A reputation-based trust model for agent societies

Trust and security issues are prevalent in agent societies, where agents are autonomously owned and operated in a networked environment. Nowadays, trust and reputation management is a promising approach to manage them. However, many reputation models su.ered from a major drawback – there is no mechanism to discourage agents from lying information when making a recommendation. Although some works do take into account of this issue, they usually do not penalize an agent for making poor referrals. Worse, some systems actually judge an agents referral reputation based on its service reputation. In situations where this is unacceptable, we need to have a mechanism where agents are not only discouraged from making poor referrals, but are also penalized when doing so. Towards this, we propose a reputation-based trust model that considers an agents referral reputation as a separate entity within the broader sense of an agents reputation. Our objective is not to replace any existing reputation mechanisms, but rather to complement and extend them.

Identity in multicultural societies: who do we think we are?

This paper examines identity issues in multicultural Australia. In its extreme, negative form, assumptions that certain characteristics apply to all members of an ethnic group can be attributed to racism. However, the belief that individuals who share the same ethnic background have similar needs, interests and perceptions is also reflected in business, government policy and academic research. Often, ethnic groupings used for research and policy formulation are very broad and fail to take into account within-group differences. The criteria used to assess an individuals membership of an ethnic group can be problematic. Criteria based purely on objective measures such as country of birth or ethnic ancestry do not take into account acculturation processes or the degree to which individuals consider themselves to be 'ethnic '. These objective measures are complicated further as individuals may have ethnic roots from multiple countries depending on their family composition over several generations. This theory-focused paper proposes that ethnic identity should be viewed as a subjective phenomenon where individuals are likely to align themselves with the ethnic background to which they most identify. This has implications for research and policy making in multicultural societies.

Saving human rights from its friends : a critique of the imaginary justice of Costas Douzinas

Costas Douzinas has argued that human rights arise from a universal but unconscious need for recognition of oneself by others as unique and whole. According to Douzinas, humans' activities and interrelationships are determined by their desires and human rights are a manifestation of those same deep characteristics. Because the basic desires are by their nature incapable of being satisfied, the aspiration for human rights is likewise doomed to frustration. Douzinas' analysis of human nature is derived from a reading of Jacques Lacan's theory of psychoanalysis in which an imaginary and a symbolic realm of experience are defined. Douzinas attempts a synthesis between the Lacanian imaginary and the ethical arguments of Emmanuel Levinas. It will be argued here that the synthesis proposed by Douzinas is itself doomed to failure and that Douzinas' negative approach to human rights and to justice should be rejected in favour of a positive approach.

Arts marketing challenges in multicultural societies

With an increasingly diverse, multicultural society in many countries, it is timely to look more closely at the current literature on arts marketing, ethnic identity and segmentation issues. The growth of diverse, multicultural societies in many countries warrants a closer examination of arts marketing and the use of ethnicity as a basis for segmentation, as these issues have implications for attracting and retaining arts audiences and other consumers of arts related activities. Researchers in the arts industry have stressed the importance of understanding the fundamentals of audience development and the ability to focus on satisfying the needs and wants of their audiences. The focus on marketing activities comes at a time when there is greater pressure on arts organisations to move beyond their traditional role as subsidized non-profit organisations in order to become more self-supporting. Internationally, audience development in the arts industry has focused on segmentation dimensions such as youth, mature aged individuals, geographic location (rural), individuals with disabilities, low income earners, and individuals with culturally diverse backgrounds. Most of these potential segments are under represented in the population of arts consumers in Australia, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and North America. Of those dimensions, segmentation of arts markets by cultural differences such as ethnic identity appears to be a somewhat under researched area. Hofstede's (1980) model of national cultural differences continues to be widely used as a basis for strategic and marketing decisions in international business. However, the cultural characteristics attributed to individuals in their country of birth are likely to change through immigration to another country. In this situation, the ability to predict the consumption behaviour of various ethnic groups is complicated by acculturation processes in which arrivals attempt to adapt to their new environment. Over time, this process has resulted in the emergence of bicultural individuals who are able to switch, at will, between their ethnic identity and an identity aligned with their host country, or a combination of both at any time. Ethnic identity and affiliation with ethnic groups can also change over time, suggesting challenges for arts marketing approaches, and the application of market segmentation theory in particular.

Changing governance mechanisms and its impact on Australian Building Societies' performance

This paper examines the relation between the governance mechanism (ownership structure) and performance of Australian building societies. Financial performance measures, provided by financial ratios of the major mutual building societies in Australia are used to explore their behaviour under different governance structures in the 1980s and 1990s. The theoretical and empirical literature has suggested that mutual deposit-taking institutions should have lower profitability and higher operating expenses than their publicly listed counterparts. Accounting ratios are observed over time to investigate if governance change in mutual deposit-taking organizations accounted for any discernable differences in profitability and cost efficiency pre- and postdemutualisation.

Does organizational structure matter? The behaviour of Australian Building Societies pre-and post-demutualization

Financial performance measures, provided by accounting-based financial ratios, of the major mutual building societies in Australia are used to explore their behaviour pre-and post-demutualization in the 1980s and 1990s. The theoretical and empirical literature has suggested that mutual deposit-taking institutions would have lower profitability and higher operating expenses than their publicly listed counterparts. Common accounting ratios are observed over time to investigate if ownership change in a mutual deposit-taking organization accounted for any discernable differences in profitability and cost efficiency of the firms after conversion.

The rise and decline of the New South Wales cooperative housing societies

In the past, New South Wales cooperative housing societies made an important contribution to the financing of housing construction. In this paper the expansion and later contraction of the societies is explained. It is shown that, in recent times, not only have they suffered from a drying up of loan funding, but also a great number have operated at far below their possible level of efficiency.

Interpersonal trust and formal controls in low systemic trust societies

This study is concerned with the role of interpersonal trust in management control. On the basis of a questionnaire survey and interviews of senior managers from business organisations in sri lanka, the study explores the control behaviour of superior managers when they trust or distrust their subordinates. Sri lanka, a society in which the dependence on interpersonal trust is high, was chosen for the study to maximise the effect of interpersonal trust.

The findings of this study indicate that a superior's high trust in a subordinate is associated with a low level of monitoring, a high level of social interactions, and a low reliance on formal controls. In contrast, a superior's low level of trust in a subordinate is associated with a high level of monitoring, a low level of social interactions, and a high reliance on formal controls. Because the data emanate from experienced senior managers, these findings are at least indicative of control behaviour of superior managers in sri lanka and possibly of similar countries in asia. An understanding of the control behaviour of managers in this region is particularly important for designing and implementing effective controls systems for firms, subsidiaries, branches or joint-ventures operating in the region.

Whose identity? Valuing the culture built heritage in diverse and tensioned societies

The UNESCO declaration on cultural diversity in 2002 has raised more questions than answers. More recent events around the World have highlighted the immediate need for legislative actions to protect cultural built heritage in tensioned societies. This paper discusses the potential global risks that face cultural built Heritage. The paper argues that such risks are not only limited to regions where military operations are taking place but also to nations where questions of identity and cultural diversity are raised. The paper questioned the reasons and the impact of the rise of ethno nationalism on the protection of cultural built heritage. The different discourses of these groups that will lead to destruction of cultural artefacts are also explored. In order to properly legislate means for the protection of vulnerable cultural built heritage in conflict areas, the underline value system should be clarified and the values under threat identified. The paper concludes with a plea to move our understanding and definition of culture from the previous 'old' definition with relation to "people' to a 'new' one which is more relevant to context.