Other Business Commons^™

Welfare Of Non-Traditional Pets, Catherine A. Schuppli, David Fraser, H. J. Bacon

David Fraser, PhD

The keeping of non-traditional or ‘exotic’ pets has been growing in popularity worldwide. In addition to the typical welfare challenges of keeping more traditional pet species like dogs and cats, ensuring the welfare of non-traditional pets is complicated by factors such as lack of knowledge, difficulties meeting requirements in the home and where and how animals are obtained. This paper uses examples of different species to highlight three major welfare concerns: ensuring that pets under our care i) function well biologically, ii) are free from negative psychological states and able to experience normal pleasures, and iii) lead reasonably natural lives. …

Rehabilitating Rescued Chinese Farm Bears (Ursus Thibetanus): Results, Limitations, And Implications, Peter J. Li

Peter J. Li, PhD

The objects of daily physical abuse and appalling deprivation for up to 22 years, rescued Chinese farm bears (Ursus thibetanus) pose a comprehensive challenge to the Chengdu Asiatic Black Bear Rescue Center, created and managed by the Animals Asia Foundation. This study looks at the unique conditions of the rescued bears, examines the center’s rehabilitation program, and identifies the program’s limitations. Despite the world-class care provided by the center and the qualitative improvement in their health, the bears have irreparable physical and mental incapacitation that undercuts their chances to survive in the wild. This situation questions the moral ground of …

Marketing An End To War: Constructive Engagement, Community Wellbeing, And Sustainable Peace, Clifford J. Shultz

Clifford J Shultz

Markets and marketing are integral to human welfare and survival. When used however for the purposes of war and other systemically violent conflict, they can be devastating and pose an existential threat to humanity. Drawing on experience in war-ravaged and recovering economies, the author examines a stream of research on marketing systems disrupted or destroyed by war. Some underlying conditions and predictors of war and its peaceful resolution are introduced, including social traps and their mitigation or elimination. An argument is revisited for marketing as a form of constructive engagement, which must be implemented to affect and to develop equitable …

An Analysis Of The Use Of Dogs In Predicting Human Toxicology And Drug Safety, Jarrod Bailey, Michelle Thew, Michael Balls

Jarrod Bailey, PhD

Dogs remain the main non-rodent species in preclinical drug development. Despite the current dearth of new drug approvals and meagre pipelines, this continues, with little supportive evidence of its value or necessity. To estimate the evidential weight provided by canine data to the probability that a new drug may be toxic to humans, we have calculated Likelihood Ratios (LRs) for an extensive dataset of 2,366 drugs with both animal and human data, including tissue-level effects and Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA) Level 1–4 biomedical observations. The resulting LRs show that the absence of toxicity in dogs provides virtually no …

Canada’S Commercial Seal Hunt: It’S More Than A Question Of Humane Killing, David M. Lavigne, William S. Lynn

William S. Lynn, PhD

No abstract provided.

China’S Bear Farming And Long-Term Solutions, Peter J. Li

Peter J. Li, PhD

No abstract provided.

Myth: Hard Work And Credentials Determine Employment Opportunities

Alev Dudek

Books Are Dead: Long Live Books!, Douglas Pepper, Giuseppina D'Agostino

Giuseppina D'Agostino

Douglas Pepper, VP at Random House Canada and Publisher at Signal/McClelland & Stewart, speaks about the publishing industry and the future of books and reading.

‘Concentration Camps For Lost And Stolen Pets’: Stan Wayman’S Life Photo Essay And The Animal Welfare Act, Bernard Unti

Bernard Unti, PhD

In the 1960s, LIFE was America's single most important general weekly magazine, its photo-essay formula catering to a middle class constituency of millions. By the halfway point of that tumultuous decade, readers were accustomed to seeing searing and unpleasant images of a changing nation, one racked by civil unrest and entangled in a bloody war in Southeast Asia. But when LIFE's February 4, 1966 issue landed on newsstands and in mailboxes across the United States, with the cover's warning "YOUR DOG IS IN CRUEL DANGER," tens of millions of readers became acquainted for the first time with another kind of …

The Class B Dealer: Down And Out?, Bernard Unti

Bernard Unti, PhD

The supply of dogs and cats to laboratories by Class B animal dealers has been a contentious matter for decades. The subject engenders heated debate whenever it surfaces, most recently in September 2005 when Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI) proposed an amendment to the FY 2006 agriculture funding bill to withhold federal monies to research institutions that purchase animals from Class B dealers.

Examining The Regulatory Value Of Multi-Route Mammalian Acute Systemic Toxicity Studies, Troy Seidle, Pilar Prieto, Anna Bulgheroni

Troy Seidle, PhD

Regulatory information requirements for pesticides call for submission of acute systemic toxicity data for up to three different exposure routes (oral, dermal, inhalation) for both active ingredients and formulated products. Similar multi-route testing is required in the European Union and elsewhere for industrial chemicals. To determine the value of acute toxicity testing by more than one route, oral-dermal and oralinhalation concordances among regulatory classifications were examined for large data sets of chemicals and pesticide active ingredients. Across all sectors examined, oral acute toxicity classifications for pure active substances were more severe than those derived from dermal data in more than …

An Evaluation Of The Us High Production Volume (Hpv) Chemical-Testing Programme: A Study In (Ir)Relevance, Redundancy And Retro Thinking, Andrew Nicholson, Jessica Sandler, Troy Seidle

Troy Seidle, PhD

Under the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) High Production Volume (HPV) Challenge Programme, chemical companies have volunteered to conduct screening-level toxicity tests on approximately 2800 widely-used industrial chemicals. Participating companies are committed to providing available toxicity information to the EPA and presenting testing proposals for review by the EPA and posting on the EPA Web site as public information. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and a coalition of animal protection organisations have reviewed all the test plans submitted by the participating chemical companies for compliance with the original HPV framework, as well as with animal welfare guidelines …

The Relation Between Variance And Information Rents In Auctions, Brett Katzman, Julian Reif, Jesse Schwartz

Jesse A. Schwartz

This paper examines the conventional wisdom, expressed in McAfee and McMillan's (1987) widely cited survey paper on auctions, that links increased variance of bidder values to increased information rent. We find that although the conventional wisdom does indeed hold in their (1986) model of a linear contract auction, this relationship is an artifact of that particular model and cannot be generalized. Using Samuelson's (1987) model, which is similar but allows for unobservable costs, we show that increased variance does not always imply increased information rent. Finally, we give the appropriate measure of dispersion (different from variance) that provides the link …

Global Culture Concerns, Korcel M. Price

Korcel M Price

The following proposal seeks to change hiring, promoting, and firing practices among global and trans-national companies. The changes are intended to fortify the organization through better management, a better employee contract, and by moving closer to a learning organization.

At the heart of the proposal is the desire to move hiring, promoting, and firing practices to an external or internal third party, as means of creating a global culture that consistently applies the values of supra system’s organization.

Professional And Trade Associations In A Nascent And Formative Sector Of A Developing Economy: A Case Study Of The Nasscom Effect On The Indian Offshoring Industry, Nir Kshetri, Nikhilesh Dholakia

Nikhilesh Dholakia

As important sources that shape institutional structures in an economy, professional and trade associations play significant roles in bringing and legitimating institutional changes. This paper examines the roles of professional and trade associations' impacts on institutions associated with a nascent and formative sector of a developing economy. In empirical terms, the paper offers an in-depth case study of India's National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) on institutional changes related to the offshoring industry. The NASSCOM case shows that under appropriate conditions, professional and trade associations represent an alternative to the state in shaping the industry landscape.

Ict For Poverty Alleviation In Pacific Island Nations: Study Of Icts4d In Fiji, Deogratias Harorimana, Opeti Rokotuinivono, Emali Sewale, Fane Salaiwai, Marica Naulu, Evangelin Roy

Dr Deogratias Harorimana

ICT for Poverty Alleviation in Pacific Island Nations: Study of ICTs4D in Fiji There has been a vague and little knowledge on the role or potential of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) in relation to addressing poverty in Fiji. This may be probably due to the newness of the technology in the South Pacific Region as a whole but also probably due to the fact that only 9.7% of the current Fiji 931,000 populations are internet users (ITC Figures 2011). This paper reports on finding how ICTs is contributing towards poverty alleviation in Fiji. On the basis of reviewed best …

What's Your Pitch? The Power Of Wow! (Worksheet For The Webinar On January 18, 2011), Connie Reimers-Hild

Connie I Reimers-Hild, PhD, CPC

Elevator pitches are created to sell your idea, business, product or service in 30 seconds or less (the time it takes to go from the first floor to the top of the building in an elevator). A great pitch has the power to help anyone...from a University employee to a new entrepreneur to a team working in a high-growth firm.

It’s important to develop and practice an effective pitch, complete with an awesome "Wow Factor," so you are ready to use it under fire (pretend you just stepped onto an elevator with Warren Buffett or Bill Gates)!

This interactive webinar …

Sustainability Through Profitability: The Triple Bottom Line, Connie I. Reimers-Hild

Connie I Reimers-Hild, PhD, CPC

Today’s highly competitive, globalized world requires organizations and businesses to think differently about how they are going to stay in business. Businesses can no longer afford to focus on profits as their sole purpose for existence. Organizations must instead think about the “Triple Bottom Line” and its implications for their ability to grow their brand, customer loyalty and profits.

Economic Outlook 2010: Innovation, Connie I. Reimers-Hild

Connie I Reimers-Hild, PhD, CPC

This article discusses the importance of innovation to individuals and the overall economy.

Evaluation Of And Behavior Toward The Visual Retail Environment: Function Of Consumers’ Visual Aesthetic Sensitivity, Sarah Eubanks Wilhoit

Sarah Eubanks Wilhoit

The primary goal of retail environments is to stimulate positive behavior from consumers viewing the fulfilled plan of the designer or architect. This study explores the influence of the consumer trait, visual aesthetic sensitivity, upon the visual aesthetic design features of the store environment and consumer behavior. Treatment of the visual aesthetic design features of the retail environment as an integrated, holistic arrangement demonstrate the dynamic interrelation of the environment and perception as explained by Gestalt theory. Data was collected through traditional survey techniques. Statistical analyses using exploratory factor analysis, ANCOVA, and MANCOVA reveal distinct differences between consumers with high …

Social Networks And Web2.0 Among Youth: Lessons For Pacific Island Nations, Deogratias Harorimana Sr

Dr Deogratias Harorimana

This study is on social networks and web2 among youths and the lessons for Pacific Island nation. This study defines commonly used social networking sites used by the Pacific youths, average time spent, reasons behind the use of social networking sites and how social networking sites can be used as a development tool for Pacific Island nation. It was found that the popularity of social networking amongst youths in Pacific Island Countries is fast growing, increasing more than three folds year on year in the last 3years. Social Networks are a vital part of life for PIC youths, where, now …

Business And Non-Profit Organizations Facing Increased Competition And Growing Customers' Demands (Vol. 11), Anna Ujwary-Gil

Anna Ujwary-Gil

The monograph focuses attention on the description and analysis of new phenomena and processes for commercial and non-commercial organizations. Valid conditions are pointed out for the functioning of both commercial and non-commercial organizations and an attempt is made to explain their impact on these organizations. The analysis also examines the strategies used by organizations in the face of fierce competition and increasing consumer demands in their effort to gain and maintain a competitive edge. This case study below is segmented into four areas of interest: • commercial and non-commercial organizations as an object of research, • commercial and non-commercial organizations …

Issues In Human Capital Development : Lessons For Public Administration And Governance, Deogratias Harorimana Mr

Dr Deogratias Harorimana

With few minerals or other natural resources, Rwanda believes that she can still achieve her ambitions by investing in human capital - her unique resource. If this ambition can be achieved, then is this the next role model for international development? We used a case study design and analysis methods to examine development models used elsewhere in recent decades, using both qualitative and quantitative data on Rwanda to establish the comparative advantages in relation to Singapore’s economic development model. The implications for international development are that (1) an effective human capital development strategy should be inclusive enough to respond to …

Garbage-In, Garbage-Out: Item Generation As A Threat To Construct Validity, Terri A. Scandura Phd, Lucy R. Ford

Terri A. Scandura

Item generation has received only cursory attention in the research literature, despite the fact that it seems obvious that poorly written items will result in poor psychometric properties of measures. In this paper, we review the literature on item generation, develop a typology of threats to construct validity, and evaluate five commonly usedorganizational research measures with respect to typology. Our results demonstrate that the sampled measures have significant problems that may represent threats to construct validity. recommendations for improved item generation practice are offered.

Consulting Ethics, William Feighery

William Feighery

An important, if much neglected, arena within the field of tourism studies is the role of tourism scholars as consultants in the development process. For individuals within this field of ‘expert knowledge’ participation in consultancy projects often places them at the heart of complex and competing interests at local, national and international level. Such complexity necessitates ethically informed decisions. In this paper I first explore the evolution of tourism related research and consultancy, before considering the rise of ethics in arenas of professional practice. Further, I consider the Foucauldian construct of ‘technologies of the self’ as potentially offering an ethical …

Conteted Heritage In The Ancient City Of Peace, William Feighery

William Feighery

As the imperial capital of thirteen dynasties Xi’an, formerly known as Chang’an (eternal peace), houses a legacy of many of the most important periods of Chinese history and is one of the great archeological centers of the world. This legacy of political and cultural dominance places Xi’an at the forefront of debates on cultural heritage and its role in the evolution of China in the 21st century. Xi’an is currently under a triad of influences from processes of globalization, urban transition and domestic and international tourism. In recent decades and particularly since the dawn on the new millennium, the historic …