking skills as well as improving their problem-solving skills. They learned "how to learn" and developed several learning skills such as communication, teamwork, collaboration and presentation, as well as achieving ownership of these learning outcomes. The use of multimedia- and web-based tools for their project allowed them to be innovative in their presentations, making the project more fun for them. Practical implications - This research provides educators with an innovative approach to teaching with technology, and students with a more effective learning environment. Originality/value - This paper fulfils Malaysia's MSC initiative to include ICT in the classroom teaching environment and to focus on learner-centred teaching and learning strategies. This constructivist-based learning environment also enabled students to build their problem-solving and collaborative skills as well as their creative and critical thinking abilities in order to meet the rising demands of twenty-first century organisations.

Notes: Purpose - This paper reports a study conducted longitudinally to investigate group communication media choice and the use of a web-based learning tool, as well as other types of communication media, such as e-mail, telephone, and face-to-face, for communication and collaboration to complete given tasks. Design/methodology/approach - This study was designed following the case study research methodology and design of Yin. Longitudinal observation was made on groups in their naturalistic research setting. Twenty-three groups of four or five students working on five similar tasks were selected as the unit of analysis. Findings - The findings showed that groups' choice-making process of communication media evolved over a period of time. A pattern of group communication emerged, namely face-to-face, virtual, and mixed (the use of both face-to-face and virtual communication). The three group communication categories were significantly different in performance, with the mixed category performing the highest in terms of grade. Research limitations/implications - The limitations of this study are related to the case study methodology and the subjectivity of some interpretations. Practical implications - The findings should assist in the design of both on-campus and distance learning course modules to facilitate learning through group project or assignment. The findings should also assist the design and implementation of the e-learning systems and tools that are acceptable to users. Originality/value - The study provides insight into how such ICT applications can be made useful and effective, and why, when given the freedom to choose, the use of a web-based tool is the least attempted for communication.

Notes: Purpose - To discuss how Hong Kong university libraries can help young professors and PhD students publish their articles in SCI (Science Citation Index) and SSCI (Social Science Citation Index) journals. Design/methodology/approach - With reference to the opinions of experts on how to publish work successfully, this paper provides practical advice for university libraries in Hong Kong. Findings - After collecting the opinions of experts and browsing the web sites of many university libraries throughout the world, suggests that Hong Kong universities can offer a variety of services in supporting research. The university libraries may build up electronic resources to gather more research information and journals information for helping young professors and PhD students publish their works. Practical implications - To provide very useful and practical advice for Hong Kong university libraries when facing the new challenge in support of research. Originality/value - During recent years, the Hong Kong universities have been facing budget cuts from the government, and have been placed under the pressure of transforming into centers of excellence and establishing themselves among the best in the world. This paper offers practical help to Hong Kong university libraries such as how to play an active and important role in providing a greater support service for young professors and PhD students that will help in the development of their academic careers.

Notes: Purpose - Seeks to show that the software development process is based on the premise to provide an enhanced e-learning environment by supporting individual learning styles and preferences through the use of emerging adaptive technologies that also enable performance evaluation in the context of meeting agreed learning outcomes. Design/methodology/approach - The design methodology adopts a case study approach that follows the design and implementation of a learner management system. Findings - Web-based intelligent tutoring systems, aimed at compensating for the absence of a real world tutor have to date mostly concentrated on providing assistance in a particular subject domain and not focused on the problem of utilising content represented as learning objects across multi-subject domains. This paper describes the creation of a non-dictatorial tutoring system that has been developed at NTP Information Solutions Ltd. A visualisation tool has bee4n created called "learning navigator" to help learners to visualise the best path through assignable units extracted from a learning repository. Practical implications - The system is currently able to suggest new paths that take into account learning styles through learner performance, learner previous experience and learning objectives. Future work will include extending this criterion to take into account further individual learning preferences. Originality/value - The sharable content objects (SCOs) approach to the software solution extends the internationally recognised SCORM development standards. As a consequence the paper contributes to international e-learning standards development but also extends current knowledge of the role of adaptive technologies in supporting learning styles and preferences.

Notes: Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present a management tool that helps to achieve the objectives of the plan for info-tech systems and communications of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria for the 2003-2006 period. Design/methodology/approach - The methodology used in this case is nothing if not practical. The chosen tool involved university members who put it into practice and the results were observed. Findings - Finds that a practical instrument, which appeals to the users' real needs, can overcome their objections to change and their apprehension of technological innovation. Research limitations/implications - As in all individual case studies - and this is no exception - the methodology chosen circumscribes to some extent the research and its results, which therefore cannot be automatically applied generally elsewhere. Practical implications - Users' interests are paramount and preparation of the technology involved must be given the utmost attention over a considerable period of time. Originality/value - University members have here a user-friendly means of effecting e-administration simply and easily.

Notes: Purpose - To examine whether students have higher retention rates of material when they participate in online quizzes or online alternative student-centered assignments on the material presented in the F2F class. Design/methodology/approach - Reviews the literature; and analyzes data from the implementation of both types of assessment for the online sessions of the course (student-centered and faculty-centered) as correlated with mid-term and final examination scores. Findings - A significant difference was found on both mid-term and final examination scores by participants and non-participants in the assessments. A significant difference was not found in the participation levels in the various assessment types. In addition, a minimal relationship was found between the assessment type and the act of participating in the assessment. The assessment type was not found to have a significant effect, though the participation in the assessment type did have an effect. Research limitations/implications - Only two terms' worth of students, in one course, were examined. The assessments were not analyzed for equivalence in their coverage of the materials. Further research is needed on types of activities and level of participation, types of participation and level of learning, and participation scale grade rather than a yes/no method, are correlated. Practical implications - Provides a very useful source of information, guidance, and support for instructors considering the use of online assessments in their hybrid courses. Originality/value - This paper fulfils an identified need in the usage of alternative assessments and offers practical help to faculty teaching a theatre arts hybrid class.

Notes: Purpose - Investigating the social structure in online courses helps in designing for and facilitating student support and retention. Aims to provide data showing how course design and use of social software technologies provided social and collaborative learning opportunities for online students. Design/methodology/approach - A study of computer-mediated groups that utilized social media technologies and a web-based collaborative model in an online program. Participants were put into groups and observed as they constructed knowledge using both online dialogue (synchronous and asynchronous) and social media technologies as tools to support their learning. Findings - The integration of web-based learning communities and collaborative group assignments into the course design has a positive influence on student retention in online courses. Research limitations/implications - The research was limited to the online student population at Pepperdine University, and did not include data or research from similar online programs at other universities. Future research should include data collected from students outside the USA to find out what role cultural mores, attitudes, and gender play. Practical implications - Provides curriculum design strategies that foster community, utilize social/ participatory media, and support online student learning and retention through effective course design. Originality/value - Current research on distance learning curriculum has focused on the instructor's perspective. It is felt that research from the student's perspective can also yield some valuable insights for online course design.

Notes: Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present an e-learning content adaptation toolkit - ELCAT - that helps to achieve the objectives of the KTP project No. 3509. Design/methodology/approach - The chosen methodology is absolutely practical. The tool was put into motion and results were observed as university and the collaborating company members started using it and getting results out of it. Findings - The methodology and the practical approach developed in the research facilitate e-learning practices and the developed software enables the utilisation of legacy e-learning material on the internet and world wide web. It also helps to break the resistance to change and the fears stemming from new technologies when a useful tool taught with the idea of what users really need is given to users. Research limitations/implications - As usual in all case studies, the results of this research are limited by the methodology, since results have to be reviewed carefully before applying them to other tools or universities. Practical implications - It is absolutely fundamental to take users' needs into account and implementation of technology tools should be properly planned across time. Originality/value - The paper presents an easy-to-use tool that allows university community members to carry out e-administration processes in a very simple and easy manner.

Notes: Purpose - To address the critical issue of how best to adopt and diffuse information and communication technology (ICT) into organisations. Design/methodology/approach - During April and May 2002, a survey of ICT diffusion of ICT users from three construction organisations was conducted. Findings - Results from an earlier phase of this study indicated that 11 factors influence ICT diffusion. The aim of this paper is to report on phase 2 study results within three construction organisations based on the 11 factors found to influence ICT diffusion. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with five to six ICT users and an implementer for each of the case study companies. Originality/value - Three factors were found to have a weak influence on ICT diffusion, while eight have a strong influence. These influencing factors may be grouped into four interrelated categories: management, individual, technology, and work environment. Their inter-relationship should be coherently and comprehensively addressed.

Notes: Purpose - Ratios were constructed using bidding data for highway construction projects in Texas to study whether there are useful patterns in project bids that are indicators of the project completion cost. The use of the ratios to improve predictions of completed project cost was studied. Design/methodology/approach - Ratios were calculated relating the second lowest bid, mean bid, and maximum bid to the low bid for the highway construction projects. Regression and neural network models were developed to predict the completed cost of the highway projects using bidding data. Models including the bidding ratios, low bid, second lowest bid, mean bid and maximum bid were developed. Natural log transformations were applied to the data to improve model performance. Findings - Analysis of the bidding ratios indicates some relationship between high values of the bidding ratios and final project costs that deviate significantly from the low bid amount. Addition of the ratios to neural network and regression models to predict the completed project cost were not found to enhance the predictions. The best performing regression model used only the low bid as input. The best performing neural network model used the low bid and second lowest bid as inputs. Originality/value - The nature of bid ratios that can describe the pattern of bids submitted for a project and the relationship of the ratios to project outcomes were studied. The ratio values may be useful indicators of project outcome that can be used by construction managers.

Notes: Purpose - The aim of this paper is to examine and compare the performance of architects with respect to clients' rating of importance over a set of performance criteria in Nigerian public and private sector building projects. Design/methodology/approach - A survey involving clients from both public and private sectors of recently completed building projects in Nigeria was undertaken. Data analysis includes comparing similarities and differences using standardised ratio, Mann Whitney U and Wilcoxon tests. Findings - The results show that private sector clients are likely to be more concerned with cost, while public sector clients are more concerned with buildability of design. A total of 79 per cent of the criteria were similarly selected by both sectors with respect to importance of the criteria. Architects need to improve their performance significantly in about 82 per cent of the whole set of 28 criteria. The architects performed better in the public sector than the private sector and 14 per cent of the criteria were indicated as being statistically different in terms of architects' performance. Originality/value - The results provide feedback which can be incorporated in architects' future projects so as to ensure successful project implementation in the building delivery process.

Notes: Purpose - The objectives of this paper are to: find out whether design-bid-build (DBB) or design-build (DB) procurement method gives better quality building; identify variables that significantly affect quality scores of DBB and DB projects; and construct models to predict quality scores of DB and DBB projects. Design/methodology/approach - The research design was based on a structured questionnaire and data on quality performance and factors that may affect quality of a building project were collected by postal survey and face-to-face interviews. Findings - There was no significant difference between the quality scores of DB and DBB projects. To ensure that buildings procured through DBB have high quality, owners should adopt the following practices: engage experienced consultants; short-list bidders and select contractors based on a combination of price and ability. To obtain high quality DB buildings, owners should engage architects to prepare the scheme design and not to set the budget too early. For both types of projects, owners should allow contractors to propose changes to the contract with a view to improving its quality. Research limitations/implications - As there is no significant difference in quality of DBB and DB projects, the argument that DB projects produce lower quality buildings is demolished. Practical implications - The practical implication is that owners play an important part in ensuring that they obtain buildings of high quality. Originality/value - Building owners and consultants can use the two models to predict quality scores of DBB and DB projects and take specific actions to improve the quality of their projects if necessary.

Notes: Purpose - To assist contractors in Hong Kong to review their past financial performance and to formulate new strategies for their business survival in the coming years. Design/methodology/approach - The financial accounting ratios and distress scoring are very useful tools to measure the financial performance. These tools are also useful to compare the performance among themselves and over the years. The mathematical analysis together with a review of the current business environment and the characteristics of construction industry will assist contractors in Hong Kong to formulate new strategies for their own business survival in the coming years. Findings - The results have shown that the financial performance of most contractors in Hong Kong have been deteriorating very fast in the past few years. The results of all financial ratios, together with the prevailing situation of over competition, inelasticity of construction costs and reduced aggregate demand in Hong Kong, has revealed the extreme difficulty of reversing the financial performance in the coming years. Originality/value - Contractors in Hong Kong now understand that their own financial performance have been deteriorating to an alarming limit. There is an urgent need to review their business environment and to formulate new corporate strategies.

Notes: Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyse the factors that drive changes to the construction project brief and the background to those factors. The founding argument, that incorporating these changes is paramount for achieving client satisfaction, introduces the concept of dynamic brief development (DBP), which permits changes throughout the project life cycle. The understanding and attitude of the major construction project stakeholders towards DBP are investigated along with identifying the originators of brief development and the value and risk sources. Design/methodology/approach - A threefold method was used comprising a comprehensive questionnaire survey followed by structured interviews. The results of these were further investigated though a brainstorming session with major construction project stakeholders. A total population of 266,434 units for the survey was identified, reduced to a random stratified sample of 530. The response rate was 49.2 per cent and the responses were analysed using a weighted relative importance index. A total of 88 interviews were carried out and 12 client organisations participated in the brainstorming session. Findings - The findings lead to the conclusion that there is a need to set out a detailed brief development management system that incorporates both value management and risk management. This system should enable the appropriate project participant to make informed decisions at the right time for the benefit of the client. The system must facilitate feedback to both client organisations and construction professionals to enable lessons to be learned. Understanding the relationship between the factors that drive brief development and the various project team members will facilitate managing brief development in a way that increases client satisfaction and enhances the performance of the project. Originality/value - The paper identifies deficiencies in current practices and techniques and presents a system which overcomes them.

Notes: Purpose - In this paper the predictive capabilities of the full job strain model (JSM) for construction project managers is examined. The principal aim of the work is to determine whether employees' psychological wellbeing in terms of worker health and job satisfaction can be reliably predicted. Design/methodology/approach - The full JSM is tested by investigating perceived work demands, job control and social support. The predictive capability of the full JSM (which encompasses job demands, job control and social support) is applied to a sample of construction project managers from the UK. Findings - The analysis of the results indicates that the JSM can significantly predict employees' psychological wellbeing in terms of worker health and job satisfaction among the construction project managers sampled. A key finding was that social support had significant (p〈0.0001) main effects on psychological wellbeing. Contrary to previous research, however, non-work-related support was found to be more significant than work support in alleviating psychological strain. Research limitations/implications - A model that incorporates a wider range of variables should be developed to account for the variance in strain between different roles that construction project managers adopt within an organisation and projects so they can be useful for job design. Originality/value - For the specific sample, the JSM captured the key characteristics that contributed to the job strain that they experienced. With the exception of non-work-related social support, the results support previous studies that examined the predictive capacity of the JSM.

Notes: Purpose - The attention on sustainability issues within value management (VM) practices is uncertain due to the scarcity of information on this subject in the available literature. As a value enhancement technique, VM should incorporate sustainability issues as they would affect the quality of the outcome. By exploring VM as a means to uplift sustainability issues at the early construction stages, it shall shed light to its potential and current practices and thus stimulating wider attention to this field in the future. Design/methodology/approach - This paper begins by presenting the underlying concept of integrating sustainability within VM. The potential of VM to uplift sustainability issues is highlighted and the relationships between these two are discussed. Field studies were conducted to investigate the existing practices of VM and its practitioners' attitudes towards sustainability. Findings - It is confirmed that sustainability consideration is already inherent in the VM workshops but the level of attention varies between workshops. There are gaps in current practices, indicating rooms for improvement. The identified barriers to integration are believed responsible for these gaps. Research implications - Any strategy to promote sustainability consideration in VM in the future must address the impediments to integration. Originality/value - The attention on sustainability issues in VM remains an untapped area due to scarcity of information. Theoretically, the intrinsic capabilities and the positive relationships between these two heighten VM position as an effective means for sustainability improvement. However, in practices, sustainability attention requires improvement to bridge the gaps and overcome the existing barriers that impede current integration.

Notes: Purpose - This paper aims at proposing a process of requirements engineering for the human centred, adaptive computer integrated construction systems development through industry wide information sharing. Design/methodology/approach - The research strategy is based on case study research methodology. The EU-funded DIVERCITY project was analysed. This project was undertaken by a European consortium of researchers and practitioners from the construction industry. They developed a virtual environment that enables the industry to undertake collaboratively the client briefing and design reviews and the construction stages. Findings - DIVERCITY's requirements engineering approach has the potential to provide opportunities for research to determine the appropriate requirements engineering techniques for the development of the systems and their effective implementation in the construction industry. Originality/value - The main contribution of the research is the construction of the requirements engineering process for the development of the computer integrated construction systems.

Notes: Purpose - Construction conflict should not be simply defined as a functional or dysfunctional element in the management process. The second generation conflict management investigates the effect of various conflict types and conflict resolution strategies to project outcomes in detail. The paper aims at investigating the complicated construction conflict management within the goal setting process in construction projects. Design/methodology/approach - In order to collect the generalized data from the construction professionals in the industry, a questionnaire survey was considered suitable for establishing the component elements of research variables. Samples were randomly selected from membership records of various professional institutions in Hong Kong with direct experience in the project management processes involving the client, project manager and other project team members, and they must have experience in a (perceived) successful project. A total of 75 questionnaires were fully completed and returned finally. Findings - The findings in the questionnaire survey indicate that moderate level of conflict can improve satisfaction until a certain point whereby the satisfaction diminishes as conflict escalates. To yield an optimum level of satisfaction, conflicts have to be stimulated in the goal setting process and solved among the project participants by adopting the integrated style, neutral attitudes towards emotional-rational dimension and task-relationship dimension of conflict. Research limitations - This study cannot definitively state the causal direction of the hypothesized relationships. Further research such as case studies and qualitative data analyses are recommended in order to investigate these causal relationships as is relevant to construction projects. Practical implications - Integration is the most appropriate method for solving construction problems, as it concerns both self and others in the management process. Project participants have to balance their conflict resolution approach between the task and relationship and their subjective emotion with objective rational system for solving conflicts when using integration style. Originality/value - The study shows that both conflict and conflict resolution in the goal setting process are essential components influencing the final outcome (satisfaction) and that solving conflict using the integration style would mean arriving at the best value (goal) in the decision process as well as improving the level of participant satisfaction

Notes: Purpose - This paper aims to investigate how Canadian engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies address lessons learned (LL) on their construction projects. Design/methodology/approach - This paper adopts a case study methodology. Findings - The exploitation of LL to improve performance on future projects is highly desirable for many construction organisations. The vision of an organisation that can readily recall what went well on a project and attempt to recreate those successes, as well as avoiding the repetition of past mistakes offers commercial sense. Originality/value - The paper provides a number of recommendations for UK companies regarding how the process may be improved in terms of encouraging LL to occur, the timing of LL sessions, identifying participants, the format for documenting LL and how these should be disseminated.

Notes: Purpose - Web-based technologies such as project extranets have introduced a new concept for communication and collaboration during construction projects. Project extranets have been used in the industry for some time now to manage information and document flows throughout the lifecycle of construction projects. Very few end-user companies already using project extranets have documented and disseminated information about the implications of using this technology in terms of the impact on their businesses, benefits incurred and possible drawbacks. This paper aims to present findings from the UK. Design/methodology/approach - The methodology is case studies conducted with end-users of a leading project extranet application in the UK. Findings - Findings suggest that some of the perceived drawbacks of using project extranets are in fact not viewed as drawbacks by end-user companies. Also, the benefits incurred appear to outweigh some of the issues. The end-user organisations believe that an increasing number of organisations will be encouraged to use project extranets when they see "visionaries" and "market leaders" such as themselves, benefiting from the technology and leading the way to its wider adoption. Originality/value - Wider dissemination of this knowledge will encourage more construction companies to adopt the technology which has a proven record of success on projects for which it has been used. The paper highlights the drivers for the adoption of this technology and its impact on end-user business processes. It also documents the end-user viewpoint on the benefits and drawbacks of using project extranets.

Notes: Purpose - The purpose is to report the results of research on ascertaining whether the various stakeholders in construction projects can adequately cope with the stresses they are confronting. Design/methodology/approach - Thirty-three stressors covering various aspects of project implementation, such as organisation policies, working relationships, communication and personal factors, are identified and the manageability of the common stressors faced by management of construction projects in Hong Kong is assessed by means of a questionnaire survey. The relationships among individual stressors are similarly examined. The extent to which stress effects combine and accumulate when related stressors coexist is also considered. Findings - It is shown that the most difficult stressors to manage are "bureaucracy", "lack of opportunity to learn new skills", "work-family conflicts" and "different view from superiors". The results also revealed that the patterns of stress manageability differ between clients, consultants and contractors. The relationships among individual stressors are similarly examined. The extent to which stress effects combine and accumulate when related stressors coexist is also considered. Originality/value - The research reported constitutes a significant step towards the understanding and management of potentially stressful situations and their influence on the efficiency and effectiveness of construction industry participants.

Notes: Purpose - The objectives of this paper are to discuss the constraints stemming from the unstructured nature of the cost estimation practice in Turkey and introduce a generic computer aided building cost estimation model based on a cost significant technique for Turkish construction sector public projects in its detailed design phase. Design/methodology/approach - The research design was based on the simplified version of the bill of quantities method and a cost significant estimating model works on a cost database was suggested to overcome the problems. Underlying principles and basic steps of cost estimation based on cost significant work packages was explained by means of manual calculations. Findings - In order to automate the manual building cost estimation process, the software based on cost significant work packages was developed. Research limitations/implications - The software is currently in the testing phase and is being used for educational purposes. Making use of both public sector and current market prices in the cost estimation process, increasing number of projects stored in the database for more accurate results, estimating costs of different types of projects and calculating the cost significant value factor more precisely by using statistical techniques, those being employed by global cost models are suggested for future research. Practical implications - As the number of the similar projects in database is increased, the accuracy of the cost estimation is also increased. Originality/value - Estimators and graduate students can use the software to estimate building cost of public housing projects in its detailed design phase.

Notes: Purpose - This paper proposes assessing the context within which integrated logistic support (ILS) can be implemented for whole life performance of building services systems. Design/methodology/approach - The use of ILS within a through-life business model (TLBM) is a better framework to achieve a well-designed, constructed and managed product. However, for ILS to be implemented in a TLBM for building services systems, the practices, tools and techniques need certain contextual prerequisites tailored to suit the construction industry. These contextual prerequisites are discussed. Findings - The case studies conducted reinforced the contextual importance of prime contracting, partnering and team collaboration for the application of ILS techniques. The lack of data was a major hindrance to the full realisation of ILS techniques within the case studies. Originality/value - The paper concludes with the recognition of the value of these contextual prerequisites for the use of ILS techniques within the building industry.

Notes: Purpose - The purpose is to introduce a safety planning and control (SPC) model that has been integrated into the production planning and control process. The paper is concerned with the impact of this model on human error control, since both workers' and managers' errors are major contributing factors in accident causation. Design/methodology/approach - The analysis of this impact was based on two stages: the analysis of the main types of human errors detected in five sites in which the model has been implemented and a discussion on how the model contributes to the design of safe work systems from a cognitive engineering perspective. Findings - The main conclusion is that six elements of the model (safety planning, near miss reporting, training, percentage of safe work packages indicator, participatory cycle, and planning and control diffusion) contribute to make both the boundaries of safe work visible and respected. Safety planning also helps to make the production system error-tolerant to some extent. However, the analysis of causes of safety failures in the empirical studies pointed out a high incidence of violations of the boundaries (on average, 43.5 percent of the total safety failures), mostly by workers. Research limitations/implications - Although improvement in the existing mechanisms might make the model more behavior-oriented, a broader set of measures is necessary to achieve excellence in dealing with human errors. Also, additional empirical data are necessary to clarify the nature and frequency of the human errors that have impact in construction safety. Originality/value - The model may help in devising more effective tools to reduce errors in construction.

Notes: Purpose - The successful implementation of an optimal online system for specification and procurement has been impeded by the existence of semi-structured or non-structured product information held in catalogues in various formats. Consequently, a significant amount of time is spent in gathering relevant information. Proposes introducing a successful optimal online specification and procurement system for construction products. Design/methodology/approach - The design and specification of the prototype were based on the analysis of closely related agent-based implementations in various domains. Findings - In the development phase it emerged that agent infrastructure is still maturing, even when a stable development environment is finally available. This is consistent with the latest research in this area which places the highest value on internet agents within the context of the semantic web. Originality/value - This research demonstrated how agent technology can be used alongside other paradigms such as web services and XML to make the specification and procurement of construction products more effective and more efficient.

Notes: Purpose - It is a well-known fact that the construction industry always passes through two distinctive problems during the construction stage: slippages of project-schedules, i.e. time-frame, and overruns of project-costs, i.e. budget. However, limited literature is available to solve or dilute these two problems before they even occur. It is strongly believed that the bulk of the two mentioned problems can be mitigated to a great extent, if not eliminated, provided that proper attention is paid to the pre-construction phases of projects. Normally projects are implemented through traditionally old techniques which generally emphasize only solving "construction problems during the construction phase". The aim of this article is therefore to unveil a professional methodology known as Project Control System (PCS) focusing on pre-construction phases of construction projects. Design/methodology/approach - In this article, the authors share the lessons learned during implementation of Kuwait University projects worth approximately $400 million in a span of ten years. The task of the project management/construction management (PM/CM) is being provided to the university by a joint venture team of international and local specialists. Findings - The pre-construction methodology ensures smooth and successful implementation during construction phases of the projects as they are generally executed in a fast-pace, deadline-driven and cost-conscious environment. The intuitive proactive methods, if implemented during pre-construction stage, automatically answer the questions that are encountered during the execution periods of projects. Originality/value - In this article, the authors share the lessons learned during PM/CM during projects over a span of ten years, which could be of use to others.

Notes: Purpose - This paper proposes introducing how to consider the break which cyclically happens and has nothing to do with resource availabilities in modeling of a construction process through an activity-based simulation. Design/methodology/approach - In consideration of the variable break-frequency and break-duration for different activities, concepts of time-cycle and time-window are discussed. Then an algorithm to determine the execution of the activities facing the cyclical break is proposed, in which pre-emption or non-pre-emption cases and overtime are taken into account together. This algorithm is incorporated into an activity-based simulation so that the improved construction simulation is able to consider the cyclical break and model the construction process more reasonably. Computational analyses are presented to address the effectiveness of the improved activity-based simulation. Findings - The computational analyses demonstrate that the improved activity-based simulation can consider the cyclical break in modeling a construction process, which cannot be achieved by the traditional simulation tools, especially when non-pre-emptive activities are concerned. It is also shown that the overtime use for the non-pre-emptive activities can lead to reduction of the project duration when the cyclical break is considered. Originality/value - The proposed simulation-based methodology is an alternative means to deal with the cyclical break that is destined for some activities and irrelevant to resource availabilities in modeling of a construction process.

Notes: Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to propose and test a framework to foster safe work behaviour among workers on construction sites. Design/methodology/approach - The proposed framework identifies two main reasons for unsafe behaviours: "don't know how", and "don't care". Technical and safety training is proposed to overcome the former problem, while for the latter it is proposed that organisations systematically apply operant conditioning techniques to promote safety, using organisational behaviour modification. A postal survey of contractors in Singapore was conducted to test the framework. The four tools of operant conditioning theory (positive reinforcements, negative reinforcements, extinction, and punishments) were evaluated. Findings - Close and strict supervision, sending workers for safety and health training, and imposing fines are found to be most effective methods. Positive reinforcements (both monetary and non-monetary) have also been found to be effective, while extinction did not receive much support. Other methods that may foster safe work behaviours are also discussed. Originality/value - Safety on site could be enhanced via training and application of operant conditioning theory.

Notes: Purpose - The paper proposes addressing the design and implementation of a web-based risk assessment system that enables remote project team members to assess the risks at the conceptual design stage. Design/methodology/approach - The prototype system is based on a client/server architecture and uses fuzzy logic and web-based technology. A risk assessment scenario is used to demonstrate the operation and benefits of the prototype system. Findings - The research found that the use of a web-based risk assessment system for distributed project team members has major benefits in terms of use of linguistic terms to express risk assessment, ease of communication, ease of maintenance, and greater consistency, among others. Research limitations/implications - There is scope for enhancing the system through the development of a risk management module, improving the user interface and making specific provisions for different project types. Practical implications - The move in industry towards collaborative working practices is supported by systems such as this. Risk assessment is an important area that requires the input of all team members, if evenly distributed. Originality/value - This paper has presented an innovative approach to risk assessment for distributed project teams. It will be of interest to all parties involved in construction projects, particularly those involved in risk assessment.

Notes: Purpose - This paper aims to investigate how large UK construction organisations manage their knowledge assets. It then proposes STEPS, a mechanism for benchmarking organisation's knowledge management maturity. Design/methodology/approach - This paper adopts a case study methodology using four large UK construction organisations. Findings - The investigation shows that the UK-based companies with international operations are ahead of their national counterparts in their KM implementation efforts. The paper concludes that construction organisations are likely to be successful in implementing KM if appropriate considerations are given to strategy formulation, implementation issues addressed and the link between KM and business strategy is strengthened. Originality/value - The paper proposes a mechanism, entitled STEPS, for benchmarking the maturity of large construction organisations' knowledge management practices. It then uses case study organisations to demonstrate how the STEPS model should be used.

Notes: Purpose - It was the aim of the analysis to draw an overall picture of the trends towards change in the construction industry, thereby forming a foundation for further analysis and appropriate future research. Design/methodology/approach - A multi-method approach was taken to the data collection exercise comprising data collection from published sources, interviews with knowledgeable representatives of the Danish construction industry and direct observation of what was happening on construction projects in Denmark. Findings - The work reported here has shown that there is some benefit in looking at the internal changes in the construction sector from the point of view of the various actors, an approach that has provided contrasting information to the government-sponsored reports. The understanding of the industry as being backward and locked-in does not provide an accurate description of the Danish construction sector. The research has shown a dynamic industry that is changing relatively quickly as it responds to competition and new opportunities. Originality/value - The results of this research are reported and comparisons made with the less positive reports. From this a number of questions are raised about the scope of reports and the focus of future research into the Danish construction sector.

Notes: Purpose - As many construction clients now require their consultants to seek accreditation under ISO 9000:2000, demonstrating customer satisfaction and continual improvement as required by the latest standards will become an important aspect for consultant practices. However, consultants seldom attempt to uncover the expectations of their clients, and this may hinder the improvement when their quality management systems (QMSs) are implemented and hence affect the satisfaction of their clients. The purpose of this paper is to examine the satisfaction of clients to the overall quality performance of engineering consultants in Hong Kong. Design/methodology/approach - To assist engineering consultants to realise the clients' expectation, the expected benefits that construction clients would like to attain through the implementation of ISO 9000-based QMSs and the perceived actual benefits the clients had received are identified through a postal survey. Findings - The results indicate that the actual benefits were generally lower than that expected by the clients. Originality/value - This paper is of value to those wishing to obtain accreditation under ISO 9000:2000 and improve their QMSs with respect to improving the satisfaction of their clients.

Notes: Purpose - There is no automatic link between research and teaching in higher education institutions. Hence, in order to achieve a productive relationship, these two activities need to be linked through effective mechanisms. The research reported in this paper aims at identifying such strategies that are appropriate to a research-based department, in the built environment discipline. Design/methodology/approach - The paper identifies key issues related to this challenge through a literature review, and subsequently verifies those issues through an exploratory case study. Findings - The key finding from the study is that research-based departments are poor at transferring their research knowledge into teaching especially at undergraduate level. Even though there are informal strategies in existence, there is a strong need for formalising them. The paper utilises knowledge transfer and learning literature to fully understand the process. Originality/value - Drawing from the findings, the study develops a framework to enable the knowledge transfer from research into teaching. The framework provides useful guidance for research-based higher education departments in the built environment to transfer research knowledge into teaching in a formal and productive way.

Notes: Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to identify interdependent barriers to the search and selection of new technologies by design engineers at industry, organisation and individual levels. A "proof of concept" HyCon tool is presented to demonstrate the role of information technology design support tools in supporting designers to overcome these inhibitors, in this case for hybrid concrete, by providing immersive and interactive, information-rich environments to explore design solutions. Design/methodology/approach - The HyCon tool was developed through a prototyping methodology encompassing a testing, analysis, design and coding iterative cycle. This was supported by case studies and industry workshops. Findings - The results of a collaborative research project are presented, which describes the HyCon design support tool to promote the understanding and use of hybrid concrete in structural frames. This tool is built around a knowledge creation, application, storage, and retrieval cycle to envision and support the use of this new technology. Originality/value - This paper fulfils an identified need to integrate technology management and design process considerations within the context of an information technology design support tool, and offers a "proof of concept" HyCon tool to demonstrate key issues and potential utilities and applications.

Notes: Purpose - The UK Government has now adopted Private Finance Initiative (PFI) as a major vehicle for the delivery of additional resources to the health sector in order to achieve a greater investment in healthcare facilities. The purpose of this paper is to examine the trends and risk assessment of the PFI in the healthcare sector. Design/methodology/approach - The paper employed secondary data and interviews of key participants in two hospital PFI projects to highlight developments in healthcare PFI and the risk management of hospital projects. Findings - The results show that the use of PFI in the provision of healthcare is increasing in terms of number, capital value and size of projects. What emerged in the healthcare PFI project was a usage of a plethora of risk management techniques, albeit to varying degrees. Experience appeared to be the prime risk assessment technique employed, while risk avoidance was first explored before pricing and allocating any residual risks. "Risk prompts", such as using checklists and risk registers were also useful in the identification of risks. Among all participants, insurance cover and sub-contracting appear to be the most prominent strategies employed for managing out the risks. Originality/value - The negotiations that precede the signing of a healthcare PFI project contract had an impact on the final choice of facilities or their specifications. The two contracting parties sought a balance between an optimal allocation of risks, choice of facilities and project price. Although the risk management techniques being used are generic in nature, there is still no evidence at the moment to show that these are appropriate for PFI projects. It is important that further investigation is undertaken to assess the level of current skills in risk management techniques to deal with PFI projects and the extent to which these techniques are appropriate to tackle complex healthcare PFI projects.

Notes: Purpose - One of the greatest challenges facing any intelligent tutoring system is being able to adapt its behaviour based on the student's current knowledge level, ability, needs and wishes within a course. This paper aims to present a framework of BDI agents within an agent-based intelligent tutoring system (ABITS). Design/methodology/approach - A conceptual discussion approach is taken. Findings - The agents provide the core reasoning ability. In particular, the paper demonstrates how the system sources and refines a particular set of commonly available data. Also shows how these data are incorporated into the agents' belief set so that they may adapt their behaviour to support individual students. Originality/value - Provides a framework that can improve learning procedures for future users of ABITS.

Notes: Purpose - Aims to investigate reactions to online delivery, student perceptions of the rates and depth of participation, and levels of engagement with the learning process in a Western Australian University. Design/methodology/approach - The sample for this study comprised 108 students who were enrolled in both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. An interpretative method was adopted using a case study approach, with groups of internal and external students within one education department. This method was more appropriate than a more quantitative approach. Findings - The results indicated that, while the students were technically competent overall, issues associated with equity and access varied between the groups and also between students enrolled in the same units. The sample had also re-conceptualised the notion of "personal" which moved beyond simple physical proximity to enable the students to create their own community of learners. Originality/value - Addresses the challenge for universities and instructional designers on how to increase the level and depth of interactivity in the online environment to further empower students to become independent learners.

Notes: Purpose - With a philosophical stance in relation to education, this paper aims to discuss different understandings of participation in an information and communication technology (ICT)-supported distance-based teacher education program in Sweden. Design/methodology/approach - The paper is based on early results from two studies, both of which involved a group of teacher-trainees, with one interview and one questionnaire. Findings - The findings indicate that there is a need to be explicit about the ontological assumptions inherent in the intended use of ICT. The conclusion is that the program in question is built on assumptions of realism and that ICT lays the ground for individual participation and works to tell the students apart. Originality/value - Helps in understanding how ICT, and its use, can have different effects on different groups.

Notes: Purpose - This report seeks to address the preliminary findings from a large-scale study of the different ways in which the asynchronous discussion forum (ADF) is being used in the online learning environment. Design/methodology/approach - A conceptual approach is taken. Findings - The structural and functional variation of the ADF is depicted within a framework of institutional and instructional models. Epistemological distinctions are made with respect to the role of the instructor, student requirements, and the assessment of student learning. Originality/value - The paper brings to light fundamental aspects of instructional quality and best practices involving the use of the ADF.

Notes: Purpose - The aim of this work is to implement bootstrapping methods into software tools, based on Java. Design/methodology/approach - This paper presents a category of software e-tools aimed at simulating laboratory works and experiments. Findings - Both students and teaching staff use traditional statistical methods to infer the truth from sample data gathered in laboratory experiments. However, the repeated laboratory experiments mean the consumption of a great deal of substances and reactants. At the same time, there are some ethically motivated reasons to reduce the number of animals used in experimentation. Using a bootstrapping tool and computer power, the experimenter can repeat the original experiment on computer, obtaining pseudo-data as plausible as those obtained from the original experiment. Originality/value - Provides data on implementing bootstrapping methods into software e-tools, simulating laboratory experiments in didactic and research activities.

Notes: Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore both accessibility and usability and examine the inhibitors and methods to evaluate site accessibility. Design techniques which improve end-user access and site interactivity, demonstrated by practical examples, are also studied. Design/methodology/approach - Assesses various web sites for accessibility and usability. Findings - Criteria are determined by which to assess accessibility and usability of web sites. Originality/value - Disability is an important consideration in the development of contemporary web sites. By understanding the needs of all users, not only those with disabilities, organisations may begin the process of advancing both accessibility and usability and integrating these elements into their web development strategies.

Notes: Purpose - This study was conducted to examine how proficiencies, motivation, and training impact the success of faculty development for web-based instruction (WBI) at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the USA. Design/methodology/approach - Data in this mixed-design exploratory study came from responses to an online questionnaire and follow-up interviews. Seven four-year public HBCUs that offered online curricula and provided faculty development opportunities in various forms such as workshops and seminars were examined. Findings - The results of the study indicated that faculty were proficient in basic technologies, but less proficient in more demanding technologies; provision of incentives such as time off to attend training was motivating for WBI participation; and faculty preferred individualized training and workshops. Research limitations/implications - Successful faculty development is as a complex process that involves several integrated components which should be viewed as an intentional, ongoing, and systemic process. Nonetheless, it plays an important role, particularly if programs are available to help faculty link effective delivery in their own teaching and research areas. Practical implications - Meaningful faculty development should be extendable to all instruction, whether in-class, web-based, or web-enhanced. Faculty development opportunities extending beyond the basic uses of technology and seeking connections between curriculum, pedagogy, technology, and administration to technology success is paramount. Originality/value - Feedback from this study can serve as a resource for decision-making about WBI projects. The results of the study should provide data and information that supports the technological mission of institutions.

Notes: Purpose - To provide administrators at an Australian university with data on the feasibility of redirecting under-utilised computer laboratories facilities into a distributed high performance computing facility. Design/methodology/approach - The individual log-in records for each computer located in the computer laboratories at the university were investigated. The log-in data were investigated over a 24-hour/seven day a week period between June 2001 and August 2003. The data were analysed in terms of student access to the computer facilities during "normal" business hours, weekend times, and the semester breaks. Findings - The computer laboratories were hugely under-utilised, with less than 10 per cent of all log-ins occurring during off peak times (7 pm-8 am). Similarly, only weekends were likewise under-utilised. This strongly suggests that this spare computer capacity could be used for alternate means during these times. Research limitations/implications - Future research needs to determine whether the needs of the general computer laboratory user who requires a stable and secure system can coexist with the users of a high performance computer facility where different software and differently configured computer systems are required. Practical implications - This research has the potential for universities to utilise more effectively their computer laboratory resources by allocating under-utilised resources into other projects, such as to a high performance computing facility (HPCF). The cost of these re-allocated resources would be a fraction of the cost compared to a scenario in which a separate dedicated HPCF had to be provided. Originality/value - This paper suggests an alternate utilisation of the spare computing laboratory resources available at many universities.

Notes: Purpose - Aims to outline the issues and debates about a five-week fully online staff development programme piloted in the University of Paisley, Scotland. Design/methodology/approach - A case study was the approach taken. Findings - The programme was designed to introduce lecturers to the theoretical and pedagogical issues surrounding online tutoring, while allowing them to get to grips with the delivery technology. The programme also provided academic staff with the opportunity to explore their attitudes towards using Computer-Mediated Communications (CMC) in their teaching and to reflect on how they could utilise it to enhance their face-to-face teaching activities. Staff found the programme challenging but they also appreciated the opportunity to take part. Some reported feeling much more confident about using the technology. Originality/value - Provides information on a programme designed to introduce face-to-face lecturers to the theoretical and pedagogical issues surrounding online tutoring while allowing them to become familiar with the technology.

Notes: Purpose - To determine what factors influence faculty's decisions to use technology in their classes, what factors prevent them from use, and whether there are differences among faculty by gender, ethnicity, rank, sub-areas, etc. in using instructional technology. Design/methodology/approach - A survey instrument was used to measure attitudes toward technology among accounting educators. The instrument included three separate sections. The first section was devoted to examining factors that could influence faculty's opinion to use technology for teaching. The second section focused on issues that could possibly discourage faculty from use of technology. For these two sections a five-point Likert scale was developed with possible responses ranging from "not important" to "critically important". The third and final section was designed to provide demographic information for classification purposes and testing of the research questions. Findings - The results demonstrate that while accounting faculty value technology greatly and do use it in teaching, significant differences exist in their views toward it. Several factors were found to influence faculty's attitudes toward integration of technology. Conversely, there are other factors that tend to hamper widespread integration. Research limitations/implications - The research was conducted among US accounting faculty, which perhaps limits its usefulness elsewhere or in other disciplines Practical implications - University-sponsored incentive programs and financial support could encourage faculty to further incorporate technology and its various dimensions in their classes. Furthermore, administrators should make the necessary arrangements for faculty to attend training seminars designed to provide them with technical support. Originality/value - This study provides empirical evidence that is useful to both faculty and administrators in integrating technology in education.

Notes: Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore behavioral processes involved in internet technology acceptance and use with a sample in India, a developing country that can potentially benefit from greater participation in the web economy. Design/methodology/approach - User experience was incorporated into the technology acceptance model (TAM) and the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to predict intentions to use the internet as well as self-reported usage. Data were collected from 269 college students with a questionnaire methodology. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was applied to test each theory, as well as user experience, and the variables' interactive effects on the criterion of internet usage intentions. Findings - Both TAM and TPB were supported in their predictions of internet use intentions and usage. Although a main effect for user experience did not emerge, it did significantly interact with components of both theoretical models, suggesting that it has a complex influence on internet user intentions. Research limitations/implications - The self-report criteria are a limitation. Future research should employ more objective measures of internet use. Also, antecedents of internet use might be explored in other developing economies. Practical implications - To encourage internet usage intentions, it appears worthwhile to create in potential users a sense that the technology is useful, easy to use, and that others have expectations regarding its usage. Originality/value - Findings suggest that theories of technology acceptance developed in the Western world may also apply in India.

Notes: Purpose - This paper aims to describe the process and the outcome of a situation in which a professor of anatomy and physiology made supplemental use of a course management system (CMS) to assist with the instruction of 242 students. The purpose of this instructor's use of WebCT was to: increase student autonomy and improve access to information; improve student learning and achievement through the expert use of student "Self-Tests", which are an ungraded, interactive tutoring/quizzing feature; create a more active, student-centered learning environment. Design/methodology/approach - Features that were provided in the WebCT site include: student self-tests are ungraded, but act as a basic form of expert system or informative tutor by providing very specific feedback to answers students selected in this multiple choice experience. The feedback to each question was designed by the instructor, who advised students to use the system as a tutor by clicking on a variety of possible answers to gather new information. Comments on answers were designed to demonstrate to the student the "way of thinking" of a professional in the field. Current grade information for individual students. Schedule-related information on labs, due dates, etc. syllabus lecture audio. Findings - Findings suggest that the implementation of the WebCT self-tests contributed to the substantial increase in student test scores. Research limitations/implications - The implications are very exciting and far-reaching in that - through a fairly unobtrusive course re-design - the use of a CMS yielded a measurable improvement in student achievement. Practical implications - The use of these expert-system-like self-tests, gradebooks, and other CMS features has the potential to improve teaching and learning in all manner of courses, including those that are on-ground, blended, and fully online. Originality/value - This paper uses concrete data to demonstrate how a course management system was used to re-design traditional courses and how this re-design resulted in improved student achievement.

Notes: Purpose - To expose engineering students to using modern technologies, such as multimedia packages, to learn, visualize and solve engineering problems, such as in mechanics dynamics. Design/methodology/approach - A multimedia problem-solving prototype package is developed to help students solve an engineering problem in a step-by-step approach. A learning architecture model for developing an interactive technology-assisted problem solving (TAPS) package for visualizing engineering concepts has been discussed. Findings - The learning model was found to be easy to follow and use and the engineering package can be designed in an easy and visually appealing format. The TAPS package implemented and described in this paper could support and provide students with a better understanding of the basic concepts in an engineering mechanics dynamics course in particular. Research limitations/implications - The evaluation of the TAPS package materials comprised mainly quantitative methods which provided validation of the package approach for the acquisition of procedural skills and related basic concepts. More work is necessary to employ qualitative approaches for more detailed analysis of usability of particular materials of the TAPS package. Originality/value - The main originality of the paper can be seen from the development of the package that guides the student intelligently to solve the selected engineering problem. In addition, important user tools are also included which the user may need to use if necessary.

Notes: Purpose - Sets out to investigate the use of electronic resources by students and faculty of Ashesi University, Ghana, in order to determine the level of use, the type of information accessed and the effectiveness of the library's communication tools for information research. Design/methodology/approach - A questionnaire-based survey was utilized. It consisted of 16 questions to determine level of use, type of information accessed, assessment of library's communication tools, problems encountered when using electronic resources and ways to improve the provision of electronic information in the community. The questionnaire was distributed to all students, faculty and administrative staff in order to reduce the generalization of the results. The students were made up of four year groups categorized as YearGroupA, YearGroupB, YearGroupC, YearGroupD. The questionnaire was pre-tested on six students from three different year groups and some amendments were made. A total of 169 questionnaires were therefore distributed and 141 completed questionnaires were returned, giving an overall response rate of 83 per cent. Survey responses were coded and input into Excel for analysis. Findings - The study found that general computer usage for information access was high because of the University's state-of-the art IT infrastructure. Usage of some internet resources were also very high, whilst the use of scholarly databases was quite low. The low patronage was attributed to inadequate information about the existence of these library resources. The study recommends, among others, the introduction of information competency across the curriculum and/or the introduction of a one-unit course to be taught at all levels and the provision of more PCs on campus. Originality/value - Would be of value to library administrators considering how to determine level of use, type of information accessed, assessment of library's communication tools, problems encountered when using electronic resources and ways to improve the provision of electronic information.

Notes: Purpose - To discuss the considerable impact of video gaming on young players' decision-making and teamworking skills, and the belief that video games provide an invaluable "training camp" for business. Design/methodology/approach - An interview with John Beck, the author of the book Got Game: How a New Generation of Gamers Is Reshaping Business Forever, published by Harvard Business School Press in 2004. Findings - Emphasizes that most businesses are failing to recognize and capitalize on these skills. Predicts the shape and style of leadership in the future and suggests how businesses, and particularly "baby boomer" managers, can best begin to bridge the generation gap to unlock and build on the unprecedented strategic abilities of new, young employees. Originality/value - Offers the view that business and management training should recognize the skills and abilities of the gamer generation.

Notes: Purpose - Aims to examine a negotiation-oriented and partly web-based game "Surfing Global Change" (SGC) invented by the author based on didactics of self-managed learning and successfully implemented in WebCT. Design/methodology/approach - Along three historic generations of web-based teaching (WBT), the key functionalities of any platform (content, discussion and evaluation) are perceived to be utilized in a characteristic way depending on the prevalent didactic concepts. The changing roles of teacher and students are highlighted using the example of SGC Level 3, where students assess one another's competence, each trying to outdo the others in controversial arguments Findings - The outlay of Surfing Global Change aims at accomplishing sustainable results for complex themes. Thus SGC sets out to weigh out competition vs consensus, self-study vs team work, emphasizing one's own standpoint vs readiness to compromise, differentiation into details vs integration into a whole. SGC hence wants to mirror professional realities along five interactive game levels: learn content and pass quizzes; write and reflect a personal standpoint; win with a team in a competitive discussion; negotiate a complex consensus between teams; integrate views when recognizing and analyzing global long-term trends. Research limitations/implications - Some interactive assessment functionalities are still missing in current platforms. Practical implications - In advanced university courses the negotiation game SGC was repeatedly used as a procedural shell for interdisciplinary themes. Originality/value - The paper shows that a "communicative space" is created by utilising mainstream web platform technology, capable of transposing visions of "progressive education". The definition of three generations of WBT allows for a functional differentiation in the styles of using web-based tools.

Notes: Purpose - This study seeks to describe the planning and implementation in Finland of a campus-wide management information system using a rigorous planning methodology. Design/methodology/approach - The structure of the management information system is planned on the basis of the management process, where strategic management and the balanced scorecard approach have important roles. Findings - The balanced scorecard approach is useful not only in accomplishing the objectives, measures and targets of the institutional strategy but also in the planning of the management information system. Practical implications - The findings of the study are useful for educational administrators, project managers, software developers and usability specialists. Originality/value - This study contributes to the knowledge and practice of campus-wide information systems applying the balanced scorecard approach as a basis for the management information system to translate the strategy into action.

Notes: Purpose - This paper aims to alert readers to issues that may be overlooked in assessing fundamental changes in the post-secondary arena. Design/methodology/approach - Posits that the internet changes the nature of the university as fundamentally as one saw when the Bible was published on the movable type press. Findings - Open access courses and journals put knowledge into the Socratic Agora, changing the roles of faculty as both educators and researchers. Since knowledge is available with the click of a mouse, the linear Kindergarten to Bachelor's curriculum has been deconstructed and integrated with work and play since age is not a barrier to access. Also, few may opt for a hand-crafted, packaged, on-campus experience. As the current faculty, cyber immigrants, retires, the emerging cyber natives will form self-organizing communities of interest/practice and the function of the university must be reinvented. Originality/value - The paper is of value to administrators, policy analysts, researchers in the arena of education, funding agencies, foundations and politicians involved with educational change.

Notes: Purpose - Seeks to outline the impact of the information society on the institutional changes taking place in the public sector. Design/methodology/approach - A veteran of government outlines the impact of the information society on the institutional changes taking place in the public sector. Drawing on his extensive experience and the literature, he provides creative insights into the themes of this special issue. Findings - E-government may prove useful in managing routine tasks, he agrees, but the highly complex, interpersonal nature of government places severe limits on the extent to which public work can be automated. With government outsourcing much of its work to private firms, and corporations required to serve the public interest, there is also a marked overlap of the public versus private domains. The old hierarchies of the past are being fragmented by information systems and the need to involve people in managing complexity, leading to "uncentralized" systems in which initiative and creativity must be exercised at all levels. And the mismatch between geographic boundaries and the criss-crossing nature of real problems creates confusion over how governments should be organized. Originality/value - All of these trends, the author notes, pose paradoxes that mark the distinctive features of government today.

Notes: Purpose - Aims to review institutional change in health care and to look for opportunities in what the author sees as a coming crisis. Design/methodology/approach - A consultant on health-care systems reviews the forces driving transformation in medicine, including new technologies, telemedicine, and prevention. Findings - Finds forces driving transformation in medicine limited in addressing the crisis of spiraling cost and mediocre, overly complex treatment. Originality/value - Concludes that a dramatic shift in perspective is coming as baby boomers are forced to face the inevitability of death in positive terms.

Notes: Purpose - To offer seven guides to institutional change. Design/methodology/approach - The Director of the Office of Force Transformation draws on his experience in transforming the US military to offer seven guides to institutional change. Findings - The seven guides are as follows: some major changes are inevitable and should be noted as such; having a good forecast ahead of others is of little use if they are not ready to acknowledge it; future trends must rely on data-free research to some extent; it is possible to use the media for your purposes by focusing on pivotal ideas they like to promulgate; to change institutions requires changing their culture, which in turn requires changing carefully selected values and symbols; transformation demands not only creative imagination but the hard work of implementation; and look for those crucial tipping points when achieving a critical mass can swing dramatic changes quickly. Originality/value - Offers an experience-based insight into the world of organizational transformation.

Notes: Purpose - To provide a futures-oriented perspective on institutional change. Design/methodology/approach - Presents methods and case studies of attempts to engage in institutional change. An international authority on future studies draws on his field to provide a futures-oriented perspective on institutional change. This perspective includes the use of futures tools, strategy, capacity building, the central role of memes, emergence of self-organization, and the underlying role of meaning and symbols. Five case studies are used to illustrate these principles. Findings - One company was struggling over its governing choice of institutional metaphor: the tortoise versus the hare. Another was caught up in treating hackers as good versus evil, but realized that they needed new concepts to grasp the frontier of cyberspace. A third case involved moving from developing a monolithic plan to forming self-organizing groups of stakeholders that actually created a collective new vision. A city council was able to recognize the need to shift toward an innovative organizational structure. The final case challenged a group of mayors to adopt a "rainforest" model of cities that is inclusive, green, human-centered. Originality/value - Mapping, understanding and transforming the "myths" discussed in this paper are crucial for the move from individual to organization to institutional change.

Notes: Purpose - To describe examples of institutional change to help others appreciate the difficult but crucial nature of this process. Design/methodology/approach - A seasoned consultant describes, using frank, first-hand account, examples of institutional change. Findings - Shows how institutional change is often forced on organizations by shifting external forces that render old niches obsolete. Also shows the difficulty in mobilizing to confront the need for serious change, and how leadership transitions are often a central part of the change process. Originality/value - The author points to three main lessons from this case study. Institutional change may be arduous, but it can also leave people feeling amazed at how long they tolerated the old system. The author also notes that institutional change is a natural process, proceeding with a life all its own. The author concludes with some thoughts on how to initiate this process when an organization appears ready.

Notes: Purpose - Seeks to explores the idea of career-focused, vocational higher education and give an overview of the current offerings of degrees, programs and majors that focus on games, simulations and interactive media. Design/methodology/approach - Provides an overview of educational courses supplied by various institutions which are capitalising on student and industry demand by offering officially accredited degrees in the study of games. Findings - Students benefit most from the developing educational trend, and it makes economic sense for institutions to update their offerings to allow pedagogy to improve as the concept of what is involved in higher education expands. Originality/value - Explores specifically how institutions are capitalizing on student and industry demand by offering officially accredited degrees in the study of games.

Notes: Purpose - A growing number of educators are turning to games for a model of next-generation learning environments. To date, there has been a lack of critical inquiry into what kind of learning occurs through game play, and how games get learned by their players. Aims to plug this gap Design/methodology/approach - This paper is a critical study of Viewtiful Joe, a cult-classic sidescrolling 2D fighting game for the Nintendo Gamecube. Noted for its difficulty, Viewtiful Joe is an interesting case because, as a fighting game, it embodies many of the principles fundamental to the medium, most of which are missed by educators illiterate regarding the medium. It shows the cognitive complexity that goes into a fighting game, as well as a cutting-edge example of how to manage that complexity. Far from button-mashing, success in Viewtiful Joe requires the player to learn to read the game symbol systems, understand Viewtiful Joe's capacities, and see potential interchanges between them. Findings - The paper analyzes how Viewtiful Joe is structured to balance flow and novelty, encourage players both to develop new skills and to master those they have. Finally, the paper examines how learning occurs through game play as an activity system, using player-generated FAQs to analyze how gamers represent their practice and suggest theories of expert game practice. Originality/value - Central to this paper is the argument that playing Viewtiful Joe is a performative act, where declarative knowledge, while clearly present for players, is secondary to players' ability to see and do in real-time.

Notes: Purpose - Proposes to argue that current assumptions about media effects in videogames fail to take into account the variety of messages and potential effects embedded in games. Design/methodology/approach - A survey of the game "Grand Theft Auto III" and a short, illustrative, review of "videogames as learning" perspectives. Findings - Even a game such as "Grand Theft Auto III", pilloried for its anti-social messages and assumed negative behavioral effects, reveals a significant number of positive social messages. Research limitations/implications - This paper only illustrates the conflicting nature of media effects assumptions - both positive and negative. It does not attempt to provide an exhaustive review of or context for either the subject-matter or the research area. Practical implications - The perspective presented provides a warning to educators intent on assuming positive learning benefits (effects) of the videogame medium just as it argues against a simple reading of videogames as negative media by groups seeking to censor games. Originality/value - This is the first paper to identify the underlying assumptions of both the "videogames as learning" and the "videogames as social danger" camps as both sharing the same conceptual framework.

Notes: Purpose - Aims to determine how multiple play styles and use of "outside" materials can be successfully taken into account when designing user experiences in educational digital games. Design/methodology/approach - This research draws on over two dozen qualitative interviews and an open-ended survey of an additional 50 game players with a wide range of gameplay experience. Findings - Findings suggest that players have different skill sets, and different beliefs about what constitutes acceptable and unacceptable help in a variety of games. These findings are analyzed to argue for different ways to enhance the educational gaming experience for players. Research limitations/implications - As with all qualitative research, the relatively small sample size makes it difficult to draw broad generalizations from the data. However, the research does suggest that there are many ways to play games, that players use many items and information "outside" the game to help them play or enhance their experience, and such things can be fruitfully used to improve educational games. Practical implications - Designers of educational games should take into account the materials surrounding games, such as walkthroughs and codes, as ways to enhance the game and educational experience, rather than detract from them. Originality/value - Very little research has been done examining how players perceive items and information related to game play, as well as how they use such things. This research investigates that area and relates the knowledge to ways to improve educational games, and education.

Notes: Purpose - Seeks to exemplify and discuss how students' use of weblogs can prepare them for a networked world where writing has consequences outside grades. Design/methodology/approach - Experiences using weblogs with university students are critically discussed with reference to related theoretical and practice-based work. Findings - While many students were wary at first, the experience of writing in public provided an important learning opportunity, and many of the most skeptical became enthusiastic and proficient webloggers during the course of the semester. Research limitations/implications - The empirical data are from a single course and therefore limited. Practical implications - Students should practice writing in public and on the network, yet ethical issues must be considered. Originality/value - An increasing number of teachers and professors are using weblogs with students. In addition to a critical discussion of the ethics and pedagogical value of weblogging, this paper gives educators specific advice on how to encourage students to use their weblogs actively and productively.

Notes: Purpose - Seeks to argue that procedural literacy, of which programming is a part, is critically important for new media scholars and practitioners and that its opposite, procedural illiteracy, leaves one fundamentally unable to grapple with the essence of computational media. Design/methodology/approach - This paper looks at one of the earliest historical calls for universal procedural literacy, explores how games can serve as an ideal object around which to organize a procedural literacy curriculum, and describes a graduate course developed at Georgia Tech, Computation as an Expressive Medium, designed to be a first course in procedural literacy for new media practitioners. Findings - To achieve a broader and more profound procedural literacy will require developing an extended curriculum that starts in elementary school and continues through college. Encountering procedurality for the first time in a graduate level course is like a first language course in which students are asked to learn the grammar and vocabulary, read and comment on literature, and write short stories, all in one semester; one's own students would certainly agree that this is a challenging proposition. Originality/value - New media scholars and practitioners, including game designers and game studies scholars, may assume that the "mere" technical details of code can be safely bracketed out of the consideration of the artifact. Contrary to this view, it is argued that procedural literacy, of which programming is a part, is critically important for new media scholars and practitioners and that its opposite, procedural illiteracy, leaves one fundamentally unable to grapple with the essence of computational media.

Notes: Purpose - Since nonprofits operate without the feedback provided by profits and losses, their need for a vision is acute. Design/methodology/approach - McKinsey & Company consultants report on their experience facilitating vision development in nonprofits. They extrapolate best practices. Findings - Most effective visions comprise a compelling, easy-to-understand description of how the nonprofit would like the world to change in the next three-to-five years, what role the organization will play in that change, and how the nonprofit will measure the success of its role. Research limitations/implications - The sample of cases described is small. Surveying a larger sample of nonprofit leaders to ask whether their vision has had positive results would provide valuable insight. Practical implications - Developing a vision can keep an organization focused, increase the ease of performance measurement, help track successes and identify early warning signs of ineffective programs. Clear visions also highlight gaps in talent, funds, or facilities. Finally, staff members operating with the help of a clear vision often are more efficient and happier. Originality/value - The experience of one of the world's foremost consulting firms with developing nonprofit organizations' vision is an example of best practice.

Notes: Purpose - Knowing which of the hundreds of elements that comprise a consumer's purchasing decision are the most important is essential if leaders are to wisely allocate resources and support actions that will have an expedient impact on growth. Design/methodology/approach - IBM Consulting is testing consumer decision process (CDP) modeling in a variety of industries. Findings - A new tool, CDP modeling, offers companies a combination of traditional market research and unique quantitative modeling can take the guesswork out of why consumers do or do not buy. Research limitations/implications - Comparative testing with other consumer decision research tools needs to be done. Practical implications - Achieving the benefits of CDP requires starting with strategic issues like competitive gaps, selecting consumer decisions that provide the best information for this issue, like why consumers choose a particular retailer, and implementing changes based on insights discovered. Originality/value - Armed with insights based on CDP modeling that better explain why consumers choose certain products, channels and competitors over others, companies can market existing products more effectively than their rivals and take market share from them.

Notes: Purpose - The authors introduce an experience-based approach offering a comprehensive new way of developing leaders. It knits together on-the-job experience, life experience, and specific skill development, rather than presenting employees with a smorgasbord of classes and programs that is tenuously linked (if it is linked at all) to career development, succession planning, or business objectives. Design/methodology/approach - The authors base their conclusions on previous Accenture research and their observations of leadership technology as used by organizations. Findings - Advances in learning models, information technology, and leadership research strongly suggest that new approaches like experience-based learning hold strong promise in helping companies meet the high performance challenge. Research limitations/implications - The experience-based approach bridges the gap between practice and performance through creative uses of information and communication technology. Research to validate and show the impact of the experience-based approach compared to various alternatives would be welcome. Practical implications - The experience-based method can be adapted to the developmental needs and opportunities of leaders and potential leaders at all stages of their careers, and also to the changing needs of organizations operating in complex and uncertain environments. The goal of experience-based leadership development is to equip employees to mine their experiences - continuously and intensively - for insight into what it takes to lead, what it takes to grow as a leader, and what it takes to cultivate the leader in others (peers and superiors as well as subordinates). Originality/value - Today's challenge for organizations is to grow more leaders over a larger terrain and faster than ever before. Article explains how a program that uses learning models, information technology, and leadership research to link experience and leadership training can help companies produce higher quality leaders more efficiently.

Notes: Purpose - Two completely different views on data distribution - the lockbox versus the chatty network - pose a dilemma that strategic planners must address and resolve. How do organizations make sense of conflicting possibilities for the future of information networks? Design/methodology/approach - Recently the author participated in a discussion with privacy and security professionals attending an annual privacy and security conference titled "Seeking the middle path." They explored four scenarios for the future of privacy and security. Findings - The experts explored a future called Aikido - a scenario where the value proposition of networking takes precedence over privacy. Some of the elements of this scenario can be discerned from examining the offerings of companies that operate on the Internet today. Research limitations/implications - Other companies need to explore these four scenarios in the light of their own security and privacy concerns as well as the possibilities of developing network business models. Practical implications - The next step for CEOs struggling with issues of privacy and security: figure out the connection between sense making (expanding your view of new possibilities like networks and reperceiving what they mean to the industry and your organization) and business judgment (making concrete decisions that exploit that knowledge). Originality/value - The author introduces a scenario called Aikido - a possible future where the value proposition of networking takes precedence over privacy. He shows how several existing companies are pioneering this value proposition.

Notes: Purpose - The past dozen years in business have witnessed an explosion in the use of management tools and techniques. Keeping up with the tools and deciding which ones to use have become an essential part of every executive's responsibilities. Design/methodology/approach - In 1993, Bain & Company launched a multiyear research project to get the facts about management tool use. Over 12 years Bain assembled a global database of more than 7,000 respondents, including 960 this year. They supplement the survey with follow-up interviews to probe the specifics of tool use in individual companies. Findings - This year, the news is that executives are using more tools for acquiring customers, keeping them, learning more about what they want, and then satisfying and delighting them. They know they need tools to innovate, but they are not entirely sure how to go about it. To free up cash, they are outsourcing like crazy. And they are relying on information technology to run their businesses more efficiently. Research limitations/implications - This survey formerly was done annually and now is taken every other year. Practical implications - Managers who promote tool fads undermine employees' confidence that they can create the change that is needed. Executives are better served by championing realistic strategic directions - and viewing the specific tools they use to get there as subordinate to the strategy. Originality/value - Without satisfaction and usage data from companies that have adopted management tools, choosing and using them becomes a risky and potentially expensive gamble.

Notes: Purpose - Describes how The F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College features creativity as one of the early and essential components of its innovative two-year MBA program. Design/methodology/approach - Article reports on the indicators that the program is a success. Findings - For corporations seeking creativity in new hires, MBA graduates who have completed the "Creativity stream" offer increased confidence in their ability to express themselves creatively; willingness to accept ambiguity and the uncertainty of process as part of discovery; openness to alternatives ways of seeing a problem, solution, or scenario; and renewed trust in themselves and their potential as creative thinkers. Research limitations/implications - Employer survey results suggest that there is a link between Babson MBAs' success at producing more and better creative solutions on the job and their exposure to creative process in the "Creativity stream". Practical implications - There is only limited evidence that arts experiences as part of corporate creativity training are noticeably beneficial, but Unilever's management contends that such training leads to changed perceptions and better decisions. Originality/value - Creativity training can help employees and their managers develop new approaches to resolving corporate challenges.

Notes: Purpose - Through research and first-hand experience with more than one hundred nonprofit mergers in the past decade, the firm has developed a variety of tools to help nonprofit organizations determine whether to undertake merger negotiations, how to facilitate these negotiations, and how to integrate organizations post-merger. Design/methodology/approach - The authors have conducted more than 100 nonprofit mergers. They also interviewed board members and CEOs of nonprofits that have merged. Findings - The critical differences between mergers in for-profit and nonprofit sectors occur in the negotiations phase, which is where board members often play a key role. Research limitations/implications - This article addresses the merger process, not the business case. More research is needed on the economic benefits of nonprofit mergers. Practical implications - The article identifies best practices for nonprofit mergers. Originality/value - This article alerts volunteer board members from the for-profit sector to the essential differences they face facilitating mergers in the nonprofit sector and provides them with a step-by-step guide to success.