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1 – 10 of 49The online economy has not resolved the issue of racial bias in its applications. While algorithms are procedures that facilitate automated decision-making, or a sequence of…
Abstract
Purpose
The online economy has not resolved the issue of racial bias in its applications. While algorithms are procedures that facilitate automated decision-making, or a sequence of unambiguous instructions, bias is a byproduct of these computations, bringing harm to historically disadvantaged populations. This paper argues that algorithmic biases explicitly and implicitly harm racial groups and lead to forms of discrimination. Relying upon sociological and technical research, the paper offers commentary on the need for more workplace diversity within high-tech industries and public policies that can detect or reduce the likelihood of racial bias in algorithmic design and execution.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper shares examples in the US where algorithmic biases have been reported and the strategies for explaining and addressing them.
Findings
The findings of the paper suggest that explicit racial bias in algorithms can be mitigated by existing laws, including those governing housing, employment, and the extension of credit. Implicit, or unconscious, biases are harder to redress without more diverse workplaces and public policies that have an approach to bias detection and mitigation.
Research limitations/implications
The major implication of this research is that further research needs to be done. Increasing the scholarly research in this area will be a major contribution in understanding how emerging technologies are creating disparate and unfair treatment for certain populations.
Practical implications
The practical implications of the work point to areas within industries and the government that can tackle the question of algorithmic bias, fairness and accountability, especially African-Americans.
Social implications
The social implications are that emerging technologies are not devoid of societal influences that constantly define positions of power, values, and norms.
Originality/value
The paper joins a scarcity of existing research, especially in the area that intersects race and algorithmic development.
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Aarhus Kommunes Biblioteker (Teknisk Bibliotek), Ingerslevs Plads 7, Aarhus, Denmark. Representative: V. NEDERGAARD PEDERSEN (Librarian).
There is widespread debate about the nationalistic top-down approach of citizenship education. By using the notion of cultural citizenship as a useful theoretical lens…
Abstract
Purpose
There is widespread debate about the nationalistic top-down approach of citizenship education. By using the notion of cultural citizenship as a useful theoretical lens, citizenship education research tends to focus on the process of subjectivity construction among students’ citizenship learning process. The Communist Party of China plays a dominant role in cultivating citizens in the form of ideological and political education (IaPE) in Chinese universities. The research problem thus focuses on the dynamics and complexity of how Chinese university students construct their subjectivities regarding citizenship learning through IaPE. The main purpose of the study is to provide some research directions for understanding students’ citizenship learning today.
Design/methodology/approach
With the case study of one university in China and interview data from 25 students, this paper examines the ways in which students understand and respond to dominant discourses.
Findings
The findings revealed there is a deficit of citizenship learning in IaPE, and students felt ideologically pressurized. This study suggests students’ complex subjectivities of active participants but confused minds as a phenomenon in Chinese higher education, in which they must involve in IaPE for personal academic and career development, while they adopted covert strategies for self-conscious citizenship learning expectations. These strategies took the form ranging from obediently completing basic curriculum requirements and distancing away by studying abroad, to actively searching for learning opportunities from other courses and media society.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to citizenship education research by recognizing the complexities of how subjectivities are formed in formal university settings.
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Peiman Pilechiha, Alireza Norouziasas, Hoorieh Ghorbani Naeini and Kasmir Jolma
In vernacular buildings, many climatic and passive solutions have been used to create indoor thermal comfort. Seasonal occupant movement is an example of a traditional response to…
Abstract
Purpose
In vernacular buildings, many climatic and passive solutions have been used to create indoor thermal comfort. Seasonal occupant movement is an example of a traditional response to increasing thermal comfort. This article investigates the influence of these user behaviours on thermal comfort in courtyard houses.
Design/methodology/approach
Parametric models of three different scenarios of courtyard houses are simulated. The courtyard houses are located in Shiraz, Iran, and share the same orientation and construction materials. To enhance the accuracy of the study, the indoor adaptive thermal comfort (ATC) analysis is performed with three different window-to-wall ratios (WWR) of 25, 50 and 75%. The ACT analysis is performed on an hourly basis for summer and winter scenarios.
Findings
The results demonstrate that the indoor ATC is 8.3% higher in winter than in the summer in the seasonal zones. During the summer, the amount of ATC is relatively sustained in all zones. Unlike common beliefs, seasonal movement can enhance the ATC, especially during winter, specifically in the northern part of the courtyard. In northern zones, the seasonal movement of occupants improves the indoor ATC from 10.1 to 23.7%, and in southern zones, the improvement is from 2.2 to 4.8%.
Originality/value
This research presents a new numerical investigation into occupants' seasonal movements in courtyard houses during summer and winter. It provides a precise pattern to show how much this seasonal movement can affect the habitant's ATC.
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Knight's Industrial Law Reports goes into a new style and format as Managerial Law This issue of KILR is restyled Managerial Law and it now appears on a continuous updating basis…
Abstract
Knight's Industrial Law Reports goes into a new style and format as Managerial Law This issue of KILR is restyled Managerial Law and it now appears on a continuous updating basis rather than as a monthly routine affair.
THIS issue of The Library World marks the commencement of a new volume, and we take the opportunity of thanking our many readers for their continued good feeling and support. It…
Abstract
THIS issue of The Library World marks the commencement of a new volume, and we take the opportunity of thanking our many readers for their continued good feeling and support. It is a pleasure to us to record the fact that we are able to enlarge this initial number of the volume and that we feel the time has come when we shall make such enlargement a permanency, without any corresponding increase in the subscription price.
In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of…
Abstract
In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of material poses problems for the researcher in management studies — and, of course, for the librarian: uncovering what has been written in any one area is not an easy task. This volume aims to help the librarian and the researcher overcome some of the immediate problems of identification of material. It is an annotated bibliography of management, drawing on the wide variety of literature produced by MCB University Press. Over the last four years, MCB University Press has produced an extensive range of books and serial publications covering most of the established and many of the developing areas of management. This volume, in conjunction with Volume I, provides a guide to all the material published so far.
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Marilyn M. Helms and Judy Nixon
The purpose of this study is to examine the use of the strategic management tool, Strengths‐Weaknesses‐Opportunities‐Threats or SWOT analysis, and to assess how the methodology…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the use of the strategic management tool, Strengths‐Weaknesses‐Opportunities‐Threats or SWOT analysis, and to assess how the methodology has been used as well as changes to the methodology. The findings both for and against SWOT analysis should lead to a balanced view of the technique as well as yield ideas for needed theory building.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the ABInform Global® database, academic peer‐reviewed articles were compiled indicating SWOT as one of the article's key index and search words.
Findings
The use of SWOT analysis continues to permeate the academic peer‐reviewed literature. Research supports SWOT analysis as a tool for planning purposes. Over the past decade, SWOT research has focused on analyzing organizations for recommended strategic actions. As a methodology for strategic positioning, SWOT analysis has been extended beyond companies to countries and industries and is used in virtually every published business case positioned for business student analysis. Additional use of SWOT is as teaching tools by consultants, trainers and educators. This paper provides a summary of the research studies and suggests paths for future research.
Research limitations/implications
This paper is limited to analyzing reports found in a selection of academic peer‐reviewed business journals. However, research implications for applying SWOT analysis provides a broad spectrum of industry analysis in North America, Europe, and Asia. Additional limitations are the need to link SWOT analysis to other strategic tools and methodologies for further theory building, since past research continues to lack quantifiable findings on the success of the SWOT analysis.
Practical implications
A fresh view of new directions and implementations for SWOT analysis, as well as other strategic planning tools that can be combined with SWOT, provides guidance for practitioners and policy makers alike.
Originality/value
The article adds value to the existing literature as the first summary of SWOT research indicating its uses and limitations. Support of its usage and place in the strategic literature is validated. The SWOT methodology is pervasive, in large part, due to its simplicity. In addition, the use of SWOT as a proven developmental, results‐oriented strategic planning tool is also extended, although further research leading to theory building is warranted and recommended.
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