Empirical Insights Into Short Story Draft Construction

Existing cognitive models of narrative creation provide accounts for story invention that, while useful, are too high level to be directly applied to formal systems like computational models of narrative generation. Inversely, existing automatic story generation systems that try to implement cognitive models can only rely on approximations to the general concepts these models describe. In order to provide insight to ll the gap between these two approaches, we have conducted a study in which human participants would invent and write short stories while re ecting on their thoughts out loud. The sessions and the analysis of the recordings was designed so that we could observe which speci c modi cations the participants apply to their story drafts, with the intention to inform the process of creating computational systems based on cognitive descriptions of the narrative creation process. After running the experiments, annotating the videos and analysing the output, we have concluded that there are a number of common modi cations that humans tend to apply to a newly created draft, and that this information can be used to the development of storytelling systems

Versioning in Interactive Systems

Dealing with past states of an interactive system is often difficult, and users often resort to unwieldy methods such as saving and naming multiple copies. Versioning tools can help users save and manipulate different versions of a document, but traditional tools designed for coding are often unsuitable for interactive systems. Supporting versioning in interactive systems requires investigation of how users think about versions and how they want to access and manipulate past states. We first surveyed users to understand what a ‘version’ means to them in the context of digital interactive work, and the circumstances under which they create new versions or go back to previous ones. We then built a versioning tool that can store versions using a variety of explicit and implicit mechanisms and shows a graphical representation of the version tree to allow easy inspection and manipulation. To observe how users used versions in different work contexts, we tested our versioning tool in two interactive systems – a game level editor and a web analysis tool. We report several new findings about how users of interactive systems create versions and use them as undo alternatives, exploring options, and planning future work. Our results show that versioning can be a valuable component that improves the power and usability of interactive systems. The new understanding that we gained about versioning in interactive environments by developing and evaluating our custom version tool can help us design more effective versioning tools for interactive systems

The Leadership Effectiveness of the Judean Kings/Queen

In this study, the leadership effectiveness of the Judean kings/queen during the divided kingdom was examined. The research methodology utilized was a multi-case study of the Judean rulers through an exegetical analysis of 2 Chronicles 10-36. A multifaceted method was utilized for genre inquiry to explore the unique properties of the book of Chronicles. The study placed biblical literature into the history genre through the Chronicler’s varied conveyance methods. The textual units linked with the narrative analysis of the discovered location, repetition, and themes. Some intertextual engagement overlapped with archaeology, Kings’ records, and prophetic literature. The researcher identified seven leadership themes from the Chronicler\u27s document that provide theoretical and practical implications for contemporary leaders

A cognitive model of fiction writing.

Models of the writing process are used to design software tools for writers who work with computers. This thesis is concerned with the construction of a model of fiction writing. The first stage in this construction is to review existing models of writing. Models of writing used in software design and writing research include behavioural, cognitive and linguistic varieties. The arguments of this thesis are, firstly, that current models do not provide an adequate basis for designing software tools for fiction writers. Secondly, research into writing is often based on questionable assumptions concerning language and linguistics, the interpretation of empirical research, and the development of cognitive models. It is argued that Saussure's linguistics provides an alternative basis for developing a model of fiction writing, and that Barthes' method of textual analysis provides insight into the ways in which readers and writers create meanings. The result of reviewing current models of writing is a basic model of writing, consisting of a cycle of three activities - thinking, writing, and reading. The next stage is to develop this basic model into a model of fiction writing by using narratology, textual analysis, and cognitive psychology to identify the kinds of thinking processes that create fictional texts. Remembering and imagining events and scenes are identified as basic processes in fiction writing; in cognitive terms, events are verbal representations, while scenes are visual representations. Syntax is identified as another distinct object of thought, to which the processes of remembering and imagining also apply. Genette's notion of focus in his analysis of text types is used to describe the role of characters in the writer's imagination: focusing the imagination is a process in which a writer imagines she is someone else, and it is shown how this process applies to events, scenes, and syntax. It is argued that a writer's story memory, influences his remembering and imagining; Todorov's work on symbolism is used to argue that interpretation plays the role in fiction writing of binding together these two processes. The role of naming in reading and its relation to problem solving is compared with its role in writing, and names or signifiers are added to the objects of thought in fiction writing. It is argued that problem solving in fiction writing is sometimes concerned with creating problems or mysteries for the reader, and it is shown how this process applies to events, scenes, signifiers and syntax. All these findings are presented in the form of a cognitive model of fiction writing. The question of testing is discussed, and the use of the model in designing software tools is illustrated by the description of a hypertextual aid for fiction writers

The role of experiential knowledge in foreign market commitment: A process perspective on the internationalisation of Australian services SMEs

The Uppsala internationalisation model established some foundations for research in international business. But since the introduction of this internationalisation process model in mid-1970s, the business environment has changed significantly. It is important to reflect on how these changes affect the interplay between experiential learning and foreign market commitment, a key plank in the Uppsala model. This thesis focuses on a core assumption that underlies the model: that a high degree of foreign market commitment results from rational decisions that firms take during a learning process based on complete knowledge and information. In 2009, the protagonists of the Uppsala model offered a much more nuanced perception of a firm’s learning process, when they stressed that firms rely of a wider range of relationships, interactions and contexts that impact on their accumulation of experiential knowledge. Some studies have used proxy variables to capture this process through variance-based quantitative analysis. This thesis uses a process approach, conceptualised on the basis of several theories to understand the complexity of the learning process that underlies the internationalisation of firms. The true process approach to studying the internationalisation of the firm has been neglected for some time and the field of international business studies had been dominated by variance-based studies. Inevitably, this has led to a situation where ‘we see far too many “rigorous” studies with little originality and, at best, a marginal contribution’, as Johanson and Vahlne (2014: 173) expressed it. The process approach conceptualised, developed and applied in the analysis in this thesis may be a better instrument to understand causal relationships between experiential knowledge accumulation or learning and foreign market commitment, as well as other internationalisation processes that take place over periods of time. This research is focused on the micro-foundations of internationalisation attempts of firms. These processes are analysed in light of relevant spatiotemporal context. The findings document the key aspects of the internationalisation process without devoting the analysis to what Outhwaite (1987: 7-12) has labelled the positivist ‘law-explanation orthodoxy’. Instead, this thesis relies on abductive reasoning and longitudinal case studies to contextualise learning processes and changes in such processes over a period of time throughout the internationalisation process. It analyses the internationalisation of seven Australian services SMEs in order to provide causal explanations for a specific sequence of critical events that influenced the foreign market commitments of these firms. An additional methodological contribution of this thesis is the implementation of content analysis, clustering and multidimensional scaling of the contents of interviews, which accounts for relevant context without undermining the scientific explanation and rigour of the approach. By studying case histories and the chronology of critical events in the internationalisation attempts of these firms, we demonstrate that an accommodating learning style is most closely associated with the foreign market commitment of firms. Nonetheless, experiential learning is dynamic in nature and often requires decision makers to touch all bases of the learning cycle. As expected, the key sources of knowledge are relevant business and people-to-people networks, as well as prior learning experiences of decision makers that often go beyond the lifespan of the firm. Experiential learning is found to be a context-dependent process that is utterly complex in nature. The thesis demonstrates how critical events trigger experiential learning as well as explain what the decision makers learn as part of this learning process. Rather than measuring the stock of experiential knowledge, the thesis demonstrates how learning processes alter individual perceptions of foreign market opportunities. The findings reconfirm that change processes (i.e. experiential learning, building business networks and trust) are continuous, while market commitment decisions (i.e. market entry mode, degree of internationalisation) are intermittent. These findings precisely challenge the results of variance-based studies that rely on limited firm-level indicators to capture and analyse experiential learning processes. This thesis builds on the call of Johanson and Vahlne (2014) to broaden our understanding of the practice of the internationalisation of firms by focusing on the behavioural aspects of human decision-making, such as the role of business networks and trust. To date, there are few studies that explain what exactly is learnt as part of the internationalisation process and how this information and/or knowledge actually affects foreign market opportunity recognition. Experiential knowledge remains the pivotal aspect of the internationalisation process and this research helps to conceptualise and operationalise relevant theory and provide causal explanations

Mechanisms Driving Digital New Venture Creation & Performance: An Insider Action Research Study of Pure Digital Entrepreneurship in EdTech

Digitisation has ushered in a new era of value creation where cross border data flows generate more economic value than traditional flows of goods. The powerful new combination of digital and traditional forms of innovation has seen several new industries branded with a ‘tech’ suffix. In the education technology sector (EdTech), which is the industry context of this research, digitisation is driving double-digit growth into a projected $240 billion industry by 2021. Yet, despite its contemporary significance, the field of entrepreneurship has paid little attention to the phenomenon of digital entrepreneurship. As several scholars observe, digitisation challenges core organising axioms of entrepreneurship, with significant implications for the new venture creation process in new sectors such as EdTech. New venture creation no longer appears to follow discrete and linear models of innovation, as spatial and temporal boundaries get compressed. Given the paradigmatic shift, this study investigates three interrelated themes. Firstly, it seeks to determine how a Pure Digital Entrepreneurship (PDE) process develops over time; and more importantly, how the journey challenges extant assumptions of the entrepreneurial process. Secondly, it strives to identify and theorise the deep structures which underlie the PDE process through mechanism-based explanations. Consequently, the study also seeks to determine the causal pathways and enablers which overtly or covertly interrelate to power new venture emergence and performance. Thirdly, it aims to offer practical guidelines for nurturing the growth of PDE ventures, and for the development of supportive ecosystems. To meet the stated objectives, this study utilises an Insider Action Research (IAR) approach to inquiry, which incorporates reflective practice, collaborative inquiry and design research for third-person knowledge production. This three-pronged approach to inquiry allows for the enactment of a PDE journey in real-time, while acquiring a holistic narrative in the ‘swampy lowlands’ of new venture creation. The findings indicate that the PDE process is differentiated by the centrality of digital artifacts in new venture ideas, which in turn result in less-bounded processes that deliver temporal efficiencies – hence, the shorter new venture creation processes than in traditional forms of entrepreneurship. Further, PDE action is defined by two interrelated events – digital product development and digital growth marketing. These events are characterised by the constant forking, merging and termination of diverse activities. Secondly, concurrent enactment and piecemeal co-creation were found to be consequential mechanisms driving temporal efficiencies in digital product development. Meanwhile, data-driven operation and flexibility combine in digital growth marketing, to form higher order mechanisms which considerably reduce the levels of task-specific and outcome uncertainties. Finally, the study finds that digital growth marketing is differentiated from traditional marketing by the critical role of algorithmic agencies in their capacity as gatekeepers. Thus, unlike traditional marketing, which emphasises customer sovereignty, digital growth marketing involves a dual focus on the needs of human and algorithmic stakeholders. Based on the findings, this research develops a pragmatic model of pure digital new venture creation and suggests critical policy guidelines for nurturing the growth of PDE ventures and ecosystems

The Foreign Direct Investment Location Decision: A Contingency Model of the Foreign Direct Investment Location Decision-Making Process

Despite considerable prior research into foreign direct investment (FDI) location decisions, our understanding of the processes underlying such decisions is still limited. Findings from work based in the economics and behavioral theories of the multinational enterprise (MNE) both acknowledge that FDI is not a point-of-time decision but a gradual process that yields important changes over its duration. However, these competing traditions both fall short when attempting to portray the actual process by which FDI location decisions are made by managers in MNEs. This gap has been recently attributed to two interrelated limitations. Firstly, level of analysis concerns have artificially separated managerial decision-making processes from the organizational and environmental structures within which they are made. Secondly, because of the complexity inherent in the FDI location decision environment, the study of these decisions has not taken contextual factors into consideration. This study addresses three important questions in order to build our understanding of the FDI location decision-making processes: (1) What are the decision-making processes that lead to FDI location choice? (2) What is the impact of contextual variables on FDI location decision-making processes at different levels of analysis, and are there any patterns of variation in decision processes under different decision conditions? (3) What factors drive final FDI location choice, and can a useful framework or theory be developed that links FDI location decision-making processes and context to drivers of FDI location choice? In order to address level of analysis concerns, the study places the manager at the center of the FDI location decision in modeling and in research, a strategy recommended by an emerging stream of behavioral-focused international business research (Aharoni, 2010; Buckley et al., 2007; Devinney, 2011). By examining FDI location decisions from the perspective of the managers who implement them, it is possible to clarify the nature of processes that lead to FDI location choice, and identify the impact of different elements of decision maker, firm and environmental context on such processes. The conceptual framework builds on Aharoni’s (1966) pivotal research while incorporating findings from broader behavioral managerial decision models and international business research. The framework is based on the assumption that FDI location decision-making processes and final choice are contingent upon interactions between the environmental, firm and decision maker context under which the decision is made. The research was undertaken in three phases. Phase 1 included a literature review that covered research on the MNE, internationalization, and decision making. The findings of the review identified key aspects of FDI location decision context and led to the development of an initial contingency framework of strategic decision making. Phase 2 consisted of an exploratory case study of twenty four FDI location decisions. The initial contingency framework developed during the literature review was used during this stage to identify the relationship between decision-making processes and contextual variables at the case decisions. By drawing on results from the exploratory research, an initial conceptual model and a set of propositions were developed. In Phase 3, twenty case studies were theoretically sampled from a pool of MNEs of varying size and parent-country nationality within the knowledge-based industries. The data collection and analysis followed a process, event-driven approach to case study research involving the mapping of key sequences of events as well as within- and cross-case analysis. The results identify the key elements of the decision process that explain FDI location behavior and develop a framework that links them together and makes them sensible. The four key elements of the FDI location decision that comprise the framework include: (i) the process, (ii) the context, (iii) patterns, and (iv) location. Research findings show the FDI location decision process as comprising of five broad stages, the content of each driven by a dynamic and evolving interpretation of maximum subjective expected utility. Utility preferences are identified as the consequence of shifting and opaque goals, founded upon imperfect information, operating in an environment marked by uncertainty. Five variations in the overall orientation of utility at case decisions, classified in the study as ‘decision rules,’ proved to be more useful predictors of decision-making behavior than traditional notions of bounded rationality seeking rent extraction and profitability. Decision processes were found to vary in five prototypical patterns, according to clusters of contextual variables that together moderated the level of decision-maker autonomy, hierarchical centralization, rule formalization, commitment to strategy, and politicization of the decision. Patterns are described as FDI location decision-making models, and proposed as an initial step towards the development of a taxonomy of FDI location decision-making processes. Because of the dynamic and staged nature of the process, findings showed that factors that were important at one stage of the decision were not as important at the next. As such, the task of identifying universal drivers of FDI location was deemed an unfeasible one. In place of universal drivers, the initiating force of the investment, the purpose of investment and information sources and networks are identified as the key context-specific determinants of location in FDI decisions. Bounded by uncertainty, chance, the dynamics of the process and decision-maker effects, each of these aspects of the decision served to limit the possible consideration set for investment, and formed the value basis and measures from which to select the most attractive location choice. Despite the contextual differences in these drivers, however, the study revealed a strong pattern that showed that the importance of specific location considerations differed in much the same way across case decisions. During the first stage of case decisions primarily strategic aspects of locations were considered; during the second, considerations relating to the system; operational concerns in the third; implementation concerns in the fourth; and added value factors in the final choice. How each of these concerns was interpreted to reach final location choice differed according to the drivers mentioned previously, although the patterns were the same. This study develops a contingency framework for examining the FDI location decision-making processes of MNEs under different operating conditions. By identifying the four key components of the FDI location decision, their interrelationships and many sources of variance, this thesis shows that despite its complexity, the FDI location decision is amenable to useful conceptual structuring. From an academic standpoint, the framework answers Aharoni’s most recent call to action in ‘Behavioral Elements in Foreign Direct Investment’ (2010) by developing a replicable structure within which to think about incorporating managerial decision models and context into the theory of the MNE. These findings enhance understandings of decision making at MNEs, reconcile a number of inconsistencies between opposing perspectives of MNE theory, and thereby update extant theory so that it has greater relevance in today’s diverse international business environment. From a managerial standpoint, the thesis helps managers to recognize the opportunities and limitations posed by different aspects of decision context so that they are able to tailor their FDI location decision strategies to best suit their needs. Finally, from the perspective of policy markers, research findings provide great support for the use of investment attraction schemes through the use of targeted location marketing and investment incentives.

Partners in Practice: Contemporary Irish Literature, World Literature and Digital Humanities

This dissertation examines the opportunities and implications afforded Irish literary studies by developments in the newly emergent disciplines of world literature and the digital humanities. Employing the world literature theories of Wai Chee Dimock, David Damrosch, Franco Moretti and Pascale Casanova in the critical analysis of works of contemporary Irish literature and Irish literary criticism produced in the period 1998-2010, it investigates how these theoretical approaches can generate new perspectives on Irish literature and argues that the real “problem” of world literature as it relates to Irish literary studies lies in establishing an interpretive method which enables considerations of the national within a global framework. This problem serves as the entry point to the engagement with the digital humanities presented throughout the dissertation. Situated within debates surrounding modes of “close” and “distant reading” (Moretti 2000) as they are played out in both the fields of world literature and digital literary studies, this work proposes an alternative digital humanities approach to the study of world literature to the modes of “distant reading” endorsed by literary critic, Franco Moretti and digital humanists such as Alan Liu (Liu 2012). Through a series of interdisciplinary case studies combining national and international, close and distant and old and new modes of literary scholarship, it argues that, rather than being opposed to a nationally-orientated form of literary criticism, the digital humanities have the tools and the methodologies necessary to bring Irish literary scholarship into a productive dialogue with perspectives from elsewhere and thus, to engender a form of Irish literary scholarship that transcends while not denying the significance of the nation state. By illustrating the manner in which the digital humanities can be employed to enhance and extend traditional approaches in Irish literary studies, this project demonstrates that Irish studies and the digital humanities can be “practicing partners” in a way that serves to advance work in both the fields of world literature and digital literary studies

The Foreign Direct Investment Location Decision: A Contingency Model of the Foreign Direct Investment Location Decision-Making Process

Despite considerable prior research into foreign direct investment (FDI) location decisions, our understanding of the processes underlying such decisions is still limited. Findings from work based in the economics and behavioral theories of the multinational enterprise (MNE) both acknowledge that FDI is not a point-of-time decision but a gradual process that yields important changes over its duration. However, these competing traditions both fall short when attempting to portray the actual process by which FDI location decisions are made by managers in MNEs. This gap has been recently attributed to two interrelated limitations. Firstly, level of analysis concerns have artificially separated managerial decision-making processes from the organizational and environmental structures within which they are made. Secondly, because of the complexity inherent in the FDI location decision environment, the study of these decisions has not taken contextual factors into consideration. This study addresses three important questions in order to build our understanding of the FDI location decision-making processes: (1) What are the decision-making processes that lead to FDI location choice? (2) What is the impact of contextual variables on FDI location decision-making processes at different levels of analysis, and are there any patterns of variation in decision processes under different decision conditions? (3) What factors drive final FDI location choice, and can a useful framework or theory be developed that links FDI location decision-making processes and context to drivers of FDI location choice? In order to address level of analysis concerns, the study places the manager at the center of the FDI location decision in modeling and in research, a strategy recommended by an emerging stream of behavioral-focused international business research (Aharoni, 2010; Buckley et al., 2007; Devinney, 2011). By examining FDI location decisions from the perspective of the managers who implement them, it is possible to clarify the nature of processes that lead to FDI location choice, and identify the impact of different elements of decision maker, firm and environmental context on such processes. The conceptual framework builds on Aharoni’s (1966) pivotal research while incorporating findings from broader behavioral managerial decision models and international business research. The framework is based on the assumption that FDI location decision-making processes and final choice are contingent upon interactions between the environmental, firm and decision maker context under which the decision is made. The research was undertaken in three phases. Phase 1 included a literature review that covered research on the MNE, internationalization, and decision making. The findings of the review identified key aspects of FDI location decision context and led to the development of an initial contingency framework of strategic decision making. Phase 2 consisted of an exploratory case study of twenty four FDI location decisions. The initial contingency framework developed during the literature review was used during this stage to identify the relationship between decision-making processes and contextual variables at the case decisions. By drawing on results from the exploratory research, an initial conceptual model and a set of propositions were developed. In Phase 3, twenty case studies were theoretically sampled from a pool of MNEs of varying size and parent-country nationality within the knowledge-based industries. The data collection and analysis followed a process, event-driven approach to case study research involving the mapping of key sequences of events as well as within- and cross-case analysis. The results identify the key elements of the decision process that explain FDI location behavior and develop a framework that links them together and makes them sensible. The four key elements of the FDI location decision that comprise the framework include: (i) the process, (ii) the context, (iii) patterns, and (iv) location. Research findings show the FDI location decision process as comprising of five broad stages, the content of each driven by a dynamic and evolving interpretation of maximum subjective expected utility. Utility preferences are identified as the consequence of shifting and opaque goals, founded upon imperfect information, operating in an environment marked by uncertainty. Five variations in the overall orientation of utility at case decisions, classified in the study as ‘decision rules,’ proved to be more useful predictors of decision-making behavior than traditional notions of bounded rationality seeking rent extraction and profitability. Decision processes were found to vary in five prototypical patterns, according to clusters of contextual variables that together moderated the level of decision-maker autonomy, hierarchical centralization, rule formalization, commitment to strategy, and politicization of the decision. Patterns are described as FDI location decision-making models, and proposed as an initial step towards the development of a taxonomy of FDI location decision-making processes. Because of the dynamic and staged nature of the process, findings showed that factors that were important at one stage of the decision were not as important at the next. As such, the task of identifying universal drivers of FDI location was deemed an unfeasible one. In place of universal drivers, the initiating force of the investment, the purpose of investment and information sources and networks are identified as the key context-specific determinants of location in FDI decisions. Bounded by uncertainty, chance, the dynamics of the process and decision-maker effects, each of these aspects of the decision served to limit the possible consideration set for investment, and formed the value basis and measures from which to select the most attractive location choice. Despite the contextual differences in these drivers, however, the study revealed a strong pattern that showed that the importance of specific location considerations differed in much the same way across case decisions. During the first stage of case decisions primarily strategic aspects of locations were considered; during the second, considerations relating to the system; operational concerns in the third; implementation concerns in the fourth; and added value factors in the final choice. How each of these concerns was interpreted to reach final location choice differed according to the drivers mentioned previously, although the patterns were the same. This study develops a contingency framework for examining the FDI location decision-making processes of MNEs under different operating conditions. By identifying the four key components of the FDI location decision, their interrelationships and many sources of variance, this thesis shows that despite its complexity, the FDI location decision is amenable to useful conceptual structuring. From an academic standpoint, the framework answers Aharoni’s most recent call to action in ‘Behavioral Elements in Foreign Direct Investment’ (2010) by developing a replicable structure within which to think about incorporating managerial decision models and context into the theory of the MNE. These findings enhance understandings of decision making at MNEs, reconcile a number of inconsistencies between opposing perspectives of MNE theory, and thereby update extant theory so that it has greater relevance in today’s diverse international business environment. From a managerial standpoint, the thesis helps managers to recognize the opportunities and limitations posed by different aspects of decision context so that they are able to tailor their FDI location decision strategies to best suit their needs. Finally, from the perspective of policy markers, research findings provide great support for the use of investment attraction schemes through the use of targeted location marketing and investment incentives.

Process study of a complex technology transfer and integration : the case of digital interactive broadcast media

Imperial Users onl