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The purpose of this paper is to focus on Swami Vivekananda’s teachings on higher self-development through karma yoga – spiritualizing contemporary life in today’s fast-paced world – and on evolving a more humane civilization through the service of enlightened citizens.

Stressing the essential role of self-development in human progress, Swami Vivekananda taught Vedanta to East and West as a practical dynamic philosophy.

With his prophetic vision, he adapted ancient wisdom for modern living in his concept of karma yoga. Extending the idea of “holy” to the whole of human endeavor, whether exploring truths in the world or discovering the light of the soul within, Vivekananda deemed every struggle sacred when pursued with sincere, selfless intent.

Each action taken in the right spirit, Vivekananda taught, can manifest our innate divinity and bring us one step closer to our sublime nature, which acts in the common good.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual linkage between life‐work balance and emotional intelligence (EI).

Based on a review of the literature, it is suggested that life experiences contribute to the development of EI, which then moderates the individual's life‐work balance. The effect of emotions in an individual's personal life environment is of primary importance in the development of EI, which influences the work environment. The effects of work experience on one's personal life are influenced significantly by the level of emotional intelligence.

The level of EI is viewed as central to developing an individual's life‐work balance, and the primary effect of one's personal life suggests that it is more appropriate to view work as a component of overall life satisfaction; hence the use of the term “life‐work balance”.

The paper is a theoretical development of a model that emphasizes the role of emotional intelligence in life‐work balance; as such, there is a need for empirical research to examine the propositions generated by this analysis.

Managers should seek to develop emotional intelligence in the work setting to improve employees' abilities to manage life‐work balance.

This paper extends current research on EI and life‐work balance by conceptually integrating these two concepts and provides a framework for future research and investigation.

Americans increasingly feel a sense of wonder at the universe; meditation and yoga are on the rise; and a field known as Contemplative Studies has emerged. These indicators, among others, suggest a groundswell of interest in contemplative practice and contemplative experience and raise intriguing questions for information and Information Studies. Against this backdrop, this paper asks: How might Information Studies contribute to these developments? What is the relationship between information and contemplation? What can be explored on this research frontier?

This conceptual paper is based upon a synthesis of recent writings from the field of Contemplative Studies as well as conceptual analysis of selected papers and themes in Information Studies. It draws from discussion that occurred at a Session for Interaction and Engagement at the 2018 iConference, entitled “Contemplating Information in the Pleasurable and the Profound” (Latham et al., 2018). The authors' creative thinking and personal contemplative practices also infuse and fortify the work.

Popular and academic contemplative movements are afoot, and Information Studies has an opportunity to participate or be left behind. The field of Contemplative Studies has established the foundational concepts that can serve as contextual material for information research into contemplation. Upon closer inspection, Information Studies has already broached the topic of contemplation at various points in its history, theory, institutional practices, and information behavior research. The conceptual points of departure for a research frontier are articulated.

Beyond data, information, and knowledge are deeper and more profound aims, such as wisdom, which is related to contemplation. This paper supplies a rationale, scholarly community, conceptual resources, historical precedents, and guiding questions for bridging information and contemplation.

This chapter focusses on travellers’ pursuit of silence. This quest may be a counteraction to the current invasion of noise in everyday life. Silence has become something rare, unique and exclusive – which conveys luxury in its pristine and simplest form. The study focussed on silence in the setting of a church, which is a place typically intrinsically attached to silence. A qualitative semi-structured study was designed to explore how churches’ atmospheres contribute to the experience of silence, as well as what such moments of silence mean to the contemporary traveller. Silence in a church is very much defined by the place itself. For the traveller, silence is (1) a code of conduct, (2) an inner state, (3) a break, (4) an empowering experience and (5) a precious moment. The findings of this study can be used to promote moments of silence for weary travellers in the need of quiet.

This chapter takes the ‘wakefulness promoting’ drug modafinil as an exemplarity case in the sociology of pharmaceutical enhancement. The chapter draws on empirical data collected through 25 interviews with prospective users of modafinil, focusing on two of the ways in which prospective users of modafinil imagined how the drug might be used in their specific social domains: the use of modafinil as a safety tool in the workplace and its use as a study aid by university students. The data presented in this chapter suggests that although a therapy-enhancement dichotomy is a useful heuristic; it could also be limiting to uphold as it may direct attention away from other ways in which uses for new technologies can be positioned, negotiated, realised and resisted by (potential) users in the context of their daily lives.

Despite close to two decades of foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, and the country's enormous market potential, most US and European multinational corporations (multinationals) have never made a profit in that country. The distribution of profits among multinationals also seems highly skewed. The latest survey on profitability showed that five US companies accounted for one‐third of equity profits among US‐based multinationals in China. This research presented in two parts proposes explanations for why multinationals fail in China and strategic solutions for profitable operations.

Through in‐depth interviews with 29 CEOs and directors of major, profitable US and European multinationals, Overseas Chinese companies and PRC Chinese companies, this paper proposes a model of strategic convergence for successful operations in China. The first part discusses cultural and cognitive differences between Westerners and Chinese that affect the strategies they choose. The second part proposes a strategic model of convergence, fusing the best of both Western and Chinese business practices, for strategic success in China.

The research found that profitable foreign multinationals in China appeared to modify their management practices on eight dimensions, often adopting traditional Chinese methods of strategic planning and evaluations of effectiveness, as well as relations with key stakeholders, especially the government. Yet, these multinationals continued to retain their Western norms and values in business dealings. Conversely, profitable Chinese companies that competed with these multinationals also modified their management practices in line with Western norms

The study has implications for the management of foreign subsidiaries in China as well as the successful management of Chinese FDI in the USA and Europe.

To develop a strategic model for effective management that incorporates aspects of strategic decision‐making from both industrialized and emerging markets.

To interview senior managers (many at CEO level) of successful companies operating in emerging markets. We assume the senior managers best understand strategy formulation and implementation.

A strategic model for both information rich and information void business environments.

We did not use a random sample, but rather a convenience sample of CEOs and senior managers of companies operating in emerging markets. This sample limits the study’s generalizability.

Successful managers argued that best practices developed for information‐rich Western markets were not effective in information‐void emerging markets.

The paper has value for managers moving from industrialized economies to emerging economies and vice‐versa, and to academics researching strategic decision‐making in emerging markets.

More than ever before, globalization has linked the socioeconomic development of nations to the performance of their educational systems. One of the consequences of this new focus on improving the quality of teachers is the acknowledgment of the importance of engaging more directly with what is at the center of action, that is, pedagogy (Alexander, 2008). In this perspective, we conduct research aimed at describing, analyzing, and establishing a critical portrait of the scientific bases of the pedagogical choices made by three major international organizations (OECD, UNESCO, and World Bank) with respect to teacher education and development. In terms of methodology, we conducted a fine-grained analysis of the documents produced in the framework of TALIS and semi-structured individuals interviews with five staff members of OECD. The idea of pedagogical pluralism constitutes a rhetorical artefact through which constructivist teaching approaches are favored.

Teachers’ continuing professional development (CPD) should improve teacher quality and teaching practices, though teachers vary in the extent to which they participate in CPD activities. Because beliefs influence working and learning, and teachers’ beliefs about learning and teaching influence their instructional decisions, this study aims to explore the link between teachers’ beliefs about learning and teaching and their participation in CPD.

This study features two belief dimensions (student and subject matter orientation) and three types of CPD activities (updating, reflective, and collaborative). Survey data from 260 Dutch secondary school teachers were collected and analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Student‐oriented beliefs relate positively to teachers’ participation in CPD: the more student‐oriented teachers are, the more they participate in CPD. No relationship emerges between subject matter–oriented beliefs and CPD.

To intensify teachers’ participation in CPD and thereby improve teacher quality and teaching practices, schools should emphasize a student orientation among their teachers.

The original empirical study examines the relationship between teachers’ beliefs about learning and teaching and their participation in CPD and thus furthers understanding of factors that influence teachers’ participation in CPD.

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to demonstrate an understanding of:

The impact of increasing competition occurring within the UK retail environment.

Consumers efforts to reduce the disparity between beliefs and behaviours, as conceptualised within cognitive dissonance theory.

The alignment with marketing, the wider economy and the retail sector as a means to identify ways to shape value creation.