Business Commons^™

Concern People Without Latest Technology Will Miss Fire Warnings, Sally Sara, Ashley Hall, Peter Johnson, Katina Michael

Professor Katina Michael

But what if the website goes down in the way Victoria's Country Fire Authority website crashed as fires raged a few weeks ago? What about those people who don't own the latest technology? And what happens when the power goes out?

KATINA MICHAEL: Well there's no television, there isn't ability to access the internet potentially.

ASHLEY HALL: Professor Katina Michael is Associate Professor at the School of Information Systems and Technology at the University of Wollongong.

KATINA MICHAEL: I would suggest a long lasting powered radio because we don't want is we don't want when the lights go out, or …

Economic And Statistical Analysis Of Discrimination In Hiring, Ronald G. Ehrenberg, Robert Smith

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

Legal and administrative determinations of employers' compliance with "equal employment opportunity" (EEO) requirements often hinge on the Issue of the availability of protected class members to employers. That is, courts and affirmative action review agencies compare the hire rates of protected class members (the ratio of the number of protected class members hired to the number who applied or who were potentially available) to the comparable ratio for other applicants, in assessing whether an employer's hiring policies meet the standards required of them by equal opportunity regulations. The purpose of this paper is to review what economic theory suggests affects …

Neoliberalism And The Law: How Historical Materialism Can Illuminate Recent Governmental And Judicial Decision Making, Justin Schwartz

Justin Schwartz

Neoliberalism can be understood as the deregulation of the economy from political control by deliberate action or inaction of the state. As such it is both constituted by the law and deeply affects it. I show how the methods of historical materialism can illuminate this phenomenon in all three branches of the the U.S. government. Considering the example the global financial crisis of 2007-08 that began with the housing bubble developing from trade in unregulated and overvalued mortgage backed securities, I show how the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, which established a firewall between commercial and investment banking, allowed this …

Innovations In Citizen-State Interaction In Vanuatu: Grassroots Approaches To Maintaining Bio-Cultural Diversity, Thomas Dick, Cherise Addinsall

Thomas Dick

Many countries in the South Pacific are currently failing to adequately address issues in regards to bio-cultural diversity, which is leading to escalating environmental and health problems for Pacific Islanders (Morrison & Munro, 1999). These issues have the potential to undermine the Pacific way of life, which requires healthy ecosystems and continued access to natural resources for livelihoods and cultural enrichment (SPREP, 2011). The disposal of waste in small island developing states is limited due to small land areas, shallow water tables and population pressures. The consequences from insufficient waste management can consist not only of obvious aesthetic problems but …

Wage Regulation In The Private Sector In Europe, Maarten Keune, Kurt Vandaele

Kurt Vandaele

No abstract provided.

Annexe: Les Jours De Grèves En 2010 Et 2011, Kurt Vandaele

Kurt Vandaele

Le Groupe d’analyse des conflits sociaux (GRACOS) est un collectif interdisciplinaire ayant pour objectif l’étude des principaux mouvements de grève et autres éléments de la conflictualité sociale qui jalonnent l’actualité de chaque année civile. Il se compose actuellement de dix chercheurs : A. Bingen, M. Capron, V. Demertzis, F. Dorssemont, A. Dufresne, J. Faniel, C. Gobin, E. Martinez, K. Vandaele et J. Vandewattyne. Dans le second de ses deux volumes sur l’année 2012, le GRACOS se penche tout d’abord sur divers événements représentatifs de l’évolution de la conflictualité sociale dans le secteur public. Trois domaines sont abordés : les transports …

Union Responses To Young Workers Since The Great Recession In Ireland, The Netherlands And Sweden: Are Youth Structures Re-Orienting The Union Agenda?, Kurt Vandaele

Kurt Vandaele

This article analyses how youth structures at the confederal level of trade unions are influencing the union agenda in the face of the growing problem of youth unemployment in Europe. Five youth structures from union confederations in Ireland, the Netherlands and Sweden have been studied. Although youth structures were already able to influence the union agenda in certain confederations before the crisis, the evidence demonstrates that youth issues have gained prominence today. A particular pattern discernible across countries is coalition-building between youth structures and student organizations for guiding the transition of the next generation of young workers from school to …

Workers’ Rights, Worker Mobilisation And Workers’ Voice, Stefan Clauwaert, Aline Hoffmann, Romuald Jagodzinski, Isabelle Schömann, Michael Stollt, Kurt Vandaele

Kurt Vandaele

In his address to the European Parliament on 14 September 2011, ILO Director-General Juan Somovia declared that ‘respect for fundamental principles and rights at work is non-negotiable: not even in times of crisis when questions of fairness abound. This is particularly important in countries having to adopt austerity measures. We cannot use the crisis as an excuse to disregard internationally agreed labour standards.’ This warning is cleary not being heeded. As will be elaborated in the first section of this chapter, the labour reforms proposed or initiated by the EU and the Troika have indeed had detrimental effects on workers’ …

Political Connections And Entrepreneurial Investment: Evidence From China’S Transition Economy, Wubiao Zhou

Wubiao Zhou

No abstract provided.

Dying Is Only Human. The Case Death Makes For The Immortality Of The Person, Steffen Roth Dr.

Dr. Steffen Roth

The claim of the present article is that human mortality makes a case for the discovery of the immortal nature of the person. Based on a clear distinction of the concepts of the human being and the person, human beings and persons are considered immortal insofar as both entities evidently do not qualify for a definition as living systems. On the one hand, human beings are presented as neither lifeless nor living systems. On the other hand, persons are introduced as lifeless systems and, as a result, immortal system. This claim is extended by the statement that, even if supposed …

Contextualizing The Categorical Imperative: Category Linkages, Technology Focus, And Resource Acquisition In Nanotechnology Entrepreneurship, Michael Lounsbury, Tyler Wry

michael lounsbury

This paper examines the role of category affiliations in entrepreneurial resource acquisition. Pace existing studies, we suggest category spanning will cause firms to be overlooked or discounted because evaluators assume that they have less expertise than their category-focused competitors; a phenomenon known as the ‘categorical imperative’. We suggest, however, that categories can be related both vertically and horizontally, and that this has important implications for understanding how the actors that span between them are evaluated. Studying startup ventures in nanotube technology,we showthat venture capital investments were affected by a firm's position across patent classes that were related at both of …

Change, Rebellion, Or Else? Wikimedia Movement Governance, Dariusz Jemielniak

Dariusz Jemielniak

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the unique governance model of the Wikimedia movement, so far not covered by the literature on organization and management studies, as well as the current dynamic changes occurring to it, and to analyze the open collaboration management system, for the benefit of the general management field. Design/methodology/approach: The research design relies on netnographic, long-term, participative study of Wikipedia community at large. Methods used rely mainly on discourse analysis and interviews. The study benefits from the unique participant immersion of the researcher (who spent 6 years going native in the studied community, …

A Phenomenolical Study And Meta-Analysis Of Declining Membership And Participation In The Church, Cliffrod E. Jones Jr.

Cliffrod E Jones Jr.

This study seeks to establish a multifactor approach to the problem of declining membership and participation that allows a broader defense against the negative effects of separate causalities. A meta-analysis of past and current study into the phenomenon investigates currently recognized causalities, and forms a grounded basis for the study questions, while personal interviews from a sampling of churches, church leaders and church members provides additional quantitative data for review, comparison, weighting and analysis of the phenomenon.

Social Connectedness And Adaptive Team Coordination During Fire Events, Alireza Abbasi

Alireza Abbasi

Preparing for fire-related emergencies and consequence management is considered to be dynamic and challenging in managing crises, preventing losses, and in the allocation of resources. In this study, we argue that improving plans and operations of personnel involved in managing fire-related emergencies is an important area of investigation. Here, we investigate the effects of social connectedness among different team members to manage bushfires. We further analyze response coordination by exploring variables such as participants’ preparedness quality, quality of incident action planning, and quality of accessibility of resources. In doing so, we also test the effects of these variables on improved …

When Birds Of A Feather Don’T Flock Together: Different Scientists And The Roles They Play In Biotech R&D Alliances, Annapoornima Subramaniam, Kwanghui Lim, Pek-Hooi Soh

Kwanghui Lim

A firm's ability to produce high-impact innovations depends upon the nature of its R&D alliances as well as its composition of scientific human capital. The firm's scientific human capital is made up of its scientists, who produce valuable research outputs and who engage with the broader scientific community, thus helping the firm to integrate new knowledge from universities and other firms. In this paper, we examine heterogeneity within the firm's scientific human capital, emphasizing the distinct role of ‘bridging scientists’ who engage in two related but dissimilar scientific activities: patenting and publishing. Using a panel dataset of 222 firms in …

"Just" Desserts: An Interpretive Analysis Of Sports Nutrition Marketing, Joylin Namie, Russell Warne

Russell T Warne

Straddling the boundary between “junk” and not, sports nutrition is unique among processed foods. Between-meal snacks full of refined carbohydrates, sugar, sodium and even caffeine, qualities that render foods “bad” and off limits in other contexts, these products are consumed during the “work” of organized leisure, and increasingly as part of everyday life by non-athletes. Masquerading as healthy food, with ingredients, flavours and consumption patterns suggestive of children’s candy and adult desserts (Douglas, M. (1972). Deciphering a meal. Daedalus, 101(1), 61–81; James, A. (1998). Confections, concoctions, and conceptions. In H. Jenkins (Ed.), The children’s culture reader (pp. 394–405). New York: …

Location And Tracking Of Mobile Devices: Überveillance Stalks The Streets, Katina Michael, Roger Clarke

Professor Katina Michael

During the last decade, location-tracking and monitoring applications have proliferated, in mobile cellular and wireless data networks, and through self-reporting by applications running in smartphones that are equipped with onboard global positioning system (GPS) chipsets. It is now possible to locate a smartphone-user's location not merely to a cell, but to a small area within it. Innovators have been quick to capitalise on these location-based technologies for commercial purposes, and have gained access to a great deal of sensitive personal data in the process. In addition, law enforcement utilise these technologies, can do so inexpensively and hence can track many …

Towards A Conceptual Model Of User Acceptance Of Location-Based Emergency Services, Anas Aloudat, Katina Michael

Professor Katina Michael

This paper investigates the introduction of location-based services by government as part of an all-hazards approach to modern emergency management solutions. Its main contribution is in exploring the determinants of an individual’s acceptance or rejection of location services. The authors put forward a conceptual model to better predict why an individual would accept or reject such services, especially with respect to emergencies. While it may be posited by government agencies that individuals would unanimously wish to accept life-saving and life-sustaining location services for their well-being, this view remains untested. The theorised determinants include: visibility of the service solution, perceived service …

The Future Prospects Of Embedded Microchips In Humans As Unique Identifiers: The Risks Versus The Rewards, Katina Michael, M.G. Michael

Professor Katina Michael

Microchip implants for humans are not new. Placing heart pacemakers in humans for prosthesis is now considered a straightforward procedure. In more recent times we have begun to use brain pacemakers for therapeutic purposes to combat illnesses such as epilepsy, Parkinson’s Disease, and severe depression. Microchips are even being placed inside prosthetic knees and hips during restorative procedures to help in the gathering of post-operative analytics that can aid rehabilitation further. While medical innovations that utilise microchips abound, over the last decade we have begun to see the potential use of microchip implants for non-medical devices in humans, namely for …

Deviance, Dark Tourism And ‘Dark Leisure’: Towards A (Re)Configuration Of Morality And The Taboo In Secular Society, Philip R. Stone

Dr Philip Stone

Dark Tourism, Heterotopias And Post-Apocalyptic Places: The Case Of Chernobyl, Philip R. Stone

Dr Philip Stone

A Conversation With Jeffrey N. Shane, April 12, 2012, Brian F. Havel

Brian Havel