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To give an overview of some recent research into human resource (HR) deployment in library services in UK universities and colleges of higher education.

The aim of the research in question was to evaluate the effectiveness of HR deployment. This implied a positivistic methodological approach, maintaining that the reality under examination, HR deployment, existed objectively and independently of the researcher. However, the research aimed to discover not only what happened but also why. So there was an overlap between the positivistic and phenomenological approach. To this end, the research collected quantitative data via a survey and the present paper provides a summary of the research aim, objectives, methodology and results.

The research findings indicate that staff deployment patterns in the context investigated are suboptimal and that, in consequence, individual libraries should be open to scrutiny in comparison with others not only in terms of their quantifiable patterns of library usage but also in terms of the patterns of their staff provision and staff deployment.

The findings only relate to UK universities and colleges of higher education.

The present research suggests five actions for practitioners.

The present research highlights the lack of benchmarking facilities in UK universities and colleges of higher education relating to HR deployment in libraries, and recommends that Society of College, National and University Libraries (SCONUL) extends the existing data collection in the Annual Statistical return to include this HR area.

Despite extensive academic research related to digital technologies (DT), their integration into architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) projects lags in practice. This paper aims to discover DT deployment patterns and emerging trends in real-life AEC projects.

A case study methodology was adopted, including individual case analyses and comparative multiple-case analyses.

The results revealed the temporal distribution of DT in practical AEC projects, specific DT products/software, major project types integrated with digital solutions, DT application areas and project stages and associated project performance. Three distinct patterns in DT adoption have been observed, reflecting the evolution of DT applications, the progression from single to multiple DT integration and alignment with emerging industry requirements. The DT adoption behavior in the studied cases has been examined using the technology-organization-environment-human (TOE + H) framework. Further, eight emerging trend streams for future DT adoption were identified, with “leveraging the diverse features of certain mature DT” being a shared recognition of all studied companies.

This research offers actionable insights for AEC companies, facilitating the development of customized DT implementation roadmaps aligned with organizational needs. Policymakers, industry associations and DT suppliers may leverage these findings for informed decision-making, collaborative educational initiatives and product/service customization.

This research provides empirical evidence of applicable products/software, application areas and project performance. The examination of the TOE + H framework offers a holistic understanding of the collective influences on DT adoption. The identification of emerging trends addresses the evolving demands of the AEC industry in the digital era.

Management styles and methods are radically different in different countries as are patterns of education and training and patterns of manpower deployment in industry. The operations of multinational companies in the U.K. reflect to some extent patterns imported from multinationals home countries. Clearly, cultural differences would act as constraints on any attempt to copy directly from other countries. But where foreign owned firms have been relatively more successful in the U.K. than British owned firms there are lessons to be learned.

Privacy preservation is a significant concern in Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled event-driven wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Low energy utilization in the event-driven system is essential if events do not happen. When events occur, IoT-enabled sensor network is required to deal with enormous traffic from the concentration of demand data delivery. This paper aims to explore an effective framework for safeguarding privacy at source in event-driven WSNs.

This paper discusses three algorithms in IoT-enabled event-driven WSNs: source location privacy for event detection (SLP_ED), chessboard alteration pattern (SLP_ED_CBA) and grid-based source location privacy (GB_SLP). Performance evaluation is done using simulation results and security analysis of the proposed scheme.

The sensors observe bound events or sensitive items within the network area in the field of interest. The open wireless channel lets an opponent search traffic designs, trace back and reach the start node or the event-detecting node. SLP_ED and SLP_ED_CBA provide better safety level results than dynamic shortest path scheme and energy-efficient source location privacy protection schemes. This paper discusses security analysis for the GB_SLP. Comparative analysis shows that the proposed scheme is more efficient on safety level than existing techniques.

The authors develop the privacy protection scheme in IoT-enabled event-driven WSNs. There are two categories of occurrences: nominal events and critical events. The choice of the route from source to sink relies on the two types of events: nominal or critical; the privacy level required for an event; and the energy consumption needed for the event. In addition, phantom node selection scheme is designed for source location privacy.

Managing firms’ supply network is a difficult task. The process is complex because it involves many interrelated business decisions, and a wide range of companies at different levels. So far, little is available to assist managers in analysing and monitoring a supply network performance. This paper proposes a tool, supply network analysis process (SNAP), to address this gap. SNAP can be implemented in a three‐stage process. The tool enables managers to explore, connect, and visualise the interaction of network decisions in such a way that it is easy to understand and communicate, that engage more people within an organization, and that unlock the creativity of participants. A case study is used to illustrate the application of the SNAP tool. Finally, the implication of this research to managers and academics is discussed.

The first purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between principal self-efficacy and work experience. The second purpose of this paper is to re-study the structure of a multidimensional and hierarchical Principal Self-Efficacy Scale (PSES).

PSES was measured using the Brama-Friedman scale (PSES) (Brama and Friedman, 2007). During the 2010 school year, 123 principals participated. Exploration of PSES was based on Facet Theory (Guttman, 1959).

The findings show that the highest levels of the PSES were found with principals that were at their first year of leading the school. The levels of PSES drop significantly during the second year and up to the fifth year of work experience. The levels of PSES start to rise after the fifth year, and stabilize after ten years. Furthermore, the findings show that PSES is comprised of organizational leadership, educational, and pedagogical leadership and external and communal relations.

The sample was relatively small and mostly from the center school district of Israel. The second limitation was that the sample included only Jewish principals. Since 20 percent of the population in Israel is Arabs, further studies should include all minorities in order to enlighten the issue.

Understanding the relations between PSES levels and work experience could assist policy makers with decisions concerning continuing professional development (in-service training) of principals.

Little is known about the relations between perceived self-efficacy of principals and their work experience.

The purpose of the paper is to outline a practical perspective for testing performance in the process of institutional reform in developing countries.

The test is presented from a donor's perspective. The paper does so by introducing a framework for testing the sustainability, impact and replication of reforms, to achieve local development. These areas of performance are set against the institutional development agenda of structures, processes and contextual reforms. The test goes on to highlight the sustainable outcomes and institutional consolidation of such reforms. This is considered at community, local and central government levels.

Testing performance is an important part of United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) practice. Its current concerns for sustainability and policy impact are being enhanced by a more explicit connection between institutional reform, through decentralisation, and poverty impact.

The concepts outlined are designed to be of application to a donor concerned with seeking to achieve decentralisation through local development initiatives. The paper's value is as a reflection of current UNCDF policy experiments in the least developed countries (LDCs). These experiments are designed to enrich its practice and influence its partners in the field.

There are few normative frameworks for testing performance on institutional reform. This test is particularly acute in the LDCs, the primary focus for UNCDF work. This technical paper is an attempt to develop a framework to allow donors to test their own work concerning institutional reform, particularly at the local government level.

The purpose of this study is to discover the learning mechanisms and temporal dynamics of implementing systems (Six Sigma) as it unfolds over time.

The data come from a European engineering company that was implementing a Six Sigma-based quality management system (QMS) over a seven-year period. The analysis is based on an event-sequence reconstruction of the implementation process as it unfolded over time and discovers four different learning mechanisms that emerged: programmatic, persistent, adaptive and dialectical learning mechanisms. The research follows a process design study, where the authors study how the process unfolds over time.

Much of the literature on implementing management systems suggests that implementation follows a prescribed sequence of “turn-key” steps. However, the findings show that only 40% of all events were driven by prescribed “turn-key” generic practices, while 56% of events required constructing new practices via adaptive and dialectical learning. Moreover, the implementation process did not proceed in a linear programmatic fashion, but instead followed a punctuated equilibrium pattern, which alternated between periods of incremental change and major organizational change. The study also found that implementation required changing many complementary organizational structures and practices that were interdependent with the management system (i.e. Six Sigma). By understanding the implementation process, managers can better assess the time and effort involved, better adapt the system to their situated context and predict critical junctures where implementation could break down.

This research complements the few studies that have examined the process of implementing management systems. Most studies examine factors or conditions that result in implementation success (the what of implementing systems), but few examine the process of implementation and the learning that takes place during implementation (the how of implementing systems), which is a complex nonlinear process that involves different modes of learning.

The data communications protocol supporting the internet protocol version 4 (IPv4) is almost 40 years old, and its 32-bit address space is too small for the internet. A “next-generation” internet protocol version 6 (IPv6), has a much larger, 128-bit address space. However, IPv6 is not backward compatible with the existing internet. For 20 years, the internet technical community has attempted to migrate the entire internet to the new standard. This study aims to address important but overlooked questions about the internet’s technical evolution: will the world converge on IPv6? Will IPv6 die out? or will we live in a mixed world for the foreseeable future?

The research offers an economically-grounded study of IPv6’s progress and prospects. Many promoters of IPv6 sincerely believe that the new standard must succeed if the internet is to grow, and assume that the transition is inevitable because of the presumed depletion of the IPv4 address resources. However, by examining the associated network effects, developing the economic parameters for transition, and modeling the underlying economic forces, which impact network operator decisions, the study paints a more complex, nuanced picture.

The report concludes that legacy IPv4 will coexist with IPv6 indefinitely. IPv6 is unlikely to become an orphan. For some network operators that need to grow, particularly mobile networks where the software and hardware ecosystem is mostly converted, IPv6 deployment can make economic sense. However, the lack of backward compatibility with non-deployers eliminates many network effects that would create pressure to convert to IPv6. A variety of conversion technologies, and more efficient use of IPv4 addresses using network address translation, will support a “mixed world” of the two standards for the foreseeable future.

The authors’ conceptualization and observations provide a clearer understanding of the economic factors affecting the transition to IPv6.

Considering lean thinking inside and beyond the organisation's boundaries, in the extended supply chain, this paper aims to fill a literature gap clearly stating some outsourcing practices as lean practices and establishing a deployment evolution parallel between both practices.

A literature review was carried out collecting cases of lean deployment in healthcare, from both scientific and grey literature. Cases were classified according to lean deployment taxonomy in healthcare settings, showing some differences in lean journey stages in 15 countries.

There is an alignment between SCM thinking in healthcare and lean thinking that places a SCM decision as outsourcing as a lean practice serving not only strategic intent but solving operational efficiency. There is a match between different outsourcing drivers (transactional, strategic and transformational) and lean maturity levels. The main constraint to deployment of both lean and outsourcing practices are cultural differences.

Understanding lean and outsourcing different deployment maturity levels under the national cultural umbrella can open new perspectives to study lean sustainability factors and better outsourcing relationships in healthcare organisations.

This paper presents a merger between the state‐of‐the art of both lean and outsourcing practices in healthcare settings and suggests an outsourcing and lean evolving pathway.