title: The service-dominant logic and the future of marketing

authors: Ballantyne, David

subjects: co-creation of value

abstract: According to Vargo and Lusch (Journal of Marketing, 68:1–17, 2004a, Journal of Service Research, 6:324–335, b), service is the appropriate logic for marketing. For them, service is an interactive process of “doing something for someone” that is valued. More radically, goods also render service and have value-in-use. In this context service becomes the unifying purpose of any business relationship. This marketing world-view involves broadening and reframing what by convention counts as service and stands in opposition to 200 years of mainstream economic logic in explaining productive capacity. In our view they have succeeded in applying their scholarly thinking to old themes with synergistic results. Their thesis challenges marketing orthodoxy, and will in our view support much future innovation in both theoretical and practical terms.

text: The service-dominant logic and the future of marketing According to Vargo and Lusch (Journal of Marketing, 68:1–17, 2004a, Journal of Service Research, 6:324–335, b), service is the appropriate logic for marketing. For them, service is an interactive process of “doing something for someone” that is valued. More radically, goods also render service and have value-in-use. In this context service becomes the unifying purpose of any business relationship. This marketing world-view involves broadening and reframing what by convention counts as service and stands in opposition to 200 years of mainstream economic logic in explaining productive capacity. In our view they have succeeded in applying their scholarly thinking to old themes with synergistic results. Their thesis challenges marketing orthodoxy, and will in our view support much future innovation in both theoretical and practical terms.

year: 2008

title: What makes constitutions legitimate? A legal analysis of constitutions and legitimacy: The example of Fiji.

authors: Shameem, Shaista

subjects: Constitutions

abstract: The title of this thesis What makes Constitutions Legitimate? A Legal Analysis of Constitutions and Legitimacy: the Example of Fiji gives an indication of its subject matter and its significance to understanding the relationship between legitimacy and legality in constitutional theory. In light of early studies of constitutionalism and case law from the first constitutional case to the most recent in Fiji after a revolution or regime change has occurred the common understanding was that legitimacy and legality were two different theoretical concepts. Legality was obtained through effectiveness and success while legitimacy's attributes were justice and morality. It seemed that legality was more important than legitimacy in any declaration of a successful regime change. 

However, recent scholarship suggests that a deficit in legitimacy is also necessarily a failure of legality. Without justice and morality there is no legality in any constitutional order and thus, following John Locke and specific constitutional provisions appearing in modern constitutions, the lack of legitimacy, precisely because it also indicates absence of legality, gives the citizenry the right to revolt. The question is whether there is a common understanding of the meaning of justice and morality. Morality now refers to rights represented by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Justice, on the other hand, is more complex- it incorporates a series of qualities which developed incrementally through the centuries of human progress. Each of these qualities is relevant for a particular time and socio-economic and political space. But, above all, the main quality of justice that seems to be consistent over time are the concepts of fair and independent delivery of law and free access to the mechanisms of justice. 

The application of these concepts to the Fijian context reveals that in most Fijian constitutional instruments from 1865 to date both fair and independent delivery of justice and access to the mechanisms of justice were assured. The two exceptions were the 1990 Constitution and the 2013 Constitution. In both these documents fair and independent delivery of justice and access to the courts were limited by ouster clauses. In the case of the 2013 Constitution the ouster provisions are so serious as to dislodge the fundamental grundnorm of Fiji established by the first Constitution of 1865, reinforced by the 1970 Constitution, where people's rights were considered to be free and unfettered. The 21st century constitutional situation thus triggers the right to rebel should the citizens of Fiji feel so inclined. To fend off the risk of violence in the community in response to the unlawful and illegitimate 2013 Constitution what is proposed in this thesis is a new Constitution, based on the last consensus based instruments, namely the 1997 Constitution fortified by the 2008 People's Charter. The innovative methodology of autopoiesis is used to draft the framework and principles of a justice-defined Fijian Constitution for the future.

text: What makes constitutions legitimate? A legal analysis of constitutions and legitimacy: The example of Fiji. The title of this thesis What makes Constitutions Legitimate? A Legal Analysis of Constitutions and Legitimacy: the Example of Fiji gives an indication of its subject matter and its significance to understanding the relationship between legitimacy and legality in constitutional theory. In light of early studies of constitutionalism and case law from the first constitutional case to the most recent in Fiji after a revolution or regime change has occurred the common understanding was that legitimacy and legality were two different theoretical concepts. Legality was obtained through effectiveness and success while legitimacy's attributes were justice and morality. It seemed that legality was more important than legitimacy in any declaration of a successful regime change. 

However, recent scholarship suggests that a deficit in legitimacy is also necessarily a failure of legality. Without justice and morality there is no legality in any constitutional order and thus, following John Locke and specific constitutional provisions appearing in modern constitutions, the lack of legitimacy, precisely because it also indicates absence of legality, gives the citizenry the right to revolt. The question is whether there is a common understanding of the meaning of justice and morality. Morality now refers to rights represented by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Justice, on the other hand, is more complex- it incorporates a series of qualities which developed incrementally through the centuries of human progress. Each of these qualities is relevant for a particular time and socio-economic and political space. But, above all, the main quality of justice that seems to be consistent over time are the concepts of fair and independent delivery of law and free access to the mechanisms of justice. 

The application of these concepts to the Fijian context reveals that in most Fijian constitutional instruments from 1865 to date both fair and independent delivery of justice and access to the mechanisms of justice were assured. The two exceptions were the 1990 Constitution and the 2013 Constitution. In both these documents fair and independent delivery of justice and access to the courts were limited by ouster clauses. In the case of the 2013 Constitution the ouster provisions are so serious as to dislodge the fundamental grundnorm of Fiji established by the first Constitution of 1865, reinforced by the 1970 Constitution, where people's rights were considered to be free and unfettered. The 21st century constitutional situation thus triggers the right to rebel should the citizens of Fiji feel so inclined. To fend off the risk of violence in the community in response to the unlawful and illegitimate 2013 Constitution what is proposed in this thesis is a new Constitution, based on the last consensus based instruments, namely the 1997 Constitution fortified by the 2008 People's Charter. The innovative methodology of autopoiesis is used to draft the framework and principles of a justice-defined Fijian Constitution for the future.

year: 2019

title: Challenges Faced – Implications for Policy: The Everyday Lives of Eastern European Women in New Zealand

authors: Ember, Adrienna

subjects: everyday life

abstract: This study explored the everyday lives, aspirations, and coping strategies of seven Eastern European immigrant women in New Zealand who came from Bulgaria, the former Eastern Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, and Slovakia. The answers to the research questions aimed to contribute to the deconstruction of the invisibility and marginalisation of these women in New Zealand.
Guided by the philosophies of Kaupapa Māori Research; the theory of Human Wellbeing; and the theory of Positive Psychology, and using the methods of narrative inquiry, three interviews were conducted with each participant. The focus of the first interviews was to learn about the everyday lives of research participants in their countries of origin. The second interview explored the reasons of relocation to New Zealand, the settlement process, and how women re-established their lives in their new locations. In the final interviews women talked about their current everyday lives and their plans for the future.
Interviews were recorded and summarised in interview summary reports which research participants modified in collaboration with the researcher until a final version was achieved. In addition, women participated in two focus group sessions. The first session was devoted to establish connections among the participants and allow themes to emerge from their conversations. The second group session aimed to explore areas women struggled with in their lives the most: relationships and employment opportunities.
The study yielded contributions to the research topic, to the acculturation literature, and to the design of research with migrants. Firstly, it revealed both negative and positive aspects of the participants’ everyday lives and highlighted some under-researched cultural differences from the mainstream population.
Women highlighted as an important cultural difference their strong preference for straightforward communication which was often experienced as offensive and blatant by local New Zealanders. Research participants critiqued the necessity of networking to obtain jobs in New Zealand which is a clear obstacle for a newly arrived migrant.
This study also highlighted how the acculturation process is more individual and complex than conventional models have sought to explain. While traditional acculturation literature suggests that migrants go through some common patterns during their settlement that ideally leads to their assimilation to the host culture, in this research not all migrant women intended to assimilate. Indeed, those with a stronger wish to become part of the host culture reported more disappointments than those who embraced their cultural otherness as a positive aspect and did not mind reminding different from the dominant Pakeha culture.
Finally, for migrant studies a less common research design was applied by using the Kaupapa Māori framework. This philosophy proposes a research process that empowers immigrants to voice their needs and strengthen them as agents of their lives beyond the research process. While two strength based theories were used for data interpretation (the 3-D model of the Human Wellbeing Theory and the PERMA model of Positive Psychology), the data analysis revealed that both models showed some limitations by failing to incorporate the dimension of spiritual and physical wellbeing within their domains.

text: Challenges Faced – Implications for Policy: The Everyday Lives of Eastern European Women in New Zealand This study explored the everyday lives, aspirations, and coping strategies of seven Eastern European immigrant women in New Zealand who came from Bulgaria, the former Eastern Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, and Slovakia. The answers to the research questions aimed to contribute to the deconstruction of the invisibility and marginalisation of these women in New Zealand.
Guided by the philosophies of Kaupapa Māori Research; the theory of Human Wellbeing; and the theory of Positive Psychology, and using the methods of narrative inquiry, three interviews were conducted with each participant. The focus of the first interviews was to learn about the everyday lives of research participants in their countries of origin. The second interview explored the reasons of relocation to New Zealand, the settlement process, and how women re-established their lives in their new locations. In the final interviews women talked about their current everyday lives and their plans for the future.
Interviews were recorded and summarised in interview summary reports which research participants modified in collaboration with the researcher until a final version was achieved. In addition, women participated in two focus group sessions. The first session was devoted to establish connections among the participants and allow themes to emerge from their conversations. The second group session aimed to explore areas women struggled with in their lives the most: relationships and employment opportunities.
The study yielded contributions to the research topic, to the acculturation literature, and to the design of research with migrants. Firstly, it revealed both negative and positive aspects of the participants’ everyday lives and highlighted some under-researched cultural differences from the mainstream population.
Women highlighted as an important cultural difference their strong preference for straightforward communication which was often experienced as offensive and blatant by local New Zealanders. Research participants critiqued the necessity of networking to obtain jobs in New Zealand which is a clear obstacle for a newly arrived migrant.
This study also highlighted how the acculturation process is more individual and complex than conventional models have sought to explain. While traditional acculturation literature suggests that migrants go through some common patterns during their settlement that ideally leads to their assimilation to the host culture, in this research not all migrant women intended to assimilate. Indeed, those with a stronger wish to become part of the host culture reported more disappointments than those who embraced their cultural otherness as a positive aspect and did not mind reminding different from the dominant Pakeha culture.
Finally, for migrant studies a less common research design was applied by using the Kaupapa Māori framework. This philosophy proposes a research process that empowers immigrants to voice their needs and strengthen them as agents of their lives beyond the research process. While two strength based theories were used for data interpretation (the 3-D model of the Human Wellbeing Theory and the PERMA model of Positive Psychology), the data analysis revealed that both models showed some limitations by failing to incorporate the dimension of spiritual and physical wellbeing within their domains.

year: 2016