Special issue: Social capital

International Journal of Management and Decision Making 9(5) 2008

• Does social capital improve labour productivity in Small and Medium Enterprises?
• Building social capital framework in organisations: exploring 'unseen' social capital in participatory decision-making
• Social capital and its impact on the production process
• Diversity, social capital, and leadership practices: building inclusive learning organisations
• Racial identity and social interaction: the impact of 'diversity' on the structural dimension of organisational social capital
• The decline and recombination of networks in the Czech Republic

Special issue: Digital material machining and process quality control: a Chinese perspective

International Journal of Materials and Product Technology 33(1/2) 2008

• Application of rough sets theory in knowledge acquisition for the cold extrusion process
• Mobile Statistic Process Control e-service supported with wireless PDA and digital calipers
• Numerical modelling of microstructure evolution and dendrite growth in alloy solidification process
• An automatic modelling strategy for the reverse engineering of wrap-around freeform surfaces
• An effective approach to rolling bearing diagnosis based on Adaptive Redundant Second-Generation Wavelet
• NURBS curve interpolation algorithm adaptive to the machine's kinetic characteristics
• An Immune Algorithm for the integration of process planning and scheduling
• Topology optimisation design of multiconstraint continuum structure using sequential quadratic programming method
• A novel high-speed 3D profilometry for complex surface measuring
• Estimating curvatures and the Darboux frame from unorganised noisy point cloud
• Wavelet-based process quality monitoring and diagnosing
• RFID-based smart Kanbans for Just-In-Time manufacturing
• Facility health maintenance through SVR-driven degradation prediction

Special issue: Current mobile learning technologies and applications

International Journal of Mobile Learning and Organisation 2(2) 2008

• Exploring potentials and challenges of mobile ICT for learning in Finland and Indonesia
• Supporting multi-step annotation to promote reflective learning: triggered by a cell-phone
• A framework for enabling on-demand personalised mobile learning
• Establishing a mobile blog system in a distance education environment
• Bridging outdoors and indoors educational activities in schools with the support of mobile and positioning technologies
• A learner-centred design of a location-aware learning reminder

Special issue: Data mining: intelligent data discovery and knowledge management

International Journal of Knowledge Management Studies 2(4) 2008

• Cellular manufacturing performance improvement using data mining techniques
• A hierarchical text classification system for manufacturing knowledge management and retrieval
• Summarising text with a genetic algorithm-based sentence extraction
• Discriminant analysis using fuzzy linear programming models
• Closed multidimensional sequential pattern mining
• Integration of OLAP and data mining for analysis of results from dependability evaluation experiments
• Genetic algorithms-baes solution approach to combinatorial optimisation problems
• The data warehouse as a strategic resource: a study in the Spanish financial sector

Special issue: Performance and risk measurement: operations, logistics and supply chains

International Journal of Risk Assessment and Management 9(3) 2008

Selected papers presented at a workshop on ‘Performance and risk measurement: operations, logistics and supply chains’, held at Bocconi University, Milan, Italy on 8-10 December 2004

• Risks and supply chains
• Forecasting risk analysis for supply chains with intermittent demand
• HIV/AIDS employer programmes: a study in risk management
• Copulae and operational risks
• Multivariate methods in enterprise system implementation, risk management and change management
• Risk measurement and management during new product development: an exploratory study
• Assessing performance of supply chain risk management programmes: a tentative approach
• Risk management in information technology projects

Call for papers: Usability and Privacy Issues in Electronic and Mobile Government

Call for papers: Usability and Privacy Issues in Electronic and Mobile Government

A special issue of Electronic Government, an International Journal

Electronic government refers to the use of the Internet and related technologies by federal and state governments for purposes of exchanging information and providing services and transactions for individuals, businesses and other entities. Over the years, paper-based transactions, services and information exchanges involving the government have moved to the Internet platform, allowing easier accessibility and interactions for individuals and companies. This has resulted in speedy development of the e-government concept on a global basis. Web-based platforms allowed individuals to electronically file their taxes, apply for services and grants, learn information on government-related issues and take advantage of a high number of additional services offered.

With the ubiquity of cell phones and other mobile devices, the mobile platform offers a new domain for e-government to thrive. Voice and data communication technologies of mobile devices offer services for individuals regardless of where they are and when they would want or need the services. While electronic and mobile government concepts are rapidly evolving, a number of usability and privacy issues require research to ensure secure, easy-to-conduct transactions.

The goal of this special issue is to address concerns involving privacy and usability as well as additional issues within the broad user-related scope as they relate to electronic and mobile government. At this age of rapid growth in electronic and mobile commerce, the special issue will be a timely contribution to government entities, private entities and users alike to make transactions, information exchanges and services easier to be completed in a more effective, user-friendly, efficient and secure manner.

The special issue provides a global forum for presenting authoritative references, academically rigorous research and case studies in both theoretical development and applied research. The purpose of the special issue is to discuss the effective and timely development of state-of-the-art electronic and mobile government platforms to accelerate the popularity of these concepts in every layer of society. Specifically, it intends to disseminate research and studies in the emerging electronic and mobile government platforms from users’ perspectives and develop techniques and solutions that directly address difficulties currently encountered in these platforms.

The subject coverage of this special issue includes, but is not limited to:

• Effective design of electronic and mobile government environments
• Emerging electronic and mobile technologies such as wireless network and mobile devices that directly facilitate e-government activities
• Application of e-government systems in industries
• E-government and health care
• User perceptions of electronic and mobile government
• Usability studies involving user performance and preferences in electronic and mobile government
• Privacy and corresponding concerns in electronic and mobile government and solutions
• Development of new electronic and mobile government tools and applications
• Web-based technologies in electronic government and user perspectives
• The future of electronic and mobile government
• Design and evaluation methodologies for e-government and m-government interfaces
• Platform-based e-government and m-government applications
• Education and electronic government
• E-government for specific populations, including the elderly and disabled
• Collaborative e-government
• Authentication and privacy in e-government
• Cross-cultural e-government issues
• Comparisons between electronic and mobile government from users' perspectives
• Assessment of e-government and m-government in multiple contexts
• Human-computer interaction issues in electronic and mobile government
• Ubiquity of e-government
• E-government and industry interactions and user issues
• Support for e-government-user interaction
• Critical success factors in electronic and mobile government
• End-user software development for e-government
• Knowledge management in electronic and mobile government

Important Dates
Proposal deadline (optional): 1 November, 2008
Early submission deadline : 1 February, 2009
Full paper deadline: 15 April, 2009
Notification of status & acceptance of paper: 1 June, 2009
Final version of paper: 15 July, 2009

Call for papers: Web Based Research Networks and Learning Communities

Call for papers: Web Based Research Networks and Learning Communities

A special issue of International Journal of Web Based Communities

Web Based Research Networks (WBRNs) provide advantages of anytime-anyplace participation by traditional researchers and their informants whilst potentially harnessing rich contributions from the wider public. Web Based Learning Communities (WBLCs) similarly bring together dispersed individuals by means of suitable technology to develop their vocational and/or academic understanding collaboratively.

This Special Issue welcomes well-researched contributions building upon the current literature of successful, failing and adaptive WBRNs and WBLCs. Its aim is to identify not so much the technology, but the pedagogies, management models and modus operandi which have demonstrable potential to enhance the future of such communities.

iPED (Inquiring Pedagogies) is an education research network whose experiences as an emergent web-based community are well-documented. Peer-led, iPED aspires to overcome the barriers between researchers of discipline, culture, geography, and economic and hierarchic status. Since its inception in 2005, iPED has benefited from the participation of several hundred academic colleagues of many nationalities in such roles as contributor, peer-reviewer, event delegate and guide. The IJWBC-iPED editorial experience will itself provide a case-study in WBRN activity in the evolving global research context.

Examples of topics appropriate to the theme of Web Based Research Networks (WBRNs) and Learning Communities (WBLCs) include, but are not limited to:

• Issues of leadership in WBRNs and WBLCs: peer-led teams; special interest (sub)groups; crowd and swarm participation; multi-organisational, multicultural and multinational challenges
• Operational versus strategic WBRNs and WBLCs; the impact on the individual of multiple concurrent WBRN and/or WBLC memberships
• Considerations of the influence of the adopted management model, mores and modus operandi on the sustainability of a WBRN or WBLC
• WBRN responses to inter- and intra-group competition
• Professional development for WBRN or WBLC leadership and facilitation
• Pedagogies suited to successful WBLC development
• Integrating WBRN or WBLC participation into work or study
• WBLC and WBRN use of immersive and social-networking technologies to promote learning and encourage inclusion
• Establishing and developing academic identity with and through WBRNs and WBLCs

Important Dates
Deadline for abstract submission: 30 November 2008
Deadline for paper submission: 31 January 2009
Notification to authors: 28 February 2009
Deadline for camera ready papers: 31 March 2009

Call for papers: Mobile Learning with Context-Aware Technologies

Call for papers: Mobile Learning with Context-Aware Technologies

A special issue of International Journal of Mobile Learning and Organisation

Recent progress in wireless and sensor technologies has lead to a new development of mobile learning, which is able to sense the situation of learners and provide adaptive supports in the authentic environment. Researchers call such feature “context awareness”, and have been investigating the development of new mobile learning environments; nevertheless, the methodologies and applications for conducting effective learning activities in such environments have not yet been well discussed and demonstrated. This special issue aims to enhance mobile learning a step further from learning at anytime anywhere to be at the right time and the right place with right learning resources and right learning peers by applying the context-aware technologies.

This special issue aims at presenting a selection of papers addressing the topics indicated above, but is not limited to them. The following topics are also equally welcome:

• Adaptation of learning content and learning services
• Architecture and applications
• Collaboration support
• Community of practice
• Context management and contextual information collection
• Pedagogical models
• Social network and social networking
• Standards for context-aware and ubiquitous learning
• Tutoring strategy
• User interface technologies

Important Dates
Full paper deadline: 28 February, 2009
Notification of acceptance and Review results: 31 May, 2009
Revised submission (Camera-ready version) deadline: 1 July, 2009

Call for papers: Intelligent Techniques for Personalization and Recommendation

Call for papers: Intelligent Techniques for Personalization and Recommendation

A special issue of International Journal of Advanced Intelligence Paradigms

In recent years, personalization and recommendation technologies have emerged as a means to help users to cope with the problem of information overload caused by the explosive growth of resources available through on-line sources. Examples include adaptive systems, which adapt their behaviour to user preferences and needs, and recommender systems that predict the relevance of diverse items (e.g., movies, travels, products, etc.) according to the user interests. Efficient intelligent techniques are needed to mine data gathered from user behaviour for actionable knowledge enabling the enhancement of the user experience. Intelligent techniques to be applied in personalization and recommendation must address important challenges arising from both the technological and the human perspective, which require the involvement of multiple research fields such as user modelling, machine learning, intelligent information retrieval, data and text mining, statistics, computational intelligence, human-computer interaction and intelligent software agents.

The aim of this issue is to bring together researchers and practitioners working on personalization and recommendation technologies based on intelligent techniques to share their insights, research achievements and experiences in the development of real-world applications.

The guest editor welcomes the submission of original papers addressing the specification and application of intelligent techniques to personalization and recommendation in diverse domains.

Topics of particular interest include, but are not limited to:

• Machine learning techniques for personalization
• Data and text mining for personalization
• Web usage, content, and structure mining for personalization
• User profiling in adaptive systems
• Collaborative and content-based algorithms for recommendation
• Group modeling and community discovery algorithms
• Methodologies for evaluation of recommender and adaptive systems
• Human-computer interaction aspects of personalization
• Conversation recommender systems
• Explanation in recommender systems
• Social modelling and social networking for recommendation
• Security and privacy aspects of personalization and recommendation
• Trust management and reputation in recommender systems
• Interface agents, personal assistants and multi-agent systems for recommendation
• Novel recommendation techniques and algorithms for Web and Web 2.0
• Innovative applications of personalization and recommendation technologies

Important Dates
Title and abstract submission (optional): as soon as possible
Manuscript submission deadline: 15 September, 2008
Notification of acceptance: 15 October, 2008
Camera-ready version deadline: 30 October 30th, 2008

Call for papers: Toy Design Education

Call for papers: Toy Design Education

A special issue of International Journal of Arts and Technology

This special issue seeks long- and short-form submissions exploring issues related to teaching toy design within an academic or higher education setting.

In this context, a broad definition is used of ‘toys’ as the physical and virtual objects and surroundings offering opportunities for playful behaviour, including games, playground equipment, real and virtual environments, video games and interactive installations.

With an increasing complexity of the working field of design, specialisations arise and this has resulted in programmes and courses on the design of toys and other products for play, such as games and interactive media for children. To some extent, toy design depends on general design methodology and knowledge. But the nature of play and its special characteristics brings challenges that require special knowledge and new approaches to the profession of design.

This special issue focuses on the following issues:
What justifies toy design to be considered a specialisation within the general world of design?
How can awareness among students be created of the special characteristics of play, and toys as the carriers of these special characteristics?
Which special issues, approaches, and ways of thinking do students need to become familiar with?
To what benefit can various contemporary fields of research be applied within toy design?
How can an effective toy design curriculum be created to incorporate this?

The special issue seeks contributions from professionals in toy design education and affiliated areas that focus on experiences and knowledge on effective teaching in toy design. It welcomes both theoretic contributions and case studies or examples of best practice. Topics include, but are not limited to:

• Toy design curriculum building
• Key issues distinguishing toy design from general design, and how to transfer knowledge on these issues to students
• Sources and resources for toy design teaching
• Assessing general quality and play value of toy design within students' programmes
• Example projects demonstrating educational effectiveness of toy design programmes
• Challenges in toy design education and needs for further research and development of toy design curricula

Each submission should be written in a way that is accessible to the multidisciplinary audience of the journal.

Important Dates
Abstract (optional): 3 November, 2008
Paper submission: 2 February, 2009
Acceptance notification: 24 April, 2009
Camera ready papers due: 30 June, 2009

Call for papers: Strategic Management of Warranty and Quality during Product Development

Call for papers: Strategic Management of Warranty and Quality during Product Development

A special issue of International Journal of Technology Management

Warranty is a phenomenon experienced by business. Quality and reliability is what the customer should experience. The product development process is the connecting link that should be tuned to understand the customer experience and should be geared to drive a better quality product in terms of customer quality acceptance and lower future expected warranty. This whole process of managing warranty into acceptable market quality is warranty management.

Current literature in product warranty management classifies the developments in this field into three generations. There has been a good article published in Warranty Week Magazine by D.N.P. Murthy, Wallace Blishcke et al. on these generations and the current status quo. The first generation deals with warranty information management. The second generation deals with modifying product design and improving product reliability as a response to warranty data reported. The third generation, which is yet to crystallise as a formal method-set, envisions viewing warranty as a strategic organisational behaviour.

The first part of this special issue is a step towards compiling a formal body of knowledge (methods, strategies, systems) for strategic warranty and quality management during product development process. We invite papers that represent the warranty and quality considerations during the product development cycle, covering the empirical modelling techniques, theoritical developments including rigorous validation schemes and implementation issues and solutions. This compilation is intended to help organisations focus on their warranty metrics by viewing warranty from a strategic perspective during their product development process in the near and long term.

The issue targets the following broad objectives to be addressed:

• To coalesce quality-based policy level objectives with product development, design and supplier strategy
• To consider warranty as an attribute of negotiation along with other customer exciters, thereby assisting in the synthesis of product, target setting and in achieving a balance in product attributes while maintaining product quality
• To relate quality information with physical phenomenon and develop physics-based predictive science models for product development
• To knit warranty feedback and analytics with Enterprise Decision Management at an operational level

Suitable topic areas include, but are not limited to:

• Impact of design and product development on product quality

• Predictive science modelling for expected warranty
• Functional modelling - study of energy loss/gain/transformation and its impact on reliability
• Physics based and statistical techniques to uncover dependencies in a product and study of correlations of such dependencies to the expected warranty.
• Effect of product-packaging and product-design on subsystem warranty and associated issues and solutions

• Warranty modelling in product domain

• Product structure decomposition techniques for warranty analysis
• Fault tree encoding techniques
• Mapping product structure to failure reporting structure

• Formalisms in quality-related corporate decision making processes
• Quality projection, tracking and target setting; axiomatic quality, DFSS, quality in view of product-complexity
• Policy strategy based on analysed warranty and quality planning

• Methods to bind product design quality and supplier quality
• Mapping product content to supplier specifications to model expected quality of product
• Methods to bind subsystem quality to supplier quality
• Impact of technology and interoperable systems on strategic quality
• Optimising quality feedback process/time/accuracy/efficiencies

• Intangibles related to quality

• Quantifying intangibles (resale, perception)
• Models to capture customer behaviour/satisfaction
• Methods to build positive perception, credibility

• Warranty as an attribute of trade-off in multi-objective multidisciplinary corporate negotiations

• Math-based techniques to perform trade-off
• Physics based trade-off models (physical relations to product content and packaging, performance etc.)
• Translating product QRD (quality, reliability and durability) to warranty attributes (for forecasting warranty)

• Robust quality (insensitive to handling range)

• Product decomposition engineering
• Warranty sensitivity models to product content, manufacturing, sourcing (evaluating quality elasticities)
• Optimal product content for product families/architectures - impact on long term corporate strategic quality

• Quality control - relation to process capability and impact of manufacturing, field test, reporting
• Quality/warranty information collation techniques, automated data processing systems and strategies
• Quality packaging for an integrated enterprise [wrapping part planning, inventory, development, sales, warranty under one umbrella]; non-conventional methodologies for quality modeling and analysis
• Quality-based design feedback process - from service technician to designer to policy maker
• Quality glidepath and relation to product/process scalability addressing how the expected warranty fluctuates during product development
• Quality from a business angle: warranty promotions and its expected impact on sales as a key enabler for product planning

Related Areas:

• Supplier-manufacturer quality equations, collaborative methods and environments. sourcing, market decisions and their impact on quality
• Impact of product development quality on emerging markets; warranty strategy as an organisational behavior
• Critical systems warranty (impact-severity driven methods and decisions); electronic systems warranty
• Impact of technology on warranty and overall quality
• Warranty time study: warranty service studies and analysis during different time-windows; techniques for launch-time warranty control to achieve better first-time-quality (FTQ)

Any other relevant topical area

Submission deadline: 30 November, 2008
Notification of Acceptance: 30 December, 2008
Submission of Final Manuscript: 28 February, 2009

Call for papers: Understanding Determinants and Effects of Entrepreneurship: Individual and Environmental Perspectives

Call for papers: Understanding Determinants and Effects of Entrepreneurship: Individual and Environmental Perspectives

A special issue of International Journal of Business Environment

Entrepreneurship is increasingly important as an academic and research focus. Nowadays, the role of business creation on growth, development, employment and innovation is generally accepted. Based on these economic and social influences, the special issue aims to contribute to the understanding of the determinants and effects of entrepreneurial activity.

It focuses on the determinants and effects of business creation process. This process is undertaken by individuals or entrepreneurial teams that have their own human and social capital, cognitive properties and particular circumstances, but are also immersed in a specific context with social, cultural, political and economic characteristics.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to:

• Entrepreneurial opportunities: existence, discovery, exploitation
• Perceptions, attitudes and intentions
• Human and social capital
• Environmental factors: economic, political and socio-cultural context
• Nascent entrepreneurs
• Regional and cultural differences
• Economic and social effects of entrepreneurial activity
• Conceptual models related to determinants and effects

Important Date
Paper submission deadline: 31 January, 2009

Call for papers: Reshaping Central Banking: Monetary Policy, Lending of Last Resort and Banking Supervision

Call for papers: Reshaping Central Banking: Monetary Policy, Lending of Last Resort and Banking Supervision

A special issue of International Journal of Banking, Accounting and Finance

In a period of rapid innovation and structural changes in the national financial industries, the activity of the central banks in different fields – monetary policy, lending of last resort, payment system, currency markets, banking supervision – as well as their organisation – independence, accountability, transparency – is also changing rapidly. Assessing and addressing these developments has raised important questions that required effective answers by policymakers and central bankers.

This special issue, jointly promoted with the Paolo Baffi Centre for Central Banking and Financial Regulation (Bocconi University), welcomes unpublished papers which discuss the positive as well as normative implications

The special issue will focus on the economics and politics of central banking. Topics include, but are not limited to:

• Monetary policy
• Lending of last resort
• Payment systems
• Currency markets and banking supervision
• Central banking governance

Theoretical and empirical papers – with policy implications – which explore causes and effects of the actual evolution of central banking welcomed.

Important Date
Deadline for submissions of completed papers: 1 December 2008

Call for papers: Novelty Developments in Materials and Technologies in the Multidimensional Construction Sector

Call for papers: Novelty Developments in Materials and Technologies in the Multidimensional Construction Sector

A special issue of International Journal of Materials and Product Technology

This special issue addresses topics of interest to all industrialists and researchers concerned with innovative materials and technologies in the construction industry. The multidimensional approach to the construction sector will be undertaken through the study of the materials performance, the analysis of new strengthening techniques of decayed structures, the sustainable value application methodologies in construction sector, the re-use and valorisation of industrial by-products such us raw materials in construction (mainly in concrete) and the structural analysis of structures.

As stated in the Materials Focus Area of the ECTP (European Construction Technology Platform), for any kind of construction building, materials (concrete, stone, polymers, composites, etc.) are needed. The total amount of materials required for construction purposes in Europe exceeds 2 billion tonnes per year, making it the largest raw material consuming industry. The materials form an essential part of the buildings we live and work in; the roads, in bridges and tunnels we use to move around and in the networks of drinking and waste water etc. Materials, and their combinations, create the aesthetic expression and provide structural strength and durability to all buildings and structures.

Construction materials have an important role to play in sustainable development through their energy performance and durability, as this determines the energy demand of buildings through the lifetime. By developing the use of materials and their combinations, significant improvements of the environment and quality of life can be achieved. Any strategy to achieve economic, ecologic and social objectives within Europe must include measures to improve functionality, durability and efficiency of materials used for construction.

New technologies and analytical techniques offer a wide spectrum of opportunities for further improvements. One main obstacle hindering an efficient development of knowledge is the fragmentation of research activities, both on industrial and academic level. Improved coordination of RTD activities and networking between all interest groups therefore offers huge potential to gain speed in the development of fundamental understanding, thus enabling breakthrough innovations.

This special issue invites the submission of high quality research papers related to analytical and experimental topics of traditional and modern construction materials (stone, cement, composites, etc.), their application to main typologies of structures (masonry, concrete, etc.) and their agreement with sustainable requisites.

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

• Study of the materials performance: mechanical and durability behaviour
• Construction advanced materials and technologies
• Construction materials selection
• New strengthening solutions in concrete and masonry elements
• The sustainable value analysis methodologies in construction materials and structures
• Re-use and valorisation of industrial by-products such us raw materials in construction sector, mainly in cement, mortar and concrete
• Structural analysis
• Structural safety
• Innovative approaches in concrete strengthening with fibre reinforced polymers
• Textile reinforced mortars in masonry and concrete refurbishment structures
• Graffiti protection in stone structures
• Strengthening of structures with reinforced micro-concrete layers
• Strengthening of structures with steel expanded mesh
• Strengthening of rubble and ordered stone masonry
• Static and dynamic responses of masonry and concrete structures

Important Dates
Deadline for authors to submit the first draft of their papers: 1 December 2008
Refereeing process and to inform authors about any changes requested by referees: 1 February 2009
Authors to resubmit the final manuscript, incorporating any changes requested by referees: 1 May 2009

Special issue: Applications, services and infrastructure for wireless and mobile computing

International Journal of Wireless and Mobile Computing 3(1/2) 2008

• An adaptive reservation time division multiple access control protocol for robot inter-communication
• A directional propagation model for locating mobile stations within a mobile phone network
• Real-time traffic routing over a multilayered satellite architecture
• Providing transparent internet mobility for dual-interfaced mobile devices
• Ubiquitous sensor-based human behaviour recognition using the spatio-temporal representation of user states
• Load sharing and session preservation with multiple mobile routers for large scale mobile networks
• A self-organising algorithm for sensor placement in wireless mobile microsensor networks
• Indexing schemes for multichannel data broadcasting in mobile databases
• A new VoIP quality evaluation for 60 GHz wireless campus network
• A mobile auction service based on mobile agents: design and analysis

Special issue: Services innovation

International Journal of Services Technology and Management 9(3/4) 2008

• Shaping R&D and services innovation in Europe
• Customer-based innovation of knowledge e-services: the importance of after-innovation
• Capturing the benefits of open innovation in public innovation: a case study
• Skills, expertise and innovation in the developing knowledge economy: the case of business and professional services
• Intellectual property protection as a key driver of service innovation: an analysis of innovative KIBS businesses in Finland and the UK
• A model for analysing the innovation dynamic in services: the case of 'assembled' services
• Innovation in large-scale retailing: towards a revisited approach to its organising principles and trajectories
• When innovating services, are 12 Ps enough? Towards a design oriented framework
• Is there a rationale for services R&D and innovation policies?

Special issue: Changes in society, changes in organisations, and the changing role of HRM: managing human resources in a complex world

European Journal of International Management 2(3) 2008

Includes papers from the 9th International Human Resource Management Conference held in Tallinn, Estonia from 12-15 June 2007

• Moscow on the Hudson: assessing expatriates' affective fit in host cultures with the intercultural communication affinity scale
• Organisational change under transcultural project leadership: developing a survey instrument
• How to get employees to work with you, not just for you: an action model and propositions
• Human resource challenges of global offshoring
• Organisational training and development in the European context: a longitudinal comparative study among 18 European countries
• From social capital to human resource development: a cross cultural study of the role of HRM in innovation and entrepreneurship in high technology organisations
• Is a happy nation a productive nation? An exploration of the relationship between job satisfaction and productivity at the national level

Call for papers: Advances in Tribology in Metal Manufacturing

Call for papers: Advances in Tribology in Metal Manufacturing

A special issue of International Journal of Surface Science and Engineering

Metal manufacturing, such as metal rolling, forging, extrusion, stamping and so on, is an essential process for mass production. All the processes involve surface contact mechanics and tribology. Compared to many relatively old and well established basic engineering subjects, e.g., thermodynamics, mechanics and plasticity, tribology is still in an imperfect state and subject to some controversy which has impeded the diffusion of information to technologists in general. In particular, the development of tribology in metal manufacturing is still ongoing and the new knowledge, fundamental principles, experimental and simulation skills are continuously generated in this field.

The goal of this special issue is to present to the researchers and engineers in this technical community a state-of-the-art development of tribology applications in metal manufacturing.

Papers fall into, but are not limited to, the following areas:

• Friction in metal manufacturing
• Lubrication in metal manufacturing
• Tools wear in metal manufacturing
• Tribology in micro- and nano- manufacturing
• Surface characterisation of metal manufacturing
• Surface oxidation in hot metal rolling
• Modelling of surface texture in metal manufacturing
• Modelling of contact mechanics in metal manufacturing

Important Dates
Deadline for submission of manuscripts: 31 December 2008
Communication of peer reviews to authors: 28 February 2009
Deadline for revised manuscripts: 31 March 2009

Call for papers: Biomass Energy Conversion Technologies

Call for papers: Biomass Energy Conversion Technologies

A special issue of International Journal of Global Energy Issues

The main objective of this special issue is to address issues related to theory and experimental research in the field of biomass energy conversion technologies, including conversion technologies, techno-economic assessment, and case studies of biomass energy in the world.

The topics of this Special Issue include, but are not limited to:

• Direct combustion technology of biomass
• Thermo-chemical conversion technologies
• Bio-chemical conversion technologies
• Techno-economical assessment of biomass energy technology
• Case study of biomass energy in developing countries.

Important Dates
Submission by: 22 September, 2008
Review process by: 22 November, 2008
Revised submissions by: 22 December, 2008

Inderscience and the 2009 International Sports Management Conference

The International Journal of Sports Management and Marketing is an official media partner for the 2009 International Sports Management Conference: Innovative Solutions for Administration, Facilities, Events, Legal Aspects, Marketing and Technology in Sport to be held in Lausanne, Switzerland 6-8 May 2009.

Special issue: Computational intelligence on digital information management

International Journal of Innovative Computing and Applications 1(3) 2008

Extended and revised papers from the First IEEE International Conference on Digital InformationManagement (ICDIM) held in Bangalore, India from 6 to 8 December 2006.

• Improving interaction responsiveness of multimedia presentations
• Multishape-features and text-feature integration on 3D model similarity retrieval
• A bottom-up algorithm for query decomposition
• Improving web information indexing and retrieval based on center block duplication detection
• A comprehensive data quality methodology for web and structured data

Special issue: Microfinance and banking services in emerging economies

International Journal of Financial Services Management 3(2) 2008

• Efficiency of commercial banks in Lebanon
• A global analysis of culture and imperfect competition in banking systems
• The impact of foreign banks in developing and transition economies
• SME access to bank finance in an emerging economy: the role of information management practices
• Measuring the performance of microfinance providers: an assessment of past and present practices
• Is wholesale lending to SACCOs a win-win encounter?
• Determinants of FDI inflows into Rwanda: 1971–2003

Special issue: Manufacturing innovations

International Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management 15(2) 2008

Papers based on presentations made during the 23rd International Manufacturing Conference held on 30 August to 1 September 2006 at Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland.

• Impact of surface roughness of diamond coatings on the cutting performance when dry machining of graphite
• Determination of the dampening characteristics of a tubular beam filled with vibration dampening materials
• Evaluation of a model for the prediction of milling stability for thin-walled components
• The effect of die geometry and workpiece diameter on the mechanics of Micro Form-Rolling
• Design, manufacture and industrial validation of an electro discharge dresser for metal bond CBN wheels
• Application of Taguchi method to optimise dissimilar laser welded components
• Investigation on the wear process of diamond blade tools
• Mechanical stresses in the multilayered T-branch hydroforming: numerical simulation
• Design of a capillary viscometer with numerical and computational methods
• An investigation of aerosol particle number and size generated during a drilling process with surface coated tools

Special issue: Learning as a ubiquitous and continuous communication attitude

International Journal of Continuing Engineering Education and Life-Long Learning 18(4) 2008

• Projects of public access to the internet for equal opportunities in the information society
• Supporting mobile connectivity: from learning scenarios to multi-channel devices
• An analysis of learning behaviour in a Virtual Learning Community: a case study of teacher professional development geared to the need of infomatisation
• How to interpret viewing scenarios in log files from streaming media servers
• Technology integration in public schools: generalising from Northeast Ohio to a global setting
• The analysis of the public administration officers' education background
• Need of a semi-self evaluation scheme for education in Electrical/Computer Engineering in Europe
• Performance support system in higher engineering education – introduction and empirical validation

First issue: International Journal of Systems, Control and Communications

International Journal of Systems, Control and Communications reports on theoretical studies, novel modelling methods, computational algorithms and successful application solutions in the areas of systems engineering, control and communications. It is particularly concerned with control systems whose components are interconnected via communication networks, wired or wireless, and on communication systems strengthened by control techniques.

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

Special issue: Virtual manufacturing in Web-based environments

International Journal of Internet Manufacturing and Services 1(2) 2008

• A web-based approach for real-time robot operations
• Development of an Electrical Discharge Machining learning system for manufacturing engineering education
• Category theory-based Object-Oriented data management for Virtual Manufacturing
• An integrated approach to the analysis of automotive assembly activities using digital manufacturing tools
• Fixture assembly planning in a web-based collaborative environment
• Investigation to Peer-to-Peer-based collaborative working platform for product development

Special issue: Complexity in manufacturing

International Journal of Agile Systems and Management 3(1/2) 2008

• An optimal countermeasure policy to mitigate random capacity disruptions in a production system
• A scatter search method to minimise makespan of cell scheduling problem
• Design of flexible manufacturing cell considering uncertain product mix requirement
• A practice-oriented integrated-enterprise system implementation framework for the manufacturing environment
• Measurement of needed reconfiguration level for manufacturing firms
• Establishing rules to design a minicell-based manufacturing system for mass customisation
• Design and analysis of an automated container handling system in seaports
• Task assignment and scheduling in a constrained manufacturing system using GA
• Using data mining in the manufacturing systems for CAD model analysis and classification
• Optimising the Gaussian-distributed filling process parameters

Special issue: Business culture and management in China

International Journal of Chinese Culture and Management 1(3) 2008

• The impact of distributors' HRM on the performance of manufacturer-distributor partnerships
• Managing technology transfer in multinational corporations
• Going global, crossing cultures: intercultural management in Chinese enterprises
• The impact of Chinese culture on the service contribution in European manufacturing companies
• Exploring guanxi and cultural barriers: a perspective from the Taiwanese SMS investors in China
• Comparative studies on organisational learning culture in Chinese native enterprises
• The impact of national and organisational cultures on intergroup coordination in software development in mainland China: a qualitative analysis
• Leadership effectiveness in the Chinese enterprises: the roles of Chinese leadership and employee's individual orientation

Special issue: Policy approaches towards supporting biotechnology across Europe: current trends and outcomes

International Journal of Biotechnology 10(4) 2008

Papers draw upon the results of the BioPolis project, which provides an inventory and an analysis of national policies that stimulate biotechnology research, its exploitation and its commercialisation by industry across Europe.

• Dynamics in biotechnology policy-making in Europe in the period 1994–2006
• The performance of European countries in biotechnology: how does Europe compare to the USA?
• The effectiveness of biotechnology policies in Europe
• Biotechnology policies and performance in central and eastern Europe
• Bridging the biotechnology gap: policy experiences from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary and Slovenia

Special issue: Cultural and rhetorical bases for communicating knowledge in web-based communities

International Journal of Web Based Communities 4(4) 2008

• Genre, knowledge and digital code in web-based communities: an integrated theoretical framework for shaping digital discursive spaces
• Virtual communities of practice: the communication of knowledge across cultural boundaries
• Conversations of virtual learning communities: discourse and survey analyses of moderated online synchronous discussions
• Cross-cultural knowledge communication in online communities of practice
• Sociotechnical research and knowledge communication in community-centred systems design: a technological frames perspective
• Noobs' and 'chicks' on Animutation Portal: power and status in a community of practice
• Virtual Tourist: knowledge communication in an online travel community
• Knowledge communication in rate.ee, a web picture-rating community

Special issue: Self-directed learning and human resource development

International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management 8(4) 2008

• The importance of self-directed learning for human resource development: an introduction
• Productivity in the workplace: the role of self-directed learning and the implications for human resource management
• Leader effectiveness from self-directed learning and strategic thinking
• Psychological contracts and self-directed learning
• Fostering learning strategies in universities to prepare a self-regulated workforce
• Continuous professional development via self-directed learning amongst social work professionals
• Taking the self-directed road to e-learning: learner control, efficacy and motivation

Special issue: The lines of growing entrepreneurship in transition economies

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management 8(3) 2008

• Globalisation of internal venture capital opportunities in developing small and medium enterprises' relationships
• Understanding the foreign direct investment environments in EU 27+ candidate country Croatia: the current determinants and patterns
• Keeping pace with change in SMEs: creating and maintaining congruence and consistency in SMEs in transition economies
• Export strategies as a factor of SME growth in Croatia
• Development economics' view on growing entrepreneurship in Slovenia
• The determinants of entrepreneurship and small business growth in Kosova: evidence from new and established firms
• The innovation infrastructure in Serbia as the driving force for the development and restructuring of the country's S&T landscape

First issue: International Journal of Medical Engineering and Informatics

International Journal of Medical Engineering and Informatics promotes an understanding of the structural and functional aspects of disease mechanisms and the application of technology towards the treatment and management of such diseases. The journal seeks to promote genuine interdisciplinary collaboration between those interested in the theoretical and clinical aspects of medicine and to foster and encourage the application of computers and mathematics to problems arising from the medical sciences.

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

Call for papers: Terrain Topology: Measurement, Analysis, and Applications

Call for papers: Terrain Topology: Measurement, Analysis, and Applications

A special issue of International Journal of Vehicle Systems Modelling and Testing

Road terrain profiles are of interest to many groups, from civil engineers evaluating highway smoothness to automotive engineers performing multi-body dynamic simulations and durability analysis. The quality of the terrain profile has a large effect on all analyses and, therefore, the terrain measurement must be as accurate as possible. Currently, high fidelity data is being produced by new systems that can be used in many advanced applications, such as 3D tyre models and terramechanics models that require detailed knowledge about the terrain topology.

The focus of this special issue is research concerning all aspects of terrain measurement techniques, analysis of measured terrain, and mathematical and statistical modelling of terrain topology for on-road and off-road applications. Of particular interest are areas related to passenger, commercial, and military applications. Submissions are encouraged from a wide audience of members of academia, the defence community, and the automotive industry.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following areas:

• Measurement techniques
• Instrumentation
• Signal processing
• Terrain topology characterisation
• Chassis load prediction
• Mathematical modelling of terrain
• Vehicle design applications
• Vehicle testing and development

Important Dates
Extended abstracts due: 1 January, 2009
Complete manuscript due for review: 1 March, 2009
Authors notified of final paper acceptance: 1 May, 2009
Submission of final manuscript: 1 June, 2009

Call for papers: Data Quality Management in Wireless Sensor Networks

Call for papers: Data Quality Management in Wireless Sensor Networks

A special issue of International Journal of Sensor Networks

As new fabrication and integration technologies reduce the cost and size of wireless sensors, the observation and control of our physical world will expand dramatically using the temporally and spatially dense monitoring afforded by wireless sensor networks technology. Several applications such as habitat monitoring, counter-sniper system, environment sampling, and structure monitoring, have been launched, showing the promising future of wide range of applications of networked sensor systems.

Their success is nonetheless determined by whether the sensor networks can provide a high quality stream of data over a long period. The inherent feature of unattended and untethered deployment of networked sensors in a malicious environment, however, imposes challenges to the underlying systems. These challenges are further complicated by the fact that sensor systems are usually seriously energy-constrained. Most previous efforts focus on devising techniques to save the sensor node energy and thus extend the lifetime of the whole sensor network. However, with more deployments of real sensor systems, in which the main function is to collect interesting data and to share with peers, data quality has been becoming a more important issue in the design of sensor systems. Consistency, accuracy, reliability, and survivability concerns have to be addressed in sensor data collection, storage, and processing.

The goal of the special issue is to publish the most recent results in the data quality management aspects of wireless sensor networks research. Researchers and practitioners working in this area are expected to take this opportunity to discuss and express their views on the current trends, challenges, and state of the art solutions addressing various issues in sensor networks.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to:

• Data quality modelling
• Data quality management
• Middleware support for data quality
• Outlier data detection and filtering
• Trade-off between energy efficiency and data quality
• Data collection in lossy environments
• Query processing over uncertain data
• Fault-tolerant networking support
• Data persistence in faulty networks

Important Dates
Manuscript due: 31 December, 2008
Acceptance/rejection notification: 30 April, 2009
Final manuscript due: 31 May, 2009

Call for papers: Comparative Benchmarking Analysis of Sea Ports

Call for papers: Comparative Benchmarking Analysis of Sea Ports

A special issue of International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics

In recent years, sea ports have experienced a period of rapid growth along with intense inter-port rivalry as a consequence of hinterland development. Port benchmarking technique has become a vital tool for port management bodies to compare the activity of a port with that of its competitors regionally and internationally.

This special issue is devoted to publishing the latest and significant results only on regional or international comparative benchmarking analysis of sea ports. Innovative papers on benchmarking seaports at regional/international level using either data envelopment analysis or stochastic frontier models are particularly encouraged. The use of other innovative models for port benchmarking is also welcome.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to:

• Port comparative analysis at regional level
• Port comparative analysis at international level
• Use of DEA, stochastic frontier, or other innovative models for port benchmarking

Important Dates
Submission deadline: 31 January 2009
Notification of the initial decision: 30 April 2009
Notification of acceptance: 31 July 2009

Special issue: Global growth and the evolving role of entrepreneurship

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business 6(4) 2008

• Tobati, Paraguay: indigenous market town revisited
• The internationalisation of Western firms' R&D in China
• Entrepreneurship policy in Cyprus
• An analytical framework for micro-level analysis of GEM data
• Indicators of entrepreneurship activity: some methodological contributions
• Bounded emotionality in entrepreneurial calculations: a case study in rural Sri Lanka

Special issue: Marketing transformation to the new e-business environment: emerging trends, approaches and challenges

International Journal of Business Environment 2(2) 2008

• Towards an alternative logic for electronic customer relationship management
• Building a theoretical framework for e-service export performance
• Sustaining the brand idea in electronic environments
• Semantic information management and e-business: towards more transparent value chains
• Online retailing: open at all hours?
• Playing cat and mouse: consumer empowerment and marketing interactions on the internet
• The motivations underlying the use of technological innovations: new insights from projective techniques
• The challenges in adopting residual radio frequency identification technologies in the business environment: a consumer segmentation approach
• The electronic village: the digital challenges in communication strategies for sporting organisations

Special issue: Private sector involvement in drinking water supply: the experience

International Journal of Water 4(3/4) 2008

• Mimicking the private sector: new public management in the water supply and sanitation sector
• Private sector involvement according to European water liberalisation scenarios
• Private sector involvement in drinking water supply in Ghana
• Public–private partnerships in basic service delivery: impact on the poor, examples from the water sector in India
• Water services in Latin America: experiences with public–private partnerships
• A Caribbean evaluation of public versus private drinking water provision: the case of St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles
• Role of small-scale independent providers in water and sanitation
• Utility and non-state water service provision for the urban poor
• Different faces of private sector involvement in the water supply and sanitation sector

Special issue: Strategy and information management in the innovative era

International Journal of Technology Management 43(1/2/3) 2008

• Management of dualities as a critical dimension of a knowledge-era organisation
• Infomemes and infonomes: in search of knowledge DNA
• Understanding the critical factors effect user satisfaction and impact of ERP through innovation of diffusion theory
• The environmental sustainability of information systems: considering the impact of operational strategies and practices
• Strategy and strategic action in the global era: overcoming the knowing-doing gap
• Market information feedback for the high-tech dominated IPO companies
• Google and global market search: information signals and knowledge indices
• The transformation of a traditional salt company into a biotech business through innovations and reforms: a case study of Taiyen
• Small firm transformation through IS
• The process of business start-ups in the internet: a multiple case study
• Evaluating IT outsourcing customer satisfaction and its impact on firm performance in Korea
• Developing the partner relationship management system for franchised electronic stores
• Capturing strategic alliance outcomes: an analysis of motives, objectives and outcomes
• Intellectual capital and business performance in the Portuguese banking industry
• An innovative model of a computer-mediated professional community: China software developer net
• KMsharer: an information technology approach to enable knowledge management services
• The impact of knowledge management enablers on non-financial performance in small and medium enterprises

Call for papers: Solving Multi Response Problems in the Taguchi Method for Product And Process Performance Improvement

Call for papers: Solving Multi Response Problems in the Taguchi Method for Product And Process Performance Improvement

A special issue of International Journal of Business Performance Management

Manufacturing companies around the world are affected by globalisation and are forced to be more competitive day by day to sustain their profitability. The implementation of total quality principles is being considered as one of the strongest indicators of competitiveness of the company. Robust design, which is widely acknowledged as most significant contribution of Taguchi, is an offline quality assurance technique which ensures quality of design of process and products that greatly improves engineering productivity. The Taguchi method of experimental design is a widely accepted approach for robust experimental design that seeks to obtain a best combination set of factors/levels with the lowest societal cost solution to achieve customer requirements.

It is observed that most of the published Taguchi applications have been primarily concerned with the optimisation of a single response. However, in practice, multiple responses are common in complex processes and, in most cases; we generally rely on experience and engineering knowledge of the product/process for optimisation which often increases the degree of uncertainty during the decision-making process.

This special issue aims to provide academia and practitioners with a collection of innovative research and most recent developments in to handling the multi response problems in the Taguchi method for product and process performance improvement.

Contributors are encouraged to submit original manuscripts that are conceptual, case studies, or metaheuristic-based, and to focus on the following or other areas related to multi response problem:

• Engineering judgement
• Assignment of weight
• Regression analysis
• Mathematical programming
• Response surface methodology
• Principal component analysis
• DEAR approach
• Grey relational analysis
• Fuzzy logic
• Fuzzy multiple attribute decision making
• Neural networks
• Application of metaheuristics
• Case studies

Important Dates
Manuscript submission: 31 October 2008
Notification of initial decision: 31 December 2008
Notification of final acceptance: 31 January 2009

First issue: International Journal of Private Law

International Journal of Private Law covers all aspects of private law, including audio-visual, media, communication, and space law, which have not been covered by any journals so far. It explores the legal issues facing individuals, entrepreneurs, and business owners and discusses provocative and timely issues facing both the national and international community.

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

Special issue: Biogeochemistry of toxic trace elements in water, soil and plants

International Journal of Environment and Pollution 33(2/3) 2008

• Difference in the root structure of hyperaccumulator Thlaspi caerulescens and non-hyperaccumulator Thlaspi arvense
• Heavy metal content in Thlaspi caerulescens J. et C. Presl growing on metalliferous and non-metalliferous soils in Central Slovakia
• Cadmium and zinc in polluted mining soils and uptake by plants (El Losar mine, Spain)
• Bleeding sap and leaves of silver birch (Betula pendula) as bioindicators of metal contaminated soils
• Heavy metals in urban soils of Xuzhou (China), Part I: total concentration of heavy metals in soils
• Plant diversity in relation to anthropogenic trace metals in soils of selected sites in Nigeria's Guinea Savanna
• Spatial distribution and heavy metal content of some bryophytes and lichens in relation to air pollution in Nigeria's Guinea Savanna
• The use of cypress tree bark as an environmental indicator of heavy metals deposition in Fuheis City, Jordan
• Effect of arsenic on soil, plant and foodstuffs by using irrigated groundwater and pond water from Nadia district, West Bengal
• Effect of old mining activities on nutrient and toxic elements concentration in the biomass of Norway spruce (Picea abies L. Karst.) and European Birch (Betula pendula L.)
• Concentrations of heavy metals in plants grown on polluted mining soils (Loma Charra mine, Spain)
• Mercury contamination of surface water and fish in a gold mining region (Cuyuni river basin, Venezuela)
• Cadmium in soil-plant systems: an overview
• Phytofiltration of water polluted with arsenic and heavy metals

Submitted Papers

• The use of the environmental Kuznets curve: environmental and economic implications
• An empirical index to evaluate the sustainability of mining projects

Special issue: The green family: how to reduce residential environmental impact

International Journal of Environmental Technology and Management 9(4) 2008

• Life cycle engineering: methods, databases and results
• Life Cycle Assessment applications in the building sector
• Household environmental monitoring a strategy to help homeowners reduce their environmental impact
• Energy challenge: a demand side energy management experiment in households
• Energy-efficient and low carbon emission residential building near Torino, Italy
• Energy demand of German households and saving potential
• Passive house projects in Belgium
• Retrofit of a century old land-house to a low-energy house
• Environmental assessment of energy production by combustion of biogas provided by the anaerobic digestion of agricultural biomass
• Performance assessment of a 5 kW SOFC cogeneration fuel cell
• Impact of energy efficiency upgrade retrofits on the residential energy consumption and Greenhouse Gas emissions in Canada

Call for papers: Value Creation

Call for papers: Value Creation

A special issue of International Journal of Opportunity, Growth and Value Creation

This special issue spotlights on the creation of value within organisations and networks. The concept of value creation is at the core of entrepreneurial activities, and is reflected by the exploitation of opportunities and subsequent organisational growth. However, our understanding of the nature of value creation, how to achieve it, and how to capture it, is limited. Therefore, this issue will shed light on the sources, processes, and outcomes associated with organisational value creation (value created for and by the organisation).

The sources of organisational value creation refer to their antecedents and can include multiple levels such as organisations, and networks. These sources may involve aspects such as creativity, employee motivation, entrepreneurial behavior, programs, culture or structure.

Processes associated with value creation refer to issues such as how value is created, by whom, and under what conditions. This may include research questions addressing value creation strategies, new business models, organisational forms, management practices, innovation processes, incentive schemes, job design, social or company networks, incubation, or firm creation in general.

The outcome of value creation refers to the benefits gained from value creation. These outcomes may include relative value to recipients, various stakeholders as recipients, learning, capability creation and performance.

While this special issue is concerned with organisational value creation, we acknowledge that value creation can be studied at various levels of analysis (individual, team, organisation, business-relationship, networks and society) that may be interlinked. Te special issue focuses particularly on value creation in organisations and networks.

We appreciate contributions that shed light on issues which include, but are not limited to:

• Value creation in organisations and networks
• Sources of value creation
• Processes of value creation
• New business models
• Management practices
• Mechanisms of value creation
• Learning and innovation

Important Date
Paper Submission Deadline: 1 October 2008

Call for papers: Simulation and Control of Burr Formation and Deburring Processes

Call for papers: Simulation and Control of Burr Formation and Deburring Processes

A special issue of International Journal of Computer Aided Engineering and Technology

Burrs are unwanted materials remaining after almost all machining operations including drilling, milling and turning. They are formed at the exit of a cutting edge upon completion of a machining operation. Burr formation not only degrades part accuracy and quality but also hampers part handling and assembly. Therefore, many parts in the automotive and aerospace industries require deburring, which is a tedious, non-productive process that consumes 15-30% of the total machining cost.

Due to increasing demands on high part accuracy and low production time, there is a great deal of interest around the world in studying the mechanisms of burr formation, the strategies for burr prevention and the methods for deburring. This special issue calls for papers on the application of computer technology, specifically simulation and control technology, to this area of research.

The following topics, but not limited to, will be included under two main categories:

Burr Formation and Prevention

• Modelling and classification of burrs
• Predictive modelling for burr prevention
• Predicting burr location
• FEM modelling and simulation of burr formation
• Material effect on burr formation
• Simulation of tool geometry effect on burr formation
• Effect of machining processes and parameters on burr formation
• Product design optimisation for burr prevention
• Cutting tool design and optimisation for burr prevention
• Toolpath optimisation and burr prevention

Deburring Process Control

• Modelling and simulation of various deburring methods, automated and semi-automated
• Predictive modeling of part surface quality for deburring process control
• Robotic deburring and CNC machine-based deburring
• Optimal selection of deburring tools and process conditions
• Force control methods for automated deburring
• Active and passive compliant deburring toolheads and methods
• Large part deburring and small part deburring
• Design and optimisation of automated deburring systems/cells

Important Dates
Paper submission due: 31 December, 2008
Acceptance notification: 30 April, 2009
Final papers due: 30 June, 2009

Special issue: Modularity

International Journal of Technology Management 42(4) 2008

• Modularity in the mediation of market and technology change
• Product modularity and the product life cycle: new dynamics in the interactions of product and process technologies
• Systems, components and modular design: the case of the US semiconductor industry
• Networks of innovation and modularity: a dynamic perspective
• A case study of knowledge protection and diffusion for innovation: managing knowledge in the mobile telephone industry
• Modularity in cooperative product development: the case of the MCC 'smart' car
• Scenario-driven modular design in managing market uncertainty

Call for papers: CO2 Capture in Global Warming Mitigation: Chemical Engineering Applications

Call for papers: CO2 Capture in Global Warming Mitigation: Chemical Engineering Applications

A special issue of International Journal of Environment and Waste Management

Any serious efforts by government or industry to address greenhouse gas emissions and global warming in the near term would impose a price or charge on carbon or constrain the use of CO2-emitting fuels in some manner. The primary policy instruments available include restrictions on emissions, stricter regulation of the use of coal and other fossil fuels, subsidies for carbon-free fuels, such as nuclear, wind, biomass, and solar power, tradable rights to carbon emissions (called cap-and-trade systems), and direct carbon taxes.

The IPCC Special Report on Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Capture and Storage revealed that carbon dioxide capture (CC) is a process consisting of the separation of CO2 from industrial and energy-related sources. Carbon dioxide capture is a part of an option amongst many others as described earlier in the portfolio of mitigation actions for stabilisation of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. The study of CC further indicates that it deeply involves widespread application of chemical engineering viz., advanced combustion engineering, mass transfer operations (absorption, as also adsorption) and host of other associated areas. Extensive research with leading-edge technologies is being conducted around the globe, especially in the developed nations, in order to cope with this emerging challenge. This research, embedded with technical, economic and institutional features, will help the policy makers in framing the carbon mitigation control option economically and also to maintain opportunities for the use of coal in a carbon-constrained world in an environmentally acceptable manner.

In recent years, extensive research has been conducted for CO2 capture in the developing nations. In this context, this special issue aims at inviting papers in this emerging field.

Original research papers or reviews are invited in the following and related areas:

• CO2 capture by absorption and adsorption
• Mass transfer studies in CO2 capture
• Theoretical analysis of CO2 capture
• Process integration and intensification
• Advanced combustion engineering that assists CO2 capture
• Downstream use of CO2 that is captured
• Analysis of CO2 capture processes using entropy generation
• Fossil fuel power plant layout design considering CO2 capture as a mandate
• Economics of CO2 capture processes
• Decision support systems for policy making in CO2 capture

Important Dates
Deadline for paper submission: 31 August 2008
Deadline for paper review: 31 October 2008
Deadline for submission of revised papers: 15 November 2008
Deadline for re-review of papers requiring major revision: 15 December 2008
Deadline for second revisions of papers if requires: 31 December 2008

Call for papers: Network Coding and its Applications in Wireless Communication Systems

Call for papers: Network Coding and its Applications in Wireless Communication Systems

A special issue of International Journal of Autonomous and Adaptive Communications Systems

Network coding, as an effective technique, can be exploited to increase the network available information flow in wired and wireless networks. The main advantage of network coding is that it allows each node or router in the network to encode the data received from multiple links and forward the mixed one to its neighboring nodes. Such a processing mode will reduce the information congestion at some nodes or links and improve the network information flow. In some scenarios, it can approach the maximum flow of the networks. In the last few years, some applications of network coding in wireless communication systems have been attracted more attention. To better exploit this promising coding paradigm, the aim of this special issue is to present a collection of high-quality research papers that report the latest research advances in wireless communication systems.

The topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Network coding theory
• Applications of network coding in WLAN, WMAN, WiMax etc.
• Applications of Network coding in wireless ad Hoc network,
• Applications of Network coding in wireless sensor networks
• Network coding for network robustness
• Network coding for network security
• Physical layer network coding
• Practical network coding

Important Dates
Paper submission: 15 May, 2009
Acceptance notification: 1 August, 2009
Camera ready papers due: 1 October, 2009

Special issue: Towards an interoperable and open-source infrastructure for lifelong competence development

International Journal of Learning Technology 3(4) 2008

Papers from an Open Workshop organised by the TENCompetence project on the theme Service Oriented Approaches and Lifelong Competence Development Infrastructures and held in Manchester, UK, 11-12 January 2007.

• Establishing a development process for composite applications in the work-based learning and competency management domain
• Persona, identity and competence: issues of control in teaching and learning with personal technology
• Personal recommender systems for learners in lifelong learning networks: the requirements, techniques and model
• Enhancing social interaction in competence development networks: a conceptual framework
• Ad hoc transient communities: towards fostering knowledge sharing in learning networks

Special issue: Innovation, development and environment

International Journal of Global Environmental Issues 8(4) 2008

• Technology and the environment in the history of the economic thought
• Notes on environmental regulation and growth
• Capital accumulation, technological progress and environment
• The link between economic growth and environmental quality: what is role of demographic change?
• Environmental Kuznets Curves for Greenhouse Gas emissions. Evidence from Italy using National Accounts Matrix including Environmental Accounts and provincial panel data
• From Hubbert to Kuznets: on the sustainability of the current energy system
• Environmental policies and the trade of energy technologies in Europe

Special issue: Quantitative approaches in management

International Journal of Management and Decision Making 9(4) 2008

• Application of fuzzy MCDM to establishing a new fee schedule for orthopaedic procedures in a National Health Insurance program
• An application of the Analytical Hierarchy Process and Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process in the selection of collecting centre location for the reverse logistics Multicriteria Decision-Making supply chain model
• Hierarchical alternatives in Multi Criteria Decision Making
• Using two-stage DEA to measure managerial efficiency change of non-life insurance companies in Taiwan
• The R&D funding decision: the need for a systemic approach
• Integrating the event study method and the Grey Markov forecasting model to evaluate the effect of announcements regarding the establishment of FHCs
• Predicting diffusion of innovative products using neural networks
• Analysis on the supply trend of Taiwan deck officers after the execution of STCW-95 convention

Special issue: Requirements for flexibility and the ways to achieve it

International Journal of Business Process Integration and Management 3(1) 2008

Papers from the 7th International Workshop on Business Process Modelling, Development and Support (BPMDS’06) [associated with CAiSE’06] held inLuxembourg 5-6 June 2006

• Facilitating flexibility in interorganisational processes: a conceptual model
• Controlling business process instance flexibility via rules of planning
• Using soft constraints to guide users in flexible business process management systems
• Business process flexibility through the exploration of stimuli
• Contextualisation of business processes
• Using process mining to learn from process changes in evolutionary systems

Special issue: Fault diagnosis and fault tolerant control for industrial systems

International Journal of Modelling, Identification and Control 3(2) 2008

• Using neural networks and statistical tests for detecting changes in the process dynamics
• Parameterisation of reconfiguring second-order linear systems via eigenstructure assignment
• Fault detection in centrifugal pumping systems using neural networks
• Prediction of defects in castings using back propagation neural networks
• Neural network fault classification of transient data in an automotive engine air path
• Detection and localisation of damage in bridge model by spatial wavelet based approach
• Fault detection, diagnosis and tolerant control for non-Gaussian stochastic distribution systems using a rational square-root approximation model
• Fault-tolerant wide-range stabilisation of a power system
• Fault diagnosis system for a robot manipulator through neuro fuzzy approach
• Fuzzy observer for fault detection and reconstruction of unknown input fuzzy models

Call for papers: Doing Business in Developing/Emerging Economies: Cases in Management, Business and Marketing

Call for papers: Doing Business in Developing/Emerging Economies: Cases in Management, Business and Marketing

A special issue of International Journal of Economics and Business Research

The purpose of this special edition is to provide much needed ‘practice’ in developing/emerging economies given the fast moving, turbulent nature of today’s business environment and the rapid emergence of ‘new economic giants’ like Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC).

Papers are particularly welcome from the public as well as the private sector and can either be researched based or from secondary sources. In either case, they should contain a mixture of qualitative/descriptive detail as well as essential quantitative detail such as sales data, market share and financial details.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to:

• Developing/emerging economies
• Management
• Business innovation and research
• Entrepreneurship
• Marketing
• Accounting
• Human resources
• Strategic alliances
• Outsourcing
• Business ethics
• Business law
• Business information systems
• E-business
• Finance and international finance
• Business and the natural environment
• Economics and business education

Important Date
Closing date for submissions: 15th January 2009

Special issue: Financial risk management

International Journal of Risk Assessment and Management 9(1/2) 2008

• Corporate failure risk assessment of Greek companies
• Demonstration of data mining approaches in credit risk evaluation
• Predicting US commercial bank failures via a multicriteria approach
• Value-at-risk: is lacking in sub-additivity just an annoying technicality?
• Study of banking sector design from risk perspective to minimise social costs
• A practical approach to market risk analysis and control: empirical test of the Mexican foreign exchange and stock markets
• Loose risk management mechanisms of corporate governance of Greek firms; rewards to board from earnings that are not based on performance incentive plans
• Hedge ratio estimation and hedging effectiveness: the case of the S&P 500 stock index futures contract
• An integrated taxonomy of consumers of financial services: the role of perceived risk, effort and involvement
• Multi-factor models for capital asset pricing in a fuzzy environment with empirical studies
• Fuzzy assessment of human-health risks due to air pollution
• A risk mitigation approach for concurrent engineering projects

Special issue: Synthesis, discourse and instrumentality

International Journal of Intellectual Property Management 2(2) 2008

• The purpose of copyright protection in Jordan and Canada: a brief comparison
• Traditional knowledge, the CBD and the TRIPS regime: synthesising the discordant discourses at the WTO
• Intellectual Property Rights from an Islamic perspective
• Spam, spamdexing and regulation of internet advertising
• Taking patents seriously
• Authentication and disclosure of online business entities: the foundation of online transaction security
• From Sony Librie to Sony Reader and iLiad: the beginning of the end? Legal implications surrounding the eBook debate, Sony Reader and iLiad
• Cost, defining, and responsibility of government purchasing Open Source Software
• Copyright, censorship and privacy: Is cyberspace over crowded?

Special issue: Management of IP networks and services

International Journal of Internet Protocol Technology 3(1) 2008

• Management of peer-to-peer overlays
• SLA-based dynamic resource management in wireless environments: an enterprise nomadism use case
• On the enhancement of mobility and multimedia communications in heterogeneous RANs
• A rule based resources management for collaborative grid environments
• Improving the bulk data transfer experience
• Towards self-adaptation in DiffServ-GMPLS network for video-conferencing services
• Design and implementation of network management with two-layer fairness approach in campus network environment
• Policy Based Management in the Global Information Grid

Call for papers: Managing Container Operations Effectively

Call for papers: Managing Container Operations Effectively

A special issue of International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics

Containerisation has increasingly facilitated the transportation of goods since 1970s. The average annual growth rate of world container traffic has been around 10% in the last three decades, which is well above the world trade growth rate. The increasing demands drive the development of the supply side. Accordingly, world container fleet and container vessel fleet also maintain around 10% of annual growth. However, in recent years the trade demands are getting more and more imbalanced and volatile, and shippers are becoming more and more demanding to pursue global supply chain management, the container shipping industry is facing challenges of managing container operations more effectively to meet the demands in a dynamic, stochastic, and intermodal environment.

This Special Issue will focus on managerial issues in the container shipping supply chain including inland transportation, depot and seaport operations, seaborne transportation, intermodal transportation, and empty container repositioning. It aims to provide academic and practitioners (including shippers, inland transport companies, freight forwarders, logistics agents, port/terminal operators, ocean carriers) with a collection of innovative research and development in modelling, control, and optimisation of container operations.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Inland container transportation
• Seaborne container transportation
• Operations management in container depots and ports
• Intermodal transportation
• Empty container repositioning
• Container leasing and fleet sizing
• Demand and supply analysis
• Supply chain network modelling
• Empirical research on container management
• Risk mitigation strategies in shipping supply chains
• Agent-based modelling
• Operations planning, scheduling and control
• Optimisation methods incorporating both structural and control design
• Simulation-optimisation methods
• Practical applications of innovative techniques

Important Dates
Submission Deadline: 20 December, 2008
Notification of the Initial Decision: 30 March, 2009
Notification of Acceptance: 30 June, 2009

Special issue: Energy-efficient algorithm and protocol design in sensor networks

International Journal of Sensor Networks 4(1/2) 2008

• Power-efficient cooperative coding with hybrid-ARQ soft combining for wireless sensor networks in block-fading environment
• Correlated data gathering in wireless sensor networks based on distributed source coding
• Decentralised binary detection with non-constant SNR profile at the sensors
• Energy-efficient image transmission in sensor networks
• Energy-efficient data gathering algorithm in sensor networks with partial aggregation
• Efficient aggregation using first hop selection in WSNs
• Energy-efficient topology control for three-dimensional sensor networks
• A hierarchical clustering-based routing protocol for wireless sensor networks supporting multiple data aggregation qualities
• Skipping technique in face routing for wireless ad hoc and sensor networks
• Reliable and energy-efficient routing protocol in dense wireless sensor networks
• Energy efficiency of a per-hop relay selection scheme for sensor networks using cooperative MIMO
• Public key cryptography empowered smart dust is affordable
  

Special issue: The Polish economy from 1990 to the present

International Journal of Economic Policy in Emerging Economies 1(2/3) 2008

• Economic development and prospects in Poland: an introduction
• Information Technology and Information Society in Poland
• Economic growth in Poland from 1990 to 2006
• Privatisation in Poland during and after the transformation
• Changes on Polish labour market occurring in the period of systemic transformation
• The development of the capital market in Poland
• Polish foreign trade between 1990 and 2007
• Investment processes in Poland after 1990
• Expenses and income of Polish households from 1990 to 2006
• The small and medium-sized enterprise sector in Poland
• Conditions for entrepreneurship of Polish students
• Investment in higher education, Research and Development. Poland in comparison with the European Union and OECD
• International migration in Poland
• Competitiveness of Polish economy at the beginning of the 21st century: implications for economic policy

First issue: International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets

International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets encourages application of research methods to solve specific business-related problems in emerging markets. The journal aims to promote articles that are based on the unification of the theoretical–quantitative or the empirical–qualitative approach, and that propose future research directions for scholars and recommend actionable business strategies for managers.

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

Special issue: Project management and new product development

International Journal of Product Development 6(2) 2008

• The impact of knowledge delivery factors on New Product Development teams: a quantitative analysis of software development efficiency
• A review and critical analysis of global New Product Introduction and Development
• Evaluating and operating NPD mix within Technological and Manufacturing Cluster under uncertainty
• NPD project timeliness: the project-level impact of early engineering effort and customer involvement
• Good theory: developing a foundation for project management
• Development of a Conceptual Framework for Lean New Product Development Process

Call for papers: Everybody Hurts, Sometimes - Emotions and Dysfunctional Leadership

Call for papers: Everybody Hurts, Sometimes - Emotions and Dysfunctional Leadership

A special issue of European Journal of International Management

Organisational dysfunction characterises a facet of today’s workplace that is often hidden or ignored. In general, we expect, albeit naively, that business leaders will do the right thing. They are expected to act honourably, in accordance with organisational and institutional values, as well as acting ethically. The ideal leaders of the 21st century can integrate all the necessary subordinates and know how to build a team while making themselves dispensable. They know how to lead a diverse workforce, possess strategic skills, have a learning focus, as well as an international orientation. They offer constructive criticism when things go wrong and resolve conflicts diplomatically, respecting subordinates’ expectations and ambitions. Also, ideal leaders are expected to be passionate about their jobs. They are supposed to show emotional commitment and devotion and are expected to involve their personal lives in the organisation, thereby integrating their own ‘selves’ into the life of the organisation. They are one with the organisation; a symbol of its being.

However, such leaders are mostly mythical creatures. In reality, most leaders gain their position due to technical expertise rather than an ability to work with human resources, and consequently tend to be strong in operational and technical skills, but less so in relations-building-skills. Moreover, leaders’ performance tends to be measured on a cost-efficiency basis, and when pursuing functional objectives, leaders can often be dysfunctional for the well-being of those who are charged with delivering this functionality.

The incompetence of leaders manifests itself in various ways, such as indecisiveness and over-controlling behavior or an overriding concern for production and efficiency at the expense of the human resources. Opinions on leadership and leaders are thus often constructed on the basis of diverse rather than shared meanings. Also, many ‘successful’ leaders may have psychopathic, narcissistic, and histrionic personality disorders, which, although they may sometimes help them in climbing the ladder of success, eventually will result in a dysfunctional workplace of others.

Leaders are people like the rest of us, human beings with emotions, fears, and desires. Leaders make mistakes, their actions have different consequences than intended, and sometimes they do not act at all. Based on this view, the aim of this special issue is to capture the ‘other side’ of leadership, to challenge the ideal image of the heroic and charismatic leader almost displayed like a superhero. We invite contributions that investigate the current state of emotions and dysfunctional leadership around the globe. We invite contributions that apply unique perspectives and analyses. Qualitative and quantitative as well as conceptual approaches are encouraged. Papers should also point to the future of leadership with particular emphasis on how best to advance the arguments, methods, and effectiveness of leadership.

Examples of topics appropriate to the theme of emotions and dysfunctional leadership include:

• Leaders as the disruptive force in their organisations
• The passionate leader
• The loving and caring leader
• Emotional ignorance
• Emotional workplace bullying
• Trust-breaking
• Tyrannical behavior towards subordinates
• Leadership fantasies
• Micro leadership, with emphasis on roles and implications of roles
• Manic leadership
• Inaccessibility of leadership
• The invisible leader
• Manipulative leadership
• Management of meaninglessness
• Gossip and rumors
• Managerial cowardliness
• The 'successful psychopath'
• Consequences of workaholic tendencies of individuals in organisational power positions
• Prevention and intervention strategies - who sets them, how are they enforced?
• Whistleblowing - usefulness and effectiveness
• Feedback phobia
• Pushing employees outside their comfort zone - promises and challenges

Important Dates
Extended abstract submission deadline: 15 August, 2009
Full paper submission deadline: 1 December, 2009
No changes can be made to the papers after: 30 April, 2010