28 February 2007

Call for papers: Advanced manufacturing technologies

Call for papers: Advanced manufacturing technologies
A special issue of International Journal of Manufacturing Research

Advanced Manufacturing Technologies (AMT) are the key to the future of industry. Reduced cost and time, high quality and flexibility can be achieved by AMT.

The aim of the Special Issue is to provide original contributions in the field of processes, machines and methodologies used in manufacturing.

The research presented in the special issue will cover a range of issues and topics, including but not limited to:
  • Manufacturing processes
  • Manufacturing systems
  • Industrial metrology
  • Quality engineering
  • Manufacturing technologies
  • Analysis and simulation processes
  • CNC machine tools and automation processes
  • Manufacturing and environment
Important Dates

Deadline for submission of manuscripts: 30 September 2007
Notification of peer review to authors: 30 November 2007
Deadline for submitting revised manuscripts: 31 January 2008

Call for papers: Public Affairs Informatics Research – IV

Call for papers: Public Affairs Informatics Research – IV

A special issue of International Journal of Public Policy

The objective of this special issue is to assemble research and scholarly works that contribute to the theoretical and empirical knowledge base for identifying policy and informatics programs that will improve the performance of service organisations and enhance the well-being of communities. The specific aims of this issue are to:
  • Explicate an interdisciplinary focus in public affairs informatics and performance improvement research
  • Establish a close collaboration and partnership with the public service sector that will enhance the development of innovative research
  • Transfer knowledge developed from interdisciplinary research, pertaining to public affairs informatics and performance improvement, to evidence-based public service management and practice
Since the turn of the 21st century, the global political arena has faced various challenges from terrorist insurgents that prevent nation-building to the debate on global warming. Social science theorises that these events depress economic growth and global development. As world events become ever more unpredictable and harmful to world peace, the need for strong leadership continues to take high importance. World leadership faces unparalleled challenges in the fight for effective global development.

Public health issues such as HIV/AIDS and the Asian Bird Flu continue to occupy concerns of medical and government professionals worldwide. As strategies are developed to prevent the spread of life-threatening diseases and viruses, leaders must understand how to adapt, communicate and protect their respective populace. Not only do publicly elected officials and academicians need to understand challenges that impact global development, but businesses need to understand how public health challenges impact local economics. Furthermore, it is imperative to identify mechanisms to foster the development of social capital and transformation in a turbulent world.

The integration of the principles and methodological approaches of diverse disciplines in conducting scientific studies may lead to the creation of evidence-based knowledge for improving public services and to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of service organisations. This special issue will bring together leading practitioners and scholars in global development to share their scholarship and strategic agenda for resolving the most urgent public policy issues of our time. The call for papers invites scholars and researchers to address best-practice solutions for perfecting global development and cultural change.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to:
  • The development of theoretically informed and empirically validated models to improve performance of public service problems
  • Informatics research and its application to the investigation of determinants and consequences of public services
  • The interdisciplinary collaboration contributing to the theoretical and knowledge base for improving the performance of service organisations
  • Evidence-based management and practice in public affairs
  • Scientific knowledge on how to enhance equity, efficiency, quality, and effectiveness of public service organisations, using confirmatory approaches
  • The development and use of decision support systems in public affairs
Important Dates

Last Date of Submission of Manuscripts: 30 November 2007
Notification of Acceptance of Manuscripts: 28 February 2008
Last Date for Submission of Final/Camera Ready Paper: 30 April 2008

Special issue: 8th International Conference on Corporate Governance and Board Leadership

International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics 3(2) 2007 is a special issue: 8th International Conference on Corporate Governance and Board Leadership, with papers selected from the conference held on 11–13 October 2005 at Henley Management College.

Article titles:
* Corporate governance and board effectiveness 2.0
* Internal auditing's international contribution to governance
* Leadership at the top: a new instrument for assessing and developing directors
* Managing CEO succession: new models for a new era
* Directors and their homework: developing strategic thought
* Price fixing in the Icelandic oil and gas industry: where were the boards?
* Changing societal and executives' values: their impact on corporate governance

Special issue: Integrating business process and services

International Journal of Business Process Integration and Management 1(4) 2006 is a special issue: Integrating business process and services gathering five contributions that integrate concepts and techniques from Business Process Management and Service-Oriented Computing in different ways. These contributions are extended and revised versions of papers presented at three workshops held in conjunction with the Third International Conference on Business Process Management (BPM’2005)

Article titles:
* Dynamic web service composition with QoS constraints
* A search engine for QoS-enabled discovery of semantic web services
* Discovering web service workflows using web services interaction mining
* A high-level specification for virtual providers
* An abstract machine architecture for web service based business process management

27 February 2007

Call for papers: Sustainable Sea Transportation: The New Research Agenda on Sustainable Ocean Systems

Call for papers: Sustainable Sea Transportation: The New Research Agenda on Sustainable Ocean Systems

A special issue of the International Journal of Ocean Systems Management

This special issue invites authors to submit articles focusing on particular context and topic areas in the field of sustainable sea transportation. The articles should be high-impact scholarly surveys of important research in the field of sustainable transportation. They should summarise recent research, delineate and explain the central issues, and highlight important directions for future inquiries.

Emphasis is placed on the problems of sustainable sea transportation that are associated with passenger and freight transportation management, policy design, health and safety and the sustainable exploitation of ocean resources in both industrialised and non-industrialised areas.

Context areas include, but are not limited to:
  • Sustainable freight transportation
  • Sustainable passenger transportation
  • Risk management in ocean engineering systems
  • Policy and regulation
  • Maritime economics
  • Maritime business and the environment
  • International entrepreneurship in ocean systems
Potential topic areas suitable for review articles include, but are not limited to:
  • Short sea shipping
  • The all-electric ship
  • Health and safety
  • Sustainable policy design
  • Ecological impacts of the exploitation of ocean resources
  • Training and education
  • Transportation of bio-hazardous materials
  • Clean vehicles/clean fleet
  • Distribution scheme
  • Fleet management and route planning
Important Dates

Submission of manuscripts: 15 April 2007
Notification to authors: 30 May 2007
Final versions due: 30 June 2007

Call for papers: Transformations in Industrial Design: Emerging Trends, Approaches and Challenges

Call for papers: Transformations in Industrial Design: Emerging Trends, Approaches and Challenges

A special issue of the International Journal of Product Development

Design is not simply about learning skills or making beautiful objects. It is the training of minds that will nurture the need to want to develop innovative ideas that impact and contribute to the global community.

Faced with future challenges, industry is supposed to show structural reform as well as the ability to produce client- and user-oriented solutions, along with innovations aesthetically distinct from those of competitors, in a cost-efficient way. This is not an easy task, but industrial design is a definite asset in facing the competition, because competence in design is what bridges the gap between the user’s perspective and technology-oriented product design.

To meet these challenges, future designers need to be prepared to operate efficiently and effectively in a design and development environment, which is highly competitive, fluid and collaborative. An industrial designer, functioning in a conventional manner as a design consultant or being employed by an organisation to produce design solutions, may soon be obsolete.

Within the context of globalisation, industrial design has taken up a significant role in the development of products and services for target groups, whose needs have become more diverse. As designers are increasingly aiming for new and innovative sourcing strategies to complement core activities, competitive advantage for these service providers will only be created through the development of innovative products, services and systems. Therefore, designers are required to become more and more proactive in engaging into right alliances to survive and succeed in a global market where end-users are becoming more demanding.

The aim of this special issue is to present a wide spectrum of topics within the overarching “umbrella” of industrial design. The issue focuses on the promotion and application of new concepts, approaches and emerging trends, that lead to innovative theories, products and methodologies.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

a. In terms of subject coverage:
  • Design education
  • Human factors/interaction design
  • Universal design
  • Designing with materials
  • Technology-driven design; design for x
  • Computer-aided (industrial) design
  • Design research
  • Design history and theory
  • Cultural studies
  • Eco-design
  • Form development and aesthetics
  • Design process and methodology
  • Design management
  • Strategic design
  • Creativity and innovation

b. In terms of artifact coverage:
  • Exhibition design
  • Furniture design
  • Product design
  • Transportation design
Important Dates

Submission of manuscripts: 1 June 2007
Notification to authors: 1 November 2007
Final versions due: 1 March 2008

Call for papers: Globalisation and Information Technology Management - Emerging Markets, New Channels, Emerging Management and Technology Approaches

Call for papers: Globalisation and Information Technology Management - Emerging Markets, New Channels, Emerging Management and Technology Approaches

A special issue of the International Journal of Technology Management.

In a world where:
  • traditional business practices are being reconsidered
  • local boundaries abolished
  • economic activity performed in a global context
  • new areas of economic development recognised as the key enablers of wealth and income production
  • the quest for collaboration and exploitation of synergies recognised as an information technology primer
This special issue brings together academics, researchers, entrepreneurs, policy makers and government officers aiming to contribute to the debate on the role of IT towards globalisation and sustainable development.
With a focus on local and global challenges, business opportunities and societal needs, the special issue promotes a scientific debate for international collaboration, peace and understanding based on sustainable development.

The main themes covered in this special issue include, but are not limited to:
  • Global business and IT
  • Global content and knowledge repositories
  • Distributed global information systems
  • IT for global economic, cultural collaboration
  • IT for sustainable development
  • Outsourcing
  • Global schemes for knowledge dissemination
  • Open knowledge initiatives
  • Collaborative global information sharing systems
  • Social networks and global IT enabled infrastructures
  • Regional studies: e.g. China, Arab World, Africa, India, North and South America etc.
  • IT for humanistic visions
  • Benchmarking reports
  • Joint ventures and IT
  • IT scientific parks
Important Dates

Submission of manuscripts: 30 April 2007
Notification to authors: 30 May 2007
Final versions due: 15 July 2007

26 February 2007

Call for papers: Pervasive healthcare

Call for papers: Pervasive healthcare

A special issue of the International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management

This special edition aims to identify and discuss useable models for new emerging patient care strategies within a changing healthcare environment, so that IT systems can be effectively designed around the patient, rather than, as in most cases, where healthcare systems are designed around the healthcare practitioners.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:
  • Distributed, patient-centric healthcare models and the challenge of population shifts and demographic changes
  • The challenge of delivering healthcare in remote areas
  • Bridging the information gap between different sectors of care
  • Modelling, measuring and monitoring
  • Security practices in healthcare systems.
  • Enhanced tracking methods.
  • Assisted living - intelligent houses
  • Agent-based systems
  • Novel strategies for data mining and information distribution
  • Ethical issues arising from the appliance of pervasive computing in healthcare.

Important Date: Deadline for submission: 31 July 2007

For more information, please see the Journal Call for Papers website.

Call for papers: Technology in engineering education

Call for papers: Technology in engineering education

A special issue of the World Review of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development

Coverage of this special issue includes, but is not limited to, the following subjects:
  • Virtual classrooms and remote laboratories
  • E-learning and knowledge management
  • Learner tracking and skill assessment
  • Simulation based learning
  • Software development for use in engineering courses
  • Multi-media courseware or modules development
  • Mobile technologies for engineering education
  • Pedagogical reflections on the use of technology in engineering education

Important Date: Submissions should be sent no later than: 10 September 2007

For more information, please see the Journal Call for Papers website.

Call for papers: Information and service personalization for mobile learning

Call for papers: Information and service personalization for mobile learning

A special issue of the International Journal of Mobile Learning and Organisation

This special issue deals with the techniques and pedagogies for personalized, adaptive and intelligent m-learning, and aims to include issues that cross the boundaries of software engineering, artificial intelligence, and information systems to bring solutions in m-learning context. This collection will serve as a forum for researchers and practitioners to discuss the state-of-the-art, present their contributions and set future directions in information and service personalization for mobile learning.

Important Dates:

Full paper deadline: 5 June, 2007
Notification of acceptance and review results : 20 July, 2007
Revised submission deadline: 1 September, 2007
Feedback on revised submissions: 25 September, 2007
Camera-ready version deadline: 30 October, 2007

For more information, please see the Journal Call for Papers website.

Call for papers: International Journal of Tourism Policy

The International Journal of Tourism Policy, published quarterly from March 2007, is a unique and innovative publication providing a forum for scholars and policy makers to exchange views and ideas at an international level on key issues that shape the growth of today’s tourism industry. Its objectives are:

  • to present the latest multidisciplinary set of views on tourism
  • to contribute towards a deeper understanding of international tourism
  • to disseminate knowledge by providing insights into developments, issues and methods in tourism research essential to theoretical understanding and practice

IJTP strongly encourages you to submit your research to us. We publish theoretical papers, empirical papers, policy-related papers, case studies and book reviews. The topics of the journal include, but are not limited to:

  • Advances in tourism policy-making
  • Tourism development and planning
  • Public administration of tourism development
  • Local government role and responses to tourism development
  • European Union policies in tourism
  • Tourism education and its role in managing tourism development
  • Tourism research and methodology
  • Terrorism, safety and security in tourism
  • Economic/social/environmental/cultural impact of tourism
  • Cross-cultural differences
  • Sustainable tourism
  • Alternative and special forms of tourism
  • Industry’s role in managing growth
  • Future of tourism
  • Globalisation and tourism
For submission guidelines, please check the journal webpage

All submissions are double blind referred. The double-blind review process takes on average 6 weeks. Currently the acceptance rate is approximately 20-25%.

25 February 2007

New journal: Journal for Global Business Advancement (JGBA)

Inderscience is delighted to announce the publication of the Journal for Global Business Advancement (JGBA)

http://www.inderscience.com/jgba

The aim of JGBA is the advancement of contemporary research in the field of global business from the standpoint of both western and emerging countries vigorously participating in the globalised world. JGBA is an international refereed journal dedicated to the advancement of the theory and practice of global business with an emphasis on developing countries attempting to assert themselves on the global stage.

JGBA aims to inspire both new and expert researchers to submit their empirical, conceptual and applied papers and case studies for publication. Preference will be given to papers examining conflicts between western firms and developing countries’ institutions, communities and firms, papers examining struggles confronted by new multinational firms emanating from developing countries and new scholars from emerging countries, as reflected by the accreditation of business programs across the world by the AACSB–International.

JGBA invites and welcomes research papers encompassing all areas of global business studies, such as marketing, management, organisational behaviour, finance, accounting, MIS, economics, and cultural anthropology. JGBA also welcomes research papers that transcend single countries, and single discipline. Accordingly, it has a special interest in the publication of multidisciplinary and multinational research emanating from innovative scholars and business schools accredited by the AACSB around the world.

Readership:
JGBA provides a vehicle to help professionals, academics, scholars, policy makers, entrepreneurs, consultants, and international civil servants working in the field of global business to disseminate information and to learn from each other’s work.

ISSN (Online): 1746-9678
ISSN (Print): 1746-966X

Editor in Chief:
Zafar U. Ahmed
Professor of Marketing and International Business, President, Academy for Global Business Advancement
Texas A&M University at Commerce
Department of Marketing and Management
Commerce TX 75429-3011
USA
Zafar_Ahmed@tamu-commerce.edu

Abstracts available online. Articles available in HTML and PDF format.

Current Issue: Volume 1 No 1 2007

For additional information and a sample copy, contact:
Mr. Jim Corlett
Inderscience Enterprises
Email: support@inderscience.com
Phone: +44 (0)1158545982

Call for papers: Automated Identification Technology

http://www.inderscience.com/browse/callpaper.php?callID=615

Call for papers: Automated Identification Technology

A special issue of the International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology (IJCAT)

Important Dates
Submission of full papers before: 30 July 2007
Notification of acceptance: 30 September 2007
Submission of revised and final manuscripts: 30 November 2007

Automated identification technology (AIT) relies on advanced computer technology. It comprises RFID (radio frequency identification), biometrics (face, fingerprint, signature, voice, iris, retina, and DNA identification), bar coding, and smart cards, etc. AIT has been used in nearly every business in the world, in applications such as tracking products and assets, criminal identification and access control, and applications in medical and health care systems, etc. AIT is exploding with opportunities for professionals and better service for people.

The objective of this special issue is to publish the state-of-the-art in automated identification technology.

For more information, please see the Journal Call for Papers website.

24 February 2007

Newly announced journal: International Journal of Arab Culture, Management and Sustainable Development

There is growing consensus among leaders in the Arab world that sustained economic and political reforms are the only way to boost the growth performance of the Arab countries. These countries vary significantly in their levels of per capita income, the degree of political and economic liberalisation that underpins them, and the structure of their productive apparatus, with many being unduly dependent on the energy sector. The Arab world finds itself at a critical crossroads.

Within this context, the global community is interested in the deeper understanding of the culture, business perspectives and realities of Arab world as well as in the opportunities within region. From this perspective the International Journal of Arab Culture, Management and Sustainable Development - to begin publication in 2008 - will provide an international forum to explore global economic, educational, cultural and business collaboration in the Arab world. Promoting dialogue for sustainable development in the Arab world, the journal will play a key role in synthesizing opinions, providing sound propositions and bringing together ideas and thoughts for a prosperous future of the Arab World.

23 February 2007

Call for papers: Knowledge Management and Information Technologies: Opportunities and Challenges for the Firm

http://www.inderscience.com/browse/callpaper.php?callID=613

Call for papers: Knowledge Management and Information Technologies: Opportunities and Challenges for the Firm

A special issue of the International Journal of Technology Management (IJTM)

Important Dates
Abstracts due: end April, 2007
Notification of eligibility for paper submission: 15 May, 2007
Full paper due: 31 July, 2007
Notification of acceptance: 30 September, 2007

The special issue aims at communicating and disseminating recent research and success stories that bring the power of emerging technologies to improve upon traditional knowledge management approaches, or realise emerging requirements of knowledge services for strategic management.

In the context of knowledge management, social and human issues are of equal if not higher importance than the technical issues that have tended to receive the bulk of attention in the past. Consequently, papers that address these topics or those that extend technical and domain knowledge to social and human issues are especially sought. This is intended to initiate a dialogue between the social, psychological and technical views of the field.

The aim of this special issue will offer a holistic view of the resources, tools, techniques, strategies and technologies necessary for the effective implementation of knowledge management in firms and organisations.

For more information, please see the Journal Call for Papers website.

Call for papers: Entrepreneurship in Europe

http://www.inderscience.com/browse/callpaper.php?callID=614

Call for papers: Entrepreneurship in Europe

A special issue of the European Journal of International Management (EJIM)

Important Dates
Paper Submission Deadline: 15 November 2007

According to the Entrepreneurship Action Plan adopted by the European Union in 2004, entrepreneurship is a major driver of innovation, competitiveness and growth. Entrepreneurship and small businesses are, particularly for the European economy, a key source of jobs, business dynamism and innovation.

Today, Europe’s competitive performance is lagging behind. To achieve objectives of meaningful development, "the EU needs more growth, more new firms, more entrepreneurs willing to embark in innovative ventures, more high-growth SMEs".

Apart from the lack of Entrepreneurial mindsets in Europe, there are other reasons hindering the full exploitation of the EU's entrepreneurial potential. Starting from the strong stigma attached to business failure, the complexities and obstacles to getting started and also the difficulties in accessing finance or the high over-proportional burden on small businesses of many bureaucratic procedures in day-to-day business are also key issues.

The implementation of the Entrepreneurship Action Plan resulted in a number of initiatives, including promoting the role of mini-companies in secondary schools, gathering expertise on ways of preventing bankruptcy, proposing tax policies that are friendly to ownership transfers of family businesses, finding ways to facilitate access to capital by women entrepreneurs, and others.

The main objective of EJIM is to establish an outlet for scholars interested in a variety of topics in international management in Europe. Thus, papers submitted for the special issue should address the international implications of entrepreneurship in Europe.

For more information, please see the Journal Call for Papers website.

Special issue: Medium access control for WLANs, WPANs, ad hoc networks and sensor networks

International Journal of Wireless and Mobile Computing 1(3/4) 2006 is a special issue: Medium access control for WLANs, WPANs, ad hoc networks and sensor networks.
Article titles:
* A microscopic study of power management in IEEE 802.11 wireless networks
* A unified interference/collision model for optimal MAC transmission power in ad hoc networks
* Performance of multichannel wireless ad hoc networks
* Adaptive polling interval scheduling to support real-time service in Bluetooth networks
* CSMA/IC: a new paradigm for medium access control in wireless LANs and ad hoc wireless networks
* Energy efficiency and QoS optimisations of IEEE 802.11 communications using frame aggregation
* Flexible call admission control for multiclass services in wireless LANs
* Dynamic polling mechanism for enhancing voice transmission in IEEE 802.11e wireless LANs
* A novel differentiated retransmission scheme for MPEG video streaming over wireless links
* On MAC-layer denial of service attacks in IEEE 802.11 ad hoc networks: analysis and counter measures
* Security mechanisms, attacks and security enhancements for the IEEE 802.11 WLANs
* CCL OSA: a CORBA-based open service access system

21 February 2007

Special issue: Automatic learning and real time

International Journal of Intelligent Systems Technologies and Applications 2(2/3) 2007 is a special issue: Automatic learning and real time.
Article titles:
* Yet Even Faster (YEF) real-time object detection
* Dynamic learning of action patterns for object acquisition
* Supervised, edge adaptive maps
* A cooperative learning approach to Mixed Performance Controller design: a behavioural viewpoint
* Model-based learning control with non-repetitive initial conditions
* Parametric Iterative Learning Control in the time and frequency domain
* Real-time machine learning in embedded software and hardware platforms
* Event triggered Holonic organisation formation
* Informax principle-based query expansion using Hopfield neural networks
* Multi-SOMs for classification
* Incremental learning for spoken affect classification and its application in call-centres
* Online modelling based on Genetic Programming
* Idea, conception and realisation of learning abilities for robot control using a Situation-Operator-Model
* Bayesian imitation learning in game characters
* Incremental online PCA for automatic motion learning of eigen behaviour
* Controlling an autonomous agent using internal value based action selection

Special issue: Enhancing product quality through process improvement and efficient information exchange

International Journal of Product Development 4(3/4) 2007 is a special issue: Enhancing product quality through process improvement and efficient information exchange.
Article titles:
* Modelling of complex fractal objects for aesthetic product development
* Semantic-oriented support of interoperability between production information systems
* A framework of ontology-enabled product knowledge management
* A unified framework to manage information maturity in design process
* Manufacturing Process Management: iterative synchronisation of engineering data with manufacturing realities
* Wafer dicing strategic planning technique for clustered BioMEMS devices
* Design of a generic product and process development system – a hybrid case-based reasoning approach
* Applying web technologies to capture and exchange complex documents
* Infrastructure for implementing a responsive product development system: a case-based reasoning approach
* An online decision support system for inventory management
* A generic object-based support system for manufacturing processes
* PLM as linkage process in a systems engineering framework
* Implications from cue utilisation theory and signalling theory for firm reputation and the marketing of new products

Special issue: Knowledge management in practice

International Journal of Knowledge Management Studies 1(3/4) 2007 is a special issue: Knowledge management in practice. Articles in this issue use empirical methods such as case
studies, surveys, action research or other relevant approaches to epitomise KM in
practice.
Article titles:
* Knowledge management system for construction projects in Finland
* Practical experiences in knowledge management processes by multinational firms: a multiple case study
* Designing and implementing an intellectual capital management system: applying the Meritum Guidelines in practice
* The management of expert knowledge for cold roll form design
* Successful paradigms, execution issues and best practices to build learning organisations
* Developing knowledge networks: a practical methodology and experiences from cases
* Managing knowledge through communities of practice: the case of the Singapore Police Force
* Benefit and cost analysis of e-learning for knowledge management: the Royal Thai Government
* The relationship between innovation and knowledge strategies: its impact on business performance
* Closing the circle: the knowledge management spiral of project management
* Strategic, organisational and technological factors and knowledge management performance in mass customisation: an exploratory study
* Unearthing key drivers of knowledge leakage
* The human capital and human resource management relationships in non-profit organisations: misunderstanding and implication
* Cognitive style fit and effective knowledge reuse
* Knowledge and networks in the global startup process
* The interface development for machine shop simulation

17 February 2007

Call for papers: Intellectual Capital as a Useful Perspective in Understanding Business Model Innovations


http://www.inderscience.com/browse/callpaper.php?callID=611

Call for papers: Intellectual Capital as a Useful Perspective in Understanding Business Model Innovations

A special issue of the International Journal of Learning and Intellectual Capital (IJLIC)

Important Dates
Submissions should be sent no later than: 15 September 2007

The aim is to further the understanding of business model innovation through the application of the intellectual capital lens. A business model is a representation of how an organisation goes about doing what it does. With the emergence of e.g. the internet we have seen the emergence of new ways of doing "the same old business", e.g distribution on-line for music, as well as the emergence of new previously non-existent businesses e.g. video-conferencing. There has been a considerable amount of literature around e-businesses [see e.g. Afuah, A. and C. Tucci, Internet Business Models and Strategies. 2nd ed. 2003, Boston: McGraw Hill.] and also more generally but still with high emphasis on the e-side [see e.g. Osterwalder, A. and Y Pigneur, Investigating the Use of the Business Model Concept through Interviews, ICEB 2004].

We are looking for more general insight specifically around business model innovations drawing on technological developments other than the internet [although these are also welcome], be that in, for example, nanotechnology, biotechnology, material science, ICT, design science, neuron-economics or anthropological consumer research.

The objective is to capture state of the art in our understanding of business model innovation and how this understanding is enhanced by the use of the intellectual capital lens. The objective is further that these insights should be expressed in such a way that they can be acted upon by managers with a reasonably predictable performance improvement outcome.

Academics and practicing mangers are the main targeted readership with consultants as the secondary readership.

For more information, please see the Journal Call for Papers website.

Call for papers: Combined Energy Storage Systems for Hybrid Electric Vehicles

http://www.inderscience.com/browse/callpaper.php?callID=612

Call for papers: Combined Energy Storage Systems for Hybrid Electric Vehicles

A special issue of the International Journal of Alternative Propulsion (IJAP)

Important Dates
Manuscripts should be submitted no later than: 1 June 2007

In recent years, hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) have become increasingly popular worldwide as a result of increased fossil fuel prices, environmental concerns and advances in electronic power systems. An essential part of a HEV is the energy storage system (ESS). Today (2007) NiMH batteries are the dominating technology for ESS. However, LiIon batteries and super capacitors are potential candidates. The different ESS technologies have diverging characteristics. For example, super capacitors have high power density and low energy density. On the other hand, LiIon batteries have the opposite relation between power and energy density. Another important aspect is lifetime. Super capacitors, for example, have an almost infinite lifetime.

These facts make, for some applications, the idea of constructing an ESS that combines different technologies an interesting proposition. One can for example think of integrating a super capacitor with a lead acid battery to extend the lifetime of the battery.

The aim of this special issue of the IJAP is to compile the state-of-the-art in combined ESS. In particular, its aim is to provide a forum for representing the most recent and innovative lines of research related to mathematical modelling, optimisation, construction and real world experience from combined ESS. Both technical and economic aspects are included. The application focus is on automotive but other, e.g. wind power, marine, etc, are not excluded.

For more information, please see the Journal Call for Papers website.

Special issue: Self-organisation, Routing and Information Integration in Wireless Sensor Networks, 2005

International Journal of Wireless and Mobile Computing 1(2) 2006 is a special issue: Self-organisation, Routing and Information Integration in Wireless Sensor Networks, 2005.
Article titles:
* Resilient and energy efficient tracking in sensor networks
* Placement of network services in a sensor network
* A distributed clustering method for energy-efficient data gathering in sensor networks
* Energy efficient Chessboard Clustering and routing in heterogeneous sensor networks
* Bounds on hop distance in greedy routing approach in wireless ad hoc networks
* Distributed energy-efficient geographic multicast for Wireless Sensor Networks
* A distributed algorithm for computing Connected Dominating Set in ad hoc networks
* A novel tree-based broadcast algorithm for wireless ad hoc networks

15 February 2007

Call for papers: Whither Regulatory Policy Reform?

http://www.inderscience.com/browse/callpaper.php?callID=610

Call for papers: Whither Regulatory Policy Reform?

A special issue of the International Journal of Public Policy (IJPP)

Important Dates
Deadline for submission of manuscripts: 15 May 2007

This special edition looks at the state of play of regulatory reform in the post-Washington-Consensus era, as academics and policy-makers increasingly realise the importance of good governance and effective regulation to address key public policy challenges.

Studies of particular countries or cases should focus on the broader international significance and 'replicability' of the main findings. Papers drawing on the experience of developing/transition countries, or with important policy implications for such countries, are particularly welcome.

All subjects of regulation are relevant, including (but not necessarily restricted to):

The environment
International trade
Competition policy
Utilities regulation

For more information, please see the Journal Call for Papers website.

Special issue: International manufacturing: the key factors in understanding manufacturing in international settings

International Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management 11(1) 2007 is a special issue: International manufacturing: the key factors in understanding manufacturing in international settings.
Article titles:
* Manufacturing strategy and innovation in indigenous and foreign firms: an international study
* Strategic deployment of specialised testing and remanufacturing in a global high-tech supply chain
* Learning and technology management in an international partnership: Honda of Japan
* Shifts in manufacturing: an illustrative study on passenger car production location
* Automation strategies: existing theory or ad hoc decisions?
* International manufacturing in/divestment strategy: Flextronics in the Czech Republic

14 February 2007

Featured article: Condensed matter nuclear science (cold fusion): an update

Condensed matter nuclear science (cold fusion): an update
Jean-Paul Biberian, CRMCN-CNRS – Universite d'Aix-Marseille II, France
International Journal of Nuclear Energy Science and Technology 3(1) 2007, 31-42
Seventeen years after the announcement by Professors Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann of the discovery of cold fusion in March 1989, the scientific community does not acknowledge this field as a genuine scientific research theme. However, the scientific demonstration of cold fusion was made long ago by showing the evidence of excess heat production in electrolytic cells and other devices. Also, nuclear ashes have been observed, mainly the formation of helium-4 along with the production of excess heat. What makes this field difficult to accept is the lack of the usual particle emission observed in nuclear science or high-energy physics. In some instances low-level neutron production, X-ray emission and transmutation of elements have been measured. At this point there is no satisfactory theory explaining the unique characteristics of condensed matter nuclear science. Many models have been proposed, several of them using textbook physics.

Special issue: Organisational learning from external sources: new issues and performance implications

International Journal of Technology Management 38(1/2) 2007 is a special issue: Organisational learning from external sources: new issues and performance implications.
Article titles:
* International entrepreneurship in emerging economies: the role of social capital, knowledge development and entrepreneurial actions
* Alliance and technology networks: an empirical study on technology learning
* Sources of external organisational learning in small manufacturing firms
* Technological knowledge and governance in alliances among competitors
* Learning in a consortium: a longitudinal case study
* Performance implications of organisational structure and knowledge sharing in multinational R&D networks
* External knowledge acquisition, creativity and learning in organisational problem solving
* Managing intellectual property in R&D alliances
* Data, meaning and practice: how the knowledge-based view can clarify technology's relationship with organisations

13 February 2007

Special issue: Climate change, tourism and transport

International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development 1(3) 2006 is a special issue: Climate change, tourism and transport.
Article titles:
* Innovation towards tourism sustainability: climate change and aviation
* Coasian economics and the management of international aviation emissions
* Perceptions and adaptation strategies of the tourism industry to climate change: the case of Finnish nature-based tourism entrepreneurs
* New Zealand tourism entrepreneur attitudes and behaviours with respect to climate change adaptation and mitigation
* Mainstreaming action on climate change through participatory appraisal
* The economics of climate change: an overview of the Stern review

Special issue: Mobility Conference 2005

International Journal of Ad Hoc and Ubiquitous Computing 2(3) 2007 is a special issue: Mobility Conference 2005, with papers from the Second Mobility Conference held in Guangzhou, China, in 2005.
Article titles:
* A secure mobile communication approach based on information hiding
* On network coding in wireless ad-hoc networks
* Routing protocol for ad hoc mobile networks using mobility prediction
* Detailed DoS attacks in wireless networks and countermeasures
* Simulation study of some PRMA-based protocols with channel reservation for data traffic
* A distributed stabilised clustering algorithm for large-scale wireless ad hoc networks
* Designing next generation middleware for context-aware ubiquitous and pervasive computing

12 February 2007

Featured article: David Beckham and the changing (re)presentations of English identity

David Beckham and the changing (re)presentations of English identity
John Harris, Kent State University, Kent, USA
Ben Clayton, Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College, High Wycombe, UK
International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing 2(3) 2007, 208 - 221

David Beckham is, arguably, the most high profile association football player in the world, securing global media interest in all aspects of his life. Contradiction and inconsistencies are prevalent within the narratives that accompany the conflicting images of Beckham where media discourse has been adjusted to position him as both hero and villain. This paper examines the inconstant nature of the nationalistic and masculine discourses applied to Beckham and the diversity of roles played by him in upholding and distorting ideologies in sport. Beckham has become a cultural icon and a symbol of national identity and masculinised sporting pride. Yet many of his exploits, both on and off the pitch, have led to allegations of non-conformity. His role, therefore, is a complicated one as he is both symbol of, and an exception to, conceptualisations of Englishness and of the hegemonic model of masculinity.

Special issue: Sport communication.

International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing 2(3) 2007 is a special issue: Sport communication.
Article titles:
* The juxtaposition of sport and communication: defining the field of sport communication
* David Beckham and the changing (re)presentations of English identity
* An investigation of the relationship between television broadcasting and game attendance
* The culture of communication among intercollegiate sport information professionals
* Sport information directors and homologous reproduction
* Knowledge management best practices in national sport organisations
* Analysing the print media coverage of professional tennis players: British newspaper narratives about female competitors in the Wimbledon Championships
* What communication methods work for sports events? An analysis of the FedEx St. Jude Classic

10 February 2007

Special issue: Critical infrastructure protection

International Journal of Emergency Management 4(1) 2007 is a special issue: Critical infrastructure protection.
Article titles:
* Analysing the vulnerability of electric distribution systems: a step towards incorporating the societal consequences of disruptions
* Public policy and the failure of national infrastructures
* 3D tactics: an advanced warfare concept in critical infrastructure protection
* Dynamic islanding of critical infrastructures: a suitable strategy to survive and mitigate extreme events
* A decision support system for resource intervention in real-time emergency management
* Systemic approach to the integration of motorway networks into European emergency number 112
* Novelty detection and management to safeguard information-intensive critical infrastructures
* Mapping an emergency management network

Latest issue of the Highlights Newsletter from Inderscience - now available


The Winter 06/07 issue of Highlights, the free, quarterly newsletter from Inderscience Publishers, is now available at: http://www.inderscience.com/highlights

This issue includes:

Newly published journal titles: some highlights

Newly announced journal titles

Featured short article: “A Perspective on Radio Frequency Identification” by Marlin H. Mickle

Latest Calls for Papers

Librarian’s Corner

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Plus much more!

To subscribe to the Inderscience Highlights newsletter and receive regular updates on newly-published titles, free trials and special offers, and more, please complete this form.

9 February 2007

Call for papers: Emergency, and Disaster Operations Management

http://www.inderscience.com/browse/callpaper.php?callID=609

Call for papers: Emergency, and Disaster Operations Management

A special issue of the International Journal of Services Sciences (IJSSci)

Important Dates
Full paper due: 15 September 2007
Notification of status of paper: 15 November 2007
Notification of acceptance: 1 April 2008
Final version of paper due: 1 May 2008

Natural and man-made disasters are generally large-scale intractable problems. They have short and long-term technological, economic, social, humanitarian and environmental effects that need to be addressed. Emergency responses are an important part of disaster management and response.

This special issue of IJSSci solicits original research papers both theoretical and practical, and in both strategic and tactical aspects of disasters and emergency operations management. Papers addressing the four stages of life-cycle of disaster management (mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery) using analytical approaches are highly welcomed.

While this special issue concentrates on non-routine (catastrophic) emergency responses, analytical and practical papers (specially with real data) from routine emergency responses, such as ambulance, police, fire department calls management (if they can directly help the non-routine emergency management), are welcome. Papers addressing all types of emergency, and disaster operations management are also encouraged, including: hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons, floods, drought, atmospheric/water pollution, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, epidemics, famine and food insecurity, man-made disasters, population movement, and technological disasters.

For more information, please see the Journal Call for Papers website.

Call for papers: Experimental and Numerical Studies on Machinability of Materials

http://www.inderscience.com/browse/callpaper.php?callID=608

Call for papers: Experimental and Numerical Studies on Machinability of Materials

A special issue of the International Journal of Materials and Product Technology (IJMPT)

Important Dates
Deadline for submission: 31 October 2007

The word "machinability" refers to the relative ease with which a given material (or group the materials) can be machined using appropriate tooling and cutting parameters. Several criteria are used to evaluate machinability, the most important being (i) tool life or tool wear rates (ii) cutting forces or power consumption (iii) surface finish, (iv) limiting rate of metal removal and (v) chip shape. However, machinability is affected by the properties (mechanical and physical) of the work material, tool material, machine tool, part, fixture, cutting fluid and cutting parameters. For this reason, any improvement in the technical capability of predicting machinability is very important for modern manufacturing industries.

Articles with computational and optimisation methods applied to the machinability of materials are welcome for this special issue, as well articles on the machinability of advanced materials and composites. The issue invites the submission of high quality research articles related to experimental and numerical approaches for the machinability of materials (turning, milling, drilling, grinding, high speed machining, advanced machining processes, etc.) of metal alloys, ceramics, composites and related materials.

For more information, please see the Journal Call for Papers website.

Call for papers: Monitoring, Fate and Health Risk of Environmental Pollutants

http://www.inderscience.com/browse/callpaper.php?callID=607

Call for papers: Monitoring, Fate and Health Risk of Environmental Pollutants

A special issue of the International Journal of Environment and Waste Management (IJEWM)

Important Dates
Deadline for paper submission : 30 June 2007
Deadline of papers review : 30 August 2007
Deadline for submission of revised papers : 15 September 2007
Deadline for re-review of papers requiring major revision : 15 October 2007
Deadline for second revisions of papers if required : 30 October 2007

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

* Sampling and Monitoring of various pollutants

* Advances in monitoring equipment and method

* Quality control and assurance

* Sources, transport and fate of pollutants in environment

* Speciation of environmental contaminants

* Air (outdoor/indoor), water, soil and radiological pollution, control and management

* Environmental pollution, prevention and control, waste treatment and management

* Air pollution control, treatment and management

* Environmental quality standards, environmental legislations, regulations and policies

* Public and environmental health, environmental toxicology and environmental risk assessment

* Application of mathematical and modelling techniques

* Use of monitoring data in material and health risk studies

For more information, please see the Journal Call for Papers website.

Special issue: Metadata vocabularies in practice: papers presented at the International Conference on Dublin Core and Metadata Application, 2005

International Journal of Metadata, Semantics and Ontologies 1(3) 2006 is a special issue: Metadata vocabularies in practice: papers presented at the International Conference on Dublin Core and Metadata Application, Madrid, September 2005.
Article titles:
* Toward core subject vocabularies for community-oriented subject gateways
* Managing resource relationships with vocabularies: a case study
* Semantic interoperability based on Dublin Core hierarchical one-to-one mappings
* Orchestrating metadata enhancement services: introducing Lenny
* Dublin core and museum information: metadata as cultural heritage data
* Retrieval of Italian legal literature: a case of semantic search using legal vocabulary
* Coding semantics of handwritten annotation
* Accessibility via metadata in a semantic web-driven Content Management System

Special issue: EUNICE 2005: Networked Applications

International Journal of Internet Protocol Technology 2(2) 2007 is a special issue: EUNICE 2005: Networked Applications with papers from the EUNICE 2005 11th Open European Summer School held in July 2005 at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.
Article titles:
* System architecture of a mobile message transport system
* WAP PKI and certification path validation
* Profile-based configuration of residential networks
* Context-aware QoS provisioning in an m-health service platform
*Towards an application framework for context-aware m-health applications
* Peer-to-peer based distributed file systems
* Multimedia interconnection using service gateways
* State-space reduction in the model of Access Control Lists in IP routers

7 February 2007

Special issue: Advances in machining of composite materials

International Journal of Machining and Machinability of Materials 1(4) 2006 is a special issue: Advances in machining of composite materials.
Article titles:
* Parametric study and optimisation of wire electrical discharge machining of Al-Cu-TiC-Si P/M composite
* An experimental study of the machining parameters in powder mixed electric discharge machining of Al–10%SiCP metal matrix composites
* Some investigations into wire electro-discharge machining performance of Al/SiCp composites
* Nd:YAG laser micromachining of alumina–aluminium interpenetrating phase composite using response surface methodology
* Optimisation of MRR in ultrasonic drilling (USD) based on Taguchi's robust design methodology
* A study on machinability of Al Si7 Mg2/SiCp metal matrix composite
* Optimisation of surface roughness with GA approach in turning 15% SiCp reinforced AlSi7Mg2 MMC material
* Taguchi method based optimization of cutting tool flank wear during turning of PR-Al/20vol.% SiC-MMC
* Analysis of burr formation during drilling of hybrid metal matrix composites using design of experiments

Special issue: Advanced manufacturing tooling

International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology 28(1) 2007 is a special issue: Advanced manufacturing tooling.
Manufacturing involves intensive tooling operations. Since tooling is part of manufacturing systems and also part of manufacturing processes, it is necessary to integrate the tooling development, such as design, analysis, simulation, control, and management, into system planning and process verification. As new manufacturing technologies, systems and processes, such as laser processing and micro/nanomanufacturing, are being developed rapidly, the tooling becomes a contributive factor in reducing the product/process development cycle time with ensured quality and low cost. Nowadays, with more and more outsourcing in manufacturing, tooling techniques face new challenges to adapt and be driven by supplier-based manufacturing strategy. In recent years, the application of computer modelling, simulation, analysis, optimisation, and management techniques in tooling has been increasingly studied and has played important roles in supporting the development of new products and the improvement of existing production systems, especially in supporting mass customisation.

The purpose of this special issue is to provide a forum for the dissemination of information in the state-of-the-art research. The issue includes 15 papers, covering topics from traditional machining to micro-nanoscale machining processes; from fixture moulding to machining tools; from cutter design to laser sintering-based rapid tooling; and from tool-condition monitoring to manufacturing process optimisation.

6 February 2007

New Nanoscience/technology Society endorses Inderscience journals

The Society of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (SNN) was launched at the International Meeting on Developments in Materials, Processes and Applications of Nanotechnology, MPA-2007 held at the University of Ulster, UK on 15 January 2007. The SNN provides a platform for fostering, developing and promoting communication, education, networking, dissemination of knowledge, research and innovations in all aspects of nanoscience and nanotechnology. Its Honorary President is the Nobel Laureate, Professor Sir H. W Kroto, its President is Dr Nasar Ali and its Vice Presidents are Professor Sam Zhang, Professor Waqar Ahmed, and Professor Andreas Oechsner.

The SNN officially endorses and supports the Inderscience titles International Journal of Molecular Engineering, International Journal of Nanomanufacturing, International Journal of Nano and Biomaterials and International Journal of Nanoparticles.

New Editor for International Journal of Forensic Software Engineering

Dr. Pierluigi Ritrovato has undertaken the development of the forthcoming International Journal of Forensic Software Engineering. Dr. Ritrovato is Assistant Professor in Information Engineering at DIIMA, University of Salerno and responsible for International Research Cooperation and Technology Innovations at CRMPA, the Research Centre in Pure and Applied Mathematics in Fisciano, Italy. The new details for the journal are on its home page and information on the Editorial Board will appear there shortly

Special issue: Computer-aided automotive development

International Journal of Vehicle Design 43(1-4) 2007 is a special issue: Computer-aided automotive development with 20 papers on applications to a range of components and types of vehicle.

Special issue: Nanotechnology in China

International Journal of Nanotechnology 4(1/2) 2007 is a special issue: Nanotechnology in China. Previous special issues have dealt with nanotechnology in Korea, Spain, and Ukraine.
Article titles:
* Multi-component supramolecular assembly structures studied by scanning tunnelling microscopy
* An approach to fabricate pure metallic Ni-Ni and metallic oxide Ni-NiO-Ni nanocontacts by repeatable microfabrication method
* Synthesis and properties of B-C-N related nanomaterials
* Structure and applications of titanate and related nanostructures
* Organic groups functionalised mesoporous silicates
* Growth behaviour and electronic properties of organic semiconductors on metal surfaces
* Ordered semiconductor CdO nanowire arrays: synthesising by one-step low-temperature electrodeposition and optical properties
* In situ TEM probing properties of individual one-dimensional nanostructures
* Recent advances in hydrothermal syntheses of low dimensional nanoarchitectures
* A strategy for Ordered single molecule Sequencing based on Nanomanipulation (OsmSN)
* Biosensor with total internal reflection imaging ellipsometry
* Toxicological and biological effects of nanomaterials
* Synthesis and properties of π conjugated organic molecular one-dimensional nanomaterials

Special issue: Innovation and regulation

International Journal of Public Policy 2(1/2) 2007 is a special issue: Innovation and regulation.
Article titles:
* Explaining and predicting the impact of regulation on innovation: towards a dynamic model
* Promotion of renewable energy sources: effects on innovation
* The role of regulation for sustainable infrastructure innovations: the case of wind energy
* Regulation and innovation in biogas technology in selected European countries
* Determinants of structural change and innovation in the German steel industry – an empirical investigation
* Effectiveness of the international 3G standardisation process and implications for China's 3G policy
* Road to industrial upgrading: policy design and implementation for encouraging industrial innovation in Taiwan

5 February 2007

Newly announced journal: International Journal of Procurement Management

International Journal of Procurement Management - to begin publication in 2008 - proposes and fosters discussions on the development of procurement resources, with emphasis on the implications that purchasing and supply management functions have on organisational productivity and competitiveness in the global market. The globalisation of market and operations, including outsourcing, lead to global purchasing and supplier development that are closely related to the success of a company. This perspective indicates the importance of effective procurement and supply functions for organisational effectiveness and competitiveness. In addition, developments in information technology (IT) and information systems (IS) such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and radio frequency identification (RFID) have a significant impact on the procurement functions and supply management.

Due emphasis will be given to research about the impact of IT/IS in the effective management of procurement and suppliers. The journal is a double-blind refereed and authoritative reference dealing with procurement and supply management as well as emerging issues of interest to professionals and academics in the field.

Special issue: Continuous improvement – status and challenges

International Journal of Technology Management 37(3/4) 2007 is a special issue: Continuous improvement – status and challenges.
Article titles:
* Managing and organising collaborative improvement: a system integrator perspective
* Performance measurement and continuous improvement: are they linked to manufacturing strategy?
* Exploiting complementary competencies via inter-firm cooperation
* Continuous improvement in The Netherlands: a survey-based study into current practices
* Continuous improvement capability in the Swedish engineering industry
* What challenges lie ahead for improvement programmes in the UK? Lessons from the CINet Continuous Improvement Survey 2003
* Implementing collaborative improvement – top-down, bottom-up or both?
* Continuous improvement in manufacturing companies in Jordan
* CI practice in Spain: its role as a strategic tool for the firm. Empirical evidence from the CINet survey analysis
* Tools and abilities for continuous improvement: what are the drivers of performance?

Newly announced journal: International Journal of Information and Coding Theory

International Journal of Information and Coding Theory - to begin publication in 2008 - will publish state-of-the-art international research that significantly advances the study of information and coding theory and their applications to cryptography, network security, network coding, computational complexity theory, communication networks, and related scientific fields that make use of information and coding theory methods.

Newly announced journal: International Journal of Decision Sciences, Risk and Management

International Journal of Decision Sciences, Risk and Management - to begin publication in 2008 - will publish scholarly empirical and theoretical research articles that have a high impact on the field of management and decision making. The journal actively fosters the exchange of theoretical as well as practical views, case-based experiences and state-of-the-art applications, which ultimately shape contemporary management and decision making trends in the highly competitive SME sector, extending also to large organisations, institutions and the public-sector.

True management insight is elicited only by comprehending a whole that is more than the sum of its parts. Decision sciences, risk and management therefore form a trinity for contemporary decision-making theory and practice, in essence reflecting the interaction between quantitative models and techniques, uncertainty modelling, qualitative and procedural approaches, respectively. At the same time, developments taking place around the world point that this multidimensional trend extends its reach both within and beyond the business world, including the public sector and the broader institutional level, which are also actively seeking improved efficiency, higher productivity and results-driven policy making and implementation.

4 February 2007

New journal: International Journal of Information and Computer Security (IJICS)

Inderscience is delighted to announce the launch of the International Journal of Information and Computer Security (IJICS)

http://www.inderscience.com/browse/ijics

The IJICS aims to promote and coordinate developments of information and computer security in the fields of information technology, political science, informatics, sociology, engineering and science. IJICS publishes papers representing synergy between theory and practices to help policy makers and executives manage information and computer security and its related technologies.

IJICS focuses on theory, design, implementation, analysis, and application of secure information and computer systems. Emphases will also be on the related social, political and economic issues as well as emerging issues of interest to legislators, professionals, researchers, academics, and technical community.

Readership:
Professionals, researchers, legislators, academics, and technical community.

ISSN (Online): 1744-1773
ISSN (Print): 1744-1765

Editor in Chief:
Prof. Dr. Eldon Y. Li
University Chair Professor
National Chengchi University
Department of Management Information Systems
College of Commerce
4, Sec. 2, Zhi-nan Rd, Wenshan
Taipei 11605
USA
eli@calpoly.edu

Abstracts available online. Articles available in HTML and PDF format.

Current Issue: Volume 1 No 1/2 2007

For additional information and a sample copy, contact:
Mr. Jim Corlett
Inderscience Enterprises
Email: support@inderscience.com

New journal: International Journal of Environment and Health (IJEnvH)

Inderscience is delighted to announce the publication of the following new journal:

International Journal of Environment and Health (IJEnvH)

http://www.inderscience.com/ijenvh

The IJEnvH is a fully-refereed scientific journal that provides an international forum for the exchange of information and the advancement of knowledge in the multidisciplinary field of Environment and Health. The aim of the IJEnvH is to stimulate the discussion and communication among scientists, researchers and experts with different background and expertise, involved, at different levels, with the study of environment and health problems.

IJEnvH publishes original and review articles focusing on the different aspects of environmentally related health problems, covering both theoretical modelling and applied research: analytical monitoring of biological, chemical and physical contaminants; applied clinical studies; ecotoxicology and biomonitoring; environmental biosensors and biomarkers; ecosystem protection and management; environmental restoration and recovery; environmentally related diseases/pathologies; regulatory aspects and legislation; bioethical issues.

Readership:
Professionals, researchers, scholars and policy makers interested in the study of environment and health problems, including technology managers, engineering and business educators, academic institutions and all those involved in these topics

ISSN (Online): 1743-4963
ISSN (Print): 1743-4955

Editor in Chief:
Prof. Marcelo Enrique Conti
Università di Roma “La Sapienza”
SPES - Development Studies Research Centre
Dipartimento per le Tecnologie, le Risorse e lo Sviluppo
Via Del Castro Laurenziano 9
00161 Roma
ITALY
marcelo.conti@uniroma1.it

Current Issue: Volume 1 No 1 2007

For additional information and a sample copy, contact:
Mr. Jim Corlett
Inderscience Enterprises
Email: support@inderscience.com
Phone: +44 (0)1158545982

Call for papers: Knowledge Intensive Business Services

http://www.inderscience.com/browse/callpaper.php?callID=597

Call for papers: Knowledge Intensive Business Services

A special issue of the International Journal of Services Technology and Management (IJSTM)

Important Dates
Paper submission: 15 June 2007
Communication of results of peer review to authors: 15 July 2007
Final manuscript submission: 1 October 2007

This special issue aims to bring together papers on various aspects of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS). Topics include, but are not limited to: the nature of innovation in KIBS; the role of KIBS in innovation systems; knowledge diffusion; collaborations and co-production; and, management strategies. We welcome papers irrespective of theoretical perspective or methodological approach. Empirical and policy focused papers are also welcomed. For empirical papers, the methodological rigor of the submission and the implications for management and policy are important.

For more information, please see the Journal Call for Papers website.

Call for papers: Global Applications of Renewable Energy for GHG Reduction

http://www.inderscience.com/browse/callpaper.php?callID=598

Call for papers: Global Applications of Renewable Energy for GHG Reduction

A special issue of the International Journal of Global Energy Issues (IJGEI)

Important Dates
Proposal submission: 15 June, 2007
Notification of acceptance: 15 July, 2007
Complete manuscript submission: 15 September, 2007
Notification of acceptance: 30 November, 2007
Final paper: 30 December 2007

Technological advances offer new opportunities and declining costs for energy from renewable sources. In the longer term, renewables can meet a major part of the world's demand for energy.

High rates of innovation in the energy sector are a prerequisite for meeting the most ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation objectives and significantly lowering the costs of many technology options below present levels.

RD&D programs are necessary but not sufficient to establish new technologies in the marketplace. Commercial demonstration projects and programmes located in realistic economic and organisational contexts to stimulate markets for new technologies also are needed. For a wide range of small-scale, modular technologies, such as most renewable energy technologies and fuel cells, energy production costs can be expected to decline with the cumulative volume of production, as a result of learning by doing.

The objective of the special issue is to provide a means for the publication and interchange of information, and embraces history, the power market, role of utilities, international activity, manufacturing expansion, utility projects, corporate projects, community projects, financial activity, archival bibliography and resources.

For more information, please see the Journal Call for Papers website.

Call for papers: Leveraging Workplace Diversity: Multiple Settings, Professions, Strategies and Theoretical Perspectives

http://www.inderscience.com/browse/callpaper.php?callID=599

Call for papers: Leveraging Workplace Diversity: Multiple Settings, Professions, Strategies and Theoretical Perspectives

A special issue of the International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management (IJHRDM)

Important Dates
Submissions should be sent no later than : 31 July, 2007

Today, many organisations from a variety of settings are embracing and linking workplace diversity to their strategic goals and objectives, as one way to improve organisational effectiveness. At the same time, these organisations are holding the areas of human resource development, and management accountable for their workplace diversity measurable results.

In assisting these organisations, and their areas of human resource development, and management, in creating their workplace diversity strategic goals and objectives, the concept known as leveraging workplace diversity has been employed. Leveraging workplace diversity is a strategy that has been used by many organisations to date to:
1) initiate and manage aspects of cultural change
2) improve the culture and climate of an organisation
3) promote full inclusion of all employee stakeholders and
4) enhance the bottom line, for the purpose of impacting organisational effectiveness, and gaining a competitive advantage.

Over the past decade, the concept of leveraging workplace diversity has been viewed by scholars and practitioners as a popular and important initiative that continues to evolve. In the future, the areas of human resource development and management will continue to play key roles in leveraging workplace diversity to create and empower an organisational culture that fosters a respectful, inclusive, knowledge-based environment where each employee has the opportunity to learn, grow, and meaningfully contribute to the organisation's success.

The purpose of this special issue is to serve as a forum for scholars and practitioners to highlight the variety of workplace settings, professions, strategies, and theoretical perspectives that have been used to effectively leverage workplace diversity globally.

Papers submitted to this special issue should address aspects of leveraging workplace diversity focusing on the relationship between management, human resource management, and human resource development from multiple settings, professions, strategies, and theoretical perspectives. However, papers exploring other areas related to the above are also welcome.

For more information, please see the Journal Call for Papers website.

Call for papers: Modelling Languages for Agent Systems

http://www.inderscience.com/browse/callpaper.php?callID=600

Call for papers: Modelling Languages for Agent Systems

A special issue of the International Journal of Agent-Oriented Software Engineering (IJAOSE)

Important Dates
Submission Deadline: 11 June 2007
Authors’ Notification: 10 September 2007
Submission of revised version: 26 October 2007
Review 2 Notification (If needed): 14 December 2007
Final Camera Ready Copies: 4 February 2008

Over the past decade, software agents and multiagent systems have grown into one of the most active areas of research and development in computing. At the same time, they affect other computing areas such as Grid, Semantic Web and Web Services. Plenty of reasons have been given in the computing literature why agents have received such interest; certainly one of the most important is that the concept of an agent as an autonomous system, capable of interacting with other agents in order to satisfy its design objectives, provides a natural way of developing software. An agent-oriented approach views the system as a society, similar to a human society, consisting of entities that possess characteristics similar to humans such as mobility, intelligence and the capability of communicating.

As a result, there has been a growth of interest in the potential of agent technology in the context of software engineering. Significant research has been introduced under the umbrella term of agent-oriented software engineering. An important, active and fast moving line of research is one associated with modelling languages for agent systems. Existing research has created two main types of “believers” among researchers. On the one hand, a number of researchers point out that agents represent a new paradigm for software engineering and therefore existing modelling languages, such as UML, are not suitable. They argue that different ways are needed to model complex and dynamic systems in terms of concepts such as collaboration, coordination and negotiation. On the other hand, a number of researchers stress the need to explore the usage of existing modelling languages for the development of multiagent systems and possibly extend these approaches to model the extra concepts that agent orientation introduces.

This separation of ideas, although useful to explore the different possibilities, needs to be addressed if agent orientation is to be widely accepted. This special issue provides a first step in this direction. In particular, its aim is to provide a forum for representing the most recent and innovative lines of research related to modelling languages for agent systems and capture its essential elements. Moreover, we are interested in establishing whether existing modelling languages are suitable for the development of agent systems, or whether we need “new” types of modelling languages to design such systems.

We welcome contributions relevant (but not limited) to:

UML and agent systems
Innovative modelling languages for the development of agent systems
Formal methods for agent-oriented systems
Design patterns, frameworks, components and architectures
Pitfalls and lessons learned in the development of modelling languages for agent systems
Domain specific languages
Comparative studies between agent related modelling languages and languages of other paradigms
Tools for agent-oriented modelling languages
Industry case studies of agent-oriented modelling languages
Feedback from using agent modelling languages
Comparison between agent modelling languages and modelling languages from other paradigms

For more information, please see the Journal Call for Papers website.

Call for papers: Evolution of Policy-making in the European Union – Achievements, Shortcomings, Prospects

http://www.inderscience.com/browse/callpaper.php?callID=601

Call for papers: Evolution of Policy-making in the European Union – Achievements, Shortcomings, Prospects

A special issue of the International Journal of Public Policy (IJPP)

Important Dates
Deadline for papers to be considered for publication: 31 October 2007

With monetary unification in 1999, European integration has entered a new stage of institution-building and norm generation. It becomes ever more obvious that economic integration must be paralleled by political integration in order to provide instruments of efficient public policy provision at EU level and to gain legitimacy and compliance for EU policy-making.

The recent failure of the constitutional process has proved the point that European integration has not yet managed to convince the sceptics of its long-term welfare gains and the EU member’s constituencies are still far from taking a European perspective in their voting decisions and have failed to recognise the inherent objectives to reduce the ‘democratic deficit’ in EU policy-making.

The special issue covers all topics that may explain the developments above in general as well as all policy areas may be investigated, including but not limited to:

Testing theories of European integration
Evaluating different policy areas
Conceptualising integration dynamics
Conceptualising European Public Goods provision
Political Economy of European Integration
European federalism

For more information, please see the Journal Call for Papers website.

Call for papers: Chinese Corporate Strategy in Africa: A Critical Evaluation and Ways Forward

http://www.inderscience.com/browse/callpaper.php?callID=602

Call for papers: Chinese Corporate Strategy in Africa: A Critical Evaluation and Ways Forward

A special issue of the World Review of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development (WREMSD)

Important Dates
Submissions should be sent no later than: 1 May 2007

The past two decades have witnessed China’s burgeoning influence around the globe, with its growing importance as a major global economic player. As part of this process, China’s growing industries demand new energy and raw material suppliers, and its manufacturers are in a perennial search for new markets. Africa has become central to these strategies. In 2005, trade volumes between China and African countries exceeded 37 billion U.S. dollars and investment by Chinese companies in Africa topped 1 billion US dollars. Chinese companies are also taking on more construction projects in Africa. From January through October 2005, they won 6.34 billion U.S. dollars-worth of contracts in the continent. The official China-Africa policy white paper, published in January 2006, highlighted these key areas of cooperation and the need to complement them with political and diplomatic initiatives as part of the means to consolidate Chinese strategic interest in Africa.

While this is a further illustration of China’s confidence as an emerging global power, there is much uncertainty whether the Sino-Africa partnership is based on equal terms and reciprocal gains. Indeed, very little investigation has been carried out to assess the impact of this ‘new trade relationship’ on key economic sectors, environments and livelihoods in Africa. Such enquiries would need to ask some searching questions about the effect this partnership is having on other non-economic matters such as ‘governance’, the role of political elites in the facilitation of these commercial relations, and implications for human rights and environmental protection. Moreover, the implications of these processes on North-South relations is worth exploring as the emergence of China on the scene is having an influence on the character of the broader global political terrain.

This special issue will provide an in-depth understanding of the nature and mechanics of China’s corporate strategy in Africa.

For more information, please see the Journal Call for Papers website.

Call for papers: Modelling and Analysis of Automobile Warranty Data

http://www.inderscience.com/browse/callpaper.php?callID=603

Call for papers: Modelling and Analysis of Automobile Warranty Data

A special issue of the International Journal of Reliability and Safety (IJRS)

Important Dates
Manuscript submission: 30 August, 2007
First review process: 30 November, 2007
Notification of acceptance: 30 November, 2007
Submission of revised manuscript: 31 December, 2007
Notification of final acceptance: 31 January, 2008
Submission of final manuscript: 1 March, 2008

Yearly warranty cost of major automobile companies and their suppliers run into billions of dollars. In addition, market driven need for wider warranty coverage in terms of time and mileage exposes these companies to the risk of higher warranty spending. Warranty cost reduction programmes have thus become a major objective and challenge in these companies. At the same time, warranty data that capture vehicle failures in true field conditions are a rich source of information for design, manufacturing, and service engineers seeking reliability and robustness improvements leading to warranty cost reduction. Developing sound modelling and analysis methods for warranty data has become an important field of research with practical implications.

This special issue invites submission of papers that provide methods for modelling and analysis of automobile warranty datasets.

For more information, please see the Journal Call for Papers website.