Implementación de una herramienta de metabúsqueda : MetaLib y SFX

L'article presenta les característiques i funcionalitats principals de les eines MetaLib i SFX, programaris per a la gestió i accés als recursos electrònics. S'analitzen els programaris citant els diferents tipus de funcionalitats, i la gestió i el manteniment. El procés s'emmarca en l'experiència de la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, membre del CBUC, i se n'expliquen la configuració, els reptes i les dificultats que es van produir durant la implementació dels sistemes.

Implementació d'una eina de metacerca : MetaLib i SFX

L'article presenta les característiques i funcionalitats principals de les eines MetaLib i SFX, programaris per a la gestió i accés als recursos electrònics. S'analitzen els programaris citant els diferents tipus de funcionalitats, i la gestió i el manteniment. El procés s'emmarca en l'experiència de la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, membre del CBUC, i se n'expliquen la configuració, els reptes i les dificultats que es van produir durant la implementació dels sistemes.

Implementing a metasearch engine : Metalib and SFX

L'article presenta les característiques i funcionalitats principals de les eines MetaLib i SFX, programaris per a la gestió i accés als recursos electrònics. S'analitzen els programaris citant els diferents tipus de funcionalitats, i la gestió i el manteniment. El procés s'emmarca en l'experiència de la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, membre del CBUC, i se n'expliquen la configuració, els reptes i les dificultats que es van produir durant la implementació dels sistemes.

Adaptando Metalib al usuario : la experiencia de la UOC

The implementation of Metalib in UOC's Library was framed within a project centred on the end user. For the adaptation of Metalib to the users' needs and search behaviour, we carried out three tests: - One with students, conducted by a consulting company; - A second one with teachers, carried out by the Library; - The third, with teachers and staff, also was carried out by the Library, after having made some changes resulting from the first and second tests. The tests, made with the software Morae, underlined a number of difficulties to understand the concepts related to metasearching. The tests also showed difficulties in navigating and in managing search results. All the information gathered was used to improve navigation through the interface. The presentation tells about the tests' methodology, the conclusions reached through this experience, and the decisions finally taken by the Library to improve the Metalib interface.

Broader or deeper? Exploring the most effective intervention profile for public small business support

Most advanced economies offer publicly financed advice services to start-up firms and SMEs. In England, local or regional Business Links organisations have provided these services, and divided their support into nonintensive one-off contacts providing information or advice and more intensive support involving a diagnostic process and repeated interaction with firms. A key choice for Business Link managers is how to shape their intervention strategies, balancing resources between intensive and nonintensive support. Drawing on resource dependency theory, we develop a typology of intervention strategies for Business Links in England which reflects differences in the breadth and depth of the support provided. We then test the impacts of these alternative intervention models on client companies using both subjective assessments by firms and econometric treatment models that allow for selection bias. Our key empirical result is that Business Links’ choice of intervention strategy has a significant effect both on actual and on perceived business outcomes, with our results emphasising the value of depth over breadth. The implication is that where additional resources are available for business support these should be used to deepen the assistance provided rather than extend assistance to a wider group of firms.

A Methodology to measure shareholder value orientation and shareholder value creation aimed at providing a research basis to investigate the link between both magnitudes

Does shareholder value orientation lead to shareholder value creation? This article proposes methods to quantify both, shareholder value orientation and shareholder value creation. Through the application of these models it is possible to quantify both dimensions and examine statistically in how far shareholder value orientation explains shareholder value creation. The scoring model developed in this paper allows quantifying the orientation of managers towards the objective to maximize wealth of shareholders. The method evaluates information that comes from the companies and scores the value orientation in a scale from 0 to 10 points. Analytically the variable value orientation is operationalized expressing it as the general attitude of managers toward the objective of value creation, investment policy and behavior, flexibility and further eight value drivers. The value creation model works with market data such as stock prices and dividend payments. Both methods where applied to a sample of 38 blue chip companies: 32 firms belonged to the share index IBEX 35 on July 1st, 1999, one company represents the “new economy” listed in the Spanish New Market as per July 1st, 2001, and 5 European multinational groups formed part of the EuroStoxx 50 index also on July 1st, 2001. The research period comprised the financial years 1998, 1999, and 2000. A regression analysis showed that between 15.9% and 23.4% of shareholder value creation can be explained by shareholder value orientation.

The impact of fuse link manufacturers on arc flash energy

The traditional operational and hazard control paradigm of an electrical installation has several issues pertaining to the diversity of equipment. A large maintenance inventory is a reason for concern for any manager, but the arc flash hazard is a particularly new phenomenon and the effects of equipment diversity on this phenomenon are even newer. The class of arc hazard can be increased, simply by changing the fuse link or circuit breaker manufacturer. Management pressure to operate as well as non-standard practices and installations are also partly responsible. The aim of this study is to take a typical situation in an industrial plant and to statistically simulate, by means of a dedicated software program, the fuse arc flash interruption performance of various manufacturers. The purpose of this study is to obtain a more objective indication of the influence of different fuse link manufacturers on arc flash incident energy. © 2011 IEEE.

Arc-flash energy: The impact of fuse link manufacturers

The traditional operational and hazard control paradigm of an electrical installation has several issues pertaining to the diversity of equipment. A large maintenance inventory is a reason for concern for any manager, but the arc-flash hazard is a particularly new phenomenon, and the effects of equipment diversity on this phenomenon are even newer. The class of arc hazard can be simply increased by changing the fuse link or circuit breaker manufacturer. Management pressure to operate as well as nonstandard practices and installations are also partly responsible. The aim of this article is to take a typical situation in an industrial plant and to statistically simulate, by means of a dedicated software program, the fuse arc-flash interruption performance of various manufacturers. The purpose of this article is to obtain a more objective indication of the influence of different fuse link manufacturers on arc-flash incident energy. © 1975-2012 IEEE.

Identification and analysis of moderator variables:investigating the customer satisfaction-loyalty link

Purpose – Research on the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty has advanced to a stage that requires a more thorough examination of moderator variables. Limited research shows how moderators influence the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in a service context; this article aims to present empirical evidence of the conditions in which the satisfaction-loyalty relationship becomes stronger or weaker. Design/methodology/approach – Using a sample of more than 700 customers of DIY retailers and multi-group structural equation modelling, the authors examine moderating effects of several firm-related variables, variables that result from firm/employee-customer interactions and individual-level variables (i.e. loyalty cards, critical incidents, customer age, gender, income, expertise). Findings – The empirical results suggest that not all of the moderators considered influence the satisfaction-loyalty link. Specifically, critical incidents and income are important moderators of the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Practical implications – Several of the moderator variables considered in this study are manageable variables. Originality/value – This study should prove valuable to academic researchers as well as service and retailing managers. It systematically analyses the moderating effect of firm-related and individual-level variables on the relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty. It shows the differential effect of different types of moderator variables on the satisfaction-loyalty link.

Postgraduate study and managers' subsequent work experience:an exploratory evaluation

Drawing on an exploratory qualitative study, this article considers the link between business school teaching at graduate level and subsequent work behaviour and experiences of former students. It evaluates the student experience some time after graduation. The findings of the retrospective evaluation point to the value of classroom peer discussion, the testing of ideas against prior work experience and the opportunity to make sense of organisational issues by setting them into broader context. The importance of andragogical approaches to teaching is discussed as well as the implications of the study findings for teaching quality enhancement. © 2009 Taylor & Francis.

Salespersons as internal knowledge brokers and new products selling:discovering the link to genetic makeup

Managers increasingly realize the importance of involving the sales force in new product development. However, despite recent progress, research on the specific role of the sales force in product innovation-related activities remains scarce. In particular, the importance of a salespersons’ internal knowledge brokering has been neglected. This study develops and empirically validates the concept of internal knowledge brokering behavior and its effect on selling new products and developing new business, and explores whether a salesperson’s internal brokering qualities are determined by biological traits. The findings reveal that salespeople with the DRD2 A1 gene variant engage at significant lower levels of internal knowledge-brokering behavior than salespeople without this gene variant, and as a result are less likely to engage effectively in new product selling. The DRD4 gene variant had no effect on internal knowledge brokering. Management and future research implications are discussed.

Sales-marketing interface and company performance. Is information use the missing link?

Over the last couple of years there has been an ongoing debate on how sales managers contribute to organizational value. Direct measures between sales-marketing interface quality and company performance are compromised, as company performance is influenced by a plethora of other factors. We advocate that the use of sales information is the missing link between sales-marketing relationship quality and organizational outcomes. We propose and empirically test a model on how sales-marketing interface quality affects managerial use of sales information, which in turn leads to enhanced organizational performance. We found that marketing managers rely on sales information if they think that their sales counterpart is trustworthy. Integration between the sales-marketing function contributes to a trust-based relationship.

Adipokines: Another Link Between Obesity And Hypertension.

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Myoglobins: the link between discoloration and lipid oxidation in muscle and meat

Aerobic metabolism changes rapidly to glycolysis post-mortem resulting in a pH-decrease during the transformation of muscle in to meat affecting ligand binding and redox potential of the heme iron in myoglobin, the meat pigment. The inorganic chemistry of meat involves (i) redox-cycling between iron(II), iron(III), and iron(IV)/protein radicals; (ii) ligand exchange processes; and (iii) spin-equilibra with a change in coordination number for the heme iron. In addition to the function of myoglobin for oxygen storage, new physiological roles of myoglobin are currently being discovered, which notably find close parallels in the processes in fresh meat and nitrite-cured meat products. Myoglobin may be characterized as a bioreactor for small molecules like O2, NO, CO, CO2, H2O, and HNO with importance in bio-regulation and in protection against oxidative stress in vivo otherwise affecting lipids in membranes. Many of these processes may be recognised as colour changes in fresh meat and cured meat products under different atmospheric conditions, and could also be instructive for teaching purposes.

Environmental management system and human resource practices: is there a link between them in four Brazilian companies?

The aim of this article is to analyze the theoretical model proposed by [Jabbour CJC, Santos FCA. Relationships between human resource dimensions and environmental management in companies: proposal of a model. Journal of Cleaner Production 2008;16(1):5 1-8.] based on the data collected in four Brazilian companies. This model investigates how the phases of the environmental management system can be linked to human resource practices in order to attain continuous improvement of a company`s environmental performance. Our aim is to contribute to a field, which has little empirical evidence. Although the interaction between the phases of the environmental management system and human resource practices is recommended by the specialized literature [Daily BE Huang S. Achieving sustainability through attention to human resource factors in environmental management. International Journal of Operations and Production Management 2001:21(12):1539-52.], the results indicate that most of the theoretical assumptions could not be confirmed in these Brazilian companies. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.