30 January 2010

Special issue: Nanotechnology and social cohesion

International Journal of Nanotechnology 7(2/3) 2010
  • The 'enterprise of science': construction and reconstruction of social capital around nano R&D
  • Ordering technology, excluding society: the division of labour and sociotechnical order in images of converging technologies
  • Nanoscale science and technology and social cohesion
  • Identifying recent trends in nanomedicine development
  • A comparison of human capital levels and the future prospect of the nanotechnology industry in early sector investors and recent emerging markets
  • Nanotechnology innovation as a deus ex machine and potential effects on sustainability in a global context
  • Governing nanotechnologies with civility
  • Applying a precautionary risk management strategy for regulation of nanotechnology
  • Public reactions to the promotion of nanotechnologies in society

29 January 2010

Call for papers: Advances in Thermal Analysis of Rubbing Contacts

A special issue of International Journal of Surface Science and Engineering

Conversion of frictional work into thermal energy, frictional heating, is frequently encountered in the sliding of complying solids. Depending on rubbing conditions (dry, lubricated, normal load, sliding speed, and thermal properties of the rubbing components), the released heat can cause significant rise in the temperatures of the sliding interface. Contact temperatures influence sliding behaviour. The low sliding friction of ice and snow is due to the presence of a thin lubricating layer of melt water which results from frictional heating of contacting ice crystals. Surface temperatures may also cause transitions in the wear regime exhibited by a sliding solid (i.e., from severe to mild or vice versa). The transition is related to the kinetics of heat transfer within the mechanically affected zones of each of the rubbing components.

The analysis of thermal energy release in sliding friction, and accurate prediction of temperature rise in rubbing, is a complex endeavour. This is due to the interdependence of all the factors involved. Energy conversion and heat release during friction involve a high degree of coupling between the thermal and mechanical states of the rubbing materials. This coupling often introduces mathematical difficulties in theoretical calculations, and many uncertainties in measurements. As such, the theory of heat transfer in sliding is often based on the premise that the mechanical state of the surface (stress, strain, etc) is independent of the thermal state. This assumption is not necessarily adequacies for developing a predictive theory of wear.

Foundations of thermal analysis in sliding date back to the early decades of the twentieth century. The first measurement of the interface temperature rise was performed by Shore, and independently by Bowden and Ridler, in 1925, whereas Blok, Holm and Rosenthal introduced the first theoretical analysis in 1930s. These early efforts initiated a branch of research that investigates thermal effects in rubbing known as “thermotribology.” Additionally, such works constitute, in the most part, the foundation of many analyses. Since that time much progress has taken place in the field: many researchers have proposed advanced models and considerable progress in instrumentation has taken place. Applications continue to challenge the envelope of conventional analysis especially when miniaturized systems are considered.

This special issue seeks to document developments within “thermotribology” since its inception. Central to the theme is inclusion of future trends and advanced efforts that discuss, remedy, or criticize conventional theoretical and experimental approaches.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Theoretical modeling of temperature rise phenomena in sliding
  • Measurement of temperature rise in tribo-contacts (machining, dry and wet sliding)
  • Thermal effects in lubricated contacts
  • Effect of temperature on tribological response of sliding solids (transition in wear regime, frictional behaviour, etc.)
  • Numerical simulations of temperature rise in lightly and heavily loaded contacts
  • Flash temperature theory
  • Inverse methods applied to measurement and prediction of temperatures reached in sliding
  • Thermal effect at the micron and submicron levels
  • Review of experimental and theoretical methods
  • Irreversible Thermodynamics applied to friction and wear
  • Thermal effects in data storage devices and MEMS
Important Date
Submission: 30 June 2011

Call for papers: Micro and Nanotechnologies for Medical Devices

A special issue of International Journal of Mechatronics and Manufacturing Systems

The current trends in the design and manufacturing of medical devices are supported by significant advances in micro and nanotechnologies. This special issue will cover the state-of-the-art in machines and manufacturing processes that incorporate micro and nanotechnologies with applications in medical devices. It invites the submission of high quality and original research articles related to advances in micro and nanotechnologies for medical devices.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Nanostructured biomaterials for medical devices
  • Microfluidic systems and MEMS for medical devices
  • Electrospinning for nanofibres
  • Micro cutting and material removal (milling, EDM, grinding, deburring, among others)
  • Micro processing of plastics (injection molding, extrusion, embossing, among others)
  • Micro forming of metals (incremental sheet forming, forging, extrusion, among others)
  • Lasers and laser processing of biomaterials
  • Nanocoatings and surface treatment
  • Metrology systems at micro and nanoscale
  • Advanced microtechnologies in robotics and instruments for surgery (orthopaedic, ophthalmic, laparoscopy, electrosurgery, among others)
Important Date
Submission of Manuscripts: 31 October, 2010

28 January 2010

Call for papers: Advances in Risk Assessment for Contaminated Environments

A special issue of International Journal of Risk Assessment and Management

Risk assessment is of critical importance to environmental planners and researchers for sound decision making regarding the management of environmental pollution. In recent years, numerous research efforts and advances have been made in the field of environmental risk assessment. Such advances are important for guiding accurate evaluation and effective mitigation of environmental risks, which are pursued by governments, industries, communities, and researchers around the world. The purpose of this special issue is to publish latest results of the research and development of risk assessment for contaminated environments, and to encourage the exchange and communications of new knowledge and ideas within the area of environmental risk assessment.

In the content of this special issue, original research papers or reviews are solicited in relevant aspects of risk assessment for contaminated environments (i.e. surface water and groundwater contamination, air and soil pollution), including but not limited to:
  • Risk assessment modelling approaches
  • Comparative risk assessment
  • Ecological risk assessment
  • Health risk assessment
  • Integrated risk assessment and management
  • Stakeholder involvement and risk communication
  • Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis for risk assessment
  • Regulatory aspects of environmental risk assessment and management
  • Environmental risk assessment tools and software
  • Case studies in risk assessment and management
Important Dates
Deadline for draft manuscript submission: 30 June, 2010
Notification of review results: 30 September, 2010
Deadline for revised manuscript submission: 30 October, 2010

Special issue: Focusing on the learner: the paradigm shift in TEL

International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning 2(1/2) 2010

Papers from the 3rd European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning (EC-TEL 2008) held in Maastricht, The Netherlands, 16-19 September 2008.
  • A storytelling model for educational games: Hero's interactive journey
  • Learning by gaming: facts and myths
  • Capture of lifecycle information in office applications
  • Using personas for designing knowledge and learning services: results of an ethnographically informed study
  • Inferring interaction to support collaborative learning in 3D virtual environments through the user's avatar Non-Verbal Communication
  • Extending a virtual chemistry laboratory with a collaboration script to promote conceptual learning
  • Comparison of tagging in an educational context: Any chances of interplay?
  • Supporting architecture education using the MACE system
Additional papers
  • Towards the evaluation of usability in educative websites
  • Typology building for enhancing inclusiveness in e-learning

Special issue: Fourth International Workshop on Dependability Aspects on Data Warehousing and Mining Applications, DAWAM 2009

International Journal of Business Intelligence and Data Mining 5(2) 2010

DAWAM 2009 was held in Fukuoka, Japan, 16-19 March 2009.
  • Defining and transforming security rules in an MDA approach for DWs
  • Practical algorithms for subgroup detection in covert networks
  • Identifying statistical failure mechanism of web server systems: measurement and reliability analysis
  • Experimenting with an Intrusion Detection System for Encrypted Networks
Additional paper
  • Shape matching through contour extraction using Circular Augmented Rotational Trajectory (CART) algorithm

Special issue: International mergers and acquisitions

European Journal of International Management 4(1/2) 2010
  • An operations process framework for international M&A value creation
  • Acquisitions from emerging countries: what factors influence the performance of target firms in advanced countries?
  • Acquisitions versus licensing agreements as vehicles for technology transfer
  • Network integration for international mergers and acquisitions
  • Brand and product integration in horizontal mergers and acquisitions
  • Multiple language use in international mergers and acquisitions
  • Multinational enterprise acquisitions in emerging markets: linkage effects on local firms
  • Gender differences in expatriate adjustment
  • International managers as translators

Special issue: Scheduling and optimisation of production systems

International Journal of Advanced Operations Management 1(4) 2009

Papers from the 7th International Conference on Modelling and Simulation (MOSIM’08) held in Paris, 31 March - 2 April 2008.
  • Learning-based approach for multiprocessor scheduling under timing constraints and N-Queens problems
  • Vehicle routing problem with time windows and fuzzy demands: an approach based on the possibility theory
  • Effective precedence constrained scheduling in a make-to-order environment
  • Consolidating theoretical results for weighted tardiness scheduling
  • Comparison of different tabu search operators on a highly constrained industrial problem

Special issue: Understanding determinants of entrepreneurship: individual and environmental perspectives

International Journal of Business Environment 3(1) 2010
  • Determinants of entrepreneurship: an overview
  • Human capital and perceptual factors in the entrepreneurial decision: empirical analysis in the GEM framework
  • The effect of entrepreneurs' motivation and the local economic environment on young venture performance
  • Learning alliances, corporate entrepreneurship and business performance: is there really a linkage?
  • Technopreneurial competence and its relationship with social and environmental factors: an empirical study
  • National cultural values, social capital and micro-enterprise success
  • An approach to entrepreneurial culture and education in secondary school

27 January 2010

Special issue: Supply chain management and knowledge management

International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations 7(2/3) 2010
  • How can supply chain managers classify and differentiate supply chain partners?
  • Supply chain development as a knowledge development task
  • A working prototype to promote the creation and control of knowledge in supply chains
  • The role of knowledge management in supply chains: evidence from the Italian food industry
  • Multi-agent-based supply chain management: a case study of requisites
  • Knowledge management in construction supply chain integration
  • Knowledge sharing in relief supply chains
  • Document logistics in the public sector: integrative handling of physical and digital documents
  • Extending supply chain synchronisation to upstream tiers: a collaborative approach illustrated with an automotive case study
Additional paper
  • Reflections on the impact of trust on social capital in Virtual Learning Communities (VLCs)

Special issue: Performance assessment for new internet services

International Journal of Communication Networks and Distributed Systems 4(2) 2010
  • An efficient approach for incorporating underlay awareness in P2P networks for guaranteed availabilities
  • Modelling energy efficiency in distributed home environments
  • QoE in multi-service multi-agent networks
  • Packet waiting time for multiplexed periodic on/off streams in the presence of overbooking
Additional Paper
  • QoS-Aware Congestion Adaptive Routing for streaming multimedia in Mobile Ad hoc Networks

25 January 2010

Call for papers: International Entrepreneurship and SME Internationalisation

A special issue of International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business

Entrepreneurship is increasingly viewed as a key determinant of firm, regional, and national economic performance. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) represent 99% of the 23 million enterprises in the EU (Nyman et al., 2006) and provide approximately 75 million jobs, therefore understanding of the key determinants of their success is essential. Successful entrepreneurship focuses on identifying and managing market opportunities by building a unique set of resources and competences through which these opportunities can be exploited (Ireland et al., 2001; Davidsson et al., 2002). However increasing competition in saturated markets has encouraged many SMEs to engage in a global economy thereby focusing on international rather than domestic markets. Traditionally, the predominant focus of international business management research has been on larger enterprises, but this has now been complemented with the comparatively new scholarly field of research on newly established SMEs and international business, that is, international entrepreneurship.

Research focusing on international entrepreneurship (IE) and the internationalisation of SMEs has grown phenomenally since the turn of the century. IE can be understood as “a combination of innovative, proactive and risk-seeking behaviour that crosses national borders and is intended to create value in organisations” (McDougall & Oviatt, 2000, p. 903) and is increasingly taking centre stage in entrepreneurship research.

Seminal work in the field has drawn attention to the management of the early stages of internationalisation and the phenomenon of ‘born global’ firms, ‘international new ventures’ or ‘rapidly internationalising SMEs’ (Oviatt and McDougall, 1994; Knight and Cavusgil, 1996; Madsen & Servais, 1997).

Indeed, the importance of such activity is now well recognised in Entrepreneurship, but not yet in General Management journals. However, whilst a body of literature has emerged which identifies the phenomenon and defines its characteristics and influencing factors, understanding is still at an early stage. We believe the development of IE as a field of study is likely to be particularly challenging both theoretically and methodologically due to its inherent complexity. This field demands an integration of perspectives from at least three highly multidisciplinary schools of thought – general management, international business and entrepreneurship.

As in other young fields of research, numerous topics in IE remain to be explored. More research on the management of the internationalisation of new ventures, as well as the antecedents and performance consequences of specific functional, business, and corporate strategies, is required. We anticipate that the increasing IE knowledge will also spread to the wider world of general management by including functional areas experts and their views on IE.

The special issue aims to explore the diverse challenges of the management of internationalisation faced by SMEs, such as, but not limited to:
  • Managing IE and the internationalisation process
  • The role of globalisation in IE
  • Planning and managing internationalisation and IE
  • Internationalisation of small firms
  • De-Internationalisation
  • Marketing and IE
  • Human resource management and IE
  • Management development and IE
  • Corporate strategy and IE
  • Organisational behaviour and IE
  • Innovation management and IE
  • Research methods in IE
  • Information and communication technology and IE
  • International markets and entry strategies
  • International business partnerships and relationship management
Important Date
Paper Submission Deadline: 15 June, 2010

24 January 2010

Special issue: Information processing and decision making in distributed control systems

International Journal of Systems, Control and Communications 2(1-3) 2010
  • Optimal estimation with limited measurements
  • Convexity of optimal control over networks with delays and arbitrary topology
  • LQG control over lossy TCP-like networks with probabilistic packet acknowledgements
  • On the optimality of localised distributed controllers
  • Controllability analysis of multi-agent systems using relaxed equitable partitions
  • Simple condition for stability of systems interconnected over networks
  • Hamiltonian surface shaping with information theory and exergy/entropy control for collective plume tracing
  • Differential equation models of flow-size based priorities in internet routers
  • Witsenhausen's counterexample as Assisted Interference Suppression
  • Algorithmic design of perfectly reconstructing equalisers
  • Power-delay analysis of consensus algorithms on wireless networks with interference
  • Consensus over networks with dynamic channels
  • Fault tolerant triangulation in distributed aircraft networks with Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B)

23 January 2010

Call for papers: Advances in Modelling and Optimisation of Machining Processes

A special issue of International Journal of Machining and Machinability of Materials

Machining is one of the most important and widely used manufacturing processes in engineering industries. Today's machining processes are caught between the growing need for quality, high process safety, minimal machining costs, and short machining times. In order to meet these demands, machining process setting parameters have to be chosen in the best possible way. For such optimisation, it is necessary to represent the machining process in a model. Accuracy and possibility of determining global optimum solutions depend on the type of modelling technique used to express the objective functions and constraints in terms of the decision variables.

Accurate and reliable models of a machining process can compensate for the inability to completely understand and adequately describe the process mechanism. Thus, formulation of an optimisation model is the most important task in the optimisation process. It involves identifying the decision variables to be optimised, expressing the objective functions and constraints as function of decision variables, setting up of feasible ranges for decision variables, and finally expressing the optimisation problem as a mathematical model in a standard format, which can be solved by an appropriate optimisation algorithm.

Due to the enormous complexity of many machining processes and the high number of influencing parameters, conventional approaches to modelling and optimisation are no longer sufficient. As the machining processes get increasingly complex, the process models are possibly discontinuous, non-differentiable, or non-explicit with the design variables. As conventional gradient-based nonlinear optimisation techniques have difficulty in solving those optimisation problems, one must resort to advanced optimisation techniques such as evolutionary algorithms, meta-heuristics, neural networks, etc.

This special issue invites the submission of high quality research articles related to advanced modelling and optimisation of various machining processes. It encourages submissions from all over the world that expand the frontiers of the fundamental theories and concepts underlying machining processes and their modelling and optimisation techniques.

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

A) Advanced modelling and optimisation techniques (with applications to the machining processes listed at B):
  • Statistical analyses
  • Response surface methodology
  • Taguchi's robust design method / Taguchi fuzzy based approach / Taguchi and Gauss elimination method
  • Fuzzy set theory based modelling
  • Finite element modelling / simulation
  • Grey relational analysis / grey fuzzy logic
  • Artificial neural networks (ANNs) / neuro-fuzzy methods / neuro-fuzzy Taguchi networks
  • Knowledge based expert systems
  • Metaheuristic optimisation techniques in deterministic and stochastic environments for single as well as multiple objectives (genetic algorithms and its versions such as NSGA, NSGA-II, MOGA, differential evolution, etc., simulated annealing, inverse evolutionary approach, Tabu search, particle swarm optimisation, civilized swarm optimisation, ant colony optimisation, artificial immune algorithms, harmony search algorithms, harmony elements algorithms, artificial bee colony algorithms, shuffled frog leaping algorithms, hybrid approaches such as GA+SA, GA+Tabu search, GA+PSO, etc.)
B) Machining processes:

Conventional machining processes:
  • Turning processes (multi-pass cylindrical turning, hard turning, high speed turning, etc.)
  • Drilling processes (conventional hole drilling, incremental hole drilling, etc.)
  • Milling processes (peripheral milling, face milling, end milling, flank milling, multi-tool milling, multi-pass milling, etc.)
  • Grinding processes (cylindrical grinding, centreless grinding, surface grinding, creep feed grinding, etc.)
  • Finishing processes (lapping, honing, polishing, burnishing, superfinishing, etc.)
Modern machining processes:
  • Mechanical processes (abrasive jet machining, water jet machining, abrasive water jet machining, ultrasonic machining, etc.)
  • Electrochemical processes (electrochemical machining, electrochemical grinding, electrochemical honing, electrochemical deburring, electrochemical polishing, electrochemical jet drilling, etc.)
  • Chemical processes (chemical milling, chemical blanking, electropolishing, etc.)
  • Thermal and electrothermal processes (EDM, wire EDM, high speed EDM, powder mixed EDM, electrical discharge turning, laser beam machining, electron beam machining, plasma arc machining, etc.)
  • Hybrid machining processes (vibration assisted EDM, vibration assisted ECM, electrochemical discharge grinding, electrical discharge grinding, abrasive ECG, abrasive EDG, abrasive electro-jet machining, wire EDG, etc.)
  • Micromachining processes (micro EDM, micro ECM, micro welding, micro forming, micro drilling, micro milling, micromachining using abrasive jets, etc.)
  • Nanofinishing processes (abrasive flow machining, magnetic abrasive finishing, ELID grinding, magnetic float polishing, etc.)
Important Date
Submission: 30 June 2011

Call for papers: Optimisation Issues in Energy Efficient Distributed Systems

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

Minimisation of energy consumption has become a central issue in designing distributed systems that range from wireless ad hoc networks to data centers. Because battery technologies have not yet matched advances in hardware and software technologies, saving energy in battery-operated devices is very important for mobile/wireless networks. Similarly, minimising energy consumption in high performance computing centers will, in addition to saving power consumption, require less cooling mechanisms.

These new challenges require innovative and effective optimisation solutions for minimising power consumption in distributed systems, such as energy-efficient scheduling algorithms and energy-efficient medium access control (MAC) protocols.

The special issue will primarily focus on theoretical and practical novel solutions that advance the research in energy efficient distributed systems.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
  • Optimisation of energy-efficient protocols/algorithms
  • Energy-efficient scheduling algorithms
  • Voltage and frequency scaled networks protocols
  • Energy-efficient protocols/algorithms in PHY, IP layers or above
  • Hardware solutions for achieving energy efficiency in large-scale networked systems
  • Virtualisation techniques for energy efficiency
  • Network models and simulation modules/tools for energy efficient solutions
  • Energy-efficient transmission technologies
  • Cross-layer optimisation techniques for efficient energy consumption
  • Energy-efficient MAC protocols
  • Energy-efficient routing protocols
  • Energy-efficient communication protocols
Important Dates
Paper submission: 1 September, 2010
Initial notification: 1 November, 2010
Rebuttal submission: 15 December, 2010
Final notification: 1 February, 2011

Special issue: FLINS 08

International Journal of Nuclear Knowledge Management 4(1) 2010

Papers from the 8th International FLINS (Fuzzy Logic and Intelligent Technologies in Nuclear Science) Conference on Computational Intelligence in Decision and Control held in Madrid, Spain, 21-24 September 2008.
  • New information processing methods for control in magnetic confinement nuclear fusion
  • Design of an advanced intelligent instrument with waveform recognition based on the ITMS platform
  • Optimised search strategies to improve structural pattern recognition techniques
  • Applications of neural networks for free unfolding of experimental data from fusion neutron spectrometers
  • Robust nuclear signal reconstruction by a novel ensemble model aggregation procedure
  • A fuzzy expert system for the human reliability analysis of crews in simulated nuclear emergency procedures
  • Study of confinements in the particle swarm optimisation for application to the nuclear reactor reload problem

22 January 2010

Call for papers: Management theory and practices in China

A special issue of International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets

China’s unprecedented growth and the opportunities are evident. As China’s economic reform and open door policy are entering the fourth decade, its economy is claimed to have shifted from a central-planned to a primarily market-based one. As a result of the shift, it is time to examine the development and status of prevailing management theory and practices (MTP) in China.

Further, the growing importance of China’s contribution to the world economy suggests that understanding of the current MTP is critical to an organization’s success. Keeping this in mind, this special issue is dedicated to China, and provides researchers and managers with the insight as to specific characteristics of the current Chinese MTP.

Specifically, the aim of the special issue is to explore the impact of the economic reform policies on MTP in the context of the emerging market of China. Therefore, the guest editors welcome conceptual, empirical and experimental submissions that have not been previously published or submitted for publication consideration.

The suggested subject coverage includes but is not limited to:
  • Evolution of Chinese management thought
  • Management theory and practices in state owned companies and private sectors
  • Effectiveness of China's management theory and practices
  • Agency relationship versus stewardship theory in China
  • Gender, diversity and management
  • Stakeholder, social responsibility and environmental issues
  • Management education and education management
  • Strategic management and risk management issues facing Chinese companies
  • Economics, management and decision sciences
  • Current management issues and trends in China
  • Other management issues in China
Important Dates
Paper submission: 15 December, 2010
Reviewers' comments: 15 April, 2011
Revised paper submission: 15 June, 2011

Special issue: Engineering materials and manufacturing

International Journal of Microstructure and Materials Properties 4(3) 2009

Papers from the 13th International Metallurgy and Materials Congress (IMMC’06) held in Istanbul, T urkey, 9–12 November 2006.
  • Comparison of different methods used to establish recrystallisation conditions of gold alloys
  • Production and characterisation of strontium and magnesium doped lanthanum-gallium oxide (LSGM) ceramics
  • Formation of Zr(C,N)-ZrB2 composite powders by self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS)
  • Maximum entropy method for the study of materials
  • Tribological and adhesion behaviour of hard alloy powder NiCrBCSi(Fe) coatings thermally sprayed on 60CrMn4 steel
  • Correlation of microstructure and hardness of two-pass submerged arc welds of line pipe steel X65
  • Simulation of equal channel angular pressing applied to produce structures with ultrafine-sized grains
  • Application of cooling curve analysis as a process control tool to produce compacted graphite cast iron
  • Investigation of microporosity formation mechanisms in A356 aluminium alloy castings

21 January 2010

Special issue: Security, trust and privacy in vehicular communications

International Journal of Autonomous and Adaptive Communications Systems 3(2) 2010
  • An interoperability system for authentication and authorisation in VANETs
  • A secure service architecture to support wireless vehicular networks
  • A vehicle gateway to manage IP multimedia subsystem autonomous mobility
  • Reputation in anonymous vehicular networks
  • Maximising anonymity of a vehicle
  • Filtering false data via authentic consensus in vehicle ad hoc networks

Special issue: Modelling and controlling transition and evolution of critical infrastructures

International Journal of Critical Infrastructures 6(2) 2010

Papers from the International Conference on Infrastructure Systems: Building Networks for a Brighter Future held in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 10–12 November 2008.
  • Agent-based modelling of energy infrastructure transitions
  • Structure-preserving dynamical model and distributed stabilisation of electricity infrastructures with renewable energy resources
  • On the development of agent-based models for infrastructure evolution
  • Infrastructure modelling 2.0
  • Integrating information security requirements in critical infrastructures: smart metering case

Special issue: Emerging applications of modelling and simulation

International Journal of Simulation and Process Modelling 5(3) 2009

  • Embedding simulation technologies into business processes: challenges and solutions
  • Application of value stream mapping and simulation for the design of lean manufacturing systems: a case study
  • Optimisation of the control policy for a stochastic remanufacturing system with an unreliable replacement parts supply
  • Modelling and simulating retail management practices: a first approach
Submitted papers
  • A simulation model for the mixed traffic system in Vietnam
  • Nonlinear regression metamodels: a systematic approach
  • Agent-based modelling and systems dynamics model reproduction

20 January 2010

Call for papers: Computer Applications in Intelligent Natural Language Processing

A special issue of International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology

We are interested in whatever helps, will help eventually, or might help computers to meaningfully process language data. This special issue promotes the exchange of opinions between experts working in different areas of the growing field of computational linguistics and intelligent text processing. Its main purpose is to bring together scientists representing linguistics, computer science and related fields, sharing a common interesting the advancement of intelligent natural language processing. The issue covers a broad spectrum of disciplines working towards enabling intelligent system to interact with humans using natural language.

The research and development of these systems, which exploit knowledge in the target domain, is at the forefront of modern research. This special issue is intended to present applications of intelligent natural language processing whereby submitted papers are expected to postulate diverse problems, models and solutions for these applications.

This special issue welcomes both academic and practical contributions in all aspects of intelligent natural language processing. Relevant topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:

Intelligent Natural Language Processing Technologies:
  • Information extraction and summarisation
  • Cross-language information retrieval
  • Classification and clustering
  • Machine-readable dictionaries
  • Natural language interfaces
  • Machine translation
  • Natural language application systems.
Intelligent Web Communication Systems:
  • Man-machine Interface
  • Multimedia processing
  • Full text search
  • Video search
  • Human-computer interaction
  • Speech processing and synthesis
  • Signal processing
  • Information agents on the internet
  • Communication assistance with knowledge
  • Intelligence systems for e-business
  • Web-based information systems and applications
  • Intelligent agents and multi-agent systems
Knowledge-Based Text Processing Systems:
  • Knowledge-based systems
  • Knowledge-based engineering
  • Knowledge discovery and data mining
  • Knowledge management
  • Knowledge acquisition
  • Machine learning
  • Genetic algorithms
  • Artificial intelligence and symbolic learning
Important Dates
Submission of full paper before: 15 April 2010
Notification of acceptance before: 15 July 2010
Submission of final and revised manuscripts: 30 October 2010

Special issue: Strategic sustainable development and real change

Progress in Industrial Ecology, an International Journal 6(3) 2009
  • Real change through backcasting from sustainability principles: presentation of an international research programme built on a unifying Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD)
  • Strategic life-cycle modelling and simulation for sustainable product innovation
  • Introducing strategic sustainable development in a business incubator
  • Climate and economic research in organisations and from a macro perspective
  • Rock On!: bringing strategic sustainable development to music festivals
  • Strategic leadership towards sustainability: a master's programme on sustainability
  • Using strategic sustainable development as an approach to conflict resolution

Special issue: Services operations and management

International Journal of Services Operations and Informatics 5(1) 2010

Papers from the 2008 IEEE International Conference on Service Operations, Logistics and Informatics (IEEE/SOLI’2008), held in Beijing, China, 12–15 October 2008
  • Supply chain alliance member selection and the further contract analysis under networked manufacturing
  • Faster approximation algorithm for generalised maximum concurrent flow problem in networks with no flow-generating cycles
  • Modelling emission limits in product planning
  • Business transformation under uncertainty: understanding the value of strategic flexibility
  • A fuzzy logic approach to the evaluation of tacit knowledge management performance
  • A novel framework for facility location evaluation

Inderscience Highlights Newsletter Winter 2010

Contents
  • 30,000 papers now online
  • Newly-published titles
  • Newly-announced titles
  • Support for authors, referees, editorial board members
  • Highlighting… materials and manufacturing collection
  • Latest calls for papers
  • Journal news
  • Events

19 January 2010

Special issue: Radionuclide applications in Brazil

Atoms for Peace: an International Journal 3(1) 2010

Papers from the International Nuclear Atlantic Conference (INAC 2007) held in Santos, Brazil, 30 September - 5 October 2007.

See also International Journal of Nuclear Energy Science and Technology 5(1) 2010
  • Residence time distribution in large industrial flotation cells
  • Development of sintered composites of CaSO4 doped with Dy and Nd
  • Hydroxyapatite labelled with yttrium-90 or lutetium 177 for radiation synovectomy
  • 210Pb geochronology of sediments from the Guama River and Guajara Bay in the Amazon region, Belem, Brazil
  • Radioecological evaluation (spatial and temporal variation) of the planktonic microorganisms in the Antas Reservoir, Caldas, Minas Gerais, Brazil
  • Sulphur removal from used automotive lubricating oil by ionising radiation
  • Preliminary studies of EDDA-tricine-HYNIC-Tyr³-octreotide labelled with technetium-99m: radiopharmaceutical development for the diagnosis of neuroendocrine tumours

Special issue: The International Conference on Risks and Security of Internet And Systems (CRISIS’2008)

International Journal of Information and Computer Security 3(3/4) 2009

CRISIS 2008 was held in Tozeur, Tunisia, 28-30 October 2008.
  • REputation based Clustering Algorithm for security management in ad hoc networks with liars
  • A new protocol for security and QoS in IP networks
  • Policy-based intrusion detection in web applications by monitoring Java information flows
  • An ontology-based approach to react to network attacks
  • Distributed event-based access control
  • Dynamic security framework for mobile agent systems: specification, verification and enforcement
  • A holistic approach for access control policies: from formal specification to aspect-based enforcement

18 January 2010

Special issue: Service science management and engineering (SSME) or service science

International Journal of Web Engineering and Technology 5(3) 2009
  • Enhanced service provision through mobile technology utilisation in facility processes
  • Service innovation by SME
  • Analysis of productivity in Japanese information service industries
  • Service systems framework focusing on value creation: case study
  • A service science perspective on the design of social media activities
  • Studies on customer services optimisation by using the SCIM – an application of the agent base modelling (ABM) technology to service science

17 January 2010

Special issue: Contract architectures and languages

International Journal of Business Process Integration and Management 4(3) 2009

Papers from the Second Contract Architecture and Language (CoALa) Workshop held at the 9th IEEE Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Conference (EDOC 2005), in Enschede, The Netherlands, 19-23 September 2005
  • Good faith in contract negotiation and performance
  • Introducing the fair and logical trade project
  • DR-CONTRACT: an architecture for e-contracts in defeasible logic
  • Specifying the business collaboration framework in the Contract Expression Language
  • An analysis of web service SLA management infrastructures based on the C-MAPE model

Special issue: Growth

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing 1(3) 2010
  • Venture growth – new findings from a multilevel perspective – Guest Editors' introduction to the focus issue on growth
  • Assessing the role of strategy and socioeconomic heritage for rapidly growing firms: evidence from Germany
  • New environmental stimuli, challenges of entrepreneurial firms and growth leaps: evidences from multisector case studies
  • Regional determinants of technology entrepreneurship
  • How venture capital investors view radical strategic change in high technology new ventures
  • Market concentration and new venture survival in static v dynamic industries

15 January 2010

Call for papers: Challenges and Prospects with the Advent of the MLC 2006

A special issue of International Journal of Ocean Systems Management

The theme of this special issue is concerned with The Maritime Labour Convention (MLC 2006), the so-called ‘super ILO Convention’, a 'one stop shop' Convention that consolidates and updates more than 65 international labour standards related to seafarers adopted over the last 80 years. It is estimated that the rules will apply to more than 1.2 million seafarers in at least 69,000 vessels. MLC covers the minimum requirements for seafarers to work on a ship, conditions of employment, hours of work and rest, wages, leave, repatriation, accommodation, recreational facilities, food and catering, occupational safety and health protection, medical care, welfare and social security protection.

MLC 2006 will come into force 12 months after ratification by at least 30 ILO member countries with a total share of at least 33 per cent of the world’s gross tonnage of ships. Given that, all EU members are obliged to ratify the Convention at the latest on 31st of December 2010, the MLC 2006 is expected to be in force in mid-2011.

MLC represents a considerable change to the regulation of working conditions for seafarers and there are important challenges on behalf of the ship owners as well as regulatory authorities. Ship owners and manages should amend charter parties, draft new on-board procedures, reviewing employment contracts and crew management agreements. Moreover, masters and senior officers need to be trained to ensure that the vessel is compliant with MLC, including aspects such as dealing with crew grievances and monitoring working-time limits. The Convention also establishes a strong compliance and enforcement mechanism based on flag State inspection and certification of seafarers’ working and living conditions.

The special issue welcomes papers on all issues related to labour standards in shipping and the prospects and challenges that lie ahead with the MLC being in force.

Potential topics include but are not restricted to:
  • Health and safety in shipping
  • Crewing
  • Education and training
Important Date
Submission deadline: 30 March 2010

Special issue: Mobile computing

International Journal of Information Technology and Management 9(3) 2010
  • Case study of application-based mobile service acceptance and development in Finland
  • Mobile computing in Jordan: a roadmap to wireless
  • Factors affecting consumer attitude towards mobile advertising in India
  • Exploring user adoption of mobile banking: an empirical study in China
  • Exploring user acceptance of WAP services from the perspectives of perceived value and trust
  • Towards a trustworthy short-range mobile payment system
  • Study of mobile payment protocols and its performance evaluation on mobile devices
  • Mobile e-commerce under MMT in backbone network

Special issue: Ubiquitous computing and mobile networking

International Journal of Wireless and Mobile Computing 4(1) 2010
  • A finite-state-model scheme for efficient cooperation enforcement in mobile ad hoc networks
  • Key agreement for heterogeneous mobile ad-hoc groups
  • Error analysis of quantised RSSI based sensor network localisation
  • A two-level topology control strategy for energy efficiency in wireless sensor networks
  • Impact of AQM scheme on WLANs using queue thresholds

Special issue: Extended view of logistics research and applications

International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management 6(2) 2010

Papers from the 8th International Conference on Industrial Logistics (ICIL) held in Kaunas, Lithuania, 26 - 28 June 2006.
  • Ontologies and agents for better information flow in logistics
  • Decision-Support System for industrial logistics distribution: cost minimisation applying an agile production approach
  • Order picking process at warehouses
  • Modelling of logistics functions to upgrade the product functionality
  • Operational performance of terminals of containers
  • From Northern Europe to Russia and Asia, and vice versa: traffic flow analysis – current situation and development trends
  • Solving the Steiner Two-Node-Survivable Network Problem
  • Supply process development with an inter-organisational and intra-organisational perspective

14 January 2010

Special issue: Perspectives on risks in the processes of transition and change

International Journal of Economic Policy in Emerging Economies 2(4) 2009
  • Performance measures: traditional accounting measures vs. modern value-based measures. The case of earnings and EVA in the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE)
  • Harmonisation of voluntary disclosure practices by Japanese companies
  • Corruption and development: The Armenian case
  • Credit risk assessment: a field research
  • China's national banking system: commercialisation and financial stability
  • Dollarisation and overshooting in the Congo during the 1990s, an empirical estimate

Special issue: The future of feelings Part 1

International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion 3(2) 2009

Papers from the 2nd International Emotions Conference held in Guildford, Surrey, UK, 13 June 2008.
  • Editorial: Weird scenes and the future of feelings
  • Invited commentary: Can emotional labour be fun?
Plenary Speakers' Papers
  • Collective feelings and the politics of affect and emotion
  • In search of welfare, community and solidarity in 'Feelbad Britain'? Emotions in the study of social policy and community development
  • Positioning emotion through the body and bodywork: a reflection through nursing as craft
  • Whither psychological research into emotion at work? Feeling for the future
  • When emotional labour becomes 'good': the use of emotional intelligence

12 January 2010

Special issue: The Tenth European Conference on Harmonisation Within Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling for Regulatory Purposes

International Journal of Environment and Pollution 40(1-3) 2010

The 10th Conference was held in Sissi, Crete, 17-20 October 2005.
  • Criteria for the assessment of air quality levels in homogeneous areas
  • Simulations of the dispersion from a waste incinerator in the Turin area in three different meteorological scenarios
  • Particulate matter dispersion modelling along urban traffic paths
  • Turbulence closure in atmospheric circulation model and its influence on the dispersion
  • Well mixed condition verification in windy and low wind speed conditions
  • Comparison of the Polish regulatory dispersion model with AERMOD
  • A neural net-air dispersion model validation study using the Indianapolis urban data set
  • An urban scale model for pollutant dispersion in Rome
  • Analyses of human exposure to urban air quality in a children population
  • Urban boundary layer simulations of sea-breeze over Marseille during the ESCOMPTE experiment
  • Meteorological simulations with use of satellite data for assessing urban heat island under summertime anticyclonic conditions
  • Application and intercomparison of the RADM2 and RACM chemistry mechanism including a new isoprene degradation scheme within the regional meteorology-chemistry-model MCCM
  • Assessment of air pollution in the conurbation of Munich: present and future
  • Application of Lagrangian particle dispersion models to air quality assessment in the Trans-Manche region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais (France) and Kent (Great Britain)
  • Consolidating tools for model evaluation
  • Air pollution dispersion inside a street canyon of Gottinger Strasse (Hannover, Germany): new results of the analysis of full scale data
  • Effects of air pollution and meteorological parameters on human health in the city of Athens, Greece
  • Comparison of AERMOD and EIAA with respect to the Alaska tracer data
  • Hospital admissions and air mass types in Athens, Greece
  • Inter-comparison of predicted population exposure distributions during four selected episodes in Helsinki and evaluation against measured data
  • Inter-comparison of the AUSTAL2000 and CALPUFF dispersion models against the Kincaid data set

11 January 2010

Special issue: Human adaptive mechatronics

International Journal of Advanced Mechatronic Systems 2(1/2) 2010

Papers from the 1st Sino-European Workshop on Intelligent Robots and Systems (SEIROS’08) held in Chongqing, China, 11–13 December 2008.
  • Accelerated norm-optimal iterative learning control
  • Minimum entropy control for a class of macro-micro robot based on ILC frame
  • A self-paced online BCI for mobile robot control
  • Design and implementation of a brain-computer interface based on virtual instrumentation
  • Towards human skill adaptive manual control
  • Topological localisation based on monocular vision and unsupervised learning
  • Review of modelling and remote control for excavators
  • Robotic small unmanned aerial vehicle system for disaster information gathering
  • From the biological model to a small climbing caterpillar robot
  • Design and validation of an FPGA-based self-healing controller for hybrid machine tools
Additional Papers
  • ILC-based model reference neuro-adaptive technique for stochastic distribution control
  • Accumulative drift model of inertial platform under high frequency linear vibration
  • A novel mechatronic design of a 3D laser scanning system
  • Face pose estimation from eyes and mouth

10 January 2010

Call for papers: Advances in Multimedia Information and Communication Security

A special issue of International Journal of Multimedia Intelligence and Security

Major advances have taken place over the last few years in the development of multimedia integrated systems as it refers but is not limited to text, image, video, audio, graphics, animation, etc. Major emphasis has been placed on how to realise intelligent multimedia computing and communication for a more effective use of existing resources as the underlying technology has been advancing. The matter of accuracy/security for the multimedia information transmitted and of the security of the communication system used from source to receiver have become a major issue in many practical multimedia applications especially as they are used in large scale world class events.

This special issue is intended to foster state-of-the-art research in the area of multimedia information and communication security related to applications. The published papers are expected to present high quality results for tackling problems arising from the ever-growing demand for the design of secure information systems. The issue will serve as a landmark source for education, information, and reference to professors, researchers and graduate students interested in updating their knowledge about the application of multimedia intelligence and security.

Areas of interest are within the framework of multimedia information and communication security as well as multimedia intelligence-based security and include, but are not limited to, the following topics:
  • Framework of system security
  • Lightweight cryptography
  • Bio-cryptography
  • Quantum cryptography
  • Multimedia information security
  • Database security
  • Security and privacy in communication
  • Reputation and trust in networks
  • Multimedia forensics
  • Digital forensics and evidence
  • Security via surveillance and monitoring
Important Dates
Manuscript due: 1 June, 2010
1st Notification of acceptance: 31 July, 2010
Revised paper due: 31 August, 2010
2nd Notification of acceptance: 1 October, 2010
Submission of final revised paper: 1 November, 2010

Special issue: Optimisation models for wireless network design and management

International Journal of Mobile Network Design and Innovation 3(2) 2009
  • A kriging approach to predicting coverage in wireless networks
  • Efficient resource allocation in OFDMA cellular wireless networks to support multimedia traffic in downlink
  • Pay per view – a multimedia multicast application with effective key management
  • Evolving core networks from GSM to UMTS R4 version
  • Impact of vehicle movement models on VDTN routing strategies for rural connectivity
  • Distributed opportunistic communication protocol for wireless multihop networks

9 January 2010

Special issue: Investment and innovation policies to promote technology development and commercialisation

International Journal of Foresight and Innovation Policy 5(4) 2009
  • A dynamic panel data analysis for R&D cooperation and economic growth
  • Entrepreneurial financing for venture and innovation development
  • A roadmap of industrial cluster development: a case study of Thailand's HDD cluster
  • Power paradoxes in national innovation systems – an exploratory study among Singapore's technocrats and technopreneurs
  • Strategies for R&D and intellectual property learned from case studies – keyword for strengthening technological competitiveness
  • A review of literature on technology roadmapping: a case study of Power Line Communication (PLC)


8 January 2010

Special issue: Progress in traditional Chinese medicine research

International Journal of Functional Informatics and Personalised Medicine 2(3) 2009

Papers from the International Workshop on Bioinformatics and Systems Biology in Traditional Chinese Medicine Research held in conjunction with the 2009 International Joint Conferences on System Biology, Bioinformatics and Intelligent Computing (IJCBS2009) in Shanghai, China, 3 August 2009.
  • Report of 2009 International Workshop on Bioinformatics and Systems Biology in Traditional Chinese Medicine Research
  • Mutual understanding between Traditional Chinese Medicine and systems biology: gaps, challenges and opportunities
  • The logic of YinYang and the science of TCM: An eastern road to the unification of nature, agents and medicine
  • A multitier YinYang-N-element cellular architecture for the Chinese meridian system
  • Computer-aided disease diagnosis system in TCM based on facial image analysis
  • A novel segmentation of tongue image
  • Nonlinear analysis of auscultation signals in Traditional Chinese Medicine using Wavelet Packet Transform and Approximate Entropy

Special issue: Co-evolution of products and networks of partners

International Journal of Design Engineering 2(4) 2009
  • The impact of NPD projects on supply chain complexity: an empirical research
  • A product-model supporting coupling's management during microproduct design
  • Challenges in identifying the knock-on effects of engineering change
  • Design for manufacture: the case of concurrent mould and part design in injection moulding
  • Propagating product architecture decisions onto the project organisation: a comparison between two methods
  • A new Bayesian technique for readjusting LOLIMOT models: example with diesel engine emissions

Call for papers: Emotion, Embodiment, Research

A special issue of International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion

This Special Issue follows from the recently completed ESRC Seminar Series on Emotion and Embodiment in Research, which explored issues around the methodological importance of taking a view of the researcher as an emotional and embodied being. We also considered the personal risks involved in carrying out research, the ethical dilemmas for researchers, their managers and funders, as well as the social relationships of power in these processes.

Sturdy (2003) discusses these issues in terms of ‘knowing the unknowable’, reviews the literature indicating knowability of these issues and how a focus on them can ‘also draw attention to methodological and related political concerns more generally.’

Knights and Thanem (2006) argue that, often, even research on emotions takes a disembodied form, with the body becoming just another object to organise and order, whereas – as Knights highlighted in his contribution to the Seminar Series – embodiment is both a point of departure and of destination but always a provisional condition.

The gap in training at doctoral level for both researchers and their supervisors was central to the series, as the training offered to doctoral students rarely covers the emotional and embodied nature of the process - such as guilt, fear, anger, fatigue - ignoring the potential methodological implications in the research process. Such emotions are often suppressed as being “unprofessional” or an untidy (and unwanted) consequence of fieldwork relevant only to the individual. Yet the fact that research is not purely a rational, objective activity and is also about politics, power, and morals is widely accepted. In an indirectly related discussion of gender in industrial relations research, Danieli (2006) argues that academics often pursue a strategy of simultaneous ‘acknowledgement and abdication’: acknowledging the importance of gender while arguing that gender does not need to be addressed.

So our understanding of the emotional and embodied nature of research(ing) has not kept pace with the increased attention paid to emotion and embodiment in organisational life. The focus on theoretical and empirical developments in this area in IJWOE requires a similar lens to be turned on the ways in which research is conducted.

What is important is not only to indicate that emotion and embodiment are involved in research processes but to explore what this means for the process of training as and working as a researcher, for what we research, how and why, and for what we write and how we write - that is, for the production of knowledge.

Despite the ‘reflexive turn’ in fieldwork-based academic disciplines, teaching and writing on empirical research often seems to ignore the role of researchers’ own emotions and embodiment in the collection of data and the creation of textual representations. The orientation of the research framework in terms of analysis may well be critically reflexive, but the conduct of the research itself is effectively positivist in treating the researcher as an ‘instrument.’

As emotion and embodiment are commonly individualised and time- and context-specific, must we necessarily adopt a conventional rational style of communication in academic texts, as otherwise such discussion would obscure rather than contribute to knowledge?

We invite papers which address these debates and which focus on the emotional and embodied nature of the research process.

We suggest the following themes, but stress that these are simply suggestions and that we encourage papers on whatever dimension of these issues interests you:

Research Training and Fieldwork
  • How does research training deal with the emotional, embodied researcher?
  • What are the expectations research students in carrying out fieldwork?
  • Are they prepared for the emotional/ethical issues they may encounter?
Methodological considerations
  • What are the methodological implications of considering the researcher as an embodied, emotional being?
  • What are the empirical and analytical effects of emotional-embodied reactions?
Risk and responsibilities
  • Ethical and political implications: risk to researchers is seldom considered. What ethical issues does this raise for funders, managers, supervisors, University Ethics Committees?
  • Disciplines
  • How are the emotion/embodiment rules of academic disciplines learned and experienced?
  • What are the roles of particular subgroups, substructures, in shaping the emotion rules associated with them?
  • In exploring emotion/embodiment in research, what might we learn about the boundaries of, between, and within disciplines?
These themes might include, but are not limited to, specific issues around:
  • Age, gender, race/ethnicity, impairment/disability, sexual orientation
  • Power relations in research
  • Fear and physicality
  • Responses to fieldwork
  • Working in groups and teams
  • Differing methodologies
Important Date
Deadline for submission: 11 June, 2010

7 January 2010

Special issue: Design, make and serve in the global manufacturing network: evidence from practices in China

International Journal of Learning and Intellectual Capital 7(2) 2010

Papers presented at the Third International Symposium on Global Manufacturing and China (GMC’07) held in Hangzhou, China, 8-9 September 2007
  • Why do mainland Chinese firms succeed in some sectors and fail in others? A critical view of the Chinese system of innovation
  • National innovation systems for China and India: an analytical framework and a comparative analysis
  • The configuration and performance of international innovation networks: some evidence from the Chinese software industry
  • Innovation management in Chinese companies: an empirical study
  • The virtual enterprise and performance evaluation using exergoeconomics in a closed-loop supply chain
  • Building competitive advantages in a transition economy by ODM instead of OEM: the case of Donlim

6 January 2010

Call for papers: Recent Advances in the Prediction and Characterisation of Biomaterials: Their Properties and Applications

A special issue of International Journal of Nano and Biomaterials

New developments of advanced biomaterials such as composite materials or cellular structures require the accurate prediction and characterisation of their properties. Only if the performance of a new material of structure can be accurately predicted and guaranteed, can an application be suggested or recommended. To this end, modelling, numerical simulation and experimental characterisation play an important role and are complementing each other. This issue is focused on the recent advances in the prediction and characterisation of biomaterials and structures.

Subject Coverage
  • Modelling of mechanical behaviour (dynamic behaviour, fracture, etc.)
  • Thermo and electrodynamical behaviour
  • Numerical simulation (e.g. finite element simulation) of materials and structures (e.g. prostheses and implants)
  • Composite and fibre reinforced materials
  • Advanced characterisation methods (e.g. CT)
Important Date
Deadline for submissions: 30 April 2010

Special issue:Know how? Challenges in knowledge and innovation management in alliances

International Journal of Knowledge Management Studies 4(2) 2010
  • The reconfiguration of practical knowledge in competitive alliances
  • Local strategic networks in the software industry: an empirical analysis of the value continuum
  • Collaborative capability in R&D alliances: exploring the link between organisational- and individual-level factors
  • Leadership behaviours as ongoing negotiations and their effects on knowledge and innovation capabilities in alliances
  • Knowledge transfer and performance in Danish-Ghanaian strategic alliances
  • Developing new knowledge in collaborative relationships in megaproject alliances: organising reflection in the Dutch construction sector

5 January 2010

Call for papers: The Impact of New Forms of Information Technology on Managerial Decision Making

A special issue of International Journal of Electronic Business

The current economic crisis is seen by many as yet another proof of the inadequacy of managerial decision support systems. In spite of three decades of academic and applied research on decision support systems, many organizations still question whether IT can improve managerial effectiveness. Have social media, any more than the enterprise technologies that have preceded them, fundamentally improved how managers use information in taking decisions?

This special issue aims to explore the relationship between information, information architectures, and organisational decision making. Building upon a multi-disciplinary approach, the contributions will explore how both new forms of IT and/or new approaches to decision sciences can potentially elucidate and enhance managerial choices in providing measurable value to the organisation.

Papers that address theory and practice of all aspects of organisational decision making are invited. Case studies and empirical research are welcome. Contributions will be evaluated on their originality, clarity, and relevance. Submissions from all interdisciplinary areas and from people with practical experience in industry or government are encouraged.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

Internet Technology
  • Metadata and metamodelling
  • Knowledge management
  • Multimedia applications using web services
  • Ontology and the semantic web
  • Protocols and standards
Decision Sciences
  • Choice modelling
  • Decision analysis
  • Decision theory
  • Complexity
  • Fuzzy logic
  • Game theory
E-Business
  • e-Business system design and development
  • Social networks and information systems
  • e-Governance
  • E-business strategies
  • New business models
Important Dates
Submission of papers : 15 June, 2010
Notification of acceptance : 15 October, 2010

Call for papers: Models for Operational and Business Excellence

A special issue of International Journal of Logistics Economics and Globalisation

Excellence pervades every aspect of business and industrial activity and it is often envisaged as an essential ingredient of organisational success. Firms – be it a for-profit or non-profit organisation or be it a multinational corporation or a small enterprise – have been imbibing concepts, adopting tools and implementing best practices germane to different facets of excellence. Successful companies factor stakeholder perspectives into their strategic decision-making processes besides undertaking continuous improvement initiatives. Business excellence has been construed as a holistic framework for integrating stakeholder perspectives with the organisational vision and strategic objectives so as to establish performance benchmarks related to financials, markets, customers and processes. Operational excellence has been viewed as an engine for organisational growth and a key driver of productivity with the objective of enhancing/sustaining competitive advantage.

Key practices of business excellence applied across functional areas include continuous and breakthrough improvement, preventative management and management by facts. Some of the tools employed are the balanced scorecard, lean thinking, six sigma, statistical tools, process management, quality management, technology management and project management. Operational excellence comprises proven practices and procedures of the three foundation blocks - operations risk management, capital effectiveness and asset productivity; and it embraces the entire supply chain.

This special issue aims to trace established practices and track new developments in the field of business and operational excellence with the following objectives of identifying:
  • conceptual frameworks and analytical models for business and operational excellence (using statistical analysis).
  • country and industry-specific variables that impact business and operational excellence (through empirical research)
  • insightful case studies exemplifying the importance of business and operational excellence.
Papers must also have real value relevance, primarily focused on real time implementation, and the target audience are researchers, managers, practitioners and consultants.

Contributors are encouraged to submit original manuscripts that have practical relevance, case studies, and focus on the following or other areas related to business and operational excellence in manufacturing and service industries:
  • Best practices in business management
  • Data mining for business performance
  • Innovation and quality management
  • Knowledge transfer models
  • Balanced scorecard models
  • Change management concepts
  • Statistical and analytical models
  • Multivariate techniques and mathematical models
  • Multi criteria decision making models
  • Process of customer value creation in business
  • Information integration
  • Technology management applications
  • Lean and agile concepts and applications
  • Six sigma concepts and applications
  • Benchmarking
  • Information systems assessment
  • Planning improvement
Important Dates
Manuscript submission: 30 May 2010
Notification of initial decision: 31 July 2010
Submission of revised manuscript: 30 August 2010
Notification of final acceptance: 15 September 2010
Submission of final manuscript: 10 October 2010

1 January 2010

Special issue: Security, privacy, and identification technologies in wireless sensor networks

International Journal of Security and Networks 5(1) 2010
  • A backpressure technique for filtering spoofed traffic at upstream routers
  • Authentication and secret search mechanisms for RFID-aware wireless sensor networks
  • An efficient secure data dissemination scheme for grid structure Wireless Sensor Networks
  • Bloom filter based secure and anonymous DSR protocol in wireless ad hoc networks
  • Mutual anonymity protocol with integrity protection for mobile peer-to-peer networks
  • Lightweight authentication protocol for mobile RFID networks
  • A cross-layer authentication design for secure video transportation in wireless sensor network