2007, UMaine News Press Releases

This is a catalog of press releases put out by the University of Maine Division of Marketing and Communications between January 8, 2007 and December 27, 2007

Reconciling Conflicting Institutional Logics: Community Reinvestment Officers at the Intersection of Public Policy and Market Forces

Although the public policy literature has traditionally focused on public sector agencies’ roles in the policy implementation process, private sector managers who oversee regulatory mandates for their organizations are also policy actors. These actors operate between multiple conflicting field-level institutional logics that create demands that they must reconcile through their work. In the banking sector, the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), enacted in 1977, and its associated policies are monitored by the banking regulatory agencies and implemented by the senior managers responsible for these mandates at regulated financial institutions. Simultaneously with their responsibility for the policy mission of the CRA, CRA officers (CROs) are business managers who must support the commercial missions of their banks, as well as respond to the pressures of their community contexts. This dissertation contributes to the policy implementation literature in two ways. First, by linking the institutional logics and institutional work perspectives, this study extends our understanding of how managers in private organizations reconcile the demands of public policy with their market driven missions, and second, by examining the factors that contribute to policy implementation in the field of community reinvestment. By employing central tenets derived from the institutional logics perspective, the dissertation recognizes how the constitutive and interconnected material (organizational structures and practices) and symbolic (conceptualizations of market and policy demands) elements of the institutional orders of society inform these managers’ policy work. Furthermore, the institutional work framework recognizes the enduring nature of institutions, but also that institutional logics can change over time as constituted by actors’ agency and the evolving discourse and norms in the field. This micro-level focus on individual actors recognizes that organizations are not unitary, but instead are comprised of diverse employees who reference institutional logics in divergent ways. The second key contribution of the dissertation is its elucidation of the primary factors that contribute to CROs’ abilities to reconcile the demands of conflicting institutional logics, informed by the institutional work perspective. The study illustrates how structural work (job responsibilities and organizational authority), conceptual work (policy worldview and its intersection with race and personal identity, as well as organizational and leadership commitment to CRA performance), operational work (community market context) and relational work (professional identity and gender of the CRO) influenced interpretations of CRA mandates. The most significant finding was related to the race and ethnicity of the CRO, which influenced the conceptualizations of CRA as community development, as opposed to compliance, as well as perceptions concerning the importance of the CRA statute

Sub-Versions: Investigating Videogame Hacking Practices and Subcultures

“Hacking” is an evocative term — one that is mired in tropes that reduce a diverse range of practices into a few stereotypically malicious activities. This thesis aims to explore one hacking practice, videogame hacking, whose practitioners make unauthorized alterations to videogames after their release. Through interviews, game analysis, and reflective writing, this thesis investigates videogame hacking subcultures of production — communities of creative labour that exist in the margins of mediamaking and the fringes of the law. This thesis begins by reviewing popular media and existing accounts of computer hacker culture, primarily Steven Levy’s Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution and Gabriella Coleman’s Coding Freedom, in order to contextualize videogame hacking in broader histories of computer culture. Using this analysis as a starting point, the author then proposes a reflexive methodological framework for studying videogame hacking subcultures, designed to accommodate the ephemerality of virtual communities and the apprehensions of participants. The following two chapters refer to participant interviews to pursue two avenues of research. First, drawing upon Michel de Certeau’s writing on strategies versus tactics and Henry Jenkins chronicling of prohibitionist and collaborationist models, this study explores how intellectual property law serves as a site of tension between media companies and videogame fans. Second, the author explores the diverse motivations of videogame hackers who create works that are undistributable through commercial markets and may face the risk of legal action

The iPad - an EFL Revolution? An exploratory study of the iPad in tertiary education in the UAE

This thesis is under permanent embargo as it is an earlier version of the final thesis, which is available in ORE at http://hdl.handle.net/10871/122150ABSTRACT: The iPad: an EFL classroom revolution? The motivation for this study was the 2012 launch of the iPad as the de facto delivery platform for Foundations-level students at all public universities in the UAE, the largest nationwide adoption of the device anywhere in the world. Not only was this of interest in terms of scale, it was also of interest linguistically, English being the language of instruction at all public universities, despite their student body being almost exclusively indigenous Arab nationals. It also presented the opportunity to examine the marrying of a cutting-edge emerging technology with an EFL tertiary education context, an uncommon occurrence. Though eulogised by university management and the local press as an educational revolution, for some the iPad initiative was unusual, given the speed of its roll-out, lack of piloting or teacher training, and the linguistic level of most Foundations-level students. Thus, the objective of this thesis was to examine the device in both a pedagogical and socio-cultural context, and assess whether it was the educational panacea promised, or the result of a successful marketing strategy. It was also hoped to establish the iPad’s worth in terms of educating the UAE’s youth for successful integration into the knowledge economy, a key government Vison 2021 strategy. To address these issues, the research focus was on evaluations of the iPad by Foundations teaching faculty, at both a male and female campus at one of the UAE’s public tertiary education institutions. A mixed methods approach was chosen, utilising both a questionnaire and interviews. The results revealed the iPad was regarded as a potentially useful supplementary pedagogic tool by faculty, although there were strong caveats regarding its sole use, its ability to distract, and its suitability for the level of student, as well as the larger knowledge economy. This thesis adds weight to observations already extant in the literature, but also provides new insights, such as specific iPad classroom use in terms of apps at tertiary level in an EFL context, and consequent training and support requirements. Though not a longitudinal study, it does provide a longer-term examination of the device than much of the germane literature. What the thesis further posits, is that to understand ambitious and untested educational projects like the iPad initiative in the UAE, it may be necessary to understand the larger socio-political context of the policies, rather than see such projects in a wholly educational framework

An exploratory study of the iPad in tertiary education in the UAE

An earlier version of this thesis is in ORE at http://hdl.handle.net/10871/122010. It is under permanent embargoABSTRACT: The iPad: an EFL classroom revolution? The motivation for this study was the 2012 launch of the iPad as the de facto delivery platform for Foundations-level students at all public universities in the UAE, the largest nationwide adoption of the device anywhere in the world. Not only was this of interest in terms of scale, it was also of interest linguistically, English being the language of instruction at all public universities, despite their student body being almost exclusively indigenous Arab nationals. It also presented the opportunity to examine the marrying of a cutting-edge emerging technology with an EFL tertiary education context, an uncommon occurrence. Though eulogised by university management and the local press as an educational revolution, for some the iPad initiative was unusual, given the speed of its roll-out, lack of piloting or teacher training, and the linguistic level of most Foundations-level students. Thus the objective of this thesis was to examine the device in both a pedagogical and socio-cultural context, and assess whether it was the educational panacea promised, or the result of a successful marketing strategy. It was also hoped to establish the iPad’s worth in terms of educating the UAE’s youth for successful integration into the knowledge economy, a key government Vison 2021 strategy. To address these issues, the research focus was on evaluations of the iPad by Foundations teaching faculty, at both a male and female campus at one of the UAE’s public tertiary education institutions. A mixed methods approach was chosen, utilising both a questionnaire and interviews. The results revealed the iPad was regarded as a potentially useful supplementary pedagogic tool by faculty, although there were strong caveats regarding its sole use, its ability to distract, and its suitability for the level of student, as well as the larger knowledge economy. This thesis adds weight to observations already extant in the literature, but also provides new insights, such as specific iPad classroom use in terms of apps at tertiary level in an EFL context, and consequent training and support requirements. Though not a longitudinal study, it does provide a longer-term examination of the device than much of the germane literature. What the thesis further posits, is that to understand ambitious and untested educational projects like the iPad initiative in the UAE, it may be necessary to understand the larger socio-political context of the policies, rather than see such projects in a wholly educational framework

Evaluation of Secondary Packages for Tetra Top on the Italian Market ? supportive tools for decision-making

Title Evaluation of secondary packages for Tetra Top on the Italian market? supportive tools for decision-making. Authors Viktor Eriksson and Monica Towman. Supervisors Annika Olsson, Department of Design Sciences, Division of Packaging Logistics, Lund Institute of Technology, Lund University. Armando Francione, Technical Director, Tetra Pak Italiana S.p.A. Problem Setting ? What requirements do the actors in the supply chain have on the secondary packages? ? What are the values and benefits of different secondary packages for the actors in the supply chain? ? What are the pros and cons of the secondary packages currently on the market in Italy? ? Is there a ?best choice? among the different secondary packages? Objective To evaluate different secondary packages at three dairies in Italy. Provide Tetra Pak and future customers with key requirements and supportive tools for decision-making regarding suitable secondary package(s) to implement together with the Tetra Top primary package. Method This master's thesis is based on a descriptive case study. Observations and interviews form the qualitative base whereas quantitative data has been collected with questionnaires. Conclusions The big variety of demands and requirements from different customers preclude the possibility of finding one universal secondary package suitable for all supply chains. Often, it is also unsuitable to use the same packaging system for different distribution channels with different properties. Three evaluation tools have been developed to facilitate choice of suitable secondary package(s) to implement according to the individual requirements from future customers. Packaging Function Analysis ? analyses values and benefits, but also failings of existing packaging systems for different actors in the supply chains. Strengths and Weaknesses Tables ? comprehensive collections of pros and cons regarding packaging systems currently on the Italian market. Conclusive Packaging Evaluation Matrix ? objectively grades a variety of key properties of different secondary packages. Can be used with two different methods of application. Other thesis conclusions: ? Activities related to the secondary packages are clearly dominated by logistical aspects on the observed market. Marketing aspects are of no great concern as secondary packages are rarely displayed to end-consumers; also, environmental aspects play a minor, but growing, role. ? It is hard to optimize a packaging solution for the whole supply chain. Reducing the complexity at one actor can increase complexity at another actor in the supply chain. ? It is not sufficient for a packaging supplier to objectively evaluate different packaging systems and expect the customer to be satisfied according to this evaluation. ? It seems like the packaging suppliers could market and inform about its distribution equipment more extensively to customers

Customer behaviours and online banking in New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Banking at Massey University, Manawatū campus, New Zealand

Recent technological developments in the financial sector have led to renewed interest in studying bank-customer relationships. The present study examined the effects of six demographic characteristics (i.e. age, gender, household income, education, employment and marital status) on the use of online banking in New Zealand. Three research questions were addressed: How do different personal characteristics affect customers’ use of online banking? How do these characteristics interact with each other in affecting customers’ use of online banking? and How do different characteristics affect the key factors that form users’ perceptions of online banking usefulness? We used a three-pronged data collection methodology including four focus group discussions an online survey and twenty-six qualitative interviews. The survey was taken by 758 respondents and the completion rate was 76%. A range of descriptive and empirical analytics were used and strong effects of customer demographics on online banking use were found. The explanatory power of the six characteristics was examined using stepwise backward regression modelling while ANOVA tests confirmed interactive effects between combinations of characteristics. Through Principal component analysis, we identified a subset of four key constructs to represent the major areas of themes where customer perceptions differ regarding the use of online banking. Ordinal logit regression determined how perceptions differ on the basis of the differences in demographics. Academically, this research examines the predictive utility of demographic characteristics in explaining New Zealanders’ use of online banking technologies from both banking and marketing perspectives. Expanding on demographic relationships as proxies for deeper drivers of behaviours, this study offers practical lessons for effective segmentation and engagement strategies. It reminds banks that understanding customer personas is the first step to effective targeting or personalization. This is critical in developing customer-centric banking in New Zealand and other regions