What Design Research Does ... : 62 Cards Highlighting the Power and Impact of UK-based Design Research in Addressing a Range of Complex Social, Economic, Cultural and Environmental Issues

Design research makes a significant contribution to the UK economy and society as a whole. Ever since the establishment of the Government Schools of Design in the nineteenth century, the UK has been widely acknowledged as an international leader in design research. Following this lead, the What Design Research Does… cards highlight the wide range of social, economic, cultural and environmental impacts that design research, funded and based in the UK, makes all over the world. The 62 cards illustrate unambiguously the positive changes that contemporary UK-based design researchers are making in many complex issues. Each What Design Research Does… card lists the challenges and issues faced by the design researchers, who they collaborated with, the research methods and approaches taken, the outcomes of the design research, what the main results and findings have been, and what impact the design research has had. In short, the What Design Research Does… cards clearly articulate the breadth of social, economic, cultural and environmental impacts that UK-based design researchers are achieving today

Boardroom, Boot Room and Beyond: the manifestation, destruction, and revival of a winning organizational culture

The thesis offers the first longitudinal case study examining Liverpool Football Club’s organizational culture. It is also the first empirical study to show how a high-performance culture manifests, passes from generation to generation, is modified, reinterpreted, and repurposed. The thesis builds on knowledge of OC and adds to the nascent area of research on OC in sports organizations. Schein's (1989) framework is utilised to dig beneath the cultural levels, whilst Martin’s (2002) multi-perspective lens is employed to gain insights from multiple perspectives, thus, offering a broad perspective and rich, nuanced insights into organizational life. The thesis has three objectives: 1) identify how LFC’s culture manifested, was perpetuated, continued, and repurposed over time; 2) investigate how LFC’s norms and values were transmitted to newcomers to enable them to become full participants in the community’s cultural practices; 3) examine the perceived effects (if any) of cultural legacy on organizational performance. In answering the research questions, the thesis digs beneath surface cultural manifestations and adopts triangulated data collection methods including fieldwork, semi-structured interviews, audio-visual and document analysis. Drawing on Martin’s (2002) framework findings indicate three periods in LFC’s history with varying degrees of cultural integration, fragmentation, and ambiguity. Findings suggest legacy perceptions are situational and influenced by LFC’s cultural philosophy. Additionally, findings show the manifestation of LFC’s culture differs from the positivist, linear, top-down view of cultural creation. Findings show LFC’s OC manifested through the spontaneous, dynamic, cultural interplay between LFC, its socioeconomic, cultural, musical, political environment and fans. Additionally, findings identify how LFC’s performance decline was rooted in inertia, cultural narcissism, and the loss of LFC’s collectivist cultural essence. Finally, LFC’s repurposing was not revolutionary cultural metamorphosis but more akin to cultural kintsugi, the reinstatement of LFC’s collectivist values and the reframing of its cultural legacy

Mass social change and identity hybridization: the case of Qatar and the 2022 FIFA World Cup

This paper examines how the 2022 World Cup has transformed national and cultural identity in Qatar, and residents’ responses to such change. Our discussion draws on interviews with Qatari citizens and those working within Qatar’s cultural, education, policy, and sports sectors, as well as document analysis. The paper is in four parts. First, we present background information on Qatar, before discussing our chosen methods. Third, we discuss four themes generated from the data. The first focuses on changes to the built environment and how this has impacted perceptions of cultural life in Qatar; second relates to how World Cup infrastructure is also seen as a continued expression of Qatar’s heritage; third centred on the perspectives of Qataris as a cultural minority in their country; and fourth shed light on how certain everyday cultural practices of Qataris has survived modernization attempts, albeit, in hybrid forms. We conclude by suggesting that though Qatar’s World Cup has brought challenges to Qataris, they actively maintain celebratory heritage customs

Apixaban versus warfarin in patients with atrial fibrillation

BACKGROUND: Vitamin K antagonists are highly effective in preventing stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation but have several limitations. Apixaban is a novel oral direct factor Xa inhibitor that has been shown to reduce the risk of stroke in a similar population in comparison with aspirin. METHODS: In this randomized, double-blind trial, we compared apixaban (at a dose of 5 mg twice daily) with warfarin (target international normalized ratio, 2.0 to 3.0) in 18,201 patients with atrial fibrillation and at least one additional risk factor for stroke. The primary outcome was ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke or systemic embolism. The trial was designed to test for noninferiority, with key secondary objectives of testing for superiority with respect to the primary outcome and to the rates of major bleeding and death from any cause. RESULTS: The median duration of follow-up was 1.8 years. The rate of the primary outcome was 1.27% per year in the apixaban group, as compared with 1.60% per year in the warfarin group (hazard ratio with apixaban, 0.79; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.66 to 0.95; P<0.001 for noninferiority; P = 0.01 for superiority). The rate of major bleeding was 2.13% per year in the apixaban group, as compared with 3.09% per year in the warfarin group (hazard ratio, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.60 to 0.80; P<0.001), and the rates of death from any cause were 3.52% and 3.94%, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.80 to 0.99; P = 0.047). The rate of hemorrhagic stroke was 0.24% per year in the apixaban group, as compared with 0.47% per year in the warfarin group (hazard ratio, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.35 to 0.75; P<0.001), and the rate of ischemic or uncertain type of stroke was 0.97% per year in the apixaban group and 1.05% per year in the warfarin group (hazard ratio, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.74 to 1.13; P = 0.42). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with atrial fibrillation, apixaban was superior to warfarin in preventing stroke or systemic embolism, caused less bleeding, and resulted in lower mortality. Copyright © 2011 Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved