Showing papers on "Dilemma published in 2009"

Vernacularization on the ground: local uses of global women's rights in Peru, China, India and the United States

Abstract: The articles published in this special journal issue examine how global ideas about women's rights actually get used in four contexts - China, India, Peru and the United States. Our findings result from collaborative research conducted by teams in each country. We call the process of appropriation and local adoption of globally generated ideas and strategies vernacularization. In each country, vernacularization differed depending on the contents of the global women's rights packages at play, the work of vernacularizers and the different social positions they occupy, how human rights ideas are framed, the channels and technologies of trans- mission, and the local geographies of history and culture within which circulation and vernacularization take place. We find that vernacularization is a widespread practice that takes different forms in different kinds of organizations and in different cultural and historical contexts. Ongoing tensions between global and national rights ideas are quite common. Finally, our work brings to light two dilemmas in the way human rights are appropriated and used - a resonance dilemma and an advocacy dilemma - both arising from the disparity between human rights as law and human rights as a social movement.

Guest Editorial: Is Marketing Academia Losing Its Way?

Abstract: There is an alarming and growing gap between the interests, standards, and priorities of academic marketers and the needs of marketing executives operating in an ambiguous, uncertain, fast-changing, and complex marketspace. This has gone beyond the familiar dilemma of academic research pitted against practical relevance. Our contention is that this widening divergence has become detrimental to the long-term health of the field. We share our concerns and offer proposals for better aligning the interests of marketing academics and practitioners to their mutual benefit. We are guided by the belief that the role of academic marketing is not just to advance theory and methods but also to have an impact on the practice of marketing.

Perspectives on the productivity dilemma

Abstract: Editor’s note The authors of this paper presented an All-academy session at the 2008 Academy of Management annual meeting in Anaheim, California. We were excited by the dynamic nature of the debate and felt that it related closely to critical issues in the areas of operations management, strategy, product development and international business. We thus invited the authors to write an article offering their individual and joint views on the productivity dilemma. We trust you will find it to be stimulating and thought provoking. We invite you to add your voice to the discussion by commenting on this article at the Operations and Supply Chain (OSM) Forum at http://www.journaloperationsmanagement.org/OSM.asp. – Kenneth K. Boyer and Morgan L. Swink

Gender fatigue: The ideological dilemma of gender neutrality and discrimination in organizations

Abstract: Although gender discrimination remains a feature of working life in many contexts, research on gender in organizations has shown that workplaces are often constructed as gender neutral. This poses an ideological dilemma for workers: how can they make sense of gender discrimination at work while presenting their workplace as gender neutral? This article explores that dilemma through an analysis of how information communication technology (ICT) workers talk about gender discrimination. Instead of denying gender discrimination, workers acknowledge it can happen but construct it as singular events that happened in the past and they place the onus on women to overcome such obstacles. Navigating the ideological dilemma around gender neutrality and discrimination, interviewees display what the article characterizes as gender fatigue. Copyright © 2009 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Just Culture: Balancing Safety and Accountability

Abstract: JUST CULTURE: BALANCING SAFETY AND ACCOUNTABILITY Sidney Dekker, PhD Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2007, 153 pp., $29.95 Dr. Sidney Dekker's book, Just Culture, is a thought-provoking account of the dilemma our society faces when we attempt to balance human safety with human error. Practitioners such as physicians, nurses, air traffic controllers, and aircraft pilots, who are skilled in making life-and-death decisions, are the focus of this book. Using real-life stories the author depicts eloquently for the reader the facts and consequences of criminalization of accidents, mistakes, and errors. Dr. Dekker starts by examining society's reasons for wanting a "just culture." What makes us believe that some occurrences are acts of God as opposed to human management of risk? A just culture is very difficult to define, as justice is one of those essentially contested categories. We will never agree with each other about what justice means, or what is just versus what is unjust. Essentially contested means that the very essence, the very nature of the concept is infinitely negotiable. But that does not mean that we cannot agree, or make some progress on, some very practical problems related to defining what we could call a "just culture" (p. x). In this book, the author explores the importance, risks, and benefits of reporting and disclosing human errors. "In 2006, Julie, a nurse from Wisconsin, was charged with 'criminal neglect of a patient causing bodily harm' in the medication death of a 16-year old girl during labor. Instead of giving the intended penicillin intravenously, Julie accidentally administered a bag of epidural analgesia. Julie lost her job, faced action on her nursing license and the threat of six years in jail as well as a $25,000 fine" (p. 21). The author challenges the reader with intriguing and interesting questions: "Are all mistakes equal?" "Who is responsible to decide when an accident becomes a crime?" "Who in society gets to draw the line between acceptable and unacceptable behavior?" "Who decides what constitutes the truth?" Dr. Dekker points out that, following publicity about cases like Julie's and other professionals who stood trial on criminal charges, the number of reported serious errors dropped. The author continues: "Unfortunately, when the legal system gets involved, things seem to get neither more just, nor safer" (p. 91). Furthermore, he states: "The idea that a charged or convicted practitioner will serve as an example to scare others into behaving more prudently is probably misguided; instead, practitioners will become more careful only in not disclosing what they have done" (p. 96). The author's recounting of his experiences with practitioners who were what might be termed culpable gives another dimension to his book. Other examples are the story of Mara, a nurse who administered a baby 10 times the amount of medication the baby needed, and the pilot who in one of his flights was low on fuel and was forced to make an unauthorized landing, thereby risking the lives of the crew members and the passengers. …

The democratic dilemma

Abstract: This book started with two provocative questions. First, how does a poor country like Cuba help children and young people to be academically successful? Second, how does the Cuban school system do this with striking success when compared with the achievement results of children and young people in other Latin American countries?

Cooperation as a volunteer's dilemma and the strategy of conflict in public goods games.

Abstract: Conflict and cooperation for the exploitation of public goods are usually modelled as an N-person prisoner's dilemma. Many social dilemmas, however, would be described more properly as a volunteer's dilemma, in which a certain number of individuals are necessary to produce a public good. If volunteering is costly, but so is failure to produce the public good, cheaters can invade and form a stable mixed equilibrium with cooperators. The dilemma is that the benefit for the group decreases with group size because the larger the group is, the less likely it is that someone volunteers. This problem persists even in the presence of a high degree of relatedness between group members. This model provides precise, testable predictions for the stability of cooperation. It also suggests a counterintuitive but practical solution for this kind of social dilemmas: increasing the damage resulting from the failure to produce the public good increases the probability that the public good is actually produced. Adopting a strategy that entails a deliberate risk (brinkmanship), therefore, can lead to a benefit for the society without being detrimental for the individual.

Policy innovation in isolation?: Conditions for policy renewal by transition arenas and pilot projects

Abstract: Innovations in public policy are difficult to realize if decision-making arrangements are not scrutinized at the same time. Rigid institutional arrangements often hinder the realization of policy breakthroughs. Consequently, in the day-to-day practice of public administration, more and more experiments with innovative arrangements towards realizing groundbreaking policy decisions are being seen. Two rather different examples of such arrangements in the Dutch context are transition arenas and pilot projects (proeftuinen). In this article we describe these arrangements from an innovation management perspective and evaluate their functioning by focusing on their approaches to two dilemmas: the dilemma between diversity and closedness within the innovation plans and the dilemma between openness and closedness of the plan in relation to its context, the outside world. From their comparison we can learn about the context-specific application of different innovation plans and the results of different wa...

Beyond ‘so what?’ criminology: Rediscovering realism

Abstract: There has been a growing concern about the lack of policy relevance of criminology in recent years. Two influential responses to this dilemma have been presented. On one hand, it has been argued that academic criminologists should become more active in mobilizing points of consensus about what works, while on the other hand it has been suggested that there should be a division of labour among academics and that the subject be broken down into public, professional, policy and critical criminologies. This article argues that neither of these responses are tenable and instead calls for an approach that links theory, method and intervention with the aim of developing a coherent critical realist approach that is able to go beyond the existing forms of ‘so what?’ criminology.

Reorganizing the welfare state administration: Partnership, networks and accountability

Abstract: This article addresses the big welfare administration reform in Norway. The reform is a merger of the employment and national insurance administrations, combined with more formal collaboration with the local government social services administration. The reform introduced a mandatory partnership model between central and local government. This model is a hybrid of hierarchy and network. A substantial dilemma in the particular partnership model chosen is how to enhance vertical control at the same time as sustaining the autonomy of local government. The partnership model created to solve this dilemma represents a delicate and ambiguous balance between accountability to the central government and to the local council.

The neuro-scientific foundations of the exploration-exploitation dilemma

Abstract: This paper aims to leverage neuroscience and psychology to contribute to the development of a microfoundation for an important managerial dilemma: the organizational ability to continuously explore novel domains of activity and exploit the current knowledge base with increasing efficacy. The dilemma for firms is at how to search for sustained competitive advantage. The conflicting objectives of exploration and exploitation compete for scarce resources, among which managerial attention is possibly the most critical. We propose that some recent neuroscientific findings could help us uncover the individual-level foundations of the organizational ability to both explore and exploit. Critical to our analysis is an understanding of how individuals allocate their limited time to alternative uses and vary the scope of their attention. We build on recent evidence on the way that individual learning modes are altered, in order to extend the discussion on organizational exploration and exploitation.

Principal‐Agent Problems in Humanitarian Intervention: Moral Hazards, Adverse Selection, and the Commitment Dilemma

Abstract: A number of recent studies have concluded that humanitarian intervention can produce unintended consequences that reduce or completely undermine conflict management efforts. Some analysts have argued that the incentive structure produced by third parties is a form of moral hazard. This paper evaluates the utility of moral hazard theory and a second type of principal-agent problem known as adverse selection. Whereas moral hazards occur when an insured party has an opportunity to take hidden action once a contract is in effect, adverse selection is the result of asymmetric information prior to entering into a contract. Failing to distinguish between these two types of principal-agent problems may lead to policy advice that is irrelevant or potentially harmful. Along with introducing the concept of adverse selection to the debate on humanitarian intervention, this study identifies a commitment dilemma that explains why third parties operating in weakly institutionalized environments may be unable to punish groups that take advantage of intervention.

Rethinking the Role of Social Security in Development

Abstract: Countries which have been the most successful in achieving long-term sustainable growth and poverty reduction have achieved this — to a greater or lesser extent — by putting in place extensive systems of social security. Clearly, social security has only been one factor among many and, of course, one might ask whether there is a potential chicken and egg dilemma: what came first, growth or social security? In reality, though, evidence suggests that growth and social security have been mutually interdependent and have together contributed to the long-term success of these countries. There is no doubt that OECD countries have made the conscious decision to invest heavily in social security — often at more than 15 per cent of GDP — as part of their long-term growth and poverty reduction strategies.

Ethically Notable Videogames: Moral Dilemmas and Gameplay

Abstract: In what ways can we use games to make moral demands of players and encouraging them to reflect on ethical issues? In this article we propose an ethically notable gam e as one that provides opportunities for encouraging ethical reasoning and reflection. Our analysis of the video games Ultima IV , Manhunt , and Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn highlights the central role that moral dilemmas can play towards creating ethically notable games. We discus s the different ways that these are implemented, such as placing players in situations in which their understanding of an ethical system is challenged, or by creating moral tension between the player’s goals and those posed by the n arrative and the gameplay of a game. We conclude by noting some of the challenges of creating ethically notable gam es including ensuring that the ethical framework in a game is both discernable and consistent as well as ensuring that the dilemma is actually a moral one and that the player , rather than the game characters, is the one facing it. Author Keywords Ethics, videogames, moral dilemma, ethical reasonin g

The Ethiopian second republic and the fragile 'social contract'.

Abstract: Eighteen years after the change of power and the ushering in of the second Ethiopian republic in 1991, the political process in Ethiopia has, according to most observers, rigidified and largely closed the space for representative democracy. This paper will look at the main organizing political ideas or ideology of the current Ethiopian republic and to the nature of its governance techniques in the face of domestic and international challenges with reference to the debate on “failing” or “fragile” states. The new “social contract” defined after 1991 and codified in the 1994 Constitution is precarious. Dissent and ethno-regional resistance to federal policies are dealt with mainly by coercion and discursive isolation. Oppositional forces voice the need for a rethinking of the organizing ideas and institutions of the second republic in order to enhance political consensus and a shared political arena, but get little response. The paper will sketch an interpretation of governance in Ethiopia, focusing on the dilemma of reconciling local and modernist political practices, and will discuss the status of “republican” ideas, in name important in Ethiopia but mostly absent in practice. Explicit debate of these ideas is usually sidelined – also in academic commentaries – in favour of a focus on the ethno-federal ideology of the Ethiopian state.

Is music downloading the new prohibition? What students reveal through an ethical dilemma

Abstract: Although downloading music through unapproved channels is illegal, statistics indicate that it is widespread. The following study examines the attitudes and perceptions of college students that are potentially engaged in music downloading. The methodology includes a content analysis of the recommendations written to answer an ethical vignette. The vignette presented the case of a subject who faces the dilemma of whether or not to download music illegally. Analyses of the final reports indicate that there is a vast and inconsistent array of actions and underlying feelings toward digital music downloading. The findings reveal inconsistencies between participants' recommendations (what the subject should do) and their attitudes and opinions on the matter (what they would do in a similar situation). These inconsistencies support the notion that as technology evolves, it creates discrepancies between the way things are and the way the law expects them to be, leaving society in a muddle, trying to reconcile the two. What remains to be seen is whether the discrepancy in the case of music downloading becomes extreme enough that the law changes to accommodate an increasingly prevalent behavior, or whether new business models will emerge to bridge the gap between legality and reality.

WHAT'S SMALL SIZE GOT TO DO WITH IT? PROTECTION OF INTELLECTUAL ASSETS IN SMEs

Abstract: The knowledge protection/sharing dilemma related to innovation activities is becoming known to all firms, even though it is generally more notable for SMEs: the small size of the firms inherently creates a need for inter-organizational collaboration, but it also makes dealing with the related contradictories more challenging. One factor behind this is that the needed tools — such as the protection mechanisms of intellectual assets — may be more limited. In line with this notion, we examine the protection available for and used by small firms in their innovation activities. We approach the issue by conducting a review on the relevant literature, and use a qualitative multiple case study conducted in eight small companies to empirically study the issue. Departing from prior research, we consider protection of innovations by distinguishing between the intangibles needed in innovation activities and the actual innovation outputs, and combine these considerations to the knowledge protection/sharing dilemma.

Through Western Eyes: Insights into the Intercultural Training Field:

Abstract: Intercultural corporate training is a growing branch of the coaching and consulting industries and it appears to be both theory and practice driven. The growth of the relevant academic literature reveals a focus on the successful adaptation to host cultures and organizations, but little attention to the ethical dimensions of newly learned rules and newly accepted values. This article introduces a number of concerns related to ethical principles within this growing industry. The issues of profit-maximization, knowledge-access inequalities, the authenticity dilemma and the in-built Western bias of cross-cultural research are presented. Triggered by the author’s experiences in the intercultural corporate training industry and inspired by participation in a number of field-specific training-for-trainers events, this essai is an opening statement in a long-overdue discussion on ethics in intercultural training.

Governance of dual-use research: an ethical dilemma

Abstract: Scenarios where the results of well-intentioned scientific research can be used for both good and harmful purposes give rise to what is now widely known as the "dual-use dilemma". There has been growing debate about the dual-use nature of life science research with implications for making biological weapons. This paper reviews several controversial publications that have been the focus of debates about dual-use life science research and critically examines relevant policy developments, particularly in the United States of America. Though the dual-use dilemma is inherently ethical in nature, the majority of debates about dual-use research have primarily involved science and security experts rather than ethicists. It is important that there is more ethical input into debates about the governance of dual-use research.

Moral Dilemmas of Modern War: Torture, Assassination, and Blackmail in an Age of Asymmetric Conflict

Abstract: 1 Torture, assassination and blackmail in modern, asymmetric conflict 2 Friends, foes or brothers in arms? The puzzle of combatant equality Part I Dilemmas and Paradoxes of Combatancy: 3 Shooting to kill: the paradox of prohibited weapons 4 Shooting to stun: the paradox of nonlethal warfare 5 Murder, self-defense or execution? The dilemma of assassination 6 Human dignity or human life: the dilemmas of torture Part II Dilemmas and Paradoxes of Noncombatancy: 7 Blackmailing the innocent: the dilemma of noncombatant immunity 8 Killing the innocent: the dilemma of terror 9 Risking our lives to save others: the paradox (and dilemma) of humanitarian intervention Conclusion: 10 Torture, assassination and blackmail: new norms for asymmetric conflict?

The New Role of Regional Management

Abstract: PART I: SUCCEEDING IN EUROPE The Market: Is there Common Ground Between Belgian and Bulgaria or Spain and Slovakia? The Headquarter Dilemma: Does Geography Matter? The Local Dilemma: Why Does Corporate not Recognize How Different We Are From Other Markets? The Regional Solution: Dynamic Management of Market Diversity PART II: CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS US Companies in Europe: Going East - Challenges and Solutions Japanese Companies in Europe: Going West - Challenges and Solutions European Companies: Developing the Home Turf - Utilizing Emerging Market Opportunities PART III: SELECTED CASES - THE BEST IN CLASS Learning From the Pharmaceutical Industry Learning From the Automotive Industry Learning From the Sport Shoe Industry Learning From the Banking Industry Conclusion The Dynamic Competence Relay (DCR): The New Role of Regional Management

The "Beauty Dilemma": beauty is valued but discounted in product choice

Abstract: The empirical study of aesthetics in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is concerned with - among other topics - the relationship between beauty and usability and the general impact of beauty on product choice and use. Specifically, the present paper explores the notion of a "beauty dilemma" - the idea that people discount beauty in a choice situation, although they value it in general (i.e., they are not choosing what makes them happy). We explored this idea in three studies with a total of over 600 participants. Study 1 revealed a reluctance to pay for beauty due to its hedonic nature (i.e., associated with luxury etc.). Study 2 showed that people prefer a more beautiful product, but justify their choice by referring to spurious advantages in usability. Finally, Study 3 revealed that a choice situation which requires a trade-off between beauty and usability, and which offers no further way to justify choosing beauty, leads to a sharp increase in the preference of usability. The underlying reasons for this "beauty dilemma" and further implications are discussed.

Access to information: The dilemma for rural community development in Africa

Abstract: The provision of information services in Africa has been dispersed and access to various information services has become more difficult; the principal victims of these developments have been rural people without having any individual means of becoming literate, due to them being too illiterate, too young, too old, too poor or too ill because of the economic and information poverty. The paper will provide a highlight on the value and usefulness of information as it affects rural community development and the need for it to be managed effectively. The premise of the paper is that promoting the role of information through the establishment of innovative community information centre (ICIC) will strengthen and empower the rural people to be among global players in the knowledge-based economy and also it will provide the opportunities for rural community development in general. This entails that the development of any rural community is a positive indicator for the development of a nation. Finally the paper provides a framework for which library and information services can be sustain to foster rural community development by making information as influential factor, which serves as an agent of social, educational, economic and political development.

Social norms, third-party observation and third-party reward

Abstract: This paper examines the influence of third-party observation and third-party reward on behavior in an experimental prisoner?s dilemma (PD) game Whereas the existing literature on third-party intervention as a means to sustain social norms has dealt almost exclusively with third-party punishment, we show that both third-party observation and third-party reward have positive effects on cooperation rates, compared to a treatment where no third party is involved Third-party reward is more effective in increasing cooperation than third-party observation However, rewards are given too late to prevent a steady downward trend of cooperation rates

Trust and Truth

Abstract: In a laboratory experiment, we create relationships between pairs of anonymous subjects through a Prisoners' dilemma game. Thereafter the same subjects play a private values bargaining game with or without communication. Communication substantially increases bargaining efficiency among subjects who cooperated in the Prisoners' dilemma but has no significant effect on bargaining outcomes when one subject defected. Subjects who cooperated in the Prisoners' dilemma bid more aggressively if their opponent defected. Cooperators also lie more about their valuations when their opponent defected. The results constitute novel evidence that many people are strong reciprocators.