Search results

1 – 5 of 5
Per page
102050
Citations:
Loading...
Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 22 March 2013

Alexander Scheidler, Daniel Merkle and Martin Middendorf

Swarm controlled emergence is proposed as an approach to control emergent effects in (artificial) swarms. The method involves the introduction of specific control agents into the…

280

Abstract

Purpose

Swarm controlled emergence is proposed as an approach to control emergent effects in (artificial) swarms. The method involves the introduction of specific control agents into the swarm systems. Control agents behave similar to the normal agents and do not directly influence the behavior of the normal agents. The specific design of the control agents depends on the particular swarm system considered. The aim of this paper is to apply the method to ant clustering. Ant clustering, as an emergent effect, can be observed in nature and has inspired the design of several technical systems, e.g. moving robots, and clustering algorithms.

Design/methodology/approach

Different types of control agents for that ant clustering model are designed by introducing slight changes to the behavioural rules of the normal agents. The clustering behaviour of the resulting swarms is investigated by extensive simulation studies.

Findings

It is shown that complex behavior can emerge in systems with two types of agents (normal agents and control agents). For a particular behavior of the control agents, an interesting swarm size dependent effect was found. The behaviour prevents clustering when the number of control agents is large, but leads to stronger clustering when the number of control agents is relatively small.

Research limitations/implications

Although swarm controlled emergence is a general approach, in the experiments of this paper the authors concentrate mainly on ant clustering. It remains for future research to investigate the application of the method in other swarm systems. Swarm controlled emergence might be applied to control emergent effects in computing systems that consist of many autonomous components which make decentralized decisions based on local information.

Practical implications

The particular finding, that certain behaviours of control agents can lead to stronger clustering, can help to design improved clustering algorithms by using heterogeneous swarms of agents.

Originality/value

In general, the control of (unwanted) emergent effects in artificial systems is an important problem. However, to date not much research has been done on this topic. This paper proposes a new approach and opens a different research direction towards future control principles for self‐organized systems that consist of a large number of autonomous components.

Details

International Journal of Intelligent Computing and Cybernetics, vol. 6 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-378X

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Book part
Publication date: 14 March 2022

Marc Oberhauser and Marcus Conrad

Self-inflicted crises (SIC)– either intentionally induced or at least carelessly accepted – can tremendously damage a corporation’s reputation and legitimacy in the eyes of the

Abstract

Self-inflicted crises (SIC)– either intentionally induced or at least carelessly accepted – can tremendously damage a corporation’s reputation and legitimacy in the eyes of the stakeholders. While academia usually advices companies to accept full responsibility, practice shows that by far not all companies rely on such a responsible strategy. In practice, corporations choose various response strategies ranging from apologies, over diminishing approaches to full denials. By investigating a large data set embracing several countries and industries covering 696 cases of SIC, the authors analyze how corporations respond to such events and compare these response strategies across countries and types of crises.

This book chapter follows a domain-spanning approach by combining corporate social responsibility (CSR), crisis management, and stakeholder management to investigate how companies aim at solving crises. Drawing on attribution theory and situational crisis communication theory, the results reveal that corporations often do not follow the prevailing recommendation to take responsibility. The authors find that in the majority of cases, internationally active corporations try to deny or diminish their responsibility for the crises. Hence, the findings suggest that the concept of CSR is not working in the case of SIC since not only the existence of such corporate behavior but also the use of denial and diminish strategies contradicts the idea of corporate responsibility. Moreover, the authors shed light on possible differences and preferences toward a specific response strategy between countries and between different types of crises.

The authors contribute to the growing literature in the field of crisis management and crisis response strategies by investigating a large data set embracing several countries and industries. In this regard, the study differs from previous qualitative studies and experimental research as it is based on a large cross-country and cross-company set of secondary data. Thereby, the study allows drawing conclusions for a wide range of corporations and countries, hence increasing its general applicability.

Access Restricted. View access options
Book part
Publication date: 19 September 2006

Lauren Langman and Meghan A. Burke

Arthur Schlessinger (1983) suggested that the contradictions and paradoxes of American foreign policy reflected contradictions and paradoxes in the underlying character of the…

Abstract

Arthur Schlessinger (1983) suggested that the contradictions and paradoxes of American foreign policy reflected contradictions and paradoxes in the underlying character of the people. We would go further to suggest that the early years of colonial life, much like the early years of a person's life, had major consequences ever since. The intersection of Puritanism, available land, and eventually the rise of a commercial culture would forge a unique trajectory of what would be called “American Exceptionalism”, reflecting an “American character”, which itself is subject to three paradoxes or polarities, individualism vs. community, toughness vs. compassion, and moralism vs. pragmatism. The effect of this legacy and the dialectical aspect of American character were first evident when Winthrop proclaimed the city on the hill as the new Jerusalem. The legacy of that vision is taking place today in Iraq.

Details

Globalization between the Cold War and Neo-Imperialism
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-415-7

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 4 December 2017

Janandani Nanayakkara, Claire Margerison and Anthony Worsley

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the food system professionals’ opinions of a new senior secondary school food literacy curriculum named Victorian Certificate of…

731

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the food system professionals’ opinions of a new senior secondary school food literacy curriculum named Victorian Certificate of Education Food Studies in Victoria, Australia.

Design/methodology/approach

A purposive sample of 34 food system professionals from different sub-sectors within the Australian food system was interviewed individually in late 2015 and early 2016. Interviews were analysed using the template analysis technique.

Findings

Most participants appreciated the extensive coverage of food literacy aspects in this new curriculum. However, many suggested amendments to the curriculum including pay less emphasis on food history-related topics and pay more focus on primary food production, nutrition awareness and promotion, and food security, food sovereignty, social justice, and food politics.

Practical implications

A well-structured, comprehensive secondary school food literacy curriculum could play a crucial role in providing food literacy education for adolescents. This will help them to establish healthy food patterns and become responsible food citizens. The findings of this study can be used to modify the new curriculum to make it a more comprehensive, logical, and feasible curriculum. Moreover, these findings could be used to inform the design of new secondary school food literacy curricula in Australia and other countries.

Originality/value

The exploration of perspectives of professionals from a broad range of food- and nutrition-related areas about school food literacy education makes this study unique. This study highlights the importance of food professionals’ opinions in secondary school food-related curricula development.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 119 no. 12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 13 October 2022

Ümmühan Avcı and Ayşe Kula

Recently, online learning and online environments have become even more important. Students' engagement, fear of missing out and Internet addiction are seen as interrelated…

1501

Abstract

Purpose

Recently, online learning and online environments have become even more important. Students' engagement, fear of missing out and Internet addiction are seen as interrelated components that affect students' online teaching and learning process. In this context, university students' engagement, fear of missing out and Internet addiction in online environments, the relationship among them and students' demographic characteristics, online environment usage status and Internet usage profiles as their predictors are examined in this study.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a relational study and is carried out with 179 university students. Personal information form, student's engagement, fear of missing out and Internet addiction scales were used as data collection tools. Descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, correlation, hierarchical linear multiple regression analysis are used for the analysis.

Findings

According to the results, variables related to students' demographic characteristics, online environment usage status and Internet usage profiles together significantly predict the students' engagement, fear of missing out and Internet addiction in online environments. When students think positively about taking courses online, their engagement increases accordingly and their fear of missing out levels decrease. Increase in student's academic achievement leads to decline in Internet addiction.

Practical implications

In practice, examining the related variables about students in terms of engagement to the learning environment, fear of missing out and Internet addiction could bring a new perspective to studies on problematic use of the Internet and technology such as nomophobia and digital distraction. The results of this study reveal how and which components to be focused on for increasing the university students' engagement, reducing Internet addiction and fear of missing out in online learning environments.

Originality/value

The findings of this study provide a versatile perspective with the variables of student participation, fear of missing out, Internet addiction and their predictors in online learning environments, which are becoming widespread and increasingly important today and shed light on future researches.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 36 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

1 – 5 of 5
Per page
102050