Showing papers on "Dilemma published in 2005"

The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy

Abstract: Preface 1. The will to believe 2. Is life worth living 3. The sentiment of rationality 4. Reflex action and theism 5. The dilemma of determinism 6. The moral philosopher and the moral life 7. Great men and their environment 8. The importance of individuals 9. On some Hegelisms 10. What psychical research has accomplished Index.

Organizing for Innovation: Managing the Coordination-Autonomy Dilemma in Technology Acquisitions

Abstract: The management of technology acquisitions - acquisitions of small technology based firms by large established firms - poses a dilemma in terms of how to organize for innovation. Acquirers must integrate acquired firms in order to exploit their capabilities and technologies in a coordinated manner; at the same time, they must preserve organizational autonomy for acquired firms in order to avoid disrupting their capacity for continued exploration. In this study, we suggest that the coordination-autonomy dilemma can be better managed by recognizing that the effect of a structural form on innovation outcomes is contingent on the stage of development of the innovation trajectory of the acquired firm. Specifically, we show that structural integration lowers the hazard of new product introductions for acquired firms that have not launched any products prior to acquisition and for all acquired firms in the immediate aftermath of the acquisition, but these adverse effects disappear as the innovation trajectory evolves beyond these stages. We discuss implications for our understanding of post merger integration, and the organizational challenges of balancing exploration and exploitation in high velocity environments.

The rhetoric and reality of gap closing: when the "have-nots" gain but the "haves" gain even more .

Abstract: Many forms of intervention, across different domains, have the surprising effect of widening preexisting gaps between disadvantaged youth and their advantaged counterparts—if such interventions are made available to all students, not just to the disadvantaged. Whether this widening of gaps is incongruent with American interests and values requires an awareness of this gap-widening potential when interventions are universalized and a national policy that addresses the psychological, political, economic, and moral dimensions of elevating the top students—tomorrow’s business and science leaders—and/or elevating the bottom students to redress past inequalities and reduce the future costs associated with them. This article is a first step in bringing this dilemma to the attention of scholars and policymakers and prodding a national discussion.

Use of the human patient simulator to teach clinical judgment skills in a baccalaureate nursing program.

Abstract: Nurse educators are finding it increasingly more challenging to prepare undergraduate students for the ever-changing and more acute clinical environment. As an answer to this dilemma, the human patient simulator can provide students with the opportunity to enhance knowledge, to facilitate skill acquisition, to decrease anxiety, and to promote clinical judgment in a safe environment. These experiences assist the novice nursing student to progress to the advanced beginner stage of practice. This article describes how faculty used the human patient simulator in creating a case scenario that enhanced critical thinking in senior nursing students.

The new wars

Abstract: Acknowledgements. Introduction. 1. What is new about the new wars?. 2. Warfare, state--building and the Thrity Years War. 3. The statization of war. 4. The economics of force in the new wars. 5. International terrorism. 6. Military interventions and the West's dilemma. Notes. Index

Beyond the Dilemma of Difference: The Capability Approach to Disability and Special Educational Needs

Abstract: In her recent pamphlet Special Educational Needs: a new look (2005) Mary Warnock has called for a radical review of special needs education and a substantial reconsideration of the assumptions upon which the current educational framework is based. The latter, she maintains, is hindered by a contradiction between the intention to treat all learners as the same and that of responding adequately to the needs arising from their individual differences. The tension highlighted by Warnock, which is central to the debate in special and inclusive education, is also referred to as the ‘dilemma of difference’. This consists in the seemingly unavoidable choice between, on the one hand, identifying children’s differences in order to provide for them differentially, with the risk of labelling and dividing, and, on the other, accentuating the ‘sameness’ and offering common provision, with the risk of not making available what is relevant to, and needed by, individual children. In this paper, I argue that the capability approach developed by Amartya Sen provides an innovative and important perspective for re-examining the dilemma of difference in significant ways. In particular, I maintain that reconceptualising disability and special needs through the capability approach makes possible the overcoming of the tension at the core of the dilemma of difference, whilst at the same time inscribing the debate within an ethical, normative framework based upon justice and equality.

Dilemmas of international social work: paradoxical processes in indigenisation, universalism and imperialism

Abstract: This paper explores current paradoxical processes in international social work concerning the global diffusion of the social work profession’s principles, values and practice methods or approaches. Some criticise these activities on the grounds that they are imperialistic. Others advocate strongly for the indigenisation of social work. Yet others believe in social work’s universality. This paper attempts to stimulate debate on, and promote greater understanding of, and mutual respect for, divergent views on these critical questions. It puts forward the notion that culture is an important consideration that enables indigenisation, retains universals yet avoids imperialism. International social work is on the horns of a three-pronged dilemma. The dilemma arises from the paradoxical directions or contradictory processes surrounding indigenisation, universalism and imperialism in social work. Crosscultural dialogue and exchange is moulding and shaping new forms of social work (indigenisation) while social work is, at the same time, trying to hold onto some form of common identity (universalism). This is taking place at the same time as efforts toward internationalising social work raise the spectre of westernisation and imperialism. Put another way, indigenisation raises challenges for universalisation and the challenges are compounded by international efforts which can quickly become imperialistic depending on what is proposed as ‘universal’ in social work. In this paper, it is suggested that culture can play an important role in enabling indigenisation and retaining universals while avoiding imperialism. The dilemmas raised by Tsang and Yan (2001) in relation to the development of social work in China provide an example of the way in which

Citizens and Consumers: An NPM dilemma

Abstract: New Public Management (NPM) puts a major emphasis on consumer sovereignty. Through consumer sovereignty, it is argued, public organizations will produce outputs more in line with what citizens want. This article analyses the implications, both theoretical and practical, of conceiving of citizens as customers. We discuss the features of citizenship, the ways in which the emerging customer focus impacts the role of citizen, how consumerism would and, in implementation, does work and the wider implications for democratic governance, particularly the effects on political and administrative leadership roles and leaders' political accountability, of the tendency to define citizens as customers of government agencies when conceptualizing their relationship to the state.

Government's Dilemma: The Role of Government in Imitation and Innovation

Abstract: We consider the role of government in the process of technological development, showing that the role of government regarding technological development varies over the development process. When a country is far from the technological frontier, the government can spur economic development through the centralization of economic and political control, but as the economy approaches the technological frontier, government's role must change considerably, political and economic freedom being necessary. In addition, domestic business groups can act as substitutes for governmental intervention, and multinational corporations can supplement governmental efforts.

The dilemma of the unsatisfied customer in a market model of public administration

Abstract: The relationship between administrative service performance and citizen satisfaction has been assumed, but not demonstrated, in the application of market models to public service delivery. Although the citizen satisfaction literature cautions that the link between objective and subjective measures of service quality is tenuous at best, public-sector professional organizations define a managerial focus on objective measures of service performance as accountability to citizens for outcomes. What if we’re wrong?

Small business responsibility in developing countries: a threat or an opportunity?

Abstract: Many developing country small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) that are exporters see themselves facing a dilemma. They do not know how to respond to the rising social and environmental requirements of global buyers and supply chains and fear that were they to do so they would lose their competitive edge. However, they are aware that if they do not meet these requirements, they will not be able to access new foreign markets and may lose the contracts they already have. To investigate whether practical methods exist for resolving this dilemma, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) carried out a one year project with 22 SMEs in four Asian countries. The results suggest that well targeted, enterprise-specific efforts to meet corporate social responsibility (CSR) requirements can make a positive contribution to both short-term profitability and longer-term competitiveness. The ‘business case’ for CSR appears strongest in the environmental area, but measures in that area can act as a ‘starter motor’ for tackling more systemic ‘social’ problems. Furthermore, tackling social issues at the workplace can feed back positively to improve the sustainability of the environmental improvement measures. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

The politics of adaptation: The Europeanisation of national parliamentary systems

Abstract: Parliamentary systems can be characterised by particular patterns of interaction between the executive, the majority parties and the opposition parties in parliament. The basic argument outlined in this paper is that in order to understand the impact of European integration on national parliamentary democracies we have to find out how these patterns are adjusted. The article starts by identifying the basic social mechanisms that drive the interaction of the mentioned groups of actors and by describing how they are modified in European multi-level governance. In this context, members of national parliaments are faced with a dilemma: Successful scrutiny can undermine the effectiveness of European governance whereas a permissive parliament causes a legitimacy deficit. Through case studies on the Europeanisation of the parliamentary systems in the UK, in Denmark and in Germany, the authors show how members of parliaments cope with this challenge and which strategies they apply to avoid the dilemma.

The Student Debt Dilemma: Debt Aversion as A Barrier to College Access. Research & Occasional Paper Series: CSHE.13.05.

Abstract: Though the rise in college student debt often has been blamed on rising tuition, a radical shift in student financial aid--from a system relying primarily on need-based grants to one dominated by loans--has been equally important. Numerous reports have highlighted the burdens faced by students who borrow large sums, but less is known about students who are averse to borrowing. For these students, the increasing prominence of loans could actually narrow their options and decrease their chances of attending and completing college. Given the increasingly important role of student loans in financial aid packages, perceptions about debt influence the ability of loan programs to achieve their goal of equalizing opportunity for students at all income levels. Based on interviews with students, counselors, outreach professionals, and financial aid directors, as well as a review of relevant research, this discussion paper offers an initial gauge of the debt dilemma and recommends four broad strategies: (1) making more grant money available for low-income and first-generation students, (2) making loan programs more attractive and efficient through income-based repayment strategies, (3) better integrating financial aid awareness into high school counseling, and (4) providing more pathways for students who prefer to attend part-time. Loans are likely to remain a mainstay of federal financial aid programs, so as interest rates begin to rise for the first time in years, foreshadowing higher future payments, the problems faced by students who borrow as well as the barriers confronted by those who are averse to borrowing are only liable to increase.

How individuals learn to take turns: Emergence of alternating cooperation in a congestion game and the prisoner's dilemma

Abstract: In many social dilemmas, individuals tend to generate a situation with low payoffs instead of a system optimum ("tragedy of the commons"). Is the routing of traffic a similar problem? In order to address this question, we present experimental results on humans playing a route choice game in a computer laboratory, which allow one to study decision behavior in repeated games beyond the Prisoner's Dilemma. We will focus on whether individuals manage to find a cooperative and fair solution compatible with the system-optimal road usage. We find that individuals tend towards a user equilibrium with equal travel times in the beginning. However, after many iterations, they often establish a coherent oscillatory behavior, as taking turns performs better than applying pure or mixed strategies. The resulting behavior is fair and compatible with system-optimal road usage. In spite of the complex dynamics leading to coordinated oscillations, we have identified mathematical relationships quantifying the observed transition process. Our main experimental discoveries for 2- and 4-person games can be explained with a novel reinforcement learning model for an arbitrary number of persons, which is based on past experience and trial-and-error behavior. Gains in the average payoff seem to be an important driving force for the innovation of time-dependent response patterns, i.e. the evolution of more complex strategies. Our findings are relevant for decision support systems and routing in traffic or data networks.

Subject Knowledge in Early Childhood Curriculum and Pedagogy: beliefs and practices

Abstract: The concept of ‘subjects' has posed a philosophical dilemma and polarised debate within early childhood education. Consequently, little attention has been paid to teachers' and children's subject k...

The promise of appreciative inquiry as an interview tool for field research

Abstract: It is a dilemma that every researcher undertaking interviews faces: what questions should I ask and how should I ask them? Setting out to interview the directors of 60 local NGOs in three African c...

Feeding the Empire: The Pathologies of Globalized Agriculture

Abstract: In this essay I argue that agriculture and food have all along invisibly underpinned relations of property and power in the world system. Now they have finally emerged as key points of conflict in international organizations. A perspective on power and wealth different from the usual one, which emphasizes agriculture as an industry, may indicate alternative paths out of the present impasse of global rule-making. With this goal, I explore in turn (and in brief) the past, present, and possible futures of agriculture, and the social forces at play in determining the conditions under which any possible future will unfold. At the heart of any solution to today's global agricultural impasse the dilemma, I conclude, is an appreciation of 'livelihoods' and 'habitats', that is the living foundations of all human societies: healthy human bodies and relationships and earthly cycles of air, water, soil, and organisms.

How Do Teachers' Political Views Influence Teaching about Controversial Issues?

Abstract: MANY TEACHERS advocate teaching students to deliberate on controversial political issues as a powerful way of preparing them for political participation Support for this approach recently came from a Civic Mission of the Schools report, which endorsed including political controversies in the curriculum Specifically, it recommends that schools: Incorporate discussion of current local, national, and international issues and events into the classroom, particularly those that young people view as important to their lives When young people have opportunities to discuss current issues in a classroom setting, they tend to have greater interest in politics, improved critical thinking and communications skills, more civic knowledge, and more interest in discussing public affairs out of school' The literature on democracy education abounds with varying approaches to teaching controversial issues Embedded in most approaches is a focus on encouraging the analysis and critique of multiple perspectives on how the issue should be resolved Such an orientation has been the object of harsh critiques, though, as being naive and wrongheaded For example, when introducing their resource text on teaching about globalization, William Bigelow and Robert Peterson state that for educators to feign neutrality is irresponsible The pedagogical aim in this social context needs to be truth rather than balance--if by balance we mean giving equal credence to claims that we know to be false and that, in any event, enjoy wide dispersal in the dominant culture (2) For some time I have been interested in questions and controversies about how teachers' political views influence what and how they teach and what their students learn as a consequence I used to believe that the most important decision teachers had to make about teaching controversial issues was whether (and, if so, in what ways) they should disclose their personal views on the issue to their students The "disclosure question" is prevalent in the literature, causes heated debates among teachers I worked with in a variety of professional development seminars and graduate courses, and is one with which I have personally wrestled since the beginning of my teaching career When I started teaching, one of the most controversial political issues facing the body politic was whether the Equal Rights Amendment should be added to the Constitution I remember searching for good pro/con articles for my students to read and then moderating heated and often exciting discussions about the issue in the social studies courses I taught As a new teacher, I was unsure about how to respond to students' queries about my own views on the issue, but I remember feeling vaguely pleased when I heard two students debating what I thought about the issue as they left the classroom Their debate was a signal to me that my strongly held personal views on the issue were not readily apparent to my students It was evidence, I thought, that I was not a biased teacher At lunch, I shared the students' conversation I had overheard with other teachers, which sparked an intense debate Some of my colleagues thought I had wasted an opportunity to demonstrate to my students how adults think through political issues One said I was acting like a "political eunuch" and knowing of my own intense interest in politics, asked, "Why do you want to be a non-political political role model?" Other teachers at the lunch table disagreed "It's our job," said one, "to help our students think through these issues, not to impress upon them our own views" Another added, "The longer I teach the more I understand about how much power teachers have over students I don't want to abuse that power--and I don't want kids to agree with my views just because I am the teacher" I remember leaving the lunch table feeling ambivalent about what I now call the "disclosure dilemma" and have subsequently listened carefully when others teachers discuss their views about it …

Ethical issues in funding orphan drug research and development

Abstract: This essay outlines the moral dilemma of funding orphan drug research and development. To date, ethical aspects of priority setting for research funding have not been an issue of discussion in the bioethics debate. Conflicting moral obligations of beneficence and distributive justice appear to demand very different levels of funding for orphan drug research. The two types of orphan disease, rare diseases and tropical diseases, however, present very different ethical challenges to questions about allocation of research funds. The dilemma is analysed considering utilitarian and rights based theories of justice and moral obligations of non-abandonment and a professional obligation to advance medical science. The limitations of standard economic evaluation tools and other priority setting tools used to inform health policy decision makers on research funding decisions are outlined.

Chaos, complexity, curriculum, and culture : a conversation

Abstract: Although the fields of chaos and complexity are important in a number of disciplines, they have not yet been influential in education. This book remedies this dilemma by gathering essays by authors from around the world who have studied and applied chaos and complexity theories to their teaching. Rich in its material, recursive in its interweaving of themes, conversational in its relationships, and rigorous in its analysis, the book is essential reading for undergraduates, graduate students, and professionals who deal with these important topics.

Prenegotiation public commitment in domestic and international bargaining

Abstract: We use a formal bargaining model to examine why, in many domestic and international bargaining situations, one or both negotiators make public statements in front of their constituents committing themselves to obtaining certain benefits in the negotiations. We find that making public commitments provides bargaining leverage, when backing down from such commitments carries domestic political costs. However, when the two negotiators face fairly similar costs for violating a public commitment, a prisoner's dilemma is created in which both sides make high public demands which cannot be satisfied, and both negotiators would be better off if they could commit to not making public demands. However, making a public demand is a dominant strategy for each negotiator, and this leads to a suboptimal outcome. Escaping this prisoner's dilemma provides a rationale for secret negotiations. Testable hypotheses are derived from the nature of the commitments and agreements made in equilibrium.

Is there any solution to the "brain drain" of health professionals and knowledge from Africa?

Abstract: African public health care systems suffer from significant "brain drain" of its health care professionals and knowledge as health workers migrate to wealthier countries such as Australia, Canada, USA, and the United Kingdom. Knowledge generated on the continent is not readily accessible to potential users on the continent. In this paper, the brain drain is defined as both a loss of health workers (hard brain drain) and unavailability of research results to users in Africa (soft brain drain). The "pull" factors of "hard brain drain" include better remuneration and working conditions, possible job satisfaction, and prospects for further education, whereas the "push" factors include a lack of better working conditions including promotion opportunities and career advancement. There is also a lack of essential equipment and non-availability or limited availability of specialist training programs on the continent. The causes of "soft brain drain" include lack of visibility of research results in African journals, better prospects for promotion in academic medicine when a publication has occurred in a northern high impact journal, and probably a cultural limitation because many things of foreign origin are considered superior. Advocates are increasingly discussing not just the pull factors but also the "grab" factors emanating from the developed nations. In order to control or manage the outflow of vital human resources from the developing nations to the developed ones, various possible solutions have been discussed. The moral regard to this issue cannot be under-recognized. However, the dilemma is how to balance personal autonomy, right to economic prosperity, right to personal professional development, and the expectations of the public in relation to adequate public health care services in the developing nations.

Business Ethics Education at Bay: Addressing a Crisis of Legitimacy

Abstract: In this article I describe a crisis of legitimacy in business schools due to a longstanding habit of sidestepping ethics education. The accrediting agency helps perpetuate this dilemma by failing to require stand‐alone ethics coursework, despite pressure from some constituents to do so in the wake of an earthquake of corporate scandals. This crisis could easily be resolved if business schools adopted a three‐pronged approach to ethics education based on foundational coursework. Specifically, business schools should require at least one ethics course as a fulcrum for integrating ethics across the curriculum. As a third tactic, this effort should be augmented by other initiatives, such as hosting guest speakers, offering service‐learning projects, and establishing endowed chairs in ethics.

Epistemological Intimacy: A Move to Autoethnography

Abstract: In this article, the author reflects on the dilemma she faced when choosing an appropriate qualitative method for her master’s thesis, which is entitled Creatively Rehabilitating Self-Esteem After an Acquired Brain Injury: An Auto-Ethnography of Healing. She found herself in a unique "insider” position, because, as well as being the student researcher, she was from the same culture as the participants. Therefore, to gain maximum access to the valuable data available, the author chose also to be a participant in the study. She chronicles her journey while choosing the most suitable method. The study, which was conducted as a requirement of her master’s program, was eventually completed as an autoethnography.

The new International Health Regulations and the federalism dilemma.

Abstract: The recent revision of the International Health Regulations, say Wilson and colleagues, is both long overdue and eminently necessary to face the challenges of an increasingly globalized world.