Frank Fischer, Elisabeth Bauer, Tina Seidel, Ralf Schmidmaier, Anika Radkowitsch, Birgit J. Neuhaus, Sarah I. Hofer, Daniel Sommerhoff, Stefan Ufer, Jochen Kuhn, Stefan Küchemann, Michael Sailer, Jenna Koenen, Martin Gartmeier, Pascal Berberat, Anne Frenzel, Nicole Heitzmann, Doris Holzberger, Jürgen Pfeffer, Doris Lewalter, Frank Niklas, Bernhard Schmidt-Hertha, Mario Gollwitzer, Andreas Vorholzer, Olga Chernikova, Christian Schons, Amadeus J. Pickal, Maria Bannert, Tilman Michaeli, Matthias Stadler and Martin R. Fischer
To advance the learning of professional practices in teacher education and medical education, this conceptual paper aims to introduce the idea of representational scaffolding for…
Abstract
Purpose
To advance the learning of professional practices in teacher education and medical education, this conceptual paper aims to introduce the idea of representational scaffolding for digital simulations in higher education.
Design/methodology/approach
This study outlines the ideas of core practices in two important fields of higher education, namely, teacher and medical education. To facilitate future professionals’ learning of relevant practices, using digital simulations for the approximation of practice offers multiple options for selecting and adjusting representations of practice situations. Adjusting the demands of the learning task in simulations by selecting and modifying representations of practice to match relevant learner characteristics can be characterized as representational scaffolding. Building on research on problem-solving and scientific reasoning, this article identifies leverage points for employing representational scaffolding.
Findings
The four suggested sets of representational scaffolds that target relevant features of practice situations in simulations are: informational complexity, typicality, required agency and situation dynamics. Representational scaffolds might be implemented in a strategy for approximating practice that involves the media design, sequencing and adaptation of representational scaffolding.
Originality/value
The outlined conceptualization of representational scaffolding can systematize the design and adaptation of digital simulations in higher education and might contribute to the advancement of future professionals’ learning to further engage in professional practices. This conceptual paper offers a necessary foundation and terminology for approaching related future research.
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Robert Graebert and Martin Fischer
The purpose of this paper is to analyze a successful sustainability program run by an owner that has invested $23 million, received rebates of $10 million, accrued over $9 million…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze a successful sustainability program run by an owner that has invested $23 million, received rebates of $10 million, accrued over $9 million of savings and has won top scores in LEED and Energy Star. Other owners planning to invest in energy conservation and sustainability can apply the lessons learnt to overcome common barriers.
Design/methodology/approach
This case study is based on project information supplied by the owner and structured interviews with the operational team. The projects are analyzed based on drivers and payback characteristics. Finally, the case study puts Adobe Systems' results within the context of the industry by matching it to the challenges identified in other reports.
Findings
The results show that 40 percent of projects are initiated by operation management personnel. The projects with the biggest savings are supported by third-party incentives. Only 10 percent of projects are evaluated by simulation and account for 12 percent of annual savings. Energy Star plays a crucial role for benchmarking performance and should be run annually. LEED EB is valuable when expending conservation efforts beyond energy aspects to sustainability. Performance benchmarking is a crucial step to determine the potential and priority of energy improvements.
Research limitations/implications
The findings are based on the three towers in San Jose, California.
Practical implications
Building owners can incorporate the methodologies applied to evaluate these successful projects into their buildings. Facility managers can leverage the findings to present the advantages of recertification and commissioning.
Originality/value
A detailed project analysis, from a leader in practice, shows the importance of the local building operations team in sustainability and energy conservation.
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While the theme of death in the popular music subgenre of black metal has been written about descriptively, it is less frequent to find conceptual philosophical or theological…
Abstract
While the theme of death in the popular music subgenre of black metal has been written about descriptively, it is less frequent to find conceptual philosophical or theological analyses of death. In this piece, I aim to show how black metal's presentation of death lies in line with death as negation, instilled with strong links to Christianity's mystical apophatic theology. I will argue that this view on death shows it cannot be properly expressed in terms of affirmative language. Even where death is treated as a physical death, rather than metaphorical, it is a celebrated expression of negation. However, unlike the Christian apophatic tradition, black metal's death is not a renunciation of the physical; rather it is a complement to it. In a complex sense, even negating negations, black metal's expression of death is disturbing precisely because of its dual acceptance of death as metaphor and as physically fully realised.
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The purpose is to argue that market-generated and brand-related phenomena such as fandoms work as a social and institutional force beyond the market and to showcase their…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose is to argue that market-generated and brand-related phenomena such as fandoms work as a social and institutional force beyond the market and to showcase their influence on the society as a whole.
Methodology/approach
The influence of fandoms on many societal institutions is explored through the literature on fandom studies and consumer research.
Findings
The research indicates that market-generated resources and their related sociocultural dynamics play a significant role in shaping the evolution of many institutions of current societies.
Research limitations/implications
The research is exclusively focused on fandoms despite the varied facets of market-related sociocultural dynamics, opportunity exists for research beyond the exploratory work done here shifting the focus from fandoms to brand systems.
Practical implications
Researchers, especially in Consumer Culture Theory (CCT), may use the perspective shift from market to society to enlarge the scope to new fields of study, out of the market.
Social implications
The research provides new lenses to understand emerging phenomena in fields such as religion and/or politics difficult to understand with traditional frameworks.
Originality/value
This paper provides exploratory research identifying market-related social and institutional processes and emphasizing how they influence other societal institutions, such as family, religion, corporations, professions, and politics; rather than bringing social and institutional processes into the marketplace.
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GIJSBERTUS T. LUITEN and MARTIN A. FISCHER
Many organizational approaches and technological opportunities are available or under development to improve the integration of design and construction. The opportunities offered…
Abstract
Many organizational approaches and technological opportunities are available or under development to improve the integration of design and construction. The opportunities offered by information technology are especially promising. Combining organizational approaches with state‐of‐the‐art technologies in a systematic manner will allow firms to derive the full benefits of computer‐aided design for construction. The present paper describes a framework that helps researchers and practitioners approach computer‐aided design for construction systematically. The framework identifies six interactions between design and construction. It is based on frame‐works for design for manufacture and on an analysis of current building practice. Design for manufacture has proven most effective when integrated into a cyclical product development process. The present framework serves as a road map for the building industry to formalize its information flows, to integrate design for construction into its linear facility delivery process and to approach a more cyclical delivery process.
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Shaked Gilboa and Ram Herstein
The purpose of the current exploratory study is to examine whether place status (ordinary or prestigious) and place loyalty can be related to personal well being (measured by…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the current exploratory study is to examine whether place status (ordinary or prestigious) and place loyalty can be related to personal well being (measured by happiness and self‐esteem).
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected through a field survey with 150 respondents.
Findings
Significant differences were found between residents of prestigious versus ordinary communities. Among those who perceive their community as ordinary, the paper found no relationship between place loyalty and self esteem, and a marginally significant negative relationship between place loyalty and happiness. In contrast, among those who perceive their community as prestigious, the paper found a positive relationship between place loyalty and happiness, and a marginally significant positive relationship between place loyalty and self esteem.
Research limitations/implications
The present study is based on a rather small non‐representative sample. As it is unclear whether place loyalty predicts happiness or vice versa, future research is needed to further examine this relationship.
Practical implications
The current findings suggest that place branding efforts have the potential of strengthening residents' loyalty to their living places on the one hand, and enhancing their well being on the other.
Originality/value
The current study examines for the first time the relationship between the marketing parameters of brand status and customer loyalty, and the psychological constructs of happiness and self‐esteem, in the unique context of living place. This relationship has not been previously studied and has much relevance to the literature about place branding.
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This research draws on qualitative interviews with primarily lower socioeconomic status (SES) public library internet users to illuminate their perceptions of economic benefits…
Abstract
This research draws on qualitative interviews with primarily lower socioeconomic status (SES) public library internet users to illuminate their perceptions of economic benefits afforded by the internet. This powerful evidence challenges utopian new technological theories. The results from this study allow for the comparison of perspectives from Millennials, Generation Xers, Boomers, and the Silent generation. These results suggest a disconnect between the cultural mythology around the internet as an all-powerful tool and the lived experiences of lower SES respondents. Lower SES participants primarily use the internet to train and educate themselves in areas where they would like to work in the process of applying for jobs using the internet. Participants recognized marginal benefits such as socialization and less burdensome job application processes. However, they struggled to identify significant job-related benefits when comparing applying for jobs online as opposed to applying for jobs in person. With the exception of millennials, all generational groups believed in the economic promise of the internet to make their lives easier given enough time. Millennials, however, challenged the techno-utopianism expressed by other generations. Only millennials recognized the realities of digital inequalities that make techno-utopian outcomes unattainable given broader economic realities for low-SES individuals.
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Tobias Maile, Martin Fischer and Rick Huijbregts
This paper aims to share the vision of integrated building systems based on internet protocol (IP) based on the presentations and facilitated discussions at the BuilConn: Cisco's…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to share the vision of integrated building systems based on internet protocol (IP) based on the presentations and facilitated discussions at the BuilConn: Cisco's Connected Real Estate Roundtable in Spring 2006.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the observation of the BuilConn Conference Roundtable and related literature, this paper lays out requirements to support IP‐ and computer‐based integration of building systems.
Findings
The authors detail the value proposition, challenges, and related engineering and business transformations of integrated building systems. While cost savings, new advanced services, and flexibility in building operations are the major benefits, the main challenges are the missing awareness and knowledge in the building industry, the educational gap among real estate professionals and owners, the implementation of appropriate security, the use of intelligent building technology, performance and cost saving issues, specific problems for building renovation projects, and the realization of reliable critical building operations. Furthermore, the balance between IP and non‐IP devices, benefits of the IP itself, and the need for more elaborate standards were discussed at the Roundtable. The Roundtable participants identified the following critical transformations within the building project environment to make integrated IP‐based building systems a reality: more flexible design, construction, and facility management contracts, earlier involvement of integration experts, and more flexibility in today's design process.
Practical implications
The participants felt that only when these transformations are accomplished and the mentioned challenges resolved will companies be able to take full advantage of the benefits and realize the vision of integrated IP‐based building systems.
Originality/value
This paper summarizes the presentations and facilitated discussions at the Roundtable, which have, so far, only been accessible to the roundtable participants, and provides a reflecting point of view of participants from the building industry, building owners, and academic representatives on strategic and operational issues around IP‐based building systems.