Institutional monitoring, coordination and corporate acquisitions in China

Within the context of corporate acquisition decisions of China's Publicly Listed Corporations (PLCs), this paper investigates the monitoring and coordination behaviour of institutional shareholders. Institutional shareholders are divided into four groups: large outsider, large insider, small outsider and small insider. The outsider and insider categorization, respectively, represents the absence of significant business links with relevant PLCs. In China, institutional shareholders tend to either monitor the acquisitions decisions of PLCs or coordinate their response with the controlling shareholders (coordination in the present context amounts to cooperation). Using micro data from China's stock market over the 2003–2008 period, we find that (through ex-ante coordination with the controlling shareholders) the insider institutional investment tends to increase the likelihood of PLC acquisitions. However, through ex-ante monitoring of the PLC acquisition offers, the outsider institutional investment tends to decrease the acquisition likelihood. We find that, through ex-post monitoring of PLC acquisitions, institutional investors with large shareholdings can help improve the post-acquisition performance of Chinese PLCs. On the other hand, institutional investors with small shareholdings tend to coordinate their actions with the controlling shareholders. Accordingly, small institutional shareholders cannot affect the post-acquisition performance of China's PLCs. Finally, we find that the so-called ‘cherry-picking effect’ exists only in the case of large outsider institutional investors

Digital technology and outdoor experiential learning

Any use or non-use of digital technology in outdoor experiential learning requires critical examination. Digital technology can undermine the aim of being outdoors, but it can also create opportunities to enhance outdoor learning experiences. This paper presents a conceptual framework, based on a systematic review of the literature, that facilitators can use to think critically about their use (or non-use), of digital technology in outdoor experiential learning. The three key parts of the framework are pedagogical considerations, affordances of digital technology and consequences of decisions. The framework is designed to help facilitators of outdoor experiential learning make informed decisions or retrospectively review the decisions they made about the use (or non-use) of digital technology. The strength of the framework is that it encourages facilitators to engage in the critical evaluation of the intended and unintended consequences of digital technology use (or non-use) in outdoor experiential learning

The use of post‐mortem lividity to determine sleep position in sudden unexpected deaths in infancy

Aim: To compare parental reports of position found in sudden unexpected deaths in infancy (SUDI) to autopsy reports of lividity, to more accurately classify infant sleep position. Methods: Cases of SUDI in Queensland between 2010 and 2014 were reviewed to determine the position in which infants were reported to have been placed and found. This was compared to the distribution of post‐mortem lividity at autopsy. Evidence of lividity present during early death scene investigation was also recorded. Results: There was a discordance between the position an infant was reported to have been found and the position of lividity at autopsy in 22/228 SUDI (9.6%). All infants had anterior lividity despite 13 reportedly found supine, three on their side, and six in an unknown position. Using anterior lividity at autopsy to change the position found increased the proportion of prone infants from 37.7% to 47.4%. In 47.8% cases, anterior or lateral lividity reported at the scene was no longer present at autopsy. Conclusion: Previously published odds ratios may have under estimated the risk of sudden infant death associated with prone sleep position. SUDI death scene investigation protocols should require photographic documentation of lividity prior to transporting an infant

'Touch it, swipe it, shake it': Does the emergence of haptic touch in mobile retailing advertising improve its effectiveness?

This article illustrates that haptic touch, the sensation of gaining and sending information through the hand, can improve mobile retailing advertisements’ effectiveness. To date, (haptic) touch has been predominantly thought of as a sensation only possible for physical retail settings, with limited theoretical or empirical evidence of its existence in mobile retailing advertising in the current literature. This study presents a model which includes interactivity, value, involvement, brand attitude and purchase intentions in a singular model for the first time. The model is comparatively examined across haptic touch (n = 303) versus non-haptic touch (n = 359) conditions using structural equation modelling (SEM) multi-group test of invariance. The findings demonstrate haptic touch improves the experience of advertisements and this strengthens purchase intentions, whereas for the non-haptic touch condition, results demonstrate the actual brand being advertised should be leveraged to increase purchase intentions. These findings present a new theoretical perspective that haptic touch is now a sensation which can be engaged in mobile and digital retail settings and provides an important foundation for future research

A gym workout for your brain: how mindfulness can help improve mental health

No abstract available

A writer’s manifesto: articulating ways of learning to write well

A writer’s manifesto is a statement outlining a writer’s philosophy of life, writing goals and intentions, motives, and sources of inspiration. It is also an ongoing self-reflection on how a writer learns to write well. A writing manifesto demands an interrogation of the literary, political, philosophical and material contexts of a writer’s practice. This paper demonstrates how both undergraduate and post-graduate students can steer their own writing growth by writing a manifesto through an exploration of various methods of writing practice

Sport Tourism and Sustainable Destinations

Destinations include the places, landscapes and communities where sport tourism development takes place. Whether sport tourism development takes the form of sport events, active participation in sport, and/or sports nostalgia/heritage, it draws on local resources, forms part of the complex dynamic of daily life. As such, sports tourism has implications for residents, with destination communities in a position to benefit from, or absorb the costs of, the extent to which development is sustainable. Subsequently, this book features contributions that focus on sport tourism and destination sustainability. Issues covered include, though are not limited to, destination management, surf localism, the production of space, event sustainability in national parks, utilisation of sport heritage for destination promotion, enhancing the attractiveness of destinations through sport tourism, destination development and sport tourism, utilising sport to motivate travel to destinations and environmentally responsible behaviour in sports tourism destinations. The unique contribution of this edited volume is the multi-disciplinary approach applied to enhance conceptual understanding of issues surrounding sport tourism and destination sustainability. The chapters originally published as a special issue in the Journal of Sport & Tourism

Comparative analysis of adaptation strategies for coastal climate change in North West Europe

Adaptation to climate change has experienced a recent rapid increase in guides, manuals and strategies, including the EU adaptation strategy of 2013. However, minimal critical review or evaluation has been done on the process and outcomes of adaptation strategies. This work presents a comparative analysis of progress towards adaptation strategies in nine coastal areas in NW Europe (from Belgium, France, Ireland and UK) where the INTERREG IVb IMCORE project was implemented. Adaptation progress was evaluated using a suite of indicators in six categories: Relevance, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Results & Impact, Sustainability and Management. Data were obtained through a combination of questionnaires and interviews. Although a similar IMCORE adaptation process was implemented there were notable differences between areas. Two alternate modes of implementation were identified: one focused more on impact and results and one on institutionalisation and future security of the adaptation process. The length of history of collaborative working was positively associated with progress in adaptation planning. The results thus recommend creation of a base for collaborative working prior to undertaking an adaptation initiative. However, this contrasts with the EU approach for developing adaptation strategies in which seeking agreement with stakeholders responsible for implementation is the penultimate stage

Designing Gamified Apps for Sustainable Consumption: A Field Study

This research tests the effectiveness of a social marketing field study on sustainable consumption conducted by energy companies on real customers. The study uses a gamified app to encourage sustainable household energy usage. We analyze app usage, survey, and energy bills data to demonstrate the impact of specific game design elements on customers’ perceived enjoyment and knowledge, and their behavioral intentions regarding sustainable consumption. We show the gamified app influences energy saving behaviors and word-ofmouth, and results in significant monetary savings compared to a control group. These are exciting results that provide novel insights and help support the potential of gamified apps for businesses and consumers

Care in the contested geographies of Dolphin-Assisted Therapy

Scholarship recognizes the co-construction of space by humans and non-human animals (hence, animals), but the complex geographies of some animals whose lives depend upon human care remain under-studied. This article explores human–dolphin relations within the context of Dolphin-Assisted Therapy (DAT), a practice in which most dolphins are in human care. We trace a genealogy of dolphin–human relations in built environments, and draw on a DAT case study in Curacao, to understand how the entangled agencies of humans, dolphins and other actants have co-constructed spaces of mutual therapy and care. Our research highlights the circumstances of ‘legacy dolphins’ in DAT, dolphins whose lives depend on human care. We suggest that, while the services of dolphins are recommodified through DAT, the legacy dolphin is de-commodified through ‘relations of obligation’ built on mutual ‘caring for’ as both companion species and work colleague. © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Grou