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This paper aims to present an interactive design and simulation tool for permanent magnet synchronous machines based on the finite-element-method. The tool is intended for education and research on electrical machines.

A coupling between the software MATLAB and finite element method magnetics is used. Several functionalities are included as modular scripts and represented in the form of a graphical user interface. Included are fully parametrized motor models, automatic winding generations and the evaluation of torque waveforms, core losses and speed-torque-diagrams. A survey was conducted to determine how the motivation of students concerning the covered topics is influenced by using the tool.

Due to its simplicity and the intuitive visualization of the results, the tool provides direct access to the topic of electrical machines without having to deal with separate scripts. The modular structure of the software allows simple extensions with new functions. Because students can directly contribute to the tool with their own work, their motivation for using and extending it increases.

The presented tool offers more functionalities compared to similar free software packages, e.g. the calculation of core losses and speed-torque diagrams. Also, it is designed in such a way that it can be easily understood and extended by students.

This paper reports on research exploring the intersections between researchers and communication professionals' perspectives on the objectives, funders and organizational influences on their science communication practices.

Examining one context, the inter-organizational BCDC Energy Research project based at five different research organizations in Finland, this paper presents data from semi-structured interviews with 17 researchers and 15 communication professionals.

The results suggest that performance-based funding policies that drive the proliferation of large-scale research projects can create challenges. In particular, a challenge arises in generating a shared sense of identity and purpose amongst researchers and communication professionals. This may have unintended negative impacts on the quality and cohesiveness of the science communication which occurs.

The study was exploratory in nature and focuses on one organizational and institutional environment. Further research with a wider number of projects, as well as funders, would be conducive to a greater understanding of the issues involved.

On a practical level, this research suggests that the creation of clearer communications awareness and guidance may be helpful in some large-scale projects, particularly involving broad numbers of organizations, individual researchers and funders.

This is one of the first studies examining the perspectives of both researchers and communication professionals working over one project, drawing together a range of different institutional and disciplinary perspectives. The results highlight the importance of the influences of funding on science communication aims, assumptions, cultures and structures. The article articulates the need for further research in this area.

In today's networked business environment, a huge amount of data is being generated and processed in different industries, which banking is amongst the most important ones. The aim of this study is to understand and prioritize strategic applications, main drivers, and key challenges of implementing big data analytics in banks.

To take advantage of experts' viewpoints, the authors designed and implemented a four-round Delphi study. Totally, 25 eligible experts have contributed to this survey in collecting and analyzing the data.

The results revealed that the most important applications of big data in banks are “fraud detection” and “credit risk analysis.” The main drivers to start big data endeavors are “decision-making enhancement” and “new product/service development,” and finally the focal challenge threatening the efforts and expected outputs is “information silos and unintegrated data.”

In addition to stepping forward in the literature, the findings advance our understanding of the main managerial issues of big data in a dynamic business environment, by proposing effective further actions for both scholars and decision-makers.

What role do people's attitudes toward social policies play for the politics of welfare state reform? This chapter contributes to a growing scholarship on policy responsiveness in welfare state research with a longitudinal comparative case study of the Bismarckian welfare states of France and Germany. Quantitative analyses of changes in mean attitudes as well as polarization and inequalities of attitudes based on the 1996, 2006, and 2016 waves of the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) Role of Government module are triangulated with a thick description of social policy changes. While recommodifying and defamilializing reforms in Germany transformed the welfare state fundamentally, there was more continuity in the French welfare state, in spite of a stronger focus on labor market activation policies. The quantitative results suggest that lower attitudinal stability toward the welfare state in Germany and lower polarization evoked a higher willingness for reform than in France, where more polarized attitudes and overall marginal changes in attitudes gave French governments less maneuverability in adopting reforms. In both countries, I find no evidence for an upper-class bias in policy responsiveness. In sum, my research supports the claim that change in public opinion toward the welfare state and diverging attitudes within societies play a role for the timing and direction of reforms.

Performance management systems (PMS) are integral to an organization's human resource management but research is ambivalent on their positive impact and the mechanism through which they influence employee behavior. This study fills this gap by positing work engagement as a mediator in the relationship between perceptions of PMS effectiveness, employee job satisfaction and turnover intentions.

The study uses a survey-based design. Data were collected from 322 employees in India attending a management development program at a premier business school. Partial least squares–based structure equation modeling package ADANCO was used for data analysis.

Positive perception of PMS effectiveness was found to enhance employee work engagement. This increased job satisfaction and reduced turnover intentions among employees. Thus, work engagement mediated the relationship between PMS perceptions and job satisfaction and turnover intentions.

The results suggest that organizations need to focus on three characteristics of PMS, namely its distinctiveness, consistency and consensus. These characteristics determine the effectiveness of PMS in engaging employees and influencing their job satisfaction and turnover intentions.

Prior studies on performance management have largely been limited to aspects of justice and focused disproportionately on the appraisal aspect of performance management. This study takes a systems view of performance management and addresses prior shortcomings by examining the role of clarity and horizontal fit between PMS practices in determining employee engagement. The study also provides much needed empirical support to theoretical studies which have argued that PMS is a driver of engagement in organizations (Gruman and Saks, 2011; Mone and London, 2014).

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between affective commitment to the supervisor and three work outcomes: innovative work behaviour and two types of learning behaviours, namely, feedback seeking for self‐improvement and error reporting. Additionally, it seeks to examine the mediating role of work engagement in these relationships.

In total, 192 research scientists from six science research centres in Ireland completed self‐reported questionnaires. Structural equation modelling was used to test the research hypotheses.

Results indicated that as hypothesised, work engagement fully mediated the link between affective commitment to the supervisor and the three employee outcomes included in this study.

The cross sectional design of this study does not permit causal inferences. Additionally, all data were self‐reported and therefore common method variance may be an issue. Despite these limitations, the results suggest that affective commitment to the supervisor is likely to enhance employees' work engagement, innovativeness and learning. These findings imply that building employees' commitment to their supervisors can be a potent strategy for increasing individual and organizational effectiveness.

This is the first study which has linked supervisory commitment to innovative work behaviour, feedback seeking and error reporting. Furthermore, it highlights one potential mechanism in the form of work engagement through which supervisory commitment relates to these work outcomes.

Concerns about climate change and the availability of energy has resulted in countries setting targets to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. A large proportion of energy is consumed by existing housing. Europe has a large proportion of historic housing, some of which also represent significant value in relation to historical, cultural and/or architectural importance. Upgrading their energy efficiency whilst retaining their significance is crucial for the sustainability of heritage buildings. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the challenges and barriers to improving the energy efficiency of listed pre-1919 housing.

The research utilised semi-structured interviews to explore the debates surrounding sustainability and conservation, identifying the key drivers and barriers to achieving a balance between these concepts.

Concern about climate change and the desire to preserve a heritage asset were the main drivers to balancing sustainability with conservation through energy efficiency improvements. The main challenges included the risk of detrimentally affecting the significance of the building, the lack of communication and collaboration between stakeholders, the availability of adequately skilled professionals and the lack of appropriate energy efficiency solutions for heritage buildings. The cost of improvements was found to be both a barrier and driver.

Heritage buildings perform differently to their modern counterparts and therefore the measures the authors apply to these historic properties must be done with sufficient understanding of this difference. Such measures must be compatible with these buildings in line with conservation principles. Further, the discussion of developing an alternative version of energy calculation for these buildings should be entered into.