13251 research outputs found
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Sub-state actors and foreign policy risk-taking: The Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq
No full textThe analysis presented here offers a possible framework for understanding when sub-state actors behave prudently and more strategically in their foreign relations, and when other priorities might instead heighten the chances of seemingly irrational, erratic, or dangerous, foreign policies. Using a case study of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq to illustrate the argument, the author attempts to show how “regime consolidation” plays a key role in allowing such actors to prioritise policies aimed at grappling with external challenges, threats and opportunities. Internally legitimate, consolidated regimes can better present “one face” to the outside world and behave more strategically in the international arena. Political systems lacking consolidation or internal legitimacy, in contrast, turn to the external environment in search of resources to help them with domestic threats and challenges. This may lead to seemingly erratic, unpredictable and risky foreign policies on their part
“Pour saulver ladicte parroisse⇝ defending rural communities in the Touraine, Blésois, and Sologne during the French Wars of Religion
No full textThis study examines how eighteen rural communities in the Touraine, Blésois, and Sologne navigated the treacherous waters of religious civil war. Drawing on over a hundred parish account books, it explores how communities engaged with the threats of war by gathering information, protecting the possessions of the parish church, and dealing with the demands of troops and the royal government. In many ways their experiences were similar to those of other communities across France-both urban and rural-as they relied on their own resources and relationships to mitigate the threats of armed confessional conflict. While these communities offer evidence of resilience and agency in the face of war, comparison with other rural communities that endured more sustained and intense warfare reminds us of the fragility of their resilience, which depended on factors outside their control
What Camelot Means : Women and LGBTQ+ Authors Paving the Way for a More Inclusive Arthuriana through Young Adult Literature
No full textArthurian literature has long been regarded as the domain of “dead white men,” dominated by Thomas Malory and Lord Alfred Tennyson. However, since medieval times, women have also been producing Arthurian literature that not only treats the women characters of the story more equitably, but makes social commentary on how the marginalized of their societies are treated. More recently, women and LGBTQ+ authors (basically, authors who are not cisgender white men) have answered the call for more diverse Young Adult literature with an Arthuriana that has a place for all, both creating a more diverse and equitable Camelot and giving its marginalized characters, especially young women, the power to change their societies for the better. These women and LGBTQ+ authors of YA Literature are the driving force behind not only a more diverse and accepting Camelot, but a more equitable Arthuriana for all readers and scholars
Terrorism, Trauma, and Memory: Constructing National Identity at The 9/11 Museum and The Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum
No full textThis thesis undertakes an analysis of the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and the 9/11 Museum in New York City, New York, focusing on the construction of an idealized citizen that is mobilized as a defense against terrorist threats. Employing rhetorical field methods, I focus on how these spaces work symbolically and materially to shape visitors’ sense of national identity. I pay careful attention to how message construction relates to whether the terrorist threat is framed as internal or external, and how that influences what it means to be American. This argument is grounded through the process of identification and division exemplified through the spaces’ highly impactful symbolic and material features. The symbolic features of the space outline the character of the heroic idealized citizen and its antithesis, the “evil” other that opposes heroic values. In contrast the material features of the spaces, such as victim testimonies, audio recordings of the attack, and remnants of trauma, traumatize visitors through simulation, thus inviting identification through shared experience. Ultimately, this thesis outlines how the material features of spaces evoke strong visceral reactions that move beyond symbolic “meaning-making” features; therefore, materiality remains deserving of serious scholarly attention. Additionally, this thesis highlights that despite the heroism evident in these memorial and museums, the material simulation of trauma halts the process of growth and self-reflexivity
Enhancing supply chain sensing capability through social media: an environmental scanning perspective
No full textPurpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between social media and sensing capability for supply chain management (SCM) from an environmental scanning perspective. The authors consider upstream supply and downstream customer markets as two aspects of social media-enabled environmental scanning (SMES). The moderating effects of three uncertainties are explored.
Design/methodology/approach: The data were collected from 178 supply chain professionals through a survey. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) were used to analyze the data. Findings: SMES in both supply and customer markets enhance sensing capability. Interestingly, the results reveal an accelerating effect on sensing by the incremental effort of SMES-supply. However, that of SMES-customer leads to a decelerating outcome for sensing. Also, uncertainties, especially the demand- and technology-related, play a series of interacting effects according to SMES levels.
Research limitations/implications: This research contributes to the literature of operations and supply chains regarding social media strategies and dynamic capabilities. It opens the black box of environmental scanning behavior on social media and adds new knowledge on the dynamic influence of such behavior toward organizational sensing capability for SCM. In addition, further understanding on supply chain uncertainty as a moderator is also strengthened through this research.
Originality/value: This research is the first to empirically uncover the effect of social media on sensing capability for SCM through the lens of environmental scanning. The results support the employment of social networking for improving supply and demand sensing
The roles of consumer entitlement, persuasion knowledge, and perceived product knowledge on perceptions of sales pressure
No full textConsumer perceptions of sales pressure (POSP) often lead to negative outcomes for salespeople and the firm. The Information Age has provided unprecedented resources for consumers in their quest for knowledge and consumers have become increasingly entitled. This research uses a consumer sample to test a model of antecedents to POSP. The results indicate that consumer entitlement is positively related, while persuasion knowledge is negatively related, to POSP. Further, perceived product knowledge moderates the relationship between persuasion knowledge and POSP. These findings improve our understanding of the understudied construct of POSP, and have implications for the sales interaction
Organizational trust in times of COVID-19: Hospitality employees’ affective responses to managers’ communication
No full textDuring a crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, what managers communicate to their employees can greatly impact important organizational attitudes, such as organizational trust. There is, however, very little research focusing on the mechanisms explaining how managers’ messages during a crisis can influence employees’ organizational trust. To address this gap, the current study examined the role that emotions play in developing organizational trust using a 2 (following CDC norms vs. ignoring CDC norms) by 2 (employee focus vs. bottom-line focus) between-subjects factorial experiment, with COVID-19 as the context. The results showed that a manager\u27s communication that followed the CDC social norms made employees feel grateful, whereas communication that ignored CDC social norms enhanced fear and anger toward the organization. The feelings of gratefulness and fear influenced organizational trust. These results provide important theoretical and practical implications for understanding organizational trust during a crisis
Cooperation promotion from the perspective of behavioral economics: An incentive mechanism based on loss aversion in vehicular Ad-hoc networks
No full textAs a special mobile ad-hoc network, Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks (VANETs) have the characteristics of high-speed movement, frequent topology changes, multi-hop routing, a lack of energy, storage space limitations, and the possible selfishness of the nodes. These characteristics bring challenges to the design of the incentive mechanism in VANETs. In the current research on the incentive mechanism of VANETs, the mainstream is the reward-based incentive mechanism. Most of these mechanisms are designed based on the expected utility theory of traditional economics and assume that the positive and negative effects produced by an equal amount of gain and loss are equal in absolute value. However, the theory of loss aversion points out that the above effects are not equal. Moreover, this will lead to a deviation between the final decision-making behavior of nodes and the actual optimal situation. Therefore, this paper proposed a Loss-Aversion-based Incentive Mechanism (LAIM) to promote the comprehensive perception and sharing of information in the VANETs. This paper designs the incentive threshold and the threshold factor to motivate vehicle nodes to cooperate. Furthermore, based on the number of messages that the nodes face, the utility function of nodes is redesigned to correct the assumption that a gain and a loss of an equal amount could offset each other in traditional economics. The simulation results show that compared with the traditional incentive mechanism, the LAIM can increase the average utility of nodes by more than 34.35%, which promotes the cooperation of nodes
It Takes a Tiny House Village: A Comparative Case Study of Barriers and Strategies for the Integration of Tiny House Villages for Homeless Persons in Missouri
No full textAlthough interest in addressing homelessness with tiny house villages continues to grow, they face numerous barriers, from land use laws to resident concerns about homeless populations. This research examines such barriers, in addition to strategies for the integration of such developments. The study finds that it is important that tiny house villages for homeless residents address potential not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) concerns. However, the study also finds that there are strategies and enabling factors which facilitate the integration of these developments. The study has resulted in the establishment of strategies for integrating tiny house villages for the homeless into communities
Investigation of the Interface Reactions of Ion Selective Electrode Membranes Using Chromatographic and Spectroscopic Analyses of Erbium(III) Tetraphenylporphyrin
No full textIon selective electrodes (ISEs) are analytical sensors that monitor the interactions between an ionophore within a polymeric membrane and ions in various solutions. The sensitivity and selectivity of ISEs is directly related to the chemical components. One type of ionopohore utilized in ISEs are metalloporphyrins. Metalloporphyrins have unique binding characteristics, which make them useful in sensors. The polymeric membranes that are synthesized and used in ISEs consist of a metalloporphyrin complex, polyvinyl chloride, and ortho-nitrophenyl octyl ether. The membrane unique to this project contains erbium (III) tetraphenylporphyrin as the metalloporphyrin ionophore. Various analytical techniques were applied in the investigation of the reactivity and chemical characteristics of the metalloporphyrin complex within the membrane and in solutions. These techniques included gas chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, and fluorescence spectroscopy. In this work, the optical properties of the erbium porphyrin complex, including major absorption and emission wavelengths, were examined. The applicability of several chromatographic techniques was also studied. The reactivity of the metalloporphyrin within the polymeric membrane was measured directly upon exposure to variable concentrations of the target analyte. In the future, the plan is to further investigate spectroscopic techniques such as fluorescence and the potential use of porphyrins in fluorescent indicators, much like the ISEs. The goal is to expand the knowledge of the porphyrin’s reactivity to improve the sensitivity and selectivity of ion selective electrodes