Although ads with subtle racist imagery can reinforce negative stereotypes, advertisers can eliminate this problem. After a brief overview of predominantly U.S.-based research on the racial mix of models/actors in ads, a theoretical framework for unmasking subtle racial bias is provided and dimensional qualitative research (DQR) is introduced as a method for identifying and rectifying such ad imagery. Results of a DQR-based study of 622 U.K. television ads with at least one Black actor indicate (1) subtle racially biased imagery now supersedes overt forms, and (2) the most popular ad appeals often mask negative stereotypes. Implications for public policy and advertisers, as well as recommendations for future research, are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to determine how best to reduce, reuse and dispose of household waste medicines in the National Health Service (NHS) (UK). Through a combination of literature review and empirical work, this research investigates the existing household waste medicines reverse logistics (RL) system and makes recommendations for improvement by benchmarking it against household waste batteries RL. The viability and feasibility of these recommendations are evaluated through in-depth interviews with healthcare professionals and end user surveys. The batteries RL system appears to be a more structured and effective system with more active engagement from actors/stakeholders in instigating RL practices and for this very reason is an excellent comparator for waste medicines RL practices. Appropriate best practices are recommended to be incorporated into the waste medicines RL system, including recapturing product value, revised processing approaches, system cooperation and enforcement, drivers and motivations and system design and facilitation. This study offers academics and professionals an improved insight into the current household waste medicines RL system and provides a step towards reducing an existing gap in this under-researched area. A limitation is that only a small sample of healthcare professionals were involved in subjectively evaluating the feasibility of the recommendations, so the applicability of the recommendations needs to be tested in a wider context and the cost effectiveness of implementing the recommendations needs to be analysed. Reducing, reusing and properly disposing of waste medicines contribute to economic sustainability, environmental protection and personal and community safety. The information retrieved from analysing returned medicines can be used to inform prescribing practice so as to reduce unnecessary medicine waste and meet the medicine optimisation agenda. This paper advocates learning from best practices in batteries RL to improve the waste medicines RL design and execution and supports the current NHS agenda on medicine waste reduction (DoH, 2012). The recommendations made in the paper not only aim to reduce medicine waste but also to use medicines effectively, placing the emphasis on improving health outcomes.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a mechanism for aligning company policies and practices within the socio-economic, cultural and environmental challenges facing society and, in particular, communities. Though the majority of empirical research on CSR has been conducted in Western companies, there is growing interest in CSR in transitional and developing economies, as well as Western firms working in developing countries.

This paper provides a systems-based approach to the exploration of the relationship and integration between Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) factors as part of a Sustainable Operations Management (SOM) agenda. The authors have chosen electronic procurement (e-Procurement) as a suitable context in this light. Through a review of extant literature, a Systems Archetype (SA) model was developed (based on the ‘Accidental Adversaries’ archetype) and findings from a quantitative pilot study exploring key factors pertinent to e-Procurement SRM were gathered, and hence evaluated against SOM factors. The objective of this research was to describe and visualise the causal interrelationships involved in SRM-SOM through the application of a SA (as an Operations Research tool). The authors believe that this research also provides a unique approach to developing and harnessing the useful and unique properties of Systems Thinking (ST), by attempting to reduce and organise the (generally ad hoc and wide-ranging) sequence of subjective perspectives commonly experienced in causal mapping experiments. The paper builds upon the extant literature, and provides further basis for continuing research in the areas of ST, SAs and the application of operational research to plan sustainable operations.

Transportation infrastructure projects are prone to cost and schedule overruns. At the time of contract award, a construction contingency budget is often used to accommodate for unplanned events such as scope changes. Recent empirical research has shown that rework during construction as a result of design changes, errors and omission are the major contributors of overruns in projects. The statistical characteristics of rework, and cost and schedule overruns that are experienced from a project's contract award for 58 Australian transportation infrastructure projects are analysed. Theoretical probability distributions are fitted to the rework, cost and schedule overrun data. Goodness of fit tests are used in conjunction with probability-probability (P-P) plots to compare the sample distribution from the known theoretical distribution. A Generalised Logistic probability density function is found to describe the behaviour of cost-overruns and provides the best overall distribution fit. The best fitting distribution for schedule overruns and rework data were the Four Parameter Burr and a Johnson SB distribution, respectively. The distributions are used to calculate the probability of rework, cost and schedule overruns being experienced. A case illustration is presented and discussed to demonstrate how the derived probabilities may be utilised in practice.

The available literature suggest that the research on radio frequency identification (RFID)-related issues is largely concentrated on technical, organizational and implementation aspects, and comparatively lesser attention has been invested in understanding the use aspect of such library management systems. The purpose of this paper is to gain an understanding into the factors that influence the use of RFID systems in the library context by empirically testing the relevant constructs from the extended technology acceptance model (TAM). A questionnaire-based survey approach was employed for collecting the relevant data from 197 respondents. The respondents were the active users of a RFID-based library system. Findings from this study suggested that perceived usefulness and system quality positively influence the user attitude, and user attitude and system quality significantly influence the use of the RFID services. The paper concludes with outlining the salient points, limitations, and future research directions. The paper evaluates the role of a set of innovation attributes on the acceptance of RFID integrated systems in libraries. Owing to the scant literature availability in empirical investigations on adoption of RFID systems in libraries, the findings from this paper add value to the existing literature in this field, and also to the literature on the TAM model, with the empirical findings being of use to the aspirant libraries looking toward integrating RFID enabled systems.

There is growing demand for cost effective and reliable floating production systems to maximize marginal and new deepwater fields worldwide. Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels are considered to be the most economical and viable options to meet this demand. Yet, FPSO projects are prone to significant cost and schedule growth. On average, FPSOs have been reported to experience a 20% cost growth and are delayed by six months. Overruns and delays represent uncertainties for owners, contractors and financial institutions. In-depth interviews with twenty-three practitioners about their experiences with FPSO projects revealed that rework arising from design and construction errors were major contributors to cost and schedule growth. Key latent conditions contributing to rework are classified according to people, organization and project. Using retrospective sensemaking an examination of the determinant histories in a new build and conversion FPSO that experienced rework was undertaken. The sharing of experience(s) is deemed pivotal for reducing rework in future projects, particularly through the use of communities of practice that are able to stimulate situated learning to take place. A reduction in rework will not only reduce cost and schedule growth, improve operational performance and augment safety.

This paper investigates the impact of corporate ownership and control on the outcome of financial distress. It is argued that the likelihood of financial distress resulting in insolvency depends on whether firms have controllers, the type of controllers and their cash flow ownership. Using a sample of 484 UK firms, 81 of which filed for insolvency, we show that financially distressed firms with controllers are more likely to be insolvent than widely held firms, where the probability of insolvency is greater when controllers are family or financial institutions. However, the probability of insolvency reduces significantly as the controllers’ cash flow ownership increases beyond 10%

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of insider trading on subsequent stock returns in the UK, with a specific focus on the impact of the global financial crisis of 2007-2008 on the relation between CEO and CFO stock purchases and returns. Design/methodology/approach – The empirical analysis uses 10,230 purchases executed in 679 UK firms by 1,477 directors during the period from 2000 to 2010. Subsequent market-adjusted stock returns are regressed on a set of firm-specific accounting, market and corporate governance variables as well as the characteristics of CEOs and CFOs. Additionally, the analysis distinguishes between the opportunistic and routine trades. Findings – The findings reveal that the position of the trading director and the nature of their trades are important in determining the impact on returns of insider trades. In particular, CEO purchases are on the whole more informative than CFO purchases and opportunistic purchases. The trades in the post-crisis period have a greater impact on subsequent stock returns. Research limitations/implications – The empirical analysis is limited to the trades made by two executives. Future research should consider inside trades by all directors and distinguish between executive and non-executive directors. Also, a behavioral measure should be developed to test if the financial crisis affected the trading behavior of directors and whether directors use insider trading strategically to signal information to the market. Practical implications – The impact of directors’ dealings on stock returns is not homogeneous. Financial analysts and investors should pay more attention to different types of trades and the identity of trading director. Originality/value – This paper, to the authors’ knowledge, provides the first attempt that combines in the same framework the identity and personal attributes of trading executive directors, firm-level corporate governance features, the nature of purchase transactions and the trading period characteristics. Furthermore the empirical analysis is carried out during a period that also covers the recent global financial crisis period and its immediate aftermath.

With the increasing complexity of problems in the construction industry, researchers are investigating computationally rigorous intelligent systems with the aim of seeking intelligent solutions. The purpose of this paper is therefore to analyse the research published on ‘intelligent systems in the construction industry’ over the past two decades. This is achieved to observe and understand the historical trends and current patterns in the use of different types of intelligent systems and to exhibit potential directions of further research. Thus, to trace the applications of intelligent systems to research in the construction industry, a profiling approach is employed to analyse 514 publications extracted from the Scopus database. The prime value and uniqueness of this paper lies in analysing and compiling the existing published material by examining variables (such as yearly publications, geographic location of each publication, etc.). This has been achieved by synthesising existing publications using 14 keywords2 ‘Intelligent Systems’, ‘Artificial Intelligence’, ‘Expert Systems’, ‘Fuzzy Systems’, ‘Genetic Algorithms’, ‘Knowledge-Based Systems’, ‘Neural Networks’, ‘Context Aware Applications’, ‘Embedded Systems’, ‘Human–Machine Interface’, ‘Sensing and Multiple Sensor Fusion’, ‘Ubiquitous and Physical Computing’, ‘Case-based Reasoning’ and ‘Construction Industry’. The prime contributions of this research are identified by associating (a) yearly publication and geographic location, (b) yearly publication and the type of intelligent systems employed/discussed, (c) geographic location and the type of research methods employed, and (d) geographic location and the types of intelligent systems employed. These contributions provide a comparison between the two decades and offer insights into the trends in using different intelligent systems types in the construction industry. The analysis presented in this paper has identified intelligent systems studies that have contributed to the development and accumulation of intellectual wealth to the intelligent systems area in the construction industry. This research has implications for researchers, journal editors, practitioners, universities and research institutions. Moreover, it is likely to form the basis and motivation for profiling other database resources and specific types of intelligent systems journals in this area.