Special issue: Emerging markets – Part 1

International Journal of Business Environment 3(4) 2010

• Internationalisation and global competitive advantage: implications for Asian emerging market multinational enterprises
• Understanding Brazilian FDI – an investigation on the relationship between internationalisation and economic structure
• International business in an EU candidate: the case of Bulgaria
• Mobile internet business models in emerging markets
• The up-coming crisis and loan portfolio quality in Romania and Bulgaria
• The determinants of bank performance: an analysis of theory and practice in the case of an emerging market
• Knowledge economy leaders, runner-ups and laggards: a study of 140 countries

Special issue: Distortion engineering

International Journal of Microstructure and Materials Properties 5(4/5) 2010

Papers from the 2nd International Conference on Distortion Engineering, held in Bremen, Germany, 17 - 19 September 2008.

• Mechanism of transformation plasticity and the unified constitutive equation for transformation-thermo-mechanical plasticity with some applications
• On the effect of plasticity on the kinetics of the isothermal bainitic transformation
• Effects of the austenite grain size on transformation plasticity in a 35 NCD 16 steel
• Effect of the random spatial distribution of nuclei on the transformation plasticity in diffusively transforming steel
• Research on modelling of transformation plasticity via dilatometric tests
• Development and evaluation of a model for solid-state phase transformations during casting of ductile cast iron
• Development of simulation tool for predicting distortion and residual stress in nitrided parts
• A new framework for simulation of heat treatments
• Distortion optimisation of beam-welded industrial parts by means of numerical welding simulation
• Advanced numerical method for fast prediction of welding distortions of large aircraft structures
• Influences of welding parameters on distortion
• Challenges of residual stress and part distortion in the civil airframe industry
• Multidisciplinary engineering – an integrated solution
• Investigation on shot-peening induced residual stress field

Special issue:Advances in configuration systems

International Journal of Mass Customisation 3(4) 2010

Papers from the 2008 and 2009 workshops on configuration systems.

• Towards an association of product configuration with production planning
• A metamodelling approach to configuration knowledge representation
• Computing product configurations via UML and integer linear programming
• Constraint-based configuration of embedded automotive software
• Towards recommending configurable offerings
• Constraint-based personalised configuring of product and service bundles

Special issue: Knowledge and software engineering for intelligent systems

International Journal of Knowledge Engineering and Data Mining 1(3) 2011

Papers from the Knowledge Engineering and Software Engineering (KESE) workshops.

• Knowledge engineering within the application-independent architecture SEASALT
• Improving understandability of semantic search explanations
• An intelligent system for sentence retrieval and novelty mining
• Improving the quality of rule-based applications using the declarative verification approach
• Ontology agent for ensuring semantic interoperability among agents and semantic web

Special issue: IT-based proactive design and synthesis for X in product lifecycle engineering

International Journal of Product Development 13(1) 2011

• Computer-aided design synthesis: an application of shape grammars
• A global collaborative design framework for sketch-based parametric CAD modelling
• Collaborative Simulation Environment for mechanical system design
• Application of context knowledge in supporting conceptual design decision-making
• Proactive Design for Manufacture through decision analysis
• Design products to learn and to use

Special issue: Some issues concerning emerging economies

International Journal of Economic Policy in Emerging Economies 3(4) 2010

Papers from the International Conference on International Business (ICIB), held in Thessaloniki, Greece, 22–23 May 2010.

• Some new insights into FDI determinants in MENA countries: an application of a spatial panel data model
• International business spillovers in emerging markets: the Visegrad group
• Increasing the managerial capabilities in Indonesian garment manufacturing
• Corporate governance, social responsibility and corporate reputation: an empirical analysis of the situation in Croatia
• From market economics to institutional embedness of economic development: key ethical issues for transition societies

Special issue: Brazilian economics and accounting

International Journal of Economics and Accounting 1(4) 2010

• The use of positive and normative approaches in Brazil and US accounting research: a comparative analysis based on the papers published in The Accounting Review and the Revista de Contabilidade & Financas (Accounting & Finance Journal) – 1989 to 2008
• Determinants for the composition of the board of directors in SMEs: evidence from Brazil
• Testing the differences of world stock markets (1975-2009)
• The customer care IT tools as a competitive advantage factor in the Brazilian retail industry
• Preparedness of ERP systems to create intangible managerial accounting information: evidence from Brazil
• Analysis of the information quality of reports on CDM projects in light of the legitimacy approach
• Practice of corporate governance in football clubs

Call for papers: Integrating Learning Behaviour with Change Context

A special issue of International Journal of Learning and Change

The need to link learning behaviour and change processes including organisational design (OD) techniques has never been greater. At a time when organisations are calling for clear performance parameters related to measuring change, and/or measuring learning behaviour, managers lack specificity and knowledge about how to integrate key areas. Change is often studied as a process with a clear beginning and end in some studies (Greiner, 1972; Nadler and Tushman, 1989; Arthur and Huntley, 2005) yet in others, change processes are discussed as punctuated, cyclical or continuous events (e.g.Tushman and O’Reilly, 1996; Brown and Eisenhardt, 1997; Gersick, 1991). In all of these studies, what seems to be missing is a coherent sense of what kind of learning behaviours are required to understand the change(s).

Similarly, the link between individual, team and organisational learning is well known (Crossan, Lane and White, 1999; Argyris, 1999; Fiol and Lyles, 1985). Here, the key premise is that what individuals actually learn influences team learning which in turn influences organisational learning. This makes sense if an organisations intellectual capital is an accumulation or compilation of capability so that the best capabilities can be exploited in ways that unearth new behaviours on a relatively continuous basis. March (1991) contends however that organisational systems engaged in too much exploitation at the exclusion of exploration are likely to find themselves trapped in suboptimal stable equilibria (1991: p.71). Both the learning and strategy literature to this extent is consistent. That is, core capabilities can quickly become core rigidities since no new learning occurs to break the cycle.

A key thesis between these mutual associations of change and learning is form. What form or structure links the two? There is a fuzzy link thus far between change and learning.

• If change management processes are meant to both exploit existing capabilities yet explore new horizons, then how does this occur?
• What role does learning play in change from one state to another?
• Which learning behaviours are required?
• Where do these new capabilities come from if underlying learning behaviour(s) are explored?
• How does learning at both the individual and team level influence change processes or change contexts and vice versa?

Organisation design techniques are often imbued with learning behaviour yet they are not explained in terms of discrete learning events.

This special edition to our knowledge is the first of its kind to explore these mutually reinforcing processes. There are a number of factors in and around connecting themes. Scholars may choose to focus on form thus explicating important associations between learning behaviour and change processes, providing some context to bridge gaps in the literature. Alternatively, scholars may focus on more transformational events vested in individuals or managers as leaders, or in teams, or in organisational processes per se. We are particularly interested in solid empirical links that demonstrate sound constructs of learning and change. Accordingly, although our focus is quite broad in terms of context, we are particularly counting on the special issue to make a substantial contribution to the literature in these critical areas.

Examples of topics appropriate to the theme of learning and change include but are not limited to:

• Learning processes and change techniques
• earning behaviour and modes of learning
• Change models linked to learning
• Types of change and modes of learning
• Organisation design techniques and learning behaviour
• Performance management systems and behavioural change
• Learning and adaptive performance
• Small to medium sized change and learning
• Transformational leadership and learning
• Dynamic capabilities and learning modes
• Individual and team learning
• Organisational learning constructs
• Multi-dimensional individual and team learning instruments
• Multi-method research techniques of learning and change
• Contextual studies in practice
• Learning behaviour as a form of competitive advantage
• Human resource systems as dynamic learning capabilities
• Culture and learning contexts
• Knowledge creation in international markets

Important Dates
Draft submission deadline: June 30, 2011
Final paper submission deadline: August 30, 2011

Call for papers: Organisational Sustainable Development and Accountability

A special issue of International Journal of Organisational Design and Engineering

Sustainable development has evolved into one of the most important strategic issues facing organisations worldwide. Incorporating principles of sustainable development within organisational policies and processes is a critical factor in addressing global environmental problems. Sustainable development projects and sustainable business markets are forecasted to double during the period 2010 to 2014 whilst business expenditure on sustainability projects is estimated to reach $US 60 billion in the United States over this same period (Verdantix, 2010). Over the period 2009 to 2014, the compound annual growth rate in business spending on sustainability projects will be approximately 19% across all OECD countries. The ongoing industrialization and urbanisation of both the developed and developing world, and the environmental, social and economic impacts that ensue, have led to a greater awareness of the need to re-engineer organisational policies processes and systems in order to facilitate sustainable development.

The aims of this special issue are to explore sustainable development as it relates to organisation design and engineering, current trends and associated issues.

Within the scope of the special issue, papers, including industry case studies, on the following topics are encouraged, but not limited to:

• Organisational, corporate governance, policy and leadership issues arising from sustainable development
• The role of sustainable development in technology innovation and adoption
• The role of sustainable development in overall organisational and enterprise information systems design
• Improving quality control and risk management through sustainability mechanisms
• Business process re-engineering incorporating sustainable development
• Use of sustainable development concepts in project management and organisational restructure
• Accountability, measurement, performance and reporting of sustainability issues

Important Dates
Paper Submission: 15 August, 2011
First Round Review Complete and Notification: 15 November, 2011
Second Round Submission: 15 January, 2012
Final Submission: 15 February, 2012

Special issue: Medical tourism

International Journal of Behavioural and Healthcare Research 2(1) 2010

• Determinants of satisfaction and dissatisfaction among preventive and curative medical tourists: a comparative analysis
• Brand positioning in the medical tourism industry: a brand personality perspective
• Hospitality and destination marketing's role in medical tourism: a call for research
• Value propositions – suggested dimensions for medical tourism facilities in India
• Outbound US medical tourism to selected Asian countries
• The Western 'seal of approval': advanced liberalism and technologies of governing in medical travel to India

Special issue: Models for operational and business excellence

International Journal of Logistics Economics and Globalisation 2(4) 2010

• Analysis of vendor managed inventory practices for greater supply chain performance
• Human resource excellence in software industry in India: an exploratory study
• Optimisation of sequencing and scheduling in hybrid flow shop environment using heuristic approach
• Quality management model for small ancillaries: benchmarking customer's assessment criteria
• Reengineering of large discount store: advanced shipping notice replenishment – specific purchase business model
• Application of simulated annealing and genetic algorithm for solving optimum power flow problems

Special issue: Efficient techniques for autonomic resources scheduling and management in grid and P2P Systems

International Journal of Autonomic Computing 1(4) 2010

Papers from 3rd International Workshop on P2P, Parallel, Grid and Internet Computing (3PGIC-2009), held in Fukuoka, Japan, 16–19 March 2009, in conjunction with the International Conference on Complex, Intelligent and Software Intensive Systems (CICIS-2009)

• Dynamic meta-scheduling architecture based on monitoring in distributed systems
• Local agent-based self-stabilisation in global resource utilisation
• A self-* auction server: design principles, architecture and implementation
• Dynamic algorithms for autonomic pervasive services in mobile wireless environments
• SImplementation of a stackable file system for real-time network backup
• Error detection and error classification: failure awareness in data transfer scheduling
• XML-based security for JXTA core protocols

Call for papers: Designing Pleasurable and Intelligent Products: Applications and Methods

A special issue of International Journal of Design Engineering

The challenge of designing pleasurable products, interfaces, systems and services is considered as a significant subject for industrial companies for increasing their markets and fulfilling user requirements. Mass production, with the reduction of design and manufacture lead-times and costs, implies products standardization. To balance this standardization, the needs for increasing the qualitative values and assets (symbolic expectations) of the developed product should be reinforced.

Designing pleasurable and intelligent products for large market and customized needs should definitively be the target of designers: the feelings aroused by the appearance of products, by their functions and by the interactions induced by the products’ use are the linchpin of their success but are difficult to predict. Research works on designing pleasurable products and interfaces focus on innovative and creative approaches to design for emotion and pleasure, and promote the design research which emphases on technology application and integration.

In this special issue, it is intended to gather papers with specific creative approaches regarding human needs exploration for designing intelligent products and systems. Contributions may be based on both theoretical and practical approaches to facilitate the emergence of new interactions between human, world and systems.

Papers that address, but are not limited, to the following topics related to industrial design and product innovation are welcome:

• Intelligent products
• Pleasurable products
• Interaction of users with products
• IT enabled products
• High-tech products
• Embedded intelligence in products
• Technology Integration in products and systems
• Interactive products
• User and emotion-based design
• Design experiences and methods

Important Dates
Full papers due for review: 1 February, 2011
Notification of acceptance to authors: 1 May, 2011
Revised manuscript submission: 1 July, 2011
Final decision: 1 September, 2011
Final manuscripts: 1 October, 2011

Call for papers: Organisational Design and Engineering in Healthcare

A special issue of International Journal of Organisational Design and Engineering

The worldwide trend in healthcare has been to look to healthcare information technology (HCIT) for solutions to prominent challenges such as process improvement, patient satisfaction, cost reduction and labour market shortages. Yet recent reviews of the electronic health record (EHR) literature show that all is not well especially with respect to the alignment of organizational design and the engineered artifact.

Niazkhani et al (2009, p. 546) concluded "When put in practice, the formal, predefined, stepwise, and role-based models of workflow underlying CPOE systems may show a fragile compatibility with the contingent, pragmatic, and co-constructive nature of workflow.” Two of the findings of Greenhalgh et al (2009, p. 767) were “While secondary work (audit, research, billing) may be made more efficient by the EPR, primary clinical work is often made less efficient” and “The EPR may support, but will not drive, changes in the social order of the workplace”. In addition, Fontaine et al (2010) concluded from a systematic literature review in primary care that “The potential for HIE to reduce costs and improve the quality of healthcare in ambulatory primary care practices is well recognized but needs further empiric substantiation.”

Just as in enterprise resource planning (ERP) adoption, healthcare organisations (HCOs) expect HCIT to shape their organization design through the embedded workflow engineered most often from a mechanistic worldview. Often, the contingencies and exceptions are not accounted for, leaving the blame to fall upon the usual reasons for HCIT failure (e.g., poor implementation, lack of training, resistance). Organisational design and engineering (ODE) takes the position that the “either-or” mindset must be replaced with an integrated and more holistic view of designing the organisation and artifact. The complex interplay between organisation and engineering, often intangible, requires a multi-disciplinary approach to solve the challenge of the social and technological world of healthcare being inextricably linked to healthcare policy.

This special issue seeks contributions from the spectrum of disciplines that are involved directly in HCIT or broader healthcare fields that implicitly rely on HCIT (e.g., policies for care coordination). These contributions must have both the elements of organisational design and an engineered artifact regardless of research discipline. These might address theoretical, empirical and design-based studies on medical- technical infrastructures, tools and applications, health information behaviour, or cost/benefits, policy, as well as social implications. HCITs are broadly defined to include technologies in clinical informatics, e-health, m-health, consumer health, public health, and health policy.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Adoption, implementation and deployment healthcare information technology (HICT)
• Social-organisational consequences of HCIT
• Electronic medical records
• Electronic patient records
• Electronic nurse records
• Picture archive and communication systems (PACS)
• Hospital information systems
• Pharmacy information systems
• Family practice information systems
• HCIT for hospital strategies
• E-procurement and healthcare
• E-payments and e-healthcare
• End-user computing in e-healthcare and HCIT
• Organisational implications of national health information infrastructure
• Reengineering hospital processes via HCIT and e-healthcare
• E-healthcare and HCIT in primary care
• E-healthcare and HCIT in chronic care
• E-healthcare and HCIT in elderly care
• Information architecture in HCIT e-healthcare
• Mobile health
• Social media and health information
• Policy-driven HCIT
• Cloud computing in healthcare
• Web services in healthcare

Important Dates
Deadline for submission: 15 June 2011

Call for papers: Pore-Scale Flow and Transport Processes in Petroleum Reservoirs

A special issue of International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology

This special issue is the product of growing interest in pore-scale experimental, theoretical and numerical work to further understanding of multi-phase flow and transport processes in hydrocarbon reservoirs. Recent advances in pore-scale modeling and computational processing capabilities have allowed simulation of fluid flow and transport processes on the micro-scale. In addition, the extensive development of non-destructive microscopic imaging techniques provides us with direct observation of fluid distribution and pore structure in porous media necessary to validate representative numerical models. Findings in this area assist the representation of relevant porous media properties such as relative permeability, capillary pressure, and diffusivity.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Fundamentals of pore-scale migration and rock-fluid interaction.
• Pore-scale flow monitoring
• Development and validation of mechanistic pore-scale models
• Pore-scale physics and prediction of petrophysical properties
• Simulation of heterogeneous porous media
• Upscaling flow and transport processes in porous media
• Applications to unconventional reservoir simulation

Important Dates
Deadline for submission of paper title and list of authors: 28 January, 2011
Full paper submission deadline: 31 March, 2011
End of review process: 20 May, 2011
Final revised manuscript due: 30 June, 2011

Call for papers: Knowledge Sharing within Knowledge Intensive Organizations

A special issue of International Journal of Information Technology and Management

The role that knowledge plays in an organization became a focus of attention in the 1990s. Soon, the notion of knowledge sharing and knowledge management in general became the focus of critical attention, particularly with regard to the role that information technology was able to play, the feasibility of actually sharing knowledge and with the failure to take the political dimension of such activities into account.

Notwithstanding these criticisms, few would deny that knowledge-intensive organizations now exist or that knowledge sharing takes place within them. While some of the early pioneers have been prompted to revisit their earlier work there has not yet been a systematic attempt to reassess the issue of knowledge sharing in knowledge-intensive organizations as a whole in the light of current technologies and organizational forms; it is this that this special issue of IJITM seeks to address.

Papers for this special issue might include articles that examine the problems associated with sharing knowledge (either face-to-face or technologically-mediated), the role that knowledge sharing plays in such organizations (through encouraging innovations, as part of a competitive strategy, etc) or the nature of the knowledge sharing itself. The common theme for all of the articles is that they should attempt to place insights gained from current theory and practice within the framework of previous work in the same area.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Knowledge sharing and knowledge management systems
• Knowledge sharing communities
• Knowledge sharing in collaborative work environments
• Knowledge sharing strategies and organizational structure
• Knowledge sharing within or across organizational boundaries
• Modelling of human knowledge processes and systems
• Social and political aspects of knowledge sharing
• Social software and knowledge sharing
• Systems design issues including stakeholder requirements and participation
• HRM issues related to innovation and knowledge sharing

Important Dates
Submission of full paper: 29 April, 2011
Feedback from referees: 1 July, 2011
Submission of revised paper: 15 September, 2011

Call for papers: Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis in Manufacturing Systems (MCDAMS)

A special issue of International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering

This special issue aims to impart and share the recent research, development and applications dealing with engineering, technology and management aspects of manufacturing systems. Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) is a discipline intended to support decision makers faced with making numerous and sometimes conflicting evaluations. MCDA aims at highlighting these conflicts and deriving a way to come to a compromise in a transparent process. There are many MCDA methods in use today. Choosing the best MCDA is itself a multi-criteria decision making problem.

The issue will disseminate discussion and exchange global experience in applying multi-criteria decision support models and methods emphasizing on how to design, run, control and optimize manufacturing systems. The focus will also be on sharing innovative approaches that are relevant to the sustainable development of manufacturing sector in the global context.

Papers relevant to the scope of the special issue should include, but are not limited to, the following areas:

• Systems, models, approaches and frameworks for manufacturing system evaluation (such as scenarios, technologies, operational plans etc.,) and decision support for assessing advanced manufacturing systems policies
• MCDA models to dealing with various strategic, tactical and operational decisions pertaining to manufacturing systems
• Multi-criteria decision approaches that help realizing sustainable manufacturing systems/technology transfer/diffusion etc.
• Studies dealing with energy policies, productivity, supply chains, quality, reliability, human resources, materials, technology, software etc., with the application of MCDA in the context of manufacturing systems
• Studies dealing with onshore vs offshore manufacturing decisions and make vs outsourcing decisions etc., with the help of MCDA

Important Date
Submissions deadline: 30 June, 2011

Call for papers: Regional Innovation Policy to Promote Technology Transfer in Transitional Economies

A special issue of International Journal of Transitions and Innovation Systems

Innovation is the main engine driving total factor productivity growth and, consequently, for the improvement of national living standards. Although cumulative R&D effort by the private sector is crucial for the promotion of innovation, universities and public research institutes also contribute to the promotion of industrial innovations by expanding the source of knowledge for firms. Furthermore, recent studies have shown that spillovers from research conducted at universities tend to be localized.

In this context, this special issue focuses on regional innovation policy aimed at promoting the transfer of public knowledge to the private sector in transitional economies. In addition to the medium of scientific journal publications, public knowledge can diffuse into private R&D via various channels such as spin-offs (new firm creation), patent licensing, labour mobility, consultation, and joint research. The local authorities in developed countries have implemented innovation policies to develop these spillover channels (chiefly for startups and small firms) by establishing science parks, business incubation centers, and other public technology transfer organizations. A number of studies have been conducted in developed countries to examine whether these regional innovation policies have contributed to the promotion of knowledge transfer and industrial innovations. However, little is known about how these policy instruments work (or are considered to work) in transitional economies.

One of the aims of this special issue is to review the theoretical grounds for the need for regional innovation policies to promote technology transfer in transitional economies. Theoretically, innovation policies to exploit university knowledge are important in science-based sectors such as biotechnology and information and communication technology, where industrial innovations are directly bolstered by the advancement of scientific knowledge. In these sectors, developed countries with world-leading research universities and institutes have greater advantages. However, factors inherent to transitional economies may exist that make regional innovation policies promoting technology transfer more important for economic growth.

A further aim of this special issue is to share knowledge on the practical aspects of these policies in transitional economies. Understanding the uniqueness and similarity of the policies implemented in transitional economies will help readers worldwide to identify what can be (and cannot be) learned from cases of economies in different developmental phases.

Accordingly, this special issue will survey both theoretical and empirical (both qualitative and quantitative) studies. Extensive review of the previous literature on regional innovation policy for technology transfer is also welcome. Potential readers of the issue are not only academics but policymakers and practitioners across the globe.


Although submitted manuscripts may focus on theory development, empirical testing, or case analysis, each contributor is expected to clearly show the general implications of theoretical consequence or empirical findings for a global readership.

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

• Theoretical development on regional innovation policy to promote technology transfer
• Literature review and theoretical perspective
• Models to evaluate regional innovation policy
• Empirical analyses that evaluate following practices in transitional economies
• Business incubators and new firm creation leveraging university inventions
• Science parks and various types of university-industry collaborations
• Other public technology transfer organizations
• Human resources to promote technology transfer
• Intellectual property and licensing
• Role of anchor tenants in regional innovation systems
• Diffusion of regional innovation policy
• Definition of success in regional innovation policy

Important Date
Paper Submission Deadline: 31 August, 2011

Call for papers: Image and Data Compression Applications

A special issue of International Journal of Signal and Imaging Systems Engineering

Compression is useful because it helps reduce the consumption of expensive resources, such as hard disk space or transmission bandwidth. On the downside, compressed data must be decompressed to be used, and this extra processing may be detrimental to some applications. For instance, a compression scheme for video may require expensive hardware for the video to be decompressed fast enough to be viewed as it is being decompressed (the option of decompressing the video in full before watching it may be inconvenient, and requires storage space for the decompressed video). The design of data compression schemes therefore involves trade-offs among various factors, including the degree of compression, the amount of distortion introduced (if using a lossy compression scheme), and the computational resources required to compress and uncompress the data.

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

• Signal generation and modelling
• Analog signal processing
• Digital signal processing
• Adaptive filtering algorithm
• Image compression applications
• Data compression applications
• Image reconstruction
• Speech and audio compression
• Wavelets applications in image compression
• Image and video coding
• Fractal image compression
• Colour image compression
• Soft computing applications for image compression
• Image clustering, classification and recognition
• Classification tools for image-based diagnosis

Important Dates
Submission deadline: 15 February, 2011
First decision notification: 30 March, 2011
Submission of revised papers: 15 April, 2011
Final decision notification: 30 May, 2011

Special issue: Nonconvex optimisation and its applications

International Journal of Computing Science and Mathematics 3(3) 2010

• Temporised equilibria: a rational concept of fairness into game theory
• An algorithm for non-linear multi-level integer programming problems
• A review of scenario generation methods
• Parameter selection of a Particle Swarm Optimisation dynamics by closed loop stability analysis
• Computation of Capacity Benefit Margin using Differential Evolution
• Duality results using higher order generalised E-invex functions
• Interpolated differential evolution for global optimisation problems