Showing papers on "Dilemma published in 2010"

The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability

Abstract: Based on his Paul Hawken's article "The Ecology of Commerce" which appeared in the April 1992 issue of "Inc." magazine, this book presents the argument that business is the only mechanism powerful enough to reverse global environmental and social degradation. Hawken's argument rests on the principles of restorative economics - the reconstruction and repair of social and environmental wounds. Restorative economics involves three major components: redesigning and manufacturing products in innovative ways; transforming and re-educating the consumer; and restoring the relationship between business and government. Hawken explores why, until now, business has been unable to sustain the environment, and offers clean and practical methods to solve the dilemma. The book is a practical blueprint that lays a foundation for a prosperous, sustainable future, and the only environmental programme that enhances both business and nature. Paul Hawken is the author of "Growing a Business", "The Next Economy" and "Seven Tomorrows: Toward a Voluntary History".

CROSSROADS---Organizing for Fluidity? Dilemmas of New Organizational Forms

Abstract: An important new stream of thought stressing the importance of organizational fluidity has emerged in recent years. It represents a reaction to the increasing complexity and environmental turbulence that organizations have to master. The solutions proposed are highly flexible and fluid organizational forms, based on relentlessly changing templates, quick improvisation, and ad hoc responses. This approach is in sharp contrast to other recent organizational research that emphasizes identity, path dependence, economies of specialization, and recursive practices. We juxtapose the idea of organizational fluidity with this latter stream of research. If taken to its final conclusion, then the idea of promoting organizational fluidity would imply losing the very essence of organizing. Nevertheless, achieving organizational flexibility remains imperative in increasingly complex and volatile environments. To deal with this dilemma, an alternative approach is needed. We suggest a conceptualization of this dilemma that emphasizes the complementary dynamics between the two perspectives. We therefore provide an alternative conception that favors the idea of balancing countervailing processes in organizations with respect to the conflicting demands of organizational efficiency and fluidity.

Two Strategies for Inductive Reasoning in Organizational Research

Abstract: Incompleteness of inductive reasoning presents an enduring dilemma for organizational researchers. We examine two practical reasoning strategies—idealization and contextualization—that can be used at the pinnacle of this dilemma: when theoretical conclusions are drawn from empirical data. Understanding the two strategies can lead to more effective argumentation and evaluation. Appreciating the methodological incompleteness of both strategies, in turn, helps us distinguish between the methodological and the policy dimensions of organization-scientific debates.

Governance as Theory, Practice, and Dilemma

Abstract: The word ‘governance’ is ubiquitous. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund make loans conditional on ‘good governance’. Climate change and avian flu appear as issues of ‘global governance’. The European Union issues a White Paper on ‘Governance’. The US Forest Service calls for ‘collaborative governance’. What accounts for the pervasive use of the term ‘governance’ and to what does it refer? Current scholarship offers a bewildering set of answers. The word ‘governance’ appears in diverse academic disciplines including development studies, economics, geography, international relations, planning, political science, public administration, and sociology. Each discipline sometimes acts as if it owns the word and has no need to engage with the others. Too little attention is given to ways of making sense of the whole literature on governance. At the most general level, governance refers to theories and issues of social coordination and the nature of all patterns of rule. More specifically, governance refers to various new theories and practices of governing and the dilemmas to which they give rise. These new theories, practices, and dilemmas place less emphasis than did their predecessors on hierarchy and the state, and more on markets and networks. The new theories, practices, and dilemmas of governance are combined in concrete activity. The theories inspire people to act in ways that help give rise to new practices and dilemmas. The practices create dilemmas and encourage attempts to comprehend them in theoretical terms. The dilemmas require new theoretical reflection and practical activity if they are to be adequately addressed.

The Follower's Dilemma: Innovation and Imitation in the Professional Services Industry

Abstract: Firm decision makers contemplating imitation of a competitor's innovation face a dilemma: Imitate a new, unproven offering, or forgo imitation and perhaps miss out on the “next big thing”? Approach...

University Research and Public–Private Interaction

Abstract: Universities’ centrality within the public research systems has been increasing over time, as it has their interactions with industry. Such interaction poses two dilemmas. One concerns individual scientists and the potential trade-off between basic research activities and those activities required to successfully develop and commercialize academic inventions. The second dilemma occurs at the system level, and it has to do with the tension between the industry’s need to rely upon clear and solid intellectual property rights (IPRs), and the cumulativeness of the scientific enterprise, which requires the results of academic research to be freely accessible. The empirical literature suggests that the first dilemma may not be as dramatic as expected by many. On the contrary, some evidence exists on the relevance of the second dilemma: commercial interests may exacerbate common threats to the commonality of research efforts; and the existence of IPRs over academic research results may discourage some scientists to build upon those results in order to advance knowledge. Existing bridging institutions, both internal and external to universities, seem to give only marginal contributions to the solution of both dilemmas.

Dilemmas of Practice: Challenges to Program Quality Encountered by Youth Program Leaders

Abstract: To create and sustain high quality youth development programs it is important to understand the challenging situations and dilemmas that emerge in program leaders’ daily work with youth. In this research the experiences of leaders in 12 programs were followed over a 2–9 month period, which led to the identification of 250 dilemma situations. Qualitative analyses identified 5 categories and 12 subcategories of dilemmas that reflected distinct types of considerations (e.g., youth’s personalities, relationships with the community). The analyses also found that the experienced leaders in the study typically responded to these dilemmas in ways that were youth-centered and that balanced multiple considerations. It is argued that researchers need to go beyond identifying features of high quality programs, and more fully examine how effective leaders create and sustain high quality in response to the challenging situations of practice.

Do Violent Acts Equal Abuse? Resolving the Gender Parity/Asymmetry Dilemma

Abstract: This commentary revisits a core dilemma in “Controversies involving Gender and Intimate Partner Violence in the United States” by Langhinrichsen-Rohling (2010), how to reconcile gender parity in the use of force by partners with the gender asymmetry in the dynamics and effects of partner abuse. This dilemma is a byproduct of a domestic violence paradigm that confounds the normative use of violence in families and relationships and the types of partner assault and coercive control targeted by the advocacy movement. I argue that the dimensions of abuse victims present at points of service contradict the basic assumptions of the paradigm and outline an alternative model of coercive control that sets violent acts in their historical, experiential and political context.

The cachet dilemma: Ritual and agency in new Dutch nationalism

Abstract: In 2006, the Dutch government introduced a naturalization ceremony for foreigners wishing to become Dutch citizens. Local bureaucrats who organize the ceremony initially disapproved of the measure as symbolic of the neonationalist approach to migration. I analyze how their criticism is undermined in the process of designing the ritual, the form of which continues to express a culturalist message of citizenship, despite organizers’ explicit criticism or ridicule. Using the concept of "cultural intimacy," I show how nationalism builds on a shared embarrassment among local bureaucrats, from which the new citizens are excluded by way of the ceremony.

Democracy and good governance: Nigerias dilemma

Abstract: Despite its enormous resources and huge potentialities, Nigeria remains grossly undeveloped. Consequently, political instability, abject poverty, acute youth unemployment, heightened crime rate, poor health prospects and widespread malnourishment have been the main features of Nigeria’s political economy. The development tragedy in Nigeria fits into the trends of political instability for which Africa has become infamous for in the past three decades. This further lends credence to the arguments by some students of African politics that governance is one of the major problems in Africa. This paper argues that the problem of development in Nigeria is a problem of governance; when defined in term of the proper, fair and equitable allocation of resources for the achievement of the end or purposes of the state, which is the promotion of the common good. The paper submits that for good governance to be feasible in Nigeria, sound anti-corruption policies devoid of mere speeches must be put in place. Furthermore, the paper recommends a functional legislature, a viable and independent judiciary, and the attitudinal transformation on the part of the political elite, the absence of which good governance and development will continue to be a mirage. Key words: Corruption, instability, underdevelopment, democracy, good governance.

Negotiating dilemmas in the practices of street-level welfare work

Abstract: Hjorne E, Juhila K, van Nijnatten C. Negotiating dilemmas in the practices of street-level welfare work Int J Soc Welfare 2010: 19: 303–309 © 2010 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and International Journal of Social Welfare. The theme of this mini-symposium is based on the core ideas of two influential books published about 30 years ago, namely Michael Lipsky'sStreet-Level Bureaucracy – Dilemmas of the Individual in Public Services (1980) and Jeffrey Prottas'sPeople-Processing – The Street-Level Bureaucrat in Public Service Bureaucracies (1979). In these books, three dilemmas were identified that have great importance for welfare workers' position as mediators between institutions and citizens: autonomy versus control, responsiveness versus standardisation, and demand versus supply. In this editorial, we discuss these dilemmas with regard to the present context of street-level welfare work, which is strongly influenced by managerialist policies (also called new public management). It is emphasised that in the era of managerialism, the dilemmas should be approached as empirical matters: how they are present, talked into being and negotiated in naturally occurring practices of street-level welfare work, and with what consequences.

Social and analytic scaffolding in middle school mathematics: managing the dilemma of telling

Abstract: The current reform movement in mathematics education urges teachers to support students as they make sense of mathematics, while also ensuring that they gain specific mathematical skills and knowledge. The tension between these two expectations gives rise to what we call the dilemma of telling: how to ensure that students come to certain mathematical understandings, without directly telling them what they need to know or do. Our study focused on how two middle school mathematics teachers who were incorporating many aspects of reform mathematics into their instruction responded to this dilemma. Data sources include classroom observations and videotapes of lessons over a three-year period. We found that both teachers devoted the majority of class time to student conversations, both small group and whole class; however, the teachers strategically entered the student-dominated conversations by “telling” to meet specific curricular goals.

The neuroscientific foundations of the exploration−exploitation dilemma.

Abstract: What are the origins of the ability to continuously explore novel domains of activity while at the same time exploiting the current knowledge base with increasing efficacy? The conflicting objectives of exploration and exploitation compete for scarce resources, among which managerial attention is possibly the most critical. This paper integrates recent findings on the neuromodulation of attention to provide a foundational step in understanding how the mind of the manager handles the exploration exploitation dilemma. Also, this paper proposes several possible ways to combine research in neuroscience, psychology, and management to advance our knowledge of the microfoundations of managerial decision-making.

Navigating the dilemmas of climate policy in Europe: evidence from policy evaluation studies

Abstract: Climate change is widely recognised as a ‘wicked’ policy problem. Agreeing and implementing governance responses is proving extremely difficult. Policy makers in many jurisdictions now emphasise their ambition to govern using the best available evidence. One obvious source of such evidence is the evaluations of the performance of existing policies. But to what extent do these evaluations provide insights into the difficult dilemmas that governors typically encounter? We address this question by reviewing the content of 262 evaluation studies of European climate policies in the light of six kinds of dilemma found in the governance literature. We are interested in what these studies say about the performance of European climate policies and in their capacity to inform evidence-based policy-making. We find that the evaluations do arrive at common findings: that climate change is framed as a problem of market and/or state failure; that voluntary measures tend to be ineffective; that market-based instruments tend to be regressive; that EU-level policies have driven climate policies in the latecomer EU Member States; and that lack of monitoring and weak enforcement are major obstacles to effective policy implementation. However, we also conclude that the evidence base these studies represent is surprisingly weak for such a high profile area. There is too little systematic climate policy evaluation work in the EU to support systematic evidence-based policy making. This reduces the scope for sound policy making in the short run and is a constraint to policy learning in the longer term.

Promises and cooperation: Evidence from a TV game show

Abstract: We study the role of communication in a high stakes prisoner’s dilemma, using data from a television game show. 40 Percent of the players voluntarily promise to cooperate, and these players are 50 percentage points more likely to cooperate than players who do not volunteer a promise. However, promises that arise in response to an explicit question by the presenter of the show are uninformative about behavior. These results augment and qualify recent experimental findings on communication—people do not want to volunteer lies but may have no compunction in lying if they feel compelled to do so.

Questioning the New Liberal Dilemma : Immigrants, Social Networks, and Institutional Fairness

Abstract: Questioning the New Liberal Dilemma : Immigrants, Social Networks, and Institutional Fairness

ON uNCONSCiOuS MOraliTY: ThE EFFECTS OF uNCONSCiOuS ThiNkiNG ON MOral dECiSiON MakiNG

Abstract: In this article, we argue that when making moral decisions, unconscious thought can lead to more utilitarian moral decisions (approving of harmful actions that maximize good consequences), compared to conscious thought and immediate decision making. Therefore, we presented participants with a complex version of the well-known footbridge dilemma. In immediate decision conditions, participants made decisions what to do in this dilemma immediately. In conscious thought conditions, participants consciously thought about what to do for 3 minutes and then made their decisions. In unconscious thought conditions, participants were distracted for 3 minutes, and next made their decisions. As expected, participants who thought unconsciously about the dilemma were more willing to make utilitarian decisions than participants who thought consciously or who made an immediate decision. The current findings provide a new perspective on the social psychology of moral decision making and further insight into unconscious thinking.

public goods experiments

Abstract: Since the vivid description of the Prisoner’s Dilemma game and the accompanying tension between self-interest and efficiency, economists, political scientists, psychologists, sociologists and others have wondered about how individuals resolve these conflicting motivations. Many have investigated this question by experimentally examining behaviour when individual interest and group interest conflict. This research goes under different names — for example, social dilemmas in psychology, commons dilemmas in political science and public goods problems in economics.

The future of social experimenting

Abstract: Recent laboratory experiments by Traulsen et al. (1) for the spatial prisoner's dilemma suggest that exploratory behavior of human subjects prevents cooperation through neighborhood interactions over experimentally accessible time spans. This indicates that new theoretical and experimental efforts are needed to explore the mechanisms underlying a number of famous puzzles in the social sciences.

A forensics of wishing: technology assessment in the age of technoscience

Abstract: If one considers the Collingridge dilemma to be a dilemma awaiting a solution, one has implicitly abandoned a genuinely historical conception of the future and adopted instead a notion of the future as an object of technical design, the realisation of technical possibility or as wish-fulfilment. The definition of technology assessment (TA) as a successful response to the Collingridge dilemma renders it a technoscience that shares with all the others the conceit of being able, supposedly, to shape the future. An alternative way of pursuing TA begins with an analysis of our age of technoscience, including its impoverished conception of the future. A critical appreciation of this conception gives rise to a forensics of wishing.

Agricultural Strategy Development in West Africa: The False Promise of Participation?

Abstract: Participatory approaches are an increasingly prominent technique for designing agricultural strategies in sub-Saharan Africa. However, they are frequently criticised for either not involving enough stakeholders or limiting the scope of their participation. This article concludes from a study of the situation in West Africa that a lack of broad-based participation in these strategies is not a major problem; rather, the real challenge lies in transforming the outcomes of participatory processes into policies that can be feasibly implemented. It highlights why an emphasis on participation can sometimes result in disappointment amongst stakeholders and discusses a range of measures to help overcome this dilemma.

A New Methodological Approach for Studying Moral Reasoning Among Managers in Business Settings

Abstract: The introduction and validation of a new instrument, The Moral Reasoning Inventory, designed to measure an individuals’ moral reasoning (MR) in response to two moral dilemmas within a business setting is the subject of this article. The instrument consists of two moral dilemma scenarios with eight MR statements. Two measurement scales were used for analyzing patterns of individual responses: the strength of belief in the reasons and the importance of those reasons for resolving the dilemma. Managers enrolled in a part-time MBA program were administered the new instrument. Data analysis clearly supported the effectiveness of the instrument to differentiate patterns of consistency in MR within decision groups.