Vol. 7 (1) 2017

ESMSJ ISSN: 2247 – 2479 ISSN – L: 2247 – 2479, Vol VII, Issue 1 / 2017
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Editors-in-chief
Gheorghe Săvoiu
Ion Iorga-Simăn

Editorial Board
Mladen ČudanovCătălin Ducu
Ciprian–Ionel Turturean
Milica Jovanović
Ivana Mijatović
Jelena Minović
Sant Sharan Mishra
Benedict Oprescu
Sebastian Pârlac
Slađana Barjaktarović Rakočević
Vesna Tornjanski

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Marius Enăchescu
Vasile Dinu
Marius Peculea
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Libb Thims
Ioan Ştefănescu

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Marian Ţaicu

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English version and harmonization of the scientific language
Constantin Manea
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Maria Daniela Bondoc
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Marian Ţaicu
Magda Dănilă
2

CONTENTS
Page
Gheorghe Săvoiu, Ion Iorga Simăn
From Bioeconomics to Bioeconophysics …………………….……………………..……4

Shuji Shinohara, Yasuhiro Omiya, Naoki Hagiwara, Mitsuteru Nakamura,
Masakazu Higuchi, Takashi Kirita, Takeshi Takano, Shunji Mitsuyoshi, Shinichi Tokuno
Case Studies of Utilization of the Mind Monitoring System (MIMOSYS)
Using Voice and its Future Prospects ………………………………………….………. 7

Masakazu Higuchi, Isao Yamamoto, Yasuhiro Omiya, Shuji Shinohara,
Mitsuteru Nakamura, Naoki Hagiwara, Takeshi Takano, Shunji Mitsuyoshi,
Shinichi Tokuno
Measurement of Stress Level to Prevent Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Developed by Identifying Dead Bodies …………………………...……….………….. 13

Ivan Stevović
Multidisciplinary Approach to Strategies and Organisation:
A Case Study in Marine Tourism.……….……………………………………………. 19

Amit Kundu
Stock Market Volatility in Some Selected Countries – A Thermodynamic
Approach …..…………………………………………………………………………… 30

Constantin Manea
Aspects of Stress Manifestation in Language Teaching and Learning ………...…… 34

3

FROM BIOECONOMICS TO BIOECONOPHYSICS
Gheorghe Săvoiu1 and Ion Iorga Simăn2
1, 2

University of Pitesti, Romania
e-mail: gsavoiu@yahoo.com,2 e-mail: ioniorgasiman@yahoo.com

1

Abstract. This interdisciplinary approach of the economy
changes its classical concept for reasons connected with theneed to extend the biology laws in the economic reality, butalso to replace the outdated view of the classical andunsystematic economic theory, in the view of the external
environment, limited resources and the coexistence of man
with other species, in a limited habitation. Econophysics isanother interdisciplinary approach to economics and physics,
yet focused on improving the model of investigation bycapitalizing on the realism of physics models in the subject ofstudy of the economy and by improving it from the instrumental
and experimental point of view. Bioeconophysics seems to be
not a compromise but a first real attempt of the economic
reality by valorizing the laws of biology and the models of
econophysics.

biological laws and the thermodynamic laws inside thepermanent competition for energy and material resources [3].
But the real father of the Bioeconomics was Nicholas
Georgescu-Roegen (1906-1994), a well known Romanianborn and finally American statistician, mathematician,economist and bioeconomist, the major author of theinterpretation of economics through the new paradigm of theso-called Bioeconomics. His essential conception and his
defining manner are based on physics turned entropy into
Bioeconomics [4, 5].
The new paradigm of bioeconomics is still difficult to define,especially because some ambiguities developed during the last
decades. Thus, the modern economist can find three important
sets of questions that need answers:
Bioeconomy or Bioeconomics? Is Bioeconomics different
from bioeconomy? Are these terms synonymous? Bioeconomy
defines a set of specific economic activities and politicalprojects, whilebioeconomics has numerous different
important significances: a) a study of how organisms of all
kinds earn their living in nature’s economy (Reinheimer,
1913); b) a relationship holding between the biological laws of
evolution and the laws of thermodynamics (Lotka, 1925); c) a
research paradigm [6] combining two independent, though inmany respects related, scientific disciplines: economics andbiology (Witt, 1999); d) a specific type of economy [7] where
the basic building blocks for materials, chemicals and energy
are derived from renewable biological resources (McCormick& Kautto, 2013).
What does Bioeconomics mean for his originator
Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen, as a different type of economics?
Which is the most important aspect in Bioeconomics? In
Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen’s research approach, or scientificvision Bioeconomics became: i) a real solution to unavoidable
ecological disasters that would make the survival of the humanspecies the shortest of all on this globe; ii) a combination
includingevolutionofbiology,economics
andthermodynamics; iii) an approach to the economic process seen
as an extension of biologic evolution (human ability, andultimately the capacity of the species, of developing tools andgenerating detachable organs, or extensions of the human
body, redefined as exosomatic organs, which becomes abiologic component of bioeconomics); iv) a physical view(econophysics) does exist at the very start of bioeconomics asincapacity of classic economics to understand and recognize
the economic process of cumulative (irreversible) change,
caused by the mechanist dogma.

Keywords: bioeconomics, bioeconophysics, bioeconomy,trans-, inter-, and multidisciplinarity.
1. INTRODUCTION
Among the most important economic school of the 20th
century one can find Bioeconomics, a transdisciplinary scienceplaced alphabethically between Austrian school and theChicago school, in a long list together with constitutional
economics, evolutionary economics, econophysics school,
Freiburg school, Freiwirtschaft, Georgism school, institutional
economics, Keynesian economics, Marxian (Marxist) and neoMarxian economics, Neo-Ricardianism, New classicalmacroeconomics, New Keynesian and Post-Keynesian
economics,
public choice school, Lausanne school,sociophysics school, Stockholm school, etc.
As a new concept, Bioeconomics was used for the first timeby British biologist Hermann Reinheimer, in 1913, in his paper
entitled Evolution by Co-operation: A Study in Bioeconomics,
and today we can find four usual significations [1]:A. Studying the dynamics of living resources using
economic models (Fisheries)
B. Economic systems based on the laws of thermodynamics(Biophysical)
C. Study of the relationship between human biology andeconomics (Biological economics)
D. Social theory of Nicholas Georgescu – Roegen(Bioeconomics) [2].
One of the most important and recognized mathematician,statistician, demographer and biologists in USA, during thefirst half of the 20th century, Alfred James Lotka (1880-1949)
was the first theoretician of the new science, based on his
opinion about population described as an aggregate withrenewal processes, and especially based on his reputation andknowledge. In fact, Lotka defined Bioeconomics orBiophysical economics as a profound correlation between the

2. THE ECONOMIC PROCESS AS AN ENTROPICPROCESSThe economic process was, is, and will still be, an entropic
process in Bioeconomics, where four postulates are essential in
Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen’s view:4I. The qualitative changes caused by the extensions of thehuman body contributed to the stagnation of the progress ofclassical (mechanist) economics, the degradation of theenvironment by man and the human race, destroying the
economic process.
II. There is an irreductible, permanent opposition between theeconomic process in the mechanist and thermodynamic views:
the entropy of a closed economic system continually andirreversibly rises to a maximum value, the energy available
being transformed into unavailable energy, until it disappears.
Modern Malthusianism(the Bartle law): exponential
economic growth is correlated with the increasing penury of
resources. There is no absolute substitutability.
III. Starting from thermodynamics and the second axiom, theidea emerges that matter is subject to the same degradation asenergy is (the example of irretrievable rubber, of plastic, etc.)
IV. Not even the most efficient recycling system will be able
to stop the degradation of resources! This is how entropy works
today in contemporary bioeconomics!
The seven findings or derived principles of bioeconomics
remain the following objectives from Nicholas GeorgescuRoegen work [8, 9]:
1. The technological optimism of classical economics is
absolutely unreasonable and groundless.
2. Production implies the transformation of a limited stock of
raw materials and energy, and is in accordance with the lawsof the economy. Economic growth is only an apparent increasein the ratio of outputs per inputs, and a genuine entropic
degradation of the resources and energy.
3. The Earth has limited resources and energy, and is not theproperty of a given generation.
4. The principle of the conservation of resources and energy
is fundamental.
5. The excesses of classical consumerism must be deterred,
the resources should be made global, which includes humanresources, who should no longer possess a passaport(Georgescu-Roegen).
6. Policies based on bioeconomics imply no risk, since theeconomic process is irreversible.
7. Restricting life focused on exosomatic comfort, which isshort and tumultuous, and the expansion of a lifestyle that
seems to be more monotonous, and yet longer.
The excessively structured and monopolized economic
process has an ever higher entropy. Entropy can also change aclasical econonomic program into a bioeconomic one thatlooks like Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen’s program describedby Nicholas Wade in Penthouse, not in a cave [4] in only threecommon points:a) diminishing weapon production to total disappearance;b) diminishing population to the level of food ensured byorganic farming;c) consumption for consumption’s sake, or trendy
consumption should be seen as a type of bioeconomic crime
legally punished (e.g. changing one’s car yearly).

Voltera model), but the new models of bioeconophysics are
more efficient (e.g. the econophysics and sociophysics
models). Biophysical Economics or Ecological Economics are,in different contexts, somehow similar to Econobiophysics or
Bioeconophysics.
The economic process consists in the continuoustransformation of low entropy into high entropy and thus
Biology and Physics are apparently in a state of permanent
confruntation, and the autonomy of classical economics is an
illusion. Physics exerts isolation through experiment, whilebiology emphasizes the importance of nullification ofisolation, or laying stress on the outer milieu. Economic
systems cannot be taxonomized in detail in a biologic manner,
starting from individuals to the species, etc. even some trends
in experimental economics constantly try to do this completetaxonomy.
Bioeconophysics has characteristic conceptual dualities [10,11, 12]. In thermodynamics there are two essential variables:
temperature and pressure. By making use of temperature andpressure, the two laws of thermodynamics are determined.
Economic theory also focuses on two parameters: capital andlabour. Accountancy leads to equations that correspond to thelaws of thermodynamics.
Capital and temperature, labourand pressure, surplus/deficit and heat/loss of heat, theproduction function and entropy, the living standards andenergy, become similar concepts or conceptual dualities
through the similarity of economic and thermodynamic theory.
Biology is also a natural science, whose theory also centres on
two parametres: living plants and animals, which are
assimilated to heat and entropy. Living plants and animals are
the same thing as heat, while the DNA becomes entropy.
Photosynthesis is a Carnot production process, etc.
A new theory is not necessary in order to delimit the fullunderstanding of bioeconophysics, but only a reinterpretation
specific to trans-, inter- and multidisciplinary researches.
4.

CONCLUSIONSThe new science of bioeconomics considers that somepatterns of biological evolution can be applied in the economic
behavior of consumers, producers, the market, etc., as many of
the same causal interactions and survival elements are foundthere as well as in nature (e.g. a theory of homogeneous
middleman groups as adaptive units, the bioeconomics ofcooperation, etc.) In biology, groups of organisms coexist
together to make the best use of resources and to live together,while promoting the survival of the fittest.
Bioeconomics is not the science of behavioral finance, but it
represents another example of economic theory thatdifferentiates itself from the boundaries of classical economics,
and tries to better explain the complexity of economics in thepresent time.
Bioeconophysics expressly recognizes the quality of thephysical models applied in bioeconomics and their high degreeof clarity and prognosis.
The new civilizations are trying to create a wholly new worldorder. Policies and predictions, even global, will fail if they are
incompatible with the universal economic reality. Only used
together will competition and cooperation be useful for the
success of adaptation and innovation. Information, or modern
knowledge in an economy, does not replace energy, and energy
use is unlikely to diminish.

3. BIOECONOPHYSICS/ECONOBIOPHYSICS
Biology, Physics and Economics together mean in the lasttwo decades not only clasical Bioeconomics but much more,
Bioeconophysics, as a new science, including their specificmodels or bioeconophysics models. The first model of theclassical bioeconomics was rather a descriptive one (Lotka-

5

Production resources should not be sacrificed by trade, andsubsidies removed to achieve greater economic efficiency.

[6] Witt, U., (1999). Bioeconomics as Economics from a
Darwinian Perspective. Journal of Bioeconomics. Volume 1,
Issue 1, pp. 19-34.
[7] McCormick, Kautto, N., (2013). The Bioeconomy inEurope: An Overview. Sustainability, Volume 5, Issue 6, pp.
2589-2608.
[8] Miernyck, W., (1996). Un spirit în avans față de timpul
său, în Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen, Omul și opera, București:Editura Expert.
[9] Mirowski, P., (1996) Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen, înNicholas Georgescu-Roegen, Omul și opera, București:Editura Expert.
[10] Poudel, R., (2016). Energetic Foundation of Statistical
Economics, 7th BioPhysical Economics Conference[11] Richmond, P., Mimkes, J., and Hutzler, S.,(2013). Econophysics and Physical Economics (economic
pressure, pgs. 169-70), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[12] Mimkes, J., (2016). Bio-econo-physics: Synthesis of
Natural and Social Sciences? The 7th Biophysical Economics
Conference at the University of District of Columbia,
Washington DC.

5. REFERENCES[1] Reinheimer, H. (1913). Evolution by Co-operation: A
Study in Bio-economics. London: Kegan Paul, Trench,
Trubner and Co., p. 200.
[2] Bieconomics, (2017). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia,[online]availableat:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioeconomics [Accesed 12
September, 2017][3] Lotka, A.J., (1925). Elements of Physical Biology,
Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins Company.
[4] Wade, N., (1976). Penthouse, dar nu cavernă, Nicholas
Georgescu-Roegen un om al viitorului, în Nicholas GeorgescuRoegen, Omul și opera, București: Ed. Expert.
[5] Demetrescu, M.C., (1996). Filosofia matematicii îneconomie, în Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen, Omul și opera,
București: Editura Expert.

6

CASE STUDIES OF UTILIZATION OF THE MIND MONITORING SYSTEM(MIMOSYS) USING VOICE AND ITS FUTURE PROSPECTS
Shuji Shinohara1, Yasuhiro Omiya2, Naoki Hagiwara2, Mitsuteru Nakamura1, Masakazu Higuchi1,
Takashi Kirita2, Takeshi Takano2, Shunji Mitsuyoshi1, Shinichi Tokuno1
1

Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan, e-mail: {shinokan99, m-nakamura, higuchi,
mitsuyoshi, tokuno}@m.u-tokyo.ac.jp
2
Research and Product Development, PST Inc., 231-0023, Japan, e-mail: {omiya, hagiwara, kirita.takashi,
takano}@medical-pst.com

Abstract: We developed a method to measure the mental
health condition of speakers based on the emotional
components contained in the voice; we named themethod Mind Monitoring System (MIMOSYS). Voice is input
into MIMOSYS, and MIMOSYS outputs two vocal indices:vitality, a short-term index, and mental activity, which is
calculated from the long-term tendency of vitality.
In this article, we first present an overview of MIMOSYS. We
then present a development case of a smartphone app thatutilizes MIMOSYS. Following this, we present case studies inwhich MIMOSYS vocal indices were used. The first study is on
the relation of vitality and mental activity with the Beck
Depression Inventory, a questionnaire index widely used for
diagnosing depression. The second study is on the relation ofvitality with Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor, bloodindices, and the General Health Questionnaire 30 (GHQ30), a
questionnaire index regarding neurosis. These studies
demonstrated that the vocal indices of MIMOSYS exhibit
identification tendencies similar to those of questionnaire
indices and blood indices.

smartphones [7]. Its non-invasive nature, in addition to the factthat it can be conveniently conducted remotely, as it does not
require a dedicated device, is an advantage of voice analysis
using smartphones. From this point of view, the authors havebeen engaged in the development of a method that estimates
stress conditions and depression based on vocal data [8] [9].
Specifically, as stress exerts an impact on humans’emotions [10], we developed a method to measure the mental
health of a speaker based on the variations in emotional
components extracted from the voice rather than directly
analyzing stress conditions based on vocal data; we named it
Mind Monitoring System (MIMOSYS) [9]. Voice is input into
MIMOSYS, and MIMOSYS outputs two vocal indices ofvitality – a short-term index, and mental activity, which is
calculated from the long-term tendency of vitality.
In this article, we first present an overview of MIMOSYS.
We then present a development case of a smartphone app thatuses MIMOSYS. Following this, we present case studies inwhich MIMOSYS vocal indices were used. Finally, we
describe the future prospects.

Keywords: Mind Monitoring System (MIMOSYS), Mental
healthcare, telemonitoring, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI),
Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), General Health
Questionnaire (GHQ)PACS numbers: 89.65.Gh, 89.75.Fb, 05.45.Tp

2. OVERVIEW OF THE MIND MONITORING SYSTEM(MIMOSYS)
In this chapter, we present an overview of the algorithm of
MIMOSYS [9]. MIMOSYS is a system that measures themental health condition of a person based on voice.
For example, with regard to Major Depressive Episodes,
the DSM-V lists characteristics such as loss of interest or
pleasure and continued depressed mood, in which one
experiences sadness and emptiness. Conversely, a higher
proportion of the pleasure component than that of sadness inemotions can be considered as an indication of reasonablemental condition. From these perspectives, MIMOSYS
estimates the mental health condition of a speaker based on thebalance and variations in the emotional components in the
speaker’s voice.
MIMOSYS first calculates the degree of intensity of each of
the four emotional components (“calmness,” “anger,” “joy,”and “sorrow”) in voiced speech on eleven-point scale of zeroto ten using Sensibility Technology Ver.3.0 (AGI Inc., Tokyo,
Japan), a vocal emotion recognition technology [11-13]. It also
calculates the intensity of “excitement” on a ten-point scale of
one to ten.
Next, based on the intensity of these five indices, vivacity
and relaxation are calculated. It is noteworthy that vivacity is
calculated from the joy and sorrow components, whilerelaxation is calculated from the calmness and excitement

1. INTRODUCTION
In modern society, economic losses caused by the mental
health disorders that individuals experience have become aninternational issue, and there is a call for appropriate
measures [1] [2]. In order to address this issue, a mental healthscreening method that can be used on a daily basis at a low costis necessary. Currently, the main means of assessing mental
health include medical interviews by professionals such as
physicians and self-administered questionnaires such as
the General
HealthQuestionnaire (GHQ)[3]
andBeck Depression Inventory (BDI) [4]. However, there is alimit on the number of medical interviews that can be
conducted by professionals, and reporting bias is an issue with
self-administered questionnaires. Here, reporting bias indicatesthe selective concealment or exposure by the subject, of
specific information such as medical history or smoking
history. Moreover, although assessment using biomarkers suchas saliva and blood has been studied [5][6], the issues of costs
and burden on the subjects remain.
On the other hand, pathophysiology analysis using vocal
data is drawing attention with the recent spread of7

subject ID, and the vertical axis represents the respective index
values (vitality and mental activity). The subjects are orderedfrom left to right as follows: patients with depression; brain
disease patients with cerebral infarction, intracerebral
hemorrhage, etc.; and healthy subjects. It is noteworthy that inFig. 2, because separate measurements of each subject werecollected, the data for vitality are arranged vertically.

Mental Activity

components. Finally, vitality is calculated from vivacity andrelaxation.

Vitality

Fig. 1 Data calculation flow of MIMOSYS. (Adapted fromreference [14])
1
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0

Depression
Brain disease
Healthy

1
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0

Depression
Brain Disease
Healthy

0

10

20

30

40

Subject ID

0

10

20

30

Fig. 3 Example of mental activity measurement. The
horizontal axis represents subject ID, and the verticalaxis represents mental activity. The subjects are ordered fromleft to right as follows: patients with depression; brain disease
patients with cerebral infarction, intracerebral hemorrhage,etc.; and healthy subjects. (Adapted from reference [15])40

Subject ID
Fig. 2 Example of vitality measurement. The horizontal axis
represents subject ID, and the vertical axis represents vitality.
The subjects are ordered from left to right as follows: patientswith depression; brain disease patients with cerebral infarction,
intracerebral hemorrhage, etc.; and healthy subjects. The data
are arranged vertically because separate measurements of eachsubject were collected. (Adapted from reference [15])Table 1 Identification performance of MIMOSYS with respect
to healthy subjects and patients (depression and brain disease)
Index
Vitality
Mental Activity

In general, “vitality” can be defined in variously and can
imply various concepts. However, here, vitality can be briefly
defined as a scale on which patients experiencing depression
or cerebral infarction score low, while healthy individuals
score high. MIMOSYS calculates mental activity in addition tovitality as an index of mental health. These indices are output
as real values in the interval [0.0, 1.0].
The main dissimilarity between vitality and mental activity
is the duration of the measurement period. Vitality estimates
the degree of mental health based on emotional components(“calmness,” “anger,” “joy,” and “sorrow”) as well as“excitement” contained in short-term vocal data such as aphone call.
On the other hand, mental activity is calculated based on dataof vitality accumulated over a certain period of time, such as
two weeks. Vitality varies depending on the circumstances at
the time of measurement in a manner similar to variations inblood pressure while at rest immediately after exercise. We aim
for a more accurate assessment of mental health by introducing
mental activity in a manner similar to enhancing accuracy ofdetermination of hypertension through long-term monitoringof blood pressure. Figure 1 illustrates the calculation flow.
Moreover, Figs. 2 and 3 illustrate measurement examplesof the vitality and mental activity of 26 healthy subjects and 15
patients (six patients with depression and nine cerebral
infarction patients). Here, the horizontal axis represents

AUC
0.80
0.99

Sensitivity
0.94
1.0

Specificity
0.64
0.92

We present the Area under the Curve (AUC) as well as thesensitivity and specificity against the Receiver Operating
Characteristic (ROC). Regarding vitality, AUC was 0.80,
while sensitivity and specificity were 0.94 and 0.64,
respectively. Meanwhile, regarding mental activity, AUC was
0.99, while sensitivity and specificity were 1.0 and 0.92,
respectively. It has, thus, been demonstrated that mental
activity, which is a long-term index, enhances identification
performance. In particular, enhancement in specificity issignificant.
3. IMPLEMENTATION OF MIMOSYS AS A
SMARTPHONE APP
In this chapter, we present a development case of asmartphone app that uses MIMOSYS. We took note of
telephone calls in which we routinely speak out loud andimplemented MIMOSYS as a smartphone app [16].
This system consists of the following processes:
1. Audio recording
2. Analysis of health condition based on recorded voice
3. Accumulation of analysis results
4. Deletion of audio used for analysis
5. Presentation of accumulated analysis results to the user

8

activity} are illustrated as examples of display of analysis
results by this app.
In the smartphone app, both vitality and mental activity areconverted from real values within [0.0, 1.0] to integer values
within [0,100].
As illustrated in Figs. 4(b) and (c), mental activity isdisplayed on a five-point scale using human-type animation,according to the mental activity level. Moreover, as illustrated
in Fig. 5, history of both vitality and mental activity aredisplayed on line charts.
Currently, a large-scale demonstration experiment is being
conducted using this smartphone app [17].
4. BDI AND MIMOSYS INDICES (VITALITY AND
MENTAL ACTIVITY)(a)

In this chapter, we present a study [14] on the relation
between the BDI, which is widely used for diagnosing
depression, and MIMOSYS vocal indices (vitality and mental
activity).
As part of this study, we collected audio data from 50
subjects (39 males and 11 females) over a period of
approximately 2 months using the MIMOSYS smartphone app,which we described in the previous chapter. We also conducted
the BDI test at the time when audio acquisition was started.
However, because BDI scores are likely to vary in themedium- to long-term, at the time of analysis, we used audio
data from the two weeks since the BDI test was performed. Of
the data on 50 subjects, those on 48 subjects were valid foranalysis.
First, based on the BDI scores, the subjects were divided –according to reference [18] – into two groups: the “low risk of
disease” group with a score of 18 or less and the “high risk of
disease” group with a score higher than 18. There were fortythree subjects in the low risk of disease group and five in thehigh risk of disease group.
Figure 6 illustrates the vitality of the two groups. The
average values of vitality for the low risk of disease group andhigh risk of disease group were 0.37 (SD = 0.17, N =1221) and 0.21 (SD = 0.094, N = 159), respectively. The
results of the t-test demonstrated a significant difference
between the two groups (t(307) = 16.89, p = 1.03E-46 ).

(b)

(c)
Fig. 4 Examples of the smartphone app’s displayof analysis results: (a) vitality, (b) mental activity, and (c)human-type animation representing mental activity. (Adaptedfrom reference [16])

1
0.9
0.8

Vitality

0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1

(a)

0

(b)

Low risk of disease(BDI ≦ 18)

Fig. 5 Examples of the smartphone app’s display of the historyof analysis results: (a)vitality and (b)mental activity. (Adaptedfrom reference [16])High risk of disease(BDI > 18)

Fig. 6 Box and whisker plots of vitality score by fixed phrase
for the low risk of disease and high risk of disease groups.
(Adapted from reference [14])Figure 4(a) {vitality}, Fig. 4(b) {mental activity}, Fig.
5(a) {history of vitality}, and Fig. 5(b) {history of mental

9

1
0.9
0.8
0.7

Low risk of disease(BDI ≦ 18)

Sensitivity

Mental Activity

respectively. Figures 8 and 9 reveal the ROC curve of vitality
and mental activity.

1
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0

High risk of disease(BDI > 18)

0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2

Fig. 7 Box and whisker plots of mental activity score by fixedphrase for the low risk of disease and high risk of diseasegroups. (Adapted from reference [14])

0.1
0
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1-Specificity

1
0.9

0.8

Fig. 9 ROC curve used in discriminating between low and highrisk of disease using mental activity index. (Adapted fromreference [14])Sensitivity

0.7
0.6
0.5

Thus, the AUCs of vitality and mental activity were both
approximately 0.8 indicating reasonable identification
performance.

0.4

0.3
0.2
0.1

5. MIMOSYS, BLOOD INDICES, AND QUESTIONNAIRE
INDICES

0

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1-Specificity

It is known that subjects with depression or those that areunder stress exhibit decreased blood Brain Derived
Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) concentrations [19]. Similar to
the BDI, the GHQ-30 is also a self-administered questionnairethat has been widely used for diagnosing depression.
In this chapter, we present studies [19] [20] on the relationof these two indices, that is, BDNF, a blood index, and theGHQ-30, a questionnaire index, with vitality, a vocal index.
In this study, the subjects were the members of the SelfDefense Force airborne brigade at the time of a ranger training
program during which they were under extreme stress.
The training was carried out over a period of nine weeks.
Blood collection, audio recording and a self-administeredquestionnaire were performed three times, once each before,
during (three weeks into the training program) and after (three
to five days after the training program had ended) the training
program.
Figure10 presents the values of (a) the self-administeredquestionnaire GHQ-30, (b) blood index BDNF, and (c) vocal
index “vitality” before, during, and after the Self-Defense
Force ranger training program. The data before, during, andafter the training program are ordered from left to right in eachfigure. Here, it should be noted that the higher the GHQ-30
scores, the higher the stress or depression tendency. On theother hand, the lower the vitality and BDNF, the higher the
stress or depression tendency. In effect, the GHQ-30 is anindex with a magnitude relation that is in reverse to the othertwo.

Fig. 8 ROC curve used in discriminating between low and highrisk of disease using vitality index. (Adapted from reference[14])
Table 2 Identification performance of MIMOSYS regarding
low risk of disease group and high risk of disease group.
Index
Vitality
Mental Activity

AUC
0.78
0.81

Sensitivity
0.80
1.0

Specificity
0.64
0.61

Further, we illustrate the mental activity of the two groupsin Fig. 7. The average values of mental activity for the low riskof disease group and high risk of disease group were 0.46 (SD= 0.15, N = 43) and 0.31 (SD = 0.08, N =5), respectively. The
results of the t-test demonstrated a significant difference
between the two groups (t(8) = −3.6, p = 0.007).
We present the AUC, sensitivity, and specificity of the ROC
curve in Table 2 to determine the identification performancewith regard to vitality and mental activity for the low risk of
disease group and high risk of disease group. The AUC ofvitality was 0.78, and the sensitivity and specificity were 0.80
and 0.64, respectively. Meanwhile, the AUC of mental activity
was 0.81, and the sensitivity and specificity were 1.0 and 0.61,

10The figures indicate a similar tendency in which each index
exhibits the highest stress levels during training.

(a) GHQ30

resilience program, as we monitor the stress levels of theemployees of IT companies by MIMOSYS [21]. In addition,
regarding application to the development of automobiles, in thepast, the effects of driving a car have mostly been studied inlight of negative aspects such as fatigue and drowsiness.
Instead, we focus on positive aspects such as altering the moodto work on an application for developing a comfortable andsafe automobile [22].
Furthermore, we are working on applying speech pathology
analysis to depression and stress as well as to other diseases.
Vitality and mental activity measured by MIMOSYS are
imprecise indices to categorize healthy individuals and patientswith depression or brain disease, and they are not suitable fordetailed differentiation of diseases. Therefore, we areconducting research on its use for the differential diagnosis of
a number of diseases and monitoring the course of diseases bydirectly extracting characteristic values unique to the diseases
from voice without applying a vocal emotion recognition
technology. In addition to mental disorders such as depression
and bipolar disorder, we are currently conducting research on
diseases and disorders that are likely to cause variation in thevoice, such as neurological disorders (Parkinson’s disease,etc.), dementia (including Alzheimer’s disease), and dysarthria(vocal cord polyps, etc.).
Currently, feature values that are likely to enable us todistinguish patients with Parkinson’s disease from healthy
individuals [23, 24] and feature values that enable us to identify
severity of depression [25], etc. have been recommended. In
the future, we aim to develop a system that enables thedifferentiation of Parkinson’s disease, dementia, anddepression.

(b) BDNF(c) Vitality

7. REFERENCES

Fig. 10 Comparison of the results of (a) the self-administeredquestionnaire GHQ-30, (b) blood index BDNF, and (c) vocal
index “vitality” before, during, and after the Self-Defense
Force ranger training program. (Adapted from the reference[20])[1] Kessler R. C., Akiskal H. S., Ames M., Birnbaum H.,
Greenberg P., Hirschfeld R. M. A., Jin R., Merikangas K. R.,
Simon G. E., Wang P. S. (2006). Prevalence and effects ofmood disorders on work performance in a nationally
representative sample of U.S. workers, Am. J. Psychiatry, 163,
1561-1568.
[2] World Health Organization (2004). The Global Burdenof Disease: 2004 update, WHO Press, Geneva, Switzerland,
46-49.
[3] Goldberg D.P. (1978). Manual of the General Health
Questionnaire, NFER Publishing, Windsor, England.
[4] Beck A. T., Ward C. H., Mendelson M., Mock J.,
Erbaugh J. (1961). An Inventory for Measuring Depression,Arch. Gen. Psychiatry, 4, 561-571.
[5] Izawa S., Sugaya N., Shirotsuki K., Yamada K. C.,
Ogawa N., Ouchi Y., Nagano Y., Suzuki K., Nomura S. (2008).
Salivary dehydroepiandrosterone secretion in response toacute psychosocial stress and its correlations with biologicaland psychological changes, Biol. Psychol., 79(3), 294-298.
[6] Sekiyama A. (2007), Interleukin-18 is involved inalteration of hipothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity bystress, SOBP Annu. Meeting., San Diego, USA.
[7] Shinohara S., Omiya Y., Nakamura M., Hagiwara N.,
Higuchi M., Mitsuyoshi S., Tokuno S. (2017). Multilingual
evaluation of voice disability index using pitch rate, ASTESJ,
2(3), 765-772.
[8] Shinohara S., Mitsuyoshi S., Nakamura N., Omiya Y.,
Tsumatori G., Tokuno S. (2015). Validity of a voice-based

6. SUMMARY AND FUTURE PROSPECTS
In this article, we presented an overview and a few researchand development cases of MIMOSYS. MIMOYS is likely to
be capable of distinguishing between patients with depression
and brain disease from healthy individuals based solely on
voice, with high accuracy. Moreover, it is likely that it willserve as an alternative to other indices that measure the degreeof stress and depression. For example, blood index BDNF orquestionnaire indices such as the BDI and GHQ-30 screening
solely based on voice is superior to blood tests in terms of costs
and the burden on the subjects; moreover, it overcomes theissue of reporting bias that is present in self-administeredquestionnaires. Implementation of MIMOSYS as a smartphone
app to analyze voice calls permits us to monitor daily mental
health condition, which can result in early detection ofdepression, etc.
Currently, we are working on applying the MIMOSYS
technology to field of the occupational medicine [21] and thedevelopment of automobiles [22]. With respect to applicationin the industrial hygiene field, we are developing a system thatcan result in the introduction of intervention at the appropriate
time using self-administered questionnaires and a stress11

evaluation method for effectiveness of behavioural therapy,
Pervasive Computing Paradigms for Mental Health, Springer
International Publishing, 43-51.
[9] Shinohara S., Nakamura M., Omiya Y., Hagiwara N.,
Mitsuyoshi S., Tokuno S. A mental health assessment method
based on emotional level derived from voice, in preparation.
[10] Lazarus R. S. (1993). From psychological stress to theemotions: A history of changing outlooks, Annu. Rev.
Psychol., 44, Jan. 1-21.
[11] Mitsuyoshi S. (2003). Emotion recognizing method,
sensibility creating method, device, and software, U.S. Patent
7340 393, Sep. 25, 2003.
[12] Mitsuyoshi S., Ren F., Tanaka Y., Kuroiwa S. (2006)
Non-verbal voice emotion analysis system, Int. J. InnovativeComp. Info. and Control, 2, 819-830.
[13] Mitsuyoshi S., Tanaka Y., Ren F., Shibasaki K., Kato
M., Murata T., Minami T., Yagura H. (2007). Emotion voice
analysis system connected to the human brain, IEEE NLPKE2007, Beijing, China, 479-484.
[14] Hagiwara N., Omiya Y., Shinohara S., Nakamura M.,
Yasunaga H., Mitsuyoshi S., Tokuno S. (2017). Validity ofmind monitoring system as a mental health indicator using[18] Beck A. T., Steer R. A., Garbin M. G. J. (1988).
Psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory
Twenty-five years of evaluation, Clin. Psych. Review, 8, 77–
100.
[19] Suzuki G., Tokuno S., Nibuya M., Ishida T., YamamotoT., Mukai Y., et al. (2014). Decreased plasma brain-derived
neurotrophic factor and vascular endothelial growth factor
concentrations during military training, PLoS ONE, 9(2),e89455.
[20] Tokuno S. (2015). Stress evaluation by voice: a novel
stress evaluation technology, Annual Bilateral Behavioral
Health Conference (Kanagawa), 2015.6.23[21] Miyazaki K. (2016). Kigyoban sutoresu regiriensu
puroguramu to sono koka, Kokoro to shakai, 47(3), 26-31. In
Japanese[22] Okazaki T. (2016) Onsei byoutai bunseki gijutsu no
jidousya eno ouyo, Kokoro to shakai, 47(3), 32-37. In Japanese[23] Shinohara S., Tokuno S. (2017). Novel voice indicatorfor distinguishing parkinson’s disease, EMBC’2017, Jeju
Island, Korea, 2017.7, 11-15.
[24] Omiya Y., Hagiwara N. (2017). Algorithm todistinguish between articulatory disorder, depression andParkinson’s disease by voice, EMBC’2017, Jeju Island, Korea,
2017.7, 11-15.
[25] Shinohara S., Omiya Y., Nakamura M., Higuchi M.,
Hagiwara N., Takano T., Toda H., Saito T., Tanichi M.,
Yoshino A., Mitsuyoshi S., Tokuno S. Major depression index
derived from the relationship between hurst exponent and zerocrossing rate in voice, Neuroscience 2017, accepted.

voice， ASTESJ, 2(3), 338-344.
[15] Tokuno S. (2016). Onsei byoutai bunsekigaku., Saibo,
48(14), 9-12. In Japanese[16] Omiya Y., Hagiwara N., Shinohara S., Nakamura M.,
Mitsuyoshi S., Tokuno S. (2016). Development of mind
monitoring system using call voice, Neuroscience 2016, San
Diego, 2016.11.12-16.
[17] Tokuno S., Omiya Y., Shinohara S., Nakamura M.,
Hagiwara N., Mitsuyoshi S. (2016). Psychological impact ofKumamoto earthquake by voice analysis using a smart phone
application, Neuroscience 2016, San Diego, 2016.11.12-16.

12

MEASUREMENT OF STRESS LEVEL TO PREVENT POST-TRAUMATIC
STRESS DISORDER DEVELOPED BY IDENTIFYING DEAD BODIES
Masakazu Higuchi1, Isao Yamamoto2, Yasuhiro Omiya 3, Shuji Shinohara1, Mitsuteru Nakamura1,
Naoki Hagiwara3, Takeshi Takano3, Shunji Mitsuyoshi1, Shinichi Tokuno1
1

Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan, e-mail: {higuchi, shinokan99, m-nakamura,
mitsuyoshi, tokuno}@m.u-tokyo.ac.jp
2
Department of Disaster Relief Medicine/Dentistry, Kanagawa Dental University, 238-8580, Japan, e-mail:yamamoto@kdu.ac.jp
3
Research and Product Development, PST Inc., 231-0023, Japan, e-mail: {omiya, hagiwara, takano}@medical-pst.com

Abstract. Mental health issues in individuals who interact
with dead bodies during a disaster have been issue of interest.
Therefore, there is increased demand for technologies thatenable simple and easy-to-perform stress checks. The authors
have been pursuing research on technologies that can be used
to estimate an individual’s mental state based on voice.
Analyses of voice have the benefits of being non-invasive andsimple to perform. In the present study, we investigated theusefulness of stress measurements using voice in Identification
Workshop of Dead Bodies. The participants comprised dentists
and other concerned individuals. Participants who underwent
training using a mannequin prior to training with an actual
body tended to have more similar mental states before andafter the body training than those with no mannequin training
before the body training. Although the differences we observed
were not statistically significant, we do believe that priortraining with a mannequin did have an effect on the mental
state before and after the body training. Our results suggestthat mannequin training may induce increased stressresistance during the body training. We thus believe that stressevaluations using voice analysis are efficacious, easy-to-use,and can be performed even during the limited amount of time
set aside for training. We also believe that this technology canbe used at actual disaster-response sites.
Keywords: mental health care, voice analysis, body-related
work
PACS numbers: 89.65.Gh, 89.75.Fb, and 05.45.Tp

the effects of such training and related stress levels are almost
never made.
Self-administered psychological tests are generally used toassess stress and depression. These assessment tools include
the General Health Questionnaire [4] and Beck Depression
Inventory [5]. While such tests are non-invasive and relatively
easy to perform, the effects of reporting bias cannot be
excluded when using these tests. Reporting bias occurs when
specific information is, either consciously or unconsciously,
selectively underestimated or exaggerated [6]. Evaluations ofmental states using biomarkers such as saliva [7] or blood [8]have been proposed, yet biomarker evaluations are still underdevelopment. In addition, these tests are expensive, invasive,
and are certainly not easy to perform.
The authors have been pursuing research on technology thatcan estimate stress states based on one’s voice [9]. Voiceanalysis has the advantages of being objective, non-invasive,and easy to perform.
Here we aimed to verify the efficacy of using voice inindividuals in identification workshop to measure stress. We
especially were interested in learning whether the use ofmannequins for training helps reduce the stress associated withpractice with actual dead bodies. We thus evaluated theparticipants’ mental states based on their voices before andafter training with dead bodies. We studied both participants
who performed the actual-body practice after mannequinpractice, and those who did not undergo mannequin training.
2.

1.

INTRODUCTIONMETHODS

2.1 Detail of Identification workshop

Work involving dead bodies at medical sites following
disasters is extremely stressful. At times, this work can even be
detrimental to health and lead to post-traumatic stress disorderand other issues [1, 2]. Identification of bodies, which is a task
involving corpses, requires the collection of dental informationfrom dead bodies, comparing this information with pre-death
dental treatment records, and confirming the identity of the
body. Dentists are often asked to participate in the coroner’s
inquest and to perform post-mortem examinations. Regularmeetings of “ identification workshop” including dentists andother physicians are held [3]. In these groups, mannequins or
actual corpses are used in training drills for large-scaledisasters involving numerous dead bodies. In their daily work,
dentists almost never encounter a corpse, and while exposure
to stress is expected in this type of training, measurements of13

Members of this identification workshop practiced using
actual corpses (below, “bodies”), mannequins, and case files.
Participants were divided into three groups (A, B, and C)
rotating through the different training paradigms to ensure that
there was no simultaneous overlapping of training between thegroups. Before and after each training type, the voices ofparticipants were recorded in a room separate from the practiceroom. These recordings were then analyzed. Figure 1 shows aflow scheme for each group’s practice types and voicerecordings.

Group1st
Training

2nd
Training

3rd
Training

A

Case File

Mannequin

Body

B

Mannequin

Body

Case FileC

Body

Case File

Mannequin

Voice
Recording

Voice
Recording

Voice
Recording

2
3

Voice
RecordingFig. 1 Flow scheme for training and voice recordings.

4

The participants ranged in age from 27 to 67 years. The
study included 27 individuals (23 men and 4 women), as
follows: police dentists (6 individuals), Dental Association
members in charge of identification team (5), general dentists(8), university-affiliated dentists (8), other (1), and unknown(1) (it is noted that 2 participants were affiliated with two
separate institutions). Group A included 10 participants, GroupB included 7 participants, and Group C included 10participants. The mean age of the participants was 46 years,
with a standard deviation of 11.77.

56

2.2 Voice recordings
Voice recordings were performed in a small area blocked off
by partitions to minimize the effects of noise. The participants
were asked to read the same standard phrases before and after
each training period. We used the 17 standard phrases shownin Table 1. The participants were asked to pause for 1 or 2
seconds before reading each phrase, and all phrases were readin order, from top to bottom.
Noise levels in the recording space were approximately 26
dB. The noise levels were measured using a high-function
sound level meter, LA-3570 (Ono Sokki; Kanagawa, Japan).
The voices were recorded using a ME52W (Olympus;
Tokyo, Japan) pin microphone attached to the chest
approximately 10 cm from each participant’s mouth. The
recording device was a Portable Recorder R-26 (Roland;
Shizuoka, Japan) and the recording format were 96 kHz and24-bit.
2.3 Voice analysis
Voice analysis was performed using the Mind Monitoring
System (MIMOSYS, PST Inc.) developed by the authors’
research group. Recorded voices were analyzed afterconversion to 11 kHz, 16-bit voice data.
Table 1 Standard phrases.
No.
1

Phrase“i, ro, ha, ni, ho, he, to”[former Japanese equivalent of

14

7
8
9
10

11
12
13
14
15
16
17

“a, b, c, d, e, f, g,” and still(mostly) taught to children
today]
It is a fine [clear] day today.
“with nothing better to do”[Donald Keene translation of the
beginning line of “Essays in
Idleness,” a classical work fromthe 14th century familiar to mosteducated Japanese individuals,
especially this opening phrase.]“I am a cat.” [title of a novel
by Soseki Natsume]“Long, long ago, in a certain
place . . . “ [Japanese equivalentof “Once upon a time . . . “]“a, i, u, e, o” [this phrase andthose in nos. 7, 8, and 9 below
aresequential
sounds,equivalent in ways to theEnglish alphabet, and just as
familiar]“ka, ki, ku, ke, ko”“ra, ri, ru, re, ro”“pa, pi, pu, pe, po”“When I think of the path oflife, I can’t believe I’ve comethis far.” [Title of a popularsong, then a movie, and then atelevision drama from the late1970s and early 1980s.]
Galapagos Islands
I am tired and listless.
I’m feeling fine! [I’m in goodspirits.]
I slept well last night.
I have a good appetite.
I’m easily irritated. [“I tend to
get angry easily.”]
I feel calm and peaceful.

The free software EcoDecoTooL ver. 1.14 was used for thevoice conversion.
MIMOSYS is based on vocal emotion recognition
technology (ST: Sensibility Technology) [10]. Briefly, amental state is quantified and output based on the voice. The
emotions of the speaker are measure based on patterns ofchanges in fundamental frequencies within speech. Alteredpatterns of fundamental frequencies were analyzed, and theemotions included in the voice were quantified as levels of“Calmness,” “Anger” “Joy,” “Sorrow,” and “Excitement.”
Using ourA

Vitality

1.8

p = 0.553

B
p = 0.411

1.8

p = 0.944

C
p = 0.550

1.8

1.6

1.6

1.6

1.4

1.4

1.4

1.2

1.2

1

1

0.8

0.8

0.6

0.6
Before Before Body After Body
Mannequinp = 0.0575

1.2

1
0.8
BeforeMannequin

Before Body

After Body

0.6
Before Body

After Body

Fig. 2 T-test significance probabilities (p values) corresponding to changes in the mean vitality of Groups A and
B when comparing before mannequin training to after body training, as well as changes in the mean vitality ofGroup C from before body training to after body training.
technology, we quantified “vitality”, which is themental state immediately after speech analyzed using
ST. The “Mental Activity” was output as thequantification of the mid-term mental state. The values
used were “1” or “0”, and higher values, were reflectiveof more favorable mental states. We evaluated vitality
and the emotional components of different mental states
before and after each training type.
The shortest unit in voice-emotion analysis is the“utterance,” which signifies a unit of continuous voicethat is divided by breathing (intake or expulsion ofbreath). In actual practice, the beginning of an utterance
is detected as the time when there is a change fromsilence (a non-sound state) to a vocalization state that
continues for a certain length of time. The terminationof that utterance is when there is transition from a
vocalization state to a state of silence that continues fora certain length of time. Judgements of vocal utterance
state or silence state are performed by setting thresholdvalues for the amplitude of the time waveform of a
vocalization. A minimum of seven utterances isrequired for voice analysis using MIMOSYS. Using thephrases shown in Table 1, a one-time recording of theset enables sufficient capture of more than sevenutterances.
The following free software were used for statistical
test: R ver. 3.3.2 and G*Power ver. 3.1.9.2 [11].
3.

for Group C. Figure 2 also shows significanceprobabilities (p-value).
In the tests, the p-value was dependent on sample
number and was not affected by actual sizes ofdifferences. “Effect size” (ES) has been proposed as anindex for the evaluation of differences. We haveincluded ES in our evaluation. ES is an index that is notdependent on sample size. Cohen’s d [12] is a
representative ES of the corresponding difference
between two paired groups and is defined by thestandardized quantity of the difference between therespective sample means of the two groups. That is,d|  X  Y |

 X2   Y2

(1)

2
where  X , Y ,  X , and  Y express respectively themean values of groups X and Y, the standard deviationsof groups X and Y. The following have been proposed[12] as criteria for ES sizes corresponding to differences
between paired groups:
Small: 0.2, medium: 0.5, and large: 0.8(2)
Figure 3 presents summary graphs for each groupshown in Fig. 2. These graphs show ES values forchanges in the mean vitality of Groups A and B before
and after mannequin training, and before and after bodytraining, and the ES value of the change in mean vitalityof Group C before and after body training.

RESULTS

3.1 Vitality

3.2 Emotional component

Groups A and B performed mannequin training
before body training, while Group C performed bodytraining before mannequin training. Figure 2 showschanges in the mean vitality value from before
mannequin training to after body training for Groups A
and B, and from before body training to after bodytraining for Group C. Note that vitality levels for eachGroup before body training have been standardized forcomparison. Error bars show standard errors. T-tests
were performed to determine whether there weresignificant changes in vitality before vs. aftermannequin training and before vs. after body training
for Groups A and B, and before vs. after body training

Figure 4 shows changes in the means of emotion
components before and after body training. Note thatthe emotional component values for each group before
body training have been standardized for comparison.
T-tests were performed to determine whether there weresignificant changes in the emotional components foreach respective group before and after body training.
Figure 4 also shows significance probabilities (pvalues) for each of these comparisons. Figure 5 presentssummary graphs for each emotional component in eachgroup shown in Fig. 4. Figure 5 also shows the ES

15

values for changes in mean emotional components ofeach group before and after body training.
1.45
1.4

A

B

ES
A : 0.409
B: 0.339
C: 1.045

C

1.35
1.3
Vitalitydifference were to in fact exist, this test would correctly
detect that significance, as there is a tendency for
decreased power when there are insufficient sample
numbers [12]. We thus believe that the numbers ofindividuals assessed in this study were insufficient.
Below we will consider changes in the emotional
components of Group C before and after body training.
We observed a tendency for larger changes in Group C
than in Groups A and B in components other than “Joy.”
While the change in the “Joy” component was larger forGroup C than for Group A, the change for Group B inthis component was larger than that for Group C. In
Group C, the components “Anger,” “Joy,” and“Excitement” changed in the positive direction, while“Calmness” and “Sorrow” changed in the negative
direction. We thus believe that Group C members werein a state of raised mood excitement after body training.
Of the ES values corresponding to changes in meanemotional components in Group C, the ES of calmness
was slightly lower than the medium effect from (2), thatof the “Anger” component was extremely high, andthose of the “Joy,” “Sorrow,” and “Excitement”
components was larger than the medium effect from (2).
These values thus had some differences. These tests
also had low power, which is thought to be the reason
for our inability to detect significant differences.
Changes in the means of the emotional components
in Group B before and after body training showedsimilar tendencies to those in Group C. However, since
the ES values were small for components other than“Joy,” no actual differences are thought to have existed.
While the ES of changes in the “Joy” component was
higher than the medium effect from (2), the standard
error was larger for Group B than for Group C. Thus,
despite the change in the medium ES value in Group B,
the reliability of this change in the “Joy” component
was less than that for Group C. In fact, the ES ofchanges in the “Joy” component for Group B was
smaller than that for Group C.

1.25
1.2

ES
A : 0.292
B: 0.0390

1.15
1.1
1.05
1
0.95

Before Mannequin

Before Body

After Body

Fig. 3 Effect size (ES) values of changes in mean
vitality in Groups A and B before and after mannequintraining, and before and after body training, and the ES
value of the change in mean vitality of Group C before
and after body training.
4.

DISCUSSION

In Groups A and B, no significant differences were
found in mean vitality differences, neither before orafter mannequin training, nor before or after bodytraining. Inasmuch as the ES was also small, no actual
differences were detected. We thus believe that there
were no differences in vitality mean changes frombefore mannequin training to after body training inGroups A and B. Our results suggest that mannequintraining improved tolerance to the stress of contacting adead body.
Compared to Groups A and B, Group C displayed amajor increase in mean vitality from before to after
body training. Group C came into contact with a deadbody before training with a mannequin. This was
expected to lead to a decline in mean vitality after bodytraining due to excessive stress. However, our results
did not confirm our hypothesis. Nevertheless, a state of
temporary excitement is said to exist immediately after
exposure to intense stress [13]. Therefore, the increase
in mean vitality after body training is thought to havebeen a manifestation of a mood upswing directly after
exposure to intense stress. In Group C, we observed atendency for a difference in mean vitality before vs.
after training. Since the ES for this difference was anextremely high value, it is highly likely that there wasan actual difference in mean vitality.
Based on the above findings, we believe that stressevaluation based on an individual’s voice is useful, easy
to perform, and can be performed in a limited amountof time during practice sessions.
In the present study, we were unable to obtainsufficient statistical significance. We believe that this isdue to the low power of the test used. However, given
the power of this test, it is probable that if a significant

5.

CONCLUSION

To ascertain the efficacy of stress measurements
using voice analysis, this study used voice analysis toperform stress evaluations of dentists and otherindividuals in identification workshop.
Our results suggest that the use of practicemannequins may have improved resistance to the stressfollowing interaction with the dead bodies. We werethus able to confirm the efficacy of stress evaluations
using voices of individuals. We also believe that thistechnology can be used at actual disaster-response sites.
6. REFERENCES[1] Shigemura, J., Takei, E., Tokuno, S. (2008).
Disaster workers and exposure to dead bodies:16Calmness

A
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5

p = 0.379

B
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5

Before Body After BodyAnger

p = 0.268

Joy

Before Body After Body

Sorrow

p = 0.770

ExcitementA

p = 0.848

Before Body After Body

After Body

C
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5

After Bodyp = 0.197

Before Body

After BodyC

p = 0.592

Before Bodyp = 0.221

Before Body

B
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5

After Body

C
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5

After Bodyp = 0.996

Before Body

After Bodyp = 0.0885

Before Body

B
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5

Before Body After Body

5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5

5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5

After Bodyp = 0.321

Before Body

A
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5

Before Body

B

5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5

p = 0.361

C

p = 0.944

Before BodyA

p = 0.896

After Body

B
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5

Before Body After Body

5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5

p = 0.979

Before Body

A
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5

C
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5

After Body

5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5

p = 0.214

Before Body

After Body

Fig. 4 Changes in the means of emotion components for each group before and after body training, and t-test significanceprobabilities (p values) corresponding to these changes.

17

ES
A : 0.439
B: 0.0149
C: 0.457

Sorrow

Before Body
3
2.8
2.6
2.4
2.2
2
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1
0.8

C

A

B

After Body

After Body

A

B

3
2.8
2.6
2.4
2.2
2
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1
0.8

C

ES
A : 0.562
B: 0.0392
C: 0.914

Before BodyC

ES
A : 0.143
B: 0.00245
C: 0.663

Before Body

3
2.8
2.6
2.4
2.2
2
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1
0.8

A

B

After Body

Joy

B

Anger

A

Excitement

Calmness

3
2.8
2.6
2.4
2.2
2
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1
0.8

3
2.8
2.6
2.4
2.2
2
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1
0.8

A

B

C

ES
A : 0.0635
B: 0.578
C: 0.672

Before Body

After BodyC

ES
A : 0.0933
B: 0.302
C: 0.636

Before Body

After Body

Fig. 5 Changes in the means of emotion components for each group before and after body training, and effectsizes (ES) corresponding to these changes.
psychological responses and stress coping strategies.
National Defense Medical Journal, 55(10), 163-168. [inJapanese][2] Katayama, K., Itoga, H., Someda, H. (2912). Lessons
learned from dental activities in the Great East Japan
Earthquake disaster relief mission (First Report): Disastervictim identification activities conducted by Japan SelfDefense Forces Dental Officers. National Defense Medical
Journal, 59(12), 131-139. [in Japanese][3] Yamamoto, I., Ohira, H., Yamado, Y., Kimoto, K.,
Nihei, T., Hamada, N., Lee, M., Tsukino, K. (2016).
Identification training program using a cadaver-like dentalmannequin. Japanese Journal of Disaster Medicine (Japanese
Association for Disaster Medicine, JADM), 21(2), 173-178. [inJapanese][4] Goldberg D.P. (1978). Manual of the General Health
Questionnaire. Windsor: NFER Publishing.
[5] Beck A.T., Ward C.H., Mendelson M., Mock J., Erbaugh
J. (1961). An Inventory for Measuring Depression. Arch. Gen.
Psychiatry, 4, 561-571.
[6] Delgado-Rodriguez M., Llorca J. (2004). Bias. J
Epidemiol Community Health 2004, 58(8), 635-641.
[7] Izawa S., Sugaya N., Shirotsuki K., Yamada K.C.,
Ogawa N., Ouchi Y., Nagano Y., Suzuki K., Nomura S. (2008).
Salivary dehydroepiandrosterone secretion in response toacute psychosocial stress and its correlations with biologicaland psychological changes. Biological Psychology, 79(3),294-298.

18[8] Sekiyama A. (2007). Interleukin-18 is involved in
Alteration of Hipothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity by
Stress. Society of Biological Psychiatry Annual Meeting, San
Diego.
[9] Tokuno S., Mitsuyoshi S., Suzuki G., Tsumatori G.
(2014). STRESS EVALUATION BY VOICE: a novel stressevaluation technology. Proc of 9th International Conference on
Early Psychosis, Tokyo, 17-19.
[10] Mitsuyoshi S. (2015). Development of Verbal Analysis
Pathophysiology. Econophysics, Sociophysics & Other
Multidisciplinary Sciences Journal, 5(1), 11-16.
[11] Faul F., Erdfelder E., Lang A.G., Buchner A. (2007).
G*Power 3: A flexible statistical power analysis program forthe social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behavior
Research Methods, 39(2), 175-191.
[12] Cohen J. (1988). Statistical Power Analysis for the
Behavioral Sciences. London: Routledge.
[13] Herman J.P., Cullinan W.E. (1977). Neurocircuitry ofstress: central control of the hypothalamo-pituitaryadrenocortical axis. Trends in Neurosciences, 20(2), 78-84.

MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO STRATEGIES AND ORGANISATION:
A CASE STUDY IN MARINE TOURISM
Ivan Stevović
University of Belgrade – Faculty of Organizational Sciences, Belgrade, Serbia
ivan.stevović11@gmail.com
Abstract: This paper presents the results of the research on
the topic concerning the synergy of multidisciplinary strategic
and situational approach to organization in Ada Bojana Sports
Centre at the Adriatic Sea, with the aim of achievingorganizational improvements in this concrete case. A
theoretical base is given and afterwards also the results ofpractically applied Osterwalder and Pigneur organization
model. Business Model Canvas methodology is applied, andSWOT analysis is performed. Structural and situational
approaches close to each other were analyzed, based on thereal organization model of the sports recreational educational
ecological tourism centre in Montenegro, which was seen as abusiness system, whose strategy and organization are based on
multidisciplinary approach. A survey was conducted among
tourists, confirming that the chosen business development
strategy of multidisciplinary approach is attractive and it was
concluded that, consequently, the number of tourists isincreasing. Multidisciplinary approach within development
strategy of this tourist centre opens new organizational
improvements, especially in the domain of optimal employee
engagement dynamics and thoughtfully designated time fortourists, regardless of meteorological stochastic conditions. E
multidisciplinary offer presents additional opportunities forincreasing profitability and better positioning in the “Red
Ocean” of a competitive market. Further research can bedirected towards strengthening multidisciplinary approach,cluster formation and eventual mapping of multidisciplinary
approach from marine to mountain tourism.
Key words: multidisciplinaryorganization, case study, tourism.
1.

approach,strategy,

INTRODUCTIONClassic theories of Shavritz et al. (2015), within context of aseries of new interdisciplinary insights, Săvoiu (2014), aretoday complementing and changing in the direction ofmultidisciplinary approach to strategy and organization.
Hence, for the purpose of research in this paper, a tourist sport
centre organization – water sports schools Dragonproject CO– was chosen, which is holistically researched as a businesssystem, firstly at present state, and afterwards organizational
improvements are sought through multidisciplinary approach.
The goal of each business system is to find an inherently
optimal organization form in order to function successfully
within the defined business nomenclature, regardless ofwhether their product represents goods or services in acompetitive market, as is the case with Dragonproject CO.
Dragonproject CO believes that success can be achieved bymultidisciplinary approach to strategy and business systemorganization. The main goal of this paper is to explore thecurrent organization of Dragonproject CO business systemthrough various theoretical settings and methods, and to
determine whether, and how to define possible improvements
through the multidisciplinary approach.
One of the goals of this paper is to combine, in this case, two
adequate approaches to business systems organization:
strategic, Heath & Palenchar (2008), and situational, Pan &Tan (2011), to design and analyze empirically their synergy on
the concrete example of Ada Bojana Tourist Sports Centre,
through thematic definitions and settings. The idea ofimperative
correlation
dependence
andmutualcomplementarities of strategic and situational approach to thiscase study was subject to critical analysis through theory andempirical structural examples, Morgan et al. (2006).
The aim is to research 9 key elements of a business model,
similar to Osterwalder and Pigneur model, according to theliterature Osterwalder et al. (2014), developing the Business
Model Canvas methodology, researching possibilities ofachieving more success in strategic organization by SWOT
analysis, as well as checking chosen multidisciplinary
approach by survey among tourists with the goal of exiting the“Red Ocean”, thus maintaining specific, special identity in a
spirit of sustainability.
The research carried out in this paper is presented in fourchapters. The introduction presents basic points, subject andpurpose of this research, as well as literature review within thisdomain. The multidisciplinary nomenclature of Draginproject
CO business and current problematic competitive situation on
the market, for which the solution being investigated isdefined. The second chapter describes applied researchmethods. The third chapter describes the synergy results of themultidisciplinary strategic and situational approach to
Dragonproject CO business system organization, analogy with
Osterwalder and Pigneur organization model, Business Model
Canvas methodology, SWOT analysis and indicative results ofconducted survey – a questionnaire for tourists confirming theanalyzed, chosen multidisciplinary approach to strategy andorganization as a solution of escape from the “Red Ocean”. The
fourth chapter provides concluding observations andrecommendations for further research.
1.1. Multidisciplinary
Dragonproject CO

nomenclature

of

jobs

in

For the subject of research carried out in this paper, thebusiness system of kite surf and windsurf tourist centre wasselected, whose multidisciplinary nomenclature of activities
includes: rental of sports equipment, tourists, youth and adults
trainings in extreme, exclusive water sports, creative
psychological workshops, seminars from human resourcesmanagement, production of environmentally pure renewable19

electricity. Activities include organization of accommodation,
healthy food and cultural entertainment, as well as educationand promotion in the field of environmental protection, and in
the function of sustainable profitability – Porter (2011).
Dragonproject CO at Ada Bojana has existed since 1993. It
is a tourist centre, school and club of extreme water sports that
operates under the conditions of a free market, therefore it isconsidered in the following text from the perspective oforganizational models, and in the function of business successand sustainable profitability.
In the previous season, a mini-solar-powerplant was
installed on the roof of a house on pillars over water, which
supplied the camp with green energy produced from 2 m2
photovoltaic solar panels, making this environmentallyfriendly sports and a recreational educational tourist centre
unique in the region of Otrant Gate and worldwide, Stevović(2016a).
This ecological sports and recreational educational camp isorganized on two micro locations. One location is at the nudist
island itself, and the other location is at the 14 km long Grand
Beach in Ulcinj, 1km away from the mouth of the river Bojana
into the Adriatic Sea. Both locations are in the zone of Otrant
Gate, with strong winds and the largest annual amount of sunnydays on the Adriatic coast, which represent basic natural
resources of this tourist centre.
In stochastic hydro meteorological conditions and with highlevels of entropy and risk, it must be noted that the organizationof this business system is bordering on chaos management –Gharajedaghi (2011).
Most organizational activities take place in rough natural
conditions: sandy beach, sea, sun, wind, waves. The Tourist
Centre represents an isolated unit and provides a uniqueexperience for tourists and athletes through various
multidisciplinary cultural, educational, entertainment andsports programs and various kinds of water sports, for which
the state-of-the-art equipment is adapted to beginners andcompetitors.
Each year, at the beginning of a tourist business season,
investment is made in ever so modern boards, sails and kites.
Every most modern devices that appear during the current year
on windsurf, kite and various sailing equipment market
worldwide is procured and made available to students and/or
athletes who come solely to rent equipment.
The tourist centre provides a set of characteristic services:
accommodation in wooden houses – set on pillars over water
surface, camping and beach life, water sports (kite surf,
windsurf, wakeboard, sailing and catamaran). At the same timecompetitions and special multidisciplinary programs forchildren and adults are held, with the aim of popularizing
sports, education and healthy living in accordance with natureand preservation of environment itself, and in the context ofsustainability.

day. The microclimate of Otrant Gate and a large number ofsunny days during the year provide unique conditions fordevelopment of water sports, making this site extremely
attractive, so that along the Grand Beach new tourist centres
are established continuously, with owners from different
countries worldwide.
Each of these tourist centers, as a business system, could be
associated with others in the so-called „Business Groups” byGranovetter (2010). Although they are competitive, a great
number of different organizational modes for each businesssystem is achievable, with the goal of independent business,
and again in the function of business success, Jasko (21017).
However, competitive relationship is retained andconsequently influences the fluctuation of employees from one
tourist centre to another, as well as the cost of work, regardlessof the business system organization modality, Meade (2013).
Tourist companies from Russia, Germany, Poland, Slovenia
and many other countries, establish windsurf centres, but in
addition to their surf schools, they are more oriented to
management of cafes, discotheques and optional organizationof various entertainment contents on the beach, in the name ofhigher profits, regardless to environment, common sense andsustainability. Dragonproject CO keeps focus on
multidisciplinary approach, sports, education, essential
advancement, healthy life and nature conservation. This school
is looking for a purpose above profitability – sustainableprofitability.
The question is how to maintain a prestigious businessposition and not to lose own, identifiable identity, as authors
Hatch & Cunliffe (2012, 211) wrote about this in their book.
As the tourist sport centre as a company neither adapts to thetrends and mass taste of today’s young tourists, nor does it
accept development in the direction of becoming a disco on thebeach, this has significantly affected the decline in profitability
in the past two years.
There was a problem and dilemma whether DragonprojectCO, as a tourist centre can survive as a surf school, with its
own, distinctive identity. What are the strategic organizational
moves that must be changed, retained and undertaken in orderto keep this sports centre within defined work criteria andsystem of values, and to achieve satisfactory profit, bearing in
mind that due to expensive quality equipment and safety atwork, big financial resources are needed?
Therefore, the goal of the company is to ensure profitability,
but retaining authenticity in terms of multidisciplinary
approach, focusing on sports, knowledge, upbringing, natureand development only as long as it is sustainable.
1.3. A multidisciplinary approach to strategy andorganization
A multidisciplinary approach to strategy and organization ofDragonproject CO involves the engagement of amultidisciplinary team of professionals, aiming at synergy ofvarious disciplines, Čudanov (2013). This multidisciplinary
concept encompasses several disciplines, and the mostfrequently and clearly stated are the following:
 organization of education
 ecology – environmental protection through workshops,
seminars, lectures and practice on example model of mini

1.2. Market competition and goals
Dragonproject CO was founded in 1993 in Ada Bojana, asandy island at the mouth of the River Bojana into the AdriaticSea, near the border between Montenegro and Albania. At thattime, it was the only tourist sports centre and school on the
Adriatic coast, and it worked in the conditions of the “Blue
Ocean” – there was no competition. Today, serious
international competition has arisen and is increasing every

20




solar power plant for production of renewable pure green
energyorganizing sports activities
organizing cultural entertainment program
1.3.1.

1.3.3.

The main development strategy of Dragonproject CO relieson sports activities. Although they comprise more disciplines,
they all rely on the OIE, and only wind is used to run it. An
exception is made by fast boats engaged in emergency
situations to rescue trainees, if the wind takes them to the open
sea and they cannot return.
All sports disciplines belong to elite sports and theknowledge of these skills separates clients from others andmakes them psychologically self-confident, Fletcher &Wagstaff (2009).
Dragonproject CO has a strategy to carry out all activities,
although highly serious, sometimes dangerous, throughdiscipline, modern game concept, relying on creativity of
employees, Parlić et al. (2014).

Education

Educational programs are organized in the domain of local
area geography, analogous to positive practice worldwide (thebest practice), similar to international research projects in
Himalayan mountain ranges, India and Pakistan, Bishop(2009). Compulsory educational programs also take place inthe domain of health care, which includes a spectrum of firstaid methods and various forms of treatment, from traditional tomost modern procedures, which are applied in the 21st century,
as described in Lavin et al. (2001).
The strategic goal of Dragonproject Tourist Centre is toprepare clients for solving problems in an increasinglyinternational and multidisciplinary world, after being present
at offered programs and workshops. As John Kennedyemphasized, “Change is the law of life. Those who look only
to the past or present will surely miss the future” Savoiu(2012).
Dragonproject CO performs a serious selection of
employees before beginning of each season, primarily usingsocialnetworks,Čudanov&
Kirchner(2016).
Multidisciplinary prepared and highly educated employees at
Dragonproject CO lead clients through a model of adaptation
to natural, very variable physical conditions. Innovativeeducational processes are created from games, as in theliterature Parlić et al. (2014), to serious survival training inrough conditions. The goal is to successfully prepare clients forlife in today’s fast-changing world.
1.3.2.

Sports

1.3.4.

Culture and entertainment

Dragonproject CO’s strategic goal is to separate itself fromthe “discotheque on the beach” competing model. Lectures,
psychological workshops and playrooms are organized withthe aim of teaching communication, behavioural and speech
culture, in an attempt to redefine entertainment in fine events
withinspirational,
sophisticated,
multidisciplinary
conversations in the domain of culture, history, philosophy –Baldwin et al. (2006).
In this tourist centre, besides limitless sports, fun is limited
to listening to selected music, given how many types of music
can affect mood and thinking – Barthet et al. (2012).
2.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research on multidisciplinary approach of organizing thebusiness system of this tourist sports centre was done using
several methods of Savoiu (2014). The methodological holistic
approach, Sarkar (2007), includes methods of induction anddeduction, analysis and synthesis, as well as an analogy
between, in literature well known, theoretical models andapproach to business systems organization, with concrete
example of Dragonproject CO. The case study method has also
been applied.
The method of deduction, as shown in literature Hintikka &Remes (2012), has started from the general theoretical case of
the business system organizing to the concrete case ofDragonproject CO organization. Certain conclusions weredrawn from individual examples, and in particular throughanalyses of the case study of the sports tourist centre in Ada
Bojana and by the induction method – Bas et al. (2007).
As according to Cassell & Symon (2004), Porter’s genericstrategy is theoretically broken down into strategic patterns:
cost leadership, differentiation, focused cost leadership andfocused differentiation, the same is done as a case study for
Dragonproject CO by analogy method. Also, through themethod of analogy with theoretical approach by Henri
Mincberg, Janićijević (2012), the business success andperformance of Dragonproject CO are broken down into
appropriate hypotheses in practice on a concrete example.
The SWOT analysis method was used to understand andmake decisions in various situations in work and organizationof the Dragonproject business system.

Ecology

Aiming at sustained profitability and as a multidisciplinary
approach, Dragonproject CO has incorporated into businessstrategy that the environmental quality criterion is always
satisfied, Shao et al. (2011).
Ecology is a domain, which today is unjustifiably neglected.
One of the strategic goals of Dragonproject CO is to raiseawareness of the importance of using renewable energy
sources (RES) compared to non-renewable energy sources.
Non-renewable energy sources, beside the fact that theirreserves are estimated for a maximum of 150 years, generatehigh environmental pollution in production of electricity andcause global warming, Evans et al. (2009).
This strategic goal was realized by installing a mini-solarpowerplant on the roof of a house built on pillars over water,
Stevović (2016a). Clients are enabled to witness directly inpractice the application of innovative solutions and positiveenvironmental effects of renewable solar energy production on
the example model 1: 1, Stevović (2016b).
In addition to this, strategic objectives include lectures ofexperts in this domain, in a spontaneous atmosphere on theseashore, where the word moves to deed and live is based on
OIE, wind and sun.

21

The Business Model Canvas methodology was also usedduring research of the Dragonproject CO business model.
The results of the survey were complemented by the survey
method, Garcia et al. (2008). Experimental research was
conducted in July 2017 at the Ada Bojana Tourist Centre on arepresentative sample of 74 respondents. A survey
questionnaire was used as a research instrument. Answers to
the questionnaires were processed using statistical methods,
Hanushek & Jackson (2013), and the data collected were
processed using Microsoft Excel and SPSS for Windows 13.0
software packages.
Therefore, the respondents were actually tourists – guests at
Ada Bojana Tourist Centre, in the cut-off time on July 6th2017. The questionnaire is given in Appendix A.
A literature review method was also applied. The searchedjournals include all the aspects of multidisciplinary approaches
to strategy and organization, since searched justification ofdefinition to multidisciplinary activities is explored as asolution to a compromise between the goal of retaining one’s
own identity and ensuring survival in a competitive market.
3.

competitive domestic and foreign tourist centres.
Dragonproject CO tries, and is really different and unique interms of variety, quality and specificity of its offer.
The problem arises when consumers do not recognize, anddo not tend to the goal set by this company – sustainableprofitability. This problem is solved by the fact that tourists
decide for centres in accordance with their preferences andconvictions.
Dragonproject CO’s business analysis shows that the sports
tourism centre as a company has been operating in the “Blue
Ocean” environment for 20 years, as competitor sports centres
began to appear only in the 21st century. Until then,Dragonproject CO was the first and unique surf school on the
coast of the Adriatic Sea.
Today, the environment is a “Red Ocean”, because only on
Grand Beach in a range of 12 km there are more than 10
international sports centres with relatively similar offer.
Serious research is needed on various business enhancement
strategies for Dragonproject CO to survive and be profitable,
and Dragonproject CO is looking for them in the field of
multidisciplinary approach.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
3.2. Situational approach

The concept of solving organizational problems in order toimprove organization and profitability, resolved by amultidisciplinary approach, is reflected in several
contemporary organizational theories, some of which areintertwined and supplemented, as for example strategic andsituational approach, Jasko et al (2013a). This concept is highly
characteristic of the chosen example of Dragonproject CO, due
to the specificity of the multidisciplinary activities andbusiness conditions. The synergy of multidisciplinary strategic
and situational approach gives the best results in the analysis
of a business system organization.

The organizational model of Dragonproject CO definitely
needs to be adapted and the situational approach is
implemented in the concept of solving organizational
problems, depending on the situation dynamics in the field.
The situation theory of business systems organization, which
relies on the view that each organization has a unique structureand dynamics, is quite appropriate in this case. Today it has
been proven in theory – Jasko et al (2013b), and in practice it
has been confirmed that there is no unique approach to all
problems in an organization, as organizations are different, as
well as their activities and environment.
Dragonproject CO is distinctly different from othercompanies and it is very difficult to perform formalization. It
is definitely specific to its multidisciplinary activities, different
professional employee profiles, location and organizational
structure, which covers several areas of operation, Ćirković(2016). Specific characteristics of Dragonproject CO businessare conditioned by a number of different parameters, startingfrom the spectrum of different age and gender structure of
employees, tourists, through different levels of knowledge andskills of participants, to different weather conditions, as
stochastic size, which is also a security imperative – thecompany works safely in terms of safety of tourists andequipment.
Dragonproject CO operates under the conditions of a highentropy factor, related to the number of tourists and necessarylevel of equipment engagement and the company operates also
within meteorological stochastic changes that take place at atime level, which really requires a specific organizational
structure, capable of dynamically adjusting to newly emerging
situations.
Dragonproject CO, in conditions when there is no wind,which is the basic precondition for carrying out main declared
activities, offers tourists a bunch of other multidisciplinary
activities, in the domain of education, culture, entertainment,
ecology.
According to Henri Mincberg, Janićević (2012), analogous
to the theoretical model, in order to achieve business success3.1. Strategic approach
As Michael Porter has said a long time ago, not allorganizations have equal opportunities for sustainableprofitability. Dragonproject CO has great predispositions torealize sustainable profitability, because it has based its
development strategy and its offer on a multidisciplinary
approach. In addition, by targeting activities in the field ofsports, culture, education, economics and environmental
protection, Dragonproject CO practically realizes the paradigmof sustainable development. Additional environmental
concerns have been incorporated by investing in constructionof a mini-solar-powerplant as a renewable source of clean
green energy and as one of its strategic goals,.
According to the theory of Porter’s generic strategies, there
are following strategic templates: cost leadership,differentiation, focusing on cost leadership and focused
differentiation. Dragonproject CO, as an organization withdefined specific business objectives and multidisciplinary
business nomenclature, applies the strategy of focused
differentiation.
Dragonproject CO has a strategy to distinguish itself in thissegment by the diversity of its multidisciplinary offer
compared to the competitors, and not by low prices. Therefore,
Dragonproject CO is not focused on the low prices of its
services. Aware of quality, variety and specificity of its offer,
Dragonproject CO even keeps high prices in relation to22and high performance for Dragonproject CO, it is necessary
first to analyze and then proceed from following assumptions:configuration hypothesis, congruence hypothesis, andextended configuration hypothesis.
The congruence hypothesis applied to Dragonproject CO
business system represents the degree of interconnectedness ofall parameters and the all multidisciplinary activities that arehighly coordinated in time and space by Dragonproject CO, aswell as from the engagement of multidisciplinary team ofprofessionals.
The specificity of Dragonproject CO business does not allow
it to function only according to the principles of conceived,
projected organization. Stochastic hydrological changes andgeneralmeteorologicalconditions
often
requireDragonproject’s parameters to be subordinated to the situation
factors. For example, changes, i.e. large increase in wind speed
and intensity sometimes requires suspension of certain
activities on the open sea and the imperative of designing otheractivities on the beach, adapted to new weather conditions.
Finding solutions in newly created situations is sought in a
multidisciplinary offer, by which Dragonproject CO adjusts tothe situation.
The congruence hypothesis is realized in Dragonproject COwith high probability, because due to frequent changes inhydrological conditions, which are the starting point for certain
activities, the parameters of the Dragonproject COorganization is very often adapted to newly emerging
situations. This is in fact the principle of functioning of
prepared multidisciplinary team of employees.
The extended configuration hypothesis on the concrete
example of Dragonproject CO is realized with a highprobability of occurrence, because the environment, in which
Dragonproject CO functions, generates a high degree of
uncertainty. It is not certain when, with which intensity anddirection the wind blows, which trainees can be engaged in
activities, which are optimal sizes of rental kites, and then it is
not certain how long hydro-meteorological conditions will lastfrom the beginning of the day, i.e. zero level. Sometimes it isnecessary to engage quick boats for returning trainees from theopen sea. Dragonproject CO responds to environmental
uncertainties by adjusting its parameters, so assumptions ofconfiguration and congruence are fulfilled at the same time.
The uncertainty is explained correlated with daily changes.
There is also uncertainty over duration of the season, in termsof the number of tourists and general economic conditions in a
wider environment, which can affect the prices of food, fueland other material costs.

young athletes and/or those who want training in specificadrenaline sports. Target groups are also tourist organizations
from abroad and within the country, to which this sports
attraction is offered as a motive for visiting or additional
activities.
Value proposition – Dragonproject CO provides services totourists and generates revenues from training and equipment
rental, as well as from direct sale of state-of-the-art equipment,
which appeared on the market as an innovation during thatyear, which represents value and rarity in the tourist offer ofthis type. At the same time, certain revenues come fromaccommodation and sale of food and beverages. Innovativevalue in Dragonproject CO represents ecologically pure, green
solar energy produced in a mini solar power plant, which
carries the attributes of better quality accommodation andgeneral residence, in a zone where the noisy work of diesel
engines is not heard. A novelty that contributes to the creationof consumer values is also a spectrum of cultural education,entertainment programs and multidisciplinary contents.
Distribution channels – Distribution channels ofDragonproject CO are created on the Internet (the company has
its own site and Face book), through agencies, personal andgroup information transmission on the quality and specificity
of multidisciplinary offerings, directly and indirectly throughchannels of partner companies. On micro plan and daily levelof organization, a distribution channel is also representing avehicle fleet for supply of food and beverages, as well as fortransportation of tourists on arrival and departure.
Customer relations – Dragonproject CO has a very
characteristic, maximally personalized access to service users,
which, in addition to targeted strategy, stems from thenecessity of 24 hour coexistence in extremely difficult
meteorological conditions. Dragonproject CO acquires, retains
and extends the sale of its services, based on recommendations,through various tourist and sports communities, and modern
possibilities of information communication technologies andother forms of communication and advertising:
1. Awareness of quality and special features ofDragonproject CO services is raised through an official,website, social internet networks, blogs and direct
information transfer, as well as advertising through travel
agencies.
2. Evaluation and credibility of offered service value is done
through direct and personal contacts, social internet
networks and by written reviews.
3. Purchase of equipment and all offers of Dragonproject
CO are made over the internet during the year and during
the high season (June-September) via internet anddirectly in the Tourist Centre.
4. Delivery of offered values of Dragonproject CO businesssystem is carried out during the year alternatively or in
combination with car, bus, train and/or ship, dependingon the consumer location. During the year, out-of-season
equipment is usually offered for sale. These are theworking modes as the equipment is too large to bedelivered by plane, unless otherwise required by the
consumer. In high season, delivery takes place in thesame way and directly in the Tourist Centre, where
besides equipment for sale, a whole range of othermultidisciplinary activities and services are offered.
5. Post-sales support to consumers is ensured throughpossibility of providing additional courses and education,

3.3. Analogy with Osterwalder and Pigneur organizationmodel
In order to better understand the environment in which
Dragonproject CO is located and to define how toproactively/reactively adapt the company, with the aim ofdesigning a more competitive business model on the market
and higher profitability, 9 key elements were analyzed. In
analogy to the theory developed by Osterwalder and Pigneur,
Osterwalder et al. (2014), these elements emerged from 4
business segments (users, offer, infrastructure and financial
sustainability) and are further analyzed for specific case study:
Consumer Segments – Dragonproject CO has dominantly
directed its creation of values into foreign tourist groups and23

as well as the possibility of complaints on purchased
product.
Revenue flows – The most common revenue flows ofDragonproject CO are generated as cash, during high season,in direct contact with the consumer at the Tourist Centre. The
list of prices is fixed, but there are also negotiations aboutlowering the prices, in the scope function of required services
and yield management, i.e. depending on how successful thebusiness year is and whether there is an overload of engaged
personnel. Revenue flows are also realized through sale ofproperty (equipment and parts of proprietary right over the
Tourist Centre) and compensation for use of accommodation,
food and beverage services. Revenues are realized throughsubscription, which most often works through business
relations with tourist agencies from abroad. Certain income
flows are also realized through renting equipment andorganizing courses for obtaining international instructors
licenses. Everything takes place under auspices and withapproval of the International Kite Organization (IKO).
Key resources – Human resources are key resources inDragonproject CO. First of all, it refers to a valuablemultidisciplinary team of professionals in the domains ofsports, culture, entertainment, environmental protection andvarious forms of education. Key resources are also financial
resources necessary for starting the season and for procurementof equipment. Physical resources are in two different locations.
These are two unique spaces, convenient for carrying out themain activity – courses in windsurf and kite. One is on a 100m wide and 500 m long sandy beach, without any obstacles that
could make it difficult to lift and lower the parachutes and sails.
In addition, sand is an incomparably more convenient groundcompared to the locations of other tourist centres worldwide,
where there is a danger of tourists and equipment being
damaged on sharp rocks or stones. The other exclusive location
is at the mouth of the River Bojana into the Adriatic Sea, wherea 1 km wide and 2 km long lake is formed, which represents
ideal conditions for beginners, as there are no waves. Physicalresources include houses on pillars over the water foraccommodation of tourists, restaurant capacities andequipment hangars.
Key activities – Most important activities are from thespectrum of multidisciplinary approach: selling and renting ofequipment, maintaining various courses in the domain of
extreme water sports, solving problems arising from accidental
situations regarding damage or loss of equipment on too heavy
wind, and psychological workshops and playrooms when there
is no wind and when activities are based on the shore. There
are also educational courses and cultural and entertainment
events.
Key Partnerships – Dragonproject CO key partnerships arewith foreign and domestic tourist agencies, which bringtourists and represent distribution partners, and expand theirvalue proposition, Jasko et al. (2017). Partnerships are also
being implemented with competitive tourist centres in the areaof providing emergency equipment and fast rescue boats inaccidents, with the aim of reducing costs. Namely, there is alegal obligation to have fast boats for rescuing tourists inaccidents on the open sea. Risky situations may also emerge
through the proximity of the Albanian border, so in cases ofstrong winds and dropping of sails or parachutes, tourists caneasily find themselves in another country. Two tourist centres,

although in a competitive relationship, are united in such cases
and use a common quick speed boat.
In addition, Dragonproject CO has established partners,
which make up the supplier’s network at an annual level (sports
and supporting equipment, material for building of houses onpillars over the water) and at a daily level (food, water, energy).
Cost structure – Fixed costs are annual beach lease andfixed taxes. It is specific that employee’s wages also fall into
variable costs, as the number of employee’s changes during theseason, adjusted to the number of tourists and hydrometeorological conditions. Changing hydro meteorologicalconditions directly affect the duration of high season andconsequently change the level of the multidisciplinary andprofessional team engagement and the costs for their work.
Similarly, the costs of purchasing goods and new equipment
are also changing. Variable costs are also fuel costs for a diesel
engine and food and beverages supply vehicles, as well as foodand beverages for tourists and employees. So, all costs arevariable at a daily, weekly, monthly and annual level, except
for fixed annual beach lease and taxes.
Dragonproject CO acts primarily proactively, but also
reactively considering the high degree of entropy andstochastic. There is a great diversification of tourists; it is notknown exactly what the age, educational and gender structureof coming groups will be, in order to optimally adapt
procurement of equipment. Meteorological operation
conditions are also unknown and variable, even at a one hourlevel, which requires a high degree of organizational
flexibility.
3.4. The Business Model Canvas for Dragonproject COWithin the multidisciplinary approach, Business Model
Canvas (BMC) is also applied on Dragonproject CO with thegoal of describing, designing, challenging, and pivoting thebusiness model. It works in conjunction with the Canvas Value
Proposition and other strategic management and execution
tools and processes – Joyce & Paquin (2016).
The BMC model is detailed elaborated for Dragonproject
CO ans shown in Table 1, next page.
3.5. SWOT Analysis
Use of the SWOT analysis method is required in respond to
the question how to maintain specificity identity, essential
approach to education in sport, life and preserved environment,
and again to have a sufficient number of clients in order toenable the school as a company to survive and have profit. In
the past 2 years advantages, disadvantages, chances andhazards for the Dragonproject CO business system areanalyzed within the framework of conducted research, in orderto solve the problem with the number of clients.
Advantages:
 The offer of Dragonproject CO is positioned in a rich
spectrum of multidisciplinary activities, ranging fromextreme sports courses for adults and children, throughpsychological workshops and various educational
actions, to human resource management seminars andconstruction of a solar power plant.
 Clients have the option of choosing. It is being operated
at 2 locations (on the island of Ada Bojana and Grand

24


























Beach), which allows the courses to be held on exciting
sea waves and on a calm flat water surface at the mouthof the River Bojana into the Adriatic Sea, which is very
important and improves safety and quality of the working
process – learning.
In Dragonproject CO main activities take place on theworld-famous medicinal sand of Ulcinj, which provides
comfort and security for clients, which only few tourist
centres in the world have as a resource.
Dragonproject CO is the first school of its kind in thisregion and has a respectable and recognizable name,many tourists have built a relationship of trust andcontinue to visit Dragonproject CO, where they are
feeling good and have no need to change the location.
Dragonproject CO employs instructors with international
IKO licenses (International Kite Organization).
95% of Dragonproject CO equipment has been purchasedin the current year, only 5% of equipment is sailingboards between 1 and 5 years old. These are wide boards
that are kept because they are suitable for beginners.
Dragonproject CO is recognized in the region with its
multidisciplinary approach and focus on sports,
education, healthy living and preservation of nature andthe place itself just as it is.
Dragonproject CO possesses specific multidisciplinary
programs and equipment for children.
The Dragonproject CO location is characterized bypeaceful and quiet, unspoiled nature.
Disadvantages:
The problem of synchronizing organization, management
and control of work and equipment on two locations
requires a great number of engaged instructors, which
increases the costs of doing business.
The access road from the Adriatic Highway to
Dragonproject CO on the beach is an uneven, earthy road,which is dusty when it is sunny, and dangerously slipperyand with zones of stained water when it rains.
Dragonproject CO operates under conditions of isolationin relation to the electric power system and there is nowater supply. Hence the irregularities in electricity
supply, since sources of this isolated power supply system
away from electricity grid are: limited solar power plant
capacity (200 W) and a diesel generator. Water is also a
problem solved by the construction of a local well, whose
work is again conditioned by inclusion of a diesel engine,which implies the lack of continuity.
In order to cover a wide spectrum of multidisciplinary
activities, the café/restaurant is positioned in the lastplace, so that the nutrition problem for employees andtourists is recognized, who are forced to go to othercentres for better and more diverse nutrition.
Chances:
Retainingaccomplishedandstrengthening
multidisciplinary approach.
Cooperation with even bigger and better-known foreign
tourist agencies on the market.
Cooperation with various sports clubs (various clubs cancome for preparations, which currently exists as apractice, but underdeveloped). So far, the Youth Karate
Club and table tennis player veterans came forpreparations.


















25

Broader education of young people (about water sports,
independence, healthy psychophysical life, life in nature,importance of preserved quality environment andculture).
Development of a serious surf centre with globally
recognized methodological multidisciplinary approach toorganization and leading training programs for all levelsof knowledge and all age of clients.
Better and more adequate work schedule with clients ofdifferent knowledge levels, in comparison to other tourist
centres, since Dragonproject CO is the only centre that
operates at 2 locations (one on quiet upland water at theriver mouth for beginners and the other on open sea andwaves for advanced competitors)
Dragonproject CO possesses a unique ecological campwith an experimentally installed mini solar power plantand possibility of installing a permanent mini solar power
plant and supplying the camp with electricity fromrenewable sources of clean, green energy.
Considering the site scope, with involvement of a large
number of licensed instructors and other support staff,
cooperation capacities (current the daily turnover is about
80 tourists) can, and should be doubled.
Hazards:
An increasing number of competitive schools that follow
habits and tastes of the majority of youth, eager for easy
spending, a bit of light sport and showing off in beautiful
beach bars, indoors and outdoors.
The isolated location of the Tourist Centre can sometimes
cause distribution or procurement problems, or inability
to reach hospital in emergency situations more often thanin other tourist centres, bearing in mind that the main
program of extreme sports is on water.
No connection to transmission line and isolation in
relation to electricity system poses a risk of possible
failure of freezers, fridges and inadequate stored food.
The Tourist Centre is located on the beach and is notconnected to the water supply network of the nearest cityof Ulcinj. The absence and irregularity of water supply
from the local well, in addition to reduced comfort, is at
the same time a serious danger to the health of tourists
and employees.
Poor marking and bad advertisement on the main roadhave caused in several occasions that tourists who went
to Dragonproject CO go astray on the road and drive toanother tourist centre, which disturbs programmed
capacities and reduces planned profitability.

Table 1. The Business Model Canvas for Dragonproject CO
8.Key Partners:
 Foreign tourist
agencies Tourist agencies fromthe country Strategic partners from“Red ocean pool”(Russian, German andSlovenian companies)

7.Key Activities Different sport courses
 Selling of theequipment
 Renting of theequipment Tourists
accommodation
 Different educationalcourses Different cultural
events Fun events
 Cooking Barmen activities
 Energy production Water supply

2.Value Propositions: The equipment for
selling The equipment for
renting Services of giving
classes Services of food anddrink supply
 Services of tourists
accommodation
 Cultural andeducational programs
 Clean solar energy

6.Key Resources: Human resources Financial resources New equipment(produced in actualyear) Specific location on theriver mouth Location in the sandysee beach Wooden lodges
9.Cost Structure: Annual rental of the space Taxes
 Salary Fund
 Procurement and purchase of new equipment
 Energy costs
 Food and drink costs

4.Customer Relationship: Direct personal
relationships face toface e-mail communication
 Deep and intimate
relationship built
during 24 hours living
together in the extreme
meteorologicalconditions
 Automatic services isallowed to old
costumers (within theagreed equipment in
the store, during highseason) Through different
tourist and sport
communities
 By writing blogs andputting photos andvideos on YouTube
3.Channels of distribution:
 Internet web site Face book
 Tourist agencies
advertisements Personal and grouptransfer of information
 Channels of partners
companies Vehicle fleet

5.Revenue Streams:
 Cash money Negotiation
 Selling of the value
 Subscription
 Renting Licensing

26

1. Customer Segments:
 Foreign tourist groups Tourist groups fromthe country Jung athletes fromdifferent sports
 Kite fans Windsurf fans Different adrenalin
water sport fansSWOT analysis is an important part of the research, because
it allows the organization to re-examine both itself and its
environment, in order to understand past and present successes
and failures, and in the intent to position itself for further
progress. For this reason, the SWOT analysis was used toreview the performance and development capabilities ofDragonproject CO, when the company is viewed as a businesssystem in the profit market.

100% of respondents think that this tourist centre is different
from others and that a multidisciplinary offers differs thiscentre from others. Namely, the content is designed in suchway that when there is no wind, when clients cannot sail, thecentre offers very attractive educational workshops, cultural
entertainment and excellent organization in terms ofenvironmental protection.
61%, i.e. 72.6% of tourists are old guests. 83%, i.e. 98.8%
said they wanted to come back next year, precisely because of
the broad spectrum of multidisciplinary programs, so definitely
Dragonproject CO should keep the focus of its businessstrategies and organization on multidisciplinary approach.
The most prominent rank shows that the tourists valuate
disciplines as per next order: multidisciplinarity (all disciplines) sport fun
 culture education
 ecology
 solar power-plant
The main contribution of this paper is in testing of thepresence and proving of the importance of multidisciplinary
approach to the strategy and organization in one sea tourist
centre as a demonstrative case study. As a result, thismultidisciplinary model is applicable and feasible in mountaintourism and wider areas, which could be the subject of our next
research.

3.6. Results of the survey questionnaire on the topic ofmultidisciplinary approach in Dragonproject CO
Dragonproject CO has always had a strategy to expand therange of offerings and develop its strategy and organization in
the context of multidisciplinary approach. This research
confirms the correctness of the strategy chosen. By the methodof questionnaire conducted among tourists, it was establishedthat the multidisciplinary concept is what brings tourists to the
Dragonproject CO Tourism Centre, so it can be claimed withcertainty that Dragonproject CO will seek further
organizational improvements through the multidisciplinary
strategic and situational approach initiated.
A sample of 84 respondents answered a questionnaire with
10 questions, as shown in Appendix A at the end of this paper.
The age structure of clients shows that the most frequent
tourists are 20-30 years old (Table 2), which is logical, since
this is the age when they are studying or are employed, and still
young, with less family obligations and dealing with sports.
The educational structure is shown in Table 3. The majority ofclients are college-educated, which in fact represents a highly
intellectual environment. Note that faculty education is
attributed to students of the third and fourth year of faculty.
The representation of women is 37% compared to 63% of men.

4.

CONCLUSION

Within this paper, a multidisciplinary approach to strategy
and business system organization was analyzed andimprovements were sought for Dragonproject CO from therange of multidisciplinary offers and activities from thenomenclature of work in domains of tourism, economics,
education, sports, health, psychology and culture.
It is recommended that the improvement of Dragonproject
CO business is sought within the synergy of strategic andsituational approach to the organization, due to specificity ofactivities and location itself. The company is one of the few
that realizes sustainable profitability, due to the concern about
quality of environment and especially implementation ofrenewable energy sources and defined business goals. The
guests are given the opportunity to participate in educationalseminars on the importance of environmental protection and to
get acquainted with the work of the mini solar power plant.
A survey of Dragonproject CO business model, done withan analogue Osterwalder and Pigneur organization model
indicates that Dragonproject CO is currently well positioned on
the market, as well as with additional business improvement
space, because due to increased number of competing foreign
centres at the same location, this should be analyzed in thecontext of exiting the “Blue Ocean” and entering the “Red
Ocean”.
Within the analysis of development strategy andDragonproject CO business system organization and in
addition to the synergy of adequate multidisciplinary approachto strategic and situational organization system, the BMP
model was developed, the SWOT analysis and survey among
tourists conducted.

Table 2. Age structure of clients
Age
Number of clients< 15
1
15 – 207
20 - 2524
25 – 3020
30 - 3515
35 – 4011
40 - 45
4
> 45
2
∑
84
Table 3. Educational structure
Education
Number of clients
Elementary1Medium4
Faculty71
Master5
Doctorate
3
The key and highly indicative results of the survey show that
82%, i.e. 97.6% of clients visited this tourist centre due tomultidisciplinary approach to the organization, which
definitely shows that multidisciplinary approach should remain
and become a permanent development strategy for
Dragonproject CO.

27

The goal was to research and try to answer the question how
to maintain specific identity of tourist centre in Ada Bojana,
and again have enough customers to enable the company tosurvive and have sustainable profitability. The answer is that a
multidisciplinary approach to strategy and organization is what
ensures long-term sustainable profitability.
It is recommended to retain and intensify themultidisciplinary approach to strategy and organization. The
future development and improvement of Dragonproject CO
business can also be sought in cooperation with foreign travel
agencies, both at existing locations and with the extension tolakes and rivers in Serbia.
At the same time, additional observation and research ofsimilar operation of schools abroad is needed, which arelocated in both attractive tourist zones and near metropolises,
such as Belgrade, where there are both water resources suitablefor intended purposes, and a large number of interested clients.
Further research may also be directed to mapping
multidisciplinary model from marine to mountain tourism, forwhich appropriate field research has already been carried out,
which began with testing the benefits of Kopaonik slopes forsnow or grass kite.
This paper does not conclude the research topic, but opens
up a wide range of opportunities for further researches in orderto improve the performance of Dragonproject CO as a businesssystem.
Dragonproject CO can certainly represent a generator ofadvanced ideas in the future and be a sustainability incubator,
in the context of spreading experience of modern organizationof a sustainable business system, as a synergy of amultidisciplinary strategic and situational approach and to be acluster in economic terms.

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APPENDIX A
How old are You?
Education:
1. Primary school
2. Secondary school
3. Faculty
4. Master
5. Doctorate
GenderM
F
You come in this tourist centre because of the:1. Sport
2. Fun3. Cultural events
4. Educational events
5. Clean environment
6. To see the mini-solar-powerplant
7. All disciplines
How would you rank the previous?
Is this tourist centre different from the others?
What makes this tourist centre different?
Have you come to this tourist centre before?
Will you come back here next year?
Your comment relating to the organization of the tourist
centre.

28[20] Jaško, O., Čudanov, M., Jevtić, M. & Krivokapić, J.,(2013a). Osnovi organizacije i menadžmenta. Beograd, Srbija:
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29

STOCK MARKET VOLATILITY IN SOME SELECTED COUNTRIES – A
THERMODYNAMIC APPROACH
Amit Kundu1
1

Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Mathabhanga College, Cooch Behar, India. ms.amitkundu@rediffmail.com

Abstract. Volatility is an important concept in the theory offinance. Substantial changes in volatility of financial market
returns are capable of having significant negative effects on
risk-averse investors. Volatility can also have effect on
consumption patterns, macroeconomic variables, etc.
Traditionally the volatility has been addressed based on theconcept of standard deviation approach and on the basis of thestandard deviation approach ARCH, GARCH, EGARCH havebeen developed. Volatility is often used to describe dispersion
from an expected value. As a measure of uncertainty and risk
standard-deviation is very popular since it is simple and easy
to calculate. But it is not fully satisfactory. It is severely
affected by extreme values.
In this paper the concept of entropy basically developed in
Physics by Clausius in 1855 will be used as an effective
alternative. There is several measures of entropy. In this article
we focused on the potentialities of Shannon entropy and Tsallis
entropy. In this article the volatility of ten indexes has been
examined. From the investigation it has found that KOSPIComposite Index (South Korea) attained the highest level ofvolatility and the immediate next one is TSEC weighted index(Taiwan).
Keywords: entropy, Shannon entropy, Tsallis entropy,
volatility.
1. INTRODUCTION
The concept of volatility in financial markets refers to thedegree of unpredictable fluctuations of a process over time.
Volatility can be used as a criterion to study the risk associatedwith a financial asset. Different statistical approaches used tomeasure volatility are summarized in the paper written by
Henning, B.; Sloane, M.; de Leon, M. In that paper, the authors
state that “price volatility is not a precisely or easily definedterm. One consequence is that there are a variety of ways ofmeasuring price volatility, depending on the elements ofvolatility that are considered critical”.
In literature, several historical volatility studies have been
carried out on various markets. For instance, in the article
written by Benini, M.; Marracci, M.; Pelacchi, P.; Venturini,
A. showed thatvolatility analysis was included for the Spanish, Californian,
UK and PJM electricity markets. Li, Y.; Flynn, P.C. examined
and compared the volatility of 14 deregulated markets throughthe “price velocity” measure (the daily average of the absolutevalue of price change per hour). Simonsen, I. studied somevolatility features (volatility clustering, log-normal
distribution and long-range correlations) of the Nordic day
ahead power spot market, and it also pointed out that power

markets have greater volatility levels than other financial
markets (stock indices, crude oil, natural gas...).
These studies were carried out using different measures ofvolatility. Most of them involve computing the standard
deviation of: (1) the price series, (2) the arithmetic return overa time period h, or (3) the logarithmic return over a time period
h. The value h = 1 is the commonly used time period.
The main contribution of this paper is to compare twodifferent approaches: one based on the statistical measure of
the standard deviation or variance and the other one centeredon the concept of entropy. In this regard, we particularly focus
on the concept of Tsallis entropy, which constitutes a possible
generalization of the Boltzmann-Gibbs or Shannon entropy.
These measures were both generated in the domain of physics,
although the latter is also attributed to the Information Theory,and their application to financial phenomena falls in thedomain of the so-called econophysics. As Mantegna R N and
StanleyH E pointed out an active domain of research in physics
is the characterization of the process of prices changes, i.e.,
volatility. In our particular investigation we apply the conceptof entropy to capture the presence of nonlinear dynamics instock market indexes since the standard deviation evidencesome limitations. The empirical analysis is conducted with datafrom different countries for comparative purposes.
The article consists of a part that describes the mostcommonly used measure of volatility – the standard deviation.
Next part presents two different measures of entropy: theShannon entropy and a possible generalization of it – theTsallis entropy. The next part exhibits the empirical findings
and the last part draws the conclusions.
2. ABOUT THERMODYNAMICS
Thermodynamics is a branch of natural science that studies
the effects of changes in temperature, pressure, and volume on
physical systems at a macroscopic level and, most importantly,
the relation of heat with energy and work. Lord Kelvin, one of
the fathers of thermodynamics, defined it in 1854. The
keystones of thermodynamics are its four universal laws:
ZERO LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS
If two systems (A and B) are each in thermal equilibriumwith a third one (C), they are also in thermal equilibrium witheach other. Mathematically, the law relates systems A, B and
C as follows
if T(A) = T(B), andif T(B) = T(C), thenT(A) = T(C)where T is the temperature of the systems.

30

This gauge is simple to estimate, but it has some drawbacks. It
could lead to an unexpected change in volatility once shocks
fall out of the measurement sample. It only captures linear
relationships; it ignores all kind of nonlinear dynamics amongdata. So to understand the concept of volatility moresophisticated measures are needed. The concept of entropy is a
new measure to capture nonlinear dynamics among data. The
main focus of this paper is to capture the volatility in somestock markets by using entropy.

FIRST LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS
The increase in internal energy (∆U) of a closed system is equal
to the difference of the heat (Q) supplied to the system and thework (W) done by it:∆𝑈 = 𝑄 − 𝑊(1)Heat may be absorbed by the system from a source at a higher
temperature or transferred to a system at a lower temperature;
conversely, work may be performed by the system or its
surroundings. The differential expression𝑑𝑈 = 𝛿𝑄 − 𝛿𝑊

Though there are number of imperfections or disadvantages
in the standard deviation still it is a accepted measure ofvolatility for forecasting of more complex model.

(2)
THE CONCEPT OF ENTROPY

where d and 𝛿 denote infinitesimal change in the variables
SECOND LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS
Heat cannot spontaneously flow from a colder location to ahotter location. Alternatively, it is not possible to change heatcompletely into work.
THIRD LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS
As a system approaches absolute zero(0K, or -273.150C), theentropy of the system approaches a minimum value.
Second law of Thermodynamics states that nature tends tomove towards most probable state. It is nothing but a statisticallaw.
Maximum internal states possible without any apparent change
in external state.
Entropy = S = K logW [Entropy is a macroscopic variable]
Where, K => Boltzmann’s constant
W=> number of ways internal states possible without any
apparent change in external state.
Entropy will be maximum when W will be maximum. W will
be maximum at most probable state.
Entropy always increases. It means that nature moves towards
most probable state.
3. VARIOUS MEASURES OF VOLATILITY
At first we will keep some light on the standard deviationand then analyze the Tsallis entropy and a special case of it –the Shannon entropy. It is well known to us that volatility is
popular as a synonymous of risk and uncertainty. Volatility
could be not constant over time.
A traditional way of measuring volatility is to compute thereturns rt of an asset:
𝑟𝑡 = 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑃𝑡 − 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑃𝑡−1
where 𝑃𝑡 denotes the prices at time t and 𝑃𝑡−1 denotes theprices at time t-1.
Formula for standard deviation is as follows:∑𝑇 (𝑟 −𝑟̅ )𝜎̂ = √ 𝑡=1 𝑡where 𝑟̅ (sample average return) =

∑ 𝑟𝑡
𝑇

For
a
given
a
probability
distribution
𝑝𝑖 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑝(𝑋 = 𝑖), (𝑖 = 1, . . , 𝑛) of a given randomvariable X,

𝑆(𝑋) = − ∑𝑛𝑖=1 𝑝𝑖 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑝𝑖(4)
Shannon entropy has been most successful in the treatment ofequilibrium systems in which short or temporal interactions
with ergodicity and independence dominate. However, there
are many irregular systems in nature that do not verify thesimplifying assumption of ergodicity and independence. To
overcome this kind of weakness Tsallis drawn a new measureof entropy and that is Tsallis entropy.
Following is the Tsallis entropy:𝑘𝑞
𝑆𝑞 (𝑋) = 𝑞−1 (1 − ∑𝑤
𝑖−1 𝑝𝑖 )(5)

Given a discrete set of probabilities 𝑝𝑖 with the condition∑𝑖 𝑝𝑖 = 1 and q any non-negative real number considering theprobability distribution 𝑝𝑖 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑝(𝑋 = 𝑖), (𝑖 =1, . . , 𝑛) of a given random variable X, Tsallis entropy 𝑆𝑞 (𝑋) is
shown above. Here q is a real parameter sometimes
called entropic-index. In the limit as q→1, the usual
Boltzmann–Gibbs entropy is recovered. The number of 𝑞 ∈ 𝑅
is an entropic index that characterizes the degree of nonextensivity of the system. It is used to describe system with
non-extensive properties, and it is also used to characterize thenon-extensivity degree of particular system.
Given two independent systems A and B, for which the joint
probability density satisfies𝑝(𝐴, 𝐵) = 𝑝(𝐴)𝑝(𝐵)𝐴(6)
the Tsallis entropy of this system satisfies
𝑆𝑞 (𝐴, 𝐵) = 𝑆𝑞 (𝐴) + 𝑆𝑞 (𝐵) + (1 − 𝑞)𝑆𝑞 (𝐴)𝑆𝑞 (𝐵)(7)
From this result, it is evident that the parameter │1-q│is ameasure of the departure from additivity. In the limit when q=1
𝑆𝑞 (𝐴, 𝐵) = 𝑆𝑞 (𝐴) + 𝑆𝑞 (𝐵)
(8)

(3)

𝑇−1

An alternative way to study stock market volatility is byapplying concept of entropy of physics. In a subsequent
investigation Shannon provided a new insight into this mattershowing that entropy wasn’t only restricted to thermodynamics
but could instead be applied in any context where probabilities
can be defined.

.

31which is what is expected for an additive system. This property
is sometimes referred to as “pseudo-additivity”.

The computed results of Tsallis Entropy of stock index
returns is represented in figure 3.

4. OBJECTIVE
The objective of my paper is to detect the variation ofvolatility among different countries using entropy. It is relevantin the context of globalization.
5. DATA
Daily returns of Dhaka Stock Exchange (Bangladesh), JPXNikkei 400 (Japan), Shenzhen Stock Exchange (China),
Jakarta Composite Index (Indonesia), FTSE Malaysia KLCI(Malaysia), KOSPI Composite Index (South Korea), S&P BSE
SENSEX (India), TSEC weighted index (Taiwan), Karachi
100(Pakistan) and S&P/ASX 200 (AXJO (Australia) over theperiod of study (5th August, 2014 to 29th December, 2016) areconsidered for the empirical research. These data werecollected on daily basis. Official website is http://www.siteby-site.com/asia/indo/stocksin.htm. Closing price were theinputs.

Fig. 1 depicts Standard deviation of stock index returns forindices. It was observed from the ten stock markets that
Shenzhen Stock Exchange (China) has the higher volatility
indexes and the immediate next one is JPX-Nikkei 400 (Japan).
The ranking also gives us an idea about that all values are close
to zero which may suggest that all of them show signs of low
volatility in spite of their particular values. It is well known to
us that standard deviations of stock markets are influenced byabnormally high observations and are not able to capture
nonlinear dynamics.
6. RESULTS OF ENTROPY
The computed results of Shannon entropies are represented infigure 2.

All entropies were estimated with histograms based onequidistant cells. For the calculation of Tsallis entropy we haveset values at 1.5, 1.55 and 1.6 for the index q, which isconsistent with the finding that when considering financial data
their values lie within the range 1.5-1.6. It is worthy to notethat KOSPI Composite Index (South Korea) attained thehighest levels of volatility and the immediate next one is TSEC
weighted index (Taiwan). In the overall, it appears that the useof entropy as a measure of uncertainty allows better insights
over the identification of volatile markets, by distinguishingthem more sharply, than simply using the standard deviation.
This leads us to the conclusion that entropy is more general andbetter suited for describing stock market volatility. Entropy canbe computed from metric and non-metric data. Apart from thatthe major advantages of entropy when compared to thestandard deviation can be summed up as follows:(i)
it integrates much more information than the standard
deviation;(ii)
it has no distribution. It means that it is not dependent
upon any particular distribution; it avoids theintroduction of errors through the fitting of the
distribution of returns to a normal-like distribution.
(iii)
Since entropy is independent of the mean for all typesof distributions, it satisfies the first order conditions
and(iv)
due to its common comprehending of mean
uncertainty, it also serves as a measure of dispersion.
On the other hand, some shortcomings have also to beweighted when considering the use of any kind of entropy.
First one has to do with its inbuilt complexity when comparedto the simple standard deviation. Second, is related to theamount of statistical bias in these measures due to the degrees
of freedom allowed in an experiment.

7. CONCLUSION
In this article the volatility of ten indexes has been examined.
Ten indices are Dhaka Stock Exchange (Bangladesh), JPXNikkei 400 (Japan), Shenzhen Stock Exchange (China),
Jakarta Composite Index (Indonesia), FTSE Malaysia KLCI(Malaysia), KOSPI Composite Index (South Korea), S&P BSE
SENSEX (India), TSEC weighted index (Taiwan), Karachi32

100(Pakistan) and S&P/ASX 200 (AXJO (Australia). The
main goal was to compare two different viewpoints.
(i)
(ii)

8. REFERENCES[1] Henning, B.; Sloane, M.; de Leon, M.(2003). Natural
gas and energy price volatility. American Gas Foundation.Available
online:based on the standard deviation andbased on the concept of entropy (the Tsallis andthe Shannon entropies).

http://www.gasfoundation.org/ResearchStudies/VolStud
yCh5. pdf (accessed on 19 January 2012).

In particular, the results from both entropies have shown
nonlinear dynamics in the volatility of all indexes. However,most of the outcomes are not in accordance with the statistics
produced by the standard deviation, which emphasizes that thismethod is not able to capture the overall behaviour ofdispersion. This is especially relevant for the decision making
process in which all the information is regarded as necessary
and useful. It has found that KOSPI Composite Index (South
Korea) attained the highest level of volatility and theimmediate next one is TSEC weighted index (Taiwan).
Since entropy can capture the uncertainty and disorder in a timeseries without imposing any constraints on the theoreticalprobability distribution in this paper has addressed the conceptof entropy.

[2] Benini, M.; Marracci, M.; Pelacchi, P.; Venturini, A.
(2002). Day-ahead market price volatility analysis inderegulated electricity markets. In Proceedings of the IEEE
Power Engineering Society Summer Meeting, Chicago, IL,
USA, 25 July; Volume 3, pp. 1354–1359.
[3] Li, Y.; Flynn, P.C.(2004). Deregulated power prices:
Comparison of volatility. Energy Policy, 32,1591–1601.
[4] Mantegna R N and StanleyH E (2004). An Introduction
to Econophysics : correlations and Complexity in Finance(Cambridge University Press, Cambridge)[5] Shannon C E.(1948) The Bell System Technical Journal
27 379[6] Simonsen, I. (2005). Volatility of power markets. Phys.
Stat. Mech. Appl. 335, 10–20.
[7] Tsallis C .(1988). Journal of Statistical Physics 52 479

33

ASPECTS OF STRESS MANIFESTATION IN LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING
Constantin Manea
University of Pitești, Romania
kostea_m@yahoo.com
Abstract. As numerous neuroscientific researches
demonstrate the complex and highly paradoxical action ofstress on the learning and teaching process, the author, who isa teacher of English as a foreign language himself, considereda few significant aspects of this intricate bilateral action.
Setting out from a number of remarks in the literature, as wellas his own observations, he presented some (hopefully
effective) possibilities for (bad) stress to be turned into thepositive/good variant of stress (which can be termed eustress).
Some of the main adequate ways that TEFLs can adopt in thiscountry include the communicative type of teaching (CT),essentially based on genuinely motivating the students.

celebrated or widely respected Japanese proverbs or old saws
illustrating this state of affairs, or work as a general notion)…
3. By far the best way of learning (and teaching) a foreign
language is, in almost every educationalist’s opinion today,
language immersion. It is only fair to be so, because
immersion gives you the possibility of having not only direct
and relevant contact with the reality of the language being
studied, in real-life surroundings and circumstances, but also
continuous, repetitive, (culturally) genuine and massive
contact with natural-sounding, structurally congruous andauthentic language models and patterns. This is a complex (andalso natural) situation, where, on the one hand, stress isgenerated, and, on the other hand, there is a noticeably strong
tendency towards facilitating language use through linguistic
exposure. In a way, it is quite easy to understand that getting
accustomed with oddity and incongruity (which is the very
source of stress) means getting used to that stress, which in turnmeans (partial) alleviation of stress! Hence, immersion andexposure are stress, but they are demonstrably (anddialectically) illustrative of what is usually called positive
stress, which can be one of the efficient tools pertinent for the
language teacher in his/her interaction with the class ofstudents.
4. Likewise, learning and teaching by means of (longer or
shorter) chunks of language is one of the ideal methods
available for the foreign language teacher. It is true that it cancreate a fair amount of stress, particularly in the initial stage(s)of the process of learning-and-teaching, because we deal withrather long (or, at any rate, rather unwieldy fragments, which
are naturally harder to memorize), but it will eventually turnout to be a most rewarding approach, since it is able to reducesome of the stress related to memorizing and remembering themany various jumbled, disparate, (apparently) cross-purpose
language items, be they shorter (mainly words, with all theiridiosyncrasies) or longer (typically phrases and syntactic
structures), or usage and combinational issues (collocability /collocation, grammatical regimen semantic-syntactic andrestrictions, etc.), which actually engenders further stress. In
such a way, one can convincingly that some of the fundamental
stress associated with learning and teaching a foreign language
can be mitigated: i.e. the deep-seated tension holding between
the speaker’s main targets – accuracy vs. fluency.
However, immersion (etymologically) also implies the dangerof drowning. (Currently, the term is used as a synonym forengagement, concentration, interest, fascination and raptness,but its original root is the same as that of submerge – compare
also with related phrases like to be engrossed or absorbed into
something) For the learner not to be submerged by thedeterring, distracting multitude of odd, strange (compare withthe related term stranger), unnatural (!) elements involved in
the messages couched in the target-language – from phonetics,
semantics and grammar structures, to cultural and stylistic
implications, which exposure to the foreign language naturally
and massively generates (all the more as it is more dissimilar

Key words: stress, positive stress, learning and teachingforeign languages, EFL, motivation, communicative
approaches.
1. INTRODUCTION
A lot of research has been conducted into stress over the last
hundred years. Some of the theories behind it are now settled
and accepted; others are still being researched and debated.
During this time, there seems to have been something
approaching open warfare between competing theories anddefinitions; views have been passionately held andaggressively defended. What complicates this is that intuitively
we all feel that we know what stress is, as it is something wehave all experienced. A definition should therefore be
obvious… except that it is not.
Hans Selye was one of the founding fathers of stress research.
His view in 1956 was that ”stress is not necessarily somethingbad – it all depends on how you take it. The stress of
exhilarating, creative successful work is beneficial, while thatof failure, humiliation or infection is detrimental”. Selye
believed that the biochemical effects of stress would be
experienced irrespective of whether the situation was positiveor negative. Since then, a great deal of further research has been
conducted, and ideas have moved on. Stress is now viewed asa “bad thing”, with a range of harmful biochemical and longterm effects, which have rarely been observed in positive
situations.
2. Nowadays the most commonly accepted definition ofstress (the definition which is mainly attributed to Richard S.
Lazarus) is that stress is a condition or feeling experienced
when a person perceives that “demands exceed the personaland social resources the individual is able to mobilize. In short,
it is what we feel when we think we have lost control of events.
Still, we have to also recognize that there is a combined
instinctive stress response to unexpected events. The stressresponse inside us is therefore part instinct, and part
attributable to the manner in which we think. Stress can alsocome in the form of the world-wide famous (or maybe
notorious?) phenomenon the Japanese are credited to havenamed (or else, generated), i.e. karoshi… exhaustion throughtoo much working. (We may wonder what are some of the most34

in point of typology from the source-language e.g. Japanese vs.
Romanian, as compared with Italian vs. Romanian), the learner
will have to be helped along in managing his/her learning
process and/or programme. This can be effectively done
through short steps, creating and maintaining a certain type ofincorporable logic (or substitutive logicality, so to speak, as
this is not necessarily a really logical logic), as well as a set ofuser-friendly learning-and-teaching procedures, which canfacilitate progress and, at the same time, (seem to) bridge thelinguistic gap without (major) pains and hitches. So the teacher
has to be the main source in providing the learner with themuch needed mediation.
5. Having established that stress is both a hindrance and a
motivation element, we should be interested in noting some ofthe effects and implications of stress as far as didactic theory
and practice are concerned. In relation to challenge andhindrance stress – i.e. relationships with exhaustion,
motivation to learn, and learning performance – authors LePine
and Jackson (Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 89(5), Oct.
2004, pp. 883-891) found that stress associated with challenges
in the learning environment had a positive relationship with thelearning performance (of the 696 learners surveyed), and thatstress associated with hindrances in the learning environment
had a negative relationship with learning performance. They
also found evidence suggesting that these stress-learning
performance relationships were partially mediated byexhaustion and motivation to lean. Both forms of stress werepositively related to exhaustion, and exhaustion was negatively
related to learning performance. Hindrance stress was
negatively related to motivation to learn, challenge stress was
positively related to motivation to learn, and motivation tolearn was positively related to learning performance.
Most research suggests that there is fight or flight reaction(cf. the results of Walter Cannon’s 1932 research on stress,
which established the existence of the ‘fight-or-flight’
response: an organism experiences a shock or perceives athreat, it quickly releases hormones that help it to survive),
which may be useful in some situations, but it is highly
detrimental in the classroom. Whether anxiety stems from test
taking or from an unstable home environment, the brains ofstudents experiencing high levels of stress look different thanthose who are not – and those brains behave differently, too.
Let us now take a look at the neural and hormonal responses
that underpin a student’s stress response, so as we can make a
few tentative suggestions for continuing to teach through thechallenges it presents.
The body and the brain respond to stress with a complex
cascade of hormones and neurotransmitters. When a child’ssenses perceive danger, their hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal(HPA) system releases steroid hormones (glucocorticoids).
This includes the primary stress hormone, cortisol, which has
a direct effect on the heart, lungs, circulation, metabolism,
immune system and skin. The HPA also stimulates the releaseof catecholamine neurotransmitters like dopamine,
norepinephrine and epinephrine (adrenaline), which activatesthe amygdala (part of the limbic system in the temporal lobe),
which in turn triggers a response of apprehension. The brain
then releases neuropeptide S, which increases alertness andfeelings of anxiety.
Together, the HPA system will keep a child’s stimulated andready to run. But while this may be good for truly life or deathsituations, this stress response makes learning difficult, as thestimulated senses are not those associated with deep learning.
Let us consider this situation: would you be able to memorize
the multiplication table when you were being chased by a bear?
The answer is, naturally, no. But while this may be obvious,
the reasons why this is the case is more complex than one might
expect.
6. In the short term, acute stress prevents memory storage.
According to a 2008 study by University of California Irvine
researchers, when cortisol reaches the hippocampus, thebrain’s primary structure for consolidating information fromshort term into long term memory, the structure’s dendritic
spines disintegrate rapidly. Learning and memory storage takes
place effectively when neurons are constantly and repetitively
activated across their synapses – a process that effectively tells
the brain that a stimulus, behavior or habit is important toretain. When dendritic spines disintegrate, the brain’s
capability of identifying and storing significant information isgreatly inhibited. As it happens, dendritic spines can grow back(though in the long term, their loss may actually reduce thehippocampus). Basically, the brain learns how to stay stressedor to rapidly intensify its function up to a stress response. Thisoccurs very much like any other type of learning: even very
simple addition or subtraction drills can turn a person’s thoughtprocess from a rather complicated to a comparatively more
efficient (possibly even instantaneous) operation.
Specifically, executive functions like self-control, impulse
control, memory, and reasoning – skills that are essential tosuccessful learning. Some studies suggest that cortisol even has
the ability to quickly generate a switch in stem cells so that they
can actively inhibit the forming of new connections in theprefrontal cortex, while strengthening pathways that run
between the amygdala and the hippocampus.
Of course, stress is bad for students of any age, in both its
acute and chronic form. Nevertheless, the effects of stress are
typically dangerous in early child development. Therefore,
educators and didacticians at every level should take action
against it. Here are some of the main paths conducive to
success in learning and teaching: (1) Considering resilienceand grit as higher human values. Indeed, rewiring the brain,just like persevering through skill mastery, requires
determination, continual effort and pushing through perceived
failures. Educators can teach this skill by creating lesson planson grit and exploring the concept explicitly. (2) Actions thatteachers can take to reduce anxiety in the classroom, e.g.
encouraging self-awareness, teaching time management,
giving As for effort, teaching mindfulness and meditation,
providing exemptions for especially anxiety-inducing
activities, etc.
7. The neuroscientific research about learning has revealed
the negative impact of stress and anxiety and the qualitative
improvement of the brain circuits involved in memory andexecutive function that accompanies positive motivation andengagement. The effects of positive motivation are both provenand efficient. This particular piece of information has led to thedevelopment of brain-compatible strategies to help students
through the bleak terrain created by some of the current trends
imposed by the current standards in EFL. Carefully chosen
brain-based teaching strategies can drastically reduceclassroom anxiety and increase student connection to theirlessons, so educators can help students to learn both more
effectively and more rapidly.

35Such brain researches demonstrate that superior learning
takes place when classroom experiences are really motivatingand engaging. Positive motivation visibly influences brain
metabolism, conduction of nerve impulses through the memoryareas, and the release of neurotransmitters that increase
executive function and attention. Relevant lessons help
students to feel that they are partners in their education, and sothey became engaged and motivated. We live in a stressful
world and in troubled times, which can hardly be considered
the normal way for children to grow up. Schools can be the safe
sanctuary where academic practices and classroom strategies
provide children with emotional comfort and pleasure as wellas knowledge. When teachers use strategies to reduce stressand build a positive emotional environment, students gain
emotional resilience and learn more efficiently and at higher
levels of cognition.
8. Implementing the so-called communicative method shouldamount to having a communicative, stressless, rather than acommunicative and stressful scheme. Exercising with thedrills, language chunks, real-life-like reactions to real-life-likestimuli, functional interaction, etc. should add up to something
very similar to play – a kind of serious play, though.
Native-like, or near-native-like fluency is a very interestingcase in point, in this context. Such opinions can be heard allover the world, coming from students of language, teachers, orformer learners who are now (more or less) proficient in
speaking a given foreign language: “I have heard thatregardless of where you live (language spoken) if you are aforeigner you will always count, pray and curse using yournative language. And, of course… dream!”; or “The moreinteresting thing of being truly fluent bilingually is that I
sometimes don’t remember what language I had a particularconversation in. What I mean by that is when I touch on a topic,
I might remember a specific story about it being told bysomeone I had a conversation with a while ago. If I don’t
remember exactly who told me the story, chances are I’ll
struggle to remember if an English friend of mine or a Chinese
friend of mine told me that story. I’d try to replay thatconversation in my head, and both the Chinese version and theEnglish version seemed just as likely to have happened,because my brain processed the story without a specificlanguage and remembered the story only instead”.
The closest we as FL teachers can come to implementing alearning-efficient environment in the classroom seems to be theuse of the so-called communicative method (or approach). Jack
C. Richards (2006) gives the following succinct hints about thisapproach: (1) People learn a language through communicating
in it. (2) People learn a language best when using it to do things
rather than through studying how language works andpracticing rules. (3) Classroom activities should be meaningful
and involve real communication. (4) CLT is usually described
as a method of teaching. On the other hand, using and praising
this approach (and teaching method) should not make one
overdo the strengths of the approach and erroneously think
that: (1) CLT is only concerned with teaching speaking. (2)Grammar is no longer important in language teaching. (3)Errors are not important in speaking a language. (4) Dialogues
are not used in CLT. (5) The main goal of CLT is fluency (vs.
accuracy). By and large, communicative language teaching canbe understood as a set of principles about the goals of language
teaching, how learners learn a language, the kinds of classroom
activities that best facilitate learning, and the roles of teachers

and learners in the classroom. Thus, the main goals of language
teaching are related to the teaching of communicativecompetence (vs. linguistic competence).
Actually, in more recent years, language learning has beenviewed from a very different perspective. It is seen as resulting
from processes such as: ● Interaction between the learner andusers of the language ● Collaborative creation of meaning ●Creating meaningful and purposeful interaction throughlanguage ● Negotiation of meaning as the learner and his or
her interlocutor arrive at understanding ● Learning throughattending to the feedback learners get when they use thelanguage ● Paying attention to the language one hears (theinput) and trying to incorporate new forms into one’s
developing communicative competence ● Trying out andexperimenting with different ways of saying things.
9. In the context of the teacher’s contribution to making iteasier and more unstressful to learn a foreign language, thecommunicative approach to language teaching can beconsidered as an excellent case in point (the following
considerations are mainly based on William Littlewood’s 2000
book Communicative Language Teaching). Thus, theseactions, standards and general considerations must be paid
attention to in order to effectively help students: ● Choosing
what to teach (choosing course-content); ● Predicting
communicative needs: The Council of Europe’s ‘Threshold
Level’: (a) the most important communicative needs that arelikely to arise in everyday situations, (b) suitable language
forms that could be learnt for coping with theses needs.
The teacher may find himself/herself in the situation toanswer the following in order to predict communicative needs:
1. what situations might the learner encounter? 2. what
language activities is the learner most likely to take part in? 3.
what functions of language are likely to be most useful? 4. what
topics are likely to be crucially important? 5. what general
notions are likely to be (more, or sepcifically) important? 6.
what language forms should the student learn, in order tosatisfy the communicative needs described? (The Threshold
Level lists these under three main headings: ● forms which
express communicative functions (mostly grammatical
patterns); ● forms which express general notions(grammatical
patterns and items of vocabulary); ● forms which express
topic-related notions – mostly items of vocabulary).
The teacher should consider a balance between the focus onform, and the focus on meaning. There should be a varying
degree to which the different activities encourage learners tofocus on (a) linguistic forms to be practised, or (b) meanings to
be conveyed. In our everyday language use we normally focus
our attention primarily on the meaning of what we say or hear,rather than on its linguistic form. From this perspective, we candefine the goal of foreign language teaching in the following
terms: to extend the range of communication situations inwhich the learner can perform with focus and meaning, without
being hindered by the attention he/she must pay to linguisticform.
The following categories of activities will be typicallyconsidered: (1) Pre-communicative activities aim to give thelearners fluent control over linguistic forms, so that the lowerlevel processes will be capable of unfolding automatically inresponse to higher-level decisions on meanings. Although theactivities may emphasize the links between forms andmeanings, the main criterion for success is whether the learnerproduces acceptable language. (2) In communicative activities,

36the production of linguistic forms becomes subordinate tohigher-level decisions, related to the communication of
meanings. The learner is thus expected to increase his/her skill
in starting from an intended meaning, selecting suitablelanguage forms from his/her own total list, and producing themfluently. The criterion for success is whether the meaning isconveyed effectively.
There are situations when the learner is required both to use
structures specified by the teacher, and to communicate
meanings for a purpose. In such activities, the focus might beequally distributed between the forms to be produced and themeanings to be conveyed. The teacher may reinforce this
twofold focus not only through his/her preparation andpresentation of the activity, but also through the feedback
he/she provides in response to the learners’ performance.
If the purpose is to produce certain pre-determined linguistic
structures, success will be measured according tocorresponding structural criteria, namely: how accurately
and/or fluently the structures are produced. If the purpose is toconvey or comprehend meanings, success will be measured
according to communicative criteria, namely how effectively
communicative takes place.
Likewise, feedback may focus on the level of form and/or
meaning. If the teacher consistently corrects linguistic forms,
this indicates that success is now being measured by formal
criteria, and that the learner should therefore focus his/her
attention on the production of correct linguistic forms. When ateacher wants his/her learners to focus on the effective
communication of meanings, he/she must reinforce this focus
by providing them with feedback about how successfulcommunication has been (indicated by the task in itself).
It is important for the teacher to monitor the type of feedback
that his/her learners receive, so that it supports themethodological purpose of the activity. For example, in precommunicative activities, he/she will need to provide feedback
related to linguistic form, which does not exclude
communicative feedback. For example, while he/she is drillinga new structure through question-and-answer practice, ateacher may react to the meanings of the learners’ responses aswell as to their formal accuracy. This can help to create theillusion of a ‘communicative’ exchange and thus reinforce thelinks between structure and meaning. In communicative
activities, the teacher will need to provide communicative
feedback, which does not necessarily exclude structural
feedback altogether. However, the teacher must be aware that
excessive correction will encourage learners to shift theirattention from meanings to forms.

37

10. Significantly, the role of the teacher is a bit different in
the communicative method. A teacher might decide not tocorrect errors that he/she observes. To many teachers, thismight appear to conflict with their pedagogical role, which has
traditionally required them to evaluate all learners’
performance according to clearly defined criteria. Certainly, itsuggests that a communicative approach involves the teacher
in redefining, to some extent, this traditional role. Thus, theteacher may be: a general overseer of his/her students’learning; a classroom manager; a language instructor; anobserver through independent activity (communicative
activity); a consultant or advisor, helping where necessary; acommunicator with the learners. Our own didactic activity andreflective writing (see also bibliography below) has presented
us with numerous examples of effective dealing with thechallenges, hitches and paradoxes of learning and teachingunder stress.
REFERENCES[1] LePine, Jeffrey A., LePine, Marcie A., Jackson, Christine
L. (2004). Journal of Applied Psychology, vol. 89(5), Oct.
2004, pp. 883-891[2] Manea, Constantin, Manea, Maria-Camelia. (2008).
Aspects of Teaching Grammar in EFL Classes, in International
Conference
EDU-World
2008“Education
facingcontemporary world issues”, Piteşti University Publishers, pp.
157-163[3] Manea, Constantin. (2004). Difficulties of the Lexicon in
TEFL, in Buletin ştiinţific – Seria: Filologie, no. 1/2004,
Colegiul Universitar de Institutori, Editura Universităţii dinPiteşti, pp. 195-203[4]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1950232[5]https://www.shmoop.com/careers/foreign-languageteacher/stress.html[6] sukiwessling.com/HSC/38