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Contested Nature (contested + nature)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	60%

Selected Abstracts

STRATEGIC PLANNING AND PERFORMANCE: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF HOUSING ASSOCIATIONS IN NORTHERN IRELAND

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY & MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2009
Roger Courtney
Based on qualitative data this paper explores the resons for the non-profit housing sectors enthusiastic embrace of strategic planning practices. Evidence is presented on the use of specified techiniques by housing associations in Northeren Ireland and their impact on the performance of the assocaitions. Without dismissing rational goel seeking explanations for adoption, the study concludes the strategic planning is also a legimation seeking practice. Evidence suggest that the contested nature of performance in the non-profit sector makes it hard for chief executives to sustain a rational goal based argument for adopting strategic planing. [source]

Reinterpreting Sustainable Architecture: The Place of Technology

JOURNAL OF ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION, Issue 3 2001
Simon Guy
This paper examines the relationships between diverse technical design strategies and competing conceptions of ecological place making. It highlights the conceptual challenges involved in defining what we mean by calling a building "green" and outlines a social constructivist perspective on the development of sustainable architecture. The paper identifies six alternative logics of ecological design which have their roots in competing conceptions of environmentalism, and explores the ways in which each logic prefigures technological strategies and alternative visions of sustainable places. Finally, the paper discusses the implications of the contested nature of ecological design for architectural education, practice, and research. [source]

Authentic subcultural membership: Antecedents and consequences of authenticating acts and authoritative performances,

PSYCHOLOGY & MARKETING, Issue 7 2010
Michael B. Beverland
The postmodern consumer often finds authenticity in communities of consumption including those that are based around a focal brand. Two means through which authenticity can be achieved are an individual authenticating act or a collective authoritative performance. Using this dual lens, the contested nature of authenticity within subcultures is explored. Drawing on long, interpretive interviews with surfers, skaters, and snowboarders, it was found that the contested nature of authentic community membership is driven by different identity benefits, including flow and kinship. These two separate benefits lead members to engage different brand-related cues when seeking an authentic brand partner. This paper advances the understanding of subcultural authenticity by identifying the diversity of identity goals sought from membership of consumption communities and by linking antecedents and outcomes of authenticity, and associated consumption behaviors. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]

Blood, timber, and the state in West Kalimantan, Indonesia

ASIA PACIFIC VIEWPOINT, Issue 1 2008
Gerry Van Klinken
Abstract: West Kalimantan (West Borneo) has a history of violent communal conflict.1 It also has extensive forests that have been looted for decades. The argument will be that these two are linked, but not by the grievances of the forest dwellers. Except in its first few days, the two main episodes of 1997 and 1999 were not driven mainly by grievances among marginal groups. Rather, explanations based on the ,resource curse' carry more weight. These focus attention on the contested nature of the state, rather than on rebellious activities of marginal groups. When state institutions were thrown into disarray by the sudden resignation of President Suharto in 1998, Dayak militants already close to state power rewrote the rules of local politics by demonstratively ,cleansing' certain areas of an unpopular immigrant minority. This theatrical manoeuvre impressed political rivals sufficiently to allow Dayaks to gain control over several timber-rich districts, which had a thriving black economy. Malays later imitated these techniques to stem the tide. [source]

Bargaining (De)centralization, Macroeconomic Performance and Control over the Employment Relationship

BRITISH JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, Issue 1 2003
Franz Traxler
Based on data for 20 OECD countries, this paper analyses the effect of bargaining centralization on performance and control over the employment relationship. Rejecting both the corporatist thesis and the hump,shape thesis, the paper finds that performance either increases or decreases with centralization, depending on the ability of the higher level to bind lower levels. There is a clear effect on control in that bargaining coverage significantly declines with decentralization. Employers can therefore expect to extend management prerogatives, rather than improve performance, when enforcing decentralization. Hence the literature on bargaining structures when focusing on performance has lost sight of their contested nature. [source]