bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Unveiling the myth of the Muslim woman: a postcolonial critique
Authors: Golnaraghi Golnaz , Mills Albert J.
Published: April 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between neo‐colonialist discourse and Quebec's proposed Bill 94 aimed at restricting the public activities of niqab and veil‐wearing Muslim women.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing upon postcolonial feminist frames, this study critically analyzes the discourses of Muslim women and Western elites that serve to construct the niqab and veil‐wearing Muslim women. Using critical discourse analysis of digital and print media articles from 1994 to 2010, the authors trace the discursive character of the Muslim woman related to Bill 94 which proposes the banning of religious face coverings when seeking public services in the Province of Quebec, Canada.

Findings

This paper develops a postcolonial understanding of the discursive conditions that constitute the social environment in which Muslim women are required to operate in Quebec and the advent of Bill 94. The authors contend that the discourses in the construction of Muslim women have mutated over time towards Western cultural hegemony and paternalism, and, in the process, Muslim women have been constructed as oppressed, in need of saving, and at the same time not to be trusted.

Research limitations/implications

The account of events in this paper offer an alternative lens in privileging some of the embedded beliefs and values behind dominant cultural accounts of Quebec in relation to Muslim women and Bill 94. Future scholars may wish to extend this study through examining discourses of secular, veil and niqab‐wearing Muslim women; newcomers, those living in Canada for a longer period and those born in Canada; as well as those from different countries of origin. Another area of research that is ripe for exploration is workplace experiences of Muslim women in Canada. Additionally, examination of overt and subtle discrimination faced by Muslim women would provide important insights into employment equity and human rights.

Originality/value

This paper presents a close look at public discourses around the niqab and Muslim women in Canada, demonstrating the persistence of colonial dynamics and mindsets influencing how issues regarding minority groups are evaluated today.
Situating the socio‐economic position of Irish Deaf community in the equality framework
Authors: Bosco Conama John
Published: April 2013

Purpose

Deaf communities including the Irish one, often identify the status of their signed languages as one of the defining indicators of their social standings. Thus, social justice measures must be intertwined with the status of signed languages. The social justice issues for Deaf communities identified here are: access to media, recognition of signed languages and education. These issues are based on several research data and are described in brief. The purpose of this paper is to locate the situational position of Deaf communities in Ireland.

Design/methodology/approach

To understand the way in which a more radical model of equality would work for the Irish Deaf community, the author discusses an equality framework developed by the Equality Studies Centre in University College Dublin, with the aim of advancing understanding of what equality of condition would mean for Deaf people in relation to the access to media, recognition of signed languages and education.

Findings

The evidence from research and literature shows the serious disadvantaged position held by the Deaf communities in Ireland and other countries. The data presented alone show how both discrimination and disadvantages are largely due to negative perspectives on deafness. These negative perspectives are obviously influenced by historical, medical and religious factors.

Originality/value

The article raises awareness of the implications of different levels of equality on the status of signed languages. These levels, by default, affect the socio‐economic statuses of Deaf communities. It is obvious from this study that equality of condition is the best option for Deaf communities to achieve. This option demands a level of recognition and respect for signed languages, equal to that afforded to national and dominant languages. This would help to minimise the belief that signed languages are mere compensatory tools, which in turn, would create more egalitarian treatment for Deaf people who wished to pursue their main identity through the use of signed languages.
Doing of gender and scientific knowledge production
Authors: Eriksson‐Zetterquist Ulla
Published: April 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to enable the author to discuss some personal experiences from research and teaching that relate to the special circumstances of doing gender research.

Design/methodology/approach

When reading about Styhre's and Tienari's experiences, the author is not so surprised by but rather concerned about the resemblance and reflections evoked by the text vis‐à‐vis her own experiences of doing research in the gender field. During recent decades, she had the opportunity to explore various organizing issues in her research, from technology and organizational change to gender and intersectionality. This provided her with both an inside and outside perspective on some of the specificities which recur in the field of gender studies.

Findings

Doing gender research enables men and women to “become with” women, men and other people. When able to respond to other people with respect, the researcher can “become with” the studied one. By going into the experiences previously shared by other scholars doing gender studies, and by reflecting upon these, the opportunities for men and women to “become with” will most likely increase.

Originality/value

In a performative way, “doing gender” includes a way of recognizing the context in which the author is situated. When this position is challenged, things start to happen. Whether one is being challenged as a woman, as a man, as a researcher, or for not understanding gender in the proper feminist way, the conditions of one's comprehension of doing gender are called into question. Reflexivity is thus – as Styhre and Tienari claim – a product of social encounters.
Creative role models, personality and performance
Authors: Collins Jennifer , Cooke Donna K.
Published: April 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discover whether there is an interaction between creative personality and a supportive work environment resulting in creative behaviours. Is a creative personality essential to creative performance?

Design/methodology/approach

The data were from surveys completed by 133 employees in a pharmaceutical company and from supervisor evaluations. The data were analyzed using moderated multiple regression analyses.

Findings

The results indicate that the presence of creative supervisors influences subordinate creativity when the subordinate's creativity‐relevant skills are minimal. On the other hand, there were not any significant relationships between the presence of creative co‐workers, creativity‐relevant personality facets and employee creativity.

Research limitations/implications

One limitation is the assumption that supervisors are qualified to assess employees’ creative performance. In addition, the 16PF instrument was also used in personnel selection, which may lead to range restriction. Furthermore, the level of significance for the hypotheses was p⩽0.10.

Practical implications

The results are important for human resource practitioners and managers to use in the development of selection, training and development tools and programs for employees expected to engage in creative behaviour in the workplace.

Originality/value

This paper furthers our understanding of the role of creative role models in the development of individuals deemed less creative based on personality.
Worst‐case regret algorithms for selected optimization problems with interval uncertainty
Authors: Józefczyk Jerzy , Siepak Marcin
Published: April 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to consider selected optimization problems with parameter uncertainty. A case is studied when uncertain parameters in functions undergoing the optimization belong to intervals of known bounds as well as the absolute regret based approach for coping with such an uncertainty is applied. The paper presents three different cases depending on properties of optimization problems and proposes which method can be used to solve corresponding problems.

Design/methodology/approach

The worst‐case absolute regret method is employed to manage interval uncertainty in functions to be optimized. To solve resulting uncertain optimization problems, optimal, approximate as well as heuristic solution algorithms have been elaborated for particular problems presented and described in the paper. The latter one is based on Scatter Search metaheuristics.

Findings

Solution algorithms for worst‐case absolute regret versions of the following optimization problems have been determined: resource allocation in a complex of independent operations and two task scheduling problems Q‖∑Ci and P‖Cmax.

Research limitations/implications

It is very difficult to generalize the results obtained and to use them for solving other optimization problems which correspond to real‐world applications. Such new cases require separate investigations.

Practical implications

The considered allocations as well as task scheduling problems have plenty of applications, for example in computer and manufacturing systems. Their versions with not precisely known parameters can be met commonly.

Originality/value

The investigations presented correspond to previous works on so‐called minimax regret problems and extend them for new optimization problems.
A control model of the software requirements process
Authors: White Anthony S.
Published: April 2013

Purpose

Many project failures can be attributed to changes in requirements as the project progresses. The purpose of this paper is to review several system dynamics models of the requirements process from the literature, especially the model of Andersson and Karlsson. This model addresses the deficiencies in the system dynamics model devised hitherto to create a model than can be used to predict requirements acquisition and staff resources for different levels of project complexity and size.

Design/methodology/approach

A new control‐theoretic model of requirements gathering is devised using the Software Test Model of Cangussu as a framework. Conventional control system techniques are then used to compute typical responses.

Findings

The results agree with the limited published data. This model can be used to predict an estimate of the possible number of requirements that could be devised for the project. It allows the incorporation of workforce, quality and complexity information to predict the time to complete the requirements process. This model is then used to predict how the requirements process responds to requirements creep and to changes in workforce used.

Research limitations/implications

This model is theoretical and is proposed so that it can be simple tested. It makes a number of assumptions not yet recorded by industry that would have to be obtained.

Practical implications

If it is supported by experimental data then a better project development model can be created with the prospect of greater control of project development.

Originality/value

This work, although based on the work of Cangussu et al., is devised by the author.
40 digital map collections: an annotated bibliography
Authors: Koenig Johnson Jennifer
Published: April 2013

Purpose ‐ The purpose of this paper is to cite and briefly discuss digital map collections. Design/methodology/approach ‐ Digital map collections were located, evaluated, and selected. Collections included in the annotated bibliography consist primarily of maps that originated in print, or contain historical maps, or are unique. Each included collection meets at least one of those criteria. Findings ‐ There are a wide variety of resources available online that users can freely access. This annotated bibliography focuses specifically on digital collections that contain cartographic materials. Each item, after being evaluated, includes a citation, brief description, and usage instructions. Originality/value ‐ While there are many digital collections available for users to access that focus primarily on the manuscript and photograph formats, there are a variety of other formats that are also digitized, such as cartographic materials. This annotated bibliography highlights 40 collections that were located, evaluated, and described. Most of these collections originate in print materials, while at least one collection focuses specifically on digitally born maps. All maps collections are housed and created by institutions or organizations in the USA, while the content ranges in subjects, date ranges, and geographic locations.
Organizational context and firm‐level entrepreneurship: a multiple‐case analysis
Authors: Kantur Deniz , İşeri‐Say Arzu
Published: April 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand firm‐level entrepreneurship in diverse organizational contexts and explain its relationship with organizational factors.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper adopts a multiple‐case research design. In‐depth interviews are conducted with key informants in four cases. In each case, a firm‐level entrepreneurial story is focused on to understand the entrepreneurial process within its organizational context.

Findings

The findings show that there are two types of entrepreneurial activities in organizations – beyond‐boundary focus and within‐boundary focus. They exhibit different patterns regarding their relationship with organizational factors – top management leadership, strategic orientation, organizational culture, internal mechanisms and organizational performance.

Research limitations/implications

Generalizability of the results may be limited due to the case study design of this research.

Practical implications

Top management leadership has a vital role in influencing entrepreneurial activity in organizations. When an organizational environment that favours entrepreneurship is supported by top management, then business‐level entrepreneurial activities are cultivated across the company. But if the organizational environment does not favour entrepreneurship, then entrepreneurial activity is mostly limited to the corporate level and only initiated by top management.

Originality/value

The multiple case analyses provide an extensive analysis of the organizational context and firm‐level entrepreneurship. Additionally, the emergent categories of two different types of entrepreneurial activities serve as a major and relevant step to reduce the ambiguity present in the field of study.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: a case study in the politics of financial reform
Authors: Islam Muhammad , Seitz Neil , Millar James , Fisher James , Gilsinan James
Published: April 2013

Purpose

The desirability of financial reform to avoid another financial melt‐down is widely accepted, but the likelihood of reform is uncertain. The purpose of this paper is to present a case study of evolution and reform attempts at US mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and provides an instructive model of the likely long‐term success of attempts to reform the financial system.

Design/methodology/approach

A model of the legislative and regulatory change process is first developed, considering the range of influences that arise. The history of reform attempts for US government sponsored mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are examined in the context of this model.

Findings

The model predicts that reform will often be thwarted. US government sponsored mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac helped fuel the housing bubble and required a government bail‐out. Sentiment for reform was high, but what happened next was – nothing. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have a long history of successful lobbying, and they succeeded again. They did not need to stop legislation. They needed only to see it delayed long enough for attention to turn elsewhere. Five years after the bubble broke, their market dominance and the implied guarantees continue. Reform is not on the legislative agenda. This outcome does not bode well for financial market reform or stability.

Originality/value

An understanding of the process, influences, and likelihood of reform is important for governments, businesses, and individuals. While the picture this paper paints is not optimistic, it is important.
An exploration of extortion
Authors: Osborne Denis
Published: April 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to distinguish between bribes demanded (extortion) and bribes offered (enticement); to indicate the causes of extortion and its consequences; and to suggest action by different groups to help reduce it.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper takes the form of an examination of reported extortion as miniature case studies and histories, leading to suggested actions to reduce it.

Findings

Extortion occurs when there are perceived opportunities to do so without penalty. It hurts the poor more than the rich, denying them justice and fair treatment and, with technology giving more power to the poor, it brings increasing risks of political instability as well as general damage to society and the economy. But extortion is more vulnerable to investigation and prevention than collusive bribery. Action to reduce it can be effective and recommendations for action are made for different groups.

Research limitations/implications

More study is needed at municipal as well as national level, and by corporations, of the incidence of extortion and efforts to reduce it.

Practical implications

Better recognition of the differences between extortion and other types of economic crime, and consequent recommendations for action, should help reduce it and bring benefits.

Social implications

Attention drawn to the risks of injustice and unfair treatment especially to the poor brought by extortion. Governments and corporations alerted to these. Actions suggested to reduce extortion.

Originality/value

The paper clarifies the character of extortion, the risks it brings and opportunities for its reduction and recommended actions to bring that about.
Blending fairness and efficiency
Authors: Begum Afroza
Published: April 2013

Purpose

The regulatory approach to insider trading (IT) in Australia is premised on a “blend” of fairness and efficiency which has generated an important controversy. The study aims to investigate this controversy by critically analysing the way the policy maker and judiciary have been striving to accomplish the regulatory goals based on this blend.

Design/methodology/approach

This research is based on existing primary and secondary legal resources.

Findings

Regulation of insider trading (IT) with an appropriate enforcement mechanism has become an important issue in Australia. As part of this, a range of legal studies have unveiled significant difficulties in successfully prosecuting insiders which largely reflect a serious disappointment with the operation of the IT law. Whilst the output of this research motivates and enhances a broad scholarly debate on the credibility of the current regime in combating IT and in generating a strong form of deterrent against prospective insiders, there has been a dearth of intellectual inquiries (to the best of the author's knowledge) backed up by a reliable assessment about the merits of the law, and especially about the issue of how the courts are applying a “blend” of the two policy rationales: market fairness and market efficiency in resolving particular circumstances. It is submitted that this paper will contribute to filling this gap in the legal literature and the wider academic deliberation on the quality and effectiveness of the IT regime.

Originality/value

This paper is the original work of the author and has not been submitted elsewhere for publication.
A critical examination of the legislative response in banking and financial regulation to issues related to misconduct in the context of the crisis of 2007‐2009
Authors: Baber Graeme
Published: April 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to summarise and critically assess the legislative response in banking and securities regulation to the determinants of the financial crisis.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper identifies these determinants and evaluates different categories of regulatory response, drawing from the United Kingdom, United States, European Union and international approaches.

Findings

The crisis had both economic and financial causes. The responses have been quick, original in part, and complex. Issues are still emerging from the collapse which are yet to be fully addressed.

Research limitations/implications

This is a transition period between the crisis and the establishment of the regulatory regimes that will follow it. Conclusions drawn at this point are therefore tentative.

Originality/value

The paper brings together several sources of legislative response, and is therefore of value as a discussion point.
Isomorphic mechanisms in manufacturing supply chains: a comparison of indigenous Chinese firms and foreign‐owned MNCs
Authors: Wu Ting , Daniel Elizabeth M. , Hinton Matt , Quintas Paul
Published: April 2013

Purpose

This study aims to demonstrate empirically the varied mechanisms through which supply chain practices of indigenous Chinese companies are influenced by foreign‐owned multinational companies (MNCs) operating within China. It also provides empirical evidence of how the foreign‐owned MNCs are influenced by the coercive pressures arising from the local cultural norms and begins an exploration of the mechanisms through which isomorphic pressures operate between industries.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopts a multi‐disciplinary approach by applying institutional theory from the field of organisational studies. The study is based on 27 in‐depth interviews in matched pairs of firms consisting of an indigenous Chinese firm and a foreign‐owned MNC in three industries. The interviews also include suppliers and third‐party logistics providers and hence the study extends beyond the dyad.

Findings

The findings show a “startling homogeneity” between the SCM practices of the paired firms and across the three industries studied. They also provide empirical evidence of the rich and varied mechanisms through which isomorphic pressures operate, and demonstrate that the pressures affect the foreign‐owned MNCs as well as the Chinese firms.

Practical implications

The study identifies a wide range of mechanisms that firms can use to model their SCM practices on those of other firms. The study also identifies a range of implications for policy.

Originality/value

To the authors' knowledge, this study is the first to explore empirically the rich and varied mechanisms through which isomorphic pressures operate.
Websites for stakeholder relations by corporations and non‐profits
Authors: Sriramesh Krishnamurthy , Rivera‐Sánchez Milagros , Soriano Cheryll
Published: April 2013

Purpose

This longitudinal study aims to analyze the use of websites by a sample of 78 corporations and non‐profits five years apart. In particular, it studies organizational use of interactive and social media features and use of web sites for building relationships with six stakeholder publics.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors studied the websites of 78 for‐profit and not‐for‐profit organization seeking to learn how they used this new medium as a communication tool to build and maintain relationships with six key stakeholders: the mass media, consumers, investor/donors, employees, the government, and the community in 2004 and in 2009. They also explored for differences in the way for‐profit corporations and non‐profits used their web sites for relationship building given their different missions and cultures.

Findings

First, there was a marked difference in how corporations and non‐profit organizations used their websites. Second, a significant number of organizations used social media applications such as blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube through their websites in 2009. Third, aside from increased use of social media, in 2009 more organizations used feedback mechanisms such as e‐surveys and e‐polls embedded in their websites, enhancing interactions with a variety of stakeholders. Both corporations and non‐profit organizations generally utilized their websites as information‐dissemination tools, where the information flow is one‐way, although the percentage of both corporations and non profits that used interactive features offered by new media has increased slightly between 2004 and 2009.

Originality/value

This study is among the few that compare web page use by corporations vs non‐profits. A second unique feature of this study is that it is longitudinal in nature, studying web site use five years apart by the same organizations.
Developing a values scorecard
Authors: Stephen Town J. , Kyrillidou Martha
Published: April 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to define a framework and categorization of the types of evidence required to prove the value and impact of libraries. It questions the limitations of current measurement for library value, and hence for contributing to academic and research library planning and advocacy. The paper describes and draws on some of the recent progress in value and impact measurement over the last five years. Scenario planning exercises conducted by both ARL and SCONUL are used to analyse the likely future value proposition emerging for libraries. A values‐based value scorecard is proposed, which would demonstrate the transcendent value of academic and research libraries now and in the future.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper examines research literature from library and general management texts to propose a framework for measuring the value and impact of libraries.

Findings

The paper concludes that a value scorecard can be used alongside the balanced scorecard to add a more value‐oriented picture of library strengths and contribution. The potential benefit of the proposed value scorecard is to gather evidence which will assist both strategic planning and decision making in relation to key areas for future investment.

Originality/value

The proposal defines a new framework aimed at measuring the full value of academic research libraries, considering both tangible and intangible assets. The proposal has been developed by exploring measurement gaps in the library management field and exploring potential options from this area and general management literature. If applied successfully, the model should provide a useful tool for strategic management and decision making.
Biofuel research and data mining
Authors: Mittal Rekha
Published: April 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore and map the intellectual structure of biofuel research.

Design/methodology/approach

The study attempts to present the structure of biofuel research through document co‐citation patterns of core references. Document co‐citation analysis was performed using the Web of Science of the Thomson‐ISI database. A sample of 26 cited references was identified and the co‐citation frequencies were analyzed and represented them systematically within groups of similar researched topics.

Findings

The study shows the co‐citation analysis method suitable for depicting structure of biofuel research in document clusters by performing multivariate analysis: cluster analysis, factor analysis, multidimensional scaling and network analysis.

Research limitations/implications

The study is limited to research articles and co‐citation data for the first author only. For the co‐citation analysis, the cited references rather than the cited authors were used as the units for analysis.

Practical implications

Co‐citational analysis using multivariate tools provides a useful technique to explore and document the development of the field supplementing the insights normally available from the routine co‐citational analysis.

Originality/value

Specialties in biofuel research are identified and this may provide a valuable building block for future research.
An analysis of the human activities impact on water quantity in the Jequitinhonha Valley, MG/Brazil
Authors: Nogueira de Andrade Larice , Garcia Praça Leite Mariangela
Published: April 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the changes of the characteristics of the study area caused by human influence and the reduction of flow rates with time, in Água Limpa stream basin, Jequitinhonha Valley of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Design/methodology/approach

The study area is a typical arid zone in the northeast of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Field observations, collection and analyses of precipitation, evaporation, temperature and flow rate data were the main approaches used in this study. The data cover the last 50 years, including aerial photographs and satellite images of different dates. The stream flow rate has decreased in the region of the Jequitinhonha valley in the last decades, in particular during draught periods (base flows), with serious social‐economic and environmental consequences. The increase in stream intermittence is responsible for rural exodus to other parts of the country, mainly to São Paulo state. The study presented provides decision makers with important information that can assist them in making objective decisions relational this problem.

Findings

The research shows that the forest cover has declined, the agricultural and pasture cover have decreased and the deforestation areas have grown. These changes resulted in a spatially diverse landscape with implications in the flow rate, and consequently, in the social‐economic condition of the region considering the high rate of emigration.

Practical implications

The expected results of this study will be of great importance, because the clarification of the factors addressed in this project will allow progress in the understanding of the reduction of flow rates. This reduction has been occurring in the Jequitinhonha Valley and also in almost all Brazilian rivers.

Originality/value

This paper is original and reports the main causes for decreasing of the stream flow rate in the region of the Jequitinhonha valley in Brazil.
Leveraging the Patient‐Centered Medical Home (PCMH) model as a health care logistics support strategy
Authors: VanVactor Jerry D.
Published: April 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this work is to add to professional practice and academia information related specifically to health care supply chain management and to demonstrate how an existing health care management model can be applied to supply chain operations.

Design/methodology/approach

Employing a review of practice‐oriented literature related to the patient‐centered medical home model this work examines and expounds on the implications and applicability toward more effective supply chain management.

Findings

This paper presents a discourse in evaluating health care supply chain management processes to place more emphasis on interactive customer relationships, collaborative communications, and more effective support to health care operations.

Practical implications

An effective health care supply chain operation involves key tenets of ensuring that the right products are provided to the right customer in a timely manner. While this discussion is directed specifically toward health care, the principles are applicable across a wide array of industries.

Social implications

Health care logistics involves a symbiotic relationship among multi‐disciplined, multifaceted stakeholders working closely together and leveraging one another, patients, and technology to produce a desired outcome related to cost effective processes and business practices.

Originality/value

While existent literature provides information related to the effective management of logistics (outside of health care organizations) little information is directly concerned with operations within a health care environment. In an applied sense, this article provides practitioners with concepts related to cost reduction and effective supply chain management.
Michael J. Baker: reflections on a career in marketing
Authors: Baker Michael John
Published: April 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to summarize highlights of a career as a marketing practitioner/academic extending for a period of more than 50 years.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper takes an autobiographical approach.

Findings

In common with other professional disciplines, the practice of marketing calls for the understanding of an extensive body of knowledge derived from prior research and experience and the ability to apply this to current and future issues and problems. The role of an academic is to codify this knowledge, communicate it through teaching and publication, and to add to it through their own original scholarship and research. While a degree of specialisation is to be encouraged, the contribution of individual academics should be based on an evaluation of their overall impact on practice based on all three activities – research, teaching, and “administration/leadership”.

Originality/value

While based on a sample of one, the account illustrates that professional reputation calls for recognition by multiple constituencies using different criteria to assess one's contribution. It is hoped this will encourage younger academics (and those who sit in judgement on them) to look beyond publication in “leading journals” as the sole criterion for success.
William Lazer: reflections on my career
Authors: Lazer William
Published: April 2013

Purpose

This paper seeks to record the author's personal reflections on his career as a marketing scholar.

Design/methodology/approach

Personal reflections are provided in an autobiographical approach.

Findings

The author's career as a student, teacher, and scholar are described in some detail.

Originality/value

This paper records events and memories that might otherwise be forgotten. No other such account has been published of William Lazer's career.
Stanley Shapiro: looking backward, a personal retrospective
Authors: Shapiro Stanley J.
Published: April 2013

Purpose

This paper was written to put “on record” what, in retrospect, appear to the author to be the most significant aspects of his academic career, one that spans more than half a century.

Design/methodology/approach

The author begins by discussing his Wharton School experience (1957‐1964) and then traces how his activities and experiences at that time laid the groundwork for a number of career long themes (academic administration, pedagogy, and quasi‐governmental consulting) and academic interests (macromarketing, marketing history).

Findings

The author's Wharton School experiences and, more specifically, his contacts with Wroe Alderson and David D. Monieson did indeed shape his subsequent career.

Originality/value

This paper calls attention to certain events and research efforts that might otherwise be forgotten. It also serves as an example of one approach others might follow in preparing their own career retrospectives.
Explaining development aid allocation by growth
Authors: Doucouliagos Hristos , Paldam Martin
Published: April 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study a little researched relation: the relation from economic growth in a less developed country to the development aid it receives. Does economic growth influence donor aid allocation decisions?

Design/methodology/approach

The authors’ apply two different methodologies. First, a quantitative and systematic review is presented of the literature of 30 empirical studies of aid allocation where a growth coefficient is estimated. Second, a primary study is presented of the data using a panel of 147 countries for the period 1967‐2004.

Findings

The growth‐aid relation should be negative if humanitarian motives dominate aid allocation decisions. The result from both the meta‐analysis and the primary data analysis suggests a very small effect between lagged growth and aid allocations, with a dominating positive sign. This result appears to be driven partly by the large development banks.

Originality/value

No attempt has previously been made to summarize the literature on growth as a motive for giving aid. This paper offers the first attempt to do so, by presenting a meta‐analysis of the empirical literature, as well as analysis of the primary data.
Entrepreneurship and state economic growth
Authors: Hafer R.W.
Published: April 2013

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to test whether entrepreneurship is a significant factor in explaining economic growth at the state level.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper, unlike previous work, uses the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity (KIEA) as the measure of entrepreneurial activity. Based on standard growth regressions using real per capita gross state product, real per capita personal income and employment growth, we test for the independent role that entrepreneurial activity may have on state economic growth.

Findings

We find that an increase in the level of entrepreneurial activity is robustly associated with an increase in economic growth. Such findings reinforce calls for policy changes at the state level that promote more productive entrepreneurship.

Research limitations/implications

These conclusions are tentative. The findings are based on the growth of the 50 states over a relatively short period. A longer data set would be preferable, if data were available. Moreover, the author has not attempted to distinguish between different categories of entrepreneurship, for example productive and unproductive entrepreneurship.

Practical implications

Such findings reinforce calls for policy changes at the state level that promote more productive entrepreneurship. This would include, among others, changes such as reducing or eliminating state income taxes and setting strict limits on the government's use of eminent domain and environmental property takings.

Originality/value

The study uses the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity (KIEA), arguably a superior measure of state‐level entrepreneurial activity, to explain state economic growth. The topic is timely and the results have important policy implications.
Technifying Public Space and Publicizing Infrastructures: Exploring New Urban Political Ecologies through the Square of General Vara del Rey
Authors: DomÍnguez Rubio Fernando , Fogué Uriel
Published: April 2013

The aim of this article is to explore new ways of integrating technology, nature and infrastructures into urban public spaces. This is done through a case study, the design of General Vara del Rey, which is offered here as a model to explore a novel urban political ecology that calls into question dominant definitions of public spaces as self‐contained sites operating independently of natural and infrastructural spaces. Through the double movement of ‘the technification of public space’ and ‘the publicization of infrastructures’, the square aims to rethink the political ecology of urban public spaces by enabling the effective incorporation and participation of infrastructural and natural elements as active actors into the public and political life of the community. It is argued that the transformation of infrastructures into fully visible, public and political agents provides a useful model to address the growing proliferation of infrastructural and technological elements onto contemporary urban surfaces and to open up the possibility of new forms of civic participation and engagement.
The incidence rate and characteristics in patients with testicular torsion: a nationwide, population‐based study
Authors: Huang Wei‐Yi , Chen Yu‐Fen , Chang Hong‐Chiang , Yang Teng‐Kai , Hsieh Ju‐Ton , Huang Kuo‐How
Published: April 2013

Aim

To determine the incidence rate and characteristics in patients with testicular torsion in Taiwan using a nationwide insurance database.

Methods

This study utilizes a subset of national health insurance research database, which contains the data of all paid medical benefit claims over the period 1997–2010 for in 1 000 000 beneficiaries in 2005. We analysed claims data for all male subjects younger than 25 years with the diagnosis of testicular torsion.

Results

A total of 86 subjects younger than 25 years with the diagnosis of testicular torsion were included. Among them, 22 (25.6%) underwent orchiectomies and 64 (74.4%) underwent orchiopexies. The estimated incidence of testicular torsion was 3.5 per 100 000 person‐years. There are two peaks in the age‐specific incidence rates: the first in boys aged 10–14 years (at 7.7 per 100 000 person‐years) and the second in male infants aged <1 year (at 7.6 per 100 000 person‐years). There was significant difference between orchiectomy and orchiopexy groups in the Insurance fee (p = 0.032).

Conclusion

The incidence of testicular torsion in Taiwan was similar with previous report in the United States. It is important to improve the medical access to achieve better outcomes of testicular torsion.
Red stamps and green tea: fieldwork negotiations and dilemmas in the Sino‐Vietnamese borderlands
Authors: Turner Sarah
Published: April 2013

The socialist spaces within the upland Southeast Asian Massif are home to over 70 million people belonging to geographically dispersed and politically fragmented ethnic minority populations. State authorities have long considered these upland margins as frontier regions where ‘inconsequential peoples’ lag behind national standards. Over time, the Chinese and Vietnamese states have worked to enclose these spaces through a range of ‘development’ programmes and politico‐economic strategies. Undertaking qualitative social science research here is underscored by a specific set of challenges (red stamps), dilemmas and negotiations (green tea). In a contemporary context that interweaves economic liberalisation with centralised and authoritarian political structures, I explore how I have negotiated and manoeuvred access to ethnic minority voices. Specifically, I focus on fieldwork endeavours in the Sino‐Vietnamese borderlands to answer two core questions. First, in these socialist arenas, how can researchers negotiate access to still‐marginalised groups misunderstood by the central state? And second, what are the most pressing ethical questions raised by cross‐cultural fieldwork in these spaces and how might these be addressed? While debating these ethical and methodological challenges, I reflect upon the numerous roles of gatekeepers, concerns over the well‐being of interviewees and the importance of self‐censorship.
Craniofrontonasal syndrome in a male due to chromosomal mosaicism involving EFNB1: further insights into a genetic paradox
Authors: Evers C. , Jungwirth M.S. , Morgenthaler J. , Hinderhofer K. , Maas B. , Janssen J.W.G. , Jauch A. , Hehr U. , Steinbeisser H. , Moog U.
Published: April 2013

Craniofrontonasal syndrome (CFNS) is an X‐linked disorder caused by inactivating mutations in the gene for ephrin‐B1 (EFNB1). Paradoxically it shows a more severe phenotype in females than in males. As a result of X inactivation cell populations with and without EFNB1 expression are found in EFNB1+/− females. This is thought to initiate a process termed cellular interference which may be responsible for the phenotype in females. We present a boy with severe clinical features of CFNS. In ∼42% of his blood cells we found a supernumerary ring X chromosome containing EFNB1 but lacking XIST. Mosaicism for cell populations with different levels of EFNB1 expression can explain the severe phenotype of this patient. In vitro experiments in Xenopus tissue showed that cells overexpress ephrinB1 cluster and sort out from wild‐type cells. Our report provides further evidence that cellular interference contributes to the paradoxical inheritance pattern of CFNS.
China's (Painful) Transition from Relation‐Based to Rule‐Based Governance: When and How, Not If and Why
Authors: Li Shaomin
Published: April 2013

Manuscript Type

Perspective

Research Question/Issue

Relation‐based governance has helped China to achieve rapid economic growth in its early stage; however, continuing to rely on it may hinder China's further development. The research question is: given China's cultural heritage and other institutional settings, will China be able to transition from relation‐based to rule‐based governance?

Research Findings/Insights

I discuss this question based on theoretical and empirical evidence and conclude that, first, from cost/benefit and social justice perspectives, China must complete the transition; second, cultural heritage is not the main obstacle to the transition, for the main obstacle is the powerful political forces that have been deeply entrenched in and benefited from the relation‐based system.

Theoretical/Academic Implications

I distinguish between the governance environment at the national level and the governance choice at the organizational and individual levels. The governance environment – the set of dominant political, economic, social, and cultural institutions – facilitates and constrains the choice of the mode of governance (e.g., rule‐based versus relation‐based).

Practitioner/Policy Implications

Chinese government officials must realize the inevitability of the transition and the dire consequences of not completing it and take initiative to pursue the transition peacefully. For businesses, they must realize that the relation‐based way may be in decline and must be prepared to embrace the rule‐based way.
Structural correlates of impaired working memory in hippocampal sclerosis
Authors: Winston Gavin P. , Stretton Jason , Sidhu Meneka K. , Symms Mark R. , Thompson Pamela J. , Duncan John S.
Published: April 2013

Purpose

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) has been considered to impair long‐term memory, whilst not affecting working memory, but recent evidence suggests that working memory is compromised. Functional MRI (fMRI) studies demonstrate that working memory involves a bilateral frontoparietal network the activation of which is disrupted in hippocampal sclerosis (HS). A specific role of the hippocampus to deactivate during working memory has been proposed with this mechanism faulty in patients with HS. Structural correlates of disrupted working memory in HS have not been explored.

Methods

We studied 54 individuals with medically refractory TLE and unilateral HS (29 left) and 28 healthy controls. Subjects underwent 3T structural MRI, a visuospatial n‐back fMRI paradigm and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Working memory capacity assessed by three span tasks (digit span backwards, gesture span, motor sequences) was combined with performance in the visuospatial paradigm to give a global working memory measure. Gray and white matter changes were investigated using voxel‐based morphometry and voxel‐based analysis of DTI, respectively.

Key Findings

Individuals with left or right HS performed less well than healthy controls on all measures of working memory. fMRI demonstrated a bilateral frontoparietal network during the working memory task with reduced activation of the right parietal lobe in both patient groups. In left HS, gray matter loss was seen in the ipsilateral hippocampus and parietal lobe, with maintenance of the gray matter volume of the contralateral parietal lobe associated with better performance. White matter integrity within the frontoparietal network, in particular the superior longitudinal fasciculus and cingulum, and the contralateral temporal lobe, was associated with working memory performance. In right HS, gray matter loss was also seen in the ipsilateral hippocampus and parietal lobe. Working memory performance correlated with the gray matter volume of both frontal lobes and white matter integrity within the frontoparietal network and contralateral temporal lobe.

Significance

Our data provide further evidence that working memory is disrupted in HS and impaired integrity of both gray and white matter is seen in functionally relevant areas. We suggest this forms the structural basis of the impairment of working memory, indicating widespread and functionally significant structural changes in patients with apparently isolated HS.