OJS - Uni Innsbruck
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Approaches and methods used for measuring organizational performance in national sport governing bodies from 1986 to 2014. A systematized review
Get PDFIn a changing environment, new challenges and demands facing management in sports associations and sports politics are emerging, including the question of how to measure/assess the organizational performance (OP) in national sport governing bodies (NSGB). The characterization of NSGB shows that they are not to be understood as rational systems, but rather as natural and open ones. An examination of existing approaches for measuring OP in private non-profit organizations, which have the central characteristics of NSGB, reveals several problems/deviations, with regard to how organizations are (and should be) understood and analyzed. Based on a systematic review, the paper presents the theoretical approaches and the methods used for measuring OP in NSGB. 20 studies could be identified, and in the vast majority of them, a multi-dimensional approach is applied. The strategic constituencies approach is the one most often used, but interestingly, further analysis shows that most assessments are carried out only by internal stakeholders. The identification of the fact that, in most cases, (internal) individuals assess the variables at organizational/macro level, underlines the need to pay more attention to potential measurement bias. Giving greater consideration to the micro level is not only required in the attempt to detect potential bias, but also due to the necessity of considering agents’ discretionary decision, thereby enabling NSGB to be considered as open and natural systems. Therefore, approaches that can consider both levels (e.g., multi-level modelling) seem to be promising, not only in providing more reliable results, but also in enhancing our understanding of OP, and thus also how to manage it. A further important development is the consideration of the (public) value that organizations contribute to society within the concept of OP
Madonna face à son public italien : analyse des concerts Ciao Italia de la tournée Who’s That Girl (1987)
Get PDFIn September 1987, two concerts were organized in Florence and Turin at the end of Madonna’s world tour Who’s That Girl. What was Madonna’s relationship to the Italian audience? In spite of the satisfaction to rediscover her ‘homeland’, her performances and speeches on stage are far from the celebration of a special event. They reveal Madonna’s strategies to embody a living and postmodern myth by the interpretation of several characters on stage. This analysis of the whole Turin concert from the DVD Ciao Italia (1999) mainly refers to the theory of performer as a persona by Philip Auslander. Madonna does not appear as much as a ‘real performer’ (an Italian girl). She succeeds in integrating the Italian audience to a show similar to the previous ones from her world tour
« Au lieu d’ouvrir son cœur et son esprit, Lalanne aurait dû fermer sa gueule ». Quelques problèmes posés par la chanson sur la migration
Get PDFSince the publication of Ursula Mathis-Moser’s groundbreaking monograph in 1984, we consider the semiotic triad of text, music, and interpretation when analysing a chanson. We could add to this triad the mise en scène on stage whose importance has continuously increased since Aristide Bruant and the Montmartre chanson. It is not simply the superposition of these elements (text, melody, voice, gestures, scenery, light) that is responsible for the effect of a chanson on the public, but their interplay.To illustrate the aesthetic problems a chanson engagée (e.g. about migration) can raise, I will analyse Francis Lalanne’s song “Plus jamais ça!” (2015), which was written and composed for refugees and their aides. It was first diffused as a video clip on internet where it triggered a wave of indignation and derision. By analysing the interplay of the three dimensions of the chanson mentioned above and by comparing “Plus jamais ça” to Christophe Maé’s “Eldorado,” I will demonstrate that the will to engage is not enough in order for a chanson to be successful. The political or humanitarian chanson must avoid any disturbance of the ‘unity of message’ produced by text, music, interpretation, and visual effects
New Hypotheses and Unanswered Questions in Running Injury Research – comment on Nigg et al.
Get PDFAfter critical evaluation of the evidence, Nigg et al.’s target article reject currently discussed hypotheses regarding relationships between impact forces, pronation, and running injuries. In doing so, they highlight methodological questions underlying research in this field. This commentary focuses on three such questions including: how are impact forces and the relationship between impact and injury being quantified, what are the methods currently used to measure foot pronation and what are metrics being extracted, and the importance of focusing on individual response patterns. Each of these areas represents important venues for continued development in the field of running biomechanics and running injuries
“Sunnu li me frati”: espressioni di affinità e fratellanza tra profughi/immigrati e italiani del sud nella popular music del Meridione
Get PDFNot surprisingly, migration is currently perceived as an important topic in the South of Italy, a region which, due to its geographical position, has been confronted with the arrival of thousands of refugees from Africa and the Middle East, but which, due to its own long history of emigration, is also able to empathize with their plight. The popular music of Southern Italy reflects this situation in a striking way, accentuating in many cases the affinities and feelings of brotherhood with those who arrive in Italy looking for help or asylum. By analyzing a song which can be seen as paradigmatic for this attitude, “Chiui sta porta” by Sicilian singer-songwriter and artist Salvatore Tartamella, fundamental strategies will be identified (both textual and musical) that also occur in other songs by southern Italian singer-songwriters or groups, such as Enzo Avitabile, Eugenio Bennato or Almamegretta.As will be demonstrated, most of the aesthetic strategies to be discussed (such as the recourse to one’s own tradition of popular music, often combined with African or Middle Eastern sounds, the use of dialect, or the mythification of migrants’ fates) result from the assumption that a common basis of ‘subalternity’ between refugees and parts of the Southern population exists. The theoretical frame of this discussion is based on thinkers such as Antonio Gramsci, Franco Cassano, and Iain Chambers
Lhasa de Sela et la traversée des espaces
Get PDFThe singer-songwriter Lhasa de Sela (1972-2010) launched her career and produced her three records in Montreal where she arrived in 1991. Not only did she change the face of migrant song in Quebec, but she also enjoyed international success, embarking on long world tours and selling more than a million records. This analysis will focus on the songs from her second album, The Living Road, and will show that Lhasa de Sela transcended linguistic and artistic frontiers by crossing the geographical border when she made Montreal her home and creative hub
A discussion of the Muscle Tuning and the Preferred Movement Path concepts – comment on Nigg et al.
Get PDFNigg and colleagues propose two new paradigms, the Muscle Tuning and the Preferred Movement Path concepts. The purpose of this commentary is to discuss plausibility and challenges of these two concepts. Both concepts are highly plausible from a mechanical point of view and they also go in line with every-day observations. The main challenges for the muscle tuning paradigm are that (a) this mechanism is only one of several mechanisms in how the body adapts to impacts, and (b) it is very difficult to develop testable predictions from this paradigm since the mechanical (vibrational) properties of the leg are highly subject-specific and complex. The main open questions regarding the preferred movement path paradigm relate to (a) its integration with the concepts for movement variability, and (b) to the circumstances under which the preferred movement path might change
Influence of exclusive resistance training on body composition and cardiovascular risk factors in overweight and obese children and adolescents: A systematic review update
Get PDFPurpose: The aim of the present systematic review was to update a previous review, aiming at investigating the effects of exclusive resistance training on body composition and cardiovascular risk factors for obese or overweight children and adolescents and to report the efficiency of whole-body strength training in weight management and obesity prevention during adolescence. Method: Intervention studies that performed isolated resistance training with overweight or obese children and adolescents under 18 years of age were systematically reviewed. Body composition and cardiovascular risk factors constituted as the outcome measurements. Results: Five studies passed the inclusion criteria. All participants in treatment groups undertook supervised whole-body resistance training. The mean compliance was 87%. Four studies reported significant changes in body composition, with a decrease in mass, percentage body fat, waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio as well as a significant increase in fat free mass. Three studies analysed the effects on cardiovascular risk factors and two reported significant changes with a decrease in systolic blood pressure and IL-6 as well as a significant increase in adiponectin. Conclusion: A strength training intervention appears safe and tends to show positive effects for obese adolescents. Several significant changes were observed. A lack of studies and a small sample size of participants conducting an isolated strength training intervention made a safe interpretation difficult. Due to this, more studies are needed to analyse the role of exclusive resistance training in weight management for obese adolescents and its influence on cardiovascular risk factors
