Poets in dialogue, dialogues in poets

Is there something noticeably peculiar about dialogues with poets when transformed into writing, be it in electronic or printed form? The pauses and hesitations, the thrust and parry, the slurrings and overlappings of ordinary speech by and large disappear. In their place is an artifice, a deliberate creation of a script, with questions and responses clearly marked for our attention. Might we be approaching a tidied duologue which, some might also cynically remark, largely reproduces a dual monologue? Moreover, when poets are in dialogue, with whom or what does the poet converse?

The case of "difficult" brands

Purpose – To examine an atypical member of the brand family, “difficult” brands, defined as brands that have intermittent availability, and have inherent performance risks, that, contrary to traditional marketing teachings, may have a positive influence on consumer evaluation and brand loyalty. Findings – Through an examination of the underlying social and psychological reasons that consumers might be attracted to difficult brands, an alternative approach to the marketing of these types of brands might be warranted. Practical implications – The conceptualisation of difficult brands provides marketers with a means to identify potential antecedents to brand bonding under atypical marketing conditions. Originality/value – Suggests how researchers, and marketing practitioners might go about understanding the nature of the bond that consumers form with these types of brands, and therefore, how they can take advantage of consumers' desire to develop a relationship with a difficult brand.

Recounting a difficult past : a South African accounting firm's "experiences in transformation"

This article examines the role of oral history in the social construction of collective memory and forgetting. The article presents a case study of a South African public accounting firm's attempt to document the history of race relations within the firm through the publication of a collection of oral histories. The research draws from the sociology of memory and recent scholarship on individual and collective memory in South Africa to analyze the firm's account of its experiences in making the transition from Apartheid to a multiracial democracy. The analysis finds that the firm's portrayal of its history reflects a narrative of reconciliation and redemption that minimizes the deep social and economic divisions that characterize South Africa's past, their relevance to accounting history, and the continuing salience of race to employment in public accounting.

The need to accumlate human capital across levels of export intensity : activating resources that are increasingly difficult to mobilise

With increasing levels of export intensity, firms begin to face new demands. The first set of resources brought to bear on the issues, and those resources that are most quickly mobilised, are the employees. Indeed, higher levels of exporting require activating relatively less mobile resources through the building of organisational structures and mechanisms for managing repositories of knowledge (particularly organisational specialisation and selectively hiring appropriately skilled staff). This paper explores the management of human capital across different levels of export activity in Australian manufacturing firms. Analyses were based on 90 Australian-headquartered manufacturing exporters that responded to a survey. Overall, the results support the notion that firms need to accumulate knowledge as they internationalise. These results are discussed in terms of their consequences for HRM practices.

Drawing lines in the sea : the laws that govern traffic on the world’s oceans can be as difficult to shape as water

Since World War II, however, the term has increasingly referred to law enforcement operations, as a means to enforce trade sanctions, to prevent the movement of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), and particularly in the Caribbean Sea, to prevent the smuggling of illicit drugs. Such ambiguity should allow flexibility when deciding whom should be targeted, as well as allowing states with veto powers in the UN Security Council, which may legitimately ship nuclear weapons and materials, to avoid being targeted as long as they do not export WMDs to rogue states or non-state groups or individuals.2 The ISPS Code was created under the auspices of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and is part of the 1974 Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS) concerning the safety of merchant ships.