Danny Miller

Bio: Danny Miller is an academic researcher from HEC Montréal. The author has contributed to research in topics: Consumption (economics) & Agency (sociology). The author has an hindex of 133, co-authored 512 publications receiving 71238 citations. Previous affiliations of Danny Miller include University of New Mexico & McGill University.

A Decision-support System for Assessing the Impact of Fire Management on Threatened and Endangered Species

Abstract: Historically, wildfire was an important agent of change in landscapes across the western United States. Fires of varying magnitudes and extents contributed to a mosaic of dynamic landscape conditions. For the past century, fire management that focuses on fire suppression has effectively altered the composition of many vegetation communities across the landscape. Fire management and other landuse practices associated with natural resource use, agriculture, and residential development have changed the complexity of terrestrial landscapes. Aquatic systems have not been exempt from these changes: alterations in disturbance processes on the landscape have changed inputs into the stream environment, and practices such as stream cleaning have reduced the capacity of streams to build complex habitats. Road and dam construction have reduced connectivity among quality stream habitats for aquatic dependent species. Despite all these changes and challenges, populations of imperiled salmonids continue to survive. While the abundance and distribution of native aquatic species is much reduced, they persist in areas where suitable habitat exists and is accessible. It is part of the mission of many federal and state land management agencies to work toward a sustainable balance between ecological needs and other uses of the land. In this project, we have expanded and improved tools and techniques that make it easier for managers to consider the ecological and geomorphic effects of fire on aquatic systems. We have developed new applications that model the effect of fire on wood inputs, fine sediment, and stream temperature for the Wenatchee River watershed. We have developed models of Bull Trout and spring Chinook Salmon at landscape scales that allow us to begin to predict the potential effect of fire on the habitats necessary for the long-term persistence of these species. By considering in greater detail the connections between landscape processes and in-stream condition, we offer a landscape-scale perspective that has the potential to inform management regarding approaches to fire management that enhances aquatic habitat. Background and Purpose The effect of fire on ecological and geomorphic processes is a critical issue in the management of western forests. Land management at a riverscape scale spans watershed divides and includes ecologically meaningful boundaries such as watersheds, as well as human-imposed management frameworks such as land ownership. How to adapt management of forests and fire to enhance and re-establish ecological function in aquatic systems is not well understood (Gresswell 1999). Fire management has important shortand long-term implications for landscape structure and in-stream habitat conditions. A century of management focused on fire suppression has changed the frequency, intensity, and spatial extent of wildfires. Changing the disturbance processes that fostered habitat complexity throughout western riverscapes has also changed in-stream habitat. Including aquatic issues of habitat quality, stream network connectivity, and fish population resilience in fire management plans offers land managers the opportunity to broaden the goals of fire-suppression and fuels treatment activities (Bisson et al. 2003; Dunham et al. 2003). There is much to learn about the specific effects of fire on in-stream conditions and the resultant effects on fish population persistence. The long-term persistence of native aquatic species requires complex and connected habitats that may only be attainable by changing aspects of the current fire-management paradigm. When considering effects of fire and fire management on fish and aquatic ecosystems, it is necessary to consider both the physical environment (habitats, water quality) and the biology, including adaptive strategies, of the fish. Key factors that determine the response of a particular stream fish population to fire and other disturbances include: 1) the magnitude and duration of the disturbance event; 2) the potential response of the watershed of interest to fire; 3) the size of suitable habitat patches for the fish species of

Can't publish and be damned

Abstract: A premise of academic anthropology is that we work within a structure that enables the best anthropologists producing the most scholarly and important research to make that work available to the community of anthropologists. We can therefore assume that published academic research exists to a degree commensurate with its quality. This premise is false. I believe it remains slightly more true of academic publishing in the UK than in some other countries, for example the US, but it is still false. The reason is that the forces and interests that represent the structures of publishing do not exist for the sole purpose of fulfilling this premise of academic authority. They have other interests and agendas that may not coincide with that ideal. And yet we continue to work as though there was no such discrepancy between theory and practice. This self-delusion has become increasingly problematic.

Beyond the boundaries: final comments

Abstract: What these four excellent papers on the topic of consumption have in common is that they represent a certain maturity in the anthropological scholarship regarding consumption. They are far removed from earlier more pedantic concerns with questions such as “what is consumption?” or how far should consumption be regarded as either good or bad. Rather, at this stage we can see that the earlier literature tended to simplify and narrow our discussion precisely because it remained fixated upon the ...

Competitive advantage: creating and sustaining superior performance

Abstract: COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE introduces a whole new way of understanding what a firm does. Porter's groundbreaking concept of the value chain disaggregates a company into 'activities', or the discrete functions or processes that represent the elemental building blocks of competitive advantage. Now an essential part of international business thinking, COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE takes strategy from broad vision to an internally consistent configuration of activities. Its powerful framework provides the tools to understand the drivers of cost and a company's relative cost position. Porter's value chain enables managers to isolate the underlying sources of buyer value that will command a premium price, and the reasons why one product or service substitutes for another. He shows how competitive advantage lies not only in activities themselves but in the way activities relate to each other, to supplier activities, and to customer activities. That the phrases 'competitive advantage' and 'sustainable competitive advantage' have become commonplace is testimony to the power of Porter's ideas. COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE has guided countless companies, business school students, and scholars in understanding the roots of competition. Porter's work captures the extraordinary complexity of competition in a way that makes strategy both concrete and actionable.

Upper Echelons: The Organization as a Reflection of Its Top Managers

Abstract: Theorists in various fields have discussed characteristics of top managers. This paper attempts to synthesize these previously fragmented literatures around a more general “upper echelons perspective.” The theory states that organizational outcomes—strategic choices and performance levels—are partially predicted by managerial background characteristics. Propositions and methodological suggestions are included.

Clarifying the Entrepreneurial Orientation Construct and Linking It To Performance

Abstract: The primary purpose of this article is to clarify the nature of the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) construct and to propose a contingency framework for investigating the relationship between EO and firm performance. We first explore and refine the dimensions of EO and discuss the usefulness of viewing a firm's EO as a multidimensional construct. Then, drawing on examples from the EO-related contingencies literature, we suggest alternative models (moderating effects, mediating effects, independent effects, interaction effects) for testing the EO-performance relationship.

Social Identity Theory and the Organization

Abstract: It is argued that (a) social identification is a perception of oneness with a group of persons; (b) social identification stems from the categorization of individuals, the distinctiveness and prestige of the group, the salience of outgroups, and the factors that traditionally are associated with group formation; and (c) social identification leads to activities that are congruent with the identity, support for institutions that embody the identity, stereotypical perceptions of self and others, and outcomes that traditionally are associated with group formation, and it reinforces the antecedents of identification. This perspective is applied to organizational socialization, role conflict, and intergroup relations.