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1 – 10 of over 129000
Article
Publication date: 8 July 2019

Maurice Yolles

Agency is inherently an institution and involves dynamic socio-cultural processes that facilitate development. This paper is written in three parts. The purpose in Part 1 was to…

Abstract

Purpose

Agency is inherently an institution and involves dynamic socio-cultural processes that facilitate development. This paper is written in three parts. The purpose in Part 1 was to represent agency theory as an institutional theory, and consideration was made of the relationship between development, growth and globalisation. In Part 2, the purpose was to explore development with respect to the political context, explaining in terms of culture under what conditions political groups may come to power. Using political frames intended to define their nature and realities, they seek to attract agents in their political sphere to gain administrative power. In this Part 3, the purpose of this paper is to model, using cybernetic agency theory, the nature of development and reduction to instrumentality.

Design/methodology/approach

Development theory is a multidisciplinary field in which research and theories are clustered together and set within an adaptive institutional activity system framework. An adaptive activity system has a plural membership of agents represented by agency. In Parts 1 and 2 of this paper, agency was shown to have an institutional basis. Activity system development was also explained as a process of institutional evolution, and its potential was shown to provide power acquisition in a political landscape by competitive political frames which vie for support in a place of potentially susceptible agents. Here in Part 3, agency theory will be used to model the dynamic relationships between political frames and the agents that they wish to attract by projecting both cognitive and emotional structures, this enabling the anticipation of behaviour.

Findings

These relate to the three parts of the paper taken together. Agency is an evolutionary institutional system that can represent socio-political development. A model for political development has been created that identifies the conditions under which formal political groups are able to promote frames of policy to attract support from autonomous agents that constitute the membership of the activity system, and hence gain agency status. On the way to this, it connects Bauman’s theory of liquid modernity to Sorokin’s theory of socio-cultural dynamics and cultural stability. One result is the notion of liquid development, an unstable condition of development in adaptive activity systems. Agency theory can usefully explain detailed changes in agency, the relationships between agency agents, and interactions between agencies, this embracing institutional processes.

Research limitations/implications

The implication of this research is that it will allow empirical methods to be used that potentially enables political outcomes in complex socio-political environments to be anticipated, given additional appropriate measurement criteria.

Originality/value

The synergy of agency and institutional theories to explain the process of development is new, as is its application to the political development process in a political landscape. As part of this synergistic process, it has been shown how Bauman’s concept of liquidity relates to Sorokin’s ideas of socio-cultural change.

Abstract

Details

Understanding Intercultural Interaction: An Analysis of Key Concepts, 2nd Edition
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-438-8

Book part
Publication date: 2 December 2019

Frank Fitzpatrick

Abstract

Details

Understanding Intercultural Interaction: An Analysis of Key Concepts
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-397-0

Article
Publication date: 6 February 2007

Constance Kampf

This paper seeks to analyze strategies used to communicate CSR to public audiences via the internet in Maersk and WalMart in order to examine the influence of national culture…

14672

Abstract

Purpose

This paper seeks to analyze strategies used to communicate CSR to public audiences via the internet in Maersk and WalMart in order to examine the influence of national culture from the headquarters of each of these global corporations. The purpose of the paper is to further understanding about how CSR is framed and developed within the cultural bounds of a given nation.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper extends Donaldson and Preston's model of interaction between the corporation and its stakeholders through a cultural systems approach. The notion of cultural systems is combined with three of Roome's CSR agendas – diversity, sustainable environment, and community involvement/corporate philanthropy – to examine presentations of corporate social responsibility on Maersk and Walmart corporate web sites.

Findings

The consequences in corporate web site discourse about CSR in Maersk and WalMart are strikingly different. With respect to all three CSR agendas, the WalMart site includes a more detailed explanation of its efforts, rooted in local communities in the USA. In contrast, the Maersk site CSR section includes less detail, and a focus on efforts mainly in communities outside of Denmark. These differences in discourse imply different expectations from the public emerging from cultural system differences in the USA and Denmark. Thus, even though WalMart is not necessarily more involved with CSR efforts than Maersk, it has a greater need to express its CSR activities in detail due to the differences in expectations rooted in the US and Danish cultural systems.

Originality/value

Introducing an approach for understanding corporation‐stakeholder interactions and the expression of corporate social responsibility to the public via corporate web sites as situated in cultural systems.

Details

Corporate Communications: An International Journal, vol. 12 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1356-3289

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 August 2021

Gireesh Kumar T.K. and Raman Nair R.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the scope, issues and challenges in conceptualizing a comprehensive cultural heritage information system (CHIS) in the Indian context…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the scope, issues and challenges in conceptualizing a comprehensive cultural heritage information system (CHIS) in the Indian context and examines the feasibility of designing such a system with the support of advanced conservation strategies and technological aids.

Design/methodology/approach

As the conservation efforts and its sustenance requires the support of a knowledge base cum digital archiving tool, comprehensions on the availability and usage of different software tools are indispensable. Assessing the availability of controlled vocabularies, ontology frameworks, metadata standards, classification schemes and architectural designs, language compatibility for implementing cultural heritage system is inevitable for developing CHIS. The present study examines the availability of such schemes and systems and emphasis the need for developing a reliable information system.

Findings

A comprehensive system at the country level to efficiently document, manage and update the knowledge on cultural heritage is required. CHIS created can be engaged in visualizing the cultural heritages of the country and can act as an interactive multimedia documentation system. The virtual recreation of cultural heritage in a holistic manner can also ensure its long-term sustainability.

Originality/value

The digital archive of different expressions will be a rich source of data for research, administration and development. The archive developed should cover the cultural heritage depicted in the form of published documents, images, audios and videos, documents and visuals on performing arts, buildings, sculptures, ecosystem, monuments, utensils, etc. and the history and knowledge pertaining to them and any other property belonging to the heritage.

Details

Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication, vol. 71 no. 6/7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9342

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 February 2024

Tachia Chin, T.C.E. Cheng, Chenhao Wang and Lei Huang

Aiming to resolve cross-cultural paradoxes in combining artificial intelligence (AI) with human intelligence (HI) for international humanitarian logistics, this paper aims to…

Abstract

Purpose

Aiming to resolve cross-cultural paradoxes in combining artificial intelligence (AI) with human intelligence (HI) for international humanitarian logistics, this paper aims to adopt an unorthodox Yin–Yang dialectic approach to address how AI–HI interactions can be interpreted as a sophisticated cross-cultural knowledge creation (KC) system that enables more effective decision-making for providing humanitarian relief across borders.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is conceptual and pragmatic in nature, whereas its structure design follows the requirements of a real impact study.

Findings

Based on experimental information and logical reasoning, the authors first identify three critical cross-cultural challenges in AI–HI collaboration: paradoxes of building a cross-cultural KC system, paradoxes of integrative AI and HI in moral judgement and paradoxes of processing moral-related information with emotions in AI–HI collaboration. Then applying the Yin–Yang dialectic to interpret Klir’s epistemological frame (1993), the authors propose an unconventional stratified system of cross-cultural KC for understanding integrative AI–HI decision-making for humanitarian logistics across cultures.

Practical implications

This paper aids not only in deeply understanding complex issues stemming from human emotions and cultural cognitions in the context of cross-border humanitarian logistics, but also equips culturally-diverse stakeholders to effectively navigate these challenges and their potential ramifications. It enhances the decision-making process and optimizes the synergy between AI and HI for cross-cultural humanitarian logistics.

Originality/value

The originality lies in the use of a cognitive methodology of the Yin–Yang dialectic to metaphorize the dynamic genesis of integrative AI-HI KC for international humanitarian logistics. Based on system science and knowledge management, this paper applies game theory, multi-objective optimization and Markov decision process to operationalize the conceptual framework in the context of cross-cultural humanitarian logistics.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 October 2021

Gireesh Kumar Thekkum Kara

The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the need for developing an Indian cultural heritage information system (CHIS) where the cultural heritages can efficiently document…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the need for developing an Indian cultural heritage information system (CHIS) where the cultural heritages can efficiently document, manage and preserve and integrate with a searchable user interface mechanism. Further, the study scopes out the feasibility of developing single-window comprehensive national CHIS for all the cultural heritage properties of India enlisted in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO’s) World Heritage list.

Design/methodology/approach

Conservation efforts and their sustenance require the support of a knowledge base cum digital archiving and information retrieval tool. The present study identifies the basic requirements, strategies and the execution of designing a reliable information system for cultural heritage inheritances to safeguard them to facilitate access to the current and future resilient communities. Approach on issues and challenges associated while developing such an information system has also been addressed with possible recommendations.

Findings

In India, even though regional level conservation efforts are occurring, no comprehensive information system, which gives the whole perspective of the item or environment of heritage site, has been developed for the heritage sites recognized by UNESCO in its World Heritage list from India. Developing such a comprehensive digital archive for cultural heritage helps to showcase its assets and ensures its visibility globally without hampering the physical form. Application Information and Communication Technology and digital technologies can extensively be used coupled with mechanisms such as mobile devices, digital systems and content visualization techniques to support the efficient and effective management in a systemized way.

Research limitations/implications

As a pilot study, this paper examined the cultural heritage properties incorporated in the UNESCO World list. There are many lesser-known and unprotected cultural heritages in different parts of the country having artistic value and the unique characteristics, and the possibility of building the similar kind of information system for them with innovative technological solutions are not covered under this study.

Practical implications

Access to such an exclusive digital archive in a single-window platform would greatly support administrators, tourist departments, culture departments, development administration and conservation activists. The digital version of cultural inheritances created under the cultural heritage of India must have relevance to different subject fields such as history, archeology, manuscript logy, art, administration, knowledge management, computer science and library science. Also, it ensures that the resources remain accessible to the public without any restrictions provided with a comprehensive recapitulation.

Originality/value

To the authors’ best knowledge, no such comprehensive system envisages or is practiced in the country. Developing such a system with technological and data infrastructure also helps to understand the value, support the activities related to cultural heritage and bring the local community to support and initiate such heritage conservation activities.

Article
Publication date: 11 March 2022

Inkyung Choi

The purpose of this paper is to discuss deployment of cultural warrant in intercultural environment, aiming to better achieve ethical warrant.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss deployment of cultural warrant in intercultural environment, aiming to better achieve ethical warrant.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper synthesizes research on cultural warrant and classification, and uses examples of the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) to illustrate cultural warrant in a case of cross-cultural adaptation of bibliographic classification.

Findings

The notion of intercultural warrant was suggested as an operational approach to cultural warrant in the context of intercultural use of Knowledge Organization System (KOS).

Research limitations/implications

The research focuses on discussions of cultural warrant in the context of intercultural uses of KOS but lacking diverse examples of KOS and beyond (such as descriptive metadata standards).

Originality/value

This paper suggests the development of intercultural warrant as a theoretical view to understand classification systems commonly used worldwide and a path to achieve ethical treatments of cultures in such systems.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 78 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 August 2015

Gerhard Fink and Maurice Yolles

While emotions and feelings arise in the singular personality, they may also develop a normative dimensionality in a plural agency. The authors identify the cybernetic systemic…

1770

Abstract

Purpose

While emotions and feelings arise in the singular personality, they may also develop a normative dimensionality in a plural agency. The authors identify the cybernetic systemic principles of how emotions might be normatively regulated and affect plural agency performance. The purpose of this paper is to develop a generic cultural socio-cognitive trait theory of plural affective agency (the emotional organization), involving interactive cognitive and affective traits, and these play a role within the contexts of Mergers and Acquisitions (M & A).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors integrate James Gross’ model of emotion regulation with the earlier work on normative personality in the context of Mindset Agency Theory. The agency is a socio-cognitive entity with attitude, and operates through traits that control thinking and decision making. These traits are epistemically independent and operate on a bipolar scale; with the alternate poles having an auxiliary function to each other – where the traits may take intermediary “balanced” states between the poles.

Findings

Processes of affect regulation are supposed to go through three stages: first, identification (affective situation awareness); second, elaboration of affect is constituted through schemas of emotional feeling, which include emotion ideologies generating emotional responses to distinct contextual situations; third, execution: in the operative system primary emotions are assessed through operative intelligence for any adaptive information and the capacity to organize action; and turned into action, i.e. responses, through cultural feeling rules and socio-cultural display rules, conforming to emotion ideologies.

Research limitations/implications

This new theory provides guidance for framing multilevel interaction where smaller collectives (as social systems) are embedded into larger social systems with a culture, an emotional climate and institutions. Thus, it is providing a generic theoretical frame for M & A analyses, where a smaller social unit (the acquired) is to be integrated into a larger social unit (the acquirer).

Practical implications

Understanding interdependencies between cognition and emotion regulation is a prerequisite of managerial intelligence, which is at demand during M & A processes. While managerial intelligence may be grossly defined as the capacity of management to find an appropriate and fruitful balance between action and learning orientation of an organization, its affective equivalent is the capacity of management to find a fruitful balance between established emotion expression and learning alternate forms of emotion expression.

Social implications

Understanding interdependencies between cognition and emotion is a prerequisite of social, cultural and emotional intelligence. The provided theory can be easily linked with empirical work on the emergence of a cultural climate of fear within societies. Thus, “Affective Agency Theory” also has a bearing for political systems’ analysis, what, however, is beyond the scope of this paper.

Originality/value

The paper builds on the recently developed Mindset Agency Theory, elaborating it through the introduction of the dimension of affect, where cognitive and affective traits interact and become responsible for patterns of behaviour. The model is providing a framework which links emotion expression and emotion regulation with cognitive analysis.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 28 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 21 November 2023

Silvia Sacchetti and Alberto Ianes

This study aims to address the question of what coordination mechanism can be used for cultural production and, in particular, for the governance of music culture production. The…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to address the question of what coordination mechanism can be used for cultural production and, in particular, for the governance of music culture production. The authors locate their reflection within the specific institutional innovations introduced in Italy in 2017, focusing on the idea of shared administration and the public–private collaboration instituted in Trentino (a province located in northern Italy) in support of its cultural policy.

Design/methodology/approach

This study focusses on the Trentino’s music school system. This includes 13 organisations (musicians’ cooperatives as well as associations of musicians and students, plus one municipal school which do not overlap with the public school system). To analyse shared administration features, the authors rely on selected information from 50 interviews with Trentino Music Schools (TMS) teachers and administrators, and on the proceedings of the 1994 music school conference organised by the schools at the time when this novel educational system was created.

Findings

To offer an innovative educational service, the public actor (Provincia Autonoma di Trento [PAT]) and the schools (TMS) have developed a strong interdependence at the different levels of decision-making: PAT needs organisations that are sufficiently structured and organised to respect requirements of transparency and accountability, as well as educational standards, whereas TMS need public funding to maintain their service accessible for users, good labour conditions and be financially sustainable. Likewise, the success of TMS in educating thousands of students every year, including additional teaching programmes funded by PAT within general public schools, has contributed to decrease the exclusion from music education, raise interest in young people for music and fed enrolment in TMS as well as in the public schools related to the conservatoire filière. Conclusions emphasise the existence of a polycentric system of music culture production which needs to acknowledge the risk of being trapped in a static disequilibrium, while recognising change and the need to support and promote a culture of cooperation among schools and across layered institutional levels over time.

Research limitations/implications

Further research can observe this system of cultural production over time, to appreciate changes and organisational tranformations, while introducing comparative analysis with other systems in different regions.

Practical implications

The relationship between the public and private sectors to design, organise and manage activities of collective interest (in the social, cultural, sporting and other fields) can increasingly become an effective and efficient alternative to the traditional bureaucratic as well as to the competitive method. For this to happen, however, all actors involved must be aware not only of areas of efficiency but also of inefficiency. To remedy the latter, corrective measures will have to be introduced. For example, fostering and improving “co-programmazione” and “co-progettazione” means giving all stakeholders involved the opportunity to actively participate. Should the number of participants increase, more discussion fora could be set up because one alone may not be sufficient to foster maximum involvement, to enhance different points of view, to allow for intersectoral and multidisciplinary interpretations and responses.

Social implications

The system governance based on co-programming and co-design has allowed – despite limitations – to pursue educational purposes and thus well-being for the users, as well as for the teachers and the community as a whole. The continuity of this educational and cultural action has been guaranteed by the economic and financial sustainability of the schools, which is highly dependent on the public actor funding personnel costs, and in turn tied to the number of students (demand) attending each school. Actors embedded in the system need to build awareness of industry and cultural changes and knowledge of how to introduce more adaptive capacity. This points towards the need for strengthening networking capacity and collaboration among schools and other relevant stakeholders.

Originality/value

The case presented is a unique system of music culture production in Italy, and its governance has never been addressed by previous studies. It provides an application of shared administration to which public administrations and communities can learn to improve access to music culture and education. For public and private organisations to take advantage of the method of “co-programmazione” and “co-progettazione”, to make the production of a meritorious good more efficient and to favour its maximum accessibility, this study considers the strengths and weaknesses of this approach, or the areas of efficiency and inefficiency, for which new measures will have to be introduced.

Details

Social Enterprise Journal, vol. 20 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-8614

Keywords

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