Snapshot Aesthetics as a Strategic Resource

Paper delivered at the EIASM Workshop on Imagining Business held at Oxford University, June 2008The snapshot, a straightforward, generally unposed photograph of everyday life, has emerged as an important style in contemporary strategic communication. Many recent ads portray models in classic snapshot poses – out of focus, eyes closed, poorly framed – in contrast to more traditional and historical patterns of formal studio shots or highly posed tableaux. Companies such as Volkswagen, IKEA, American Apparel, Ford Motor Company, Apple, and Coca-Cola present snapshot-like images in their print, television and Internet communications. This paper begins a conceptual assessment of snapshot aesthetics as a strategic resource, adopting a genre-based perspective influenced by art historical methods and assumptions

Business corruption: cheating the system or using opportunities?

Working paperCorrupt behaviour in organisations involves individuals or groups of people behaving in ways that are outside usually accepted norms for the organisation and/or society at large. This may include influencing or coercing some members of the group to act in ways that are normally unacceptable to them. Such behaviour might be expected to cause stress to, or indeed be as a result of stress for, the individuals and groups concerned. By refusing to join in the corrupt behaviour of their group, such people risk being alienated from it, something that they would find highly stressful. A series of experiments involving both students and the business community in the U.K., showed that individuals who identified strongly with their group behaved corruptly not only to support their wider socially identified category, but also in support of smaller immediate groups. In all cases, high identifiers experienced less stress than low identifiers. A model of group identity, stress and corruption is introduced

Disney: delights and doubts

Disney and its spectacularly successful theme parks are analyzed through the lens of its consumers. We focus on how Disney manages the consumption experience and discuss Disney strategies from several perspectives. Disney provides a paradigm for contemporary consumption. A framework is presented to understand consumption in Disney and Disneyesque settings. Finally, we offer cautions and critiques regarding such strategies-a guide for the informed consumer

Vintage vinyl can tell us about Cold War tensions and cultural diplomacy

As we face the potential for a 21st century version of the Cold War, Jonathan Schroeder and Janet Borgerson take a close look at how cultural conflicts from the 20th century version spilled over into American life – specifically into vinyl LPs. They write that such albums featured attractive images of the American lifestyle, subtle elements of the ideological struggles of the Cold War era

Disney: Delights and Doubts

Disney and its spectacularly successful theme parks are analyzed through the lens of its consumers. We focus on how Disney manages the consumption experience and discuss Disney strategies from several perspectives. Disney provides a paradigm for contemporary consumption. A framework is presented to understand consumption in Disney and Disneyesque settings. Finally, we offer cautions and critiques regarding such strategies-a guide for the informed consumer

Portraiture and the construction of “charismatic leadership”

During the history of Western art, the link between portraits and status or power has been widely documented. Commissioned portraits have been traditionally the privilege of certain groups and individuals occupying positions of authority (West, 2004). The possibility of understanding portraits as a tool for what Weber has called the “routinization of charisma” offers an interesting avenue to link portraits and the field of leadership studies. This chapter aims at presenting some elements of the analysis of portraiture as a form of art that can illuminate the understanding of leadership in contemporary organizational studies. The questions inspiring this chapter include: a. How portraiture can reveal aspects of leadership in Western cultures? b. Which notions of leadership are highlighted through portraits in contemporary culture? c. What are the contributions of art history in the analysis of images of leadership

Institutional accountability of nonstate actors in the UNFCCC: Exit, voice, and loyalty

How are nonstate actors within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held to account? In this article, we introduce the concept of “institutional accountability” to complement the wider literature(s) on accountability in climate governance. Within institutional frameworks, actors employ rules, norms, and procedures to demand justifications from one another. In light of those justifications, actors then use “exit, voice, or loyalty” to positively or negatively sanction each other. To depict the dynamics of institutional accountability, we analyze the role of nonstate actors in the nine constituency groups of the UNFCCC. We outline the constituency structure and the population of observer organizations. We then identify examples where nonstate actors employed institutional rules in tandem with exit, voice, or loyalty to foster accountability. In making this analysis we draw upon three years of on-site participation at UNFCCC meetings, document analysis, and more than 40 semi-structured interviews with state and nonstate actors. We conclude by discussing the scope and conditions under which institutional accountability may occur in other issue areas of global governance

Evaluation of Salmon (<i>Salmo salar</i>) and Rainbow Trout (<i>Oncorhynchus mykiss</i>) pin bones using textural analysis and micro X-ray computational tomography

Industrially, common problems arise with the deboning pin bone process, where Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) and Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) fillets, post rigor, are subjected to a pulling process to remove the pin bones from the fillet. This study measured the length of pin bones from two species of fish and two different industrial graded weights, and then used a texture analyser and lCT X-ray to measure the pulling force, break point and volume of the pin bones of both species of fish. Results showed that salmon pin bones required significantly higher pulling force to remove pin bones from the fish fillet when compared with Trout pin bones. Interestingly Trout pin bones were significantly longer and stronger than Salmon pin bones, but had significantly lower volume. This research has progressed the issues surrounding pin boning industrially, however, more studies are required in order to understand if these differences affect the overall deboning pin bone process

IT as enabler of sustainable farming:an empirical analysis of farmers' adoption decision of precision agriculture technology

Precision agriculture (PA) describes a suite of IT based tools which allow farmers to electronically monitor soil and crop conditions and analyze treatment options. This study tests a model explaining the difficulties of PA technology adoption. The model draws on theories of technology acceptance and diffusion of innovation and is validated using survey data from farms in Canada. Findings highlight the importance of compatibility among PA technology components and the crucial role of farmers' expertise. The model provides the theoretical and empirical basis for developing policies and initiatives to support PA technology adoption