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Article
Publication date: 30 July 2020

Harpal Sangha and Robert Riegler

This study aims to analyse whether globalisation, i.e. informational and economic globalisation, promoted or impeded female labour force participation (FLFP) in South Asia.

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to analyse whether globalisation, i.e. informational and economic globalisation, promoted or impeded female labour force participation (FLFP) in South Asia.

Design/methodology/approach

The KOF Globalisation Index is used alongside a fixed effect panel data Discroll–Kraay estimator to control for unobserved factors and achieve robust standard errors. The sample covers all South Asian countries for the period 1999–2015.

Findings

Globalisation does not advocate the “feminisation of employment”; in fact, the impact is negative. This is driven by the economic dimension of globalisation, particularly for younger women. However, this impact is mitigated by informational globalisation that affects FLFP positively, especially for women aged 35 years and older.

Practical implications

Without support of the right governmental policies, there is a danger of globalisation creating new obstacles for women to enter the labour market.

Originality/value

This paper adds to the existing literature by using the more comprehensive KOF globalisation measure to identify the overall effect of globalisation on FLFP in South Asia, being the first study to analyse the impact of informational alongside economic globalisation, and investigating whether globalisation affects the labour force participation rate of various female age cohorts differently.

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International Journal of Development Issues, vol. 19 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1446-8956

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Article
Publication date: 7 May 2020

Tom Scholte

The purpose of this paper is to suggest a more central role for reflexive artistic practices in a clarified research agenda for second-order cybernetics (SOC). This is offered as…

128

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to suggest a more central role for reflexive artistic practices in a clarified research agenda for second-order cybernetics (SOC). This is offered as a way to assist the field in the further development of its theoretical/methodological “core” and, subsequently, enhance its impact on the world.

Design/methodology/approach

The argument begins by reviewing Karl Müller’s account of the failure of SOC to emerge as a mainstream endeavor. Then, Müller’s account is recontextualized within recent developments in SOC that are traced through the Design Cybernetics movement inspired by Ranulph Glanville. This alternate narrative frames a supposedly moribund period as a phase of continuing refinement of the field’s focus upon its “proper object of study,” namely, the observer’s mentation of/about their mentation. The implications of this renewed focus are then positioned within Larry Richard’s vision of the cybernetician, not as “scientist” per se but rather as a “craftsperson in and with time” capable of productively varying the dynamics of their daily interactions. Having centered widespread capacity building for this “craft” as a proposed research agenda for a new phase of SOC, the paper concludes by pointing to the unique and necessary role to be played by the arts in this endeavor. Personal reflections upon the author’s own artistic and theoretical activities are included throughout.

Findings

The development and application of artistic methods for the enhancement of individual capacity for second-order observation is consistent with the purpose of SOC, namely, “to explain the observer to himself.” Therefore, it is in the field’s interest to more fulsomely embrace non-scientific, arts-based forms of research.

Research limitations/implications

In a truly reflexive/recursive fashion, the very idea that first-person, arts-based narratives are seen, from a mainstream scientific point of view, as an insufficiently rigorous form of research is, itself, a research limitation. This highlights, perhaps ironically, the need for cybernetics to continue to pursue its own independent definitions and standards of research beyond the boundaries of mainstream science rather than limiting its own modes of inquiry in the name of “scientific legitimacy.”

Practical implications

A general uptake of the view presented here would expand the horizon of what might be considered legitimate, rigorous and valuable research in the field.

Social implications

The view presented here implies that many valuable contributions that SOC can make to society take place beyond the constraints of academic publication and within the realm of personal growth and social development.

Originality/value

The very clearly defined and “refocused” vision of SOC in this paper can be of substantial utility in developing a more robust, distinctive and concrete research agenda across this field.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 49 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Available. Content available

Abstract

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 38 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

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Article
Publication date: 1 June 2010

Roberto Poli

After summarizing the theories of anticipation proposed over the past century, the paper aims to distinguish between anticipation as an empirical phenomenon and the conditions

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Abstract

Purpose

After summarizing the theories of anticipation proposed over the past century, the paper aims to distinguish between anticipation as an empirical phenomenon and the conditions that make anticipation possible. The paper's first part seeks to show that many scholars from various research fields worked on the many nuances of anticipation. The paper's second part seeks to discuss the difference between the capacity of anticipation and the nature of systems able to exhibit anticipatory behavior. The former endeavor adopts a descriptive attitude, whilst the latter seeks to understand what it is that makes anticipation possible.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents a theoretical and experimental analysis of anticipation and anticipatory systems.

Findings

Anticipation is a widely studied phenomenon within a number of different disciplines, including biology and brain studies, cognitive and social sciences, engineering and artificial intelligence. There is a need for relying on at least two different levels of analysis, namely anticipation as an empirical phenomenon and the idea of an anticipatory system or the study of the internal structure that a system should possess so that it can behave in an anticipatory fashion.

Research limitations/implications

The literature summarized by the paper is only part of a substantially larger body of documents. More extensive analyses are needed to firmly establish the conclusions suggested.

Practical implications

The paper allows better understanding of the complexity of anticipation and the differences between types of anticipation (e.g. between explicit versus implicit anticipation).

Originality/value

For the first time, the distinction implicitly present in the surveyed literature between anticipation as an empirical phenomenon and the idea of anticipatory system as the study of the conditions that make anticipation possible is raised explicitly.

Details

Foresight, vol. 12 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-6689

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Article
Publication date: 1 January 2005

Alexander Riegler

From the radical constructivist point of view the mainstream conception of memory as an encoding‐storage‐retrieval device is considered questionable. The paper aims at an…

2360

Abstract

Purpose

From the radical constructivist point of view the mainstream conception of memory as an encoding‐storage‐retrieval device is considered questionable. The paper aims at an alternative perspective on memory and its interaction with cognition.

Design/methodology/approach

The argumentation is based on various experimental data such as cognitive problem‐solving, change blindness, and childhood amnesia. Theoretical insights of the radical constructivist epistemology developed by Heinz von Foerster and others contribute as well.

Findings

Describing memory as storage‐retrieval device separated from cognition is rejected. Rather, memory is the expression of a static snapshot of otherwise dynamical cognitive processes. As an embodied network of constructive components, the evolutionary evolved cognition‐memory compound is not geared toward reproducing “true” facts. Rather, its goal is to produce structure that maintains coherence with the rest of the network.

Research limitations/implications

Memory research should not judge recognition in terms of “correct” or “false” but rather reassess its performance in terms of the super‐ordinate cognitive faculty.

Practical implications

The results imply that the role of memory should be reconsidered both in memory research as well as in practical areas such as psychotherapy and law.

Originality/value

The new characterization of memory rejects the narrow computational theory of mind. It provides a better account for memory distortion phenomena such as false recognition, intrusion, and confabulation.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 34 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Available. Content available
Book part
Publication date: 14 December 2023

Free Access. Free Access

Abstract

Details

Fashion and Tourism
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80262-976-7

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Article
Publication date: 14 June 2024

Arantzazu Saratxaga Arregi

Based on the reception of the principle of self-organization, the core of Heinz von Foerster's operational theories, I hypothesize how Heinz von Foerster's theory can be an…

30

Abstract

Purpose

Based on the reception of the principle of self-organization, the core of Heinz von Foerster's operational theories, I hypothesize how Heinz von Foerster's theory can be an orientation model for the epistemological problem of complexity. I have chosen this study to demonstrate complexity as an epistemological problem. This is because the question of how order arises - the core problem of complexity - is an epistemological question for which Heinz von Foerster developed an epistemology of self-organization. I do not present new research because HvF already had the complex organization of systems in mind. Rather, I build a critical approach to complexity on the research and work on operational epistemology in HvF.

Design/methodology/approach

This article aims to provide an orientation for a philosophical and epistemological understanding of complexity through a reading of Heinz von Foerster's operational theory. The article attempts to establish complexity as an epistemological phenomenon through the following method: (1) a conceptual description of the science of complexity based on the turn to thermodynamic time, (2) a genealogy of complexity going back to the systemic method, and (3) Heinz von Foerster's cybernetic approach to self-organization.

Findings

Based on the reception of the principle of self-organization, the core of Heinz von Foerster's operational theories, the conclusion is drawn that complexity as a description is based on language games.

Research limitations/implications

The results present complexity not as an object of science, but as a description that stands for the understanding of complex description.

Social implications

The hypothesis that complexity is a question of description or observation, i.e. of description for what language serves, has enormous social implications, in that the description of complexes and the recognition of their orders (patterns) cannot be left to algorithmic governmentality, but must be carried out by a social agency.

Originality/value

HvF's operational epistemology can serve as an epistemological model for critical complexity theory.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

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Article
Publication date: 4 July 2024

Gargy Sudhakaran, Abhinesh Prabhakaran, Colin Booth, Samuel Abbey, Abdul-Majeed Mahamadu, Panagiotis Georgakis and Maria Pohle

In alignment with the European Union’s Vision Zero initiative to eliminate road fatalities by 2050, leveraging technological advancements becomes crucial for addressing the…

131

Abstract

Purpose

In alignment with the European Union’s Vision Zero initiative to eliminate road fatalities by 2050, leveraging technological advancements becomes crucial for addressing the challenges of vulnerable road users (VRUs), and for mitigating the impact of human error. Despite increasing scholarly interest in applications of extended reality (XR), a research gap persists, particularly in the role of XR in transportation safety. Therefore, the aim of the study was to fill this gap through a systematic literature review to evaluate comprehensively the potential scope and practical applicability of XR technologies in enhancing the safety of VRUs.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic review was undertaken, following PRISMA guidelines meticulously, in which 80 relevant articles from databases, such as Scopus and Science Direct, were identified and analysed.

Findings

The results of the analysis revealed the potential of XR beyond pedestrians and cyclists, and highlighted a lack of research about the impact of XR with regard to the personal traits or abilities of VRUs. The results of a thorough analysis confirmed the potential of XR as a promising solution for an approach to collaborative co-creation in addressing the safety challenges of VRUs. In addition, the integration of eye-tracking with virtual reality emerged as a promising innovation for enhancing the safety of vulnerable road users.

Research limitations/implications

Theoretical implications include enhancing the understanding of applications of XR in VRUs’ safety and providing insights into future research possibilities and methodological approaches. Valuable insights into search strategies and inclusion-exclusion criteria can guide future research methodologies.

Practical implications

Practically, the findings from the study offer insights to assist urban planners and transportation authorities in incorporating XR technologies effectively for VRUs safety. Identifying areas for further development of XR technology could inspire innovation and investment in solutions designed to meet the safety needs of VRUs, such as enhanced visualisation tools and immersive training simulations.

Originality/value

The findings of previous research underscore the vast potential of XR technologies within the built environment, yet their utilisation remains limited in the urban transport sector. The intricacies of urban traffic scenarios pose significant challenges for VRUs, making participation in mobility studies hazardous. Hence, it is crucial to explore the scope of emerging technologies in addressing VRUs issues as a pre-requisite for establishing comprehensive safety measures.

Details

Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-6099

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Article
Publication date: 9 October 2017

Tito Conti

After the Second World War, important initiatives were taken to avoid the risk of mankind self-destruction. The creation of the United Nations generated high hopes. Unfortunately…

686

Abstract

Purpose

After the Second World War, important initiatives were taken to avoid the risk of mankind self-destruction. The creation of the United Nations generated high hopes. Unfortunately, after 70 years marked by the great technological progress, humanity seems to be ready to repeat the same mistakes; with the aggravating circumstance that the technological advances will greatly increase the risks of self-destruction. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to generate awareness and then contrast such risks, by going to the deep roots of the problems, which are cultural and ethics, and by analyzing them from the systems thinking and quality thinking perspectives.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is the synthesis of many years of experience in managing as well as advising large, complex organizations and parallel research on the viability of – and conditions for – merging systems thinking and quality thinking. In front of the evidence that systems’ sustainable development can be reached only through internal cooperation, the above research expanded to the study of natural evolution, which apparently can give a lead to direct man-driven evolution toward a healthy worldwide system.

Findings

First, with the increase of the organizational size, analytical thinking must give way to systems thinking. Education in systems thinking is then becoming the main critical factor. Second, world sustainable development is challenged by an uncontrolled man-driven evolution, where technology is often used for violence and wars (win-lose relations). Ethics, which is part of quality since it aims at win-win relations, should be at the foundations of sustainable development, where cooperation should be one of the sustaining pillars.

Originality/value

What the author wrote in the last 12 years on the above subjects, culminating in this last paper, has broken new ground in the field of managing for quality, bringing it to the highest levels of human organizations. As far as value is concerned, what kind of value can be considered higher than taking care of the future of humanity – and the whole ecosystem?

Details

The TQM Journal, vol. 29 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2731

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Article
Publication date: 5 April 2011

Carl Marcus Wallenburg and Peter Lukassen

The purpose of this paper is to provide a differentiated view of relationship‐specific proactive improvement of logistics service providers (LSPs) that distinguishes between the…

4302

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a differentiated view of relationship‐specific proactive improvement of logistics service providers (LSPs) that distinguishes between the cost and performance and the effect that these two dimensions of innovation have on three distinct customer loyalty dimensions (retention, extension, and referrals).

Design/methodology/approach

A confirmatory empirical study was conducted based on social exchange theory and customer value theory. The survey responses from 298 firms were analysed using structural equation modelling and multi‐group analysis to test for direct effects and moderation.

Findings

Both dimensions of relationship‐specific proactive improvement by LSPs (cost and performance) are strong drivers of all three customer loyalty dimensions and, thus, are important to customer relationship management and relevant areas to be considered within innovation management. The effect on customer loyalty is moderated by the dynamism of the customer's market. Proactive cost improvements are more important under high dynamism, while proactive performance improvements, contrary to initial assumptions, are more important when dynamism is low.

Research limitations/implications

Future studies should analyse other cultural settings, differentiate between functional and relationship value provided, consider other services, investigate how LSPs can facilitate proactive improvement and improve innovation management, and explore how customers can foster proactive improvement.

Practical implications

The currently low level of proactive improvement should be increased if LSPs want to enhance customer loyalty. In doing so, LSPs ought to consider the dynamism of their customers' markets.

Originality/value

The paper is the first to provide a differentiated view on the role of relationship‐specific proactive innovation that distinguishes between cost and performance improvements and illustrates their effects on three distinct customer loyalty dimensions.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 45 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

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