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Academic Research (academic + research)
Selected AbstractsWhat is Changing in Academic Research?EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATION, Issue 2 2006Futures Scenarios, Trends What is changing in academic research? What has changed over the past decades and what might change in the coming ones? Could the research mission of universities be carried out in slightly or radically different ways in the medium term? This article aims to cast light on the trends and driving forces that can be observed in academic research over the past two decades in the OECD area. It gives an outlook of the main current characteristics of academic research at a macro level in terms of funding and activities in comparison with research performed by other sectors. It also highlights future challenges and sketches a few possible futures scenarios in a 20-year time frame. [source] The Financial Crisis and Academic ResearchGERMAN RESEARCH, Issue 3 2008Christine Windbichler Prof. Dr. The disaster in the financial markets is of concern not only to economists , science, in all its diversity, is challenged as well [source] European Monetary Union: the dark sides of a major successECONOMIC POLICY, Issue 46 2006Charles Wyplosz SUMMARY European monetary union THE DARK SIDES OF A MAJOR SUCCESS This paper revisits the debates that have surrounded the launch of a unique experience: the adoption of a common currency among developed countries. A striking aspect of this history is that, pressed by what they correctly identified as a window of opportunity, policy-makers crafted this complex project in a short period of time, largely eschewing inputs from the academic profession. Academic research, in turn, developed its own views, which turned out to be critical of some ley orientations, yet it generally recognizes that, in the end, the launch of the euro has been a major success. Over time, many of the academic criticisms have been taken on board, but not yet fully. The monetary strategy has been slightly amended, but it remains the subject of disagreements between the European Central Bank and monetary economists. Events have confirmed that the Stability and Growth Pact was ill-designed; its reformulation goes some way to address some of the concerns but not all of them. Its ability to deliver fiscal discipline is in doubt. Another look at the experiment highlights the gap between the principles laid out by those who designed the monetary union and the pragmatism that has prevailed thereafter. The resulting tension between principles and actions sometimes obscures the fact that the Eurosystem has acted wisely so far. The widespread perception that monetary policy is not as transparent as it should be and suffers from a lack of adequate democratic accountability is not just annoying. The general public, including politicians, sometimes blames the Eurosystem for Europe's poor growth performance since the adoption of the euro. This is unfair and could dangerously undermine the monetary union if the Eurosystem were to become the scapegoat for the slow and incomplete reforms that are needed to revigorate the euro area's economies. , Charles Wyplosz [source] The Market, the Firm, and the Economics ProfessionAMERICAN JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND SOCIOLOGY, Issue 5 2009Daniel Sutter The mathematical and statistical complexity of economic research increased remarkably over the past century. While criticisms of the trend abound, the "wisdom of crowds" argument creates a presumption that the profession's acceptance of increasing mathematical sophistication is a net improvement. I provide a contrasting "market failure" argument for the excessive mathematization of economics. Academic research is not a cash-based economy, and this limits economists' ability to contract for assistance with technical research. Consequently, production of mathematical and statistical research must use the firm,the department,instead of the market. This alters the composition of the faculty and ultimately the economics curriculum, and the resulting level of sophistication may be greater than optimal. [source] Multiple Discourses on Crisis: Farm, Agricultural, and Rural Policy ImplicationsCANADIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 4 2007Kenneth C. Bessant The terms farm crisis, agricultural crisis, and rural crisis have been invoked in political and policy discourse to characterize significant disruptions in or threats to rural,farm livelihoods. Although these expressions reflect a general sense of concern over the state of agriculture and rural existence, they lack clear and concise meaning. Academic research and policy development are obfuscated by the lack of definitional consensus or, at minimum, some shared understanding of the core aspects of farm-related crisis. Much of the debate revolves around four main themes: farm financial difficulties (low or unstable incomes, indebtedness, and increasing reliance on nonfarm revenue), structural changes in agriculture (increasing scale, concentration, and consolidation), rural livelihoods (dwindling communities, institutions, and services), and international dimensions (market fluctuations, trade regulations, and disputes). The examination of these interrelated levels of analysis offers a valuable framework for interpreting the multifold contexts, meanings, and responses to crisis. This paper explores varied representations of farm,agricultural crisis, with particular emphasis on the presumed causes (or precipitating factors), conditions, and related policies and programs. Les expressions , crise agricole , et , crise rurale , sont évoquées dans le discours politique pour caractériser des perturbations ou des menaces importantes aux moyens de subsistance en milieu rural et agricole. Bien que ces expressions traduisent certaines inquiétudes concernant la situation des secteurs agricole et rural, leur signification manque de clarté et de concision. Les chercheurs universitaires et les élaborateurs de politiques sont déconcertés par le manque de consensus définitionnel ou, du moins, par le manque de vision commune des aspects fondamentaux de la crise agricole. Une grande partie du débat tourne autour de quatre thèmes principaux: les difficultés financières de l'exploitation agricole (revenu faible ou instable, endettement et dépendance accrue aux revenus non agricoles); les changements structurels dans le secteur agricole (augmentation de l'échelle de production, concentration et regroupement); les moyens de subsistance en milieu rural (diminution du nombre de collectivités, d'institutions et de services); les dimensions internationales (fluctuations du marché, règlements concernant les échanges commerciaux, différends). L'examen de ces niveaux d'analyse interreliés offre un outil précieux pour interpréter les multiples contextes, significations et réactions aux crises. Le présent article analyse les diverses représentations de la crise dans le secteur agricole et se penche particulièrement sur les causes présumées (ou facteurs déclenchants), les conditions ainsi que les politiques et programmes connexes. [source] Access to Land, Rural Development and Public Action: The When and the HowDEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 1 2009Pablo Bandeira After being marginalised in the 1980s, land-reform policies came back to national and international development agendas during the 1990s, resulting in a revival of academic research on the subject. This article reviews the empirical literature on access to land, rural development and public action for evidence on when and how the state should intervene in the allocation of rural land. The review suggests that positive impacts are obtained if, and only if, public actions on the allocation of land are carried out under certain conditions and in a certain way. The article ends by highlighting the need to elaborate empirical models that take into consideration opportunity costs and interactions, and that integrate individual responses with aggregate effects. [source] ,Stockholm syndrome': psychiatric diagnosis or urban myth?ACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 1 2008M. Namnyak Objective:, ,Stockholm syndrome' is a term used to describe the positive bond some kidnap victims develop with their captor. High-profile cases are reported by the media although the diagnosis is not described in any international classification system. Here we review the evidence base on ,Stockholm syndrome'. Method:, Databases (PubMED, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL) were systematically searched. We compared features of cases widely reported in the English language media to identify common themes which may form a recognizable syndrome. Results:, We identified 12 papers that met inclusion criteria. The existing literature consists mostly of case reports; furthermore there is ambiguity in the use of the term. No validated diagnostic criteria have been described. Four common features were found between the five cases studied. Conclusion:, There is little published academic research on ,Stockholm syndrome' although study of media reports reveals similarities between well publicized cases. This may be due to reporting and publication bias. [source] The Limits to Globalization Theory: A Geographic Perspective on Global Economic Change,ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, Issue 3 2002Henry Wai-chung Yeung Abstract: The nature of globalization and global economic change has been a subject of immense academic research during the past two decades. The Janus face of globalization, however, continues to obfuscate our understanding of its complex processes and alleged geographic outcomes. In this article, I theorize on the indispensable role of geography in conceptualizing economic globalization. I argue that economic globalization is an inherently geographic phenomenon in relation to the transcendence and switchability of geographic scales and discursive practices as sociospatial constructions. Given its complex spatiality, economic globalization is more a phenomenon in need of explanations than a universal cause of empirically observable outcomes in the so-called globalization theory. To illustrate my theoretical claims, I analyze the complex interrelationships between globalization processes and the recent Asian economic crisis. Some implications for future globalization research in geography are offered. [source] Why Study Large Projects?EUROPEAN FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2004An Introduction to Research on Project Finance G32; G34; L22; G31 Abstract Despite the fact that more than $200 billion of capital investment was financed through project companies in 2001, an amount that grew at a compound annual rate of almost 20% during the 1990s, there has been very little academic research on project finance. The purpose of this article is to explain why project finance in general and why large projects in particular merit separate academic research and instruction. In short, there are significant opportunities to study the relationship among structural attributes (i.e., high leverage, contractual details, and concentrated equity ownership), managerial incentives, and asset values, as well as improve current practice in this rapidly growing field of finance. [source] What is Changing in Academic Research?EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATION, Issue 2 2006Futures Scenarios, Trends What is changing in academic research? What has changed over the past decades and what might change in the coming ones? Could the research mission of universities be carried out in slightly or radically different ways in the medium term? This article aims to cast light on the trends and driving forces that can be observed in academic research over the past two decades in the OECD area. It gives an outlook of the main current characteristics of academic research at a macro level in terms of funding and activities in comparison with research performed by other sectors. It also highlights future challenges and sketches a few possible futures scenarios in a 20-year time frame. [source] Invited review: the evolution of antidepressant mechanismsFUNDAMENTAL & CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY, Issue 1 2004D.A. Slattery Abstract Present antidepressants are all descendents of the serendipitous findings in the 1950s that the monoamine oxidase inhibitor iproniazid and the tricyclic antidepressant imipramine were effective antidepressants. The identification of their mechanism of action, and those of reserpine and amphetamine, in the 1960s, led to the monoamine theories of depression being postulated; first, with noradrenaline then 5-hydroxytryptamine being considered the more important amine. These monoamine theories of depression predominated both industrial and academic research for four decades. Recently, in attempts to design new drugs with faster onsets of action and more universal therapeutic action, downstream alterations common to current antidepressants are being examined as potential antidepressants. Additionally, the use of animal models has identified a number of novel targets some of which have been subjected to clinical trials in humans. However, monoamine antidepressants remain the best current medications and it may be some time before they are dislodged as the market leaders. [source] Safety pharmacology in the nonclinical assessment of new medicinal products: definition, place, interest and difficultiesFUNDAMENTAL & CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY, Issue 2 2002Jean-Roger Claude Until the year 2000 there was no internationally-accepted definition for the terms used in nonclinical pharmacology (primary, secondary pharmacodynamics, discovery, safety pharmacology, etc). Now, after ICH5 (San Diego, November 2000), a harmonisation of the nomenclature is adopted: safety pharmacology is defined as the studies that investigate the potential undesirable pharmacodynamic effects of a medicinal product on physiological functions in relationship to exposure. Consequently, safety pharmacology studies are a part of the safety assessment for a new product, in the same way than toxicological studies, and a basic battery of tests (core battery) has to be conducted prior to the first administration to humans. Safety pharmacology studies are of peculiar interest: they show a good predictive potential for humans, they do not require a large number of laboratory animals, long-term studies, large amount of products and they are more dynamic and more flexible than toxicological studies. Nevertheless, many difficulties occur for the implementation in industry, related to practical and/or scientific problems: location of the studies, routine activity for the pharmacologists, sometimes difficulties in the relationship between toxicologists and pharmacologists, adaptation to the GLP requirements, elaboration of an early relevant scientific programme, necessity to go to contract-labs or to academic research for unusual or for up to date methods, etc. To conclude, a retrospective timetable of the regulatory evolution for the last 10 years will be provided, as an illustration of the worldwide progress in the concept of `harmonisation' for the assessment of new medicinal products. [source] ,The Worst Thing is the Screwing' (1): Consumption and the Management of Identity in Sex WorkGENDER, WORK & ORGANISATION, Issue 2 2000Joanna Brewis This paper reviews qualitative data from academic research into prostitution, accounts from prostitutes themselves in the UK and Australia, and data from one of the authors' own research in New South Wales to analyse the ways in which female sex workers negotiate and construct their sense of themselves. This analysis is informed by the suggestion that, in the act of commercial sex, the prostitute's own body is being consumed by the client, which can be seen to place certain pressures on the relationship between sex workers' professional and personal identities. Our review suggests that individual workers' tactics for managing the contradictions of working as a prostitute and preserving self-esteem are both similar and different, even within two broadly culturally commensurable contexts, and, moreover, that not all prostitutes necessarily want to maintain a strict divide between work sex and non-work sex in every encounter. Moreover, even for those who do, the trials of maintaining the divide are considerable, as is the permeability of boundaries between work and intimate sex. [source] Valuation-based accounting research: Implications for financial reporting and opportunities for future researchACCOUNTING & FINANCE, Issue 1 2000Mary E. Barth This paper discusses the relation between financial reporting research and practice, particularly standard setters. Many studies addressing financial reporting issues use a valuation approach. The paper describes alternative approaches to valuation research and summarises the findings relating to four major current issues: fair value accounting for financial, tangible, and intangible assets, cash flows versus accruals, recognition versus disclosure, and international harmonisation of accounting standards. The summaries include identifying what standard setters and others would like to learn from research, what we have learned, and what is left to learn. The paper concludes with observations about future financial reporting academic research. [source] Performance comparison between fixed length switching and variable length switchingINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, Issue 5 2008Chengchen Hu Abstract Fixed length switching (FLS) and variable length switching (VLS) are two main types of switching architecture in high-speed input-queued switches. FLS is based on a cell-by-cell scheduling algorithm, while VLS operates on the variable packet granularity. This paper aims to make a comprehensive comparison between these two switching modes to guide the industrial design and academic research. We use stochastic models, Petri net models, analysis and simulations to investigate various performance measures of interest. Average packet latency, bandwidth utilization, segmentation and reassembly overhead, as well as packet loss are the identified key parameters that influence the outcome of the comparison. The results achieved in this paper are twofold. On one hand, it is shown that FLS enables smaller packet loss and lower packet delay in case of a short packet. On the other hand, VLS favors better bandwidth utilization, reduced implementation complexity and lower average packet delay. We recommend VLS in the conclusion since its disadvantages can be compensated by some methods, while the problems in FLS are difficult to be solved. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The Importance of Role Models and Demographic Context for Senior Women's Work Identity DevelopmentINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT REVIEWS, Issue 3 2010Ruth H.V. Sealy The lack of senior female role models continues to be cited as a key barrier to women's career success. Yet there is little academic research into the gendered aspects of role modelling in organizations, or the utility of role models at a senior level. The paper starts with a review of papers examining the construction of role models in organizational settings. This leads to the inclusion of two related areas , organizational demographics as the contextual factor affecting the availability of role models and how they are perceived, and work identity formation as a possible key explanatory factor behind the link between the lack of senior female role models and the lack of career progression to top organizational levels. The literature looking at social theories of identity formation is then considered from a gender perspective. The key gaps identified are that while the behavioural value of role models has been well documented, a better understanding is needed of how gender and organizational demography influence the role modelling process. Importantly, the symbolic value and possibly other values of female role models in the identity construction of senior women require further in-depth investigation. Finally, this review calls for a more integrated approach to the study of role models and work identity formation, pulling together literatures on organizational demography, the cognitive construal of role models and their importance for successful work identity formation in senior women. [source] Employee performance management across borders: A review of relevant academic literatureINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT REVIEWS, Issue 2 2009Lisbeth Claus The purpose of this paper is to survey the emerging academic literature on employee performance management (PM) from an international perspective. The primary information source was a search of electronic databases. Two criteria were used to determine which studies to include in the literature survey: (1) those published in an English-language blind refereed academic journal, and (2) those focused on employee PM or performance appraisal (PA) from an international/global perspective. Sixty-four articles, published between 1985 and 2005, met the criteria. A preliminary scheme was developed for classifying the existing academic research into conceptual and empirical articles. The empirical articles were further classified by their foci and themes. In addition to classifying the articles, the paper presents a summary of what can be learned from the major findings of the empirical studies. The major conclusion is that the academic literature on cross-border PM is relatively atheoretical and exploratory in nature and that the design and substance of the research studies are weak. With regard to themes, there are a number of foci in the literature with only scant attention paid to the central concern with the PM of expatriates as expressed by firms. The empirical articles look at the disparate components of PA and are interested mainly in cultural differences as an intervening variable. Several recommendations are presented for researchers to help focus future research on cross-border PM. [source] Sales force automation: review, critique, research agendaINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT REVIEWS, Issue 4 2006Francis Buttle We review and critique the research literature on sales force automation (SFA). SFA involves the application of information technology to support the sales function. SFA software provides functionality that helps companies manage sales pipelines, track contacts and configure products, inter alia. The paper is organized into four main sections. First, we review the SFA environment, identifying definitions, vendor classifications and software attributes. We then move to a review and classification of the academic research that has been published on SFA. We find that the entire body of SFA knowledge attempts to answer just four questions: Why do organizations adopt SFA? What are the organizational impacts of SFA? What accounts for the success or failure of SFA projects? What accounts for variance in salesperson adoption of SFA? We then critique this body of knowledge on a number of theoretical and methodological grounds, and finally propose a research agenda for the future. [source] The perceived effects of holiday-taking upon the health and wellbeing of patients treated for cancerINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM RESEARCH, Issue 3 2003Philippa Hunter-Jones Abstract The role that holidays play within health and wellbeing has been addressed infrequently within academic research. Much of the work that does exist has tended to focus upon illnesses or health complaints arising as a consequence of travel. Any beneficial health effects of travel largely have been neglected. This paper reports the empirical findings of a qualitative study conducted to determine the perceived effects of holiday-taking upon the health and wellbeing of a group of cancer patients, a population ignored by the tourism community. Four perceived effects are identified relating to personal health, social effectiveness, personal identity and regaining independence, and the implications of these findings discussed. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The perplexing role of learner control in e-learning: will learning and transfer benefit or suffer?INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 3 2010Benjamin P. Granger The appeal of e-learning is not surprising given its many proposed advantages (e.g. flexibility, responsiveness to trainees' individual needs, potential cost-effectiveness). However, as pointed out by Ruël et al., academic research in support of the proposed advantages of electronic human resource management systems is scarce. Although this is generally the case for technologically mediated training, the extant research on e-learning actually questions many of its proposed advantages. In this conceptual piece we (1) establish the link between e-learning and learner control, (2) summarize the advantages and disadvantages of learner-controlled e-learning, (3) briefly present the results of a recent study conducted in our research lab that addresses the disadvantages of learner-controlled e-learning for the training of complex material, and (4) discuss research-based recommendations for the application of learner-controlled e-learning in organizational settings. [source] Realizing the Potential of Real Options: Does Theory Meet Practice?JOURNAL OF APPLIED CORPORATE FINANCE, Issue 2 2005Alexander Triantis The idea of viewing corporate investment opportunities as "real options" has been around for over 25 years. Real options concepts and techniques now routinely appear in academic research in finance and economics, and have begun to influence scholarly work in virtually every business discipline, including strategy, organizations, management science, operations management, information systems, accounting, and marketing. Real options concepts have also made considerable headway in practice. Corporate managers are more likely to recognize options in their strategic planning process, and have become more proactive in designing flexibility into projects and contracts, frequently using real options vocabulary in their discussions. Thanks in part to the spread of real options thinking, today's strategic planners are more likely than their predecessors to recognize the "option" value of actions like the following: , dividing up large projects into a number of stages; , investing in the acquisition or production of information; , introducing "modularity" in manufacturing and design; , developing competing prototypes for new products; and , investing in overseas markets. But if real options has clearly succeeded as a way of thinking, the application of real options valuation methods has been limited to companies in relatively few industries and has thus failed to live up to expectations created in the mid- to late-1990s. Increased corporate acceptance and implementations of real options valuation techniques will require several changes coming together. On the theory side, we need more realistic models that better reflect differences between financial and real options, simple heuristic methods that can be more easily implemented (but that have been carefully benchmarked against more precise models), and better guidance on implementation issues such as the estimation of discount rates for the "optionless" underlying projects. On the practitioner side, we need user-friendly real options software, more senior-level buy-in, more deliberate diffusion of real options knowledge throughout organizations, better alignment of managerial incentives with long-term shareholder value, and better-designed contracts to correct the misalignment of incentives across the value chain. If these challenges can be met, there will continue to be a steady if gradual diffusion of real options analysis throughout organizations over the next few decades, with real options eventually becoming not only a standard part of corporate strategic planning, but also the primary valuation tool for assessing the expected shareholder effect of large capital investment projects. [source] Diffusion of treatment research: does open access matter?JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 7 2008David J. Hardisty Abstract Advocates of the Open Access movement claim that removing access barriers will substantially increase the diffusion of academic research. If successful, this movement could play a role in efforts to increase utilization of psychotherapy research by mental health practitioners. In a pair of studies, mental health professionals were given either no citation, a normal citation, a linked citation, or a free access citation and were asked to find and read the cited article. After 1 week, participants read a vignette on the same topic as the article and gave recommendations for an intervention. In both studies, those given the free access citation were more likely to read the article, yet only in one study did free access increase the likelihood of making intervention recommendations consistent with the article. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol/In Session 64: 1,19, 2008. [source] The Role of Trust in Channels of Strategic Communication for Building Civil SocietyJOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION, Issue 4 2005Carl H. Botan In these turbulent times, development communication is a growing and important area of both academic research and practice. This article explores the role of strategic communication channels in the development of civil society in Bosnia. This case study reports the results of a survey that asked Bosnians about their levels of trust in government officials, alternative media, and state-controlled media outlets. The findings suggest that shortly after the war Bosnians had medium levels of trust in their communication channels, and when it comes to obtaining important information, it appears that alternative media were considered more trustworthy than either the state media or local government officials. Finally, political affiliation and ethnicity affect trust in communication channels in complex ways. [source] Evolution and field performance of a rescue robotJOURNAL OF FIELD ROBOTICS (FORMERLY JOURNAL OF ROBOTIC SYSTEMS), Issue 1-2 2008Mark J. Micire Robots are slowly finding their way into the hands of search and rescue groups. One of the robots contributing to this effort is the Inuktun VGTV-Xtreme series by American Standard Robotics. This capable robot is one of the only robots engineered specifically for the search and rescue domain. This paper describes the adaptation of the VGTV platform from an industrial inspection robot into a capable and versatile search and rescue robot. These adaptations were based on growing requirements established by rescue groups, academic research, and extensive field trials. A narrative description of a successful search of a damaged building during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is included to support these claims. Finally, lessons learned from these deployments and guidelines for future robot development is discussed. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Reflexive Evaluation of an Academic,Industry Research Collaboration: Can Mode 2 Management Research be Achieved?JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, Issue 5 2009Nathalie Mitev abstract We present a reflexive retrospective account of a UK government research council funded project deploying knowledge management software to support environmental sustainability in the construction industry. This project was set up in a form typical of a Mode 2 research programme involving several academic institutions and industrial partners, and aspiring to fulfil the Mode 2 criteria seen as transdisciplinarity and business relevance. The multidisciplinary nature is analysed through retrospectively reflecting upon the research process and activities we carried out, and is found to be problematic. No real consensus was reached between the partners on the ,context of application'. Difficulties between industry and academia, within industry and within academia led to diverging agendas and different alignments for participants. The context of application does not (pre-)exist independently of institutional influences, and in itself cannot drive transdisciplinarity since it is subject to competing claims and negotiations. There were unresolved tensions in terms of private vs. public construction companies and their expectations of ICT-based knowledge management, and in terms of the sustainable construction agenda. This post hoc reflexive account, enables us to critique our own roles in having developed a managerial technology for technically sophisticated and powerful private industrial actors to the detriment of public sector construction partners, having bypassed sustainability issues, and not reached transdisciplinarity. We argue that this is due to institutional pressures and instrumentalization from academia, industry and government and a restricted notion of business relevance. There exists a politically motivated tendency to oppose Mode 1 academic research to practitioner-oriented Mode 2 approaches to management research. We argue that valuing the links between co-existing Mode 1 and 2 research activities would support a more genuine and fuller exploration of the context of application. [source] Ruthenium-based metathesis initiators: Development and use in ring-opening metathesis polymerizationJOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE (IN TWO SECTIONS), Issue 17 2002Ulrich Frenzel Abstract For many years, olefin metathesis has been a central topic of industrial and academic research because of its great synthetic utility. The employed initiators cover a wide range of compounds, from simple transition-metal salts to highly sophisticated and well-defined alkylidene complexes. Currently, ruthenium-based catalysts are at the center of attention because of their remarkable tolerance toward oxygen, moisture, and numerous functionalities. This article focuses on recent developments in the field of ring-opening metathesis polymerization using ruthenium-based catalysts. ruthenium-based initiators and their applications to the preparation of advanced polymeric materials are briefly reviewed. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 2895,2916, 2002 [source] A CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING OF REQUIREMENTS FOR THEORY-BUILDING RESEARCH: GUIDELINES FOR SCIENTIFIC THEORY BUILDING,JOURNAL OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2008JOHN G. WACKER Business academics have focused their attention on empirical investigation of programs' effect on organizational competitive performance. These studies primarily emphasize theory building. With the many definitions of theory, academics are not certain whether their research papers meet the specific requirements for theory development required by the academic field of the philosophy of science. Certainly, supply chain academics generally believe that their academic articles fulfill the requirements of theory building. Although many of these articles do have elements of theory, more focus is needed on the specific requirements of theory to assure that academic research is "good" theory building. The primary purpose of this research paper is to logically develop a set of guidelines to assist empirical researchers to assure that their studies fulfill the requirements of good theory based upon traditional scientific theory building. By fulfilling the requirements of good theory, researchers will develop studies that will have a lasting impact on their academic field. To achieve a lasting impact on an academic field, it is necessary to follow a logical plan. This article provides a plan for logical guidelines for developing an understanding of how and why "good" theory building is achieved. This article logically develops a formal conceptual definition of theory along with its related properties to understand these guidelines. Next, it analyzes the requirements of theory, "good" theory, and their properties. These guidelines are included in the existing philosophy of science publications. However, this article consolidates these sources and logically explains why these guidelines are needed. In the conclusion, the guidelines are summarized to serve as a summary checklist for supply chain researchers to use for ensuring their articles will be recognized as a contribution to the academic field. So in that sense, this article does not develop a revolutionary new insight into theory-building empirical articles, but rather integrates diverse traditional philosophy of science requirements into a much simpler set of guidelines. Through logical development of these guidelines, researchers will understand the structure of theory and how to ensure their studies can be modified to have a lasting impact on the field of supply chain management. [source] Evidence-based practice in search interface designJOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Issue 6 2006Barbara M. Wildemuth An evidence-based practice approach to search interface design is proposed, with the goal of designing interfaces that adequately support search strategy formulation and reformulation. Relevant findings from studies of information professionals' searching behaviors, end users' searching of bibliographic databases, and search behaviors on the Web are highlighted. Three brief examples are presented to illustrate the ways in which findings from such studies can be used to make decisions about the design of search interfaces. If academic research can be effectively connected with design practice, we can discover which design practices truly are "best practices" and incorporate them into future search interfaces. [source] B-KIDE: a framework and a tool for business process-oriented knowledge infrastructure developmentKNOWLEDGE AND PROCESS MANAGEMENT: THE JOURNAL OF CORPORATE TRANSFORMATION, Issue 3 2005Markus Strohmaier The need for an effective management of knowledge is gaining increasing recognition in today's economy. To acknowledge this fact, new promising and powerful technologies have emerged from industrial and academic research. With these innovations maturing, organizations are increasingly willing to adapt such new knowledge management technologies to improve their knowledge-intensive businesses. However, the successful application in given business contexts is a complex, multidimensional challenge and a current research topic. Therefore, this contribution addresses this challenge and introduces a framework for the development of business process-supportive, technological knowledge infrastructures. While business processes represent the organizational setting for the application of knowledge management technologies, knowledge infrastructures represent a concept that can enable knowledge management in organizations. The B-KIDE Framework introduced in this work provides support for the development of knowledge infrastructures that comprise innovative knowledge management functionality and are visibly supportive of an organization's business processes. The developed B-KIDE Tool eases the application of the B-KIDE Framework for knowledge infrastructure developers. Three empirical studies that were conducted with industrial partners from heterogeneous industry sectors corroborate the relevance and viability of the introduced concepts. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] PHILOSOPHY AND OTHER DISCIPLINESMETAPHILOSOPHY, Issue 4-5 2008SVEN OVE HANSSON Abstract: This article offers a perspective on the role of philosophy in relation to other academic disciplines and to society in general. Among the issues treated are the delimitation of philosophy, whether it is a science, its role in the community of knowledge disciplines, its losses of subject matter to other disciplines, how it is influenced by social changes and by progress in other disciplines, and its role in interdisciplinary work. It is concluded that philosophy has an important mission in promoting clarity, precision, and open-mindedness in academic research and in society at large. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||