1522 research outputs found
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A service innovation capability maturity model for SMEs
Get PDFThere is general consensus that service innovations are prerequisite to sustained competitive advantage and are an essential mechanism for responding to changes in customer needs and the operating environment of firms (Giannopoulou et al., 2011; Stryja et al., 2013). Services have been described as ubiquitous in their role of generating economic growth and wellbeing and represent over 70% of employment and GDP in developed nations (Janssen et al., 2012; Mustak, 2014). As a consequence, service innovations must be a core ambition of all countries, regions, and firms wishing to remain competitive (van Ark et al., 2003).
While acknowledging the importance of once-off innovations, more critical still is the capability to repeatedly introduce and exploit service innovations (Siguaw et al., 2006). This is generally referred to as service innovation capability (SIC) and describes the repeatable routines and behaviours that organisations have in place to transform ideas and knowledge into innovations (Basterretxea and Martínez, 2012). However, despite links between SIC and continuous, sustainable, and consistent service innovations, there is evidence that many organisations struggle with its effective management (Adams et al., 2006; den Hertog et al., 2010). This is often attributed to the lack of formal guidance available and the absence of metrics to determine an organisation’s SIC performance (Hogan et al., 2011; Szczygielski, 2011). Maturity modelling research in this discipline remains at an embryonic stage, thus far presenting only conceptual and opaque discussions that fail to address the necessity for an assessment and strategic management framework (Gryszkiewicz et al., 2013; Hipp and Grupp, 2005).
Therefore, the purpose of this ongoing research project is to evaluate the maturity of an organisation’s SIC to inform its effective management and enhancement. To achieve this it dimensionalises the concept into four constituent capabilities, specifically, strategising, customer involvement, knowledge management, and networking (Blommerde and Lynch, 2014). The study then tracks the maturity of these capabilities as they progress through eight evolutionary plateaus towards a fully developed or optimal state. This is accomplished through a capability maturity model that enables organisations to rapidly diagnose key areas of strength and weakness to systematically cultivate behaviours that leverage their untapped innovative potential (Wendler, 2012; Essmann and du Preez, 2010).
As a result of the immense knowledge vacuum characteristic of this discipline, it is anticipated that this ongoing research project will make a substantial contribution to both academic understanding and take strides towards filling the void in practical support (Rapaccini et al., 2013). It expands the service innovation literature by detailing key service innovation levers, bolsters the discipline through clear definitions of terminology, provides a powerful explanation of the development of SICs, and operationalises the dynamic capabilities view through a novel self-assessment reference model (Jochem et al., 2011). The next step in the project is the evaluation of the, as yet, conceptual service innovation capability maturity model. Adopting a positivistic philosophical stance, the study proposes the use of structural equation modelling on data gathered through an extensive survey to confirm the model and support theoretical assumptions
The impact of cycle skills training on cycling confidence and behaviour
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of cycle skills training (playground, cycle lane and on-road) in improving rates of cycling for transport and leisure, cycling skills, attitudes to cycling, cycling confidence and perceived cycling safety among school children.
A mixed-method, quasi experimental, follow up study, with intervention and control groups was conducted in Co. Waterford with 631 children (470 primary:25 x 3rd and 4th classes; 161 secondary: 3 x 2nd year classes), who completed questionnaires, cycling skills tests and qualitative focus group discussions, pre-intervention, immediately post-intervention and at one, six and 12 months later.
There were significant increases in the numbers who had ever cycled to school, skills test scores, confidence on ‘big’ roads and junctions etc. and feeling safe cycling to school. The biggest gains were in primary school and among girls. ‘Grow-ups don’t want me to cycle’ remained a main barrier.
Children believed they had better cycling skills than they actually did and most had no idea how to safely negotiate a T-junction or roundabout, or how to indicate with hand signals. This underscores the importance of a national roll-out of cycle skills training across all schools to support the Government’s Smarter Travel policies
Ultrafast dynamics of type-II GaSb/GaAs quantum dots
Get PDFIn this paper, room temperature two-colour pump-probe spectroscopy is employed to study ultrafast carrier dynamics in type-II GaSb/GaAs quantum dots. Our results demonstrate a strong dependency of carrier capture/escape processes on applied reverse bias voltage, probing wavelength and number of injected carriers. The extracted timescales as a function of both forward and reverse bias may provide important information for the design of efficient solar cells and quantum dot memories based on this material. The first few picoseconds of the dynamics reveal a complex behaviour with an interesting feature, which does not appear in devices based on type-I materials, and hence is linked to the unique carrier capture/escape processes possible in type-II structures
Assessing and managing the risk posed by Salmonella in pig feed
Get PDFSalmonella in pigs and derived pork is a significant food safety concern in Ireland. During commercial pig production, it is proposed that a number of risk factors including commercial feed can introduce Salmonella to fattening pig herds and may thereby cause human infections via consumption of contaminated pork. The objective of this work was to carry out an in-depth study on ten high Salmonella sero-prevalence pig farms to firstly identify which production stages were the principal harbours of Salmonella infection and secondly, to assess the occurrence of Salmonella in feed throughout the different production stages on these farms and thereby assess potential risks as well as epidemiological relationships. Isolates were characterized by serotyping, antibiotic resistance profiling, pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multiple locus VNTR analysis (MLVA). Eleven serotypes were recovered, with a monophasic variant of Typhimurium (4,[5],12:i:) accounting for 41.1% of all isolates recovered. Five Salmonella 4,[5],12:i:- isolates were recovered from the commercial feed mills supplying our pig farms. Typing of all isolates resulted in two common distinct MLVA profiles for both mills and farms. The Salmonella 4,[5],12:i:- variant that predominated in the pigs and feed is an emerging strain in Europe and are of increasing food safety concern. The objective of the final study was to determine the survival characteristics of Salmonella 4,[5],12:i:- strains. The thermal inactivation of the five feed strains at 55, 60 and 65°C was investigated using an immersed heating coil apparatus. The ability of the five strains to survive during storage on weaner pig feed premixed with Sodium Butyrate was also assessed over 28 day storage. The key findings in this study is the confirmation of monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium occurrence in new geographical settings and the indication of its possible role in the transmission of Salmonella from contaminated feed ingredients and feed to pigs
A Different Way of Sensing the World : Live Art and Synesthesia
Get PDFSynesthesia can be defined as the cross wiring of the senses where the stimulation of one sense triggers the stimulation of another sense. According to leading scientific researchers all of us are synesthetic, but most of us are unconscious about the sensory fusions in our brain. Through live art practice this study aims to bring an awareness of the senses and sensory fusion to the viewer. Synesthesia has been previously explored in the arts through music, poetry and painting but there is little evidence of synesthesia research through live art practice. Live art has the ability to reveal synesthetic characteristics of perception and can offer new ways of experiencing a stimulation of the senses. The methodological approach to this research is qualitative in nature, utilising interpretive research methodologies and methods. Practice as research is the chosen research method, as it combines creative and reflective practice with interpretative interactions. The findings of this research project will be considered within a phenomenological framework as phenomenology’s main concern is with the lived experience. This research project aims to address the following research question: what sensorial stimuli can be used to evoke a perceptual experience in live art performance, and in what ways can live art contribute to existing research in synesthesia through this exploration? This research project can offer an alternative to the scientific experiments in synesthesia and may enrich and compliment previous studies and open new directions for further research
‘Human Security and Global Nurse Migration: A Mixed Methods Study of Filipina Nurses in Ireland’
Get PDFIt is widely recognised and accepted that there was a serious nursing shortage in Ireland from the years 2000 to 2008 and that care deficits were increasingly being met by foreign nurses. According to Irish Nursing Board statistics active recruitment campaigns were successful in attracting 11,288 non-EU nurses to Ireland between the years 2000 and 2008. During this time migrant nurses accounted for 40 per cent of all newly registered nurses and they became an essential part of the health workforce in Ireland. Many of these nurses came from the Philippines as it was targeted as a major ‘nurse reservoir’. The recruitment of Filipina nurses to address gaps in Ireland’s health service during the more prosperous Celtic Tiger Period 2000 to 2008 forms part of the broader phenomenon of global or transnational nurse migration, a phenomenon that has global or transnational consequences for human security. The aim of this study has been to explore the ‘human security’ dimension of migration from the perspective of Filipina nurses recruited to work in Ireland’s health service from the years 2000 to 2009. The research findings and analysis of this study suggest overall migration has the capacity to enhance the security of Filipina nurses through increased income and remittance flows. However, just as migration can enhance human security it can also create new risks, vulnerabilities and threats that impact the well-being and security of Filipina nurses, their families and communities. Findings from this study highlight the need for a broad holistic view of human security, one that incorporates a wide range of both objective and subjective threats. In keeping with the human security framework findings from this study reveal ‘human security’ from the perspective of Filipina nurses relates not only to financial and economic security but also to human agency, feelings of safety and security, the ability to participate fully in the life of the community, human well-being and the building and stability of developments/capabilities gained. A feminist approach to the study of human security is used to highlight the relational nature of ‘human security’. In this study it brought to light the important role of Filipina nurses in achieving human security. It also revealed that migration through family separation and the loss of social supports can alter or damage relations of care and this can have implications for the well-being and human capacity of Filipina nurses, their families and communities. However, by placing security and gender at the centre of their migration experience, findings also reveal the strategies employed by Filipina nurses to overcome disadvantage. Filipina nurses through acts of social solidarity with other Filipino women continue to ensure the daily survival and security of their families and communities in Ireland and the Philippines
Uncovering Innovation Practices and Requirements in Privacy and Cyber Security Organisations: Insights from IPACSO
Get PDFA pressing challenge facing the cybersecurity and privacy re-search community is transitioning technical R&D into commercial and market-place ready products and services. Responding to the need to develop a better understanding of how Privacy and CyberSecurity (PACS) market needs and overall technology innovation best-practice can be harmonized more effectively the contribution of this paper is centred upon uncovering PACS stakeholders’ innovation practices, requirements, and challenges and in doing so highlighting scope for innovation intervention supports. The research outputs impacts and has implications at various levels, most notably in terms of framing both innovator and firm-level innovation requirements within the PACS domain, which has relevance to academic and policy making audiences also. Additionally, given that the research outputs form a pivotal component of the IPACSO project, they will actively contribute to ongoing debates and objectives around shaping support measures for PACS innovation awareness, competency building and innovation policy support developments in the domain
Sustained supplementation and monitored response with differing carotenoid formulations in early age-related macular degeneration
Get PDFA new perspective on Einstein's philosophy of cosmology
Get PDFIt has recently been discovered that Einstein once attempted - and subsequently abandoned - a 'steady-state' model of the universe, i.e., a cosmic model in which the expanding universe remains essentially unchanged due to a continuous creation of matter from empty space. The discovery offers several new insights into Einstein's cosmology, from his view of the role of the cosmological constant to his attitude to the question of cosmic origins. More generally, Einstein's exploration of steady-state cosmology casts new light on his philosophical journey from a static, bounded cosmology to the dynamic, evolving universe, and is indicative of a pragmatic, empiricist approach to cosmology