Deceleration: Revealed Preference in Society and Win-Win-Strategy for Sustainable Management

Until recently "deceleration" has been little recognized as a technical term or as an idea, but now it seems to be getting more attention. Despite time is a decisive factor for the productivity and competitive advantages of companies continual acceleration may well be counter-productive and lead to an "acceleration paradox" – more of it not always is better. Three levels of the emergence and spread of the acceleration phenomenon can be distinguished: the macroeconomic, the microeconomic, and the motivational and behavioural level, all of them bearing, however, the danger of an "acceleration trap". Despite possible damages of acceleration deceleration processes usually seem only to be accepted if they are win-win strategies, i.e., if they have a positive impact on ecological and human targets and foster company interests at the same time. The study provides three case studies where win-win situations are realized. Going one step further, however, one can also find a preference for deceleration of agents if deceleration and economic goals are conflicting. How can the agents' willingness to pay for deceleration in such trade-off situations be measured? We do a first step in his direction with three experiments which were conducted at the Technical University of Dresden. In the first experimental setting the subjects are confronted with a trade-off between gaining a possibly higher financial reward by solving mental exercises more quickly and decelerating by taking refreshment brakes during the exercises at the expense of a potentially lower reward. In the second and the third settings subjects are virtually offered an accelerated and a decelerated alternative (more stress for higher income; more stress for faster technical progress of personal computers). The empirical evidence of all three experiments are fully consistent with the expectation that deceleration has a positive value to the subjects. --Acceleration,deceleration,acceleration trap,win-win strategy,individual willingness to pay

Delivering the recommendations of the Fraud Review 2006 and the paradox of police leadership

The purpose of this context statement is to investigate those factors which either contributed towards or impeded delivery of key recommendations from the Fraud Review, Attorney General (2006). These public works comprise three independent but intrinsically linked projects; the National Fraud Reporting Centre (NFRC), National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) and the Economic Crime Academy (ECA). Critical analysis shows how the success of each project influenced and contributed directly to the next project. Examination is made of how, without vision and the continuity of leadership, these public works would either not exist today or would have failed to be as successful as they are. Reflection upon this, together with analyses of individual and organisational leadership styles, stimulated two unavoidable and fundamental questions to be raised: What does the Police Service now stand for? Is the current model of police leadership fit for purpose? Critical analysis of the role of police leadership in the delivery of these public works led to a further, specific question: Is the police response to fraud appropriate? This is because police responses to fraud often appear to be in conflict with Peelian Principles, ACPO (2012) and are more biased towards serving the criminal justice system rather than delivering social justice through interventions that are morally and ethically grounded. On commencement of this context statement the intention was for it to be read by like-minded leaders and visionaries, those who do not fit the norm or stereotype of a typical police manager; as the context statement evolved so too has the intended readership. Throughout reflective assessment and consideration of police leadership and today’s performance culture, it became increasingly apparent that this subject should be core reading for police leaders of the future. However, on completion of the context statement, it is apparent that readership audience should extend beyond the Police Service and the policy makers within government and the Ministry of Justice. The real audience should be the public we serve, those with whose consent we police. Therefore, it seems logical that public should be the ultimate critical assessors of this contribution, together with the effectiveness and appropriateness of the current and ongoing culture of police leadership and the response to fraud

Democratic Algorithms: Ethnography of a Public Recommender System

Can an algorithm be democratic? And how can we understand algorithms not only as technical, but also as social and political phenomena? Democratic Algorithms offers theoretically and empirically informed perspectives on how we can imagine and design algorithms for a democratic society, and what we even mean by that. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, the book illustrates how a recommender system was built in a public broadcaster, raising questions not only about organizational and technical implementation, but also about the possible compatibility of such an algorithmic system with democratic constitutions

The emergence and institutionalisation of the intercultural: navigating uneven discourses in a British university

This thesis provides an ethnographic account of the institutionalisation of intercultural communication, intercultural studies and the umbrella label of ‘intercultural’ within a large British university. The study finds that the spread of the term ‘intercultural’ has been prolific, but the concept of ‘intercultural’ is polysemic and kept strategically vague within the university. The theoretical positions taken by social actors (university staff and students) who encounter and use ‘the intercultural’ is varied and uneven. The hegemonic position frames the ‘intercultural’ as compatible with the values and dominant discourses of the neoliberal university which ‘the intercultural’ must be seen to serve to become part of the institution. This position is evident, for example, in cases where ‘the intercultural’ is mobilised as a marketing tool to suggest it is a key to providing increased student employability and capacity for competing in a globalised world. In this version, ‘the intercultural’ is largely understood as essentialist and it is complicit with a wider methodological nationalism used to naturalise categories such as ‘international’ and ‘home’ students. While this may allow ‘the intercultural’ to gain institutional space, it paradoxically threatens to render the concept devoid of theoretical value. A counter position taken by some social actors stresses the need for greater criticality which avoids the essentialist traps posed by a structural-functionalist approach to the intercultural. This study is relevant to current arguments which emphasise the need for a paradigm shift in the application of ‘the intercultural’ and it suggests that the daily exigencies of the University and its discourses serve as an impediment to a conclusive shift. This raises the question of whether a nuanced approach to the intercultural is possible within a neoliberal university and suggests there is not only a need for a paradigm shift for ‘the intercultural’, but for universities as well

Towards effective governance of information in a Brazilian agricultural research organisation

There are three different uses of the term 'information' in ordinary language: in the restricted sense, it means diverse types of material objects, such as data or documents ('information as thing'); alternatively, the term is used as in reference to the act of informing or becoming informed ('information as process'), or to equate to knowledge ('information as knowledge'). Each of these connotations represents a legitimate view of information in its own right, being equally significant to information-intensive organisations. The literature lacks studies that approach information from an integrative viewpoint, however. The purpose of this study was to explore and develop the notion of 'information governance' as an integrative, systemic approach to information in the context of research organisations. Soft Systems Methodology was used in a case study involving the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation. Qualitative data was gathered through in-depth interviews with researchers and information/knowledge managers, followed by a thematic, two-level analysis. From a 'macro level' of analysis (the wider Brazilian agricultural research system) it was found that, to solve increasingly complex research problems, collaborative, multidisciplinary networking is needed. On the other hand, competitive forces are continuously emanating from the systems of research steering, funds and resources' allocation, quality control, and recognition and reward. This conflict inhibits the collaborative sharing of 'information as thing' and 'as knowledge', disturbs internal communication flows and contributes to low levels of synergy and cross-departmental partnerships, ultimately affecting research outcomes. At a 'meso level' (the local practices and culture of agricultural knowledge production), different epistemic cultures were identified (named in vitro, in situ and in silico research), which respond differently to the opposing forces of collaboration and competition. Based on a deep understanding of the agricultural research system and underlying epistemic cultures, a framework for effective governance of information was developed. Action to improve the governance of information at Embrapa would involve nurturing an information culture that supports collaborative work. Given that interactions between researchers are determined by their individual pursuits and struggles, this would require a change in the corporate system of performance evaluation and reward, according to the different epistemic cultures