Inderscience news

Call for Papers: Learning from Experience and Event Analysis Methods for Improved Safety

2012-01-30T21:29:00.005Z

A special issue of International Journal of Risk Assessment and Management

This special issue will highlight recent progress, ideas, problems and solutions relating to the multifaceted methods of learning from experience and accident analysis.

Learning from experience is far more than just an event and accident analysis method. It concerns data collection methods, different analysis methods, the implementation of databases to store information, and reuse of the information gathered and the lessons learned (for instance in training sessions). In an organisation, the learning from experience process is also affected by a wide range of sociocultural factors; it therefore interacts closely with the safety culture of the organisation.

One the other hand, accident analysis methods are based on an accident meta-model and this approach frames the results of the analysis. They also differ in the emphasis they place on technological, human or organisational aspects.

This issue is intended for academics, practitioners, scientists and engineers involved in the areas of business, economics, scientific and technological disciplines, energy industries, environmental and ecological systems, safety, public health and medical services.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

Learning from experience methods
Learning from safety events
Organisational learning processes
Safety training
Accident analysis methods
Events investigation
Accident models and meta models
Case studies and event databases

Important Dates
Submission deadline: 1 June, 2012
Notification of acceptance: 1 August, 2012
Final version due: 1 October, 2012

Special issue: Value chain management (VCM) implications for China economic development and prosperity in the new decade

2012-01-30T21:25:00.000Z

International Journal of Value Chain Management 6(1) 2012

Papers from 22nd Annual Conference of the Association for Chinese EconomicStudies Australia (ACESA) held in Melbourne, Australia, 15–17 July 2010.

The impacts of the recent global financial crisis on Chinese financial system
Has China attracted excessive FDI inflows?
Regional diversity in growth performance in China
Modelling the disaggregated value chain – the new trend in China
Human capital: the history, measurement and impact on nations from an economic perspective
Technology spillover effects of international outsourcing to outsourcing suppliers: a case study on Ningbo garment cluster in China

Special issue: Developing a taxonomy of innovation and regional development: the 5-E's

2012-01-30T21:13:00.001Z

International Journal of Innovation and Regional Development 4(1) 2012

The new role of law in stimulating industrial innovation and regional development: the Canadian experience with reflexive law in reconciling economic development, environmental protection and entrepreneurship in the energy industry
Towards a systematic e-business excellence framework
Renewable energy in European regions
Social capital, clusters, and interpretive fuzziness: a survey of the key literature (with specific reference to economic development in South East Europe)
An action research approach: the actualisation of the three statutory tasks: education, research and development, and regional development

Special issue: Bionics: from inspiration to design

2012-01-30T21:11:00.001Z

International Journal of Design Engineering 4(2) 2011

The autogenetic design theory and its practical application
A comparative analysis of six bionic design methods
Supporting process and product knowledge in biomimetic design
Development of a nanoparticle microfluidic colour device for point-of-care diagnostics
Progesterone diffusion through snake skin as a human model membrane

Call for Papers: Pricing and Revenue Strategy in the Sport Industry

2012-01-27T20:34:00.000Z

A special issue of International Journal of Revenue Management

The sport industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. As the industry grows, the ways in which sport properties price their goods and the strategies that they use to generate revenue becomes both increasingly important and complex. For example, industries such as airlines, hotels, and car rental agencies have used differential pricing strategies to maximise revenue for decades but this concept is relatively new to the sport industry. There is a paucity of academic research in business journals devoted to the study of ticket pricing, retailing and merchandising, and other forms of revenue generation in sports. This special issue seeks to explore a significant but overlooked topic.

This special issue invites quality papers covering case studies, conceptual frameworks, and/or empirical research so as to offer solutions to the emerging new challenges of this growing field. Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:

Variable/differential/dynamic ticket pricing
Database/customer relationship management of ticket purchasers
Strategic alliances with third party vendors
Channel management of revenue streams
Economics of ticket pricing
Value creation in the service profit chain
Branding and retailing of sporting goods and apparel.
Revenue generation from broadcasting and other media, including social media.

Other ticket pricing and revenue strategy topics with significant implications are also welcome.

Important Dates
Manuscript submissions: 30 September, 2012
Review reports: 30 November, 2012
Revised paper submission: 31 January, 2013
Final Manuscript submission to publisher: 31 March, 2013

Call for Papers: Effective Engineering Teams: Teaching, Facilitating and Learning

2012-01-27T20:31:00.000Z

A special issue of International Journal of Collaborative Engineering

The scale and complexity of engineering problems has grown considerably in recent decades, and now, more so than ever, systems are engineered in collaborative teams. In addition, discipline and domain knowledge are not sufficient to ensure effective collaboration across a diverse team, especially considering the numerous dimensions of diversity (engineers and non-engineers; multi- and inter-disciplinary teams; cultural, cognitive and ethnic diversity; etc.).

This is true both in the classroom and in industrial practice. Some have theorised that personality traits, cognitive preferences, affective differences and disparate cultural norms variously contribute to team dysfunction and disharmony, and that pro-active measures are necessary to overcome this heterogeneity of thought, perception, interest and capacity.

Thus, this special issue will explore techniques, case studies and experiments in teaching and facilitating effective collaboration in engineering teams in the classroom as well as research in effective team facilitation in industry. Our objective is to contribute new insights into effective team processes, team assessment, team management and team learning.

The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the ASEE Conference 2011, but we also strongly encourage researchers unable to participate in the conference to submit papers for this call.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

Assessing teamwork efficacy in homogenous and heterogeneous engineering teams
Techniques for effective and high-performing teams
Studies in team learning and its impact on team outcomes and/or individual learning
The coordination and governance of distributed or global engineering teams
Managing and leading diverse engineering teams
Effective team processes
Cognitive and cultural barriers to collaborative engineering in teams
Team cognition in complex problem solving

Important Date
Submission deadline: 13 July, 2012

Call for Papers: Marketing to the Bottom of the Pyramid: Key Challenges and the Way Ahead

2012-01-27T20:27:00.001Z

A special issue of International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets

According to experts, BOP markets consist of around 3 billion people with less than $2 income per day. BOP markets thus consist of individuals (consumers or producers) who merely survive at subsistence levels, and form a dominant proportion of the populace in emerging markets including South Asia, BRIC nations and sub-Saharan Africa.

Such markets are believed to be ecologically, economically and socially sustainable in the long term. However, marketing to BOP consumers or by BOP producers has a unique set of challenges. Low levels of literacy and education, low purchasing power and a constant struggle to make ends meet characterise such markets.

However, the lessons from BOP markets can sometimes be amazingly overwhelming. For example, one of the world’s poorest nations, Rwanda, has had 92% of the nation covered under health insurance for last 11 years, and premiums cost only around $2 a year. On the contrary, one of the world’s richest nations, the USA, has in comparison the most expensive healthcare system, and almost half of its people are either uninsured or under-insured.

Another example is that of Grupo Salinas, a group of companies created by Mexican entrepreneur Ricardo Salinas. The company recently launched a comprehensive consumer financial literacy initiative by distributing 2.7 million copies of comics to educate consumers at the bottom of the pyramid. Similarly, SELCO Solar Pvt. Ltd, a social enterprise established in 1995 by a few engineers in India, provides sustainable energy solutions to poor households and businesses. It has sold, serviced and financed more than 120,000 solar panels to consumers in BOP markets.

Given the context of subsistence markets, many scholars have emphasised the need for development of the BOP markets in terms of creation of the capacity to consume; development of new goods, services, dignity and choice for the poor; and the importance of developing trust between buyer and seller. Several principles have been suggested, including finding sustainable solutions, understanding functionality, innovating processes and deskilling work, educating low-literacy consumers, designing for hostile infrastructure, and designing innovative distribution chains.

The aim of this special issue is to discover approaches and practices relating to marketing by BOP producers, or marketing to poor consumers. The issue will aim to develop new theories and extend existing theories through empirical examination, and/or conceptual advancements with strong implications for managers. It therefore focuses on cross- and inter-disciplinary research using theoretical frameworks and empirical analyses.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

What are the characteristics of BOP markets and subsistence consumers?
How do we design and deliver value for subsistence consumers?
What social and marketing innovations are required to serve BOP consumers?
What successful marketing companies are practising to serve BOP consumers?
What new business models are required to become successful in BOP markets?
How products should be designed for such marketplaces?
What should the nature of distribution channels for successful products be?

Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 1 October, 2012
First reviews to authors by: 31 March, 2013
Submission of final versions: 31 October, 2013

Call for Papers: Advances in Mobile Computing

2012-01-27T20:23:00.002Z

A special issue of International Journal of Computational Intelligence Studies

In the last decade there has been growing interest in mobile technology and mobile networks. As a result, a great number of services are offered to users of mobile phones, which include services in education, communication, transportation, healthcare and the world-wide web.

The fast growth of mobile computing is a result of the fast pace of modern life and people’s need to use their spare time constructively. For example, when people are travelling or waiting in a queue, mobile computing may provide them with the ability to use a computing device even though they are mobile and therefore changing location.

Thus, portability is an important aspect of mobile computing. Other aspects of mobile interaction include device independence as well as independence with respect to time and place in comparison with traditional human-computer interaction using standard personal computers.

Smartphones, as advanced mobile computing devices, offer a variety of functions found on standard PCs, and also offer functions from portable media players, digital photo cameras, video cameras and GPS navigation units. Such devices typically include high-resolution touchscreens, web browsers that can access and properly display multimedia content and dynamic web pages, and wireless data access via Wi-Fi.

All of the above gives rise to the need for successfully providing software, hardware and their corresponding algorithmic and architectural solutions in order to achieve high quality in mobile services offered to people.

The aim of this special issue is to shed light on these needs, and to broaden our understanding of past and potential approaches to mobile computing and mobile technologies used to address them. Thus, potential authors are invited to submit contributions related to the field of mobile computing.

Submissions may be of a theoretical nature, may present mobile computing systems developed by the authors, or may comparatively evaluate alternative methodologies and algorithms that are used within mobile computing systems.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

Mobile computing
Mobile learning
Mobile interaction
Mobile agents
Mobile networks
Mobile sensors
Empirical studies
Mobile system design
Implementation and evaluation of wireless systems
Mobile applications

Important Dates
Paper submission: 31 May, 2012
Review results and author notification: 30 June, 2012
Final paper submission: 30 July, 2012

First issue: International Journal of Social Network Mining

2012-01-27T20:14:00.000Z

Publishing experimental and theoretical work on social network analysis using data mining techniques, International Journal of Social Network Mining will include applications such as the discovery and analysis of communities, personalisation, the analysis of user behaviour, security and privacy-preservation, social network modelling and social network infrastructure construction.

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

Special issue: Verification and evaluation of computer and communication systems – Part II

2012-01-27T20:05:00.000Z

International Journal of Critical Computer-Based Systems 3(1/2) 2012

Papers from the technical sessions of the last four editions of International Workshop on Verification and Evaluation of Computer and Communication Systems (VECoS) held in 2007 in Algiers, 2008 in Leeds, 2009 in Rabat, and 2010 in Paris.

See also International Journal of Critical Computer-Based Systems 2(3/4) 2011

MDG-SAT: an automated methodology for efficient safety checking
A formal framework for black-box conformance testing of distributed real-time systems
Distributed model-checking and counterexample search for CTL logic
SystemC waiting state automata
Structured performance analysis for component-based systems
Computing transitive closures of hedge transformations

Special issue: Integrating learning behaviour with change contexts: Part 1

2012-01-27T20:01:00.000Z

International Journal of Learning and Change 5(3/4) 2011

Environmental sustainability change management in SMEs: learning from sustainability champions
Sometimes, to change the people, you've got to change the people: when learning is not enough
Exploring the interconnectedness among strategy development, shared mental models, organisational learning and organisational change
Organisational change: communicating to Schein's operator, engineer and executive occupational subcultures
The influence of learning behaviour on team adaptability
The application of self-directed learning in a marketing strategy capstone course

Additional paper

Nexus of learning style with satisfaction and success of accounting students: a cross-cultural study at an Australian university

Special issue: Multimedia data applications in wireless sensor networks

2012-01-23T21:14:00.000Z

International Journal of Sensor Networks 11(1) 2012

Mobile multimedia in wireless sensor networks
Streaming multimedia over WMSNs: an online multipath routing protocol
Low memory image stitching and compression for WMSN using strip-based processing
Low-memory video compression architecture using strip-based processing for implementation in wireless multimedia sensor networks
Low-power sensor node with addressable wake-up on-demand capability
An approximation algorithm for dominating nodes selection in multi-channel multi-radio wireless sensor networks

Special issue: Structural vibration and control

2012-01-23T21:10:00.001Z

International Journal of Structural Engineering 3(1/2) 2012

Development of post-tensioned self-centring structures for earthquake resistance
First-order elastic-plastic analysis of multi-story building frames by numerical modelling
Seismic vulnerability assessment through explicit consideration of uncertainties in structural capacities and structural demands
Three-dimensional seismic tomography with tetrahedra element on isoparametric mapping
Some special phenomena and preliminary interpretations about measured strain signals from high-speed impact tests
Field measurements and assessment of vibration serviceability of as-built long-span concrete floor
Active control of building structure using lattice probabilistic neural network based on learning algorithm
Control of seismically excited benchmark highway bridge with variable frequency pendulum isolator
Order-independent optimal polynomial control of stochastic dynamical systems

Special issue: Carbon markets: an international perspective

2012-01-23T21:07:00.000Z

International Journal of Global Energy Issues 35(2-4) 2011

Econometric Analyses of Carbon Markets

Links between spot and futures allowances: ECX and EEX markets comparison
How does carbon price change? Evidences from EU ETSEstimating the 'value at risk' of EUA futures prices based on the extreme value theory
CO2 prices and portfolio management
CO2 abatement opportunity in the UK through fuel-switching under the EU ETS (2005-2008): evidence from the E-Simulate model

Climate Policy Issues

A comparative analysis of city-based emission trading schemes: key design and management factors for environmental cost effectiveness
Nudging effective climate policy design
Explaining the construction of global carbon markets: REDD+ as a test case?

Additional Papers

Efficient market hypothesis in the international oil price fluctuation: based on the MF-DFA model
A review of the three most popular maintenance systems: how well is the energy sector represented?

Special issue: Systems Modelling and Advanced Controls

2012-01-21T12:56:00.000Z

International Journal of Advanced Mechatronic Systems 3 (5/6) 2011

Papers from the 2010 International Conference on Modelling, Identification and Control (ICMIC’10) held in Okayama, Japan, 17-19 July 2010.

The application of wireless sensor network in feeder automation
Capacity planning strategies for an IT service firm with skilled workforce
Wind speed prediction and error distribution based on rational sample organisation for Elman recursion neural networks
Simple adaptive control using neural networks with offset error reduction for an SISO magnetic levitation system
Experimental research on performance of vertical-axis three-hastate wind wheel

Regular Papers

Robust adaptive control for flap positioning system with SMA actuators-inverse Duhem model-based approach
Design and data analysis for a belt-for-blind for visual impaired people

Call for Papers: Innovation for Regeneration

2012-01-19T12:59:00.001Z

A special issue of International Journal of Innovation and Regional Development

Innovation is widely acknowledged to be one of the key drivers for both business and economic growth. During recessions and periods of economic difficulty, the search for opportunities to innovate becomes a priority for business leaders across industry sectors, in order to help ensure firm survival, stimulate firm rejuvenation where required and appropriate, and if possible to secure continued business growth and success. Furthermore, redundancies and unemployment act as a stimulus for innovation and entrepreneurship at the level of individuals.

At such times too, the notion of innovation tends to rise to the top of government agendas at both regional and national levels as policymakers recognise its importance for regional sustainability, and seek to harness the potential of innovation for economic regeneration and growth. Social innovation tends to come to the fore also, as community cohesion, stability and sustainability become priorities when social deprivation, poverty and unemployment threaten.

Building on some of the core themes and topics presented and debated at the 6th European Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (ECIE 2011), Aberdeen, UK, this special issue is devoted to research exploring innovation as a means to regenerating businesses, communities or regions during, or in the aftermath of, straitened economic times. Within this overall context, papers are invited that cover types and sources of innovation, including social innovation, as well as issues associated with innovation impact.

The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at ECIE 2011, but we also strongly encourage researchers unable to participate in the conference to submit papers for this call.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

Innovation and regional sustainability or regeneration
Innovation and entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurial learning and innovation
Innovation-driven industry and university partnerships
Training initiatives for innovation stimulation
Innovation and policy making
Innovation networks
Social business and social innovation
Community-led innovation
Case studies or review papers on relevant innovation topics

Important Dates
Deadline for submission of manuscripts: 19 March, 2012
Notification of acceptance/rejection to authors: 28 May, 2012
Submission of final manuscript: 9 July, 2012

Call for Papers: Awareness in Sensor Networks

2012-01-19T12:52:00.002Z

A special issue of International Journal of Sensor Networks

The goal of this special issue is to provide an opportunity for researchers, engineers and scientists to publish their latest results related to awareness in sensor networks. Awareness is the ability to be conscious of, feel or perceive, and implies vigilance in observing, or alertness in drawing inferences from what one experiences (Merriam-Webster).

The ultimate goal of aware computing is to create different devices, systems and/or networks that are able to be aware.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

Context/situation awareness
Location/position awareness
Intention/preference awareness
Energy/power awareness
Danger/risk/fault/trouble awareness
Safety/security/tampering awareness
User/behaviour awareness

Important Dates
Deadline for submission: 15 February, 2012
Acceptance/rejection notification: 15 May, 2012
Revised manuscript due: 15 July, 2012

Call for Papers: As ASEAN nears 50, what have we learned?

2012-01-19T12:42:00.001Z

A special issue of International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets

Since ASEAN’s formation in August 1967, ASEAN nations have committed to free trade, resulting in collective regional economic growth. This economic integration and its continuance is vital for enhancing competitiveness, reduction of poverty, job creation, attracting international investment, and sustainable business growth. ASEAN nations have broadened their cooperation beyond economic ties to include political ties and regional security agreements.

ASEAN trade volumes are running at more than US $1.5 trillion per annum. The main trading partners in 2009 were China (US $178 billion), the EU (US $172 billion), Japan (US $162 billion), and the USA (US $150 billion). The figure for China is higher if trade with Hong Kong (US $68 billion) is taken into account. Substantial opportunities continue to emerge for multinational corporations and overseas investors (ASEAN, 2011).

Against this backdrop, scholarly research in highlighting ASEAN’s achievements in the years since its inception is being sought. To understand general business practices in the ASEAN region, this special issue aims to present research on a broad range of topics from an emerging markets viewpoint. Manuscripts may be conceptual or empirical. All manuscripts should work to make a substantive contribution to emerging markets literature.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

Nation(al) branding strategies
National trade agreements and their impact on business
Regional business networks
Business sustainability strategies
Effects of social media marketing on business strategies
Emerging practices in human resource management
Value creation strategies in consumer or industrial markets
"Green" business strategies
Transactional governance structures
Anti-corruption business practices and law enforcement strategies
China-ASEAN economic relations
Regional integrated marketing communications strategies

Important Dates
Submission of abstracts: 17 March, 2012
Submission of manuscripts: 3 September, 2012
Notification of authors: 4 January, 2013
Submission of final versions: 15 March, 2013

First issue: International Journal of Strategic Engineering Asset Management

2012-01-18T11:01:00.000Z

Publishing research and case studies in the discipline of engineering asset management, International Journal of Strategic Engineering Asset Management covers the development, application and integration of engineering, economic, organisational and managerial solutions to make physical assets, safe, productive, efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally-friendly.

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

Call for Papers: Social Web Search and Mining

2012-01-18T10:54:00.001Z

A special issue of International Journal of Web Science

Recent years have seen a flourishing of social media. Across the world, individuals can share news, opinions, experiences and expertise through Web-enabled devices, including desktops, laptops, tablets and mobile phones.

There has been a fundamental shift thanks to significant advances in the ease of publishing and sharing content. Such examples include microblogs, blogs, bookmarking services, photo sharing platforms, forums, newsgroups, and location-based services. They have formed a new Web: social Web, which generates a lot of structured and semi-structured information.

This information greatly enlarges the content of the Web. At the same time, it introduces many interesting research issues as well many real-world applications. These research issues have been receiving growing attentions in recent years.

The aim of this special issue is to collect contemporary works concerning searching and mining the Social Web. The context of the special issue can be related to a wide range of areas including Web mining, social networks analysis, semantic Web, information retrieval, and natural language processing. We invite researchers and professionals from a broad range of disciplines to submit to this issue. Papers may encompass any or all of the following types of works: theoretical analysis, modelling, algorithms, simulation, visualisation and empirical studies.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

Microblog (e.g. Twitter, Weibo) search and mining
Social network analysis
Community detection and network evolution analysis
Personalisation for search and for social interaction
User profiling and recommender systems
Collaborative search and question answering
Sentiment analysis and opinion mining
Topic detection and topic trend analysis
User behaviour prediction
Real-time social search and mining infrastructures
Cross-media search and mining of user-generated content
Entity search (e.g. expert finding, product search, organisation search, etc.)
Semantic Web-based social applications
Computational advertising for user-generated content
Spam detection and anomaly detection of social media
Geospatial and temporal analysis of social media
Applications of social search and mining

Important Dates
Submission deadline: 1 May, 2012
Notification date: 15 June, 2012
Final paper submission: 15 July, 2012

Special issue: Digital human models in product design and development

2012-01-18T10:51:00.001Z

International Journal of Human Factors Modelling and Simulation 2(4) 2011

A comparison of different methods for head measurements
Waist-hip section surface profile data automatic analysing system: WHS
Finger movement measurements in arthritic patients using wearable sensor enabled gloves
Deriving statistical fit contours and shape of an aerosol mask from 3D head scans
A light weight car seat shaped by human body contour
A shoe-last selection system based on fit rating
A methodology for determining the allowances for fitting footwear

Call for Papers: Advances in Metadata and Semantics for Learning Infrastructures

2012-01-16T14:22:00.001Z

A special issue of International Journal of Metadata, Semantics and Ontologies

A growing body of learning infrastructures and aggregators is making digital learning resources available to any user searching for educational content on various topics, through federations of learning repositories. The fundamental reasons behind this trend include growing educational demands in all countries, the limited capacity of face-to-face education, the effort and cost involved in building multimedia learning materials, and the new possibilities offered by the Internet.

Although well-known search engines can in fact successfully retrieve millions of documents that exist online, based on some keywords, the fact remains that there is no guarantee that the results will contain trustable material which is exploitable in an educational setting. Such information can usually be found in a complete metadata record, which is not the case in many of the aforementioned search results.

Through the vast number of existing repositories, millions of learning resources are being made available; a fact that raises various research topics having to do with, amongst other things, the technology that supports them, the standards being used to describe learning objects, the quality of learning, metadata within the repositories, etc.

Openness of content and sharing of resources are also part of the ethical but also very technical issues that arise for learning repositories and learning infrastructures in general. The general aim of this special issue is to assess the current status and technologies, as well as to outline the major challenges and future perspectives, related to the development of learning repositories and wider infrastructures. It aims to provide an overview of the state of the art in this field by including a wide range of interdisciplinary contributions. Overall, it aims to outline the rich potential of repositories for learning as an application field for advanced metadata- and semantic-driven systems and services.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

Information standards and specifications
Metadata schemas and application profiles
Multilingual vocabularies, taxonomies, glossaries and thesauri
(Semi-) automatic metadata generation
Visualisation techniques for metadata, content, repositories
Metadata metrics
Learning content search and exchange
Infrastructures, systems and services for knowledge organisation
Learning content archives' preservation and maintenance
Ontology approaches, models, theories and languages
Semantic representation of learning materials
Cloud facilities and supercomputing for learning infrastructures
Attention, usage metadata and paradata for learning analytics
Quality in metadata
Multilingual metadata and semantics

Important Dates
Submission of extended abstract (recommended): 1 April, 2012 (by email)
Notification of appropriateness: 15 April, 2012
Manuscript submission: 15 June, 2012 (online)
Notification of acceptance/rejection: 1 September, 2012
Final manuscript due: 1 November, 2012

Call for Papers: Religions and Finance

2012-01-16T14:19:00.001Z

A special issue of International Journal of Behavioural Accounting and Finance

This special issue seeks to explore issues of finance from the perspectives of religions around the world. The central question is: what are the economic, behavioural and cultural relationships between religion and finance? We welcome contributions relating to all religions.

For example, scholars and practitioners are becoming increasingly interested in Islamic finance, as viewed through the prism of Shari’ah. The rise of Islamic finance over the last three years was suggested as a solution to the most severe financial crisis since the Great Depression. As financial markets and institutions recover from that crisis, a variety of issues that stem from Islamic finance are being discussed among academicians, practitioners, and even jurists.

Even before the last financial crisis, Islamic finance has grown strikingly. Indeed, the largest Islamic bank in KSA, The Islamic Development Bank, which is based in Jeddah, estimates that the volume of the industry will be about US$2.8 trillion by the end of 2015, which is principally due to the Islamic population in the world. In fact, around 1.6 billion individuals (about 25% of the world population) are Muslims. Much of the growth of the Islamic finance and banking industry is due particularly to the fast growth of oil-rich Islamic countries in the MENA region.

Furthermore, there is increasing research on the effects of Christianity and Judaism on financial development. For instance, the Health and Wealth gospel (a.k.a Prosperity gospel) is a Christian belief claiming that donations will be rewarded by the Lord with health and an increase in wealth. Alongside with these topics, this issue takes account of supplementary, topical themes such as religious perspectives of the capitalistic system and its financial institutions.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

Faith-based study of the connection between finance and religions
Christianity and finance
Islamic asset management
Shari'ah compliant private equity and venture capital investment
Islamic derivatives and Sukuk
Islamic finance: behavioural aspects
Collateral financing: the Islamic finance perspective
Islamic microfinance and poverty alleviation
Incentives and Islamic finance
Zakat economics
Ethical study of finance
Religion, culture, reciprocal behaviour (trust, fairness) and finance
Religion and stock market development

Important Date
Submission deadline: 30 November, 2012

Special issue: Advances in functionally graded materials

2012-01-16T14:16:00.001Z

International Journal of Materials and Product Technology 42(1/2) 2011

Includes papers from the 11th International Symposium on Multiscale, Multifunctional and Functionally Graded Materials, held in Guimarães, Portugal, 26-29 September 2010.

Pressureless sintering of silicon nitride ceramics with porous gradient structure for gas filter application
Fabrication of Si3N4-based seal coating on porous Si3N4 ceramics
Design and joining of graphite to copper by a simple direct casting technology
Fabrication of functionally graded grinding wheel by a centrifugal mixed-powder method for CFRP-drilling applications
Study of strength and toughness in Japanese sword produced from Tamahagane steel by Tatara process
Impact performance of Al/SiC functionally graded circular plates
Thermoelectric properties and conduction mechanism of conductive polythiophenes
Molecular dynamics study on the mechanical characteristics of Al-terminated Al/α-Al2O3 interface under tensile loading
Numerical simulation on the impact resistance of functionally graded materials
Numerical simulation on the interface debonding in solid propellant under large deformation by a cohesive zone model
Experimental study on cross-section distortion of thin-walled rectangular 3A21 aluminium alloy tube by rotary draw bending
Low-voltage silicon chip/glass ring anodic bonding for MEMS device packaging and experimental evaluation of bonding quality

Special issue: Arab contribution to human civilisation and civilisation studies

2012-01-16T14:08:00.001Z

International Journal of Arab Culture, Management and Sustainable Development 2(1) 2011

The meaning and dialectics of education, teaching, refinement, urbanisation and civilisation: a Khaldounic point of view
Contributions of Islamic scholars to sustainable human and environmental development: Islam Hadhari and future development of Muslim countries
Scientific contributions of Ibn Hazm
'Thinking' terminologies from Quronic perspective and their impact on human intellectual development
Malek Bennabi's concept and interdisciplinary approach to civilisation
Quality perception among university students and influence on Islamic culture on it: a case study
Do you speak 'urban design'? Intermediations between grammar of space and the fragments of city-text

Special issue: Innovation for development: frontiers of research, policy and practice

2012-01-16T14:05:00.004Z

International Journal of Technological Learning, Innovation and Development 5(1/2) 2012

Papers from anacademic symposium organised by the Wits University in South Africa on 24-26 February 2010: Innovation for development: frontiers of research, policy and practice.

The introduction of the systems of innovation approach in economics curricula
Innovations for the poor by the poor
Measuring innovation in developing countries: some suggestions to achieve more accurate and useful indicators
South Africa's national system of innovation and knowledge economy evolution: thinking about 'less favoured regions'
Institutional capacity and policy for latecomer technology development
Intermediary organisations to foster the agricultural system of innovation: the Mexican Produce Foundation
JInnovation policies institutions and performance: why Malaysia overtook Nigeria in the oil palm industry
Nuclear energy technology adoption by intensive energy industrial users in South Africa
Bridging the digital divide: the Indian experience in increasing the access to telecommunications services
Channels of interaction in health biotechnology networks in South Africa: who benefits and how?

Call for Papers: Cloud Computing and Service-Oriented Architecture

2012-01-11T16:22:00.000Z

A special issue of International Journal of Information and Communication Technology

Cloud computing is a new paradigm in the area of computing with a pool of virtualised computer resources and is driven by economics of scale. A cloud supports redundant, self-recovering, highly scalable programming models and allows workloads to recover from many unavoidable hardware/software failures. The idea of cloud computing is to move desktop computing to a service-oriented platform using server clusters and huge databases at datacenters.

Cloud computing overlaps some of the concepts of cluster, distributed, grid, service, ubiquitous, utility and virtual computing; however, it has emerged from these computing domains and now has its own meaning. Cloud computing is now associated with a higher level abstraction of the cloud. Instead of there being application software, routers and servers, there are now services. Using these cloud computing models and toolsets, IT-related capabilities are provided as services, accessible without requiring detailed knowledge of the underlying technology.

Service-oriented architecture (SOA) also generally provides a way for consumers of services such as web-based applications to be aware of available SOA-based services. SOA defines how to integrate widely disparate applications for a Web-based environment and uses multiple implementation platforms.

This special issue will cover all of the above issues.

Although we welcome submissions on any area within the scope of cloud computing, the following areas are particularly suitable (but not exhaustive):

Auditing, monitoring and scheduling
Automatic reconfiguration
Autonomic computing
Cloud architecture and modelling
Cloud-based services
Consistency models
Data grid and semantic web
Fault tolerance and reliability
Hardware as a service (HaaS)
High-performance computing
Integration of mainframe and large systems
Innovations in IP (especially open source) systems
IT service and relationship management
Load balancing
Middleware frameworks
New and innovative pedagogical approaches
Novel programming models for large computing
Optimal deployment configuration
Peer-to-peer computing
Power-aware profiling, modelling and optimisation
Resource registration and discovery
Scalable fault resilience techniques for large computing
Scalable scheduling on heterogeneous architectures
Security and risk
Self-healing
Self-monitoring
Service integration and management
Service level agreement definitions
Software as a service
Trustworthiness, security and privacy
Utility computing
Virtualisation technologies

Important Dates
Paper submission deadline: 30 April, 2012
Notification of acceptance: 1 June, 2012
Submission of final revised paper: 1 August, 2012

Call for Papers: Commercial Diplomacy and International Business

2012-01-11T16:19:00.000Z

A special issue of International Journal of Diplomacy and Economy

Governments have a major interest in supporting business abroad as it may lead to domestic job creation, tax revenue increase and a stable economy (Naray, 2010). As a consequence, a change in the current practice of diplomacy towards more commercial activities can be observed (Kostecki & Naray, 2007). According to Lee and Hudson (2004: 343), “commercial activities of diplomatic services have been centralized, […] extended, and business interests have been formally integrated within diplomatic systems”.

Commercial diplomacy has thereby become a foreign policy priority of governments. Activities within the field of commercial diplomacy aim at “encouraging business development” (Naray, 2010: 122), “the development of socially beneficial international business ventures” (Kostecki & Naray, 2007: 1), and “national economic development” (Saner & Yiu, 2003: 1).

The spectrum of actors in commercial diplomacy ranges from the high-policy level (head of state or prime minister to ambassador) to the lower level of specialised diplomatic envoy, such as trade representative, commercial attaché or commercial diplomat.

But more and more private actors are involved, especially international business representatives. “Many of the global challenges now confronting international business are issues and matters of diplomacy”, as Muldoon (2005, p. 355) puts it. Terms such as business diplomacy (Muldoon, 2005), the business-government interface (Hillman & Keim, 1995), corporate diplomacy (Ordeix-Rigo and Duarte, 2009), strategic political management (Hillman, 2003) and corporate political strategy (Oliver & Holzinger, 2008) have been proposed in the literature to label and describe international business’ involvement in diplomatic activity.

But whereas the commercial aspect seems to be gaining importance in diplomatic practice, the body of literature on the subject is still rather limited. The literature “fails to identify, explain and understand […] the increased influence of private interests in diplomacy” (Lee & Hudson, 2004: 344), and hardly draws a complete picture of all its aspects.

This special issue aims to contribute to expanding the body of literature on the relationship between commercial diplomacy and international business. This call for papers therefore invites conceptual as well as empirical (quantitative and qualitative) work.

References:
Hillman, A.J. (2003). Determinants of political strategies in U.S. Multinationals. Business & Society. 42 (4): 455-484.
Hillman, A., Keim, G. (1995). International variation in the business-government interface: institutional and organizational considerations. Academy of Management Review. 20 (1): 193-214.
Kostecki M., Naray O. (2007). Commercial Diplomacy and International Business, Clingendael Discussion Paper in Diplomacy, The Hague, Clingendael Institute, April 2007.
Lee, D., Hudson, D. 2004. The Old en new significance of political economy in diplomacy. Review of International Studies, 30, 343 – 360.
Naray, O. (2010a). Commercial Diplomats in the context of International Business. The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, 6, 121-148.
Muldoon, J.P. (2005). The Diplomacy of Business. Diplomacy and Statecraft. 16: 341-359.
Ordeix-Rigo, E., Duarte, J. (2009). From Public diplomacy to corporate diplomacy: increasing corporation’s legitimacy and influence. American Behavioral Scientist. 53 (4): 549-564.
Oliver, C., Holzinger, I. (2008). The Effectiveness of Strategic Political Management: A Dynamic Capabilities Framework. Academy of Management Review. 33 (2), 496–520.
Potter, E. 2004. Branding Canada : The Renaissance of Canada’s Commercial Diplomacy, International Studies Perspectives, 5, 55-60.
Saner, & Yiu, L. (2003). International economic diplomacy: Mutations in post-modern times. The Hague : Netherlands Institute of International Relations "Clingendael", January, -37p.
Yakop, M. & Bergeijk, P.A.G. van (2009). The weight of economic and commercial diplomacy. International Institute of Social Studies, working paper 478

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

The relationship between commercial diplomats and international business representatives
The value of commercial diplomacy for international business
The role of international business in commercial diplomacy's effectiveness
International business networks and commercial diplomats
Commercial diplomats' competence for international business collaboration
Foreign policy, economic policy, and international justice
Corporate social responsibility and commercial diplomacy
Commercial diplomacy instruments for international business support
Theory development on the commercial diplomacy and international business relationship
International business' involvement in commercial diplomacy
Research methodology for studying the commercial diplomacy and international business relationship

Important Dates
Extended abstract due: 1 March, 2012 (by email)
First paper submission due: 1 April, 2012 (online submission)
Notification of acceptance/Reviews: 1 June, 2012
Final paper submission due: 1 September, 2012

Call for Papers: Role of ICT in Vocational Education and Training and Lifelong Learning

2012-01-11T16:12:00.002Z

A special issue of International Journal of Information and Communication Technology

ICT is a general tool in all fields of work and professions today. Consequently, ICT and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) professional education are integrated at all levels.

In the use of ICT in and for education in general, UNESCO stresses several points. Firstly, ICT is only part of a continuum of technologies, starting with chalk and books, all of which can support and enrich learning. Secondly, ICT, as is the case with any tool, must be considered as such, and used and adapted to serve educational goals. Thirdly, many ethical and legal issues intervene in the widespread use of ICT in education, such as ownership of knowledge, the increasing exchange of education as a commodity, and the globalisation of education in relation to cultural diversity.

The aim of this special issue is to concentrate on “21st century competencies” in a knowledge economy driven by technology. The efforts aim at finding indicators, criteria and benchmarks for international comparisons in order to assess the effects of ICT in education. Recent documents emphasise innovation strategy for education and training. Attention will be given to the needs and skills used by innovative firms, the working population, and also in arts and science education. In TVET there is a tendency to emphasise the “learning by doing” approach.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

ICT and TVET
TVET and lifelong learning
Technology-enhanced education
Skills and competences in TVET
Skills acquisition processes
Quality assessment
Entrepreneurship and SMEs
Human-computer interaction blended learning
Distributed work
Global networking
Knowledge management and collaboration systems
Global e-learning
TVET and sustainability
ICT and new literacies
ICT and new humanism
TVET and the global knowledge society

Important Dates
Deadlines for papers: 15 April, 2012
Notification of acceptance: 15 June, 2012
Submission of final paper: 15 August, 2012

Call for Papers: Biomedical Signal and Image Processing

2012-01-11T14:20:00.002Z

A special issue of International Journal of Convergence Computing

Biomedical signal and image processing is an active area of research where disciplines such as engineering, computer science, physics, biology and medicine inter-disciplinarily synchronise in order to improve healthcare.

This particular area deals with the generation, reconstruction, pre-processing, improvement, analysis, quantification, visualisation and management of all kind of medical images. We invite the submission of highly innovative research papers on recent trends and challenges in the field of biomedical signal and image processing, describing new methods employing computer-aided detection and diagnosis of diseases, and improvement of diagnostic imaging using soft computing techniques.

This special issue will focus particularly on image enhancement, edge detection and segmentation methods/algorithms/tools developed to aid early detection/diagnosis of diseases (e.g. brain tumours, breast cancers, malignant melanomas) by the processing of images obtained from modalities such ultrasounds, mammography, MRI, CT-scans, etc. These methods must be preferably supported by thorough clinical evaluation or assessment on recognised standard medical databases.

The issue will be an important resource for research scholars, engineers and scientists interested in theoretical and methodological aspects of biomedical signal and image processing in reference to the development of computer-aided diagnosis techniques.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

Mathematical models for medical image contrast enhancement
Algorithms for noise suppression in medical images
Edge enhancement techniques for segmentation of abnormality in diagnostic images
Algorithms for growth detection of lesions/tumours
Multi-scale/multi-resolution techniques for analysis of fine details in medical images
Quantitative assessment techniques for evaluation of computer-aided detection/diagnosis algorithms
Efficient pre- and post-processing of image-based computational models
Non-linear techniques for contrast enhancement and edge detection of medical images
Medical image compression and watermarking
Fractal-based approaches for medical image analysis
Mathematical morphology
Soft computing and bio-inspired computing techniques in medical image processing
Bioinformatics and computational biology

Important Dates
Manuscript submission: 31 March, 2012
Notification of acceptance: 30 May, 2012
Final version due: 20 June, 2012

Call for Papers: eCRM and the Hospitality Industry

2012-01-11T12:58:00.003Z

A special issue of International Journal of Electronic Customer Relationship Management

We are pleased to announce a special issue focused on electronic customer relationship management (eCRM) systems used in the hospitality industry. eCRM systems have been used by many businesses to support both strategic decision making and daily operations. Traditionally, the role of eCRM has been to engage customers in a mutually beneficial relationship. But increasingly, eCRM is becoming a major part of the extended ERP system.

As with any other information system, the implementation of eCRM systems is a reconfiguration process and requires industry-specific knowledge. This is especially true when eCRM is used in the people-oriented hospitality industry. All aspects of the eCRM system, including system development issues, system quality issues, system implementation issues, evaluation issues, security and privacy issues and human-computer interface issues, should be examined in the context of the hospitality industry.

The goal of this special issue is to provide an open discussion in which researchers and practitioners can share the latest developments in electronic customer relationship management relating to the hospitality industry. The issue’s main objective focuses on the application of information and communication technology (ICT) in solving various issues in the hospitality industry.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

Electronic customer relationship management (eCRM)
Effects of CRM systems on hospitality
Hospitality CRM strategies for the internet and e-CRM
Hospitality CRM marketing
Hospitality CRM technology and software
Hospitality custom marketing
Hospitality customer lifetime value
Hospitality customer loyalty
Hospitality customer satisfaction
Hospitality consumer behaviour
Hospitality customer databases
Issues for implementing CRM systems in hospitality
Tools for capturing customer information
Solutions for hospitality CRM problems
Hospitality partner relationship management
Managing and sharing customer data
Business to business market (B2B)
Business to consumer market (B2C)
Hospitality enterprise resource planning (ERP)
e-commerce customer relationships on the internet
Channel management
Demand chain management (DCM)
Hospitality strategic alliances and partnerships
Hospitality sales management
Hospitality information technology and systems
Hospitality performance measurement and performance indicators
Logistics information systems
International hospitality issues

Important Dates
Manuscript submission: 1 September, 2012
Notification of initial decision: 1 October, 2012
Submission of revised manuscript: 1 November, 2012
Notification of final acceptance: 1 December, 2012
Submission of final revised paper: 1 January, 2013

Special issue: Aerodynamics of rotating bodies

2012-01-11T12:53:00.000Z

International Journal of Engineering Systems Modelling and Simulation 4(1/2) 2012

Papers from the 46th International Symposium of AppliedAerodynamics, held in Orleans, France, 28-30 March 2011

Wind turbine wake: a disturbance to wind resource in wind farms
On the prediction of tip vortices in the near wake of the MEXICO rotor using the actuator surface method
Aerodynamic study of a 'humpy' propeller
Assessment of propeller 1P loads predictions
Numerical simulations of a low-speed radial fan
Installation impact on pusher CROR engine low speed performance and noise emission characteristics
Semi-/empirical transition prediction and application to an isolated rotor in hover
Optimisation of aspects of rotor blades in forward flight
Direct numerical simulation of helical vortices
Application of vorticity confinement to rotor wake simulations

Special issue: Sport as an entrepreneurial venture

2012-01-11T12:46:00.001Z

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing 4(1) 2012

Guest editor's introduction: Sports entrepreneurship: towards a conceptualisation
Vanessa Ratten
Still playing the game?
Calgary Flames: a case study in an entrepreneurial sport franchise
Click clack: examining the strategic and entrepreneurial brand vision of Under Armour
Branding the elite professional athlete through use of new media and technology: an interview with Ash De Walt
Sport entrepreneurship: challenges and directions for future research
Opening the black box: a comparative case study on international prospectors

Special issue: Nanotechnology in Scotland

2012-01-11T12:44:00.001Z

International Journal of Nanotechnology 9(1/2) 2012

Optical in situ characterisation of carbon nanotube growth
High pressure studies of metal organic framework materials
Growth and characterisation of titanium sulphide nanostructures by surface-assisted vapour transport methods; from trisulphide ribbons to disulphide nanosheets
Colloidal syntheses of FePt nanoparticles
Ten years of electron microscopy of nanomaterials in St. Andrews
Gold nano-particles supported on hematite and magnetite as highly selective catalysts for the hydrogenation of nitro-aromatics
Ethanol photoreaction to hydrogen over Au/TiO2 catalysts. Investigating the synergistic effect of nanoparticles
The photoreaction of TiO2 and Au/TiO2 single crystal and powder with organic adsorbates

Special issue: Sport marketing and emerging technology

2012-01-11T12:37:00.000Z

International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing 10(3/4) 2011

'It's incredible – trust me': exploring the role of celebrity athletes as marketers in online social networks
Set the agenda like Beckham: a professional sports league's use of YouTube to disseminate messages to its users
Opportunity or obstacle? A preliminary study of professional sport organisations in the age of social media
Agenda-setting and La Copa Mundial: marketing through agenda-setting on soccer blogs during the 2010 World Cup
Beyond touchdowns, homeruns, and three-pointers: an examination of fantasy sport participation motivation
Understanding website useability: an eye-tracking study of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games website
New media and technology use in corporate sport sponsorship: performing activational leverage from an exchange perspective
A content analysis of sponsor representation across professional sport websites: extension of attribute typology

First issue: International Journal of Computational Systems Engineering

2012-01-08T15:21:00.002Z

Providing a forum for researchers in the field of computational algorithms, intelligent information systems, computer applications and other related areas of science and engineering, International Journal of Computational Systems Engineering focuses on the state-of-the-art of aspects of theoretical analysis and practical application with emphasis on computational methods and systems engineering.

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

Special issue: Context-awareness and self-managing systems

2012-01-08T15:14:00.001Z

International Journal of Autonomous and Adaptive Communications Systems 5(1) 2012

Papers from the 3rd ACM International Workshop on Context-Awareness for Self-Managing Systems (CASEMANS2009) held in Nara, Japan, 11 May 2009.

    •    Building an intelligent sensing system: a case study
    •    Anthropomorphic awareness of partner robot to user's situation based on gaze and speech detection
    •    Dynamic scheduling-based inpatient nursing support: applicability evaluation by laboratory experiments
    •    The context aware workflow execution framework

Additional Papers

    •    Improving antijamming characteristics of spread spectrum communication systems
    •    Wireless network simulators relevance compared to a real testbed in outdoor and indoor environments

Special issue: Discrete-event simulation in production management

2012-01-08T15:06:00.000Z

International Journal of Simulation and Process Modelling 6(3) 2011

Papers from the 12th and 13th IFACSymposiums ‘Information Control Problems inManufacturing’ (INCOM'06 and INCOM'09) held in Saint-Etienne, France, 17-19 May 2006 and Moscow, Russia, 3-5 June 2009.

Proactive production activity control by online simulation
An emulation-based execution control system evaluation tool: application to a furniture manufacturing group
A simulation-based equipment environment for flexible manufacturing systems
Feasibility evaluation of multi-site scheduling by distributed simulation of workshops
Risk analysis for cooperation policies benefits in reducing the bullwhip effect in a telecom supply chain
Manufacturing network simulation using a data-driven model
A genetic algorithm with tournament selection for optimising inspection allocation in multiproduct multistage production systems

Special issue: Knowledge flows, learning and development in an international context

2012-01-08T14:58:00.000Z

European Journal of International Management 6(1) 2012

Editorial: Knowledge flows, learning and development in an international context
Cross-cultural training for Dutch expatriates going to India
Inpatriation in a globalising MNC: knowledge exchange and translation of corporate culture
The e-mentoring of expatriates: mapping existing research domains and new opportunities
Expatriate categorisation and evaluation: an empirical investigation in Poland and India
The relationship between transformational leadership and innovative behaviour in a healthcare context: a team learning versus a cohesion perspective
Devolvement of HRM and perceived performance within multinational corporations (MNCs)

Special issue: Research and advances in vehicle body engineering

2012-01-08T14:54:00.003Z

International Journal of Vehicle Design 57(2/3) 2011

A new approach to improve the vehicle ride comfort by electroencephalogram data
Lightweight design of vehicle front-end structure: contributions of multiple surrogates
Optimisation-based approach for determining driver seat adjustment range for vehicles
Development of a ride comfort evaluation method with a laboratory testing system
Multi-disciplinary optimisation for front auto body based on multiple optimisation methods
Three-phase optimisation design of an electric car body at conceptual design stage
Structure and transformation of the Italian car styling supply chain
Automotive body inspection uncertainty associated with computational processes
Rapid structural property evaluation system for car body advanced design
Development and validation of a finite element model of a dummy for design of pedestrian-friendly vehicles
The influence of wheel-housing shape on vehicle aerodynamic performance
Optimal mounting design for cab vibration isolation

Newly announced title: International Journal of Swarm Intelligence

2012-01-05T15:54:00.000Z

Beginning publication in 2013, International Journal of Swarm Intelligence will report research, new developments and applications in the multidisciplinary field of swarm intelligence.

Special issue: Simulation-based optimisation techniques

2012-01-05T15:28:00.000Z

International Journal of Mathematical Modelling and Numerical Optimisation 3(1/2) 2012

GATE: a genetic algorithm designed for expensive cost functions
Simulation-driven sequential metamodels for fuzzy reliability-based optimisation tasks
Design of a matrix hydraulic turbine using a metamodel-assisted evolutionary algorithm with PCA-driven evolution operators
Variable-fidelity simulation-driven design optimisation of microwave structures
Metamodelling approach using radial basis functions, stochastic search algorithm and CFD – application to blade cascade design

Special issue: Cultural heritage and tourism: trends and innovative strategies for learning and management

2012-01-03T15:28:00.002Z

International Journal of Web Based Communities 8(1) 2012

E-heritage and e-museums: technological resources for tourism planning
Facebook, heritage and tourism reorientation. The cases of Tenerife and Fuerteventura (Canary Isles, Spain)
Tripadvisor rates Einstein: using the social web to unpack the public meanings of a cultural heritage site
Mobile devices: a tool for tourism and learning at archaeological sites
Cultural events, cultural heritage, tourism and new media
Project Mus.Cat: a CMS open-source application
User generated content in destination marketing organisations' websites
Crossing the borders in language learning through the use of web-conferencing as an e-learning tool

Special issue: Precision micro- and nano-metrology for nanomanufacturing

2012-01-03T14:35:00.000Z

International Journal of Nanomanufacturing 8(1/2) 2012

Nanometrology at PTB in support of process control of nanoscale features in semiconductor manufacturing
Improvement of free-spectral-range measurement for Fabry-Perot cavity using phase modulation technique
GPU-accelerated white-light scanning interferometer for large-area, high-speed surface profile measurements
In-situ scanning white light interferometry employing dual-sensing configuration and active fringe-locking strategy
Development of nanoparticle sizing system integrated with optical microscopy using fluorescence polarisation
The system and the mechatronics of a pagoda type micro-CMM
Fabrication of micro-ball styluses for scanning-type surface form metrology
Establishment of a measuring station on a diamond turning machine for in-process cutting edge inspection of single point diamond micro-tools
Nanomanufacturing of radial grating patterns by nanoimprint with a silicon mould for rotational angle measurement of micro gears
A study of characterisation of surface generation in ultra-precision polishing using power spectrum analysis Probe type micro magnetic manipulator utilising localised magnetic field with closed-loop magnetic path

Special issue: Water wars in 21st century along international rivers basins: speculation or reality?

2012-01-03T14:31:00.002Z

International Journal of Sustainable Society 4(1/2) 2012

Navigating cooperation beyond the absence of conflict: mapping determinants for the effectiveness of river basin organisations
Rising to the challenge of water security: international (water) law in need of refinement
Hydropolitics is what societies make of it (or why we need a constructivist approach to the geopolitics of water)
Global climate change and challenges for international river agreements
The Jordan River basin: at the crossroads between conflict and cooperation
Water sector in Central Asia: slow transformation and potential for cooperation
From monocentric ideal to polycentric pragmatism in the Syr Darya: searching for second best approaches
Hydropower ambitions of South Asian nations and China: Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers basins
Ganges basin: an example of social conflicts regarding water resources especially in developing countries
Three lenses on water war, peace and hegemonic struggle on the Nile

Additional Paper

A DEA model for efficiency evaluation with undesirable output: an application of paper mills along Huai River

Special issue: Advances in RFID Technology (Part 2)

2012-01-03T14:27:00.000Z

International Journal of Radio Frequency Identification Technology and Applications 4(1) 2012

Vulnerability analysis of lightweight secure search protocols for low-cost RFID systems
A rules based RFID-enabled supply chain process monitoring system
Approaches to fast sequential inventory and path following in RFID-enriched environments
Thin film HF RFID tag deposited on paper by thermal evaporation
Cell phone-based mobile RFID: models, mechanisms and its security

Call for Papers: Advances in Robotics and Mechatronics

2012-01-01T14:49:00.002Z

A special issue of International Journal of Mechatronics and Manufacturing Systems

This special issue aims to bring researchers together about the latest advances in the field of intelligent and autonomous robotics and mechatronics. These robots are able to adapt to different tasks, learn, interact, autonomously navigate and adapt their behaviours in various environments using intelligent mechanisms, sensors and artificial perception, vision systems, sensor integration techniques, mapping and localisation. The special issue enables researchers in the field of robotics and mechatronics to present new results and contribute to the latest developments on the theory, technologies, methodologies, sensors, bio-inspiration approaches, embedded systems, algorithms and applications of robotics, mechatronics, control and smart systems.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

Intelligent mechatronics systems
Sensors and artificial perception for robotics
Vision systems and sensor integration techniques
Bio-inspiration approaches in robotics
Embedded systems and algorithms
Control and smart systems.

Important Date
Submission of a full paper: 15 April, 2012

Call for Papers: Green Technology and Digital Enterprise for Sustainability

2012-01-01T14:47:00.000Z

A special issue of International Journal of Communication Networks and Distributed Systems

This Special Issue on aims to bring together work from academia, research scholars, scientists, engineers, technologists, business entrepreneurs, practitioners, managers and policymakers responsible for delivering green technology (IS & IT) and digital enterprises for sustainability in order to achieve competitive advantage and cost savings in modern organisations in both industrial and business sectors. Authors are invited to submit papers presenting new research related to the theory and practice of recent trends in computing, innovation, communication and information technologies, green technology, digital enterprise, corporate sustainability, e-waste disposal and globalisation.

Extended versions of papers that are accepted for the 4th International Conference on Recent Trends in Computing, Communication & Information Technologies (ObCom - 2011) will be considered, in addition to other submissions.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

Information systems development
E-healthcare
Forensic informatics
Healthcare records management
Biomedical applications
Forensic finance
Bioinformatics
Biometric security
Data centres and energy efficiency
Enterprise business applications
Human-machine cooperation
Consumer electronics
Digital automotives
Corporate social responsibilities
IT and corporate governance
Sustainability and entrepreneurship
Carbon footprints
Facilities management
Healthcare informatics
Ecosystems
Financial engineering
Informatics finance
Environmental issues
Energy and sustainability
E-agriculture and technology transfer
Social engineering
Ergonomics and benchmarking
Climate change
Renewable energy

Important Dates
Submission deadline: 15 February, 2012
First-round notification: 10 April, 2012
Submission of revised paper: 15 June, 2012
Final acceptance notification: 15 July, 2012
Final manuscript due: 15 July, 2012

Special issue: Population and sustainable development

2012-01-01T14:41:00.000Z

International Journal of Global Environmental Issues 11(3/4) 2011

Long-run projections of environmental impact in the OECD: the importance of uncertainty and age structure
Demographic delusion and urban violence: a challenge to youth development in Nigeria
Water security and sustainability in urban India
Regional development in neo-liberal era: a missed opportunity for sustainable development
Colombian refugees in Ecuador: sampling schemes, migratory patterns and consequences for migrants
Relationship between environmental volunteers' demographic characteristics and their green purchase behaviour: evidence from Penang (Malaysia)
Analysing the impact of demographic development on sustainability via infrastructure networks

Special issue: Applications of ultra wideband technology in healthcare

2012-01-01T14:38:00.000Z

International Journal of Ultra Wideband Communications and Systems 2(2) 2011

UWB systems for body area networks
IEEE 802.15.4a UWB receivers in medical applications
On the UWB medical radars working principles
Physics-based propagation characterisations of UWB signals for the urine detection in human bladder
Application of IEEE 802.15.6 IR-UWB physical layer for medical BAN
Experimental study in breath detection and human target ranging in the presence of obstacles using ultra-wideband signals

Special issue: Image and data compression applications

2012-01-01T14:34:00.002Z

International Journal of Signal and Imaging Systems Engineering 4(4) 2011

Image compression using Least Probable Coefficients Approximation technique
An improved low complexity Near Lossless Image Compression
Efficient Distributed Video Coding based on principle of syndrome coding
Image denoising based on adaptive fusion of curvelet transform and Total Variation
Analysis of radiographical weld flaws using image-processing approach
Curvature driven diffusion coupled with shock for image enhancement/reconstruction
Effect of noise on speech compression in Run Length Encoding scheme

Special issue: Business excellence through sustained competitive advantage in a global market

2012-01-01T14:31:00.000Z

International Journal of Business Excellence 5(1/2) 2012

Private-public partnerships: corporate responsibility strategy in food retail
Manufacturing platform of strategic innovation in global semiconductor industry
Essentials of D-phase to secure the competitive advantage through Six Sigma
The relationship between web quality and user satisfaction: the moderating effects of security and content
Determinants of banks' total factor productivity: the post-Asian financial crisis experience of the Philippines
Implications of an internet startup entering in a market with low level of technological adoption: case study
Corporate social responsibility: are firms in Nigeria actually giving back or giving away?
Organic growth a taxonomic perspective

Additional papers

A simulation-based study for managing hospital emergency department's capacity in extreme events
Financial controls and firms' performance in the manufacturing sector in Nigeria

Special issue: Interdisciplinary research in entrepreneurship in Europe

2012-01-01T13:23:00.000Z

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business 15(1) 2012

Papers from the 9th Annual Interdisciplinary European Conference on Entrepreneurship Research (IECER) held in Munich, Germany 16-18 February 2011.

Beyond high tech: the pivotal role of technology in start-up business model design
Internationalisation in new ventures what role do team dynamics play?
The spin-along approach: ambidextrous corporate venturing management
How to manage networks? The role of network attributes and incentives in network governance
Succession in family firms: how to improve family satisfaction and family harmony
The effects of social capital on the performance of newly founded businesses in Slovenia
Regulatory changes and market reactions the European renewable energy market

Special issue: New perspectives on revenue management in transportation services

2011-12-31T18:13:00.001Z

International Journal of Revenue Management 6(1/2) 2012

An assessment of the impact of demand management strategies for efficient allocation of airport capacity
Airport slot allocation in Europe: economic efficiency and fairness
A comprehensive approach to planning the deployment of transportation assets in distributing forest products
Modelling shipment consolidation and pricing decisions for a manufacturerdistributor
Real options as an incentive scheme for managing revenues in transportation infrastructure projects
Enhancement of revenue management strategies through location-aware m-auctions for logistics services

Regular Paper

Customer profitability analysis an avant-garde approach to revenue optimisation in hotels

Special issue: Competitiveness and sustainability of countries economies

2011-12-31T18:10:00.000Z

Global Business and Economics Review 14(1/2) 2012

Papers from the 2010 IASK Global Management International Conference, held in Oviedo,Spain, 8-10 November 2010.

Can sustainable investing generate carbon credits?
Tax policy and macro-finance in a competitive global economy where government is considered as firms' third financial stakeholder
Understanding sovereign wealth funds in the global age
Bayesian portfolio selection under a multifactor asset return model with predictive model selection
Style matters: investment performance presentation effects on investor preferences
Leveraging tangible and intangible assets by using a possible firm competitiveness index
Caixa Geral de Aposentações: why social responsibility is needed?

Special issue: International Conference on Advanced Materials

2011-12-31T18:05:00.001Z

International Journal of Nanotechnology 8(10-12) 2011

Papers from the International Conference on Advanced Materials(ICAM-2008) held in Kottayam, India, 18–21 February 2008.

Structure-directed synthesis of chalcogenides: from chains to 3-dimensional frameworks
Polymer nanocomposites reinforced with polysaccharide nanocrystals
Quantum dots of lead selenide: evolution of size and geometry and influence on photovoltaic effect
A direct method for ultrafine gold networks with nanometre scale ligaments
Structure and properties of pure and mixed transition metal dimers on graphene
Hydrothermal synthesis of nanosized anatase TiO2: photocatalytic activity
Structural characterisation of textured gold nanowires
Pore characteristics and electrochemical properties of the carbon nanofibres of polyacrylonitrile containing iron-oxide by electrospinning
Magnetic properties of nano-sized Co2FeSi
Functionalised carbon nanotubes: high biocompatibility with lack of toxicity
Coordination-dependent bond energies derived from DFT surface-energy data for use in computations of surface segregation phenomena in nanoclusters
Effect of inter-particle interactions on the magnetic properties of magnetite nanoparticles after coating with dextran
Synthesis of nano grade ?-ferric oxide and evaluation of its catalytic properties
Silver nanoparticles embedded three dimensional silicate sol-gel matrix modified electrode for nitrite sensor application
Seeing inside materials by aberration-corrected electron microscopy
High density nanoparticle Mn-Zn ferrite synthesis, characterisation and magnetic properties
Visible-light photocatalytic activities of ?VO3 nanorods and BiVO4 nanobars
Effect of carbon nanotube on the thermal decomposition characteristics of selected propellant binders and oxidisers
Catalytic activity and stability of silver supported on multiwalled carbon nanotubes

First issue: International Journal of Planning and Scheduling

2011-12-31T17:55:00.000Z

Covering theoretical advances, new solution methods, modelling, complexity analysis, algorithms, and applications for complex planning and scheduling problems, International Journal of Planning and Scheduling deals with fields such as operations research and management, computer science, manufacturing, services, projects, transportation, supply chains, logistics, telecommunications, and networks.

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

Call for Papers: Innovative Policies on Entrepreneurship for Economic Growth

2011-12-23T20:40:00.006Z

A special issue of International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business

Achieving stable and sustainable economic growth is one of the main goals of local communities and national governments. Entrepreneurship has been recognised by researchers and scholars as a relevant catalyst of economic development and growth. Entrepreneurial societies are not only a consequence of economic freedom and private initiative; government programmes and public policies can also be crucial means for building local and national entrepreneurial ecosystems.

Today there is a vast array of public policies that can be implemented by different levels of government in order to support and foster entrepreneurship and thus stimulate economic growth. For example, it has been demonstrated that public programmes and policies concerning education, the finance market, public procurement, administrative and tax burdens, the protection of knowledge and innovation and the efficiency of the labour market can influence the number, quality, development and success of entrepreneurial ventures.

Academic literature offers mainly comparative analyses of the policies adopted by different countries or by different levels of government. More research is required by entrepreneurship and political science scholars in order to contribute to the clarification of crucial issues concerning public policies on entrepreneurship, and in particular to investigate: (1) how to create innovative policies, (2) how to evaluate them, (3) how to diffuse best practices, and (4) how to select the most appropriate policy and adapt it to a specific context.

This special issue is focused on interdisciplinary open questions concerning the public commitment and actions undertaken by governmental institutions with the aim of fostering entrepreneurship and achieving sustainable economic growth.

Quantitative as well qualitative papers will be considered and reviewed. The issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the International Symposium on Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ISEI 2012) to be held in Venice, Italy, 23-25 May, 2012, but we also strongly encourage researchers unable to participate in the conference to submit papers for this call.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

Adoption and adaptation of public policies. Programmes and incentives that have been recognised as successful and are considered as best practices in a particular country are often used in other geographical contexts. This strategy requires a process of adaptation that could be investigated in order to understand enablers and barriers. How can policies be transferred from one context to another?
Policies for the creation of an entrepreneurial ecosystem. Which entrepreneurial ecosystems and populations of firms are sources of economic growth? Is there a right entrepreneurial rate that can guarantee growth and regional development? How can policies catalyse the emergence or creation of an entrepreneurial ecosystem?
Synergic effects of actions promoted by different levels of government. How can local, regional, national and super-national programmes and initiatives reinforce each other, without overlapping or wasting resources? Which is the most appropriate level of government that can really impact entrepreneurship and economic growth?
Selective or broad policies? Policies to encourage entrepreneurship and small business can be classified as selective (e.g. tax breaks, subsidies or incentives for particular targeted groups of companies or industries) or broad (i.e. they promote an entrepreneur-friendly environment through fiscal policies, rules of the labour market, competition, business regulations, startup costs, capital access, etc.). What are the effects of these policies? Why do governments adopt them?
Policies for fostering entrepreneurship among specific groups (e.g. ethnic and immigrant minorities, female population, young population).
Policies and the entrepreneurial spirit of a national/regional community. How does political and cultural commitment stimulate the entrepreneurial spirit of a regional community or a country?
Evaluating the effectiveness of public policies. How, why and by whom can outcomes and externalities of public initiatives be assessed and evaluated? What are the market imperfections created by public policies? Are the criteria adopted by researchers to evaluate public programmes adequate? How can these criteria be standardised and shared?
Policies regarding intellectual property (and their impact on technology transfer and academic entrepreneurship).
The creation of new public policies. How can new public policies to foster entrepreneurship be developed, shaped and experimented with? How can policy makers really be more innovative?
The variety of public policies. Policies for promoting a knowledge- based and entrepreneurial society. Policies for supporting and stimulating the creation of new ventures. Policies for the growth of small ventures. Policies for supporting high potential businesses.
Policies and programmes for entrepreneurship education. Policies for stimulating and disseminating innovative teaching methods and pedagogies. Initiatives for leveraging technology for education. Impact of the introduction of entrepreneurship education at all levels (from primary school to lifelong learning). How can a consistent and adequate level of funding for entrepreneurship education programmes be guaranteed?
Selecting the right policies. How can the most appropriate policy be selected from academic suggestions and policy collections? Which criteria should be used? Governments are requested to implement policies with less resources from the past, with the aim of obtaining better results; how can this process of selection can be optimised? What are the roles of academia, NGOs, foundations and super-national institutions in collecting, analysing and suggesting the most appropriate policies?

Important Date
Submission deadline: 30 July, 2012

Call for Papers: SMEs in New Automotive Supply Chains

2011-12-23T20:31:00.001Z

A special issue of International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management

During the last twenty years, automotive supply chains have seen a deep transformation, one element of which is the strong development of first-tier suppliers, sometimes referred to as mega-suppliers. But what of small and middle enterprises (SMEs)? The aim of this special issue is to identify the role of SMEs in the new organisation of automotive supply chains and, with a more prospective view, to address the question of their future.

Topics to be addressed in this issue include the following:

What is the importance of SMEs in the current supply chain? The pyramidal view of the supply chain suggests that SMEs have only a marginal role in the automotive industry - is this true? Are there some differences between carmakers, and between geographic areas (USA, Japan, Europe, China, others emerging countries)? And if yes, why?
If SMEs do not disappear, what are their roles? Pure subcontracting? Innovation? Co-development? What is the competitive advantage of SMEs?
Following the previous question, does the development of new vehicles (such as electric cars) create some opportunities for SMEs (since electric vehicles are niche market, because they require new competences, etc.)?
Can the development of open innovation strategies by some carmakers create some opportunities for new firms (such as engineering SMEs) to enter into the supply chain?
Recently, several suppliers from emerging countries tried to buy SMEs from developed countries which were suffering from bankruptcy. How can we explain this strategy? Does it represent a new trend or merely some isolated cases?

The issue welcomes both empirical and theoretical contributions related to the proposed topics. Case studies, surveys and papers based on empirical data are preferred; a rigorous research methodology is required, as well as a review of existing literature and adequate reference to bibliographical sources.

We also propose to discuss the paper at a special issue session at the 20th GERPISA International Conference, 30th May to 1st June, Cracow, Poland.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

Role of SMEs in the organisation of automotive supply chains
Strategic behaviours of SMEs (diversification, innovation, internationalisation, delocalisation, etc.)
Comparative analysis of supply chains (by OEM, by countries) with focus on SMEs
New product development and SMEs
Automotive SMEs from emerging countries
Competitive advantage of SMEs vs. big first-tier suppliers

Important Dates
Deadline for (extended) abstract submission: 30 April, 2012
Response from Guest Editor: 31 May, 2012
Deadline for full paper submission: 13 July, 2012

Special issue: Accounting and the new labour process

2011-12-23T20:26:00.002Z

International Journal of Economics and Accounting 2(4) 2011

George Orwell and the twilight of unions: a new labour process research problematic?
Can the regulations prevent the unethical behaviours in accounting profession? A philosophical approach on the case of Turkiye
Opinions of the certified public accountants on the application and training programs of accounting standards: an empirical study
Monitoring critically the state of the art in accounting for concessions
Rethinking the relationship of accounting to labour and capital
From building site warriors to Korean church: radical strategic realignment in Sydney's construction union

Call for Papers: Young and Innovative Entrepreneurship

2011-12-21T16:08:00.002Z

A special issue of International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management

In many countries young people are receiving stimulus in order to explore and consider entrepreneurial careers. Models proposed by media, formal action in education for entrepreneurship, and global initiatives such as Global Entrepreneurship Week are promoting the idea that young, innovative entrepreneurs can contribute to economic growth and to the social improvement of local areas and nations.

Young people of today are not only entrepreneurs of the future, but in some cases are also real entrepreneurs in action: young and successful entrepreneurs who develop new technologies, adopt new business models and drive the rise of new industrial clusters and industries. Various anecdotic contributions describe the stories of young entrepreneurs, of students who leave academic environments in order to exploit or create entrepreneurial opportunities and build entrepreneurial projects, sometimes with high social impact.

Despite these impressive but fragmented efforts, academic research does not offer clear and comprehensive empirical evidence and theories explaining the specificities of young and innovative entrepreneurship. In fact, academic literature focuses mainly on four themes concerning young entrepreneurs:

Entrepreneurial intentions among populations of students or young people.
Policies and initiatives for fostering and stimulating young entrepreneurship.
Young firms (but young firms are not necessarily run by young people).
Nascent entrepreneurs (but nascent entrepreneurs are not necessarily young).

Young entrepreneurs in action are thus an under-researched topic. This special issue is dedicated to the exploration and investigation of the phenomenon of young enterprising people and their role as innovators. Young people can be relevant agents of change; therefore research on entrepreneurship and innovation is required to focus on the main enablers and barriers of youth entrepreneurship as well as innovative entrepreneurship.

We are not only interested in the intentions and potentialities of young non-enterprising people, but through the papers selected for this special issue, we also want to focus our lens on young entrepreneurs in action; on choices, strategies, actions, projects and real processes. We propose, for example, to investigate demographic issues, cultural and geographical contexts, competitive strategies and personal motivations.

We suggest that contributors consider, as an empirical reference, entrepreneurs that are under 35 years old.

Quantitative as well qualitative papers will be considered.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

Young entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship at different ages. The entrepreneurship life cycle. What are the differences between the entrepreneurial behaviours and strategies of young and older entrepreneurs? What are the personal factors or skills needed for student or teenage entrepreneurship? How does creativity or replication influence the plans and strategies of young entrepreneurs? How can they learn from mistakes and failures? What really drives young entrepreneurs? What are their motivations, dreams, perceptions, targets?
Young entrepreneurship in new industries and technologies. Why and how do some young entrepreneurs exploit technological disruptive opportunities that are not recognised by existing companies or senior entrepreneurs? Are there among young entrepreneurs different paradigms for the management of innovation?
The specificity and influence of the environment and cultural attitudes in different countries and areas. What are the main external enablers or barriers for young entrepreneurship? How do different cultural or educational contexts influence intentions, strategies, choices and companies run by young entrepreneurs?
First generation vs. second generation entrepreneurs. The role of family environment. Are there differences between first and second generation entrepreneurs? How can this be explained? Can enterprising members of the family be considered as relevant models? What is their real role and their influence towards prospective or in-action young entrepreneurs?
The role of institutions for the promotion and support of young entrepreneurship. Associations of young and innovative entrepreneurs. What are the best practices for supporting and promoting young entrepreneurs? How do local, national or global initiatives really impact young and innovative entrepreneurship? Are associations of young entrepreneurs exclusive clubs or can there be proactive and open actors fostering entrepreneurship for young people?
Financing young enterprises. Specificity of initiatives. Family and friends successfully financing young entrepreneurs. What are the other sources of financing for under-35 entrepreneurs? What are the main challenges that a young entrepreneur must face in order to achieve enough financial resources?
Intergenerational issues. The relationship between entrepreneurs, managers and collaborators in young enterprises. The dialogue and collaboration between young and old people can sometimes be a source of conflict, or on the other hand a source of positive learning processes. How do young entrepreneurs cooperate with older employees?
Innovative organisations and new forms of collaboration for innovation and entrepreneurship. Young entrepreneurs are sometimes promoters of new organisational forms that can positively impact the business. How are these forms accepted by employees and collaborators? How and why is innovation of organisations created and introduced by young entrepreneurs?
Educational agencies (schools and universities) as vehicles of new venture creation. Entrepreneurship education. What are the innovative strategies for teaching entrepreneurship? Have young entrepreneurs in action really been exposed to educational stimulus concerning business administration and entrepreneurship? Is incubation a necessary step for nascent young entrepreneurs?
Companies with the mission to create new companies. Entrepreneurs that encourage and support new young entrepreneurs. Non-young and senior or serial entrepreneurs can be enablers of young entrepreneurship through incubation, mentoring and stimulation of prospective entrepreneurs. How can existing companies facilitate corporate young entrepreneurs and spinoff creators? What are the new paradigms and strategies of incubation? How can young entrepreneurs take advantage of senior experience? How can alliances or supply agreements be vehicles of support for young entrepreneurs?

Important Date
Submission deadline: 30 June, 2012

Call for Papers: Multicriteria Decision Aid Applications for Social and Educational Services

2011-12-21T16:04:00.004Z

A special issue of International Journal of Multicriteria Decision Making

Muliticriteria decision aid analysis (MCDA) has been widely and efficiently exploited in a considerable number of real world applications covering many different fields such as financial management, human resource management, marketing, production, engineering, education and so on.

Since 1970, the four theoretical trends of MCDA (value systems’ approaches, outranking relations methods, disaggregation-aggregation approaches and multiobjective linear programming) inspired researchers to produce significant works concerning the application of MCDA in real world case studies. Many of these works have been presented and published, providing systematic methodological approaches, good practices and the appropriate software for further use and exploitation.

In recent years, massive changes have been happening worldwide with positive and negative impacts, which are mainly due to: (a) economical crisis situations which are slowing down the development of national economies, and (b) the spreading of the use of the information and communication technologies. Sectors which are most influenced include: (a) social services, (b) social insurance, (c) health services and (d) education. This new situation is motivating researchers to study and address the subjects and problems related to or resulting from this complicated situation.

The main target of this special issue is to collect new, representative and contemporary research works concerning the application of MCDA to real world case studies in the above-mentioned sectors. Papers must be focused on the new situation as far as social and educational services are concerned. The presence of the exploitation of multicriteria decision aid approaches and their contribution to the unravelling of problems related to social services, health services, social insurance and education is the core aim of this issue.

Suitable topics which can be considered innovative for MCDM related to social and educational services include but are not limited to:

Multicriteria decision support systems
Multiciteria decision aid approaches and methodologies
Preference modelling and disaggregation-aggregation approaches
Data mining and multicriteria decision aid analysis
Collaborative decision making under multiple criteria
Multiobjective mathematical programming
Outranking relations theory and practice
Multi-attribute utility/value theory
Risk analysis and multicriteria decision aid approaches
Performance management and multicriteria decision aid

Proper areas of interest for applications focused on social and educational services include but are not limited to:

Health and social Welfare
Education and lifelong learning
Re-engineering and recruitment in public and private sectors
Innovation management
e-government and social services
Social insurance
e-learning
Evaluation of social services
Evaluation of learning activities
Human resource management
Operations management for social and educational services
Learning organisations
Social networking

Important Date
Submission deadline: 31 March, 2012

Call for Papers: Advances in Affective Computing

2011-12-20T16:16:00.000Z

A special issue of International Journal of Computational Intelligence Studies

Human emotions are considered very important in human-human interaction, but have only recently started being taken into account in human-computer interaction (HCI). The fact is that emotions affect human thought and behaviour to a large extent; thus, the whole issue of human-computer interaction has to take into account the emotional state of its users.

Unfortunately, expression of emotion is very idiosyncratic and varies from individual to individual. However, since researchers in the last decade have discovered dozens of scientific findings that illuminate important roles of emotion in intelligent human functioning, human affect has started to be incorporated into novel, sophisticated HCI systems.

While trying to recognise emotional states, we may have to combine information from multiple channels or modalities of interaction. Indeed, human emotions are usually expressed in many ways. As an example, when we articulate speech, we usually move the head and simultaneously form various facial emotions. This is further corroborated by recent research in the fields of psychology and neurology which indicates that both body and mind are involved in emotional experiences, and that emotions influence people’s bodily movements.

This gives rise to a need for successfully combining evidence from many modes of interaction for computer systems to be able to generate as valid hypotheses as possible about their users’ emotions. To achieve this, there are a great deal of very challenging problems yet to be solved.

The aim of this special issue is to shed light on these needs, and to broaden our understanding of past and potential approaches to affective computing and technologies to address them. Thus, potential authors are invited to submit contributions related to the field of affective computing.

Submissions may be of a theoretical nature (e.g. relevant empirical studies), may present affective computing systems developed by the authors, or may comparatively evaluate alternative methodologies/algorithms for processing and combining affective computing data.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

Recognition and synthesis of human affect
Analysis of human behaviour
Relevant insights from psychology
Empirical studies in human affect recognition
Face recognition
Speech recognition
Facial expression and emotion categorisation
Speech emotion categorisation
Gesture analysis and recognition
Gesture emotion categorisation
Keyboard stroke pattern categorisation
Affective databases, evaluation and annotation tools
Affective visual recognition
Affective voice recognition
Affective linguistic recognition
Affective paralinguistic recognition
Affective multimodal recognition
Affective multimodal interfaces
Affective agents
Affect-sensitive applications
Applications

Important Dates
Paper submission: 30 April, 2012
Review results/Author notification: 15 June, 2012
Final paper submission: 15 July, 2012

Special issue: Recent advances in next-generation and resource-constrained converged networks

2011-12-20T16:12:00.000Z

International Journal of Communication Networks and Distributed Systems 8(1/2) 2012

A seamless handover scheme for vehicles across heterogeneous networks
Future wireless networks: key issues and a survey (ID/locator split perspective)
End-to-end modelling and performance analysis for network virtualisation in the next generation internet
The top ten cloud-security practices in next-generation networking
A mobile middleware to solve interoperability problems in VOIP streaming session
A taxonomy of secure data aggregation in wireless sensor networks
Enhanced service differentiation using priority-based MAC protocol for MANETs

Special issue: New challenges in heat treatment and surface engineering

2011-12-20T16:09:00.000Z

International Journal of Microstructure and Materials Properties 6(6) 2011

Includes papers from theInternational Federation for Heat Treatment and Surface Engineering (IFHTSE)conference New Challenges in Heat Treatment and Surface Engineering held inCavtat, Croatia, 9-12 June 2009.

Experimental determination of the temperature evolution within the quenchant during immersion quenching in still water
Microstructural changes during short-cycle heat treatments of cold-work tool steels
Influence of tempering on contact fatigue
Characterisation and determination of Ni-P coating sputtering rate
Assessment of grain size and lattice parameters of titanium alloy through electromagnetic emission technique
Finite element simulation of forming limit diagram for AISI 316LN-Austenitic stainless steel
Effect of microstructure on corrosion resistance of pipelines steels buried in alkaline soil

Special issue: Measuring the impact of service innovations

2011-12-20T15:57:00.000Z

International Journal of Services Technology and Management 16(3/4) 2011

Dynamic service innovation capability, radical service innovation and open business models
Factors of successful innovation in services
Performance and growth dynamics in young service firms: an exploratory study
Evaluation of design for service innovation curriculum: validation framework and preliminary results
Managing commitment to customer in the public sector: highlight the role of the supervisor
Management control of service innovation activities: an exploratory investigation of best practice
Rule-based service charging method for composite services

Special issue: Robust design: coping with hazards, risk and uncertainty (Part 2)

2011-12-20T15:54:00.000Z

International Journal of Reliability and Safety 6(1-3) 2012

Papers from the 4th International Workshop on Reliable Engineering Computing (REC2010), held in Singapore, 3−5 March 2010.

Part 1 was in International Journal of Reliability and Safety 5(3/4) 2011

Of reality, quality and Murphy’s law: strategies for eliminating human error and mitigating its effects
Robustness assessment for progressive collapse of framed structures using pushdown analysis methods
Reliable dynamic analysis of an uncertain shear beam
Robust assessment of shear parameters from direct shear tests
Simulated polyhedral clouds in robust optimisation
Predicting the shear resistance of RC beams without shear reinforcement using a Bayesian neural network
Structural analysis with probability-boxes
Estimation of loading conditions of failed crane-hook: an image-based approach with knowledge and simulation
Towards optimal effort distribution in process design under uncertainty, with application to education
Model fusion under probabilistic and interval uncertainty, with application to Earth sciences
Scale-invariant approach to multi-criterion optimisation under uncertainty, with applications to optimal sensor placement, in particular, to sensor placement in environmental research
Socio-ecological safety towards natural and technological disasters: Earth observations and ecological monitoring for water quality analysis
Coupling of satellite observation to increase reliability of analysis of socio-ecological consequences of technological disasters
Accurate and verified numerical computation of the matrix determinant
Implementation of fixed structure QFT prefilter synthesised using interval constraint satisfaction techniques

Special issue: Marketing in emerging markets

2011-12-20T15:48:00.002Z

International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets 4(1) 2012

The role of global brand familiarity, trust and liking in predicting global brand purchase intent: a Hungarian–American comparison
Accessing marketing channels in emerging markets: the case of small-scale cooperatives in central Mexico
Identifying customer value in emerging markets via conjoint analysis: a case study of an Estonian packaging company
Antecedents of MNE performance: evidence from Asia Pacific emerging markets

Call for Papers: Advances in Data Mining and Its Applications

2011-12-15T12:08:00.000Z

A special issue of International Journal of Information Technology and Management

The field of data mining has seen a rapid explosion in recent years because of new applications in social and communication networking, software engineering, healthcare and computational biology.

This special issue aims to bring together a diversity of international researchers, experts and practitioners who are currently working in the area of data mining. It is envisaged that it will explore the recent advances of methods, techniques and tools in solving the unanswered questions in data mining.

Prominent researchers from both academia and industry are invited to contribute their work for extending the existing knowledge in the field.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

Graph mining
Social network mining
Social web search and analysis
Evolution of social communities and social media
Data stream mining
Software engineering data mining
Methodologies in large-scale data mining
High performance data mining algorithms
Competitive analysis of data mining algorithms
Social network applications
Emerging applications of large-scale data mining
E-commerce and web services
Financial market analysis
Mobility recommendations
Applications of data mining in education

Important Dates
Submission deadline: 30 April, 2012
First round notification: 30 June, 2012
Final paper submission: 30 August, 2012

Special issue: Current trends in tribology in the Iberian Peninsula

2011-12-15T12:03:00.004Z

International Journal of Surface Science and Engineering 5(4) 2011

Papers from the 5th Iberian Congress on Tribology (Ibertrib 2009) held in Coimbra, Portugal, 17–18 June2009.

Microabrasion resistance of nanostructured plasma-sprayed coatings
Influence of humidity on the tribological behaviour of W-alloyed C-based amorphous coatings
Determination of the wear resistance of traditional ceramic tile glazes using a pin-on-disk tribometer
The role of lubricant feed temperature on the performance of twin groove journal bearings: an experimental study
Comparison of rolling contact fatigue life using a mineral oil, a synthetic polyester and a compound of both of them
Influence of PAO + ester oil formulations on gear micropitting and efficiency

Special issue: Communication technologies for vehicles

2011-12-15T11:58:00.001Z

International Journal of Vehicle Information and Communication Systems 2(3/4) 2011

Papers from the 1st and 2nd International Workshops on Communication Technologies for Vehicles: Nets4Cars 2009, held on 13-14 October 2009 in Saint-Petersburg, Russia and Nets4Cars 2010 held on 21-23 July 2010 in Newcastle, UK.

Cooperative multichannel management in IEEE 802.11p/WAVE vehicular ad hoc networks
A timer-based intelligent flooding scheme for VANETs
Design of a safety-critical geocast API for vehicular coordination
Hybrid vehicular communications based on V2V-V2I protocol switching
Modelling R2V communications: description, analysis and challenges
Intra-vehicular verification and control: a two-pronged approach
Complexity and performance analysis of modulation schemes for TEDS
A multi-broadcast communication system for high dynamic vehicular ad-hoc networks

Inderscience media partner at 2nd China Used Equipment & Remanufacturing Summit 2012

2011-12-15T11:48:00.002Z

Inderscience is a media partner for the 2nd China Used Equipment & Remanufacturing Summit 2012 to be held in Beijing, 1-2 March 2012.

Journals involved are:
International Journal of Internet Manufacturing and Services
International Journal of Machining and Machinability of Materials
International Journal of Manufacturing Research
International Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management
International Journal of Mechatronics and Manufacturing Systems
International Journal of Rapid Manufacturing
International Journal of Sustainable Manufacturing

Special issue: Intra-industry trade, theory and empirics

2011-12-15T11:38:00.000Z

International Journal of Economics and Business Research 4(1/2) 2011

US manufacturing and vertical/horizontal intra-industry trade: examining the smooth adjustment hypothesis
Captive offshoring by US multinationals: measuring the domestic employment impacts of vertical FDI
Marginal intra-industry trade and adjustment costs: the case study of Iran’s manufacturing industries
Vertical intra-industry trade in higher and lower quality: a new approach of measuring country-specific determinants
Factors influencing bilateral intra-industry trade in the auto industry: the case of South Africa
An analysis of India’s bilateral intra-industry trade in agricultural products
International trade patterns and labour markets – an empirical analysis for EU member states
Some new evidence on intra-industry trade and complex FDI in ASEAN countries: a spatial panel approach
Controversial issues in factors determining intra-industry trade
Measuring vertical and horizontal intra-industry trade: the case for Turkey
Intra-industry trade in Romania: analysis of the automobile parts and accessories sector
FDI and intra-industry trade: theory and empirical evidence from the Visegrad Countries
Intra-industry trade in textile industry: the case of India
The extensive margin of intrafirm trade

Special issue: Air pollution and waste management

2011-12-15T11:35:00.001Z

World Review of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development 8(2-4) 2011

Air gasification of Malaysia agricultural waste in a fluidised bed gasifier
Incinerator location conflict: How opponents try not to be the losers of the public decision making?
Predicting air quality in Uberlandia, Brazil, using linear models and Neural Networks
Formation of atmospheric nitrate under high Particulate Matter concentration
An economic analysis of a public-private-community partnership: the case of Solid Waste Management in Dhaka, Bangladesh
Dissolution kinetics and Zinc(II) recovery from spent automobile tyres by solvent extraction with Cyanex®272
Evaluation of traditional half orange type charcoal kiln for carbonisation: a case study
Validation of regulatory micro-scale air quality models: modelling odour dispersion and built-up areas
Recycling of Urban Sewage through cladoceran culture system
An assessment of medical waste management in health institutions in Yenagoa, South-South, Nigeria
Sediment Budget Template applied to Aberdeen Pool
Vermicomposting of mustard residue and effect of its application on soil and plant nutrients status
Investigation of benefit of using coal wastes in cement production
Advancement of chitosan-based adsorbents for enhanced and selective adsorption performance in water/wastewater treatment: review

Special issue: Studies in vehicle systems modelling

2011-12-15T11:32:00.000Z

International Journal of Vehicle Systems Modelling and Testing 6(3/4) 2011

Evaluation of the Eulerian-Lagrangian spray atomisation (ELSA) in spray simulations
Possible solution to smoothen the nature of the torque curve of the CAMPRO engine
Analysis and simulation of semi-active suspension control policies for two-axle off-road vehicle using full model
Fuzzy semi-active damping force estimator (fSADE) and skyhook semi-active suspension systems
Effect of curving speed and mass of railway vehicle to the contact characteristic on curve track
A large-eddy simulation of diesel-like gas jets
Assessment of free-rotating air swirling device to reduce SI engine emissions and improve fuel economy
The structural integrity assessment of a partially filled tank pertaining to liquid sloshing upon sudden brake applications
Vehicle fuel consumption and emission modelling: an in-depth literature review
Air supply system transient model for proton-exchange membrane fuel cell

Inderscience is a media partner at Maghreb/Middle East Renewable Energy Summit 2012

2011-12-13T15:00:00.000Z

Inderscience, by means of the International Journal of Renewable Energy Technology, is to be a media partner at the 4th Annual Maghreb/Middle East Renewable Energy Summit 2012 to be held in Casablanca, Morocco, 16-17 April 2012.

Call for Papers: Advanced Methodologies of Production in Manufacturing Supply Chains

2011-12-13T14:47:00.002Z

A special issue of International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering

Production systems contain principally the machinery which is used to transform materials into the desired forms, with the requisite properties induced into them for obtaining specific performance parameters. Advanced methodologies in aspects of line material handling, scheduling, just-in-time and lean manufacturing, packaging and logistics are supported by database management systems, online transmission and the processing of information that initiates and follows activities.

With recent advancements in IT processing, several advanced methodologies of production have developed which have helped operations to become fast and accurate. Furthermore, in terms of supply chains, production methodologies are tied up with other functions in organisations. These bring about economies which have made it possible to manufacture and deliver high quality products on a global scale.

The main aim of this special issue is to advance our theoretical and empirical understanding of advanced methodologies of production in manufacturing supply chains that have played a key role in the development of economies in different countries. Theoretical, methodological and/or empirical research papers are welcome.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

Use of computers in design
Computer-integrated manufacturing
Advanced methodologies of mechanisation
Automated production systems
Automated flow lines
Flexible manufacturing systems
Global trends in rapid prototyping
Manufacturing flexibility
Intelligent manufacturing systems
Lean manufacturing
Six sigma and lean sigma
High performance computing (HPC) for modelling, simulation and analysis
Advanced robotics and other intelligent production systems
Control systems to monitor processes
Sustainable and green processes and technologies in production
New industrial platform technologies
Ability to custom manufacture
Ability to manufacture high or low volume
Integrated production and logistics systems
Integrated production and packaging systems
Scheduling in industries
Nanocomposite materials

Important Dates
Manuscript submission: 1 July, 2012
Notification of initial decision: 1 August, 2012
Submission of revised manuscript: 1 September, 2012
Notification of final acceptance: 1 October, 2012
Submission of final revised paper: 1 November, 2012

Call for Papers: Reacting Rapidly to Unexpected Customer Requirement

2011-12-13T14:45:00.001Z

A special issue of International Journal of Product Development

Companies have pressures to supply new products with increasing speed to the market. In addition, the nature of products is changing in the traditional manufacturing industry where services and other intangible elements are responsible for a growing part of the profit.

Increasingly, typical deliverables are mixtures of tangible and intangible elements, also referred to as solutions. Companies provide an increasing number of different solution variants to their customers, resulting in challenges in managing their product portfolios.

In the modern solution business, quick actions and decisions are often required based on customers’ requests. There are pressures to come up with modified offerings to meet customer needs. Required modifications typically entail functionalities or changes that are not possible within the existing product portfolio, even though, ideally, the potential modifications would be based on this portfolio.

Is it sensible to allow a certain degree of flexibility in a product portfolio to enable customer variations? Either way, there must always be a strong enough business case to justify any changes.

This type of rapid productisation, reacting to customers’ needs outside of the existing product portfolio, sets requirements for product data management, product structure, requirements engineering, product development processes, and information flow between sales, product development and so on. There is a need to define boundary conditions on whether to provide a customer with the modified offering or not, what types of analyses are required, and which stakeholders are involved in making such go/no-go decisions. There may also be other aspects to consider when a company aims to react to customers’ unexpected requirements. It is vital to understand what type of business decisions are required to support these types of scenarios.

This special issue focuses on exploring how companies should react to cases of unexpected customer requests; what kind of processes, roles and responsibilities are required; and how this influences product data and lifecycle management and the cooperation of sales and product development. A product can be a physical product, a service, or can contain both elements.

Submitted papers should contain a significant empirical contribution and enable communication between academics and industrial actors. Original research and development papers, review papers and case studies are welcome. The relevance to engineering/business development must be explicit.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to the following:

Customers' requirements during sales
Productisation
Rapid productisation
Product portfolio vs. customers' requirements
Product creation
Market pull
Business case analysis
Product data management, product lifecycle management (PLM/PDM)
Ability to react to customers' product requirements
Product data and product structure
Minimum requirements for product data
Decision making criteria and business cases
Product management and portfolio management
Recognising opportunities to productise rapidly
Configurability and modular product structure
Feasibility, delivery capability

Important Date
Submission deadline: 21 May, 2012

Special issue: The boundaries of workplace learning

2011-12-13T14:42:00.000Z

International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management 12 (1/2) 2012

Workplace learning: a new model applied in a case study in the Netherlands
Boundaries and intersections: a reflection on barriers and gateways to learning in the workplace
In search of design guidelines for the improvement of the effectiveness of work-related learning arrangements
Learning in-between, across and beyond workplace boundaries
All by myself. Research into employees' informal learning experiences
When workplace learning fails: individual and organisational limitations – exemplarily demonstrated by the issue of responsibility in work life
Workplace learning: panacea or challenge? Epilogue of a special issue on boundaries of workplace learning
The impact of culture on corporate training design: a review of the current state of knowledge
Employee retention: exploring the relationship between employee commitment, organisational citizenship behaviour and the decision to leave the organisation

First issue: International Journal of the Built Environment and Asset Management

2011-12-12T13:03:00.000Z

Dealing with the planning, economics, social, legal and management issues of urban design and the architecture of real estate, commercial complexes and lifestyle centres, International Journal of the Built Environment and Asset Management encourages innovative research within the scope of regional development and business growth.

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

Special issue: Solid wastes and wastewater treatment processes

2011-12-12T12:54:00.003Z

International Journal of Environment and Waste Management 9(1/2) 2012

Anaerobic digestion of Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste (OFMSW) in two-phase system
Effect of temperature on composting residual Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste (OFMSW) after anaerobic digestion
Sugar industry press mud as alternate organic fertiliser source
A study on Air Filled Porosity evolution in sludge composting
Effect of various leachate recirculation strategies on batch anaerobic digestion of solid substrates
Evaluation of FTIR spectroscopy as a maturity index for herbicide-contaminated composts
Anaerobic Digestion technologies for the treatment of Municipal Solid Waste
Prediction of flux decline during membrane filtration of leather plant effluent
Performance studies on constructed wetland for treatment of crocodile pond wastewater
Evaluation of polishing of the effluent from UASB reactor by diffusers
Degradation of phenolic wastewaters by solar/TiO2 and solar/TiO2/H2O2 processes
Performance of Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) reactor treating simulated wastewaters containing 1,1,2-Trichloroethane and 1,1,2,2-Tetrachloroethane
Decolourisation of Turquoise HGN by anaerobic bacterial isolates from rumen enrichments

Special issue: New developments in grinding and ultra-precision technology

2011-12-12T12:51:00.003Z

International Journal of Mechatronics and Manufacturing Systems 4(6) 2011

Ultrasonic assisted dressing of CBN grinding wheels with form rollers
Resource efficient grinding – solutions and restrictions
Manufacturing high quality surfaces of hardened steels: fine grinding with lapping kinematics using abrasive foil tools
Measurement of local contact zone forces in rotational grinding of silicon wafers
Increasing the accuracy in grinding process
Use of ELID-grinding on brittle-hard materials

Special issue: Personalised information retrieval

2011-12-12T12:48:00.000Z

International Journal of Knowledge and Web Intelligence 2(2/3) 2011

An efficient web recommendation system based on modified IncSpan algorithm
Personalised search – a hybrid approach for web information retrieval and its evaluation
The evaluation of adaptive and personalised information retrieval systems: a review
WIA: a web inspection architecture
An evaluation of provenance-based near-duplicates detection
Software engineers’ information behaviour and implicit relevance indicators
A platform for discovering and sharing confidential ballistic crime data
Personalised information retrieval through the use of a collaboration awareness tool, a chat and a forum tool in a computer supported collaborative learning task

Special issue: Communications and security systems

2011-12-12T12:45:00.002Z

International Journal of Intelligent Engineering Informatics 1(3/4) 2011

Securing multi-media transmission over mobile communication channels
Back propagation neural network-based energy efficient routing protocols for mobile ad-hoc networks
Combat model-based DDoS detection and defence using experimental testbed: a quantitative approach
Design and Analysis of NCO based OFDM model
Mobile agent approach for efficient network exploration and fault detection
A new proxy signcryption scheme using warrants
Design and characterisation of an AES chip embedding countermeasures
Multiple watermarking for copyright protection using DWT and dual-tree CWT

First issue: International Journal of Web Science

2011-12-04T15:36:00.001Z

Aiming to improve the state-of-the-art of worldwide research in the areas of web theories, services, applications and standards by publishing high-quality papers International Journal of Web Science is committed to deepening the understanding of enabling theories and technologies for applying and developing the web as a global information repository.

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

Special issue: Gaining from interorganisational innovation

2011-12-04T15:33:00.001Z

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management 15(1/2) 2012

Searching near and far: a practice perspective of knowledge access in emerging clusters
Knowledge flow at the fuzzy front-end of inter-firm R&D collaborations – insights into SMEs in the pharmaceutical industry
Dynamics of development in innovation collaboration – relationships, learning and end products
Rethinking the role of external collaboration in product innovation
Collaborative approaches to new product development: the case of Russia
Incubation time, incubator age, and firm survival after graduation
Modelling competence acquisition in small firms

Special issue: Governing system transitions towards sustainability: theoretical and empirical explorations

2011-12-04T15:30:00.001Z

International Journal of Sustainable Development 15(1/2) 2012

Introductory editorial
Governing societal transitions to sustainability
Towards theoretical multiplicity for the governance of transitions: the energy-producing greenhouse case
Infrastructure transitions towards sustainability: a complex adaptive systems perspective
The politics of transition governance in Dutch agriculture. Conceptual understanding and implications for transition management
The discursive politics of governing transitions towards sustainability: the UK Carbon Trust
Power failures: metagoverning a revival of nuclear power in Britain
Moving towards sustainable intercity transport: a case study of high-speed rail in Australia
Pilot projects and their diffusion: a case study of integrated coastal management in South Africa
Concluding editorial: Sustainability transitions and their governance: lessons and next-step challenges

Special issue: Study on innovation and learning: theories and practices

2011-12-04T15:26:00.001Z

International Journal of Learning and Intellectual Capital 9(1/2) 2012

Innovation in an old industrial region: the case of Twente
University involvement in economic development in natural-resource based regions
Cultural and creative industry cluster: a case of Beijing
On the capability of SMEs to innovate: the cable and wire manufacturing subsector in Nigeria
R&D intensity and productivity of exporting SMEs: empirical evidence from China
The types and intensity of innovation in developing country SMEs: evidences from a Nigerian subsectoral study
The Singapore learning society: intellectual capital development strategies and its response to the 2008/9 financial crisis
E-learning implementation from strategic perspective: a case study of Nottingham University
Post-modern perspectives of organisational learning
Information technology, organisational capital and firm performance
Innovation and learning through dialogue in the entrepreneurial networking process
Critical success factors in web-based corporate training
The learning entities in organisational learning – an empirical study
Faculty training in computer technology: implementation and adoption within the curriculum in Malaysia and the USA

Special issue: Wine business and globalisation

2011-12-04T15:23:00.001Z

International Journal of Business and Globalisation 8(1) 2012

Internationalisation drivers in the wine business: a RBV perspective
Viewing cross trends and strategies in China: competition within the global wine market
The influence of resources on the internationalisation process of clustered wine companies
Globalisation and the wine market: developments in the small Albanian context
A better understanding of the structure of a wine market using the attribute of variety
Toward a sectoral system of innovation for local wine sector
Why and how some wine SMEs resist to the crisis?
Wine business in a changing competitive environment – strategic and financial choices of Campania wine firms
Good environmental practices in a traditional wine producer: an opportunity for global competition
Wine tourism: a business opportunity for winemakers

Special issue: Design, integration, and maintenance of services for developing nations and economies

2011-12-04T15:17:00.001Z

International Journal of Services, Economics and Management 4(1) 2012

Mobile Interfaced Crops Diagnosis Expert System (MICDES): a case for rural Kenyan farmers
Redesigning the inter-facility network of a parcel distribution company in a developing country
Engineering analysis and economic evaluation of broadband fixed wireless access in developing country: wireless city in Thailand
XO integration: voices from the field
A service model for improving healthcare delivery in rural developing communities

Special issue: Advances and trends in biometrics

2011-12-04T15:14:00.001Z

International Journal of Information Technology and Management 11(1/2) 2012

Using biometrics and active RFID to improve security and safety in mass casualty management
Dealing with biometric multi-dimensionality through chaotic neural network methodology
A new soft biometric approach for keystroke dynamics based on gender recognition
Multi fuzzy vault based on secret sharing for deadlock restoration
Biometric access control in the workplace: benefit or bind?
Some issues of biometrics: technology intelligence, progress and challenges
An efficient unsupervised sample clustering for cancer datasets based on statistical model pre-processing
ATPDI: a computational definition of fingerprint singular points
A user dependent multi-resolution approach for biometric data
Enhancing the privacy of electronic passports
Identities, forgeries and disguises

Additional Paper

The best of adaptive and predictive methodologies: open source software development, a balance between agility and discipline

Special issue: Lean principles in manufacturing, service and public sectors

2011-12-04T15:10:00.001Z

International Journal of Technology Management 57(1-3) 2012

Implementing lean in surgery – lessons and implications
When Lean and Six Sigma converge: a case study of a successful implementation of Lean Six Sigma at an aerospace company
A comparative analysis of management accounting systems' impact on lean implementation
Improving high variable-low volume operations: an exploration into the lean product development
Lean product development – enabling management factors for waste elimination
The application of lean principles and its effects in technology development
Impact of product platforms on lean production systems: evidence from industrial machinery manufacturing
Impact of use of information technology on lean production adoption: evidence from the automotive industry
The SoS approach for lean manufacturing systems

Additional Papers

Implementation of product strategy with differentiated standards
Towards sustainable competitive advantage by the innovation for the product value recovery: an empirical study in Spanish industrial companies

Special issue: Knowledge management in higher education

2011-12-04T15:00:00.001Z

International Journal of Management in Education 6(1/2) 2012

Understanding how organisations use the internet to mobilise knowledge: findings from the field of education
Expectation–perception gap in Private Higher Education Institutions in Malaysia
A causal model predicting student intention to enrol moderated by university image: using strategic management to create competitive advantage in higher education
Financing of Higher Education and the role and dilemmas of tariff groups
Ranking the outcomes from the assessment of research in the UK
Pedagogical challenges of Indian higher education: policy and research implications
Knowledge transfer in higher education: the case of Monterrey Institute of Technology
Knowledge profile of Higher Education Institutions: an international overview of mainstream research
Instructor's role in knowledge transfer
The outlook for Operations Research: will business education supply enough management science new entrants to meet forecast demand
Patterns of managerial action: an empirical analysis of German sport managers

Call for Papers: Strategic Cooperation Management

2011-12-04T14:56:00.001Z

A special issue of International Journal of Globalisation and Small Business

“Strategic Cooperation Management” is an interface between economic research, management research and other related areas of socio-economic research. This topic is getting more and more important for successful enterprises, and its main research question is how different kinds of the inter-organisational collaboration are organised and which factors support companies in their cooperation to achieve competitive advantage.

The aim of this special issue is to focus on strategic cooperation management within business studies, and to contribute considerably to the discipline’s further development and its importance in corporate management.

In general, distinct articles of any kind (conceptional, qualitative or quantitative) are welcome which focus on strategic cooperation management, e.g. papers about the competitive advantages of inter-organisational cooperation in relation to organisations, controlling and factors involved: networks, dyadic cooperations, strategy alliances, cluster and related kinds of cooperations.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

Organisational structures of cooperation and enterprises in cooperation
Effective control mechanism of cooperation
Functionally types of cooperation: R&D cooperation, marketing-cooperation, purchasing partnership, supply chain partnership, virtual factory
Life cycle of cooperation
Individual and organisational learning in cooperation
Specific aspects of regional cooperation
Challenges and features of international cooperation
Generation of competitive advantage in cooperation
Practices and themes of cluster management

Important Dates
1-2 page abstract (about 500 words): 31 January, 2012
Final full papers due: 31 March, 2012 (online submission)
Notification to authors: 17 April, 2012

Call for Papers: Young Researcher Special Issue on State-of-the-Art in TEL

2011-11-30T15:23:00.001Z

A special issue of International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning

IJTEL invites paper submissions for a special issue targeting young researchers in the community of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL). This call encourages a review of the state-of-the-art in TEL topics, accompanied by a description of the current and future work carried out by the authors researching within these topics.

This special issue is directed at all young researchers such as post-graduate students, PhD students and post-docs working in topics related to TEL both in academia and industry, and from different disciplines of the community (technologists, educationists, psychologists, etc.).

The purpose of the issue is manifold: (a) to provide a better overview of TEL research lines; (b) to investigate and expand current TEL research themes; (c) to promote international and multidisciplinary collaboration and the exchange of ideas among young researchers; (d) to encourage young researchers to formalise their research questions, topics and methodologies.

Young researchers are invited to submit articles with reviews of state-of-the-art research in any TEL-related area. Each focal area covered in this issue shall provide an authoritative, timely, accessible and critical overview on recent developments that are pertinent for TEL. The reviews should not only summarise existing literature, but also analyse, synthesise and interpret the state-of-the-art in a novel framework for thought. For example this can be done:

by identifying different theories and/or approaches;
by classifying different research waves (see e.g. Lesk 1995);
by elaborating different dimensions (see e.g. Sire et al. 2011);
by developing a taxonomy;
or by elaborating tensions, disagreements, etc. between the different works of the past.

It is furthermore expected that reviews are written from an interdisciplinary point of view. This means that every article is expected to provide references from at least three disciplines: education, psychology and technology. Furthermore, articles are required to include a section on research challenges that emerge from the state-of-the-art. These challenges must be substantiated by a concrete scenario. Articles that do not follow these basic guidelines will not be considered for publication.

References
Lesk, M. 1996. The seven ages of information retrieval. UDT Occasional Papers, 5.
Sire, S. et al. 2011. Introducing qualitative dimensions to analyse the usefulness of Web 2.0 platforms as PLEs. International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 3(1).

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

Effective learning strategies, models and methodologies
Deployment of ICTs in educational practice
Web 2.0 and TEL
Semantic web and TEL
Computer-supported collaborative learning
TEL and knowledge management
Emotional and motivational aspects of TEL
Adaptive and personalised hypermedia for TEL
Ubiquitous and pervasive technologies for TEL
Intelligent tutoring systems and automated feedback
TEL practices in different educational/learning contexts
Policies for the promotion of TEL in education
Educational games
3D virtual environments
Augmented reality in TEL
Connecting learners through TEL
Orchestrating TEL
Interoperability in TEL
Learning analytics and educational data mining
Formative assessment and feedback
Ambient displays and wearable devices
Visualisation techniques for learning
Awareness and reflection in TEL

Important Dates
Submission deadline for full paper: 28 February, 2012
Authors’ notification for full paper: 16 April, 2012
Final paper submission: 5 June, 2012

Special Issue: Challenges of Triple–Helix nexus in managing science parks and the role of innovation centres in fostering high-tech start-ups

2011-11-30T15:19:00.001Z

International Journal of Technoentrepreneurship 2(3/4) 2011

Special Introduction: Convergence of Science Parks, Centres and Clusters: From Creative Destruction to Creative Reconstruction in a Triple Helix Regime
UNIFEI, Brazil: a case study of the role of the university in local development
Research institutes and R&D subsidies: Taiwan's national innovation system and policy experiences
Science parks and Triple-Helix innovation in UK and Japan
The Triple-Helix implementation in the Thai Venture Capital industry
The role of Italian incubators and Science Parks in the Triple-Helix era. The hybrid model developed in Lombardy
From Triple-Helix model to eco-system building model
The characteristics of the Triple–Helix nexus in Finnish business incubation

Additional papers

The emergence of perceived calculative trust and distrust: the case of a small Finnish pharmaceutical company
The emergence of new markets, distributed entrepreneurship and the university: fostering development in India

Special issue: Nanomanufacturing and nanotechology – Part II

2011-11-30T15:13:00.001Z

International Journal of Nanomanufacturing 7(5/6) 2011

The 2nd International Conference on Nanomanufacturing (nanoMan2010) was held in Tianjin, China, 26-29 September 2010.

See also International Journal of Nanomanufacturing 7(3/4) 2011

Design, ultra-precision polishing and measurement of superfinished orthopaedic implants for bio-medical applications: an integrated approach
Multi-axis grating encoders for stage motion measurement
A nanoscratch method for measuring hardness of thin films
Characterisation of surface micro-topography by power spectral density in high speed precision planar milling of SiCp/Al composite
Film bulk acoustic resonator nanosensors for multi-task sensing
A novel method for high efficiently lapping of rounded diamond cutting tools
A new approach to fabricate micro lens array using fast tool servo
Topography simulation and vibration analysis of ultra-precision diamond flycutting micro V-groove
A study on tool wear in ultra-precision diamond turning with finite element modelling
Function-oriented characterisation for surface metrology
Controllable multiple structural colours on the same substrate
The research of sliding kinematic characteristics of sphere on the dual rotated plates lapping mode
Topology and kinematic performance analysis of Hoeken straight-line COPMM for micro-operation
Molecular dynamics investigation of incipient plasticity during nanomachining of Cu (111) surface

Additional Paper

High tunable Ba0.5Sr0.5TiO3 thin film deposited on silicon substrate with MgO buffer layer

Special issue: Computers in education

2011-11-30T15:06:00.001Z

International Journal of Knowledge and Learning 7(1/2) 2011

Papers from the MIPRO ( Croatian Society for Information and Communication Technology, Electronics andMicroelectronics) Computers in Education conferences.

From local to global – path towards multicultural software engineering
Scenario testing methodology for the assessment of screening technologies
Primary school education system in Croatia – improvements through a strategic management model (case study)
Scheduling problems at a university: a real-world example
Students with disabilities and other special needs in the process of higher education: inclusion issues
Blended learning model of teaching programming in higher education
Choosing the optimal information technology profession
Students' readiness for informal learning using Web 2.0 services
Aesthetics and creativity in e-learning material
New dimensions in the CAE/CAD standardisation and certification process in the industrial and the educational sector

Call for Papers: Innovation and Entrepreneurship in China

2011-11-24T20:32:00.001Z

A special issue of International Journal of Technology Management

China has transformed itself from a planning- to a market-oriented economy over the past three decades and has sustained a long period of rapid economic growth, to which the contributions from innovation in science and technology have become increasingly important.

China’s latest five-year (2011-2015) plan aims to expand its number of scientists and engineers, to establish hi-tech industrial parks, to encourage venture capital investment, to better protect intellectual property rights, and to build a more innovation-oriented nation. With the government’s strong support, Chinese companies and scientific and research institutes are becoming more and more confident and ambitious in R&D investment, and a great number of college graduates are becoming motivated to start up their own businesses. At the same time, most multinationals are enhancing their profiles as innovative players in China. These emerging changes in China will have huge impacts not only on China but also on the rest of the world.

The aims of this special issue are firstly to celebrate the success of the UK's Prime Minister Initiative (PMI) programme, originally launched by Tony Blair in 2001. This influential programme has strengthened international collaboration on innovation and entrepreneurship between the UK and partner counties. During the second five year cycle of this programme, hundreds of connections have been established between the UK and China, and an enormous number of outcomes have been generated from these projects.

Secondly, the issue aims to publish the best full papers from the International Forum on Innovation Oriented Economics (IFION'12), with a special focus on innovation and entrepreneurship in China. IFION'12 aims to bring together researchers and practitioners in the field of innovation-oriented economics from around the world.

The call is also open to researchers unable attend the Forum, and the Guest Editors seek to publish high quality, state-of-the-art research findings which contribute to better understanding China-related innovation and entrepreneurship. Contributions from participants of previous PMI projects or IFIOE'12 are particularly welcome.

The research methodology for papers in this issue includes but is not limited to analytical modelling, conceptual papers, empirical studies and case studies.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

New trends in Chinese government policies on innovation and entrepreneurship
The interaction between China's central government and local governments in promoting innovation and entrepreneurship
New trends in innovation strategy of Chinese start-ups/established firms/scientific and research institutes
The interface between innovation and manufacturing/marketing/after-market in Chinese start-ups and established firms
The international influences of China's innovation and entrepreneurship
The role of innovation and entrepreneurship in Chinese economic transformation
International technical cooperation and technology transfer between China and western countries

Important Dates
Extended abstract submission: 31 March, 2012 (by email)
Notification of full paper submission: 30 April, 2012
Full paper submission: 30 June, 2012 (online submission)
Notification to authors: 31 October, 2012
Final version submission: 31 December, 2012

Call for Papers: Energy Pricing and Hedging Strategy

2011-11-24T20:29:00.001Z

A special issue of International Journal of Revenue Management

Energy is a basic requirement of business and economic development. The price of energy has a profound influence on the value chain of most industries. The price of energy, however, is uncertain and volatile; it is affected by many factors beyond conventional supply and demand, such as geopolitics, weather, financial markets, and other unexpected events.

The distribution of energy resources is uneven and thus energy, oil in particular, has become a strategic commodity in the global economy. While the pricing of energy is always being carefully observed, there are still many academic issues to be explored as the world searches for high level, renewable and unconventional resources. The availability and the pricing of these alternatives will determine the future of the energy industry.

This special issue invites quality papers covering case studies, empirical work and quantitative analysis so as to offer solutions to the emerging challenges. Empirical and cases studies are particularly welcome.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

Dynamic determinants of energy prices
Benchmark pricing and the financial market
Substitute pricing and the development of unconventional resources
Renewable energy pricing
Hedging strategy and revenue management
Other energy pricing topics with significant revenue management implications are also welcome

Important Dates
Manuscript submissions: 31 July, 2012
Review reports: 30 September, 2012
Revised paper submission: 30 November, 2012