Retrieve and Refine: Improved Sequence Generation Models For Dialogue

Sequence generation models for dialogue are known to have several problems: they tend to produce short, generic sentences that are uninformative and unengaging. Retrieval models on the other hand can surface interesting responses, but are restricted to the given retrieval set leading to erroneous replies that cannot be tuned to the specific context. In this work we develop a model that combines the two approaches to avoid both their deficiencies: first retrieve a response and then refine it -- the final sequence generator treating the retrieval as additional context. We show on the recent CONVAI2 challenge task our approach produces responses superior to both standard retrieval and generation models in human evaluations

Corporate social responsibility: issues for future development in the low-fares airlines sector

Research reportFor reasons beyond our control, access to this report will resume on 1 December 2012 - please direct any queries to [email protected] practitioner-focused review of the research that emphasises the issues and opportunities managers might face should they decide to develop their CSR further. Main findings from the research are that sustainable development, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and aviation policies have only limited linkages, especially on the UK regional level. Within the sector, low-fares airlines do have socially-responsible initiatives, mostly centred on environmentally-sensitive technological investment and charitable/community support. However, low-fares airlines do not communicate their activities as widely as other sectors and full-service carriers.Research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) as part of its Business Engagement Scheme under the title Social Responsibility among Low-fares Airlines: Current Practices and FutureTrends (RES 185-3-0046)

Sustainable development, corporate social responsibility and aviation in the UK: connecting policy perspectives

Research reportFor reasons beyond our control, access to this report will resume on 1 December 2012 - please direct any queries to [email protected] overview of the most recent EU, UK and UK regions’ policiesResearch funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) as part of its Business Engagement Scheme under the title Social Responsibility among Low-fares Airlines: Current Practices and FutureTrends (RES 185-3-0046)

Corporate social responsibility among low-fares airlines: current practices and future trends

Research reportFor reasons beyond our control, access to this report will resume on 1 December 2012 - please direct any queries to [email protected] in-depth analysis of low-fares airlines’ annual reports, websites and press releases, as well as findings and analysis of interviews with key airline managers.Research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) as part of its Business Engagement Scheme under the title Social Responsibility among Low-fares Airlines: Current Practices and FutureTrends (RES 185-3-0046)

Corporate social responsibility reporting among European low-fares airlines: challenges for the examination and development of sustainable mobilities

publication-status: Publishedtypes: Article"This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Sustainable Tourism on 3 March 2013, available online: http://wwww.tandfonline.com/ 10.1080/09669582.2013.790391”This paper examines corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices among the growing Low-Fares Airlines (LFAs) flying between mainland Europe and the UK. A mixed methods approach was employed combining a content analysis of 22 airlines’ documentation with key-informant interviews with 11 airlines including three of the four market leading LFAs. The research discovered evidence that LFAs were aware of the need to act more responsibly but how far intentions resulted in action was difficult to establish. To date the examination of LFAs has relied heavily on secondary sources and perspectives external to the firm. The firms’ own CSR-related texts do not represent a reliable basis for examining responsibility among LFAs; they have a high degree of fragmentation and variable quality. In-depth interviews showed that while there is more CSR activity than is made public, incomplete knowledge was a more significant problem than bias or spin. Very few LFAs had conducted a systemic audit of CSR-related activity. Integrative approaches are required to overcome the limitations of single methods, to contribute towards a fuller understanding of responsibility among LFAs, and to inform debate on whether it is necessary to regulate in order to encourage sustainable development in this high growth sector.Economic and Social Research Counci

Responsibilities, recession and the tourism sector: perspectives on CSR among low-fares airlines during the economic downturn in the United Kingdom

publication-status: Publishedtypes: Article"This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Current Issues in Tourism on 22 Jan 2011, available online: http://wwww.tandfonline.com/ 10.1080/13683500.2010.544719”Responsibility has featured prominently in recent discussions about tourism governance. Nevertheless, research into corporate social responsibility (CSR) among travel and tourism businesses is at a relatively early stage. This paper reports on external stakeholders’ perceptions of CSR among low-fares airlines (LFAs) in peripheral regions of the United Kingdom in late 2008; that is, during the current global economic downturn. LFAs, their business plans and their ability to contribute towards sustainable development has been the source of much public discourse and media scrutiny in the last decade. This paper does not set out to reopen that debate per se. Rather it contributes to a deeper understanding of CSR in the tourism sector by arguing for a more nuanced approach to external stakeholders, one which is also informed by primary empirical research from qualitative sources, and which is conceptually informed by the latest thinking from other sectors of economic activity. Important inter-regional variations exist in external stakeholders’ perceptions and valorisations of CSR, they are context-specific, and they are not static as their responses to the recent downturn reveal.Economic and Social Research Counci

Tourism and corporate social responsibility: a critical review and research agenda

NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Tourism Management Perspectives. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Tourism Management Perspectives, Volume 6, April 2013, Pages 122–141. doi:10.1016/j.tmp.2013.02.001This paper presents a critical review of recent progress in research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in tourism management, and possible directions for future research. In comparison to a well established, empirically- grounded body of knowledge dealing with other sectors of economic activity, dedicated research on CSR in travel and tourism is at a relatively early stage. In the past decade, CSR has been the primary subject of a limited number of studies from a small academic community of practice. Studies have primarily focused on three macrolevel topic areas: implementation; the economic rationale for acting more responsibly; and the social relations of CSR. Interest in responsibility as an approach to tourism governance and management is nevertheless growing as several policy prescriptions and corporate vision statements reveal. For research to progress further and to match these ambitions, greater critical engagement with mainstream thinking on CSR is required as well as greater conceptual and methodological sophistication.Economic and Social Research Counci

Folding concave polygons into convex polyhedra: The L-Shape

Mathematicians have long been asking the question: Can a given convex polyhedron can be unfolded into a polygon and then refolded into any other convex polyhedron? One facet of this question investigates the space of polyhedra that can be realized from folding a given polygon. While convex polygons are relatively well understood, there are still many open questions regarding the foldings of non-convex polygons. We analyze these folded realizations and their volumes derived from the polygonal family of `L-shapes,\u27 parallelograms with another parallelogram removed from a corner. We investigate questions of maximal volume, diagonal flipping, and topological connectedness and discuss the family of polyhedra that share a L-shape polygonal net