Jayson Seaman, Robert MacArthur and Sean Harrington
The article discusses Outward Bound's participation in the human potential movement through its incorporation of T-group practices and the reform language of experiential…
Abstract
Purpose
The article discusses Outward Bound's participation in the human potential movement through its incorporation of T-group practices and the reform language of experiential education in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Design/methodology/approach
The article reports on original research conducted using materials from Dartmouth College and other Outward Bound collections from 1957 to 1976. It follows a case study approach to illustrate themes pertaining to Outward Bound's creation and evolution in the United States, and the establishment of experiential education more broadly.
Findings
Building on prior research (Freeman, 2011; Millikan, 2006), the present article elaborates on the conditions under which Outward Bound abandoned muscular Christianity in favor of humanistic psychology. Experiential education provided both a set of practices and a reform language that helped Outward Bound expand into the educational mainstream, which also helped to extend self-expressive pedagogies into formal and nonformal settings.
Research limitations/implications
The Dartmouth Outward Bound Center's tenure coincided with and reflected broader cultural changes, from the cold war motif of spiritual warfare, frontier masculinity and national service to the rise of self-expression in education. Future scholars can situate specific curricular initiatives in the context of these paradigms, particularly in outdoor education.
Originality/value
The article draws attention to one of the forms that the human potential movement took in education – experiential education – and the reasons for its adoption. It also reinforces emerging understandings of post-WWII American outdoor education as a product of the cold war and reflective of subsequent changes in the wider culture to a narrower focus on the self.
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Ross L. Chapman, Peter Charles Murray and Robert Mellor
Despite the increasing international evidence that has identified quality of product and service and a culture of continuous improvement to be essential for long‐term competitive…
Abstract
Despite the increasing international evidence that has identified quality of product and service and a culture of continuous improvement to be essential for long‐term competitive advantage, many Australian firms apparently remain unconvinced of the substantial gains available through a focused commitment to quality and continuous improvement. Anecdotal evidence and limited previous research suggest that this is at least partly due to the often touted cost barrier and the failure of firms to integrate quality improvement developments with their strategic planning activities. Discusses specific outcomes of a survey of medium‐sized manufacturing and service firms in Australia. Categorizes questions relating to strategic aspects of quality and continuous improvement into five major indicator groups, related to their commitment to the integration of quality and strategic planning initiatives. Compares mean scores for these indicators to standard financial performance and productivity measures, to test the hypothesis that there is a definite link between a firm’s commitment to quality improvement and its financial and marketplace performance. Also compares individual question responses relating to continuous improvement and strategic planning to selected performance indicators in an attempt to identify quality‐improvement activities which may have a particularly influential impact on performance.
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The classics will circulate wrote a public librarian several years ago. She found that new, attractive, prominently displayed editions of literary classics would indeed find a…
Abstract
The classics will circulate wrote a public librarian several years ago. She found that new, attractive, prominently displayed editions of literary classics would indeed find a substantial audience among public library patrons.
An aircraft undercarriage of the tandem type comprising in combination: an undercarriage leg, a common axle journalled in the said leg, one arm fixedly connected to one end of the…
Abstract
An aircraft undercarriage of the tandem type comprising in combination: an undercarriage leg, a common axle journalled in the said leg, one arm fixedly connected to one end of the said axle and a second arm rotatably mounted on the other end of the said axle, stub axles mounted on the free ends of the said arms parallel to the said common axle of the latter and pointing in opposite directions, and wheels journalled on the said stub axles and having their centre planes alignment with one another.
Hongwei Mo and Lifang Xu
Biogeography‐based optimization algorithm is a new kind of optimization algorithm based on biogeography. It is designed based on the migration strategy of animals to solve the…
Abstract
Purpose
Biogeography‐based optimization algorithm is a new kind of optimization algorithm based on biogeography. It is designed based on the migration strategy of animals to solve the problem of optimization. The purpose of this paper is to present a new algorithm – biogeography migration algorithm for traveling salesman problem (TSPBMA). A new special migration operator is designed for producing new solutions.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper gives the definition of TSP and models of TSPBMA; introduces the algorithm of TSPBMA in detail and gives the proof of convergence in theory; provides simulation results of TSPBMA compared with other optimization algorithms for TSP and presents some concluding remarks and suggestions for further work.
Findings
The TSPBMA is tested on some classical TSP problems. The comparison results with the other nature‐inspired optimization algorithms show that TSPBMA is useful for TSP combination optimization. Especially, the designed migration operator is very effective for TSP solving. Although the proposed TSPBMA is not better than ant colony algorithm in the respect of convergence speed and accuracy, it provides a new way for this kind of problem.
Originality/value
The migration operator is a new strategy for solving TSPs. It has never been used by any other evolutionary algorithm or swarm intelligence before TSPBMA.
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Mark Freeman and Jayson Seaman
The introduction sets out the scope of the special issue and suggests areas for further research.
Abstract
Purpose
The introduction sets out the scope of the special issue and suggests areas for further research.
Design/methodology/approach
This introductory article sets out the rationale and contents of the special issue of History of Education Review on “Outdoor Education in Historical Perspective”. It briefly summarizes the existing state of research and introduces the six articles that comprise the issue.
Findings
The introduction identifies four particular themes that arise from the existing literature and from the diverse contributions to this special issue: transculturality; space and place; religion and spirituality; and personality/personalities.
Originality/value
This special issue contains six original contributions to the study of the history of outdoor education, focussing on different locations in Europe and North America.
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In the 1990s, the renewed scholarly interest in community policing includes more comparative and historical research, with many studies focusing on Japan. This article presents…
Abstract
In the 1990s, the renewed scholarly interest in community policing includes more comparative and historical research, with many studies focusing on Japan. This article presents historical evidence that the highly‐touted Japanese police system was an American invention originating from the post‐World War II occupation of Japan. A review of the facts indicates that not only did the USA reform the Japanese police system, but insisted on re‐creating it according to American models.
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This chapter focusses on the links between economic ideas, sustainability and the circular economy. Economics begins with the view that all resources are scarce and careful and…
Abstract
This chapter focusses on the links between economic ideas, sustainability and the circular economy. Economics begins with the view that all resources are scarce and careful and informed choices must be made to ensure resources are used efficiently and not wasted. Given the fundamental importance of markets to human resource allocation decisions, unless economic concepts, especially markets and prices, are used to help transition towards the circular economy, a sustainable economic growth process is unlikely to be achieved. Economists have long grappled with the problems of resource depletion, unsustainable growth and intergenerational equity. Their ideas and views about the interconnection between markets, the environment and resource use have been in existence for several centuries. While frequently overlooked, some of these ideas have important insights for sustainable development and the implementation of a circular economy. The chapter will consider how economic concepts could be used to help society transition to a circular economy. It will also argue that difficulties with the implementation of a circular economy lie less with the application of economic instruments, and more with the political and institutional constraints that reduce our ability to think creatively and innovatively about ‘cradle-to-cradle’ processes.
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Robert E. Houmes, John B. MacArthur and Harriet Stranahan
Strategic cost structure choices determine how firms divide operating costs between fixed and variable components, and therefore have important implications for financial…
Abstract
Purpose
Strategic cost structure choices determine how firms divide operating costs between fixed and variable components, and therefore have important implications for financial performance. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of operating leverage on equity Betas when managers have discretion over firms' cost structures.
Design/methodology/approach
Using panel data for publicly listed trucking firms over years 1994‐2006, market model Betas are regressed on controls and alternatively measured proxies for operating leverage: degree of operating leverage, assets in place and percentage of company employed drivers.
Findings
Results of this study generally show positively significant coefficients on all three operating leverage variables.
Originality/value
Operating characteristics of many industries require that firms make substantial investments in long‐lived assets that result in high fixed costs (e.g. depreciation), and for these firms cost structure is exogenously or technologically constrained leaving managers with little discretion. In contrast to these types of firms, the authors examine the effect of operating leverage (OL) on Betas when managers have discretion over firms' cost structures. Trucking firms are a particularly interesting industry group for analyzing the impact of operating OL choices on Beta because distinct strategic cost structure choices are available to the management of trucking firms that result in various degrees of OL throughout the industry.