Conceptual frameworks in historical analysis: using reputation as interpretive prism

Purpose This paper aims to advocate a revised perspective in historical analysis. The author calls for historians to apply the concept of reputation as interpretive lens in the analysis of historical processes and outcomes. Design/methodology/approach Widely used in management and marketing writing, but also relied upon in political science, the concept of reputation helps predict behaviour of individuals and entities that are bound by political constraints to align their actions to the goal of generating a popular standing. The lens also serves to cast light on the actions engaged in by external stakeholders that are informed by reputational cues. This theoretical contention is illustrated in four case studies resulting from investigations into political decisions and military conflicts, both in the republican and imperial period that ascertain how success and expansion as well as failure and decline of ancient Rome can be viewed and better understood by applying reputation as an instrument to direct and focus historical analysis. Findings This paper does not only advance complementary angles and alternative answers to issues in ancient Roman history. The cases considered also demonstrate how failure to recognise reputation as a significant concept in historical analysis does not only impair a comprehensive and balanced reflection of personal and organisational stakeholder behaviour but also thwarts a full appreciation of the motivation that drives individual protagonists and institutional agents, whose decisions are central to historical processes and outcomes. Originality/value The findings advanced in this paper – informed by four case studies – evidence the need of a new analytical prism in historical enquiry that will define the questions raised and direct the researcher’s attention. It has been shown how the concept of reputation can play a tangible role in sketching out a distinct new angle in historical investigation that leads to reviewing current narrative of past events and phenomena

Understanding a leader’s behaviour: Revisiting the role of reputation management in leadership research

This paper argues for the adoption of reputation as a conceptual prism to discern patterns in political leadership behaviour. The author intends to reach a judgement about the concept’s value for our understanding of leadership by offering a fuller appreciation of reputation itself that is grounded in a recognition of its role in managing followers and entrenching power structures, which makes it critical both to the incumbent leader and challengers. Methodologically, for this analysis both theoretical and descriptive materials have been selected and discussed in order to fully appreciate reputation’s applicability in leadership research. In light of the evidence reviewed one may infer that what renders a leader decisive or passive is essentially a reflection of reputational strength or weakness. In turn this leads us to conclude that concern with reputation engenders and shapes activity we observe in leaders and at the same time guides our interpretation of political decisions and phenomena. Eventually, we may come to see reputation as a concept that serves as a lens through which we view leaders’ responses to challenges. The rationale for this approach is leaders’ own focus on their respective reputation that may at times incentivise action or, alternatively, administrative and political immobility

I, Claudius the Idiot: Lessons to be learned from reputation management in Ancient Rome

Within hours of the assassination of his predecessor, Caligula, Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, henceforth referred to as Claudius, succeeded to the Roman Empire’s throne. Even though he was nephew to Emperor Tiberius, he had not even been considered a remote contender as he was widely regarded unfit for the job. Out of despair he had turned to drinking, gambling, and writing history. At the age of 51, he would succeed the likes of Julius Caesar or Octavian Augustus to great success for Rome. What followed next was a unique exercise in personality public relations. Claudius’s systematic management of his image holds lessons both for academics and practitioners, suggesting that image making by individual political leaders goes back well into history, predating the modern political era considerably

Exploring the strategy of government: a statecraft assessment of Angela Merkel’s chancellorship from 2005 to 2017

As chancellor Angela Merkel is on course to tie with Helmut Kohl as the longest serving democratically elected German head of government, it is time to attempt an initial assessment of the first 12 years of her chancellorship from 2005 to 2017 which left its marks both on German politics and European affairs. Bulpitt’s statecraft model is applied to evaluate the chancellor’s performance and to judge both achievements and shortcomings of Merkel’s incumbency. The theoretical approach chosen provides a scaffolding to direct the research which casts particular attention on four descriptive categories that help condition judgements of a leader’s success and failure and take into consideration attitude and behaviour of elites within the system whose actions and degree of allegiance may have advanced or constrained Merkel’s leadership. The findings suggest a mixed record that portrays Merkel as an efficient operator whose clout hinged on a firm grip on the CDU (Christian Democratic Union) apparatus and effective management of the parliamentary party. Yet even at the apex of her power, Merkel did not achieve or seek argument hegemony in the public discourse

Adenoid basal carcinoma of the cervix in a 20-year-old female: a case report

BACKGROUND: Adenoid basal carcinoma of the cervix is a rare condition mostly occurring among postmenopausal women. Although it can be confused with adenoid cystic carcinoma of the cervix, adenoid basal carcinoma has several clinicopathologic features that will allow distinction from adenoid cystic carcinoma. CASE PRESENTATION: This is the case of a twenty-year old African-American female who initially presented with a high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion on Pap smear, with a subsequent cervical LEEP specimen revealing adenoid basal carcinoma. The lesion showed the characteristic histologic features of adenoid basal carcinoma and was positive for the immunohistochemical marker EMA and negative for collagen IV, further defining the tumor while helping to rule out the possibility of adenoid cystic carcinoma. As far as the authors are aware, this is the youngest reported case of adenoid basal carcinoma to date. CONCLUSION: This case shows that adenoid basal carcinoma can deviate markedly from its typical postmenopausal demographics to affect women as young as 20 years of age. In addition, adenoid basal carcinoma has several identifiable features that will differentiate it from adenoid cystic carcinoma including histologic and cellular morphologies, as well as immunohistochemistry. Treatment for most patients involves hysterectomy, LEEP, or a conization procedure which provides a favorable prognosis because of this lesion's low potential for recurrence and metastasis

Worker assistance and quality inspection – application of optical 3D metrology and augmented reality technologies

Numerous industrial mount processes are characterized by a high variance due to the individuality of the final products. Manual assembly work subjectively influences the quality of an end product and errors thereby cannot be excluded. Errors that occur in production increase costs as it is likely to happen in the assembly of clamping which is used in CNC machining centers. As they are usually assembled manually, errors might occur

Conceptualizing the executive mayoralty as a pseudo-event: a comparative investigation of a new trend in municipal leadership

This paper assesses a new trend and details how the executive mayoralty in the UK has morphed into a tool that allows politicians to advance their respective political agenda and generate images of achievement by exerting their leverage with the national media. Drawing on Boorstin's concept of pseudo-events as an interpretive prism it is argued that in a range of countries the executive mayoralty has for years been used by high-profile mayors to build personal reputation, retain or create party political loyalty and enhance support among the electorate. As a result the mayoral office becomes more appealing to politicians who intend to attain high office and look for a way to make their names and policies widely recognized with voters nationally. Thus municipal leadership in the UK constitutes an alternative route for politicians who aspire to party leadership or ministerial office

Political Reputation Management: The Strategy Myth

It is widely assumed that a competitive political environment of public distrust and critical media forces political parties to manage communications and reputations strategically, but is this really true? Comprehensive control of communications in a fast-moving political and media setting is often upset by events outside the communicator’s control, taking over the news agenda and changing the political narrative. Based on interviews with leading communicators and journalists, this book explores the tensions between a planned, strategic communications approach and a reactive, tactical one. The interviewees, who over the past 15 years have been instrumental in presenting and shaping the public persona of party leaders and Prime Ministers, include, amongst others, William Hague, Ian Duncan-Smith, Michael Howard, David Cameron, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. It draws a unique picture of how political reputations are managed and, ultimately, confirms the discrepancy between what political communications management is thought to be, and how communications practitioners actually operate. This book empirically reviews political communications practice in order to analyse to what degree reality matches the concepts of strategic communications management. This will be essential reading for researchers, educators and advanced students in public relations, communications studies and marketing