Incorporating Research Design in Public Diplomacy: The Role of Listening to Foreign Publics

Research design involves a set of decisions regarding what or who will be studied and the procedures in acquiring and analyzing information. In this article, we apply lessons from research design to public diplomacy, a field focused on engaging with foreign publics. Much prior scholarship sheds light on what PD is and its programs, but less attention has been given to the role of listening to understand what foreign publics think and believe. We propose three interrelated recommendations to improve the quality of implementing PD programs. First, before any program is implemented, we need to correctly identify a perceived issue that requires a program. Once we confirm if the issue exists, we also need to understand why it exists. Second, designing PD programs with clear goals increases the effectiveness of the program and the ability to confirm its success. This requires designing programs unique to each case. Third, public opinion data should be collected at several points—taking advantage of time—to confirm the effectiveness of programs. Our recommendations are particularly valuable for policy makers

"Think global, act local" : En studie av globaliseringens påvirkning på HRM-strategier

I de siste tiårene har det vært et økende fokus på Human Resource Management (HRM), og hvordan en velfungerende HRM-funksjon kan bidra til at bedrifter oppnår betydelig konkurransefortrinn. Økende globalisering og tilvekst av multinasjonale selskap har skapt uenigheter om bedrifters praksis i større grad konvergerer mot en global bestepraksis. Formålet med denne masteroppgaven har vært å undersøke hvordan globaliseringen påvirker HRM-strategier i bedrifter. Et av forskningsspørsmålene i vår studie har vært å undersøke om de norske verdiene fremdeles er dominerende i HRM-strategier i norske bedrifter, eller om globaliseringen og tilveksten av multinasjonale selskap har ført til en utvikling mot en global bestepraksis. Globaliseringen og økt internasjonal handel har ført til at bedrifter velger å ekspandere fra sine opprinnelige hjemmemarkeder. En av de største utfordringene multinasjonale selskap står ovenfor er å finne en balanse mellom standardisering av morsselskapets HRM-strategi og lokal tilpasning. Studien tar videre sikte på å belyse hvordan HRM-praksis i norske og amerikanske internasjonale datterselskap påvirkes av “Country of Origin". For å besvare oppgavens forskningsspørsmål har vi tatt utgangspunkt i data fra Cranfieldundersøkelsen, og semistrukturert intervju med HR-direktører/HR-ansvarlige i seks bedrifter lokalisert i Norge. Den metodiske tilnærmingen er basert på triangulering, der vi både har benyttet kvantitativ og kvalitativ metodeinnsamling. Studien avdekker at norske bedrifter i løpet av de siste 10 årene fremdeles benytter HRM-strategier som har betydelige likheter med forpliktelsesbasert HRM. Resultatene viser imidlertid at det har vært en økning i bruk av prestasjonsvurderingssystem, og at betydelig flere bedrifter benytter systemet til å fastsette lønn på individnivå. Funnene indikerer dermed at HRM-praksis i norske bedrifter i liten grad konvergerer mot den globale bestepraksisen. Samtidig avdekker studien at bedriftene med amerikansk morsselskap overfører HRM-praksis i større grad enn bedriftene med norsk morsselskap. Vi kan dermed fastslå at overføringen av HRM-praksiser i amerikanske multinasjonale selskap i stor grad er påvirket av “Country of Origin”. Til tross for at bedriftene overfører praksis, er de likevel opptatt av å finne balansen mellom standardisering og lokal tilpasning i vertsland.In the last decade it has been an increased interest in Human Resource Management (HRM), and how a well functional HRM can make companies achieve competitive advantage. Increasing globalization and the growth of multinational corporations has created disagreements about companies practices converge towards a global best practice. The purpose of this thesis was to examine how globalization affects HRM strategies to the companies. In this study we aimed to explore further if the Norwegian values still dominates in HRM strategies in Norwegian companies, or if globalization and the growth of multinational corporations have led to the development of a global best practice. Globalization and expanding in international trades has led to that companies choose to expand from their original home markets. One of the most comprehensive challenges multinationals company faces is finding a balance between standardization of the parent company's HRM strategy and local adaptation. The thesis also aims to explore further how HRM practices in the Norwegian and American International subsidiaries affected by "Country of Origin." To answer the thesis research questions we have based our data on the Cranfield research and semi-structured interviews with HR directors/ HR managers in six companies located in Norway. The methodological approach is based on triangulation, which involves a combination of both qualitative and quantitative method. Our findings revealed that the Norwegian companies over the past decade have evolved toward a commitment-based HRM strategy. However, the results also indicate a considerable expansion in use of formal performance appraisals, and that more companies are using the system to fix salaries of individuals. The findings therefore indicate that Norwegian firms are influenced in a minor extend by the global best practice. While our findings reveals that the firms with U.S parent company in a greater extent transfer HRM practices, than those with a Norwegian parent company. We can thus conclude that the transfer of HRM practices in the U.S. multinationals are largely influenced by "Country of Origin". Despite the fact that the companies transfer practice, they are still concerned to find the HRM-balance between the degree of standardization and localization.Master i okonomi og administrasjo

Use of a diary for farm accounts

This Bulletin tells how a diary may be used for keeping certain farm records. Farmers have need of two kinds of accountsâ⠡¬â€�first, those in which are recorded items of a financial nature, such as receipts and expenditures, and, second, those in which are kept records of farm work and production, such as dates of planting and of harvesting, crop yields, feed fed to live stock, etc. On the average farm, where the business is not too large, a diary is a very convenient means of keeping all these records. The farm home and the farm business are intimately associated; the one is indeed the headquarters of the other. A carefully kept diary embodies a chronicle of the affairs of both which is of permanent value, not only from a personal and sentimental standpoint, but also as a continuous record of the farm business. In the following pages several different kinds of such diaries are described with suggestions as to how various farm accounts may be kept in diary form

Analisis Tipologi Wilayah Peri-Urban Di Kecamatan Mandolang

Kecamatan Mandolang merupakan salah satu wilayah peri-urban Kota Manado yang mengalami banyak perubahan fisik oleh karena pengaruh perkotaan yang sangat kuat. Penelitian tentang tipologi wilayah peri-urban bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasi karakteristik fisik, sosial dan ekonomi dari Kecamatan Mandolang. Untuk menentukan klasifikasi tipologi wilayah peri-urban dilakukan dengan analisis skoring yang dilanjutkan dengan overlay peta untuk mendapatkan sebaran tipologi kedesaan – kekotaan pada Kecamata Mandolang. Hasil penelitian menunjukan bahwa Kecamatan Mandolang memiliki karakteristik peri-urban sekunder dan rural peri-urban. Terdapat 11 desa di Kecamatan Mandolang yang termasuk dalam klasifikasi peri-urban sekunder yaitu Kalasey Satu, Kalasey Dua, Tateli Satu, Tateli Dua, Tateli Tiga, Tateli, Tateli Weru, Koha, Koha Barat, Koha Selatan, Agotey. Sementara karakteristik rural periurban hanya ditemukan pada desa Koha Timur. Kata kunci: Tipologi; peri urban;karakteristik;Kecamatan Mandolang

The Application of Cloud Computing to the Creation of Image Mosaics and Management of Their Provenance

We have used the Montage image mosaic engine to investigate the cost and performance of processing images on the Amazon EC2 cloud, and to inform the requirements that higher-level products impose on provenance management technologies. We will present a detailed comparison of the performance of Montage on the cloud and on the Abe high performance cluster at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). Because Montage generates many intermediate products, we have used it to understand the science requirements that higher-level products impose on provenance management technologies. We describe experiments with provenance management technologies such as the "Provenance Aware Service Oriented Architecture" (PASOA).Comment: 15 pages, 3 figur

Comparing FutureGrid, Amazon EC2, and Open Science Grid for Scientific Workflows

Scientists have a number of computing infrastructures available to conduct their research, including grids and public or private clouds. This paper explores the use of these cyberinfrastructures to execute scientific workflows, an important class of scientific applications. It examines the benefits and drawbacks of cloud and grid systems using the case study of an astronomy application. The application analyzes data from the NASA Kepler mission in order to compute periodograms, which help astronomers detect the periodic dips in the intensity of starlight caused by exoplanets as they transit their host star. In this paper we describe our experiences modeling the periodogram application as a scientific workflow using Pegasus, and deploying it on the FutureGrid scientific cloud testbed, the Amazon EC2 commercial cloud, and the Open Science Grid. We compare and contrast the infrastructures in terms of setup, usability, cost, resource availability and performance