Research Methods for Non-Representational Approaches of Organizational Complexity. The Dialogical and Mediated Inquiry

This paper explores the methodological implications of non-representational approaches of organizational complexity. Representational theories focus on the syntactic complexity of systems, whereas organizing processes are predominantly characterized by semantic and pragmatic forms of complexity. After underlining the contribution of non-representational approaches to the study of organizations, the paper warns against the risk of confining the critique of representational frameworks to paradoxical dichotomies like intuition versus reflexive thought or theorizing versus experimenting. To sort out this difficulty, it is suggested to use a triadic theory of interpretation, and more particularly the concepts of semiotic mediation, inquiry and dialogism. Semiotic mediation dynamically links situated experience and generic classes of meanings. Inquiry articulates logical thinking, narrative thinking and experimenting. Dialogism conceptualizes the production of meaning through the situated interactions of actors. A methodological approach based on those concepts, “the dialogical and mediated inquiry” (DMI), is proposed and experimented in a case study about work safety in the construction industry. This interpretive view requires complicating the inquiring process rather than the mirroring models of reality. In DMI, the inquiring process is complicated by establishing pluralist communities of inquiry in which different perspectives challenge each other. Finally the paper discusses the specific contribution of this approach compared with other qualitative methods and its present limits.Activity; Dialogism; Inquiry; Interpretation; Pragmatism; Research Methods; Semiotic Mediation; Work Safety

An energy flow study of a double-deck tunnel under quasi-static and harmonic excitations

© 2016. This version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This paper presents a comparison between the vibration energy flow radiated by a double-deck tunnel and the one radiated by a simple tunnel when both are excited by constant or by harmonic moving loads. For both cases, the radiated energy is computed using a three-dimensional semi-analytical model of the system. The total energy radiated upwards is presented for a wide range of load speeds, when a constant moving load is considered, and for a wide range of excitation frequencies, when the excitation is a harmonic moving load. Significant differences have been obtained, first, for constant loads moving at very high speeds and, second, for harmonic loads moving at typical speeds for underground trains.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Axial and Vector Correlator Mixing in Hot and Dense Hadronic Matter

We study the manifestations of chiral symmetry restoration which have a significance for the parity mixing. Restricting to pions and nucleons we establish a formalism for the expression of the vector correlator, which displays the mixing of the axial correlator into the vector one and unifies the cases of the heat bath and the dense medium. We give examples of mixing cross-sections. We also establish a link between the energy integrated mixing cross-sections and the pion scalar density which governs the quenching factors of coupling constants, such as the pion decay one, as well as the quark condensate evolution.Comment: 12 pages, Latex, 4 PostScript Figure

Innovation, Adoption, and Cultural Change: Guide Lines for Administrators of Adult Education Programs

No abstract included

How can a feature-film be sustainable?

As an art existing since the end of the 19th century, cinema has evolved multiple times throughout history; the way that we make and consume it has changed, and will change again, because cinema is in constant dialogue with society and the issues related to its time. Nowadays, one of the biggest issues that concerns most of our societies is the question of sustainability. Most societies right now have gained consciousness about issues related to sustainability, the most obvious one being ecology and the concerns regarding global warming. Since cinema is an evolving art, and a reflection of the state of our societies, then consequently it is evolving towards a more sustainable goal, both as an industry and as a content medium. We can see that some efforts are being made by producing and distributing companies trying to emit less carbon emissions; and by directors putting social issues into the spotlight in their movies. But as an industry, cinema remains first and foremost a source of pollution. Producing a movie results in a lot of carbon emissions for a lot of different reasons. Distributing movies, even if it is less easy to tell, is a polluting phenomenon as well. Furthermore, as an industry, cinema exists as an entity that has an impact on people and on the economy. The theoretical framework of this thesis is based on a large number of researches that were made more precisely on different subjects, such as how can we define sustainability, and how to be more ecologically friendly during the production phase. However, in the middle of all of those researches and studies, one question remains : what can be considered as a sustainable film exactly? A film, as a finished result, contains a lot of processes for it to arrive in front of the consumer’s eyes. But in the end, how can a film be sustainable? We will try in this thesis to understand the outcomes of those issues, and to reflect upon the notion of sustainability as a whole in the movie industry

La Base Imposable Comuna Consolidada de l'Impost Sobre Societats. Estudi de la Proposta de Directiva

Treballs Finals de Grau de Dret. Universitat de Barcelona. Curs: 2015-2016. Tutors: Jose Andrés Rozas Valdes i Maria Mercedes Segura TomásL'anàlisi de la Proposta de Directiva sobre la Base Imposable Comuna Consolidada de l'Impost Sobre Societats és una de les propostes més innovadores de la Comissió en relació a l'harmonització de la fiscalitat societària de l'Impost sobre Societats, però no per això menys controvertida. La cessió competencial per part dels Estats Membres a la Unió Europea de l'àmbit de la imposició directa, suposa una pèrdua de sobirania per a regular el sistema financer i tributari. L'anàlisi i aplicació pràctica d'aquest projecte doncs, és una qüestió essencial per a determinar si l'adopció d'aquest sistema podria portar avantatges, no només a escala europea, sinó també a nivell nacional. L'objecte d'aquest treball consisteix en l'anàlisi del Projecte de Directiva sobre la Base Imposable Comuna Consolidada de l'Impost sobre Societats mitjançant una recerca de camp, bibliogràfica i de documentació en aquest àmbit i a partir d'aquest estudi, realitzar un anàlisi projectiu i de simulació sobre l'impacte efectiu que tindria en una empresa l'aplicació d'aquest sistema comparat amb l'aplicació del sistema ja existent, per tal de poder, a través d'una visió global de tota la proposta i dels efectes que tindria, analitzar la viabilitat futura del projecte en el marc europeu