Search results

The topic of private fundraising has generated considerable interest among academic librarians in recent years, and there are reasons to believe that the climate of the next decade will enhance this trend. Colleges and universities expect tight budgets through most of the nineties. There are remarkably few conventional sources of support for higher education: tax revenues, student tuition, and externally funded research. All are coming under increasing pressure. For those of us in the state‐support sector, state and local taxes are the most important revenue source. But many states are in fiscal crisis. In 1991, for the first time in thirty years, the amount allocated by states to higher education actually decreased from the previous year: a drop of $80 million nationally. Measured as a percentage of state budgets, higher education support has been shrinking since 1982.

Diversified trading networks have recently drawn a great deal of attention. In the process, the importance of diversity has perhaps been overemphasized. Using the trade in port wine from Portugal to Britain as an example, this essay attempts to show how a market once dominated by general, diversified traders was taken over by dedicated specialists whose success might almost be measured by the degree to which they rejected diversification to form a dedicated “commodity chain.” The essay suggests that this strategy was better able to handle matters of quality and the specialized knowledge that port wine required. The essay also highlights the question of power in such a chain. Endemic commodity-chain struggles are clearest in the vertical brand war that broke out in the nineteenth century, which, by concentrating power, marked the final stage in the transformation of the trade from network to vertical integration.

A young man plucks information from digital data streams; a woman leaves digital clues about herself online – no screen, keyboard, or cable in sight. Characters found in TV series like Alphas and Heroes offer only two examples for a (fairly) new superpower that has been added to the catalogue of abilities for action heroes: that is, they have the power to manipulate digital information, and hacking into systems without using any kind of device.

This chapter analyses which visual mechanisms are used to convey these ‘new (media) superpowers’ by focusing primarily on Alphas and Heroes and considers them important predecessors for filmic examples. Such analysis will examine ideas about their transmedia extension as well as real-life developments in the field, such as specific hand movements that remind the viewer of the ‘Apple Swipe’ or social media trends. Combining theoretic approaches of cultural, television and media studies, this chapter discusses the ‘wireless’ connection between the new (super)heroes, their televised abilities, and the (online) audience, which also allows for a projection of (possible) future developments.

A recently published survey found that slightly over 14 million persons age 16 or over hunted in the United States in 1991 and spent over $12 billion on hunting. By comparison, the same survey determined there are over 35 million anglers. Another source estimates that nearly 18 million participants age seven and older hunted with firearms in 1992. That ranks hunting well below the participatory sports of swimming, bicycling, and bowling in popularity, but ahead of football, skiing, tennis, and target shooting. Estimates vary, and while these numbers are substantial, they indicate that hunters comprise well under ten percent of the total U.S. population. Hunters have come under increasing fire from animal rightists and others who claim the sport is cruel and unnecessary. Hundreds of articles and a number of books have been written in recent years on both sides of the issue, or, more accurately, all sides. Many writers as well as the population at large see hunting as not entirely “good” or “bad” but some of each, depending upon the context.

This paper aims to address the potential of hunting humans as sport tourism activity in the twenty-second century. The paper explores past and current trends related to sport hunting, animal extinction, human violence and the normalisation of violence via fictional media. This paper paints a provocative picture of society with the aim of encouraging dialogue across the wider community regarding the challenges facing society in relation to practices related to sport hunting and tourism.

This paper takes a scenario narrative approach in presenting potential discussion on the future of sport hunting as a tourism activity. The importance of narrative writing as a method to research is its ability in telling a story to the reader. By embracing diverse philosophical methods, this research draws on past and current trends via secondary data sources to justify the future scenario narrative.

This paper presents interesting insights into the future of sport hunting and its potential relationship to tourism. However, considering the following quote, “Yet another uncertainty is that predictions themselves can alter the future – which, of course, is part of the motivation behind futurism” (Larson, 2002, p. 5), this paper concludes with a sobering message, if previous research as well as the ideas presented here are to become a future reality, one where humans hunt each other for sport, are we content to allow this to happen? Or do we want to encourage debate to ensure we create better futures?

This paper offers original and novel research within the sport-tourism literature by taking a futures perspective and applying a scenario narrative approach. The paper offers original insight into attitudes towards sport hunting and its future potential, moving away from its traditions of hunting animals to hunting humans. This paper encourages debate around a taboo-subject, by drawing on a popular past-time, sport. Death is also universal, and by aligning the topic with sport and as a hunting activity, this paper is offering original approaches to addressing difficult questions that need to be asked.

This paper examines the role of managerial curiosity as a critical factor in determining the future impact of disruptive information technologies in a global organization. Specifically, this paper presents curiosity as a managerial characteristic that plays an important role in identifying disruptive information technologies and facilitating their early adoption. Further, it uses resource‐based theory as a theoretical lens to illustrate how managerial curiosity can be a source of sustained competitive advantage. Finally, it examines the individual decision styles that are best suited in assessing disruptive information technologies.

Off-price fashion retailers are expected to dominate the retail sector over the next five years. Surprisingly, selling excess designer labels, in what some describe as a disorganized manner, appeals to certain shoppers who enjoy the “thrill of the hunt.” Recent research conceptualized consumers, whose motivation for, and outcomes from, fashion shopping set them apart from previously reported shopper types. Referred to as “Sport Shoppers,” they view fashion shopping as an achievement domain. The purpose of this paper is to quantify such shoppers through the development of a valid psychometric scale.

Four studies, comprising depth interviews and online surveys, across two countries were employed to develop a three-dimensional scale of the sport shopping experience. Factor analyses and structural equation modeling were used to analyze and test a theoretically hypothesized model.

Study 1 generated items aligned to the three theoretical dimensions of the sport shopping experience. Study 2 confirmed reliability and factor structure of the psychometric scale. Study 3 provides evidence of convergent and discriminant validity with previous shopper types. Finally, Study 4 demonstrates nomological validity through a theoretically hypothesized model of the sport shopping experience.

This is the first study to employ achievement goal theory in a consumer behavior context to delineate an emergent shopper type. The developed scale is the most comprehensive, multi-dimensional measure of the experience of this new consumer type. As such, it represents a valuable contribution to fashion retail and consumer behavior literature. The scale enables practitioners to quantify target markets and identify relationships to other factors, such as overall satisfaction and brand repurchase intentions.

A broad range of policy evaluations below is begun in Chapter 2 by Kate Johnston, Colette Henry and Simon Gillespie in their evaluation entitled ‘Encouraging Research and Development in Ireland's Biotechnology Enterprises’. This investigation critically evaluates Irish government policy towards biotechnology development over a preceding 10-year period. In Chapter 3, Anthony Ward, Sarah Cooper, Frank Cave and William Lucas examine ‘The Effect of Industrial Experience on Entrepreneurial Intent and Self-Efficacy in UK Engineering Undergraduates’ in a large-scale study that generally produces satisfactory results in terms of raising the profile of entrepreneurship among undergraduates. Deirdre Hunt, in Chapter 4, again focuses on the evolution of strategy in Ireland, this time towards the more general topic of new firm formation with a personal contribution entitled ‘Now You See Them — Now You Don’t: Paradoxes in Enterprise Development Strategy: The Case of the Disappearing Academic Start-Ups’.