CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL STRATEGIC ALLIANCES IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY

This paper focuses on strategic fuzzy alliances (SFAs) and the role of trust in business-to-business relationships. First, a theoretical model of governance choice involving strategic alliances is developed, integrating the Shapiro, Sheppard, and Cheraskin (1992) taxonomy of trust into a neoinstitutional framework. Second, this model, based on transaction theory, is then used to generate necessary and sufficient conditions for trust-based agreements. The third component of this paper is an empirical model, which tests the above theory. Finally, managerial implications from the results are discussed.Institutional and Behavioral Economics,

Mcdonald’s Users’ Perceptions Of Health And Nutrition, Quality, And Value On Visit Frequency

With the vast amount of quick service restaurants (QSRs) that are available to consumers in the United States (U.S.), the hospitality industry has become an integral part of Americans’ diet and lifestyle. This study examines how McDonald’s customers’ perceptions of health and nutrition, quality, and value vary demographically (gender, age, ethnicity, educational level, and body mass index [BMI]) by McDonald’s visit frequency. An online survey was employed to collect data of participants who were 18 years of age and older, McDonald’s customers, and a resident of the U.S. Of the 843 respondents who filled out the survey, 607 (72%) surveys were usable. The survey consisted of 17 statements regarding McDonald’s menu items, along with demographic questions, and questions regarding McDonald’s visit frequency. The data were compiled and analyzed using SPSS version 24. Frequencies of participants’ demographics were computed and multiple regression analyses were employed to investigate the relationship of McDonald’s visit frequency among the following: demographics, perceptions of health and nutrition, quality, and value, and the 17 statements. Findings regarding demographics only show that individuals most likely to visit McDonald’s are obese and between the ages of 35-44, whereas individuals aged 55 and older are least likely to visit. When examining demographics with the three perception categories, there is a difference in significance regarding age and visit frequency: those aged 35-44 are no longer significant, and individuals least likely to visit McDonald’s are now 45 years and older; additionally, those who obese are still more likely to visit McDonald’s than their BMI counterparts. Customers who visit McDonald’s most often had significantly higher perceptions of health and nutrition and quality of McDonald’s food than they did of value perceptions. Lastly, results show that customers appear to frequent McDonald’s for factors such as taste and the availability of healthy options, but adequate helpings, controlled product quality, and the availability of low-calorie meals are negatively associated with visit frequency to McDonald’s

Public opinion on the sentencing of mentally ill female offenders; factors that influence people\u27s perceptions of appropriate punishments and the impact of personal experience on sentencing judgements

The aim of the current study was to explore public opinion on mentally ill female offenders in Western Australia, and the influence of these views on sentencing decisions. This study aimed to determine whether the mental health of a female offender influenced how people view a crime and the punishment they consider most appropriate for an offender. In addition, it aimed to investigate whether knowing someone with a mental illness influences people\u27s perception of a crime and the sentencing decisions favoured for a mentally ill female offender. The study involved a between-subjects design comprising 118 participants, who received one version of a scenario depicting a female offender who was either mentally ill or whose mental health was not mentioned. Participants were asked to rate the seriousness of the offence, the offender\u27s responsibility for their crime, the severity of punishment which should be imposed and the purpose of punishment most appropriate for the offender. In addition a qualitative component was included to help determine the reasoning behind people\u27s quantitative decisions. Results indicated that people are significantly more lenient in their view of a crime and sentencing decisions when a female offender is known to have a mental illness. No significant differences were found in regards to the preferred purpose of punishment however, with rehabilitation selected as the favoured goal of punishment regardless of the offender\u27s mental health. In addition knowing someone with a mental illness was not found to significantly impact people\u27s perception of a crime or the sentencing decisions preferred for a mentally ill female offender. Future research is required to obtain a representative sample of the West Australian population in order to enhance the external validity of these findings

Effects of mindfulness on body image, affect, and smoking in women

Recent research has shown that body image stimuli increase negative affect and smoking urges among female smokers. Mindfulness (paying attention to present-moment experience with an attitude of nonjudgmental acceptance) may be a useful technique to minimize the influence of body image issues on negative affect, smoking urges, and smoking behavior. The present study investigated whether mindfulness can influence the way female college smokers respond to a body image challenge. The study used a 2 x 2 factorial design with body image challenge (trying on a bathing suit vs. observing a purse) crossed with instructions (mindfulness vs. silence). Female smokers (n = 64) were randomly assigned to one of 4 conditions: Purse + Control (n = 16), Body Image + Control (n = 15), Purse + Mindfulness (n = 15), and Body Image + Mindfulness (n = 18). Participants had a mean age of 20.03 (±1.77) and were 87.5% Caucasian. There were significant interactions indicating that self-reported state mindfulness increased for those who listened to mindfulness instructions versus silence. In addition, participants receiving the mindfulness intervention did not show significant increases in weight dissatisfaction and negative affect associated with trying on a bathing suit, versus participants in the silent condition. Experimental groups did not differ in self-reported urges to smoke or likelihood of accepting the experimenter’s offer to smoke directly after the session. However, among participants who tried on a bathing suit, those who received mindfulness instructions reported that they planned to wait longer to smoke. Furthermore, mindfulness moderated the relationship between negative affect and smoking urges, such that among participants who received the mindfulness instructions, negative affect was not related to smoking urges. The results provide preliminary support for the use of mindfulness-based treatments for female smokers in coping with body image concerns

Crisis intervention for people with severe mental illnesses

Background A particularly difficult challenge for community treatment of people with serious mental illnesses is the delivery of an acceptable level of care during the acute phases of severe mental illness. Crisis-intervention models of care were developed as a possible solution. Objectives To review the effects of crisis-intervention models for anyone with serious mental illness experiencing an acute episode compared to the standard care they would normally receive. If possible, to compare the effects of mobile crisis teams visiting patients' homes with crisis units based in home-like residential houses. Search methods We searched the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group’s Study-Based Register of Trials. There is no language, time, document type, or publication status limitations for inclusion of records in the register. This search was undertaken in 1998 and then updated 2003, 2006, 2010 and September 29, 2014. Selection criteria We included all randomised controlled trials of crisis-intervention models versus standard care for people with severe mental illnesses that met our inclusion criteria. Data collection and analysis We independently extracted data from these trials and we estimated risk ratios (RR) or mean differences (MD), with 95% confidence intervals (CI). We assessed risk of bias for included studies and used GRADE to create a 'Summary of findings' table. Main results The update search September 2014 found no further new studies for inclusion, the number of studies included in this review remains eight with a total of 1144 participants. Our main outcomes of interest are hospital use, global state, mental state, quality of life, participant satisfaction and family burden. With the exception of mental state, it was not possible to pool data for these outcomes. Crisis intervention may reduce repeat admissions to hospital (excluding index admissions) at six months (1 RCT, n = 369, RR 0.75 CI 0.50 to 1.13, high quality evidence), but does appear to reduce family burden (at six months: 1 RCT, n = 120, RR 0.34 CI 0.20 to 0.59, low quality evidence), improve mental state (Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) three months: 2 RCTs, n = 248, MD -4.03 CI -8.18 to 0.12, low quality evidence), and improve global state (Global Assessment Scale (GAS) 20 months; 1 RCT, n = 142, MD 5.70, -0.26 to 11.66, moderate quality evidence). Participants in the crisis-intervention group were more satisfied with their care 20 months after crisis (Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ-8): 1 RCT, n = 137, MD 5.40 CI 3.91 to 6.89, moderate quality evidence). However, quality of life scores at six months were similar between treatment groups (Manchester Short Assessment of quality of life (MANSA); 1 RCT, n = 226, MD -1.50 CI -5.15 to 2.15, low quality evidence). Favourable results for crisis intervention were also found for leaving the study early and family satisfaction. No differences in death rates were found. Some studies suggested crisis intervention to be more cost-effective than hospital care but all numerical data were either skewed or unusable. We identified no data on staff satisfaction, carer input, complications with medication or number of relapses. Authors' conclusions Care based on crisis-intervention principles, with or without an ongoing homecare package, appears to be a viable and acceptable way of treating people with serious mental illnesses. However only eight small studies with unclear blinding, reporting and attrition bias could be included and evidence for the main outcomes of interest is low to moderate quality. If this approach is to be widely implemented it would seem that more evaluative studies are still neede

Photosynthetic and growth responses of C3 and C4 grasses to short- duration sunflecks and resultant consequences for their performance in understory environments

Low C4 grass species abundance in understory environments is thought to be as a result of their high-light requirements, lack of photosynthetic advantage relative to C3 species in cooler environments, and an inability to adequately utilise sunflecks. This study sets out to investigate this theory, hypothesizing that C3 grass species outperform C4 grass species under the canopy, not as a result of quantum efficiency temperature effects, but as a result of C4 species inability to utilize short-duration sunflecks. Short sunflecks could result in a breakdown in assimilate movement between the mesophyll (MSC) and bundle sheath (BSC) cells. The role of BSC leakiness, stomata and PSII efficiency on the ability of C3 and C4 Alloteropsis semialata to utilize short-duration sunflecks was investigated using gaseous exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence techniques, while the growth of both subspecies under a simulated flecking-light environment tested whether these measured responses translated into effects on growth. As C3 grasses are known to possess higher levels of stomatal conductance in relation to C4 species, results showed that C3 A. semialata was able to utilize short-duration sunflecks as a result of increased stomatal conductance and an ability to induce photosynthesis under various light flecking conditions. In contrast, C4 A. semialata was unable to utilize sunflecks possibly as a result of energetic limitations of the carboxylation mechanism (PSII) and not because of increased bundle sheath leakiness. These photosynthetic responses translated into growth differences when both types were grown in an artificially flecking light environment. The photosynthetic differences noted for C3 and C4 A.semialata were also evident in shade adapted understory grasses; Erharta erecta (C3), Dactylotenium australe (C4) and Brachiaria chusqueoides (C4). As photosynthetic induction was marginally more rapid in all species relative to A. semialata it suggests some degree of adaptation in shade grasses, however the inability of the C4 species to utilise short sunflecks remained. As a result, it was hypothesized that C3 shade adapted E. erecta and C4 B. chusqueoides, co-inhabiting the same forest understory, are able to do so because of differences in light micro-environments associated with each species. However, canopy openness and light profiles determined for theses micro-climates showed no differences and that both species have persisted within a relatively stable understory environment. The coexistence was possible as the understory was supplied with a significant proportion of its daily light in flecks sufficiently long as to not compromise C4 productivity. A survey of 10 species of grasses under various canopy densities and in the open showed a strong negative linear relationship between canopy openness and the rate at which photosynthesis was induced by flecking light, which has not been shown before. This did not result from the phylogenetic relationship between species and could be shown for a single species (E. erecta) growing in a range of light environments. This demonstrates that C4 grasses, despite adaptation, would be limited from sunfleck environments if a significant proportion of the daily light available consists of flecks of short-duration. The generation of such environments may occur as a result of woody thickening and could help explain the observed decline in C4 grasses under these conditions

And the ocean came up on land : perceptions of adaptive capacity of cattle ranching in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana

textCattle ranching in Vermilion Parish is a social-techno-ecological system (STES) that is currently vulnerable due to changing social, technological and ecological conditions. In addressing ways to increase the adaptive capacity of cattle ranching in Vermilion Parish, I used a multiple, mixed method approach grounded in a critical constructivist framework. Constructivism is the idea that our relationship to facts is constructed by our social context. It is these perceptions that shape people’s actions. By looking at these perceptions through an emancipatory frame I was able to understand multiple interpretations of meaning, consciously address them, consider how they may have shaped our actions, and then alter those meanings and power relationships. In an effort to increase the adaptive capacity of cattle ranching in Vermilion Parish, my research focused on actions, why people perform those actions, and how to change them. This research connected the physical landscape of the marshes, the individual landscape of perception, and the conceptual landscape of resilience. If resilience is the ability of a system (cattle ranching in vermilion parish) to recover after a disturbance, adaptive capacity is when the actors within the system can influence that system’s resilience. I explored the history of cattle ranching in Vermilion Parish from three different, but overlapping perspectives – environmental, social, and technological. These perspectives compliment the information from interviews and 3CM sessions. These 15 interviews revealed the perception of 11 types of threats facing cattle ranching in Vermilion Parish. The body of literature surrounding resilience theory identifies traits of highly adaptive systems. The recommendations and suggestions outlined in Chapter 6 exist at the intersection of the actors’ perception of specific threats and the decidedly generalized traits of highly adaptive systems. These suggestions were geared towards increasing the adaptive capacity of cattle ranching in Vermilion Parish. Given these layered landscapes and their complexity, my recommendations were subject to feedback loops and long periods of integration. These recommendations contribute to the theoretical foundation detailed in Chapter 3 by identifying specific ways that the actors of this particular system may be able increase their own adaptive capacity.Community and Regional PlanningArchitectur

Duty, Imperialism and Militarism in the British Public School, 1850 - 1918

Within this thesis, I investigate the ways in which British public schools, from 1850 to 1918, interacted with wider society on the themes of duty, imperial and militarism. Hierarchical systems of authority within the schools, and an emphasis on developing manly character through sport, were used to prepare boys for a leadership role within military or civic life. At the same time, a Socratic movement formed in opposition to the cult of athleticism, emphasising friendship and the arts. The entry of alumni into perceived duty-bound careers, such as the military and the civil service, were found to be driven by social advantage, as well as a sense of duty. Juvenile literature and textbooks from the period were found to encourage imperialist ideology amongst their readership, and promote moral justifications of imperialism, labelling it ‘the white man’s burden’. Investigation of middle-class girls’ schools during the same period revealed that duty was central to middle-class female identity and rigorous education and employment were believed by some to hinder a woman’s ability to perform her primary duties as wife and mother

The Biopolitics of Art Education

Editorial introduction to special issue of the Journal Of Literary & Cultural Disability Studies, by guest editors Penketh and Adams, for this issue on the topic of 'The Biopolitics of Art Education'. This issue of JLCDS offers a timely opportunity for an extended discussion of current practices at the intersection of art education and disability studies, a discussion that has the potential to further practice and theory in both domains.Editorial introduction to special issue of the Journal Of Literary & Cultural Disability Studies, by guest editors Penketh and Adams, for this issue on the topic of 'The Biopolitics of Art Education'. This issue of JLCDS offers a timely opportunity for an extended discussion of current practices at the intersection of art education and disability studies, a discussion that has the potential to further practice and theory in both domains