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Book part
Publication date: 6 June 2019

Rita A. Durant, Alexis Downs and Marja Flory

The purpose of this chapter is to uplevel the two-by-two binary matrix of differences to a three-by-three cross-referential one, in order to inquire into the nature and movement…

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to uplevel the two-by-two binary matrix of differences to a three-by-three cross-referential one, in order to inquire into the nature and movement of Spirit within us at different levels of analysis. Our design is a non-liner, post-structural inquiry. The implications of our findings include an invitation to co-explore the muddled middle area of relationship, such as Synthesis − between Thesis and Antithesis − and Breath − between Mind and Body, individually and collectively as a metaphorical set to explore Spirit as the relationship between Self and Other. The social implications reveal more possible interpretations than currently assumed, beyond the label of enemy and the erection of lines of containment, in the relational space between concepts and among people. Our essay is original, in its playful and post-modern interface of fact and fiction, mind and body, self and other, and spirit and breath.

Details

The Emerald Handbook of Management and Organization Inquiry
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-552-8

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 April 2020

Alistair Williams, Glyn Atwal and Douglas Bryson

The purpose of this study is to identify how craft spirits distilleries use elements of the storytelling narrative as part of a storytelling marketing strategy.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to identify how craft spirits distilleries use elements of the storytelling narrative as part of a storytelling marketing strategy.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study approach was undertaken based on seven craft distilleries in and around Chicago, IL. Data were collected from various sources including direct observation and secondary data based on online press coverage company websites and social media.

Findings

In the sample of firms, the authors identified the following seven categories of storytelling themes: craft, innovation, origins, myth, celebrity, provenance and collectability. These categories comprise both functional and emotional components which are strongly associated with the concept of authenticity.

Originality/value

This research is the first of its kind to investigate storytelling within the craft spirits sector. The results are relevant to develop strategies for marketing craft spirits brands. Findings are relevant for spirits distilleries in Chicago, IL but have transferable learnings for beverage categories who desire to stage meaningful, valued customer experiences.

Details

International Journal of Wine Business Research, vol. 32 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1062

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 January 2007

Peter Clarke

The purpose of this research is to show that Christmas spirit is often given as a reason or excuse for the goodwill, generosity and altruism associated with the celebration of…

7509

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to show that Christmas spirit is often given as a reason or excuse for the goodwill, generosity and altruism associated with the celebration of Christmas. Despite the influence of the occasion on cultural, financial and economic issues, there has been no specific empirical attention toward the structure or measurement of the concept of Christmas spirit. Research into this popular topic is important, timely and has universal appeal.

Design/methodology/approach

Defining the structure of Christmas spirit drew upon previous academic research about feelings and evaluations. This research employed a process of exploratory factor analysis, correlations, a confirmatory analysis and path analysis that combined the associated constructs. The required information was gathered via a self‐administered survey method where the respondents fell within a sample frame of a parent with at least one child between the ages of three and eight years. A questionnaire package containing two instruments (each of 70 questions), instructions and a self‐addressed return envelope was delivered to five participating schools and seven kindergartens for children to take home to their parents. As a result, 450 acceptable cases were available for analysis.

Findings

Overall, the singular finding confirmed that the multi‐dimensional feelings‐evaluation model, as outlined in this study, is a valid measurement of Christmas spirit.

Practical implications

Future research that incorporates this measure has implications for consumer behaviour theory and the motivation toward Christmas festivities. The findings have consequences for content and themes of advertising, and the scope of brand promotion by owners, promoters and retailers of brands and the associated business activity.

Originality/value

Christmas celebrations are a complex amalgam of motives, strategies, attitudes, rituals, behaviours and relationships. Christmas spirit is an important topic of deep interest to consumer behaviour researchers; being an often‐used, but ambiguous term there is a need for theoretical clarification. Therefore, it is timely to explore and develop behavioural theory related to the celebration because of the festivity's economic and social impacts on society.

Details

Journal of Consumer Marketing, vol. 24 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0736-3761

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 October 2007

Jarkko Kari

The purpose of this paper is to explore one broad question: what do information, information processes, information services, as well as information systems and technology have to…

2056

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore one broad question: what do information, information processes, information services, as well as information systems and technology have to do with the spiritual?

Design/methodology/approach

The task is accomplished by conducting a literature review of 31 refereed texts in information studies. The paper proceeds by inspecting the manifestation of spirituality in information sources, generic information processes, as well as specific information processes: conceptualizing, seeking, processing, using, storing, describing and providing information.

Findings

A total of 11 relationships between information phenomena and the spiritual are discovered. Based on these, a definition of spiritual information is put forth. There are also some descriptive statistics on the corpus as a whole.

Research limitations/implications

The results are susceptible to limitations imposed by the reviewed studies themselves. Errors of interpretation were a possibility. The article suggests many directions for further research in the context of the spiritual, and discusses how to view spirituality in information science.

Practical implications

Practical implications are only mentioned here and there, because research implications are of primary concern in the investigation.

Originality/value

This paper is the first to synthesize information research in the spiritual domain. Beyond the subject area, the article demonstrates how to classify information processes, and conduct a context‐centric literature review in the field of information studies.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 63 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

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Article
Publication date: 15 June 2015

Nomie Eriksson and Sandor Ujvari

Clinical governance and leadership concepts can lead to more or less successful implementations of new clinical practice. The purpose of this paper is to examine how Fiery Spirits

Abstract

Purpose

Clinical governance and leadership concepts can lead to more or less successful implementations of new clinical practice. The purpose of this paper is to examine how Fiery Spirits, as institutional entrepreneurs can, working in a team, implement sustained change in hospital clinical practice.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper describes two case studies, conducted at two Swedish hospitals over a period of two years, in which changes in clinical practice were implemented. In both cases, key-actors, termed Fiery Spirits, played critical roles in these changes. The authors use a qualitative approach and take an intra-organizational perspective with semi-structured in-depth interviews and document analysis.

Findings

The new clinical practices were successfully implemented with a considerable influence of the Fiery Spirits who played a pivotal role in the change efforts. The Fiery Spirits persuasively, based on their structural and normative legitimacy and the adoption of learning processes, advocated, and supported change.

Practical implications

Fiery Spirits, given flexibility and opportunity, can be powerful forces for change outside the trajectory of management-inspired and management-directed change. Team members, when inspired and encouraged by Fiery Spirits, are less resistant to change and more willing to test new clinical practices.

Originality/value

The paper complements literature on how the Fiery Spirit concept aligns with concepts of clinical governance and leadership and how change can be achieved. Additionally, the findings show the effects of legitimacy and learning processes on change in clinical practice.

Details

Journal of Health Organization and Management, vol. 29 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7266

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 1904

In a Report, issued on July 9, 1896, the Select Committee on Food Products Adulteration recommended the establishment of a central government scientific authority, who should act…

Abstract

In a Report, issued on July 9, 1896, the Select Committee on Food Products Adulteration recommended the establishment of a central government scientific authority, who should act as a court of reference upon scientific questions arising under the Adulteration Acts, and who should be empowered, at their discretion, to prescribe standards and limits as to the quality and purity of food. It was rightly held by the Select Committee that the constitution of such an authority is an absolute necessity in order that the all‐important question of food standards may be duly considered and dealt with, and that all matters affecting the administration of the Acts and involving scientific considerations may be placed on a more satisfactory footing. The Committee also expressed the opinion that the formation of such an authority would result in the removal of many practical difficulties met with in the administration of the Acts, and would largely obviate the costly litigation in which public bodies, traders, and others are constantly liable to be involved under existing conditions. Nothing whatever has been done to give effect to the recommendation of the Committee in spite of the fact that the necessity for some such course of action as that indicated has been demonstrated beyond possibility of question, and that further evidence proving the wisdom of the Committee's suggestion is constantly afforded. The Islington brandy case provides the latest illustration of the extremely unsatisfactory conditions under which public bodies are required to administer the Acts and under which traders have to answer charges made against them. A local grocer was summoned by the Islington Borough Council for selling, as brandy, a liquid which was certified by the Public Analyst to contain 60 per cent. of spirit not derived from the grape, and which was therefore not of the nature, substance and quality of the article demanded. The vendor naturally referred the matter to the firm who had supplied him. The case was taken up by a traders' association, and, after five lengthy hearings, in the course of which much expert evidence was given on both sides, resulted in a conviction and the infliction of a penalty of £5 and £50 costs—an amount which probably represents only a fraction of the expense involved. For the present we do not propose to review the scientific evidence which was put forward by the prosecution and by the defence. There is no doubt that Mr. FORDHAM, the magistrate who heard the case, was perfectly right in taking the view that the term “brandy,” when unqualified, means a spirit distilled from wine or from fermented products of the grape. It is also perfectly plain that when a person asks for brandy and is supplied with coloured grain spirit, or with a mixture of grain spirit and true brandy, he is prejudiced, and that the vendor commits an offence under the Acts. The fact that the term “brandy” has been commonly applied to “silent spirit” coloured and flavoured to imitate true brandy, or to mixtures of brandy and alcohol derived from other sources than the produce of the grape, is not a legitimate excuse for the sale of such factitious articles as “brandy.” The great difficulty lies in differentiating by analytical means between the genuine article and the imitation. The vast majority of people, being utterly ignorant even of the elements of chemistry, labour under the impression that all that need be done in a matter of this kind is to tell the Public Analyst to “analyse,” and that full, exact, and absolutely definite information which nobody can call in question, will be forthcoming as a matter of course. The evidence given in the case under consideration is quite enough in itself to show the absurdity of this assumption. On the one hand the Public Analyst stated that he was satisfied, from the results of his general investigations in regard to brandy and from the results of his analysis of the sample submitted to him, that this sample contained 60 per cent. of spirit other than that derived from the produce of the grape. On the other hand, a number of analytical experts called for the defence asserted that in the present state of analytical knowledge it was perfectly impossible for any Public Analyst to arrive at the conclusion mentioned in regard to the sample in question, and that, as a fact, the analytical evidence adduced did not justify the statement made in the certificate on which the proceedings were founded. The defence do not appear to have denied that the Public Analyst might be right. In reality it appears only to have been contended that his analytical evidence was not, sufficient to prove that he was so. At any rate the experts called for the defence certainly did not prove by scientific evidence that he was wrong.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 6 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Article
Publication date: 1 October 2011

Kobena Hanson, George Kararach, Frannie A. Léautier and Robert Nantchouang

Animal spirits in modern economics has a specific meaning; it refers to the restless and inconsistent element in the economy as well as the peculiar relationship people have with…

Abstract

Animal spirits in modern economics has a specific meaning; it refers to the restless and inconsistent element in the economy as well as the peculiar relationship people have with ambiguity and uncertainty, which tends to lead to paralysis or incredible confidence and energy in decision‐making and risk taking. Animal spirits have also been used to explain peaceful periods and instability or interpret track records of success and periods of disarray or spectacular failure, high levels of trust and confidence or extreme pessimism and distrust. Willingness to undertake extreme effort or self‐sacrifice to get things done is another expression of animal spirits, which can again go in the opposite direction with people shirking responsibilities, and practicing generalized selfishness or individualism. Such behaviours can have visible effects on the performance of public agencies or civil service agencies, in the behaviour of leaders in the public or private sector, or in the economic performance of a country. Differences across agencies and countries over time can also be explained if one is able to distinguish the effect of animal spirits. Using a logistic model, this paper tests for the existence of “animal spirits” in the capacity development interventions spearheaded by the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF)‐funded institutions. The analysis and findings highlight, amongst others, the importance of non‐economic factors in shaping the capacity development sphere. Understanding this nature of animal spirits is critical to designing and implementing effective programs for capacity development in Africa. It is particularly important to focus on issues of leadership and leadership development, including the capacity for leaders to instil confidence and piece together stories that motivate people into a common vision of the future or to achieve common objectives.

Details

World Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development, vol. 7 no. 2/3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-5961

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2005

Li‐teh Sun

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…

Abstract

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.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 25 no. 6/7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1985

Tomas Riha

Nobody concerned with political economy can neglect the history of economic doctrines. Structural changes in the economy and society influence economic thinking and, conversely…

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Abstract

Nobody concerned with political economy can neglect the history of economic doctrines. Structural changes in the economy and society influence economic thinking and, conversely, innovative thought structures and attitudes have almost always forced economic institutions and modes of behaviour to adjust. We learn from the history of economic doctrines how a particular theory emerged and whether, and in which environment, it could take root. We can see how a school evolves out of a common methodological perception and similar techniques of analysis, and how it has to establish itself. The interaction between unresolved problems on the one hand, and the search for better solutions or explanations on the other, leads to a change in paradigma and to the formation of new lines of reasoning. As long as the real world is subject to progress and change scientific search for explanation must out of necessity continue.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 12 no. 3/4/5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Article
Publication date: 1 May 1909

MR. F. W. F. ARNAUD, the Public Analyst for the Borough of Portsmouth, delivered a lecture on this subject at the Town Hall on April 27. The lecturer commenced his address by…

Abstract

MR. F. W. F. ARNAUD, the Public Analyst for the Borough of Portsmouth, delivered a lecture on this subject at the Town Hall on April 27. The lecturer commenced his address by stating that many of the objections to the use of certain preservatives which he might have occasion to put forward were not necessarily his own individual objections, but were the objections of many scientific men who had dealt with all sides of this difficult subject. There was a tendency on the part of some people to regard preservatives as disinfectants, but disinfectants and antiseptics were two different things. A disinfectant not only retarded the growth of microbes, but actually killed them, while an antiseptic preservative merely retarded their growth or formation. Two common antiseptics were sugar and salt. It had been contended that a small dose of a chemical preservative was preferable to a dose of microbes. The effect of a preservative was not to kill the life already present, but to prevent the free multiplication of the organisms present, and the swallowing of a dose of preservative did not necessarily prevent the swallowing of a dose of microbes. There were many old forms of preserving food, such as the use of sugar for fruit and condensed milk; of vinegar for vegetables; and the process of smoking for bacon and fish, smoke being very destructive to microbes; but the oldest form of preservation was the process of salting meat and fish. Another form of preservation was the method of preventing the access of air to perishable articles, as in the cases of eggs and lard. Then there was drying, as in the case of fruit, and chilling, or freezing, as in the cases of meat, milk, poultry, and fish. The temperatures employed for freezing food varied considerably, and depended chiefly upon the length of time during which storage was necessary. If it were only desired to keep meat for a week or two, a low temperature was not necessary, but one of 40 deg. F. was sufficient. Any cooling process was equivalent to the use of a great deal of chemical preservative. A cooling to 50 deg. P. was equivalent to the addition of boric acid to the extent of .05 per cent. At a normal summer temperature of 70 deg. P., two microbes would produce 62,100 in the course of twenty‐four hours; hence the necessity for cooling articles of food. The drawback to most of these methods of preservation was that sugar, salt, and cold were not applicable in every case. Exclusion of air and subsequent sterilisation had their drawbacks also. When sterilisation was complete and the air was exhausted, no putrefaction could take place, and the food should remain indefinitely unchanged. In the matter of tinned meat, the drawback lay chiefly in the failure to ensure complete sterilisation, and in the dissolving of tin, and occasionally lead, from the metal enclosing the food. In the case of tinned meat putrefaction to any considerable extent could be easily recognised by the blown condition of the tin and an absence of the inrush of air when the tin was pierced. Such food was a source of great danger, and if eaten the meat was liable to give rise to ptomaine poisoning—which was occasioned by eating the poisonous products produced by various bacteria. The danger of metallic poisoning could be largely overcome by the use of glass or earthenware vessels. Preservatives in use at the present time were: Benzoates, fluorides, formalin, salicylic acid, sulphites, saccharin, and beta naphthol, generally used singly, though there were some very complicated preservatives on the market. With reference to the use of salt and sugar as preservatives, little or nothing could be said against their use, for sugar was in itself a food and had a well‐known food value. Salt, too, was an essential constituent of our food, for without the elements of which it was composed we could not exist. Naturally, the assimilation of a large quantity of salt was not desirable, but it could not be urged, as, for instance, in the case of boric acid, that it was a substance foreign to the constituents of the human organism, for it was indispensable. Boric acid, however, played no part in any of the essential life processes.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 11 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

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