430,170 research outputs found
Reconfiguring Household Management in Times of Discontinuity as an Open System: The Case of Agro-food Chains
The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.This article is based upon a heterodox approach to economics that rejects the
oversimplification made by closed economic models and the mainstream concept
of âexternality.â This approach re-imagines economics as a holistic evaluation of
resources versus human needs, which requires judgement based on understanding
of the complexity generated by the dynamic relations between different systems.
One re-imagining of the economic model is as a holistic and systemic evaluation of
agri-food systemsâ sustainability that was performed through the multi-dimensional
Governance Assessment Matrix Exercise (GAME). This is based on the five capitals
model of sustainability, and the translation of qualitative evaluations into quantitative
scores. This is based on the triangulation of big data from a variety of sources. To
represent quantitative interactions, this article proposes a provisional translation of
GAMEâs qualitative evaluation into a quantitative form through the identification of
measurement units that can reflect the different capital dimensions. For instance, a
post-normal, ecological accounting method, Emergy is proposed to evaluate the natural
capital. The revised GAME re-imagines economics not as the âdismal science,â but
as one that has potential leverage for positive, adaptive and sustainable ecosystemic
analyses and global âhouseholdâ management. This article proposes an explicit
recognition of economics nested within the social spheres of human and social capital
which are in turn nested within the ecological capital upon which all life rests and is
truly the bottom line. In this article, the authors make reference to an on-line retailer of
local food and drink to illustrate the methods for evaluation of the five capitals model
Towards an Integrative Formative Approach of Data-Driven Decision Making, Assessment for Learning, and Diagnostic Testing
This study concerns the comparison of three approaches to assessment: Data-Driven Decision Making, Assessment for Learning, and Diagnostic Testing. Although the three approaches claim to be beneficial with regard to student learning, no clear study into the relationships and distinctions between these approaches exists to date. The goal of this study was to investigate the extent to which the three approaches can be shaped into an integrative formative approach towards assessment. The three approaches were compared on nine characteristics of assessment. The results suggest that although the approaches seem to be contradictory with respect to some characteristics, it is argued that they could complement each other despite these differences. The researchers discuss how the three approaches can be shaped into an integrative formative approach towards assessmen
Technology-driven online marketing performance measurement: lessons from affiliate marketing
Although the measurement of offline and online marketing is extensively researched, the literature on online performance measurement still has a number of limitations such as slow theory advancement and predominance of technology- and practitioner-driven measurement approaches. By focusing on the widely employed but under-researched affiliate marketing channel, this study addresses these limitations and evaluates the effectiveness of practitioner-led online performance assessment. The paper offers a comprehensive review of extant performance measurement research across traditional, online and affiliate marketing and, employing grounded theory, presents a qualitative in-depth analysis of 72 online forum discussions and 37 semi-structured interviews with the major affiliate marketing stakeholders. As a result, the research identifies a growing need for change in the technology-pushed measurement approaches in affiliate marketing, and proposes actionable improvement recommendations for affiliate and online marketing managers
Holism, Physical Theories and Quantum Mechanics
Motivated by the question what it is that makes quantum mechanics a holistic
theory (if so), I try to define for general physical theories what we mean by
`holism'. For this purpose I propose an epistemological criterion to decide
whether or not a physical theory is holistic, namely: a physical theory is
holistic if and only if it is impossible in principle to infer the global
properties, as assigned in the theory, by local resources available to an
agent. I propose that these resources include at least all local operations and
classical communication. This approach is contrasted with the well-known
approaches to holism in terms of supervenience. The criterion for holism
proposed here involves a shift in emphasis from ontology to epistemology. I
apply this epistemological criterion to classical physics and Bohmian mechanics
as represented on a phase and configuration space respectively, and for quantum
mechanics (in the orthodox interpretation) using the formalism of general
quantum operations as completely positive trace non-increasing maps.
Furthermore, I provide an interesting example from which one can conclude that
quantum mechanics is holistic in the above mentioned sense, although, perhaps
surprisingly, no entanglement is needed.Comment: Published versio
Measurement Outcomes and Probability in Everettian Quantum Mechanics
The decision-theoretic account of probability in the Everett or many-worlds interpretation, advanced by David Deutsch and David Wallace, is shown to be circular. Talk of probability in Everett presumes the existence of a preferred basis to identify measurement outcomes for the probabilities to range over. But the existence of a preferred basis can only be established by the process of decoherence, which is itself probabilistic
- âŠ