Marcu Handte, Christian Becker and Kurt Rothermel
Pervasive computing envisions seamless support for user tasks through cooperating devices that are present in an environment. Fluctuating availability of devices, induced by…
Abstract
Pervasive computing envisions seamless support for user tasks through cooperating devices that are present in an environment. Fluctuating availability of devices, induced by mobility and failures, requires mechanisms and algorithms that allow applications to adapt to their ever‐changing execution environments without user intervention. To ease the development of adaptive applications, Becker et al. (3) have proposed the peer‐based component system PCOM. This system provides fundamental mechanisms to support the automated composition of applications at runtime. In this article, we discuss the requirements on algorithms that enable automatic configuration of pervasive applications. Furthermore, we show how finding a configuration can be interpreted as Distributed Constraint Satisfaction Problem. Based on this, we present an algorithm that is capable of finding an application configuration in the presence of strictly limited resources. To show the feasibility of this algorithm, we present an evaluation based on simulations and real‐world measurements and we compare the results with a simple greedy approximation.
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Clive Beed and Cara Beed
The Neoclassical approach to analysing personal choice is compared with an approach contained in a Biblical Christian mode of analysis. This paper compares the Neoclassical and…
Abstract
The Neoclassical approach to analysing personal choice is compared with an approach contained in a Biblical Christian mode of analysis. This paper compares the Neoclassical and Christian positions via analysis of characteristics of the Neoclassical rational choice model. The main characteristic examined is a basic assumption of the rational choice model that human choice is explained as the optimisation of utility via rational self‐interest. The two positions are compared in terms of how they treat self‐interest and rationality, the degree to which basic assumptions about human behaviour are specified, the importance they attach to the realism of assumptions underlying their models, and the explanatory and predictive purposes for which the models are used. The conclusion of the comparison is that the Biblical Christian perspective encompasses the variables regarded as important in Neoclassical explanation, but presents them in the context of a more embracing worldview perspective than the Neoclassical. This Christian belief perspective is applicable to human behaviour in both “economic” and “non‐economic” domains.
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While Christian social principles harmonize with certain premissesof microeconomic theory, private property and freedom of behaviour forinstance, deep‐rooted differences call for…
Abstract
While Christian social principles harmonize with certain premisses of microeconomic theory, private property and freedom of behaviour for instance, deep‐rooted differences call for recasting certain foundations and pieces of analysis. Broad dissent concerns positive versus normative approach, the holistic character of Christian thought, and the latter′s view of human behaviour as flawed and often sinful. Discusses six more specific areas of dissent: consumer behaviour; the firm; income distribution; welfare economics; market failure and government, and public choice. The Christian mind requires revision of conventional treatments, since present microeconomic discussion is subversive of a religious interpretation of life.
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M. K. Ward, Stefan Volk and William J. Becker
This chapter overviews organizational neuroscience (ON), covering the past, present, and future of this growing field of inquiry. First, we define ON and clarify the boundaries of…
Abstract
This chapter overviews organizational neuroscience (ON), covering the past, present, and future of this growing field of inquiry. First, we define ON and clarify the boundaries of the field. Second, we describe the evolution of ON by starting with early papers that tended to discuss the potential of ON to benefit both research and practice. Throughout its development, debates have abounded about the value of ON. Such debates are often related to challenges in collecting, integrating, interpreting, and using information from the brain-level of analysis. It is time for the field to move beyond these debates to focus on applying neuroscience to further theory development and reveal more comprehensive answers to research questions of importance to both academics and practitioners. Third, we propose and describe future research directions for ON. The research directions that we propose are merely a sample of the many paths along which ON inquiry can move forward. Fourth, we outline potential practical implications of ON, including: training and development, job design, high-performance assessment, motivating communications, and conflict prevention. Finally, we draw conclusions about ON as it stands today, address challenges in developing ON, and point out opportunities. We conclude with takeaways and highlight the importance of ON for both academics and practitioners.
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Christian Democracy as an ideology and as a political movement has been ascendant in Western European states for half a century, forming the governing party or a major part of the…
Abstract
Christian Democracy as an ideology and as a political movement has been ascendant in Western European states for half a century, forming the governing party or a major part of the governing coalition of parties in many of them over numerous decades up to the present. Yet the study of Christian Democracy, its general ideology and general programmatic elements across Western Europe, has been singularly lacking. Centrist establishment parties and economic programmes seem not to have the same appeal to academic investigators as the more exciting and ideologically demarcated ones. Also the future seems bleak for some Christian Democratic parties in Western Europe. The focuses are on the general ideology of the movement and the shared programmatic commonalities among the parties. Advances a consideration of the future for CD parties in the short term and the problems confronting Christian Democracy in the future. Also assesses the role and prospects for Christian Democracy in the European Union, particularly as they relate to the European People’s Party (EPP) in the European Parliament.
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The purpose of this paper is to describe ongoing work to investigate and improve access to digital assets at the Norwegian National Library using mobile phones.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe ongoing work to investigate and improve access to digital assets at the Norwegian National Library using mobile phones.
Design/methodology/approach
A National Library Mobile User Network is described as are two practical case studies.
Findings
The National Library's web site at: www.nb.no plays an essential role in Norway's online library services. For development purposes an alternative mobile access point was created. This site provides tests of variant push and pulls modes, present “elite editions” and test polyvalent organization of selected materials.
Originality/value
The project is a first implementation of such approaches at the National Library and is thus part of a growing effort towards transliteracy which is the ability to read, to write and otherwise communicate and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media.
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A surface view of monotheistic or “Western” religions might lead some to infer a singularity to truth that is inconsistent with paradoxical thinking. The author explores a key…
Abstract
A surface view of monotheistic or “Western” religions might lead some to infer a singularity to truth that is inconsistent with paradoxical thinking. The author explores a key Biblical narrative common to both Judaism and Christianity – the story of origins that unfolds in the Garden of Eden. The author posits that the foundations of those belief systems, and particularly those of Christian theology, are paradoxical as evidenced in their historic texts (i.e., the Old and New Testaments of the Bible). A foundational paradox of an “ought versus is” (ideal vs. actual) tension that underlies or intertwines in knot-like fashion with other paradoxes is identified in ways that account for a current world view marked by temporality (in tension with eternality) and becoming (in tension with being). These tensions are made salient as humans continually work toward ideals that seem always just out of reach. Paradox conceptualization is also expanded to propose the notion of mutual embeddedness rather than mutual exclusivity of opposites. Implications for organizational paradoxes are explicated, along with directions for future research based on novel insights provided by the juxtaposition of religion and paradox.
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Jana Hunsley, Erin Razuri, Darlene Ninziza Kamanzi, Halle Sullivan, Casey Call, Elizabeth Styffe and Celestin Hategekimana
Rwanda established a deinstitutionalization program to end institutional care and transition to family-based care for children. Part of their program involved training local…
Abstract
Purpose
Rwanda established a deinstitutionalization program to end institutional care and transition to family-based care for children. Part of their program involved training local volunteers in an evidence-based, trauma-informed caregiving model, Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI), to provide education, support and TBRI training to caregivers who reunited or adopted children from institutional care in Rwanda. This study aims to describe the process of disseminating a trauma-informed intervention, TBRI, as part of the national deinstitutionalization program in Rwanda.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten lay social workers about Rwanda’s care reform and their experience using TBRI. A phenomenological approach was used to qualitatively analyze the interviews.
Findings
Analysis revealed five themes centered on the usefulness and universality of TBRI, the power of community in meeting the needs of children and youth and the importance of connection in supporting children who have experienced institutional care.
Originality/value
A global call to end institutional care and shift to family-based care for children has organizations, governments and experts seeking pathways to implement care reform. Although care reform is a complex process, Rwanda created and implemented a deinstitutionalization program focused on spreading the message of care reform and providing sustainable support for caregivers and families.
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Jan-Michael Becker, Jun-Hwa Cheah, Rasoul Gholamzade, Christian M. Ringle and Marko Sarstedt
Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) has attracted much attention from both methodological and applied researchers in various disciplines – also in…
Abstract
Purpose
Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) has attracted much attention from both methodological and applied researchers in various disciplines – also in hospitality management research. As PLS-SEM is relatively new compared to other multivariate analysis techniques, there are still numerous open questions and uncertainties in its application. This study aims to address this important issue by offering guidance regarding its use in contexts with which researchers struggle.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors examine the most prominent questions and answers posed in a well-known PLS-SEM discussion forum. The authors do so by using a text analysis technique to identify the most salient topics.
Findings
The data analysis identifies three salient PLS-SEM topics (i.e. bootstrapping and significance testing, higher-order constructs and moderation).
Research limitations/implications
The results allow us to address the PLS-SEM community’s main methodological issues. The authors discuss each area separately and provide explanations and guidelines.
Practical implications
The guidelines on the most important PLS-SEM topics provide decision-making and application aids. In this way, the authors make a decisive contribution to clarifying ambiguities when applying the PLS-SEM method in hospitality management research and other disciplines.
Originality/value
There has as yet been no systematic analysis of this kind in the field of PLS-SEM; the authors, therefore, present the first research results. The findings and recommendations provide guidance for PLS-SEM applications in hospitality research and practice.