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1 – 10 of 48Andrea Lučić, Dajana Barbić and Dijana Bojčeta Markoja
Educating audiences towards positive transformational change and targeted towards the improvement of quality of life in the field of strategic communication is almost a fairy…
Abstract
Educating audiences towards positive transformational change and targeted towards the improvement of quality of life in the field of strategic communication is almost a fairy tale. The controversy surrounding the Croatian pension fund system and its reform, low pensions, the negative demographic trends and low levels of financial and retirement literacy has put pension funds in a constant position of dealing with crisis communication strategies. At the same time, strategic communication in the industry is very traditional and is usually unnoticed. Taking a step back from a traditional goal of customer acquisitions, Croatian pension funds have pooled their efforts within the Association of Pension Funds and Pension Fund Insurance Companies in order to act as a unified group when dealing with joint interest. Recognizing the need of society to raise awareness of personal engagement in the process of retirement savings, they have decided to use education as a tool of strategic communication. This chapter has the purpose of showing how purposeful content-based valuable information can be created with the aim of influencing attitudes and behaviours in the field of personal and pension savings. During the project a quantitative study was conducted in order to investigate the effectiveness of the education on the attitudes and knowledge related to pension fund savings. The results of the quasi experiment indicate that the education has increased respondents' knowledge and positive attitudes towards retirement savings.
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Denise Kwan and Libi Shen
The purpose of this case study was to explore senior librarians’ perceptions of successful leadership skills in the 21st century. The data gathered from 10 senior library leaders…
Abstract
The purpose of this case study was to explore senior librarians’ perceptions of successful leadership skills in the 21st century. The data gathered from 10 senior library leaders consisted of demographic information and responses to six open-ended interview questions. From the NVivo 10 analysis, several significant themes emerged regarding successful library leadership skills in the 21st century at two levels: foundational and interpersonal. At the foundational level, technical and knowledge skills form the building blocks for the next level of interpersonal skills. Persuasion and collaborative skills are interwoven with these interpersonal skills, both of which are at the core of the postindustrial paradigm of leadership. These two levels of skills, with an emphasis on persuasion skills, should form the basis of succession planning programs for next generation librarians. Implementing such programs could lead to increased leadership diversity, greater job satisfaction, improved job performance and effectiveness, all of which help retain librarians and ease staff shortages. Further studies are recommended.
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I intend to provide an understanding of the possibilities that exist for the judgment of wartime rape at the international, domestic and in-between levels.
Abstract
Purpose
I intend to provide an understanding of the possibilities that exist for the judgment of wartime rape at the international, domestic and in-between levels.
Design/methodology/approach
What is required is an examination of prosecutions and judgments of the ICTY (International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia), the ICTR (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda), the SCSL (Special Court for Sierra Leone) and the ICC (International Criminal Court). I employ an international law and gender studies approach.
Findings
To count as a crime against humanity, war rape must have been committed as part of a widespread attack on a civilian population. This reflects the idea that war rape is not based solely in the violation of a woman’s body. The problem is that war rapes occur absent the explicit purpose to destroy a community. This chapter provides insight to the historical background of wartime rape to scholars, feminist legal theorists, sociologists, NGOs and lawyers.
Originality/value
By alerting us to the fact that the international community appears to elevate violations of groups or communities over the violation of individual women during conflict, the chapter suggests that the human rights of women may not be fully protected.
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Kathrin Stürmer, Lars Rademacher, Pio Fenton and Gearoid O Suilleabhain
Digital transformation, and the use and pervasiveness of social media in particular, have changed society. Politicians and political institutions increasingly use social media…
Abstract
Digital transformation, and the use and pervasiveness of social media in particular, have changed society. Politicians and political institutions increasingly use social media channels; hence political communication is changing as well. Continuous availability through smartphones and other devices has not only led to more information exchange between political and public actors, but also lobbyists, who classically communicate remotely, are also starting to respond to these changes and use tools such as Twitter, Facebook and the like. Against this background, this study provides insights into the effects of digital transformation, especially social media, on lobbying in Germany. Data were gathered from 15 interviews and seven focus groups with lobbyists and political decision makers in Berlin. The analysis shows that digital lobbying operates within a novel logic, due to the public context of social media. It is the human element that becomes the decisive factor in digital lobbying due to the social aspect in social media. Accordingly, investigating digital lobbying is critical to establish implications for theory and for practice.
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The objective of this chapter is to introduce the new concept of outside-in-content, which facilitates a new perspective in the decoupling discourse. Based on the requirements for…
Abstract
The objective of this chapter is to introduce the new concept of outside-in-content, which facilitates a new perspective in the decoupling discourse. Based on the requirements for the contents of strategic communication, the concept of outside-in- and inside-out-content is introduced. The mechanisms of outside-in-content are explained using examples of practices from strategic communication management, such as sponsorship, corporate giving, celebrities and brand worlds. Next, the effects of outside-in-content are described. Lastly, in the context of the discourse on decoupling, the question of whether – or how – outside-in-content encourages talk–action inconsistency is answered. In inside-out-content, strategic communication looks within the organization for events, characteristics, services, persons and topics capable of attaining strategic communication targets. In the case of outside-in-content, the path is reversed: here, the selection process for strategic communication begins outside the organization and asks which existing or new events, persons or topics outside the organization are capable of attaining strategic communication goals and raising interest among the target group. Outside-in-content tends to be more reliable in attaining profile-raising and image goals. Outside-in-content encourages decoupling for three reasons: (1) like a lighthouse, it draws attention away from negative issues. (2) As neither-true-nor-false-content, it encourages noncommittal and arbitrary strategic communication. (3) If organizations no longer talk about themselves, or do so less frequently, talk and action can also no longer be examined using the standards of tight or loose coupling.
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A variety of gases, including water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O), add to the radiative forcing of Earth's atmosphere, meaning that…
Abstract
A variety of gases, including water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O), add to the radiative forcing of Earth's atmosphere, meaning that they absorb certain wavelengths of infrared radiation (heat) that is leaving the Earth and thus raise the temperature of its atmosphere. Since glass has the same effect on the loss of heat from a greenhouse, these gases are known as “greenhouse” gases. It is fortunate that these gases are found in the atmosphere; without its natural greenhouse effect, Earth's temperature would be below the freezing point, and all waters on its surface would be ice. However, for the past 100 years or so, the concentrations of CO2, CH4, and N2O in the atmosphere have been rising as a result of human activities. An increase in the radiative forcing of Earth's atmosphere is destined to cause global warming, superimposed on the natural climate cycles that have characterized Earth's history.
Cristina Vaz de Almeida and Célia Belim
This chapter focusses on the contribution of health professionals' communication competences to patients. We propose a model of communication to be used in the therapeutic…
Abstract
This chapter focusses on the contribution of health professionals' communication competences to patients. We propose a model of communication to be used in the therapeutic relationship, supported by a literature review. The methodology is qualitative. Four focus groups (FGs) composed of Portuguese health professionals (N = 25), such as medical doctors, nurses and professors in health fields, were conducted during 2017 and 2018. All the participants of FGs validated a three-factor aggregated and interdependent model, which is composed of assertiveness, clear language and positivity (ACP model). The factors reinforce the therapeutic relationship and improve health literacy, thus reinforcing the patient's health and well-being. The argument is that health is wealth, so if the communication can improve health, then this has positive social implications. The study is a response to the lack of consensus in the literature on what specific and operative communication competences the health professional should perform in clinical encounters with the patients, and how these competences can improve, in the final instance, their health and well-being.
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