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Direct growth of large-area vertically stacked two-dimensional (2D) van der Waal (vdW) materials is a prerequisite for their high-end applications in integrated electronics, optoelectronics and photovoltaics. Currently, centimetre- to even metre-scale monolayers of single-crystal graphene (MLG) and hexagonal boron nitride (h -BN) have been achieved by epitaxial growth on various single-crystalline substrates. However, in principle, this success in monolayer epitaxy seems extremely difficult to be replicated to bi- or few-layer growth, as the full coverage of the first layer was believed to terminate the reactivity of those adopting catalytic metal surfaces. Here, we report an exceptional layer-by-layer chemical vapour deposition (CVD) growth of large size bi-layer graphene single-crystals, enabled by proximity catalytic activity from platinum (Pt) surfaces to the outermost graphene layers. In-situ growth and real-time surveillance experiments, under well-controlled environments, unambiguously verify that the growth does follow the layer-by-layer mode on open surfaces of MLG/Pt(111). First-principles calculations indicate that the transmittal of catalytic activity is allowed by an appreciable electronic hybridisation between graphene overlayers and Pt surfaces, enabling catalytic dissociation of hydrocarbons and subsequently direct graphitisation of their radicals on the outermost sp2 carbon surface. This proximity catalytic activity is also proven to be robust for tube-furnace CVD in fabricating single-crystalline graphene bi-, tri- and tetra-layers, as well as h -BN few-layers. Our findings offer an exceptional strategy for potential controllable, layer-by-layer and wafer-scale growth of vertically stacked few-layered 2D single crystals. [Display omitted] ● An ad-layer FM growth mechanism of graphene bi- and few-layers under CVD is uncovered for the first time. ● Real-time monitored growth in environmental scanning electron microscopes (ESEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). ● Proximity activity enabled tri- and tetra-layer graphene and bilayer h-BN growth on Pt(111) supported by DFT calculations. ● A new strategy for the investigation of catalyzed surface reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the product innovation process, companies are required to design their product according to diverse external influence dimensions from the product environment. By the analysis of these influence dimensions, companies gain insight into the urgency or possibility to innovate their product accordingly. As the majority of data within the business context available is text data, there is a need to formulate a method that enables companies to evaluate the data relevant for the product innovation accordingly. As the manual evaluation of this data is not feasible due to the high data amount, especially for small and medium sized companies, a concept for an automated evaluation method is required. This concept uses approaches from the field of text mining and applies them to the innovation management in order to gain insight from diverse texts about innovation potentials. This concept includes the definition of a suitable preprocessing, a topic modeling approach for this use case and a collection of options for the topic exploration. The preprocessing defines how usually occurring text documents can be converted into a format that is manageable for the text mining approach. The topic modeling is based on a constrained TF-IDF- weighted Latent Dirichlet Allocation to identify preferably new and unique topics within the considered dataset. Afterwards, the identified topics can be explored in differentiated ways in order to gain a better insight into the product environment. The validation of this method on three sample datasets tests its limitations but indicates also the potential of an automated text analysis for innovation management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies have previously highlighted the potential challenges in association with implementing green management practices within firms. However, there remains a lack of comprehensive understanding concerning the specific factors that drive firms to adopt alliance green management (AGM). To address the existing gap in knowledge, our research builds upon embeddedness perspective to unravel the underlying dynamics motivating firms to engage in AGM. Drawing on the data of 199 alliance firms in China, our findings demonstrate a positive relation between organizational legitimacy and AGM. We also find that firm nonmarket strategies can (green management within focal firm and corporate political activity) positively influence AGM. Further analyses suggest that environmental scanning enhances the positive relation between organizational legitimacy and AGM. Besides, the results indicate that environmental scanning enhances both the green management within focal firm – AGM linkage and the corporate political activity – AGM linkage. Collectively, our findings substantiate the important roles of organizational legitimacy and firm nonmarket strategies in shaping AGM in an emerging economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industry 4.0 applications can accelerate data driven decision making culture in organizations. Such data driven culture can have a profound impact on the organizational capabilities underlying product and process innovation. While there is a relatively developed body of literature on the effect of data driven culture on organizational performance, there is virtually no study that has examined how Industry 4.0 influences the data driven culture of organizations and how in its turn such culture influences both product and process innovation. Furthermore, the role of organizational data driven culture has seldom been examined in relation to organizational sustainability performance. Against this backdrop, the aim of this study is to examine the role of emerging Industry 4.0 technologies on the data driven culture of organizations and analyze if and how such data driven culture influences organizational performance ultimately translating into competitive advantage. By leveraging the Resource Based View (RBV) and Dynamic Capabilities theory, we developed a theoretical model and tested it using a PLS-SEM approach on a sample of 416 organizations. We found that adoption of industry 4.0 technologies influences organizational performance by improving social, competitive, and financial performance of the organizations relying on data driven culture and improved innovative capabilities. • Data driven culture positively influences organizational innovation capabilities. • Data driven culture positively influences sustainability performance. • Sustainability performance ultimately translates into competitive advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the uprising global challenges in power resources, scarcity of raw material and environmental hazards; agricultural wastes can be a corner stone in facing these challenges. Agricultural residues are used in different applications e.g. biomass energy, fertilizers, livestock feeding, furniture, pulp and paper industry and others. Rice straw, bagasse and cotton stalks residues are produced in Egypt annually in mass amounts. The annual production of agriculture wastes in Egypt is approximately 30–35 million tons. These huge amounts of residues have the potential to be an economic opportunity for the already troubled Egyptian economy. Microfibrillated cellulose Egypt 30 (MFCE30) is an agricultural residue, which is chemically and mechanically treated. MFCE30 has been produced and examined as a substitute for the imported wood pulp to be used as an additive in the Egyptian pulp and paper industry. The present study discusses the effectiveness, strategic evaluation and market analysis of MFCE30 in Egypt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cadastral systems used in each country and region have developed through the centuries to their current form. We cannot assume that the current situation will remain the same from this point to the future. There are signs in recent studies and development projects throughout the world that those cadastral systems which are traditionally seen as well-functioning also need to be renewed as society changes at a rapid pace. This study is set up to analyze the future needs of a cadastral system and registers related to it in Finland. The objective of the study is to reveal future themes affecting the operational environment of the cadastral system by using research methods provided by futurology. The method used in this study is called environmental scanning and it consists of three phases: collecting events, recognizing phenomena and combining the phenomena as themes. The study analyses 352 literature sources and reveals 14 different future themes in the operational environment of the cadastral system, which are economic pressure, demographic changes, development of technology, transparent society, safety, environmental values, globalization, digitalization, know-how, quality, political change, soft values, public-private partnership and crowd sourcing. The future themes, their possible relations between each other and their significance for the cadastral system are analyzed by using the concepts of megatrends, trends, wild cards, driving forces and weak signals and reflecting the results to research made in the field of land management internationally. The results can be used when renewing a cadastral system, in order to consider possible future themes that may affect the system. Detecting and recognizing the future themes provides an opportunity to react and change the course of action in order to adapt to the future. The results are not only usable in the Finnish context, but can also be applied in other countries’ development of their cadastre and as part of environmental scanning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the United States and elsewhere, climate change, peak oil, and other political and socioeconomic factors have spurred the development of alternate energy sources. Biofuels, derived from living organisms rather than petroleum-laden rock, are the focus of current energy research. To better understand the future composition and sustainability of biofuels within the U.S. energy portfolio the authors conducted an environmental scanning methodology and futures analysis. The authors developed a model representing the relationships between many important economic, environmental, political, and social factors to illuminate potential future trends in cellulosic and algal biofuel over the next twenty years. This innovative, flexible approach compared the sustainability of biofuel sources in many areas over time. The resulting analysis identifies environmental degradation as the most influential adverse factor. The environmental scanning exercise suggests that cellulosic biofuel may be a more sustainable option than algal biofuel under the model's assumptions. This analysis yields insightful trends that predict the sustainability of two biofuel sources over the next twenty years in relation to other important socio-politico-economic factors. In the future, this methodology can be applied to other biofuel sources and energy problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The commercial real estate market is closely linked to the surrounding society, as commercial buildings have several economic, environmental, political, social and cultural influences. Correspondingly, the surrounding society, its actors and the different forces of change appearing in the market environment also have their own influence on the real estate market environment and its future development. However, this connection may be left without the attention it is entitled to and there is a danger that far-reaching decisions concerning commercial real estates will be made without sufficient analysis over possible future development. This paper investigates how the forces of change appearing in the present real estate market environment may affect future commercial real estates and their market environment. The forces of change are identified with an information collection method called environmental scanning known from future studies. After that the possible future influences of the identified forces of change are organized and analyzed with another future studies method called futures wheels. Finally, a holistic synthesis over the mutual future themes of the commercial real estate market is presented: (1) real estate themes: comfort, image, distinctive spaces and elements, technicality, safety and geographical location and transportation connectivity (2) market themes: interaction, demand for services, segregation and need for special knowledge and expertise (3) ideological themes: quality and redefinition of attractiveness, integration of space types, diversified demand and versatility of commercial real estate and owner-occupancy vs. tenancy. The database utilized in the environmental scanning and future wheel processes consists of 400 literary sources and 170 person sources presenting the views of different real estate market actors. Acknowledging the identified future themes is essential when preparing for future development. By being aware, it is possible to carefully study different development paths, their probability, essential factors and above all, the actors’ own possibilities to affect future development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study attempts to determine the level of competitive intelligence (CI) efforts in the hotel industry in Minot, North Dakota. To this end, the researchers conducted a serious of in-depth semi-structured interviews with hotel managers representing twenty-seven hotels. The results indicate that the participating hotel managers demonstrated a low level of knowledge and awareness of CI. It appears that they engage in CI activities, primarily for tactical, rather than strategic purposes. Many lacked an adequate formal educational background in academic business that would have prepared them for the more strategic-level CI activities. Almost all of them had training in the tactics needed to gather intelligence of their competitors but few demonstrated a clear connection to strategic planning and competitive positioning. This study offers specific theoretical and practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The built environment as a part of society is facing fast and constant changes occurring in the surrounding environment. This is a challenging situation for real estates because their character does not inherently support fast changes and constant development. Nevertheless there are many reasons why it is essential that also commercial real estates are able to answer to development goals set to them by different market actors. This can be achieved by analyzing forces of change affecting the market at this moment. Identifying the forces is important because they form the future real estate market and related land use. When market actors are aware of the forces appearing in their action environment, they are able to notice any new phenomena emerging and quickly adapt their actions and even steer the development to the desired direction. This competitive advantage can benefit both public and private sectors. This study presents the different forces of change affecting the commercial real estate market in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area (HMA) in Finland. The forces of change are studied with a future research method called environmental scanning (ES). The identified forces form a complicated network with many interconnections. Different actors working with real estate and land use issues can benefit from this knowledge in far reaching planning over these issues. Actors are able to make better decisions and prepare themselves for the future, if familiar with the forces of change shaping future real estates and their land use. Because of the constant changes happening in the action environment, the need to foresee and evaluate future requirements and demand set to real estates will only increase in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This article reflects about current and future role of Accounting Information Systems by analysing the main responsibilities of accountants and financial professionals. While several of these responsibilities are already suitably supported by traditional technology answers, others represent challenges that do still not have appropriate responses and therefore deserve to be the focus of future research. This work foresees future technological answers to Accounting domain challenges, like external and compliance reporting. The identified technologies include web services, mobile devices, cloud computing, environmental scanning, business intelligence, enterprise application integration, business process management, computer assisted auditing tools and techniques and big data. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The vulnerability of the tourism industry to a range of crises has attracted many scholars to investigate the crisis strategies and practices employed by destinations and tourism organizations mainly with regards to crisis preparedness, containment and damage limitation, crisis recovery and subsequent learning. One over-looked area has been that of crisis signal detection. This paper proposes a three-stage conceptual framework for crisis signal detection consisting of signal scanning, capture and transmission to the crisis response centre. With this framework as a basis, 16 corporate level executives of international tourism organizations were interviewed in order to explore the significance of signal detection in their crisis management practice and the challenges faced in each of these three stages. The findings offer insights into the design of crisis management mechanisms and open areas for further research. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper used multiple sources of information in order to identify the forces likely to impact event design. Content analysis of key informant interviews and selected trade publication articles identified key forces impacting event design. Technology, the environment and green issues, security and safety, and globalization were forces identified by both the key informants and the trade literature. Neither of the sources gave much attention to political forces. This article contributes to our understanding of the forces impacting event design and suggests some environmental scanning methodologies that can be used with both key informants and the trade publication literature. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: As the business environment has become increasingly complex, the demand for environmental scanning to assist company managers plan strategies and responses has grown significantly. The conventional technique for supporting environmental scanning is event detection from text documents such as news stories. Event detection methods recognize events, but neglect to discover the changes brought about by the events. In this work, we propose an event change detection (ECD) approach that combines association rule mining and change mining techniques. The approach detects changes caused by events to help managers respond rapidly to changes in the external environment. Association rule mining is used to discover event trends (the subject patterns of events) from news stories. The changes can be identified by comparing event trends in different time periods. The empirical evaluation showed that the discovered event changes can support decision-makers by providing up-to-date information about the business environment, which enables them to make appropriate decisions. The proposed approach is practical for business managers to be aware of environmental changes and adjust their business strategies accordingly. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents a methodology for organizing and quantifying the results of environmental scanning exercises. The first step of the methodology is to develop a simple systems model whose components capture the essence of the problem context under study. Then, a scan identifies leads that affect one or more components. The impact a lead may have on a component is rated on a numerical scale for any number of time periods of interest. Lower and upper probabilities are estimated for each impact rating for each time period. Lower and upper expected impact scores are then calculated to provide a range of potential impacts over time. An exponential function is used to aggregate the lower and upper expected impact scores upon a component to produce lower and upper expected component changes. The methodology also allows changes in components to impact other components. The methodology was implemented to explore impacts of demographic and technological change upon the future of human and ecological health in the United States. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

One of the core steps in all strategic management processes, but especially in tourism firms, is the consideration of the organisational environment. A methodology for scanning that environment is presented from the perspective of perceived environmental uncertainty, according to its dynamism and complexity. To that end, the Rasch model [Rasch, G. (1980). Probabilistic models for some intelligence and attainment tests. Chicago: University of Chicago Press (First publication in 1960, Chicago, IL. MESA Press)] is applied, and both dimensions are considered latent variables defined by a set of items. The concepts are assessed using a sample of tourism firms located in the Canary Islands (Spain). The results confirm that dynamism and complexity are related to the perception of uncertainty, and a specific function is presented. The environmental uncertainty can then be explained and determined with regard only to the managers’ perceptions, without the need to include parameters. The methodology also enables managers and institutions to identify the most uncertain perceived items. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Like other travel sectors, the incentive travel industry operates in a complex and dynamic environment and is now facing escalating challenges. Within this context, it is important to understand how managers perceive environmental forces that are driving their decision making and strategy formulation. This study uses cognitive mapping techniques to represent and interpret incentive travel managers’ perceptions of their business environments. The results suggest that managers are frustrated by the challenges and threats posed by the fast-changing environment in which they operate and find it increasingly difficult to identify business opportunities. This study offers important implications for knowledge management and strategic management for incentive travel businesses. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This literature review of the research in strategic management in the hospitality industry covers the 2 year period of 2002-2003. Using a contingency model framework for the analysis the research reported in refereed journals in the field of hospitality is reported. Additionally, research that considered the context of the hospitality industry but published in non- hospitality refereed journals was also included. Key issues and needs in the area are provided at the conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most previous studies on environmental scanning (ES) in the field of hospitality management suggest that hospitality organizations establish formal systematic ES procedures and have a freestanding ES unit to identify opportunities and threats in their external environment. However, some serious criticisms have been raised in the field of strategic management against the employment of such a formal and systematic approach to ES. These opposing views have rarely been discussed in the hospitality management literature. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to bring these views to the fore in the process of reviewing previous research into ES, and to discuss the major challenges involved for hospitality organizations in employing such a formal approach to ES. The discussion throughout this paper reveals that ES is essential for every organization; however, it is even more complex and difficult to accomplish than portrayed in most previous studies in the hospitality management field. The paper identifies and discusses major challenges and problems in employing a form ES approach in hospitality organizations. It also provides recommendations about how ES activities can best be carried out in complex and dynamic environments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

During the past decade, there have been some significant developments in technological forecasting methodology. This paper describes developments in environmental scanning, models, scenarios, Delphi, extrapolation, probabilistic forecasts, technology measurement and some chaos-like behavior in technological data. Some of these developments are refinements of earlier methodology, such as using computerized data mining (DM) for environmental scanning, which extends the power of earlier methods. Other methodology developments, such as the use of cellular automata and object-oriented simulation, represent new approaches to basic forecasting methods. Probabilistic forecasts were developed only within the past decade, but now appear ready for practical use. Other developments include the wide use of some methods, such as the massive national Delphi studies carried out in Japan, Korea, Germany and India. Other new developments include empirical tests of various trend extrapolation methods, to assist the forecaster in selecting the appropriate trend model for a specific case. Each of these developments is discussed in detail. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] The research studies government information seeking by surveying Chinese officials. [•] Four dominant government-information sources among the 12 are identified. [•] Information obtained from the 12 sources performs differently in six quality aspects. [•] Information quality does not always lead to perceived source importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managerial preparedness is a constant concern for firm stakeholders. This concern is exacerbated during times of immense stress brought about by exogenous shocks. In this paper, we analyze the preparedness of U.S. commercial airline management teams to the largest systematic exogenous shock to date, namely the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019 and 2020. We do this by underpinning the paper with theory on environmental scanning and managerial dysfunction and then documenting the signals and actions of management around multiple public health scares. These include the SARS outbreak, the Swine Flu outbreak and the COVID-19 outbreak. Our results, based off of corporate filings with the SEC, is that airline management had multiple "dry runs" before the COVID-19 outbreak that should have lead them to prepare for financially catastrophic scenarios such as the one observed in 2020. Instead, management teams failed to learn from these, and other, prior shocks. Instead, they focused on other, less serious threats while diffusing their financial buffers through dividends and share buybacks. • This case study is about managerial preparedness during times of exogenous shocks. • The setting is the U.S. passenger airline industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. • Airlines' top management were unprepared for COVID-19 even though SARS and Swine Flu had served as "dry runs" • Theoretically, we underpin the study using environmental scanning and managerial dysfunction theories. • We found that managers focused on less serious threats while diffusing cash flows through dividends and stock buybacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]