28 February 2015

Call for papers: "Advanced Engine Combustion"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Powertrains.

We invite the contribution of research and review articles for this special issue on advanced engine combustion in honour of Prof. Rolf D. Reitz’s retirement.
 
Prof. Reitz will retire this summer after a brilliant academic career. Prof. Reitz established the foundation of modern engine simulation and optimisation using CFD, from numerical algorithms and physical models to optimisation methods.
 
Many optimised combustion strategies obtained from simulation have been successfully applied to engine operation; for instance, multiple injection techniques, adaptive injection strategies and the reactivity-controlled compression ignition (RCCI) concept.
 
The aim of this special issue is to produce a research volume on the theory, modelling, simulation, optimisation and application of advanced engine combustion that is linked to, related to or inspired by the work of Prof. Reitz.
 
Potential topics that might be covered in this special issue include the current research activities of the contributing authors in the field of internal combustion engine research. Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • In-cylinder flow
  • Mixture distribution
  • Combustion
  • Exhaust emissions
  • Combustion engine performance
  • Fuel injection systems
  • Fuel spray technology
  • Fuels and their influence on engine performance
  • Mathematical modelling of intake/exhaust processes
  • After-treatment technology
  • Powertrain simulation
  • Conventional and alternative fuels
 
Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 30 June, 2015
Notification to authors: 31 August, 2015
Final versions due: 31 October, 2015

27 February 2015

Inderscience is media partner for TU-Automotive Detroit 2015

Inderscience is a media partner for TU-Automotive Detroit 2015 (3-4 June 2015, Detroit, USA).

The journal involved is the International Journal of Vehicle Autonomous Systems.

Special issue published: "Forensic Investigation of Highway and Airfield Pavements"

International Journal of Forensic Engineering 2(3) 2015
  • A rational approach for conducting highway pavement forensic investigations
  • Forensic evaluation of multiple cracking of a concrete test cell built over an open graded aggregate base
  • A predictive approach of dynamic modulus for characterising Florida hot mix asphalt mixtures
  • Incorporation of reliability of M-E pavement design using variations of backcalculated pavement layer moduli

Call for papers: "Knowledge Management Practices and Cross-Cultural Innovation within Global Contexts"

For a special issue of the European Journal of International Management.

Nowadays management scholars emphasise the importance of “context” to analyse more in detail the influence of knowledge and communication on the formation of individual and collective interpretive schemes underlying innovative processes (Holden & Glisby, 2010; Del Giudice et al., 2012). How do entrepreneurs stand up to the global challenge of competition and cooperation? How do managers deal with cross-cultural challenges in the context of innovation management?

The traditional response is that they need to create and encourage both knowledge management practices and diversity in organisational thought and action, within their firms. It is assumed (Tyre and von Hippel, 1997) that most of the knowledge that is useful to solve issues or create innovation is tacit and informal, and is disseminated through interaction, story-telling, and informal processes in action-nets or communal processes. Nevertheless, learning, knowledge and action are not necessarily self-supporting, but depend on the context (Jöstingmeier and Boeddrich, 2007; Murovec and Prodan, 2009). This leads to the observation that knowledge is not uniform within and across organisations.

Such differences have not been sufficiently stressed by organisational and management scholars at an international level of analysis. As Brown and Duguid (2000) have noted, they have often just considered the idea of shared meanings and organisational coherence as given. Yet the capacity to reach shared meanings cannot be understood as a premise but must be considered a consequence of learning activities, which have the purpose of creating an adequate degree of coherence within the organisation (Del Giudice et al., 2013). This, in turn, highlights the importance of thoroughly analysing the idea of ‘cross cultural innovation’ in order to examine the latter as an emergent property that needs to be constantly restored (Rogers and Shoemaker, 1971; Westwood and Low, 2003; Elenkov and Manev, 2005; Bouncken, 2009).

This special issue solicits high-quality papers presenting original research results both on knowledge management and cross-cultural innovation. The topics of interest to the special issue are divided into three main directions, albeit not exclusive:
  • Knowledge management inside and across cultures: analysis of the main implications of market and business competitiveness induced by knowledge management practices (mainly from an international point of view);
  • Cross-cultural innovation: role of the cultural context for the development of innovation in the national and international scenario (mapping applications for knowledge sharing, case studies, comparative analyses, cross-studies, network analyses, etc.);
  • Network relations for stimulating innovation management and cultural intelligence: centrality of culture to all international interactions, importance of the network relations both for knowledge and for culture sharing/transfer.
References
Brown, J.S. & Duguid, P. (2001). "Knowledge and organization: A social-practice perspective", Organization Science, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 198-213.
Bouncken, R.B. (2009), Cultural diversity in innovation teams: surface and deep level effects, International Journal of Business Research, 9(4).
Del Giudice, M., Carayannis, E.G., & Della Peruta, M.R. (2012). Culture and Cooperative Strategies: Knowledge Management Perspectives. In Cross-Cultural Knowledge Management (pp. 49-62). Springer New York.
Del Giudice, M., Della Peruta, M.R., & Carayannis, E. G. (2013). Unpacking Open Innovation: Highlights from a Co-evolutionary Inquiry. Palgrave Macmillan.
Elenkov, D. S., & Manev, I. M. (2005). Top management leadership and influence on innovation: The role of sociocultural context. Journal of management, 31(3), 381-402.
Holden, N.J. & Glisby, M. 2010. Creating knowledge advantage: The tacit dimensions of international competition and cooperation. Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School Press Jöstingmeier, B., & Boeddrich, H.J. (Eds.). (2007). Cross-cultural innovation: new thoughts, empirical research, practical reports. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG.
Murovec, N., & Prodan, I. (2009). Absorptive capacity, its determinants, and influence on innovation output: Cross-cultural validation of the structural model. Technovation, 29(12), 859-872.
Rogers, E.M., & Shoemaker, F.F. (1971). Communication of Innovations; A Cross-Cultural Approach.
Tyre, M.J. & Von Hippel, E. (1997), "The situated nature of adaptive learning in organizations", Organization Science, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 71-83.
Westwood, R., & Low, D.R. (2003). The multicultural muse culture, creativity and innovation. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 3(2), 235-259.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Implications of cross-cultural innovation on international competition and cooperation
  • Knowledge dimensions of global competition
  • Tacit dimensions of knowledge sharing and transfer in domestic and global corporations
  • Virtual knowledge sharing inside cross-cultural contexts
  • Cross-nation innovation management
  • Frugal innovation and diversity management: practical applications
  • Implications for productivity, efficiency, quality of a cross-cultural approach to innovation management
  • Knowledge management practices for international cooperation
  • Relationships between IT, KM and entrepreneurism at both national and international level
  • Open innovation inside global/cross-cultural contexts
  • Adaptive learning within global corporations and cross-cultural contexts
  • Networks of knowledge and knowledge clusters
  • Enabling technologies and standards for the cross-cultural innovation
  • Research and studies on ethnic entrepreneurship: implications for competition, innovation management and
  • Quadruple innovation helix model and knowledge management related issues
  • Services, applications, and business opportunities of cross-cultural innovations

Important Dates
Submission of Manuscripts: 20 May, 2016

26 February 2015

Inderscience is media partner for 3rd Plant Genomics Congress USA

Inderscience is a media partner for the 3rd Plant Genomics Congress USA (14-15 September 2015, St. Louis, USA).

The journals involved are:

Special issue published: "Contemporary Issues in Internet Marketing and Advertising"

International Journal of Internet Marketing and Advertising 8(4) 2014
  • Understanding consumers' creating behaviour in social media: an application of uses and gratifications and the theory of reasoned action
  • Perception of Indian consumers towards social media advertisements in Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter
  • Facebook usage among teenagers - the effect of personality and peer group pressure; an exploratory study in Greece
  • Conceptualising and modelling virtual product experience for online retailers
  • Investigating websites' e-CRM features in building customer relationships: evidence from Greece

Call for papers: "Biotechnological Interventions in Environmental and Sustainable Development"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development.

Recent and continuing advances in life sciences have predicted that this will be the century of biotechnology. Applied to economic, environmental, health and social scenarios, biotechnology has been versatile in solving various challenging problems and has proved its significance.

Owing to the stupendous growth in various forms of science there has been an alarming increase in the level of environmental degradation in the forms of pollution, climate change, global warming, etc. This situation highlights the need for biotechnology and other sustainable technologies to address and overcome climate change in an effective way. The issue of highest importance to developing countries is reducing the vulnerability of their natural and socio-economic systems to the projected scenarios.

There is a need to emphasise the importance of sustainable development and environment protection in attaining the goal of a sustainable green society, and in order to deliver the benefits of biotechnology the national mission is expected to focus attention on achieving technological breakthroughs by developing very low-cost and eco-friendly methods and devices and making them available to the common man.

India's development scene today is at a tipping point, where opportunities abound and yet the challenges are also unprecedented. This scenario calls for dovetailing efforts to use biotechnology for providing better climate and growth in rural India.

The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the 2nd International conference on Bioenergy, Environment and Sustainable Technologies, but we also strongly encourage researchers unable to participate in the conference to submit articles for this call.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Environmental biotechnology
    • Microbial conversion of inorganic compounds
    • Microbial ecology of biogas systems
    • Biological treatment processes
    • Bioremediation
    • Solid waste management
    • Environmental monitoring and biosensors
    • Biofertilizers and biopesticides
  • Climate change
    • Carbon credit
    • Carbon neutral economy
    • Climatic and environmental issues
    • Carbon balance
    • Reduction of GHG
    • Energy saving
    • Governance for low-carbon communities and infrastructure

Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 6 April, 2015

Special issue published: "Bio-Energy, Economics and Policy"

International Journal of Global Energy Issues 37(5/6) 2014
  • GHG balance of biodiesel production and consumption in EU
  • The impact of biodiesel policy over raw material acquisition: a study about Brazilian Biodiesel National Programme
  • European biodiesel market and rapeseed oil: what impact on agricultural food prices?
  • The potential of green gas in the Dutch transport sector
  • Analysis of competitiveness of a dairy property through reverse logistics: a case study
  • Energetic, environmental and economic potentialities of the anaerobic treatment of rice straw for the case of the Cuban enterprise 'Sur del Jíbaro'
  • Ordered weight averaging multicriteria procedure and cost-effectiveness analysis for short rotation forestry in the Basilicata region, Italy
Additional papers
  • Green transportation: need, technology and challenges
  • China's regional carbon emission intensity decomposition system

For all the Li in China

Coal from China could become a major source of the metal lithium, according to a review of the geochemistry by scientists published in the International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology.

Lithium is an essential component of rechargeable batteries used almost ubiquitously in mobile gadgets such as phones, laptops, tablet computers and in many electric vehicles. Worldwide annual consumption of this metal grew from 15100 tonnes in 2003 to 37000 tonnes by 2012, a 145 percent increase and demand is expected to rise even further as we move more towards sustainable power and electrical storage capacity increases.

Shenjun Qin of Hebei University of Engineering, in Handan, China, and colleagues point out that coal is a highly polluting energy source that is still widely used for electricity generation and other applications. They suggest that the recovery of valuable rare metals from coals or coal-processing byproducts could be a promising way to make the inevitable long-term use of this fossil fuel resource more economic, efficient and cleaner. Indeed, the extraction of lithium from coal would offer an ironic twist to its continued use.

The team explains that lithium has been found dispersed and even anomalously enriched in coal deposits, and is potentially extractable. They explain that two analytical techniques inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and inductively coupled plasma as an excitation source (ICP-AES) are widely used for assaying the chemical elements in coal and coal ash and either of these techniques could be used widely to optimize sources for lithium, or any given metal, for subsequent extraction.

The team has also reviewed two techniques for lithium extraction. The first, a patented technology for extracting both lithium and aluminum metals from coal ash involves sulfur sintering the ash and acid leaching the metal from the solution to obtain lithium carbonate in a yield of 95.6 percent, actually recovery of the metal is 60 percent. The second approach, alkali sintering avoids the need for the sulfur step but has a lower yield at 85.3 percent and a recovery of 55 percent.

“Although the investigation into lithium recovery from coal ash is still at a laboratory scale,” the team reports. “This progress will promote the green and efficient application of coals and would benefit to the lithium-demanding industry.”

Qin, S., Zhao, C., Li, Y. and Zhang, Y. (2015) ‘Review of coal as a promising source of lithium‘, Int. J. Oil, Gas and Coal Technology, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp.215-229.

For all the Li in China is a post from: David Bradley's Science Spot

via Science Spot » Inderscience http://ift.tt/1whREBE

25 February 2015

Special issue published: "Uncovering Non-Conscious Meanings and Motivations in the Stories Tourists Tell of Trip and Destination Experiences"

International Journal of Tourism Anthropology 4(1) 2015
  • Introduction: The tourist gaze 4.0: uncovering non-conscious meanings and motivations in the stories tourists tell of trip and destination experiences
  • Power in tourism research: the tourist gaze as metonym
  • Sacrilisation of secular pilgrimages as archetypal transformational journeys: advancing theory through emic and etic interpretations
  • Etic interpreting of emic reports of tourism behaviour: cross-cultural introspections of Hawaii
  • Consumer storytelling of brand archetypal enactments
  • Using the lens of Flickr to decode emic meanings about the impact of Hurricane Sandy on a tourism destination: the Jersey Shore

Inderscience is media partner for 3rd Plant Genomics Congress

Inderscience is a media partner for the 3rd Plant Genomics Congress (11-12 May 2015, London, UK).

The journals involved are:

Call for papers: "Information Science Insights and Contributions to Enhance International Entrepreneurship"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business.

The goal of this special issue is to explore new insights from the information science discipline which may contribute to the development of the field of international entrepreneurship, globally and across all cultures and economies.

The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the 49th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS), but we also strongly encourage researchers unable to participate in the conference to submit articles for this call.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Global collaborative systems and international entrepreneurship; see L.P. Dana, et al., "The Global Reach of Symbiotic Networks", Journal of Euromarketing 9(2), June 2001, pp. 1-16
  • Social media in support of international entrepreneurship across cultures; see R.W. Wright, et al., "Trends in international business research: Twenty five years later", Journal of International Business Studies, 1994, vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 687-701
  • Knowledge systems technology and international entrepreneurship; see Hamid Etemad, et al., "The knowledge network of international entrepreneurship: Theory and evidence", Small Business Economics, 2003, pp. 5-23
  • E-government in the development of international entrepreneurship; see P.B. Cragg, et al., "The evolution of information systems in small firms", Information and Management, 1995, pp. 1-8
  • International entrepreneurship and the digital economy; see: Hamid Etemad, et al, "Internationalization as the necessary condition for internationalization in the newly emerging economy", Journal of International Entrepreneurship 8(4), 2010, pp. 319-342
  • Information systems and international entrepreneurship in developing economies; see G.S. Mort, et al., "Networking capability and international entrepreneurship: How networks function in Australian born global firms", International Marketing Review, 2006, pp. 549-572
  • Scope of international entrepreneurship; see: Stephen Young, et al., "International Entrepreneurship Research: What Scope for International Business Theories?", Journal of International Entrepreneurship1(1), March 2003, pp. 31-42
  • Directions for future research; see L.P. Dana et al., "International Entrepreneurship: Research Priorities for the Future", International Journal of Globalisation and Small Business 3(1), January 2009, pp. 90-134

Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 31 December, 2016

Special issue published: "Flipped Classroom with Technology"

International Journal of Social Media and Interactive Learning Environments 2(4) 2014
  • What the flip: impact of flipped instruction on self-regulated learning
  • College students' perception of the flipped classroom: a phenomenographical study
  • Teachers who use flipping the classroom: professional development, feelings of autonomy and TPACK
  • A case study of learner and instructor perceptions of flipped course design and interactive learning environment
  • Flipping a high school classroom as a response-to-learner intervention
  • 'That's a wrap': overcoming obstacles for successful video design in flipped classes

24 February 2015

Inderscience is media partner for 2nd Genomics Congress: Asia

Inderscience is a media partner for 2nd Genomics Congress: Asia (19-20 March 2015, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia).

The journals involved are:

Special issue published: "Current Trends in Regional Innovation System Thinking and Policy Making"

International Journal of Innovation and Regional Development 6(1) 2015
  • A system dynamics model of science, technology and innovation policy to sustain regional innovation systems in emerging economies
  • The structural and functional analysis of innovation systems: outline of the Polish case
  • The role of technology transfer offices in growing new entrepreneurial ecosystems around mid-sized universities
  • Technology transfer as a driver for location of R&D active firms on science parks
  • Service innovation in the complex environment of tax administration: the Indonesian public sector perspective

Call for papers: "OR and DSS in Agricultural Development and Rural Economy"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Decision Support Systems.

Decision support systems have been successfully used in a variety of applications concerning areas of the agricultural sector, agricultural development and rural economy. Although there have been successful efforts in both theoretical and applied domains, there are still a number of outstanding questions regarding the similarities and differences of operational research modelling approaches and the effectiveness of their solutions in the interrelated areas of agriculture and rural development. In this special issue we invite contributions in both theoretical developments and applications of operational research and decision support systems in areas of agriculture. Suitable topics include applications of OR and DSS in real problem decision making and real case studies.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Territorial economic performance
  • Competitiveness of the agricultural sector
  • Farm/agricultural/rural productivity/efficiency
  • Investment in extension, agricultural R&D and infrastructure
  • Efficiency/effectiveness of public expenditure in agricultural sector/rural areas
  • Consumer preferences
  • Food industry behaviour
  • Rural and regional development
  • Regional and national differences
  • Regulatory issues
  • Management of natural resources, energy and environment
  • Climate change
  • Sustainable development
  • Food safety management systems
  • TQM in agribusiness and food industry
  • Statistical process control, lean six sigma
  • EU agricultural and rural development policy

Important Dates
Deadline for full paper submission: 31 July, 2015
Notice of acceptance/rejection: 30 November, 2015
Revised paper submission: 31 January, 2016
Final decision: 31 March, 2016

Special issue published: "Future GIS: Riding the Wave of a Growing Geospatial Society"

International Journal of Data Mining, Modelling and Management 7(1) 2015
  • Geospatial technologies in school - theoretical concept and practical implementation in K-12 schools
  • Public participation GIS and neighbourhood recovery: using community mapping for economic development
  • From Mylar to map documents: GIS AML inventory for abandoned coal mine investigations
  • An open multi-tier architecture for high-performance data mining using SOA

23 February 2015

Special Issue published: "Nanotechnology Imperatives in the New Millennium"

International Journal of Nanoparticles 7(3/4) 2014

Extended versions of papers presented at the International Conference on Nanomaterials Synthesis, Fabrication and Applications 2014.
  • A simple method to prepare superhydrophobic polypropylene coatings for biomedical applications
  • Photoluminescence, magnetic and electrical properties of Co-ferrite nanoparticles synthesised via sol-gel auto-combustion method
  • Bionanosilver-poly (methyl 2-methylpropenoate) electrospun nanofibre as a potent antibacterial against multidrug resistant bacteria
  • Enhancement of pearlitic structure through inoculation with nano-size silicon carbide
  • Characterisation of alginate-based nanocomposites prepared by radiation for removal of pesticides
  • Impact of chemical composition of the substrate on the synthesis and behaviour of nano hard anodised layers
  • Optimisation of the fabrication conditions of the PEDOT:PSS layer in organic solar cells based on P3HT:PCBM
  • Cellulose nanocrystals and carboxymethyl cellulose from olive stones and their use to improve paper sheets properties
  • Synthesis and characterisation of strontium tartrate nanoparticles with and without Triton X-100 surfactant
  • Antibiofouling property of marine actinobacteria and its mediated nanoparticle
  • Development of chlorophyll-protein complex nanoparticles for light harvesting and solar cell application
  • Effects of magnetic field and hydrostatic pressure on a confined exciton in a strained GaAs0.9P0.1/GaAs0.6P0.4 quantum dot
  • Effect of doping on the structural parameters of pure and doped barium titanate nano powders synthesised by sol-gel emulsion technique

Int. J. of Networking and Virtual Organisations to publish expanded papers from IWGA2015

Extended versions of papers presented at the International Workshop on Graph Algorithms (13 May 2015, Penang, Malaysia) will be published by the International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations.

Cooler buildings with Iranian windcatchers

An ancient approach to ventilating buildings in the notoriously hot countries of the Middle East and North Africa – so-called windcatchers – could become a viable zero-energy alternative to electric air-conditioning units, according to research published in the International Journal of Energy Technology and Policy. The relatively simple wind- and solar-powered devices could significantly reduce the carbon emissions of many buildings across the globe that currently rely on energy-intensive air conditioning.

Mohamadjavad Mahdavinejad and Kavan Javanroodi of the Architecture Department at Tarbiat Modares University, in Tehran, Iran, explain how windcatchers, or “Baud-Geer” in the Persian language, comprise a tower housing a shaft capped by a cabinet with ducts to funnel the prevailing wind down the shaft. Such towers are commonplace in Iran and other parts of the region and simply channel air from above the buildings into the living space to cause evaporative cooling. There have been countless designs used through the centuries to greater or lesser effect, many with elaborate systems of vents within the main cabinet.

The team has now investigated the cooling efficiency of the three main types of windcatcher used in Iran, the Ardakani, with a single vent, the Kermani with its two openings, and the Yazdi which has four openings. The basic findings suggest that the Ardakani is not at all efficient mainly because during the summer months there is a negative flow with air being drawn up the windcatcher shaft rather than dry, cooling air being drawn down into the living space. The second and third types, the Kermani and the Yazdi, both generate a good airflow downward during the hot summer months but they also generate a significant and uncomfortable cooling draft during the winter.

The team has now modeled the different windcatcher designs in order to determine what design features can be optimized to improve overall cooling efficiency during the summer and to reduce unwanted winter cooling. Vent size, number, orientation of the vents and their fins, height and internal diameter of the shaft can all affect efficiency. Of course, one factor that can never be controlled is the wind speed entering the windcatcher vents. Nevertheless, the design of optimal windcatchers for passive cooling of buildings in the summer could be a tenable way to reduce air-conditioning energy bills and shrink the building’s carbon footprint especially if solar heating is also exploited to create a thermal gradient and increase the cooling down draft, the team reports.

Mahdavinejad, M. and Javanroodi, K. (2014) ‘Natural ventilation performance of ancient wind catchers, an experimental and analytical study – case studies: one-sided, two-sided and four-sided wind catchers’, Int. J. Energy Technology and Policy, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp.36–60.

Special issue published: "Big Data and Cloud Computing Challenges"

International Journal of Big Data Intelligence 2(1) 2015

Extended versions of papers presented at the First International Symposium on Big Data and Cloud Computing Challenges.
  • Optimising virtual machine allocation in MapReduce cloud for improved data locality
  • An empirical experimentation towards predicting understandability of conceptual schemas using quality metric
  • Terms analytics service for CouchDB: a document-based NoSQL
  • Energy aware network scheduling for a data centre
Additional paper
  • MELA: elasticity analytics for cloud services

Special issue published: "Decision Support Towards Sustainable Energy and Environmental Systems"

International Journal of Decision Support Systems 1(2) 2015
  • Energy saving potential of information and communication technology
  • Forecasting electrical consumption of commercial buildings using energy performance indicators
  • Determinants for the diffusion of renewable energy technologies - framework for assessing major factors in investors' decision-making processes
  • Restructuring transport sector towards sustainability: infrastructure and market prospects of alternative fuels in EU transportation
Additional paper
  • Integrating usage analysis on cube view selection - an alternative method 

22 February 2015

Global Business and Economics Review to publish expanded papers from GCBSS 2015

Extended versions of papers presented at the Global Conference on Business and Social Science (17-18 September 2015, Bali, Indonesia) will be published by the Global Business and Economics Review.

Special issue published: "Six Sigma in Education"

International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage 8(3/4) 2014
  • A systematic literature review of Six Sigma practices in education
  • Using lean Six Sigma methodology to empower students for executing departmental initiatives
  • Integrate DLDDC into DFSS for reducing variations in programme delivery
  • 'Flipping' the Lean Six Sigma classroom
  • Quality excellence in higher education system through Six Sigma: student team engagement model
Regular paper
  • Generic Lean Six Sigma project definitions for the construction industry

Call for papers: "Innovative and Intelligent Information and Communication Technology"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Intelligent Systems Technologies and Applications.

Information and communications technology (ICT) has totally transformed daily life because of the valuable innovations in this field. This special issue focuses on the main trends that enable ICT to be more innovative and intelligent. It includes research on artificial intelligence, computer vision, machine learning, image processing, cloud computing, network and optical communicating.

The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the International Conference of Innovation in Science and Technology 2015 (IICIST 2015), but we also strongly encourage researchers unable to participate in the conference to submit articles for this call.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Computer engineering
  • Information technology
  • Multimedia
  • Cloud computing
  • Artificial intelligence
  • Computer vision and machine learning
  • Information security
  • Information systems
  • Information retrieval
  • Data mining
  • Data warehouse
  • Bioinformatics
  • Image processing
  • Expert systems
  • Computer vision
  • Intelligent data management
  • Grid computing
  • Computer networks
  • Wireless networks
  • Mobile communications
  • Sensor networks
  • Network security
  • Optical communications
  • Security and privacy
  • System modelling and performance analysis
  • Vehicle ad hoc networks
  • Wireless MAC, routing, and transport layer protocols
  • Mechatronics and robotics
  • Power system and smart Grid
  • Distributed generation
  • Electrical machines, power electronics and drives
  • Control and automation
  • Embedded system, sensors, actuators

Important Dates
Manuscript submission due: 1 June, 2015
First round of reviews: 1 September, 2015
Acceptance notification: 1 November, 2015

21 February 2015

Call for papers: "Design of Intelligence with Systems and Circuits"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Circuits and Architecture Design.

Implementation issues of systems and circuits with learning capabilities have been a main theme of researchers owing to intelligent perception and action evolved with biological organisms. The main objective of this special issue is to bring the most recent and updated research efforts together and provide the most comprehensive studies for the community.
 
The content is mainly devoted to modelling and structural (system and circuit) implementation for short and long-term learning paradigms, possible perception mechanisms, information storage and retrieval based on decision-making with sensory and sensory-motor activities, sensors and actuators, spike-based modelling learning, neural-coding, supervised and unsupervised learning, neural networks, self-organising maps, learning-vector quantisation and so on.
 
The special issue is intended mainly for academics who have undertaken theoretical studies on implementation/design aspects of biologically-inspired learning, intelligence and motor actions to realise decision-making with system and circuit design issues. We are also hoping to contribute to and inspire those who have aspirations to pursue research in these areas.
 
Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Biologically-inspired learning and brain modelling
  • Modelling intelligence and information retrieval
  • Modelling decision-making
  • System design for learning and decision making
  • Sensory behaviour and motor actions
  • System design for sensory-motor learning
  • Spiking action modelling and systems
  • Neural architectures and learning
  • Circuits for decision-making
  • Neuromorphic system design
  • Neuro-spike systems and circuits
  • Fuzzy systems, and circuits
  • Competitive learning systems and circuits
  • Telemetry and biomedicine
  • Integration of sensory behaviour and coding
  • VLSI and ULSI implementation of decision-making and learning
 
Important Dates
Submission of Manuscripts: 15 April, 2015
Notification to Authors: 15 May, 2015
Final Versions Due: 15 June, 2015

Inderscience is media partner for 10th Annual Green Economics Institute Conference

Inderscience is a media partner for the 10th Annual Green Economics Institute Conference (22-25 March 2015, Trinity College, University of Oxford, UK).

The journals involved is the International Journal of Green Economics.

Call for papers: "Advancements in Interactive Marketing and the Internet of Things"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing.

Internet- and other technology-enabled tools such as near-field communication, real-time localisation, radio frequency identification or quick response code have inundated our lives and transformed everyday objects into smart artefacts that can comprehend and react to their environments. These smart objects, by integrating several technologies and communication solutions, allow customers to retrieve (and share) information and knowledge of the products and create the so-called Internet of Things.

Although a substantial body of research in marketing and information systems has focused on the impact of the internet and related technologies on consumers, firms and the marketplace, the literature remains fragmented and the two topics need to be better scrutinised.

In such a complex scenario, the main objective of this special issue is to further develop our understanding of both interactive marketing and the Internet of Things and/or the way they interact with and relate to each other, using a multidisciplinary approach.

This issue invites conceptual, empirical and methodological papers on new trends in interactive marketing and the Internet of Things, how these can affect marketing and retailing theories, and their implications for associated processes, products and services. Both theoretical work and empirical research are appreciated.

The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the 3rd B.S.Lab International Symposium 2015. However, researchers unable to participate in the conference are also strongly encouraged to submit articles for this call.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Interactive marketing
  • Evolution of interactive marketing
  • Fundamental trends within interactive marketing literature
  • Internet of Things
  • Future scenarios in marketing and retailing related to the Internet of Things
  • Future research regarding the intersection of interactive marketing and the Internet of Things
  • Ethical issues in interactive marketing and the Internet of Things
  • Open business models and Internet of Things development
  • Smart cities, smart firms
  • Web marketing services
  • Omni-channel retailing
  • Consumer behaviour through the internet
  • Customer relationship management on Internet
The Guest Editor also invites authors to submit innovative and interesting papers that may not necessarily fit into the areas listed above but which are highly relevant to the theme of the issue.


Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 30 November, 2015

20 February 2015

Call for papers: "Sustainability and Human Resources"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Intelligent Enterprise.

Sustainability has been a subject of thought, debate, reflection and research for a long time now. Managing the triple bottom-line, i.e. profits, people and planet has become paramount in the wake of depleting resources and environmental concerns all over the world. While concern has been expressed towards the sustainability of scarce natural and environmental resources, there has been very little attempt to explore the social aspect of sustainability of critical human resources. Firstly, this refers to the problem of scarcity of duly qualified and motivated human resources to meet the future demands for these resources. Secondly, it refers to unintended outcomes of business practices for human resources, human resource management and the society at large. For example, critical human resources are being consumed and exploited, as reflected by increased work-related stress, blurring of work-family life, health problems, burnout, or lack of employability.
 
This is a far cry from the rhetoric of ‘human resource development’. It also assumes added significance given the well-established view that human resources are the most important source of competitive advantage for organisations. The failure to ensure sustainability of critical human resources would lead to loss of strategic ability, differentiation and innovation. Thereby, it is of paramount importance that we explore the issue of sustainability of human resources so as to be better prepared to deal with the challenges of tomorrow.
 
This special issue seeks to compile papers that can contribute to the development of an exciting new research agenda geared towards the understanding and analysis of the sustainability issue from the perspective of the critical human resources in organisations.
 
We welcome research papers that offer valuable new insights or present new approaches to any of the topics listed below. Work offering a conceptual framework, empirical insights, case studies, use of different methodological approaches and offering an international dimension are particularly encouraged.
 
Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Sustainable HRM and its link to business strategy
  • Developing human resources from a sustainability perspective
  • Leadership for sustainable development of human resources
  • Sustainable HRM during times of organisational change
  • The role of sustainable HRM across the value chain.
  • Business ethics as a driver of human resource sustainability
  • Cross-cultural issues in sustainability of human resources
  • Role of human resource practitioners in ensuring sustainability of human resources
  • Balancing competing demands of sustainability of human resources with economic competitiveness of firms.
  • Role of organisational culture in ensuring human resource sustainability
 
Important Dates
Deadline for manuscript submission: 31 May, 2015
Completion of first review process: 31 August, 2015
Deadline for submission of revised manuscripts: 30 November, 2015
Completion of second review process: 31 January, 2016
Final decision: 29 February, 2016

Special issue published: "Novel Applications of AI for Medical and Engineering Systems"

International Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Soft Computing 5(1) 2015

Extended versions of papers presented at the 4th International Conference on Development of eSystems Engineering (DeSE).
  • Synchronous motor speed control based on ANFIS methodology and sliding mode observer
  • A classifier fusion strategy to improve the early detection of neurodegenerative diseases
  • Predicting financial time series data using artificial immune system-inspired neural networks
  • A comparative study of multimodal digital map interface designs for blind users

Call for papers: "Developing Markets as a Source of Competitive Advantage"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets.

The share of global FDI flows to, from and between developing economies has reached a critical level in recent years. According to UNCTAD, developing economies received in 2012 more FDI than all the Triad countries combined for the first time in history. These trends mirror the rising purchasing power of local middle-class consumers as well as the increasing tendency of emerging market multinationals to internationalise their operations. Notwithstanding this shift, developing countries are depicted in international literature almost exclusively as a difficult business context to enter and operate in.

This special issue will take a positive view on the unique institutional conditions that prevail in developing countries and emerging markets. Indeed, recent studies have shown that many firms view developing countries more as a source of competitive advantage than high-potential markets associated with significant risks. For instance, the success of an increasing number of emerging market multinationals in both developing and developed markets has been credited to the institutional dexterity they have gained while growing up in developing countries. Another example is that of developed market multinationals that are found to take advantage of institutional voids in emerging markets to shape local institutions to their own advantage.

This issue will feature a coherent set of well-crafted research articles that are rooted in strong theory, reliable qualitative and quantitative data, and rigorous analysis.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Do multinationals from developing countries behave differently from their counterparts in more advanced economies?
  • What are the distinctive capabilities and comparative advantages of emerging market multinationals?
  • How do the institutional conditions in developing countries affect the competitive behaviour of locally grown firms?
  • What are the strategies used by developed market multinationals to shape market institutions in developing countries to serve their interests?
  • What are the strategies used by emerging market multinationals to compete in their home markets with peers from advanced or emerging economies?
  • What are the catchup strategies used by developed market multinationals to compete with incumbent firms in emerging markets?
  • What are the catchup strategies used by emerging market multinationals to become competitive internationally?
  • How do local and foreign firms leverage institutional voids in developing countries and emerging markets to their advantage?
  • Do developed market multinationals gain particular skills (e.g. institutional dexterity) as a result of operating in developing countries and emerging markets? If yes, what are they and how do they acquire them?

Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 15 May, 2016
Comments to authors: 15 July, 1016
Revised papers due: 15 December, 2016
(Papers submitted earlier than the submission date will be put through the review process on rolling basis, and authors may expect to hear sooner.)

First issue: International Journal of Software Engineering, Technology and Applications (free sample issue available)

The International Journal of Software Engineering, Technology and Applications discusses new computation methodologies in the software engineering process. For large software projects, innovative software development approaches are of vital importance. In order to gain higher software standards and efficiency, software process adaptation must be derived from social behaviour, planning, strategy, intelligent computing, etc., based on various factors. IJSETA addresses the state of the art of all aspects of computational science and engineering, highlighting computational methods and techniques for science and engineering applications in the software development process.

There is a free download of the papers from this first issue.

19 February 2015

Call for papers: "Counterfactual Methods for Policy Evaluation: Theory, Design and Applications"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Computational Economics and Econometrics.

High quality original research papers are invited for this special issue, which aims to explore and bring together theoretical and applied contributions concerning various methodological aspects of counterfactual impact evaluation.

This call originates from the consideration that European institutions increasingly demand that the Member States investigate the net effect (impact) of their programmes using counterfactual methods. Such requests come from the increasing awareness that this method is the most credible way to establish causality between an observed outcome and the intervention that is presumed to have generated that outcome.

At the same time, it must be openly acknowledged that counterfactual methods suffer from many limitations, both in their applicability and in the credibility of results they generate. For example, the most credible results come from randomised experiments, which are the least applicable counterfactual methods, at least in the context of structural funds. Moreover, many related issues need further clarification, especially in quasi-experimental settings, concerning the identification of proper comparison groups, the reorganisation of administrative databases into micro-data suited for impact evaluation, the correction of selection bias due to the presence of unobservable factors, and many other issues which deserve a clearer understanding.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Strategies and methodologies for comparison group selection
  • Corrections for selection bias
  • Alternative estimates and validation
  • Computational topics related to data sources
  • Data management suited for evaluation problems
  • Theoretical models for impact evaluation
  • Econometric estimators for impact evaluation
  • Applied policy evaluation
  • Software development for counterfactual statistical analysis

Important Dates
Submission of full manuscript: 31 August, 2016

Special issue published: "Evolving Real Estate Management: Retrospect and Prospect"

International Journal of Globalisation and Small Business 6(3/4) 2014
  • Increasing the resilience and adaptive capacity of cities through entrepreneurial urbanism
  • Real estate management: what boundaries? A European approach
  • Facility management: current trends and future perspectives
  • In- or outsourcing of the sales force? What is better? The case of the construction sector
  • Performance disclosure in the real estate industry: a case research of analyst reports and corporate financial presentations in Italy

Call for papers: "The Smart City and Service Innovation: Lessons on Implementing Governance in Co-production"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Services Technology and Management.

Driven by a boom in the collaborative economy, cities are emerging as platforms for open innovation. Under pressure from growing demand and economic restraints, cities are looking towards open innovation and new technologies to provide better services and infrastructure to improve citizens' quality of life and incentivise local innovation. By embracing open data, new internet technologies and sensors in urban transport and building infrastructure, cities are enabling access to real-time data on everything from energy efficiency and congestion to pollution and crime. As a result, their opportunities for connecting people and places with things are increasing and new open innovation systems are emerging.

High-profile EU programmes in Europe have recognised the importance of the smart city and open innovation, the standing of which has risen in the landscape of the future internet and Internet of Things domains. These are expected to form dense social interactions, connecting people, communities and institutions with technology and infrastructure, thus enabling them to co-produce the applications and services that people and cities need and aspire to.

Since 2010, through action-based, experimentally-driven research, more than 20 large-scale European initiatives have deployed smart city real-life piloting projects in over 60 cities across the continent. Through user-driven open innovation ecosystems, such as Living Labs, in urban areas and cross-border networks of cities, shared innovative open platforms have been created for smart cities' services making use of information generated by users or captured from sensors, stimulating demand based on next-generation access networks. Industry and citizens have been encouraged to become more creative; to develop more sustainable, sociallyaware and intelligent sensing services; to support the independent living and social interaction of elderly people; to develop smart neighbourhoods where media-based social interaction occurs; to develop smart streets and urban districts where new transportation and energy consumption behaviours develop; to develop smart squares where civic decisions are made; and to develop smart museums and parks where natural and cultural heritage feed learning.

City-led innovation ecosystems are emerging as a result alongside collaborative economy concepts such as crowdsourcing, big data, open data, open networks and open government. A number of cities with multiple projects are already champions: Manchester, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Helsinki and Athens. Others, large and small, have joined the club too, from Tirgu Mures (Romania) to Dublin (Ireland) and from Oulu (Finland) to Thermi (Greece). In the US, more than 40 cities are using open data portals to involve citizens and private firms in developing services that improve quality of life. Now we need to know more about the success of these initiatives.

Governance-related challenges have been identified as key to service co-production. But questions remain unanswered about how well-grounded approaches to governance can be exploited to develop efficient citizens-centred smart city services (Draetta and Labarthe, 2010; Cleland et al, 2012; Pallot et al, 2010). Critical factors include citizen participation and effective collaborative processes between stakeholders (Odendaal 2003; Paskaleva, 2011), leadership (Mooij 2003; Lam 2005), private/public partnerships (Giffinger et al 2007) and governance infrastructures (Johnston and Hanssen 2011), the latter allowing for collaboration, data exchange, service integration and communication.

Here, 'governance' deals with the organisation of the innovation eco-system as a whole as well as interactions between its constituent members, e.g. the commitments and responsibilities of members, financial arrangements for joint infrastructures, mutual arrangements in respect of using each other's technologies and services (Mulder et al 2008). A recent study on the challenges faced in the co-production of smart city services (Paskaleva et al, 2015) found that engaging stakeholders effectively and on a sustainable basis is a critical success factor for such projects. Management skills are crucial but the ability to enable cooperation amongst stakeholders, the structure of alliances and collaborative working under different jurisdictions are key factors too (Scholl et al 2009), for city services are smart when ICTs and future internet developments are successfully embedded in the urban social and cultural networks needed to generate intelligence necessary for wealth creation and the principles and standards by which citizens and communities are engaged in their governance (Deakin 2014). So eco-systems and their governance have to be critically examined and evaluated.

The editorial of a special 2014 issue of Public Management Review on Innovation in Public Services (Osborne et al 2014) argued that co-production is central to the realisation of effective public services and that public service delivery should be treated as relational and process-based rather than transactional and product-based, to create externally, end-user-driven development predicated upon service effectiveness and public value. A subsequent volume on Co-production and Public Services (Radnor et al 2014) signalled that for public services to move away from product-dominant logic towards a service approach, they will have to adopt an inter-organisational approach with the role of the service user as a co-producer, starting from the design of the service. In neither volume was there an emphasis on evaluation of the effectiveness of this process or its resulting services.

This is the starting point of this new call for papers, which is focused on implementation and assessment as critical to the management of open innovation in the field of smart city services. Authors are encouraged to consider co-production of services in the smart city in the context of both our theoretical understanding and our practical experience of how such governance works. We aim to
  • uncover unique perspectives on the role of governance in smart cities as platforms for open innovation
  • further debate on smart city governance by focusing on stakeholder relations, skills, knowledge and capacity as the basis for the co-production of smart city services
  • seek empirical verification of successful governance strategies for smart city services.
In short, reflecting on the state of the art of service governance and its implementation in coproduction, the issue aims to show what has and hasn't worked in smart cities. Authors will be invited to identify the success criteria needed for establishing the proven case for a governance approach to services creation. High-quality submissions are invited that are practice-based, reflective, critical and empirically-grounded and/or theoretically informed and aspirational and predictive about future directions.

Successful submissions should contain
  • a clear indication of which specific question(s) raised in this call for papers will be addressed
  • Evidence of what has and hasn't worked
  • Articulation of the assessment regimes and success criteria needed to evaluate the efficacy of the governance approach
  • The theoretical underpinning and conceptual frameworks necessary for robust research designs for undertaking such evaluations
  • Specification of the range of stakeholders who need to be involved in such evaluation, the roles they will need to play, and the skill sets they need to operate effectively. 
Smart city service innovation and governance crosses both academic and practitioner disciplinary boundaries so we encourage papers that cross these.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • The production and distribution of new governance processes, lifecycles and methods for service co-production and innovation; using a integration of top-down and bottom-up (middling out) approaches to understand what people want, need and wish for, aimed at identifying key service value drivers
  • Involvement of stakeholders through user-driven innovation and collaborative design and leveraging these processes to achieve desired outcomes
  • Capacity building for urban communities to enable them to engage effectively in the co-production of smart city services
  • Successful integration of technology with social innovation to design innovative smart city services with robust governance foundations
  • The impact of the transformation of organisational and institutional arrangements on service co-production
  • Assessment of the impacts in terms of marginal value creation of smart city services and their accompanying governance models
  • Measurement of good governance for smart city service innovation
  • Policy innovation perspectives
  • The connected co-productive intelligence
  • The design of assessment frameworks aimed at evaluating city services' smartness both in terms of governance readiness and outcome generation 

Important Dates
Submission of full papers: 30 April, 2016


References
Cleland, B., Mulvenna, M., Galbraith, B., Wallace, J. and Martin, S. (2012), Building Sustainable eParticipation Strategies Using Living Labs. Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on e-Government 2012. Academic Conferences Limited, pp. 149-158.
Deakin, M. (2014). Smart cities: the state-of-the-art and governance challenge, Triple Helix, 1:7.
Deakin, M. and Allwinkle, S. (2007). Urban regeneration and sustainable communities: The role of networks, innovation, and creativity in building successful partnerships, Journal of Urban Technology, 14, 1, p. 77-91.
EC (2014). Digital Agenda for Europe. Open Innovation 2.0: Sustainable Economy & Society-Stability. Jobs. Prosperity, Dublin Ireland, 20/05- 21/05. Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/news/open-innovation-2.0-sustainable-economy-society-stability-jobs-prosperity.
Draetta, L. and Labarthe, F. (2010). The Living Labs at the test of user-centred innovation - Proposal of a methodological framework. Lugano: CE 2010 - Collaborative Environments for Sustainable Innovation, Lugano, Switzerland.
Giffinger, R., Fertner, C., Kramar, H., Kalasek, R., Pichler-Milanovic, N., & Meijers, E. (2007). Smart Cities: Ranking of European Medium-Sized Cities. Vienna, Austria: Centre of Regional Science (SRF), Vienna University of Technology. Available from Http://www.smartcities.eu/download/smart_cities_final_report.pdf.
Johnston, E. & Hansen, D. (2011). Design Lessons for Smart Governance Infrastructures. Chapter in American Governance 3.0: Rebooting the Public Square? An edited book by the National Academy of Public Administration. Ink, D., Balutis, A., & Buss, T (editors)
Lam, W. (2005). Barriers to e-government integration. The journal of Enterprise Information Management, 18(5), 511-530.
Mooij, J. (2003). Smart governance? Politics in the policy process in Andhra Pradesh, India. ODI Working Papers, 228. Available from http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/download/1793.pdf.
Odendaal, N. (2003). Information and communication technology and local governance: Understanding the difference between cities in developed and emerging economies. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 27(6), 585-607.
Mulder, I., Velthausz, D. and Kriens, M. (2008). The living labs harmonization cube: Communicating living lab's essentials, The Electronic Journal for Virtual Organizations and Networks, 10, p. 1-14.
Osborne, S., Radnor, Z., Vidal, I. & T. Kinder (2014). A Sustainable Business Model for Public Service Organizations? Editorial: Special Issue: Co-production and Public Services, Public Management Review, Vol. 3 165-172.
Paskaleva, K. (2011). The smart city: A nexus for open innovation? Intelligent Buildings International, 3, 3, p. 153-171.
Paskaleva-Shapira, K. (2009). Assessing local readiness for city e-governance in Europe, International Journal of Electronic Government Research, vol. 4, no.4, pp. 17-36.
Paskaleva, K., Cooper I. Linde, P, Peterson, B and Ch. Götz (2015). Smart City Stakeholder Engagement: Making Living Labs Work. In Bolívar, M. (2015). Transforming City Governments for successful Smart Cities, Springer.
Paskaleva, K. and Cooper, I. (2014). Open innovation evaluation for Internet-enabled services in smart cities, Paper submitted to Technovation, Special Issue: Evaluating and managing technology and innovation in the public sector.
Pallot, M., Trousse, B., Senach, B. and Scapin, D. (2010) Living Lab research landscape: From user centred design and user experience towards user cocreation. First EU Summer School 'Living Labs'.
Schaffers, H., Komninos, N., Pallot, M., Aguas, M., Almirall, E., Bakici, T., Barroca, J., Carter, D., Corriou, M. and Fernadez, J. (2012). FIREBALL white paper on Smart Cities as Innovation Ecosystems sustained by the Future Internet.
Scholl, H. J., Barzilai-Nahon, K., Ahn, J-H., Olga, P., & Barbara, R. (2009). E-commerce and e-government: How do they compare? What can they learn from each other? Proceedings of the 42nd Hawaiian International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS 2009), Koloa, Hawaii, January 4-7.

February Research Picks Extra

Teaching in the cloud

An international team from Iran and Malaysia have investigated how cloud computing might best be incorporated into teaching practice. In order to reveal the pros and cons of cloud computing in this environment, the team used the Danielson Teaching Framework. This framework focuses on key aspects of teaching by breaking the practice into specific components, such as communicating with students, students engagement and others. This Framework has previously been shown to lead to high-quality teaching and so the adoption of cloud computing in this setting was expected to give good results too. The team’s initial investigations show this to be the case improving teacher and student organisation, scheduling and collaboration. Fundamentally, cloud computing, by definition avoids the problems associated with the limitations of any given personal computer by displacing the computational and storage aspects to networked, but remote and distributed servers.

Saadatdoost, R., Sim, A.T.H., Jafarkarimi, H. and Saadatdoost, L. (2015) ‘A cloud-based teaching framework: an introduction’, Int. J. Management in Education, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp.235–253.


The hybrid hospital pharmacist

Canadian researchers have demonstrated that a hybrid technology that combines the benefits of RFID tags (radio frequency identification tags) and conventional barcodes can improve logistics in a hospital pharmacy. The approach has the potential to improve efficiency and expediency in delivering prescription drugs to patients as well as reducing the risk of drug administering errors. The external pharmaceutical supply chain and the medication process between healthcare worker and patient- the start and end point of the overall healthcare system from the prescription perspective – are well researched and well covered in terms of technology and understanding of the processes involved. It is the logistics in between this supply and demand that are not so clear. Tests in four North American hospitals and five external organisations by the Canadian team have shown that a track-and-trace approach – based on combining RFID tagging and barcodes improves efficiency and accuracy, strengthens inventory visibility, reduces inventory costs, improves the readiness of purchase orders, decreases supply cycle times, reduces manual labour, strengthens patient security, and supports waste management and reverse logistics activities.

Romero, A. and Lefebvre, E. (2015) ‘Combining barcodes and RFID in a hybrid solution to improve hospital pharmacy logistics processes’, Int. J. Information Technology and Management, Vol. 14, Nos. 2/3, pp.97–123.


Oxbridge clusters

Rupert Waters of the Centre for International Marketing and Entrepreneurship Research at Halmstad University, in Sweden, has looked at a decade of progress and development in two of Europe’s major technology clusters – Oxford and Cambridge. Both cities and their environs have ancient universities associated closely with them as well as numerous hi-tech companies and organisations. Indeed, both regions are well known for their scientific and technologically driven products and services, their science and business parks and the close ties between academia and industry.

Waters has drawn information from national datasets relating to economic issues such as new firm formation, sectoral composition and gross value added in order to review the ongoing development of these two regions centres. He has shown that both Oxford and Cambridge clusters have been highly successful in regional economic development. But, that this development alone is insufficient to guarantee the overall economic growth of the associated county, Oxfordshire or Cambridgeshire, and to lead to it outperforming the UK’s national economy. Waters points out that Oxfordshire’s growth has slowed in the last three years to be closer the national average, Cambridge has slightly outperformed Oxfordshire but from a lower base. “What is not clear,” he says, “is whether there is evidence that either cluster-based economy have run out of steam and that there is evidence of a fourth stage in either or both.” Additional research is now needed to help us understand the future of such technology clusters in these two regions and more widely.

Waters, R. (2015) ‘Clusters and resilience: economic growth in Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire’, Int. J. Global Environmental Issues, Vol. 14, Nos. 1/2, pp.132–150.


Conceptual indexing

Most of the web’s search engines rely on opaque, but nevertheless alarmingly fast, algorithms to help you find information in their databases spidered from billions of websites. However, the search engine results pages, the so-called SERPs, are notoriously fickle as many users will attest, commonly offering spurious results, perhaps unrelated to the keywords on which one is searching. As users we often find an organic, manual approach to finally tracking down the information we need. For more formal archiving and searching a structured, conceptual indexing, approach is perhaps needed. Now, researchers in France, at INSA Rouen, have turned to a category network approach to help them structure a database in a more usable and useful format. The category approach is modelled on the Wikipedia approach to information, allowing them to create a conceptual taxonomy that uses a directed acyclic graph to map terms (one or more words, keyphrases rather than keywords, if you will) to a specific concept in the Wikipedia category network. Their preliminary evaluation of French has provided encouraging results and the team is now planning to extend the approach to English and other languages based on the fact that Wikipedia has skeletal frameworks for about 280 languages.

Abi Chahine, C., Chaignaud, N., Kotowicz, J-Ph. and Pecuchet, J-P. (2014) ‘A Wikipedia-based approach to conceptual indexing and retrieval of documents’, Int. J. Knowledge and Learning, Vol. 9, Nos. 1/2, pp.87–103.

18 February 2015

Call for papers: "Management Innovation"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business.

Scholars of innovation typically focus on its technical dimension only. Being innovative is reduced to the introduction of new products on the market or to the introduction of new processes in production. The restrictive conception is dominant today and focuses the attention of directors, policy makers and academic researchers.

Innovation is not only technological but can also be organizational. Authors like Birkinshaw, Hamel and Mol have begun to question whether it is possible for firms to create a long-term competitive advantage based on product or process innovations. In a world of accelerated exchange of ideas, technologies and capital, Hamel says, only “management innovation” can result in long-term competitive advantages. Management innovation is defined as “the invention and implementation of a management practice, process, structure, or technique that is new to the state of the art and is intended to further organizational goals”.

Management innovation can be approached in different ways. The goal of this special issue is to encourage scholars of every area of management to study the particular type of innovation that is management innovation. Specifically, it is meant as an opportunity to reflect on the idea put forward by Hamel that this innovation should be considered as the main innovation and to determine the impact that a management innovation can have for the various divisions of the firm bringing to bear the perspectives of multiple management disciplines (Strategy, Organizational Behavior, Finance, Accounting, Logistics, Information Systems, Human Resources, Entrepreneurship).

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

Drivers of management innovation
  • What are the main drivers of management innovation?
  • What is the role of different types of managers, ranging from terrain manager to owner manager, in the process of development and implementation of management innovation?
  • Is collaboration with actors outside the firm a driver for management innovation?
  • What is the role of consultants in the spread of management innovation?
  • What is the role of governments and academia in the spread of management innovation?
The process of management innovation
  • Does management innovation emerge spontaneously or is it the result of a deliberate process?
  • Is management innovation fundamentally a participatory phenomenon or is it possible to carry out management innovations by means of a top-down process?
  • What are the links between management innovation and other forms of innovation?
  • Are there dynamics of resistance against management innovation?
The impact of management innovation
  • What is the impact of management innovation on the economic and financial performance? Is it better than performance obtained through other types of innovation?
  • Does a management innovation have less impact the wider it spreads? Is there a first mover advantage in management innovation?
  • Is management innovation really a source of long-term competitive advantage?

Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 31 December, 2015
Notification to authors: 1 March, 2016
Final versions due: 31 May, 2016

Int. J. of Image Mining to publish expanded papers from CCEEDS 2015

Extended versions of papers presented at the 1st International Conference on Computing, Communication, Electrical, Electronics, Devices & Signal Processing (28-30 March 2015, Hyderabad, India) will be published by the International Journal of Image Mining.

Special issue published: "Entrepreneurship and Behavioural Finance"

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business 24(3) 2015
  • Entrepreneur's overconfidence, private benefits and the market performance of the firm
  • Does entrepreneur dispositional optimism bias affect small firms' technical efficiency
  • How to attract the crowd in crowdfunding?
  • The private equity premium puzzle: a behavioural finance approach
  • Entrepreneurs' social capital and access to external resources: the effects of social skills
  • Competence value emersion: a key to sound practices in entrepreneurial finance. From 'Q' to 'T' ratios in the North-Eastern Italian experience
  • Predicting loan repayment default among second tier borrowers in Ghana
  • Financial influences on export status of small and medium-sized enterprises in an emerging economy 

Call for papers: "Effective Integration of Computational and Experimental Aerodynamics"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Aerodynamics.

The aim of this issue is to present a platform for dissemination of findings relating to the state-of-the-art in integrated numerical and experimental programs in fundamental or applied aerodynamics, particularly when a novel advance in techniques or approaches to correlation are discussed. Increasingly, the synergistic benefits of integrated programs are being realised where previously-separate programs would once have existed; improvements to accuracy, understanding of complex flow phenomena, and lead times for physical testing or certification are all being enhanced by thoughtful programs making the most efficient use of computational and experimental resources.

Examples of successful case studies in closely integrated CFD and experimental programs are welcomed from all fields of aerodynamics, including aircraft, conventional and competition automobiles or other terrestrial vehicles, civil engineering applications from buildings to wind turbines, and other challenging areas of aerodynamic research and development. Manuscripts describing case studies which were only partly-successful or featured unexpected difficulties are also invited as an opportunity for the community to learn such that future improvements can be realised.
We anticipate this special issue to be of value to those working in a variety of fields in which validation, accuracy, and efficiency in design and testing are paramount, regardless of the flow regimes or niche applications involved.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Case studies of successful synergistic CFD/EFD basic or applied programs
  • Innovative statistical/algorithmic approaches to correlation
  • Cohesive CFD and EFD in undergraduate education
  • Holistic approaches to economical design/development/optimization cycles (i.e. multidisciplinary/multiphysics programs such as aero-thermal-structural-dynamic ground and/or flight testing and simulation)
  • Efficiency in handling multi-variable, multi-resolution aerodynamic datasets
  • Progress in achieving near-real-time correlation/validation
  • Recent experimental techniques that specifically enhance CFD validation
  • Recent CFD developments that specifically enhance experimental value

Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 31 January, 2016

Research Picks – February 2015

The cloud manufactory

Researchers in New Zealand and Sweden have worked together to develop the concept of manufacturing in the cloud, borrowing from the world of cloud computing to develop a new concept for distributed production. Xi Wang of the Department of Production Engineering, at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, in Stockholm and Xun Xu of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, at The University of Auckland, define the requirements of cloud manufacturing and how these can be brought together to facilitate the construction of a collaborative, intelligent, and distributed environment for manufacture.

Wang, X. and Xu, X. (2014) ‘Virtualise manufacturing capabilities in the cloud: requirements, architecture and implementation’, Int. J. Manufacturing Research, Vol. 9, No. 4, pp.348–368.


Safety on takeoff

In order to avoid repeating the same often-lethal mistakes, airline crew must overcome the tyrannical nature of the pilot/co-pilot relationship as well as learning lessons from earlier accidents, according to new research published by a team from the Civil Aviation University of China in Tianjin. Many aeroplane accidents are caused by the same mistakes being repeated or by a senior pilot ignoring the safety warnings or protestations of junior members of the crew, the team explains. They suggest that flight safety can be reinforced by a friendlier more democratic mode of working that precludes tyranny and that crew members, whether they are in control of the aircraft at any given time or not should be forthcoming in alerting each other of status problems.

Zhao, W.Z. and Fang, J.C. (2014) ‘Diagnose the unreliability during flight takeoff’, Int. J. Computer Applications in Technology, Vol. 50, Nos. 3/4, pp.191–195.


Tearing a strip off Wifi

Computer scientists in China have used an evolutionary process to come up with a novel design for a tiny wireless, Wi-Fi, antenna that operates at the standard 2.4 gigahertz frequency used by most internet routers, access points and wireless network devices, such as computers, smart TVs, tablets. The antenna is just 25 × 25 × 1.6 millimetres and successfully connected a personal computer to an wireless router in trials. The team reached an optimal design for their antenna by starting with a basic prototype, making small variations, testing and discarding the least efficient of the new designs, then using the “survivor” to generate the next generation for modification and testing.

Zeng, S., Jiang, Y., Liu, Z., Wu, Y., Guo, D., Qiao, L. and Liu, Z. (2015) ‘A new WiFi microstrip antenna designed by differential evolution’, Int. J. Wireless and Mobile Computing, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp.45–50.


A design for health

Design engineer Tom Page of Loughborough University, has investigated the role played by the term “innovation” in the UK’s healthcare system and found that the word is markedly overused, causes confusion and does not help in the implementation of new technologies or approaches to treatments and healthcare provision. Specialism is the underlying cause of this problem and Page suggests that the healthcare service needs to take a step back to get a clearer view of how disparate specialists might be brought together across the industries involved in developing medical technologies so that they might then be charged with defining and answering real questions for which answers are needed in the healthcare service.

Page, T. (2014) ‘Notions of innovation in healthcare services and products’, Int. J. Innovation and Sustainable Development, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp.217–231.

17 February 2015

Call for papers: "Electronic Health Records"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Functional Informatics and Personalised Medicine.

Realising that keeping a comprehensive, accurate, timely accessible and exchangeable medical record is the key to improving health service quality in the 21st century, the US federal government has been promoting the electronic health record (EHR) for better medical decision support. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Incentive Programs have been motivating healthcare providers to adopt EHR, contributing to the fast accumulation of health and clinical data which generates new challenges and research interests including large data analysis and knowledge discovery, health data security, health data exchange, etc.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • EHR applications
  • Health data analysis and knowledge discovery
  • Health data organisation and management
  • Health data security and privacy
  • Health data quality control
  • Health data exchange
  • EHR education and training
Articles addressing other topics in health informatics or biomedical sciences are also welcome.


Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 1 September, 2015

International Journal of Modelling in Operations Management Best Reviewer, 2014

Prof. Dr. Hon-Tat Huam has been designated by the journal's editorial team as Best Reviewer for 2014 for the International Journal of Modelling in Operations Management. In recognition of this award, Prof. Huam will receive one year's free access to the journal.

Call for papers: "New Developments in PROMETHEE Methods (2)"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Multicriteria Decision Making.

In the multicriteria decision aid community, PROMETHEE and GAIA have been developed for more than 30 years. Today, hundreds of applications have been published, several software packages are available, and new methodological developments (including group decision support, preference elicitation, sorting, etc.) have been proposed.

This special issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the Second International MCDA Workshop on PROMETHEE: Research and Case Studies, but we also strongly encourage researchers unable to participate in the conference to submit articles for this call.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Theoretical advances in the PROMETHEE and GAIA methods
  • Axiomatization
  • Extensions for sorting and clustering
  • Group decision support
  • Rank reversal
  • Preference elicitation
  • PROMETHEE applications
  • PROMETHEE software packages
  • Industrial case studies

Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 30 April, 2015

16 February 2015

Special issue published: "Cities as Engines for Sustainable Development"

International Journal of Global Environmental Issues 14(1/2) 2015
  • Cities in a shrinking globe
  • My urban idol 2050 - the city of Gothenburg
  • 'Urban world idol': could Shanghai rank #1 by 2050?
  • Assessment of waterfront attractiveness in port cities - Facebook 4 Urban Facelifts
  • Design and use of a Facebook 4 Urban Facelifts
  • Built to last: population aging and long run development in metropolitan Europe
  • Clusters and resilience: economic growth in Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire
  • Sustainability in the trans-border regions? The case of Andalusia - Algarve
  • Geodesign: integrating geographical sciences and creative design in envisioning a 'New Urban Europe' 

Int. J. of Computational Economics and Econometrics to publish expanded papers from IWcee15

Extended versions of papers presented at the International Workshop on Computational Economics and Econometrics (28-29 May 2015) will be published by the International Journal of Computational Economics and Econometrics.

Special issue published: "Current Research about Business in a Globalised Context"

International Journal of Business and Globalisation 14(2) 2015

Extended versions of papers presented at the Third International PhD Conference of the Open University of the Netherlands.
  • Conceptualising entrepreneurship as economic 'explanation' and the consequent loss of 'understanding'
  • Indigenous entrepreneurship: an emerging field of research
  • Testing across nations and cultures: issues and complexities
  • Waiting in multi-stage services: an exploration across service industries
Additional papers
  • The role of competitive strategies on export market selection by SMEs in an emerging economy
  • Improving sustainability in global supply chains with private certification standards: testing an approach for assessing their performance and impact potential

14 February 2015

Inderscience journals to publish expanded papers from Sibr 2015 Hong Kong Conference

Extended versions of papers presented at the Sibr 2015 Hong Kong Conference on Interdisciplinary Business & Economics Research (3-4 October 2015, Hong Kong) will be published by the following journals:

Special issue published: "SMAC: Social, Mobility, Analytics and Cloud Computing"

International Journal of Intercultural Information Management 4(2/3) 2014

Includes extended versions of papers presented at the International Conference on Business Management and Information Systems (ICBMIS) 2012 and 2013.
  • Facebook as an online business: examining its strategies on the Egyptian society
  • E-waste management: role of Indian higher educational institutes
  • Can fuzzy extension of Delphi-analytical hierarchy process improve hospital site selection?
  • Analysis of application and impact of disruptive innovation
  • Motivation for green ICT initiatives in government organisations: a study in Indian context
  • A 360 degree carbon audit of the ICT industry

13 February 2015

Inderscience journals to publish expanded papers from Sibr-Rdinrru 2015 Osaka Conference

Extended versions of papers presented at the Sibr-Rdinrru 2015 Osaka Conference on Interdisciplinary Business & Economics Research (2-3 July 2015, Osaka, Japan) will be published by the following journals:

Special issue published: "Risk and Global Warming"

International Journal of Global Warming 7(1) 2015
  • Virtualised load management algorithm to reduce CO2 emissions in the data centre industry
  • Modelling extreme temperatures in Ireland under global warming using a hybrid peak-over-threshold and generalised Pareto distribution approach
  • Beating treatment to enhance digestibility of fresh grass
  • Nitrous oxide emission from agricultural soils
  • Driving force factor analysis of global carbon intensity changes
  • An approach to assess risks of carbon geological storage technology
  • Risks in the development of Chinese photovoltaic industry: a perspective from low-carbon incentive policies
  • Security of energy supply in Japan: a key strategy and solutions

12 February 2015

Update on journal content's move to new hosting platform

Following the announcement that Inderscience content will be moving from Metapress to Atypon in April 2015 (previous post available here), we have now set up a dedicated web page to keep you informed of developments and to answer some of the questions you may have.

Please visit the page at any time for the latest news.

11 February 2015

Inderscience journals to publish expanded papers from Sibr-Thammasat 2015 Bangkok Conference

Extended versions of papers presented at the Sibr-Thammasat 2015 Bangkok Conference on Interdisciplinary Business & Economics Research (4-6 June 2015, Bangkok) will be published by the following journals:

Special issue published: "Value Creation for Sustainable Innovation and Learning"

International Journal of Innovation and Learning 17(2) 2015

Extended versions of papers presented at Technology, Innovation, and Industrial Management (TIIM 2013).
  • Benchmarking in higher education: Polish experience
  • Flood 2.0: Facebook use and reactions during the 2011/2012 flood in Thailand
  • Can TQM improve the sustainability of family owned business?
  • The building blocks of consulting service excellence
  • Brand and corporate image of a sport organisation as a factor of building loyalty on example of rock climbing in Poland
  • Gender differences and consumer's repurchase intention: the impact of trust propensity, usefulness and ease of use for implication of innovative online retail
  • Knowledge dynamics and innovation: case studies in a sparsely populated area
  • A hybrid method to predict scenarios in the Japanese software industry
  • The internet of things: when reality meets expectations

Call for papers: "Cognitive Radio Sensor Networks: Challenges and Application Areas"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Soft Computing.

A wireless sensor network (WSN) is a set of sensor nodes deployed to collect data and monitor an environment’s events. Each node can perform three basic tasks: sensing data (humidity, temperature, fire, etc.), transmitting over short distances, and performing limited data processing.

Traditional WSNs have many application fields; however, due to their limited resources (low processing capacity, memory and energy reserves), the application fields remain underexploited compared to the WSNs’ spectrum utilisation. Indeed, enhancing the performance of WSNs can significantly increase their applications. To address this challenge, cognitive radio sensor networks (CRSNs) examine how wireless sensor nodes with cognitive radio capabilities can address these performance challenges and improve the spectrum utilisation.

Introducing cognitive radio to traditional sensor networks creates a new kind of WSN (CRSN) which has better performance. Therefore, CRSNs are more appropriate to some specific applications which require more resources capabilities.

The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the International Conference on Intelligent Information Processing, Security and Advanced Communication (IPAC'2015), but we also strongly encourage researchers unable to participate in the conference to submit articles for this call.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Current applications for cognitive radio sensors networks (CRSNs)
  • Simulation models for CRSNs
  • MAC protocols and routing protocols for CRSNs
  • Energy efficiency in CRSNs
  • Resource management in CRSNs
  • Spectrum sensing techniques for cognitive radio sensors networks (CRSNs)
  • Deployment strategies of CRSNs
  • Security in CRSNs

Important Dates
Manuscript submission due: 30 December, 2015
Notification of acceptance/rejection: 15 February, 2016
Revised/final paper due: 15 March, 2016