Responds to the arguments proposed by Dr. Tibor R. Machan in “Foetal rights: the implication of a supposed ought”. Refutes the claims that the libertarian pro‐life position…
Abstract
Responds to the arguments proposed by Dr. Tibor R. Machan in “Foetal rights: the implication of a supposed ought”. Refutes the claims that the libertarian pro‐life position necessarily implies an unacceptable invasion of the rights of adult humans.
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Manlio Del Giudice, Pedro Soto-Acosta, Elias Carayannis and Veronica Scuotto
This chapter addresses the possible consequences of the United States Supreme Court's increasing attention to international and foreign human rights law in its death penalty…
Abstract
This chapter addresses the possible consequences of the United States Supreme Court's increasing attention to international and foreign human rights law in its death penalty jurisprudence, particularly with respect to the Eighth Amendment. I question the belief of those commentators who argue that such attention might assist with efforts to abolish the death penalty in the United States, and argue instead that the perceived threat to state sovereignty that the invocation of international and foreign human rights law poses might result in attempts to retain the death penalty as a means of reasserting state autonomy.
Elizandra Severgnini, Valter Afonso Vieira and Edwin Vladimir Cardoza Galdamez
Performance measurement systems (PMSs) have long been used for monitoring and improving administrative performance. In parallel, organizational ambidexterity refers to firms that…
Abstract
Purpose
Performance measurement systems (PMSs) have long been used for monitoring and improving administrative performance. In parallel, organizational ambidexterity refers to firms that manage different organizational functions and various demands to generate performance. The purpose of this paper is to propose that three dimensions of PMS increase organizational ambidexterity and consequently they influence organizational performance. In this framework, organizational ambidexterity mediates the relationships between three dimensions of PMS and organizational performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were collected through a structured questionnaire sent to Brazilian software companies. Owners, directors, project managers and responsible for company strategy answered the questionnaire. The final sample was 227 Brazilian software firms that answered according to their PMSs and organizational ambidexterity.
Findings
The results provide four main findings. First, the three dimensions of PMS, namely—attention focus, legitimization and strategic decision-making—influenced organizational ambidexterity. Second, organizational ambidexterity had a major effect on organizational performance. Third, organizational ambidexterity mediated the indirect effects of attention focus, legitimization and strategic decision-making on organizational performance. Fourth, exploration and exploitation—two dimensions of organizational ambidexterity—mediated the indirect effect of the abovementioned PMS dimensions on organizational performance.
Research limitations/implications
Although there are different dimensions of organizational ambidexterity, this paper is limited to two of the most used ones: exploitation and exploration. In addition, the results were limited to subjective—in contrast to objective—performance measures.
Practical implications
Software companies can use PMS for attention focus, legitimization of firm’s choices and strategic decision-making to increase their exploration and exploitation capabilities. Moreover, software companies can use strategic decision-making to control existing strategies and establish new strategies for legitimizing ambidextrous choices and thereby support their decision-making process.
Originality/value
The data showed that not only organizational ambidexterity mediates the effects of the three dimensions of PMS use on performance, but also exploration and exploitation.
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Rashmita Saran, Subhadip Roy and Raj Sethuraman
The purpose of this paper is to integrate consumer personality to fashion involvement, fashion-oriented impulse buying behavior, consumer emotions and hedonic consumption in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to integrate consumer personality to fashion involvement, fashion-oriented impulse buying behavior, consumer emotions and hedonic consumption in the Indian context.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a literature review of personality, fashion involvement, emotions, fashion-oriented impulse buying behavior and hedonic consumption, the authors formulated a conceptual model and subsequent hypotheses. Previously valid and reliable scales were used in the study. The data were collected through mall intercept survey with the sample consisting of respondents in the age group 20-45. Factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used as data analysis tools.
Findings
Major findings indicate a positive and significant effect of personality on positive emotions. The findings also confirm a significant and positive relationship between fashion involvement and hedonic consumption and hedonic consumption and fashion-related impulse buying behavior. Interestingly, positive emotions were found to mediate the relation between personality and fashion involvement.
Research limitations/implications
The major implication of the present study is that impulse buying in fashion may be resultant of a complex network of interlinked constructs. One limitation is the restriction to the Indian context.
Practical implications
The findings note the need for creation of an experiential environment for a fashion shopper that could lead to positive emotions and subsequently impulse purchase.
Originality/value
The present study for the first time integrates constructs such as personality, emotions, involvement and impulse buying in the same conceptual model and tests it empirically.
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Olivia Vieira Marx Andrade, Renata Pautasso Barreto Amorim, Fabiana Cassilha Pires and Marcus Wilcox Hemais
The purpose of this paper is to show students the problems that a Brazilian franchise in the fast food sector faced while internationalizing its business to Mexico and Spain…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to show students the problems that a Brazilian franchise in the fast food sector faced while internationalizing its business to Mexico and Spain. Specifically, discuss how the entry mode of master franchise used by Spoleto presented problems to the company's managers.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a teaching case, designed to make students reflect on issues related to international business and international marketing. The primary data were collected through interviews with Edwin Junior, International Expansions Manager of Spoleto. The information gathered in the interviews was complemented by secondary data from newspapers, business magazines, internet sites and the Spoleto sites in Brazil and Mexico.
Findings
The choice to make partnerships with companies that already have experience in managing big multinational franchises might not be the best move for a brand that is unknown outside of its country. This aspect of master franchise partnerships is scarcely discussed in the literature, which instead tends to focus on other negative aspects of this kind of arrangement. It is also important to point out that close control over the master franchisees actions, especially in the initial phases of international expansions, is important to guarantee that operations will be up to standards in all countries.
Originality/value
The value of this study is in the discussion it raises about the mistakes, rather than the successes, made by a Brazilian franchise in its first attempts to expand internationally.
Edwin Cheng, Hugo K.S. Lam, Andrew C. Lyons and Andy C.L. Yeung
Cangaço was a form of banditry that occurred in the North-East of Brazil between 1870 and 1940. The movement has inspired many films over the years. This chapter explores the…
Abstract
Cangaço was a form of banditry that occurred in the North-East of Brazil between 1870 and 1940. The movement has inspired many films over the years. This chapter explores the contribution of Cangaço-inspired productions to Brazilian cinema, as well as the particular characteristics of what constitutes the Cangaço genre.
Following a historical survey of the Cangaço, the films were divided into different categories and ranked in terms of relevance. Only the most important are discussed in this chapter.
The Cangaço has been portrayed in Brazilian cinema through the decades in diverse ways, dating back to the 1920s. After becoming a consolidated film genre in the 1950s, then known as Nordestern, the Cangaço finally acquired a proper structure, featuring multiple Western references among its common characteristics. In the 1960s, Glauber Rocha, one of the most prominent filmmakers of the Cinema Novo avant-garde movement, added his own symbolism to the genre. Eventually, the Cangaço was also revisited by directors who combined it with other genres such as comedy, documentary, and erotic films. Another relevant reinterpretation came in the 1990s, when filmmakers of the so-called New Brazilian Cinema offered a new view on the subject.
Despite its strong association with Brazil, the Cangaço has not been thoroughly investigated by researchers. This chapter presents a historical survey and analysis of Cangaço films, highlighting their relevance to Brazilian cinema.
Subhadip Roy, Raj Sethuraman and Rashmita Saran
The global fashion industry is growing at a rapid pace and developing nations such as India are emerging as major contributors to the same. In such case, most academics and…
Abstract
Purpose
The global fashion industry is growing at a rapid pace and developing nations such as India are emerging as major contributors to the same. In such case, most academics and marketers are interested in the variables that influence fashion shopping. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of consumer demographic and personality characteristics on fashion shopping proneness (FSP) in India.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 561 respondents using mall intercept survey method. Hypothesized relationships were assessed using multiple regression and structural equation modelling.
Findings
Traditional view that younger and female consumers are more fashion prone than older and male consumers is validated. However, demographics accounted for only 9 per cent of the variance in FSP while personality characteristics accounted for 46 per cent. Being agreeable, extroverted, open minded, and stable are all positively associated with fashion shopping.
Research limitations/implications
The study finds both personality dimensions and consumer demographics to influence FSP. As a limitation, the authors do not probe deep into the why and how of the mentioned relationships between personality and fashion buying.
Practical implications
With respect to demographics, managers could target young females as the primary segment for fashion clothing but cannot ignore young males and older females. With respect to personality, managers can appeal to agreeable, extroverted, open-minded personalities by linking novelty, fun, relaxation, and recreation with fashion buying.
Originality/value
This is one of the first attempts that simultaneously investigates the effects of demographic and personality characteristics on fashion shopping behaviour in India.