Control, performance management system and identification processes

Is it possible to control identities using performance management systems (PMSs)? This paper explores the theoretical fusion of management accounting and identity studies, providing a synthesised view of control, PMSs and identification processes. It argues that the effective use of PMSs generates a range of obtrusive mechanistic and unobtrusive organic controls that mediate identification processes to achieve a high level of identity congruency between individuals and collectives—groups and organisations. This paper contends that mechanistic control of PMSs provides sensebreaking effects and also creates structural conditions for sensegiving in top-down identification processes. These processes encourage individuals to continue the bottom-up processes of sensemaking, enacting identity and constructing identity narratives. Over time, PMS activities and conversations periodically mediate several episode(s) of identification to connect past, current and future identities. To explore this relationship, the dual locus of control—collectives and individuals—is emphasised to explicate their interplay. This multidisciplinary approach contributes to explaining the multidirectional effects of PMSs in obtrusive as well as unobtrusive ways, in order to control the nature of collectives and individuals in organisations.

Problematising the processes of participation in networks : working through the rhetoric

Participation in networks, both as a concept and process, is widely supported in environmental education as a democratic and equitable pathway to individual and social change for sustainability. However, the processes of participation in networks are rarely problematized. Rather, it is assumed that we inherently know how to participate in networks. This assumption means that participation is seldom questioned. Underlying support for participation in networks is a belief that it allows individuals to connect in new and meaningful ways, that individuals can engage in making decisions and in bringing about change in arenas that affect them, and that they will be engaging in new, non-hierarchical and equitable relationships. In this paper we problematize participation in networks. As an example we use research into a decentralized network – described as such in its own literature - the Queensland Environmentally Sustainable Schools Initiative Alliance in Australia – to argue that while network participants were engaged and committed to participation in this network, 'old' forms of top-down engagement and relationships needed to be unlearnt. This paper thus proposes that for participation in decentralized networks to be meaningful, new learning about how to participate needs to occur.

Reflecting on the ‘Dream Circle’ : urban Indigenous education processes designed for student and community empowerment

The ‘Dream Circle’ is a space designed by and operated through Indigenous educator footprints as a safe space for the school’s deadly jarjums (Indigenous children). The ‘Dream Circle’ uses a kinnected methodology drawing on the rich vein of Murri cultural knowledges and Torres Strait Islander supports within the local community to provide a safe and supportive circle. The ‘Dream Circle’ operates on a school site in the Logan area as an after school homework and cultural studies class. The ‘Dream Circle’ embodies practices and ritualises processes which ensure cultural safety and integrity. In this way the ‘Dream Circle’ balances the measures that Sarra (2005) purports are the stronger, smarter realities needed for positive change in Indigenous education.

Design and implementation of a virtual world training simulation of ICU first hour handover processes

Nursing training for an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is a resource intensive process. High demands are made on staff, students and physical resources. Interactive, 3D computer simulations, known as virtual worlds, are increasingly being used to supplement training regimes in the health sciences; especially in areas such as complex hospital ward processes. Such worlds have been found to be very useful in maximising the utilisation of training resources. Our aim is to design and develop a novel virtual world application for teaching and training Intensive Care nurses in the approach and method for shift handover, to provide an independent, but rigorous approach to teaching these important skills. In this paper we present a virtual world simulator for students to practice key steps in handing over the 24/7 care requirements of intensive care patients during the commencing first hour of a shift. We describe the modelling process to provide a convincing interactive simulation of the handover steps involved. The virtual world provides a practice tool for students to test their analytical skills with scenarios previously provided by simple physical simulations, and live on the job training. Additional educational benefits include facilitation of remote learning, high flexibility in study hours and the automatic recording of a reviewable log from the session. To the best of our knowledge, we believe this is a novel and original application of virtual worlds to an ICU handover process. The major outcome of the work was a virtual world environment for training nurses in the shift handover process, designed and developed for use by postgraduate nurses in training.

A phenomenological model for the structure-composition relationship of the high Tc cuprates based on simple chemical principles

A simple phenomenological model for the relationship between structure and composition of the high Tc cuprates is presented. The model is based on two simple crystal chemistry principles: unit cell doping and charge balance within unit cells. These principles are inspired by key experimental observations of how the materials accommodate large deviations from stoichiometry. Consistent explanations for significant HTSC properties can be explained without any additional assumptions while retaining valuable insight for geometric interpretation. Combining these two chemical principles with a review of Crystal Field Theory (CFT) or Ligand Field Theory (LFT), it becomes clear that the two oxidation states in the conduction planes (typically d8 and d9) belong to the most strongly divergent d-levels as a function of deformation from regular octahedral coordination. This observation offers a link to a range of coupling effects relating vibrations and spin waves through application of Hund’s rules. An indication of this model’s capacity to predict physical properties for HTSC is provided and will be elaborated in subsequent publications. Simple criteria for the relationship between structure and composition in HTSC systems may guide chemical syntheses within new material systems.

Combined time- and space-resolved Raman spectrometer for the non-invasive depth profiling of chemical hazards

A time-resolved inverse spatially offset Raman spectrometer was constructed for depth profiling of Raman-active substances under both the lab and the field environments. The system operating principles and performance are discussed along with its advantages relative to traditional continuous wave spatially offset Raman spectrometer. The developed spectrometer uses a combination of space- and time-resolved detection in order to obtain high-quality Raman spectra from substances hidden behind coloured opaque surface layers, such as plastic and garments, with a single measurement. The time-gated spatially offset Raman spectrometer was successfully used to detect concealed explosives and drug precursors under incandescent and fluorescent background light as well as under daylight. The average screening time was 50 s per measurement. The excitation energy requirements were relatively low (20 mW) which makes the probe safe for screening hazardous substances. The unit has been designed with nanosecond laser excitation and gated detection, making it of lower cost and complexity than previous picosecond-based systems, to provide a functional platform for in-line or in-field sensing of chemical substances.

The undesirable acetylation of cellulose by the acetate ion of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate

The ionic liquid (IL) 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([C2mim]OAc) is considered to be an inert solvent of cellulose and lignocellulosic biomass. Acetylation (1.7 % mol, or DS 0.017) of cellulose after dissolution in [C2mim]OAc (150 °C for 20 min), is demonstrated by compositional analysis, FTIR analysis and 13C NMR spectroscopy (in [C2min]OAc with 13C enriched acetate). This acetylation, in the absence of added acylating agents, has not been reported before and may limit [C2mim]OAc utility in industrial scale biomass processing, even at this low extent. For example, cellulose acetylation may contribute to IL loss in processes where the IL is recovered and reused and inhibit enzyme saccharification of cellulose in lignocellulosic biofuel production processes based on saccharification and fermentation.

From supply to demand-driven opportunities : unravelling the role of the customer in opportunity identification processes

Successful identification and exploitation of opportunities has been an area of interest to many entrepreneurship researchers. Since Shane and Venkataraman’s seminal work (e.g. Shane and Venkataraman, 2000; Shane, 2000), several scholars have theorised on how firms identify, nurture and develop opportunities. The majority of this literature has been devoted to understanding how entrepreneurs search for new applications of their technological base or discover opportunities based on prior knowledge (Zahra, 2008; Sarasvathy et al., 2003). In particular, knowledge about potential customer needs and problems that may present opportunities is vital (Webb et al., 2010). Whereas the role of prior knowledge of customer problems (Shane, 2003; Shepherd and DeTienne, 2005) and positioning oneself in a so-called knowledge corridor (Fiet, 1996) has been researched, the role of opportunity characteristics and their interaction with customer-related mechanisms that facilitate and hinder opportunity identification has received scant attention.

Virtual worlds as a model-view approach to the communication of business processes models

The improvement and optimization of business processes is one of the top priorities in an organization. Although process analysis methods are mature today, business analysts and stakeholders are still hampered by communication issues. That is, analysts cannot effectively obtain accurate business requirements from stakeholders, and stakeholders are often confused about analytic results offered by analysts. We argue that using a virtual world to model a business process can benefit communication activities. We believe that virtual worlds can be used as an efficient model-view approach, increasing the cognition of business requirements and analytic results, as well as the possibility of business plan validation. A healthcare case study is provided as an approach instance, illustrating how intuitive such an approach can be. As an exploration paper, we believe that this promising research can encourage people to investigate more research topics in the interdisciplinary area of information system, visualization and multi-user virtual worlds.

How novices design business processes

Process modeling is an important design practice in organizational improvement projects. In this paper, we examine the design of business process diagrams in contexts where novice analysts only have basic design tools such as paper and pencils available, and little to no understanding of formalized modeling approaches. Based on a quasi-experimental study with 89 BPM students, we identify five distinct process design archetypes ranging from textual to hybrid and graphical representation forms. We examine the quality of the designs and identify which representation formats enable an analyst to articulate business rules, states, events, activities, temporal and geospatial information in a process model. We found that the quality of the process designs decreases with the increased use of graphics and that hybrid designs featuring appropriate text labels and abstract graphical forms appear well-suited to describe business processes. We further examine how process design preferences predict formalized process modeling ability. Our research has implications for practical process design work in industry as well as for academic curricula on process design.

Source characterisation of road dust based on chemical and mineralogical composition

Road dust contain potentially toxic pollutants originating from a range of anthropogenic sources common to urban land uses and soil inputs from surrounding areas. The research study analysed the mineralogy and morphology of dust samples from road surfaces from different land uses and background soil samples to characterise the relative source contributions to road dust. The road dust consist primarily of soil derived minerals (60%) with quartz averaging 40-50% and remainder being clay forming minerals of albite, microcline, chlorite and muscovite originating from surrounding soils. About 2% was organic matter primarily originating from plant matter. Potentially toxic pollutants represented about 30% of the build-up. These pollutants consist of brake and tire wear, combustion emissions and fly ash from asphalt. Heavy metals such as Zn, Cu, Pb, Ni, Cr and Cd primarily originate from vehicular traffic while Fe, Al and Mn primarily originate from surrounding soils. The research study confirmed the significant contribution of vehicular traffic to dust deposited on urban road surfaces.

A graphical notation for modelling events in business processes

Using complex event rules for capturing dependencies between business processes is an emerging trend in enterprise information systems. In previous work we have identified a set of requirements for event extensions for business process modeling languages. This paper introduces a graphical language for modeling composite events in business processes, namely BEMN, that fulfills all these requirements. These include event conjunction, disjunction and inhibition as well as cardinality of events whose graphical expression can be factored into flow-oriented process modeling and event rule modeling. Formal semantics for the language are provided.

Complex events in business processes

Flow-oriented process modeling languages have a long tradition in the area of Business Process Management and are widely used for capturing activities with their behavioral and data dependencies. Individual events were introduced for triggering process instantiation and activities. However, real-world business cases drive the need for also covering complex event patterns as they are known in the field of Complex Event Processing. Therefore, this paper puts forward a catalog of requirements for handling complex events in process models, which can be used as reference framework for assessing process definition languages and systems. An assessment of BPEL and BPMN is provided.

Deep Raman spectroscopy for the non-invasive standoff detection of concealed chemical threat agents

Deep Raman spectroscopy has been utilized for the standoff detection of concealed chemical threat agents from a distance of 15 meters under real life background illumination conditions. By using combined time and space resolved measurements, various explosive precursors hidden in opaque plastic containers were identified non-invasively. Our results confirm that combined time and space resolved Raman spectroscopy leads to higher selectivity towards the sub-layer over the surface layer as well as enhanced rejection of fluorescence from the container surface when compared to standoff spatially offset Raman spectroscopy. Raman spectra that have minimal interference from the packaging material and good signal-to-noise ratio were acquired within 5 seconds of measurement time. A new combined time and space resolved Raman spectrometer has been designed with nanosecond laser excitation and gated detection, making it of lower cost and complexity than picosecond-based laboratory systems.

Transcriptome Profiling of Sexual Maturation and Mating in the Mediterranean Fruit Fly, Ceratitis capitata

Sexual maturation and mating in insects are generally accompanied by major physiological and behavioural changes. Many of these changes are related to the need to locate a mate and subsequently, in the case of females, to switch from mate searching to oviposition behaviour. The prodigious reproductive capacity of the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata, is one of the factors that has led to its success as an invasive pest species. To identify the molecular changes related to maturation and mating status in male and female medfly, a microarray-based gene expression approach was used to compare the head transcriptomes of sexually immature, mature virgin, and mated individuals. Attention was focused on the changes in abundance of transcripts related to reproduction, behaviour, sensory perception of chemical stimulus, and immune system processes. Broad transcriptional changes were recorded during female maturation, while post-mating transcriptional changes in females were, by contrast, modest. In male medfly, transcriptional changes were consistent both during maturation and as a consequence of mating. Of particular note was the lack of the mating-induced immune responses that have been recorded for Drosophila melanogaster, that may be due to the different reproductive strategies of these species. This study, in addition to increasing our understanding of the molecular machinery behind maturation and mating in the medfly, has identified important gene targets that might be useful in the future management of this pest.