Search results

Fashion consciousness is an important consumers' attribute affecting their purchase of luxury products. The existing research mainly focuses on certain factors of fashion consciousness in fashion markets. This research investigates the psychological and social factors of fashion consciousness in the luxury fashion market. Specifically, we analyse how these factors affect fashion consciousness and purchase behaviour among consumers in three age groups of 18-23, 24-29 and 30-35. We find that self-monitoring and self-concept affect fashion consciousness among consumers of the age group of 18-23. We also show that media exposure has a positive effect on fashion consciousness in the age groups of 24-29 and 30-35. Accordingly, we suggest that retailers come up with proper advertising messages to influence the self-monitoring and self-concept of young consumers around the twenties. We also recommend selecting appropriate channels to enhance the exposure of luxury fashion information to consumers in their mid-twenties to mid-thirties.

Man has been seeking an ideal existence for a very long time. In this existence, justice, love, and peace are no longer words, but actual experiences. How ever, with the American preemptive invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and the subsequent prisoner abuse, such an existence seems to be farther and farther away from reality. The purpose of this work is to stop this dangerous trend by promoting justice, love, and peace through a change of the paradigm that is inconsistent with justice, love, and peace. The strong paradigm that created the strong nation like the U.S. and the strong man like George W. Bush have been the culprit, rather than the contributor, of the above three universal ideals. Thus, rather than justice, love, and peace, the strong paradigm resulted in in justice, hatred, and violence. In order to remove these three and related evils, what the world needs in the beginning of the third millenium is the weak paradigm. Through the acceptance of the latter paradigm, the golden mean or middle paradigm can be formulated, which is a synergy of the weak and the strong paradigm. In order to understand properly the meaning of these paradigms, however, some digression appears necessary.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

Presents a special issue, enlisting the help of the author’s students and colleagues, focusing on age, sex, colour and disability discrimination in America. Breaks the evidence down into manageable chunks, covering: age discrimination in the workplace; discrimination against African‐Americans; sex discrimination in the workplace; same sex sexual harassment; how to investigate and prove disability discrimination; sexual harassment in the military; when the main US job‐discrimination law applies to small companies; how to investigate and prove racial discrimination; developments concerning race discrimination in the workplace; developments concerning the Equal Pay Act; developments concerning discrimination against workers with HIV or AIDS; developments concerning discrimination based on refusal of family care leave; developments concerning discrimination against gay or lesbian employees; developments concerning discrimination based on colour; how to investigate and prove discrimination concerning based on colour; developments concerning the Equal Pay Act; using statistics in employment discrimination cases; race discrimination in the workplace; developments concerning gender discrimination in the workplace; discrimination in Japanese organizations in America; discrimination in the entertainment industry; discrimination in the utility industry; understanding and effectively managing national origin discrimination; how to investigate and prove hiring discrimination based on colour; and, finally, how to investigate sexual harassment in the workplace.

Schools today have to prepare students for life and work in a fast-changing world, for jobs and for using technologies some of which have not yet been created. But the schools and school systems are not keeping up and all too often, teachers are not developing the practices and skills required to meet today’s learners’ diverse needs. Changes indicate a greater imperative but also some cautions. This review is part of the attempt to work towards a common understanding of schools as learning organisations (SLOs) today which is both solidly founded in the literature and recognisable currently by researchers, practitioners and policy makers in many countries. But this is not just a theoretical exercise. If it is to be truly relevant and have the necessary impact, the concept also needs to support those who are interested in transforming or further developing their school(s) into learning organisations (LO) at this point in time. In this paper, the authors first summarise different perspectives on the concept of the LO as used more generally across disciplines. Next, the authors describe the methodology for exploring the SLO and discuss definitional issues, before presenting a summary of the integrated model with accompanying rationale, Finally the authors discuss plans to bring the model to life, with associated issues for researchers, educators and policy makers. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The search for this literature in the English language was carried out through: focussed searches of nine electronic databases – ERIC, SAGE, Google Scholar, Taylor & Francis, Emerald, JSTOR, SpringerLink, Google, Science Direct – using the search terms “SLO” and “learning school”; and contacts with leading experts in this area of work which led to identification of additional literature. The first approach led to selection of 25 most frequently found publications on the SLO and/or learning school. Through the second approach, the authors used an additional seven publications to further enrich the analysis. The interdisciplinary review was extended to include investigation of related organisational change, learning, school improvement and effectiveness literatures.

The starting hypothesis is that the seven action-oriented dimensions of the model together add up to a sustainable LO; that is, successfully realising all seven dimensions is greater than the sum of the parts. But, it is not clear how the individual dimensions relate to each other, and whether some are more important than others. Elements within dimensions are also likely to vary across country contexts. Over the next few years the authors will explore and amend the model, together with practitioners, policy makers and researchers from around the globe.

Despite differences in interpretation, common features emerge. First, there is general agreement that the SLO is a necessity for dealing with the rapidly changing external environment by any school organisation, regardless of context. This is exemplified by application of the concept in many countries including, for example, Australia, Canada, England and Wales, Iran, Israel, Korea, Malaysia, South-Africa and the USA. Second, the SLO is defined as “organic” and closely connected to its external environment. Third, the SLO literature strongly emphasises the importance of individual, group and organisational learning with inquiry, problem solving and experimentation as key drivers of change and innovation. Last, the literature highlights the importance of beliefs, values and norms of employees for continuous and collaborative learning, and processes, strategies and structures to create the conditions for such learning, experimentation and innovation to flourish. The review led to the design of a new action-oriented model. In its current form, the model is intended to offer a stimulus and provide practical guidance on how schools might support and use learning at all levels to improve and transform themselves into a LO and ultimately enhance outcomes. The language is deliberately action-oriented, and elements highlight both what a school aspires to and the processes it goes through in its journey of developing itself as a LO.

While the concept of a school LO is not new, at a time of constant and complex change, this multi-disciplinary international literature review has given it a new lease of life: drawing on previous studies, but connecting these to a wider relevant knowledge base and the current context. It offers a way forward while arguing that deeper understanding is needed on how schools can develop as LOs. It is now informing the OECD’s work on SLOs with policy makers and practitioners in different countries and the findings are being used to help assess impact at a range of levels.

This paper was developed with the objective of unravelling the concepts and their applications in the broad areas of organizational learning (OL) and learning organization (LO). The same altogether was captured by the academic lens of Professor Eric Tsang. Through the interview, Prof Tsang helped in tracing the progressive path of his academic journey, understanding his ideas and perspectives from the space of OL and LO as well as his contributions related to those. Overall, this study aims to add to the ongoing knowledge-intensive process of redefining the ways in which organizations ‘learn’.

This paper is based on a detailed conversation with the distinguished academician, Prof. Eric Tsang.

How OL can follow the continuum of “purposeful organizational routines (ORs)” and that changes in such ORs will happen if shared work experiences of employees are put together. Also, organizational unlearning (OU) as a phenomenon is hard to ignore for successful organizations, especially large multinational companies.

The discussions with Prof Eric Tsang reflected his thoughts and critique pertaining to the core theme of OU and the significance of “purposeful organizational routines.” In the near future, other researchers and professionals can use the scope of verifying some of the assertions made in different contexts of conducting business across LOs.

EVERY method employed by librar ns to bring books to the notice of readers may be justified It is thus desirable to devote an occasional issue of THE LIBRARY WORLD to this attractive subject. Our writers take differing views, but there is always a single aim in their work: to bring right book and reader into acquaintance. We might have to meet the challenge, which indeed one of our writers implies, that such book display may deflect the Library from its original, rightful purpose. Until these terms are defined such a challenge is a begging of the question. Often we have mentioned the question, For what public is the public library working? Was it intended to serve as an auxiliary, and then an extension, of the official education system? It has always indeed been more and less than that. Our founders were able to argue that libraries would withdraw men from beer and ill‐company, but from the first they probably failed to do that, and made their appeal to the intelligent elements in the community. As they developed and public education waxed, there grew up an enormous literature, available in early years in small quantity, the aim of which was entertainment only, and there survived—there survives still—a notion which was based on an earlier conception of books, that to read was somehow educative and virtuous, whatever was read. Librarians hold this notion in some measure to‐day, although the recent success of twopenny libraries which are mainly devoted to the entertainment type of literature must have made them revise the view somewhat.

Explores the extent of employee surveillance in the western world and queries why the USA uses surveillance measures to a greater extent than other developed nations. Suggests that American managers choose surveillance methods which include the control of workers’ bodies in the production process. Lists the batteries of tests and monitoring to which US employees can now be subjected – including searching employee computer files, voice/e‐mail, monitoring telephone calls, drug tests, alcohol tests, criminal record checks, lie detector and handwriting tests. Notes also the companies which are opposed to worker and consumer privacy rights. Pinpoints the use of surveillance as a means to ensure that employees do not withold production. Reports that employees dislike monitoring and that it may adversely affect their performance and productivity. Argues that Americans like to address complex social problems with technological means, there are no data protection laws in the USA, and that these two factors, combined with the “employment‐at‐will” doctrine, have all contributed to make it possible (and easy) for employers to use technological surveillance of their workforce. Outlines some of the ways employers insist on the purification of workers’ bodies.

The study purpose was to assess the evidence on the effects of hospital restructuring that included layoffs, on nurses who remained employed, using a systematic review of the research literature to contribute to policy formation. Papers addressing research, hospital restructuring resulting in layoffs, effects on nurses, and a stated relationship between the independent and dependent variables were included. Data were extracted and the quality of each study was assessed. The final group of included studies had 22 empirical papers. The main effects were significant decreases in job satisfaction, professional efficacy, ability to provide quality care, physical and emotional health, and increases in turnover, and disruption to healthcare team relationships. Nurses with fewer years of experience or who experienced multiple episodes of restructuring experienced greater effects. Other findings remain inconclusive. Further research is required to determine if these effects are temporal or can be mitigated by individual or organizational strategies.

Man has been seeking an ideal existence for a very long time. In this existence, justice, love, and peace are no longer words, but actual experiences. How ever, with the American preemptive invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and the subsequent prisoner abuse, such an existence seems to be farther and farther away from reality. The purpose of this work is to stop this dangerous trend by promoting justice, love, and peace through a change of the paradigm that is inconsistent with justice, love, and peace. The strong paradigm that created the strong nation like the U.S. and the strong man like George W. Bush have been the culprit, rather than the contributor, of the above three universal ideals. Thus, rather than justice, love, and peace, the strong paradigm resulted in in justice, hatred, and violence. In order to remove these three and related evils, what the world needs in the beginning of the third millenium is the weak paradigm. Through the acceptance of the latter paradigm, the golden mean or middle paradigm can be formulated, which is a synergy of the weak and the strong paradigm. In order to understand properly the meaning of these paradigms, however, some digression appears necessary.