The configurational approach in supply chain management (SCM) of steel goods

A basic element of supply chain management is the holistic or system view. Following this perspective supply chain management has to analyse the supply chain as a whole and must not only concentrate on details or specific elements. The configurational approach is one method for realizing this. The article analyses how the configurational approach can be applied in SCM of steel goods

‘Philosophizing with’: – a role for philosophy as dialogue partner, exemplified within the learning field

In this essay, I shall present key points from my dr.phil thesis (Higher Doctorate/Habilitation), Epistemological concerns – querying the learning field from a philosophical point of view (Dohn, 2017).1 The aim is to provide an overview of the thesis and to present its main argument for a form of applied philosophy where philosophy takes on the role of dialogue partner with a voice of its own. By way of illustration, I shall highlight some of the issues I have engaged with in this role as well as the answers which dialogue with other disciplines has led me to as regards these issues. First, I present the field, aim, and structure of the thesis. Second, I explicate what I mean by ‘philosophizing with’ and point out four different ways in which one can undertake this venture. Philosophy may dialogue with many disciplines in many areas; the ones I have engaged with fall within the learning field. To further the comprehensibility of my more specific concerns within this field, in the third section I articulate the philosophical outset from which I speak: With inspiration from Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Wittgenstein and Dreyfus, I hold a view of human existence as being-in-the-world and an approach to knowledge as fundamentally involving tacit aspects. This outset is developed throughout the thesis, in dialogue with other disciplines. In section four, I briefly present the resulting philosophical view of knowledge. In section five, I articulate more specifically a number of the issues within the learning field which have helped me develop this view. Section six conversely summarizes some key points which my philosophizing with on these issues have led me to contribute to the disciplines. I end with a few concluding remarks on concerns to engage with in continuation from the results of my thesis

Conceptualizing knowledge transfer as transformation and attunement

This article articulates a new theory on the ontology of knowledge transfer. This involves the work of 1) showing that the question “what happens to knowledge in transfer across divergent contexts?” can be made sense of within a situative approach, 2) providing a new conceptualization of situated knowledge, 3) articulating transfer in terms of knowledge transformation and attunement, and 4) putting the issue of learning to transfer knowledge across divergent contexts (back) on the research agenda. The article builds on a view of knowledge as a unity of know-that, know-how, and know-of; which unity forms a practical embodied perspective with which the agent meets the world in interaction. It is argued that knowledge is situatedly realized in attunement to the requirements, possibilities, and restrictions of the concrete situation, as they dynamically unfold. A framework of context levels for analyzing requirements, possibilities, and restrictions (termed “situational characteristics”) is presented. The levels reflect that an activity will always engage with a domain, in a life-setting, taking place within a societal structure, making use of encompassing cultural practices. It is shown how differences in unities of situational characteristics necessitate the transformation of the knowledge perspective in attunement to the situational characteristics of the new context. Towards the end, it is pointed out how this conceptualization of knowledge transfer opens for research into designing and teaching for learning to transfer. Three recent projects are referenced as an illustration of the approach

Students Perceptions of Alcohol Use on University Campuses

Background: College students are faced with the problem of balancing between the freedom attained for the first time in life and living responsibly away from parents. Most of the students rely on colleges as the platform through which they undergo desired developmental changes. Aim: The study aims to examine student’s knowledge and attitudes towards the consumption of alcohol and policies developed by campuses. Methods: The study employs meta-analysis technique in which data from several studies are combined. The method is used to determine the common effect especially because the effect size is consistent from a single study to another. The study collects data from research conducted among college students in the past decade. Results: The study finding indicates that the majority of college students are aware of and understand the policies developed by the campuses. Half of the students who are aware of the regulations do not follow them. The majority of the students engage in drinking in social events because they emulate their peers and seek to attain sensation feeling. Conclusion: It is evident that college drinking is a social problem that is rampant in colleges. The administration of campuses has rules that are not followed by the students. Sensation seeking and peer pressure rank among the most critical factors that lead to binge drinking on campuses

Models, Modelling, Metaphors and Metaphorical Thinking - From an Educational Philosophical View

In this contribution, I present my view of models and metaphors within educational research, very broadly speaking. I start out by articulating my educational philosophical perspective as a form of applied philosophy. Inspired by Ricœur, I then define models as “instruments for configuration and reconfiguration”. I argue that metaphors and metaphorical thinking are more basic than models and modelling. The former can guide reasoning in a holistic, heuristic manner. The latter can be used analytically to develop the initial metaphorical similarity into articulated analogies. Models and metaphors may be deployed explicitly and consciously but may also (mis)lead cognition through implicit structuring of thinking. I proceed to give examples of the roles which models and metaphors have within different areas of (research in) education, teaching, and learning. One example is the explicit development of design patterns; another is implicit adherence to either an acquisition metaphor or a participation metaphor of learning. Towards the end, I provide tentative answers to three questions posed by my discussion pair, Willard McCarty, concerning 1) computer modelling, 2) open-endedness of models and metaphors, and 3) situated knowledge and relativism

Lobster Fishing on the Maine Coast: Past and Present

An article on lobster fishing on the Maine coast that appeared in The American Neptune, Volume 14, Issue 1, p. 203-208, 1954

Preventing an Era of New Eugenics : An Argument for Federal Funding and Regulation of Gene Editing Research in Human Embryos

The 1997 film Gattaca is set in a futuristic society in which its members are either “valid,” born with the aid of genetic engineering, or “invalid , conceived by traditional means. While valids qualify for high-level professional employment, in-valids are considered less desirable by society and are relegated to menial jobs. At the time of the film’s release, this type of dystopian society, dominated by genetic engineering, seemed far into the future; however, only twenty years later, the concept of manipulating the genes of human embryos is near reality. The last decade has seen tremendous progression in gene editing technology. In 2011, genome editing was hailed as the Method of the Year by Nature Methods, and the newest tool in the gene editing tool belt, the CRISPR/Cas9 system, was named the 2015 Breakthrough of the Year by Science. CRISPR/Cas technology has been used in research laboratories to edit a cell’s DNA, and when used to edit the DNA of an embryo, termed germline editing, it can permanently change the genetic makeup of the resulting individual and its future offspring. Thus, this technology has the potential to eradicate many deadly genetic diseases in humans, such as cystic fibrosis, sickle-cell anemia, and Huntington’s disease.9 Opponents of gene editing of human embryos argue that it will create an era of “new eugenics” and that “designer babies” will foster greater social inequality