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Needs-aware Artificial Intelligence: AI that 'Serves [Human] Needs'
Full text linkMany boundaries are, and will continue to, shape the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI). We push on these boundaries in order to make progress, but they are both pliable and resilient--always creating new boundaries of what AI can (or should) achieve. Among these are technical boundaries (such as processing capacity), psychological boundaries (such as human trust in AI systems), ethical boundaries (such as with AI weapons), and conceptual boundaries (such as the AI people can imagine). It is within this final category that we find the construct of needs and the limitations that our current concept of need places on the future AI.Series: Sustainable Computing Paper Serie
An advanced knowledge-based analysis of company vision statements
Full text linkWhat distinguishes a good vision? A knowledge
perspective on organizational visions can be helpful
in order to identify which content vision statements
should include. Knowledge enablers aim to respond
to the question what organizations need to know for
planning effectively and performing their activities well.
Previous studies identified three knowledge enablers in
organizational visions: knowledge about organizational
identity (OI), emerging potentiality (EP) and mutual
embeddedness (ME). In this paper, we empirically tested
these findings through a qualitative content analysis
of a large number of Forbes-2000 companies vision
statements. As a result, we detected all three knowledge
enablers in our sample. Moreover, we found that the rank
of companies in the Forbes 2000 list correlates not only
with the occurrence of knowledge enablers, but also with
the frequency of knowledge about emerging potentiality.
Consequently, companies have to be supported to
generate especially this knowledge enabler. Our results
can contribute to research on knowledge-based vision
development and inspire an ongoing discussion in the
KM community about future research priorities
Participation and deliberative discourse on social media – Wikipedia talk pages as transnational public spheres?
Full text linkThis paper focuses on the potential societal function of Wikipedia beyond serving as an encyclopedia. That is, it assesses both theoretically and empirically whether talk pages (TP) – Wikipedia discussion sites that accompany the encyclopedic entries and provide spaces for debates among Wikipedia editors – may function as transnational public spheres. Despite the increasing number of studies on citizen engagement and participation in the age of social media, Wikipedia as an example of the participatory internet has received little research attention in this regard. This study redresses this research gap in two steps. Drawing on Habermas’ concept of the public sphere and Fraser's and Eriksen's modifications thereof, Wikipedia's – specifically the TPs’ – modus operandi is explored to evaluate whether TPs may serve as spaces for transnational political opinion formation. This theoretical exploration is complemented with an empirical assessment of a TP dedicated to the EU. The case study addresses if/to what degree Wikipedia editors have appropriated the TP to function as a transnational public sphere. Findings indicate that Wikipedia TPs can – and do – serve as general transnational public spheres
Collective rumination: When "problem talk" impairs organizational resilience
Full text linkWhen adversity strikes, organization members often turn to others in order to vent their negative emotions and re-ceive social support. While social interaction is commonly seen as a major resource for organizational resilience, dysfunctional social interactions and their negative effects on coping with and overcoming adversity are less well understood. This conceptual article develops theory on collective rumination— defined as repetitive and prolonged discussions of adverse events that center on the negative and uncontrollable aspects of the situation— and its detrimental effects on organizational resilience. We elaborate that collective rumination emerges through a vicious circle of a shared negative situational assessment and mutual contagion with highly negative emotions. Based on our theorizing, we propose that collective rumination is negatively related to three core dimensions of organizational resilience: perceptions of control, commitment to joint action, and the acceptance of adversity as a challenge. With our conceptual article, we answer earlier calls to theorize about forms of social interactions that are not valuable but destructive for organizational resilience and elucidate previously neglected social dynamics that are dysfunctional for recovering from adversity
Die wirtschaftliche Allgemeinbildung von Maturant/inn/en
Full text linkBisher liegen in Österreich keine Daten vor, wie gut Maturant/inn/en am Ende der
Sekundarstufe II die Wirtschaftsberichterstattung in den Medien verfolgen und verstehen
können und somit die wirtschaftlichen Aspekte des Lebens nachvollziehen können. Im Hinblick
auf das Wirtschaftswissen, insbesondere das Verstehen von wirtschaftlichen Konzepten und
Zusammenhängen, besteht daher eine Forschungslücke und somit ein Forschungsdesiderat.
Vor diesem Problemhintergrund besteht die zentrale Zielsetzung des Dissertationsvorhabens
darin, ein schulartenübergreifendes Testinstrument zur Messung des Wirtschaftswissens von
Maturant/inn/en, die sich kurz vor oder nach der Absolvierung der Reifeprüfung befinden, zu
entwickeln und evidenzbasiert zu erproben. Um die Inhaltsbereiche der Testaufgaben zum
Wirtschaftswissen zu bestimmen, wurden eine Medienanalyse zu Themen in den
Wirtschaftsberichten von Tageszeitungen sowie problemzentrierte Interviews mit
Maturant/inn/en durchgeführt. Das nach den Ansprüchen wissenschaftlicher Testtheorie
entwickelte Testinstrument wurde einer Validierung durch Expert/inn/en sowie einer
Validierung durch Schüler/innen anhand der Methode lauten Denkens unterzogen und im
Rahmen von zwei Testläufen empirisch erprobt. Der zweite österreichweite Testlauf fand im
Rahmen einer Online-Befragung zwischen Mai und Oktober 2021 statt (n=664). Das
größtenteils eigens entwickelte Testinstrument umfasst 26 Testaufgaben zum
Wirtschaftswissen im Multiple-Choice-Format sowie weitere Items zur Erhebung affektiver
Kompetenzfacetten und diverser soziodemografischer Merkmale. Die Ergebnisse der
psychometrischen Itemanalyse nach der klassischen Testtheorie sowie der Item-Response-
Theorie zeigen, dass die Aufgabenschwierigkeiten in Relation zur vorliegenden Stichprobe mit
ein paar wenigen Ausnahmen passabel gestreut sind. Aus den Trennschärfen kann eine
ausreichende Differenzierung zwischen leistungsstarken und leistungsschwachen
Testpersonen abgeleitet werden, und die Reliabilität des Testinstruments stellt sich als
zufriedenstellend heraus. Auch wenn für die vorliegenden Daten die strengen Anforderungen
des Rasch-Modells nicht makellos erfüllt werden konnten, liegt für den naturgemäß sehr
breiten Inhaltsbereich des Wirtschaftswissens eine akzeptable Modellpassung und somit ein
valides Testinstrument vor. Die Testergebnisse zeigen, dass insbesondere männliche
Maturant/inn/en, Testpersonen, die in ihrer Freizeit meistens Deutsch sprechen, sowie jene
Befragte, die zuletzt einen berufsbildenden Schultyp besucht haben, ein vergleichsweise
höheres Wirtschaftswissen aufweisen
ZIVILGESELLSCHAFT ALS LERNORT FÜR ZIVILCOURAGE Wahrnehmungen von Bürgerinnen und Bürgern in Deutschland und Österreich – Implikationen für die Engagement- und Demokratieförderung
Full text link» Die Mehrheit ist der Meinung, dass es in der Gesellschaft aktuell nicht genug Zivilcourage gibt. Dabei zeigen sich statistisch signifikante Unterschiede zwischen den Ländern und Altersgruppen.
» Wahrgenommene Lernorte für Zivilcourage sind insbesondere das Elternhaus und freiwilliges Engagement.
» Maßnahmen zur Förderung von Zivilcourage sollten die Bedeutung von freiwilligem Engagement und Erwachsenenbildung stärker in den Blick nehmen, gerade hinsichtlich Interaktionen in digitalen Räumen.
» Die Ergebnisse unterstreichen zudem, dass die Entwicklung politischer Strategien zur Förderung von Zivilcourage stärker als bislang sozialwissenschaftlich begleitet werden sollten
Moments of Truth - How Rupturing Events Uncover the Value Impacts of Technology
Full text linkMoments of Truth are the powerful, but also unsettling events through which companies are confronted with the ethical implications and value effects of their technologies. In this article we explain why companies are well advised to monitor Moments of Truth as a systematic part of product management. We explain how they have become both a source and catalyst of ruptures for tech companies’ operations. To properly understand the scale and importance of Moments of Truth, we draw on philosopher Alain Badiou’s event theory to define them. We show how they are unpredictable, yet expectable in their appearance and systematically reveal a material value truth that fundamentally alters customer behavior, industry dynamics and often even society at large
Coupling circularity performance and climate action: From disciplinary silos to transdisciplinary modelling science
Full text linkTechnological breakthroughs and policy measures targeting energy efficiency and clean energy alone will not suffice to deliver Paris Agreement-compliant greenhouse gas emissions trajectories in the next decades. Strong cases have recently been made for acknowledging the decarbonisation potential lying in transforming linear economic models into closed-loop industrial ecosystems and in shifting lifestyle patterns towards this direction. This perspective highlights the research capacity needed to inform on the role and potential of the circular economy for climate change mitigation and to enhance the scientific capabilities to quantitatively explore their synergies and trade-offs. This begins with establishing conceptual and methodological bridges amongst the relevant and currently fragmented research communities, thereby allowing an interdisciplinary integration and assessment of circularity, decarbonisation, and sustainable development. Following similar calls for science in support of climate action, a transdisciplinary scientific agenda is needed to co-create the goals and scientific processes underpinning the transition pathways towards a circular, net-zero economy with representatives from policy, industry, and civil society. Here, it is argued that such integration of disciplines, methods, and communities can then lead to new and/or structurally enhanced quantitative systems models that better represent critical industrial value chains, consumption patterns, and mitigation technologies. This will be a crucial advancement towards assessing the material implications of, and the contribution of enhanced circularity performance to, mitigation pathways that are compatible with the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement and the transition to a circular economy
Proposal for a new compilation system for metal ores in economy wide material flow accounting
No full textThe authors of this article propose a major revision of the processes used for assembling the metal ores component of economy wide material flow accounts. The case for doing this is built by describing in detail important shortcomings of current metal ores reporting systems, introducing the key features of the revised system being proposed, and then illustrating the way in which the new system both solves old shortcomings and adds important new capacities. The new capacities added are of particular interest with regard to organizing the data required for a range of practical resource and environmental monitoring and management tasks, at national and smaller scale. The various components of the case for change are explained largely using illustrative examples.
The direct motivations behind this work are twofold. Firstly, the proposed system will improve the accuracy and fitness for current uses of the metal ores accounts being assembled. Secondly, and more importantly, the additional capabilities of the revised system as a resource and environmental management tool will make the process of assembling EW-MFA accounts more clearly relevant to the concerns of developing countries, which are increasingly being prevailed upon to compile these accounts. In addition to the direct benefits of improved resources and environmental management that should be enabled by the revised system, it is expected that expanding the utility derived from the EW-MFA process will provide a stronger incentive for its institutionalization and maintenance by individual nations.Security: staffonl
Multi-objective optimization of a two-echelon vehicle routing problem with vehicle synchronization and "grey Zone" customers arising in urban logistics
Full text linkWe present a multi-objective two-echelon vehicle routing problem with vehicle synchronization and "grey zone" customers arising in the context of urban freight deliveries. Inner-city center deliveries are performed by small vehicles due to access restrictions, while deliveries outside this area are carried out by conventional vehicles for economic reasons. Goods are transferred from the first to the second echelon by synchronized meetings between vehicles of the respective echelons. We investigate the assignment of customers to vehicles, i.e., to the first or second echelon, within a so-called "grey Zone" on the border of the inner city and the area around it. While doing this, the economic objective as well as negative external effects of transport, such as emissions and disturbance (negative impact on citizens due to noise and congestion), are taken into account to include objectives of companies as well as of citizens and municipal authorities. Our metaheuristic - a large neighborhood search embedded in a heuristic rectangle/cuboid splitting - addresses this problem efficiently. We investigate the impact of the free assignment of part of the customers ("grey Zone") to echelons and of three different city layouts on the solution. Computational results show that the impact of a "grey Zone" and thus the assignment of these customers to echelons depend significantly on the layout of a city. Potentially pareto-optimal solutions for two and three objectives are illustrated to efficiently support decision makers in sustainable city logistics planning processes