348 research outputs found

    Structuring the State’s Voice of Contention in Harmonious Society: How Party Newspapers Cover Social Protests in China

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    During the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) campaign of building a ‘harmonious society’, how do the official newspapers cover the instances of social contention on the ground? Answering this question will shed light not only on how the party press works but also on how the state and the society interact in today’s China. This thesis conceptualises this phenomenon with a multi-faceted and multi-levelled notion of ‘state-initiated contentious public sphere’ to capture the complexity of mediated relations between the state and social contention in the party press. Adopting a relational approach, this thesis analyses 1758 news reports of ‘mass incident’ in the People’s Daily and the Guangming Daily between 2004 and 2020, employing cluster analysis, qualitative comparative analysis, and social network analysis. The thesis finds significant differences in the patterns of contentious coverage in the party press at the level of event and province and an uneven distribution of attention to social contention across incidents and regions. For ‘reported regions’, the thesis distinguishes four types of coverage and presents how party press responds differently to social contention in different scenarios at the provincial level. For ‘identified incidents’, the thesis distinguishes a cumulative type of visibility based on the quantity of coverage from a relational visibility based on the structure emerging from coverage and explains how different news-making rationales determine whether instances receive similar amounts of coverage or occupy similar positions within coverage. Eventually, by demonstrating how the Chinese state strategically uses party press to respond to social contention and how social contention is journalistically placed in different positions in the state’s eyes, this thesis argues that what social contention leads to is the establishment of complex state-contention relations channelled through the party press

    Communicating a Pandemic

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    This edited volume compares experiences of how the Covid-19 pandemic was communicated in the Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. The Nordic countries are often discussed in terms of similarities concerning an extensive welfare system, economic policies, media systems, and high levels of trust in societal actors. However, in the wake of a global pandemic, the countries’ coping strategies varied, creating certain question marks on the existence of a “Nordic model”. The chapters give a broad overview of crisis communication in the Nordic countries during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic by combining organisational and societal theoretical perspectives and encompassing crisis response from governments, public health authorities, lobbyists, corporations, news media, and citizens. The results show several similarities, such as political and governmental responses highlighting solidarity and the need for exceptional measures, as expressed in press conferences, social media posts, information campaigns, and speeches. The media coverage relied on experts and was mainly informative, with few critical investigations during the initial phases. Moreover, surveys and interviews show the importance of news media for citizens’ coping strategies, but also that citizens mostly trusted both politicians and health authorities during the crisis. This book is of interest to all who are looking to understand societal crisis management on a comprehensive level. The volume contains chapters from leading experts from all the Nordic countries and is edited by a team with complementary expertise on crisis communication, political communication, and journalism, consisting of Bengt Johansson, Øyvind Ihlen, Jenny Lindholm, and Mark Blach-Ørsten. Publishe

    “So what if ChatGPT wrote it?” Multidisciplinary perspectives on opportunities, challenges and implications of generative conversational AI for research, practice and policy

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    Transformative artificially intelligent tools, such as ChatGPT, designed to generate sophisticated text indistinguishable from that produced by a human, are applicable across a wide range of contexts. The technology presents opportunities as well as, often ethical and legal, challenges, and has the potential for both positive and negative impacts for organisations, society, and individuals. Offering multi-disciplinary insight into some of these, this article brings together 43 contributions from experts in fields such as computer science, marketing, information systems, education, policy, hospitality and tourism, management, publishing, and nursing. The contributors acknowledge ChatGPT’s capabilities to enhance productivity and suggest that it is likely to offer significant gains in the banking, hospitality and tourism, and information technology industries, and enhance business activities, such as management and marketing. Nevertheless, they also consider its limitations, disruptions to practices, threats to privacy and security, and consequences of biases, misuse, and misinformation. However, opinion is split on whether ChatGPT’s use should be restricted or legislated. Drawing on these contributions, the article identifies questions requiring further research across three thematic areas: knowledge, transparency, and ethics; digital transformation of organisations and societies; and teaching, learning, and scholarly research. The avenues for further research include: identifying skills, resources, and capabilities needed to handle generative AI; examining biases of generative AI attributable to training datasets and processes; exploring business and societal contexts best suited for generative AI implementation; determining optimal combinations of human and generative AI for various tasks; identifying ways to assess accuracy of text produced by generative AI; and uncovering the ethical and legal issues in using generative AI across different contexts

    The behavioural determinants of corporate sustainability: Towards a comprehensive model of legitimate climate change communication

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    Today's world faces severe climate challenges, and there is a pressing need for genuine environmental advocacy within organizations and policymaking. This dissertation investigates the complex decision-making processes in the workforce and environmental communication and behaviour in organizations. The goal is to provide insights on stimulating environmental advocacy and enabling better-targeted behavioural change interventions. The thesis encompasses four independent but related papers that cover interdisciplinary research on environmental advocacy, examining the social backdrop of contemporary corporate sustainability, environmental communication, and strategies to encourage workplace environmentalism. The studies draw primarily from signalling and legitimacy theory while extending understanding of identity theory, power, and knowledge spillover. Overall, this dissertation contributes to a greater understanding of corporate sustainability by emphasizing the role of legitimacy in environmental leadership and sustainability communication. It fosters a more integrated, systematic, and comprehensive understanding of climate change communication in organisations, likely increasing the saliency of behavioural research in the mitigation debate and supporting evidence-based public policy

    Territorial Cohesion in Peripheralised Contexts: A Comparative Study of Integrated Territorial Development Instruments and Strategies in Germany and Romania

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    This dissertation offers insights into the use of ideas in policies designed to address uneven territorial development in regions outside metropolitan areas in the European Union (EU). The focus is on integrated territorial development policies which draw on the notion of territorial cohesion in two different national contexts within the EU: Germany and Romania. The theoretical background of the thesis traces how territorial disparities are addressed in key theoretical paradigms which have influenced regional development thinking. Integrated territorial development is singled out as a key policy approach designed to overcome development disparities by tapping into underutilised endogenous assets and knowledge as part of a cross-sectoral vision within a defined space (be it an urban, rural, or regional context). Forward-thinking as this approach strives to be, it faces fundamental challenges in places which have been grappling with a rise of economic, social, and political disparities for many years. Understanding these processes through the relational concept of peripheralisation steers research towards engaging with people’s perceptions of spatial disparities and policies designed to address them. The conceptual framework of the thesis is designed around principles which enable an interpretive analysis of public policy. This mode of inquiry is based on an anti-foudnationalist ontology and a constructivist epistemology. The cornerstone of this approach is understanding policy actions as indeterminate, prone to unintended consequences, and fundamentally shaped by the backtalk of the complex social system it seeks to influence. Policy-making and implementing is hence viewed as a setting in which disparate and contingent beliefs and actions of individuals come together to shape a temporarily concerted course of actions. Different types of policy ideas (in many cases belonging to different schools of thought) hence come together in a process of policy framing where policy substance, actors’ identities and relationships, and the policy process are shaped. To operationalise this framework, the methodological design of this research follows an abductive mode of scientific inquiry which pursues an iterative engagement with the field and the theory. The empirical research is designed around two case study regions – the Chemnitz Region in The Free State of Saxony (one of Germany’s 16 federal states) and the North-West Region in Romania. The rationale behind the selection of the case studies was to choose regions in starkly different policy contexts, yet which are as similar as possible in terms of their socio-economic development trajectories. The study analyses three policy instruments: integrated urban development funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), integrated rural development funded through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and regional development planning initiatives. The primary data stems from 43 semi-structured expert interviews conducted with 46 policy practitioners and experts. Policy documents, local and regional strategies, and statistics have served as a source of secondary data. The analytical approach draws on principles of grounded theory for inductively developing theoretical categories and establishing causal explanations in the form of mid-level, provisional theories. The first block of the analysis engages with the substance of integrated territorial development policies and strategies, showcasing different interpretations of territorial cohesion in national contexts. Governments in both contexts view territorial cohesion as a means of strengthening the governance and coordination of policies, with a focus on local development conditions. Nonetheless, little emphasis is put on the competitive polycentric development approach, balanced development, and the environmental dimensions. In both studied contexts, polarised development is grasped as an inevitable approach for overcoming broad regional structural weaknesses. The second analytical block engages with policy processes which underpin the implementation of integrated territorial development strategies. This serves to highlight the settings in which policy-relevant actors apply the integrated instruments available to them. The analysis centres on the separation of urban from rural development, the ownership of the goals pursued through integrated development and the ensuing impact on actors’ motivation to engage with complex policy procedures, and the role of experts in guiding policy beneficiaries The final block of the analysis touches on the problematisation of peripheralisation in relation to integrated development instruments in four domains: demographic change, structural economic shifts, infrastructures and services of general interest, and place identity and marketing. These domains are not tied to any specific policies, but have rather emerged as salient in the inductive analysis. The research concludes with a number of open questions and suggestions for policy makers. A key observation is that the notion of territorial cohesion itself tends to bring little value added to policy programmes, as many topics are already addressed in bespoke national normative concepts and policy programmes. Far from being an end-state, territorial cohesion comes across as a process which is shaped by contrasting perceptions on competitive and balanced development; by centralised and devolved modes of governance; by functional territorial planning or network-based development windows of opportunity. The added value of policies which draw on territorial cohesion to address territorial disparities may lay in bringing the perspective of peripheralised policy communities to the forefront of the debate and enabling innovative forms of cooperation.:Preface and acknowledgments – iii Table of contents – vii List of figures and tables – xi Abbreviations – xv Introduction – 1 PART I: THEORETICAL, CONCEPTUAL, AND METHODOLOGICAL GROUNDS 1. Theoretical insights into territorial cohesion and disparities in the EU – 15 1.1. Key shifts in regional development policy thinking – 15 1.1.1. The neoliberalisation of regional and local development – 16 1.1.2. The neoliberalising logic of strategic spatial planning – 23 1.1.3. New approaches towards development policies – 24 1.2. Normative and policy dimensions of territorial cohesion – 26 1.2.1. Establishing European planning concepts – 27 1.2.2. Dimensions of territorial cohesion and its integrative role – 30 1.3. Towards a relational understanding of territorial disparities – 36 1.3.1. Understanding territorial disparities through peripheralisation – 36 1.3.2. Ideational dependency in development policies – 39 1.4. Territorial cohesion and peripheralisation: research perspectives – 40 2. Conceptual framework – 43 2.1. Policy analysis: a constructivist perspective – 44 2.1.1. The case for an anti-foundationalist ontology of public policy – 45 2.1.2. Policy analysis in an interpretive epistemology – 49 2.2. Understanding the role of prominent policy ideas – 52 2.2.1. Decentering political science – 53 2.2.2. Prominent policy ideas: an interpretive perspective – 54 2.3. Reflexive agency in public policy – 56 2.3.1. Putting travelling ideas to use in policy design processes – 56 2.3.2. Policy frames and policy framing – 61 2.4. Guiding principles – 64 3. Methodology – 67 3.1. Interpretive analysis in spatial policy research – 68 3.2. Research design – 72 3.2.1. Key principles – 72 3.2.2. Comparing two case studies – 75 3.2.3. Generating theory: principles and quality criteria – 79 3.3. Methods – 85 3.3.1. Qualitative interviewing – 85 3.3.2. Policy and document analysis – 90 3.4. Case and respondent selection – 91 3.4.1. Selecting regions in Germany and Romania – 91 3.4.2. Selecting respondents – 95 PART II: CONTEXT 4. The administrative context of integrated territorial development policies – 105 4.1. The ESI funds and the Cohesion Policy: a brief overview – 106 4.1.1. The key aims of the ESI funds – 107 4.1.2. EU priorities for the Cohesion Policy – 108 4.1.3. Integrated territorial development – 110 4.2. Planning and regional development in Saxony and Romania – 112 4.2.1. Saxony – 113 4.2.2. Romania – 114 4.3. Policy instruments for integrated territorial development – 115 4.3.1. Saxony – 115 4.3.2. Romania – 120 4.4. Policy directions – 125 5. Territorial structures of, and development trends in the studied regions – 127 5.1. Territorial structures – 127 5.1.1. The Chemnitz region in Saxony – 127 5.1.2. The North-West region in Romania – 130 5.2. Population and demography – 133 5.3. Transport infrastructure – 135 5.4. Economic profiles – 139 5.4.1. Employment concentration – 139 5.4.2. Commuting – 142 5.4.3. Economic sectors - 142 PART III: EMPIRICAL FINDINGS 6. The substance of integrated territorial development policies and strategies – 149 6.1. Normative positions on territorial cohesion – 149 6.1.1. Normative Positions – 150 6.1.2. Linking the storylines – 152 6.1.3. Key remarks – 153 6.2. The substance of governmental policies – 155 6.2.1. Categorising space: the inevitability of polarised development – 157 6.2.2. The role of integrated territorial development policies – 163 6.3. The substance of local and regional strategies – 169 6.3.1. Integrated Rural Development Plans – 169 6.3.2. Integrated Urban Development Plans – 174 7. Ideas in action: making sense of integrated territorial development – 189 7.1.Practical constraints and affordances of using integrated instruments – 189 7.1.1. The urban-rural split in ESI-funded instruments – 189 7.1.2. Centralising the ownership of European goals – 196 7.2. The role of experts in framing integrated responses – 203 7.2.1. Experts’ roles beyond bureaucracies – 204 7.2.2. Attuning expertise to local conditions – 204 7.2.3. Conveying expertise at a regional level and beyond – 208 7.3. From ideas to action – 210 7.3.1. Fostering motivation – 210 7.3.2. Eroding trust through complex bureaucracies – 215 8. Problematising integrated development: a local-regional perspective – 219 8.1. Demographic change – 219 8.2. Structural economic shifts – 225 8.2.1. Regional economies in transition – 226 8.2.2. Towards competitive territories – 231 8.3. Infrastructures and public services – 235 8.3.1. In-between adaptation and expansion – 236 8.3.2. Key remarks – 240 8.4. Place identity and marketing – 240 8.5. From problems to perceptions of cumulative disadvantages – 247 PART IV: CONCLUSIONS 9. Conclusions and implications – 255 9.1. Summary of the research approach. Key findings – 255 9.1.1. Research approach and theoretical anchors – 255 9.1.2 Policy ideas and their role in policy framing 258 9.2. Reflections and implications – 264 9.2.1. Methodological reflections – 265 9.2.2. Policy implications – 266 9.2.3. Perspectives for further research – 269 References – 271 APPENDICES Appendix 1: Analysed policy documents – 301 Appendix 2: Analysed strategies – 303 Appendix 3: Details about the interviews – 305 Appendix 4: List of original quotes – 31

    “So what if ChatGPT wrote it?” Multidisciplinary perspectives on opportunities, challenges and implications of generative conversational AI for research, practice and policy

    Get PDF
    Transformative artificially intelligent tools, such as ChatGPT, designed to generate sophisticated text indistinguishable from that produced by a human, are applicable across a wide range of contexts. The technology presents opportunities as well as, often ethical and legal, challenges, and has the potential for both positive and negative impacts for organisations, society, and individuals. Offering multi-disciplinary insight into some of these, this article brings together 43 contributions from experts in fields such as computer science, marketing, information systems, education, policy, hospitality and tourism, management, publishing, and nursing. The contributors acknowledge ChatGPT's capabilities to enhance productivity and suggest that it is likely to offer significant gains in the banking, hospitality and tourism, and information technology industries, and enhance business activities, such as management and marketing. Nevertheless, they also consider its limitations, disruptions to practices, threats to privacy and security, and consequences of biases, misuse, and misinformation. However, opinion is split on whether ChatGPT's use should be restricted or legislated. Drawing on these contributions, the article identifies questions requiring further research across three thematic areas: knowledge, transparency, and ethics; digital transformation of organisations and societies; and teaching, learning, and scholarly research. The avenues for further research include: identifying skills, resources, and capabilities needed to handle generative AI; examining biases of generative AI attributable to training datasets and processes; exploring business and societal contexts best suited for generative AI implementation; determining optimal combinations of human and generative AI for various tasks; identifying ways to assess accuracy of text produced by generative AI; and uncovering the ethical and legal issues in using generative AI across different contexts

    Fake news diffusion on digital channels: An analysis of attack strategies, responsibilities, and corporate responses

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    In recent years, the phenomenon of fake news has aroused a growing interest in the academic debate because of its capability to easily spread among digital channels, such as social media platforms, and reach and deceive an increasingly large target of digital users. In this scenario, fake news threatens the credibility of organizations, their products and services, the trust relationship between organizations and consumers, as well as the organizations internal community. Nowadays, organizations are subject to the risk of losing the control of their corporate communication strategies due to phenomena such as the spread of fake news. Hence, although in academic literature there is a growing interest about the impact of fake news, scholars agree that more research is needed to provide a better understanding of the fake news phenomenon. Indeed, hereto no study has focused on how fake news attacks the corporate reputation with reference to the different phases of the fake news life cycle. The aim of this PhD thesis is threefold: (1) to investigate how fake news, during its life cycle, attacks corporate reputation; (2) to identify the key actors involved in the stemming process of fake news and their role; (3) to identify the more effective response strategies of organizations threatened by fake news. To achieve the aim of this exploratory research, a mixed-method approach was adopted. In particular, a qualitative content analysis was conducted on a database of 454 fake news headlines; four longitudinal case studies were analyzed; a survey on a sample of Italian citizens was conducted to investigate their perception and the more effective response strategies of the organizations attacked by fake news. Findings of this research identify two types of borrowed credibility on which fake news leverages and two thematic clusters that characterize them. By crossing these dimensions, four different ideal types of fake news attack strategies emerged. Moreover, the results of this research highlight the weakness of the role of fact checkers, which are unable to access the filter bubbles in which fake news rapidly spreads – fact checkers and fake news branch out on two parallel channels, without crossing each other, and reaching different targets, by representing an ethical challenge for digital platforms such as social media. Finally, the findings of the survey show that it is a widespread and prevailing opinion between Italians that openness and transparency should be the key values of the response strategies. As a matter of fact, the clear answer from the survey respondents is that the best response strategy for the organization attacked by fake news is to be available in providing timely information

    “So what if ChatGPT wrote it?”:Multidisciplinary perspectives on opportunities, challenges and implications of generative conversational AI for research, practice and policy

    Get PDF
    Transformative artificially intelligent tools, such as ChatGPT, designed to generate sophisticated text indistinguishable from that produced by a human, are applicable across a wide range of contexts. The technology presents opportunities as well as, often ethical and legal, challenges, and has the potential for both positive and negative impacts for organisations, society, and individuals. Offering multi-disciplinary insight into some of these, this article brings together 43 contributions from experts in fields such as computer science, marketing, information systems, education, policy, hospitality and tourism, management, publishing, and nursing. The contributors acknowledge ChatGPT’s capabilities to enhance productivity and suggest that it is likely to offer significant gains in the banking, hospitality and tourism, and information technology industries, and enhance business activities, such as management and marketing. Nevertheless, they also consider its limitations, disruptions to practices, threats to privacy and security, and consequences of biases, misuse, and misinformation. However, opinion is split on whether ChatGPT’s use should be restricted or legislated. Drawing on these contributions, the article identifies questions requiring further research across three thematic areas: knowledge, transparency, and ethics; digital transformation of organisations and societies; and teaching, learning, and scholarly research. The avenues for further research include: identifying skills, resources, and capabilities needed to handle generative AI; examining biases of generative AI attributable to training datasets and processes; exploring business and societal contexts best suited for generative AI implementation; determining optimal combinations of human and generative AI for various tasks; identifying ways to assess accuracy of text produced by generative AI; and uncovering the ethical and legal issues in using generative AI across different contexts
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