Regional renaissance? New forms of governance in nonmetropolitan Australia

Since the Second World War, Australian governments have adopted various approaches to governing nonmetropolitan Australia. The authors profile three distinct approaches to governance characterised as (1) state-centred regionalism; (2) new localism; and (3) new forms of multifaceted regionalism. Although recent policy initiatives have been justified by the argument that the region is the most suitable scale for planning and development in nonmetropolitan Australia, in practice the institutional landscape is a hybrid of overlapping local, regional, and national scales of action. The authors compare this new, multifaceted, regionalism with the so-called 'new regionalism currently being promoted in Western Europe and North America. It is argued that new regionalism differs in quite important ways from the regionalism currently being fostered in Australia. In Australia, the centrality of sustainability principles, and the attempt to foster interdependence amongst stakeholders from the state, market, and civil society, have produced a layer of networked governance that is different from that overseas. It is argued that there is a triple bottom-line 'promise' in the Australian approach which differs from the Western Europe/North American model, and which has the potential to deliver enhanced economic, social, and environmental outcomes.

Thiamin nutrition and catalysis-induced instability of thiamin diphosphate

Thiamin (vitamin B1) is required in animal diets because it is the precursor of the enzyme cofactor, thiamin diphosphate. Unlike other B vitamins, the dietary thiamin requirement is proportional to non-fat energy intake but there is no obvious biochemical reason for this relationship. In the present communication we show for two enzymes that the cofactor undergoes a slow destruction during catalysis, which may explain the interdependence of thiamin and energy intakes.

Victim-perpetrator differences in reports of hurtful events

This research project addressed limitations identified in previous studies of role differences (victim vs. perpetrator) in evaluations of hurtful events. The study employed multiple methods (open-ended and structured retrospective reports and experience-sampling diary records), and involved a community sample of both dating and married couples. Retrospective reports indicated that the extent and direction of role-related differences varied markedly across dependent measures. Further, role differences were moderated by forgiveness, but not relationship status, relationship satisfaction, or event severity. Diary records pointed to the ambiguity inherent in many communication acts as contributing to differing perceptions of hurtful events. Results are discussed in terms of theories of interdependence and self-presentation and in terms of the complex and often ambiguous nature of couples' communication processes.

ANÁLISE DA INTERDEPENDÊNCIA DO CAPITAL PSICOLÓGICO, PERCEPÇÕES DE SUPORTE E BEM-ESTAR NO TRABALHO

Em face da complexidade no ambiente de trabalho que exige maior dedicação por parte de seus ocupantes e com uma crescente exigência por desempenho destes indivíduos, o presente estudo teve por objetivo estudar a interdependência de algumas variáveis do comportamento organizacional, testando um modelo conceitual composto do capital psicológico, percepções de suporte e bem-estar no trabalho. Os participantes foram 152 trabalhadores que atuavam na Região Norte (Estado do Tocantins) e Região Sudeste (Estado de São Paulo) em organizações públicas e privadas. Como instrumento para coleta de dados foi utilizado um questionário de autopreenchimento composto de seis escalas que mediram as variáveis da pesquisa. A presente pesquisa se propôs a apresentar, interpretar e discutir as relações entre as variáveis, como também, testar as hipóteses referentes ao modelo conceitual proposto, por meio de uma pesquisa de natureza transversal com abordagem quantitativa, cujos dados coletados foram analisados por aplicação de técnicas estatísticas paramétricas (cálculos de estatísticas descritivas: médias, desvio padrão, teste t e correlações; cálculos de estatísticas multivariadas: análises de regressões lineares múltiplas hierárquicas e stepwise) por meio do software SPSS, versão 18.0. Os resultados obtidos demonstraram que os níveis das três dimensões de bem-estar no trabalho são impactados diretamente pelas percepções de suporte (social no trabalho e organizacional). Confirmou-se também, o capital psicológico como preditor direto das percepções de suporte (social no trabalho e organizacional). Por fim, este trabalho evidenciou que trabalhadores com um capital psicológico elevado tendem a perceber suporte, tanto social no trabalho como organizacional e, por conseguinte, trabalhadores que percebem suporte (social no trabalho e organizacional) tendem a manter vínculos com seu trabalho e com sua organização empregadora, os quais representam bem-estar no trabalho.

A CONCEPÇÃO SOBRE SER HUMANO PARA O DISCENTE DO CURSO DE ADMINISTRAÇÃO: APROXIMAÇÕES COM A FENOMENOLOGIA DE EDITH STEIN

As grandes Revoluções que a história oficial relata apresentam um aspecto comum: a evolução do processo de comunicação aliada à evolução tecnológica. A partir do Século XX, as informações passaram a circular em número e em velocidade escalares. A interdependência e a interligação dos países, nações e pessoas estreitaram-se, pois a mobilidade no espaço virtual, progressivamente, relativiza as distâncias e os espaços geofísicos. Todavia, a avalanche de conhecimento, de aprimoramento científico e de desenvolvimento econômico parece não ser suficiente para responder, concretamente, as questões que ainda assolam a humanidade. Neste cenário, o presente trabalho tem por objetivo aproximar a concepção de ser humano para discentes do curso de administração com as categorias existenciais presentes no pensamento de Edith Stein, por meio dos objetivos específicos: Compreender o que é ser humano para o discente do curso de administração em uma IES Confessional do ABC Paulista; descrever o que é ser humano a partir do pensamento fenomenológico de Edith Stein; buscar convergências, divergências e/ou idiossincrasias entre os relatos de discentes do curso de administração em uma IES Confessional do ABC Paulista e o pensamento de Edith Stein. Para tal, foram colhidos cinco relatos de discentes de administração, por meio dos quais foram feitas aproximações, convergências-divergências com as categorias analíticas da concepção de ser humano no pensamento de Edith Stein para cada sujeito, tendo como questão norteadora: o que é ser humano para você ? Após a coleta, as entrevistas foram analisadas tendo como referência os trabalhos de Edith Stein (fenomenologia eidética), Castro (2003), Flauzino (2012) e Estanislau (2010), cumprindo as seguintes etapas: literalização dos relatos ingênuos, levantamento das unidades de sentido, levantamento e análise fenomenológica das categorias, as quais possibilitaram o diálogo intersubjetivo e objetivo com os pressupostos teóricos sobre o tema em pauta. Categorias estas denominadas de: 1. Corpo Físico e Corpo Vivente; 2. Espírito; Sujeito Psicofísico; 3. Comunidade. A partir da análise das categorias, observou-se que a concepção de ser humano conflui para a unidade do ser, ser este que é composto por corpo vivente, psique e espírito, de forma a possibilitar relações com o outro e com o ambiente. Não é possível ser humano sem um encontro com o outro, sem o respeito mútuo, sem a liberdade de ser o que se é. Emerge a dos relatos a dimensão comunitária, somente na qual se é possível realizar a humanidade, por meio de atos de liberdade, respeito e de compaixão. Desvelou-se também dentro destes relatos, que quando se é humano, a vida em seu todo é realizada de forma harmoniosa. Poder-se-á, então, por meio do revelar-se do fenômeno, obter uma nova forma de olhar, de pensar e questionar as práticas vivenciadas na Administração, contribuindo com a formação de uma massa crítica para as ciências sociais aplicadas da administração, ao refletir sobre o que há de mais estruturante e nuclear no discente de administração.

Por falar em ausência... : as pessoas com deficiência

Esta dissertação propõe uma interface entre duas áreas de conhecimento, a educação e a teologia, a partir de um novo paradigma educacional: a inclusão. Tomamos a perspectiva das pessoas com deficiência e perguntamos pela contribuição da educação inclusiva para os discursos teológicos, bem como dos discursos teológicos para a inclusão social e educacional das pessoas com deficiência. A antropologia dará a nuance desta interface, posto que, historicamente, este tema esteve envolto em antropologias religiosas dicotômicas e excludentes. propomos, portanto, a superação dos paradigmas exclusivamente cartesianos que marcam a sociedade contemporânea, sociedade esta acostumada a classificar as pessoas, hierarquizando as suas diferenças. Nestes termos, a sociologia das ausências nos auxilia na compreensão dos mecanismos de segregação e exclusão das pessoas com deficiência (tanto na educação quanto na teologia) e aponta para a necessária valorização das experiências sociais das pessoas com deficiência - respeitando a diversidade e valorizando a diferença. O movimento se dá, portanto, no sentido da visibilidade das pessoas com deficiência nos discursos teológicos, bem como nos espaços eclesiais (dada à dimensão dialética desta rela-ção). Entendemos que este é um movimento inadiável, já iniciado por alguns teólogos, quando os mesmos falam do necessário reconhecimento recíproco, da digna vulnerabilidade humana e do desafio ético que a inclusão nos coloca no sentido do reconhecimento da interdependência e da necessária operacionalização da solidariedade nos espaços sociais (acessibilidade). Todavia, estas categorias são como frestas entreabertas na porta teológica, pois, em sua maioria, nem os discursos teológicos e nem os espaços eclesiais ainda não dão visibilidade às pessoas com deficiência.

UMA ANÁLISE DA RELAÇÃO ENTRE VARIÁVEIS MACROECONÔMICAS E O COMPORTAMENTO DAS AÇÕES DE MAIOR LIQUIDEZ DO ÍNDICE IBOVESPA

As ações de maior liquidez do índice IBOVESPA, refletem o comportamento das ações de um modo geral, bem como a relação das variáveis macroeconômicas em seu comportamento e estão entre as mais negociadas no mercado de capitais brasileiro. Desta forma, pode-se entender que há reflexos de fatores que impactam as empresas de maior liquidez que definem o comportamento das variáveis macroeconômicas e que o inverso também é uma verdade, oscilações nos fatores macroeconômicos também afetam as ações de maior liquidez, como IPCA, PIB, SELIC e Taxa de Câmbio. O estudo propõe uma análise da relação existente entre variáveis macroeconômicas e o comportamento das ações de maior liquidez do índice IBOVESPA, corroborando com estudos que buscam entender a influência de fatores macroeconômicos sobre o preço de ações e contribuindo empiricamente com a formação de portfólios de investimento. O trabalho abrangeu o período de 2008 a 2014. Os resultados concluíram que a formação de carteiras, visando a proteção do capital investido, deve conter ativos com correlação negativa em relação às variáveis estudadas, o que torna possível a composição de uma carteira com risco reduzido.

Strategizing and organizing in pluralistic contexts

In this article, the concept of pluralism is used to expose variations in the relationship between organizing and strategizing and the consequences of these variations for managerial practice. Pluralistic contexts are those that are shaped by the divergent goals and interests of different groups inside and outside the organization. Internally, these divergent interests result in multiple organizing processes, while the interests of external stakeholders lead to multiple strategic goals and objectives. Despite the Fact that innate pluralism and the consequent complexity of strategizing and organizing processes are experienced by many organizations in the 21st century, pluralism has been inadequately examined in organisation studies and virtually ignored in the strategy literature. Having defined pluralism and explained its implications for strategizing and organizing practices and processes within organizations, three relevant questions are posed for investigating the nature of organizing and strategizing in pluralistic contexts. Case examples from the public sector, professional services and regulated industries are utilized to provide insights into these questions, and derive a framework that enables the drivers and potential problems of the interdependence between strategizing and organizing to be better understood. Practical implications for managing this interdependence are drawn.

Causality and synchronisation in complex systems with applications to neuroscience

This thesis presents an investigation, of synchronisation and causality, motivated by problems in computational neuroscience. The thesis addresses both theoretical and practical signal processing issues regarding the estimation of interdependence from a set of multivariate data generated by a complex underlying dynamical system. This topic is driven by a series of problems in neuroscience, which represents the principal background motive behind the material in this work. The underlying system is the human brain and the generative process of the data is based on modern electromagnetic neuroimaging methods . In this thesis, the underlying functional of the brain mechanisms are derived from the recent mathematical formalism of dynamical systems in complex networks. This is justified principally on the grounds of the complex hierarchical and multiscale nature of the brain and it offers new methods of analysis to model its emergent phenomena. A fundamental approach to study the neural activity is to investigate the connectivity pattern developed by the brain’s complex network. Three types of connectivity are important to study: 1) anatomical connectivity refering to the physical links forming the topology of the brain network; 2) effective connectivity concerning with the way the neural elements communicate with each other using the brain’s anatomical structure, through phenomena of synchronisation and information transfer; 3) functional connectivity, presenting an epistemic concept which alludes to the interdependence between data measured from the brain network. The main contribution of this thesis is to present, apply and discuss novel algorithms of functional connectivities, which are designed to extract different specific aspects of interaction between the underlying generators of the data. Firstly, a univariate statistic is developed to allow for indirect assessment of synchronisation in the local network from a single time series. This approach is useful in inferring the coupling as in a local cortical area as observed by a single measurement electrode. Secondly, different existing methods of phase synchronisation are considered from the perspective of experimental data analysis and inference of coupling from observed data. These methods are designed to address the estimation of medium to long range connectivity and their differences are particularly relevant in the context of volume conduction, that is known to produce spurious detections of connectivity. Finally, an asymmetric temporal metric is introduced in order to detect the direction of the coupling between different regions of the brain. The method developed in this thesis is based on a machine learning extensions of the well known concept of Granger causality. The thesis discussion is developed alongside examples of synthetic and experimental real data. The synthetic data are simulations of complex dynamical systems with the intention to mimic the behaviour of simple cortical neural assemblies. They are helpful to test the techniques developed in this thesis. The real datasets are provided to illustrate the problem of brain connectivity in the case of important neurological disorders such as Epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease. The methods of functional connectivity in this thesis are applied to intracranial EEG recordings in order to extract features, which characterize underlying spatiotemporal dynamics before during and after an epileptic seizure and predict seizure location and onset prior to conventional electrographic signs. The methodology is also applied to a MEG dataset containing healthy, Parkinson’s and dementia subjects with the scope of distinguishing patterns of pathological from physiological connectivity.

Effect of support and cultural intelligence on the adjustment and performance of expatriates and their family members in Malaysia

Theory suggests that people fear the unknown and no matter how experienced one is, the feelings of anxiety and uncertainty, if not managed well would affect how we view ourselves and how others view us. Hence, it is in human nature to engage in activities to help decipher behaviours that seem contrary to their beliefs and hinder the smooth-flowing of their work and daily activities. Building on these arguments, this research investigates the two types of support that are provided by multinational corporations (MNCs) and host country nationals (HCNs) to the expatriates and their family members whilst on international assignments in Malaysia as antecedents to their adjustment and performance in the host country. To complement the support provided, cultural intelligence (CQ) is investigated to explain the influence of cultural elements in facilitating adjustment and performance of the relocating families, especially to socially integrate into the host country. This research aims to investigate the influence of support and CQ on the adjustment and performance of expatriates in Malaysia. Path analyses are used to test the hypothesised relationships. The findings substantiate the pivotal roles that MNCs and HCNs play in helping the expatriates and their families acclimatise to the host country. This corroborates the norm of reciprocity where assistance or support rendered especially at the times when they were crucially needed would be reciprocated with positive behaviour deemed of equal value. Additionally, CQ is significantly positive in enhancing adjustment to the host country, which highlights the vital role that cultural awareness and knowledge play in enhancing effective intercultural communication and better execution of contextual performance. The research highlights the interdependence of the expatriates? multiple stakeholders (i.e. MNCs, HCNs, family members) in supporting the expatriates whilst on assignments. Finally, the findings reveal that the expatriate families do influence how the locals view the families and would be a great asset in initiating future communication between the expatriates and HCNs. The research contributes to the fields of intercultural adjustment and communication and also has key messages for policy makers.

Exporting and innovation performance: analysis of the Annual Small Business Survey in the UK

This paper analyses the determinants of the export propensity of UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) based on the 2004 Annual Small Business Survey. Particular emphasis is placed upon the relationship between innovation activities (distinguishing product from process innovation) and export performance. In general the data suggest that some 17 per cent of firms within this group sell outside the UK. Businesses that export are also characterized by high levels of innovation activity (43 per cent of exporters innovate in products, 27 per cent innovate in process and 21 per cent innovate in both). When considering product and process innovation independently we find that both impact positively on the decision to export. However, once we consider the interdependence between both innovation activities, we find no robust evidence that process innovation increases the probability to export beyond product innovation.

Exchange controls and European stock market integration

This paper examines the impact on stock price predictability that the removal of exchange controls had on major European countries during the late 1970s and 1980s. It is found that for Germany, Switzerland and France, the removal of exchange controls led to an increase in the interdependence between these and other markets. In contrast, there is little evidence of an increase in interdependence for the UK and Italy.

Intergroup conflict in organisations:predictors and relationships with team working effectiveness

This thesis begins with a review of the conflict literature. It continues with an illustration of the nature of intergroup conflict between British health care teams, by presenting results from an interview study using the critical incident technique. Within the theory testing part, drawing upon a sample of 53 British health care teams from five organisations, an empirical test of both intergroup contact and social identity theory is provided. In a next step, a measure of intergroup effectiveness, the effectiveness with which dyads of groups perform on collaborative tasks, is developed. Finally, the moderating role of both resource interdependence and group boundary spanners’ negotiation style for the relationship between intergroup competition and longitudinal change in group and intergroup effectiveness is examined.

Relational diversity, social integration and individual effectiveness: a social self-regulation perspective

Relational demographers and dissimilarity researchers contend that group members who are dissimilar (vs. similar) to their peers in terms of a given diversity attribute (e.g. demographics, attitudes, values or traits) feel less attached to their work group, experience less satisfying and more conflicted relationships with their colleagues, and consequently are less effective. However, qualitative reviews suggest empirical findings tend to be weak and inconsistent (Chattopadhyay, Tluchowska and George, 2004; Riordan, 2000; Tsui and Gutek, 1999), and that it remains unclear when, how and to what extent such differences (i.e. relational diversity) affect group members social integration (i.e. attachment with their work group, satisfaction and conflicted relationships with their peers) and effectiveness (Riordan, 2000). This absence of meta-analytically derived effect size estimates and the lack of an integrative theoretical framework leave practitioners with inconclusive advice regarding whether the effects elicited by relational diversity are practically relevant, and if so how these should be managed. The current research develops an integrative theoretical framework, which it tests by using meta-analysis techniques and adding two further empirical studies to the literature. The first study reports a meta-analytic integration of the results of 129 tests of the relationship between relational diversity with social integration and individual effectiveness. Using meta-analytic and structural equation modelling techniques, it shows different effects of surface- and deep-level relational diversity on social integration Specifically, low levels of interdependence accentuated the negative effects of surface-level relational diversity on social integration, while high levels of interdependence accentuated the negative effects of deep-level relational diversity on social integration. The second study builds on a social self-regulation framework (Abrams, 1994) and suggests that under high levels of interdependence relational diversity is not one but two things: visibility and separation. Using ethnicity as a prominent example it was proposed that separation has a negative effect on group members effectiveness leading for those high in visibility and low in separation to overall positive additive effects, while to overall negative additive effects for those low in visibility and high in separation. These propositions were sustained in a sample of 621 business students working in 135 ethnically diverse work groups in a business simulation course over a period of 24 weeks. The third study suggests visibility has a positive effect on group members self-monitoring, while separation has a negative effect. The study proposed that high levels of visibility and low levels of separation lead to overall positive additive effects on self-monitoring but overall negative additive effects for those low in visibility and high in separation. Results from four waves of data on 261 business students working in 69 ethnically diverse work groups in a business simulation course held over a period of 24 weeks support these propositions.

Intercultural intertextuality as a translation phenomenon

Texts as communicative occurrences are characterised by their interdependence on other texts, either of the same genre or of a different genre. This characteristic feature is known as intertextuality (or discursivity). The relationship can either be to texts originating in the same language and culture, or to texts originating in another language and culture. This paper comments on the discourse phenomenon of 'intercultural intertextuality' from the point of view of translation (studies). It illustrates strategies employed in the original texts for referring to the source language/culture. Subsequently, the paper explores the translation strategies used in authentic target texts in dealing with the phenomenon of intercultural intertextuality. A variety of political speeches (mainly of the language pair English and German) are used as illustrative examples.