University of Canterbury

About: University of Canterbury is a education organization based out in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Large Hadron Collider. The organization has 11100 authors who have published 29846 publications receiving 893232 citations. The organization is also known as: Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha & Canterbury College.

Sharing as a form of anti‐consumption? An examination of toy library users

Abstract: While the literature on anti-consumption is rich and growing, there is still a lack of understanding among consumer researchers regarding why consumers choose to avoid consumption. This study seeks to extend the literature by exploring whether a group of consumers who reduce consumption through choosing to share rather than own are motivated by anti-consumption reasons. The authors use quantitative data from 397 toy library members to explore why members choose to participate in this form of sharing. The study reveals four groups – Socialites, Market Avoiders, Quiet Anti-Consumers and Passive Members. The Socialites enjoy the social benefits of active participation in their library. The Market Avoiders also perceived social and community benefits, are interested in sharing and are the least materialistic of the groups. The Quiet Anti-Consumers feel a sense of belonging to their toy library and hold strong anti-consumption, frugality and sharing values. The Passive Members are not socially involved, nor did they hold strong anti-consumption values. Thus, the authors find evidence that sharing may be one possible alternative market structure that may be adopted by anti-consumption consumers. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Interactive Effect of Internal and External Factors on a Proactive Environmental Strategy and its Influence on a Firm's Performance

Abstract: While the literature on the effective management of business and natural environment interfaces is rich and growing, there are still two questions regarding which the literature has yet to reach a definitive conclusion: (1) what is the interactive effect between internal and external drivers on a proactive environmental strategy (PES)? and (2) does a PES influence firm's performance? Drawing on the resource-based view for the internal drivers’ perspective and institutional and legitimacy theories for the external drivers’ perspective, this study suggests that the effect of entrepreneurial orientation on a PES is moderated by the intensity of government regulations and customers’ sensitivity to environmental issues. The authors also examine the relationship between the PES and a firm's performance in terms of sales and profit growth. Implications are discussed regarding the role of a PES in achieving a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

Performance enhancement of spectral-amplitude-coding optical CDMA using pulse-position modulation

Abstract: Spectral-amplitude-coding optical code-division multiple-access (OCDMA) systems are limited by interference between incoherent sources. A detailed analysis of this limit for a system with a balanced receiver is presented. Additional pulse-position modulation (PPM) coding is proposed as a method to improve the system performance beyond this limit. A simple and robust PPM decoding structure is proposed, and the performance analysis of the whole PPM-OCDMA system is presented. The interference-limited performance of the PPM-OCDMA system is found to be superior to that of the original system when the number of simultaneous users is of the order of the PPM word length or larger. In particular, for a PPM word length of two, an increase in spectral efficiency of up to 100% is possible with no change in the signaling rate, data rate, or bit-error rate (BER).

Minimization of childhood maltreatment is common and consequential: results from a large, multinational sample using the childhood trauma questionnaire

Abstract: Childhood maltreatment has diverse, lifelong impact on morbidity and mortality. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) is one of the most commonly used scales to assess and quantify these experiences and their impact. Curiously, despite very widespread use of the CTQ, scores on its Minimization-Denial (MD) subscale-originally designed to assess a positive response bias-are rarely reported. Hence, little is known about this measure. If response biases are either common or consequential, current practices of ignoring the MD scale deserve revision. Therewith, we designed a study to investigate 3 aspects of minimization, as defined by the CTQ's MD scale: 1) its prevalence; 2) its latent structure; and finally 3) whether minimization moderates the CTQ's discriminative validity in terms of distinguishing between psychiatric patients and community volunteers. Archival, item-level CTQ data from 24 multinational samples were combined for a total of 19,652 participants. Analyses indicated: 1) minimization is common; 2) minimization functions as a continuous construct; and 3) high MD scores attenuate the ability of the CTQ to distinguish between psychiatric patients and community volunteers. Overall, results suggest that a minimizing response bias-as detected by the MD subscale-has a small but significant moderating effect on the CTQ's discriminative validity. Results also may suggest that some prior analyses of maltreatment rates or the effects of early maltreatment that have used the CTQ may have underestimated its incidence and impact. We caution researchers and clinicians about the widespread practice of using the CTQ without the MD or collecting MD data but failing to assess and control for its effects on outcomes or dependent variables.