External Action Research Articles

Tend to one's own house: The effect of firm CSR on employee effort

AbstractWe examine whether a firm's corporate social responsibility (CSR) actions that benefit external parties can cause the firm's employees to reduce their effort. We expect employees will reduce their effort in response to their firm's external CSR actions when they perceive that they are treated poorly by the firm and that the firm's external CSR actions use resources that could have been readily transferred toward improving employee treatment. We expect that, when employees hold both of these perceptions, they will react negatively to the firm's CSR actions due to heightened feelings of unfairness. Results support our expectations and theory. We find that employees respond negatively to CSR only when they perceive that they are treated poorly by their firm and that CSR uses transferable resources. Further, we find these effects are driven by employees' perceptions of the fairness of their firm's actions toward employees. Our study suggests that firms should consider how employees perceive their treatment by the firm and the transferability of the resources used for CSR actions that benefit external parties.

Changing Nature of Consumer Values Toward Negative Word of Mouth: Voice and Risk Avoidance as Moderators

ABSTRACTGiven the increasing role of word of mouth (WOM), and primarily the impact of negative WOM on the decision‐making of today's retail consumers, it is essential to understand the changing nature of consumer values (monetary, functional, emotional and social), emotion and attitude toward negative WOM. The current study's data were collected using two online surveys in 2015 and 2019, with 290 participants in Study 1 and 201 in Study 2. The intention behind using two different time points over a 4‐year span was to capture the differences in consumers' views over the two periods. The study's findings suggested that social and emotional values remained unchanged; however, monetary and functional values changed over time. Interestingly, attitudes altered toward complaining, although the relationships between taking external action and negative WOM were unchanged in both studies. Consumers raising their voice and consumers' risk‐taking attributes were found to be significant moderators in Study 1 but not in Study 2. The findings provide useful insights into the negative WOM literature and have implications for marketing practitioners, as highlighted in the paper's conclusion.

From inner needs to external actions: the impact of face consciousness on tourists’ pro-environmental behavior

ABSTRACT Research on tourists’ pro-environmental behavior has been receiving increasing attention, yet there remains a significant gap in understanding how to ensure the sustainability of such behavior. Drawing on the proactive motivation model, this study examines the influence of face consciousness on tourists’ pro-environmental behavior in China. Structural equation modeling analyzed data from 598 tourists in Chengdu. Findings show that gaining face promotes tourists’ pro-environmental behavior. Moreover, green self-efficacy, perceived insider status, and harmonious environmental passion mediate the relationship between face consciousness and tourists’ pro-environmental behavior. Sincere social interaction enhances the positive influence of gaining face through perceived insider status and harmonious environmental passion on tourists’ pro-environmental behavior. This study enriches the existing literature on the relationship between face consciousness and tourists’ pro-environmental behavior, and also provides management basis for promoting tourists’ sustained engagement in pro-environmental behavior.

The Interaction of Substate Actors with the Global Public:

This article aims to explain the external persuasive actions of the Aceh Provincial Government in maintaining its Islamic identity through “The Light of Aceh” branding towards the global community. This action is referred to as paradiplomacy. As one of the subnational actors in Indonesia, Aceh Province is an area that has social and political dynamics from before independence to the present. Aceh has a distinctive identity and culture known as Serambi Mekah. Because of its efforts to maintain this identity, Aceh once fought for independence from Indonesia. Aceh's paradiplomacy certainly has different dynamics. However, the effort to maintain its identity has been a struggle from the past to the present. In the independence era, Aceh tried to fight for its identity with the struggle for independence, but in the post-independence era, Aceh fought for its regional interests through the framework of Regional Autonomy by establishing foreign relations and diplomacy to the global community. This research uses the theories of paradiplomacy and social identity to explain the persuasive actions taken by the Aceh Provincial Government through paradiplomacy to maintain its social identity. This research uses a qualitative method with data collection from interviews with relevant informants, documentation studies and internet-based studies. The results of this research show that the Aceh Provincial Government's paradiplomacy efforts to maintain its Islamic identity are carried out through branding “The Light of Aceh” by incorporating Islamic values in various components of the branding such as the main values of branding, logo philosophy, and branding commercial advertising videos. These values are socialised to the global community through various international activities by showcasing culture in dances, poems of clothing at international festivals, so that Aceh is better known by the global community with its Islamic identity.

Control of the Motion of an Inverted Spherical Pendulum on a Moving Base. Hybrid Impact Approach

A new hybrid method for the construction of control actions of a linear control system with constant coefficients is considered in this paper. It is assumed in this paper that a part of the discussed system meets some conditions. Some states of the main system are considered to be control actions for a subsystem for which and LQR stabilizer is acquired. Then, those control actions of the subsystem are used to construct the control actions for the main system. In the problem of controlling the motion of a complex linear system of an inverted spherical pendulum on a moving base, a new approach to the construction of control actions (hybrid action method) was used. It is assumed that a component of the complex system under discussion satisfies certain conditions. The inertial forces at the center of mass of the base of the composite system are considered to be the controlling influences on the inversion of the pendulum, for which the LQR stabilizer was purchased. The determined internal control actions on the inverted pendulum are then used to construct external control actions on the base of the composite system. In the end, a numerical analysis was carried out.

Disinformation challenges facing the Three Seas Initiative – frame analysis of the key narratives

By exploiting the potential of social media, disinformation has become an important element of warfare. The region of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is particularly vulnerable to disinformation, primarily from Russia. One of the reasons for Russia’s activities in this region’s infosphere is that most CEE countries are members of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). In this context, Russian disinformation activities aimed at the Three Seas Initiative (3SI) are particularly interesting. The image of the 3SI created in the media is crucial, for it translates into how the public understands, perceives and recalls this format of cooperation. The article aims to reconstruct the image of the 3SI in cases of Russian disinformation identified by the European External Action Service within the EUvsDisinfo project. The article’s methodology is based on a qualitative content analysis of disinformation cases identified by EUvsDisinfo. The article identifies four main frames of disinformation targeting the 3SI, showing that Russian disinformation is focused on undermining the credibility and integrity of this cooperation, both among Initiative countries and between them and their international partners.

Thermodynamic Calculations of the Main Characteristics of the Combustion Process of Pyrotechnic Nitrate-Metallized Mixtures with Additives of Organic and Inorganic Substances under External Thermal Influences

The aim of the article is to determine the dependencies of the combustion product temperatures of four-component mixtures, the content of high-temperature condensate, and unoxidized metal on the excess oxidizer coefficient, the number of additives, and external pressure using thermodynamic calculations. Modern methods of physicochemical analysis (such as cinephotography and microcinephotography methods, X-ray analysis methods, non-contact and contact temperature measurement methods), nonlinear thermal conductivity and thermal stability methods, as well as mathematical and experimental-statistical modeling, were employed to investigate the influence of elevated heating temperatures (up to 800 K) and external pressures (up to 107 Pa) on the ignition and combustion processes of pyrotechnic products. Standard pyrotechnic equipment was used to test pyrotechnic product samples under specified conditions. Calculations based on models were conducted in real-time and dialog mode on computer devices that meet modern requirements for the use of specialized software. The results of thermodynamic calculations are presented for the dependencies of combustion product temperatures of multicomponent pyrotechnic mixtures based on powders of metal fuels (magnesium, aluminium), nitrate oxidizer (sodium nitrate), additives of organic and inorganic substances (paraffin, sodium fluoride), and the content of high-temperature condensate and unoxidized metal depending on the excess oxidizer coefficient α = 0.1…4.0, the amount of paraffin additive εp = 0…0.2, sodium fluoride additive εf = 0…0.06, and external pressure P = 105…107 Pa. Based on the obtained results of thermodynamic calculations, statistical models in the form of regression dependencies of the specified combustion characteristics on their technological parameters and external conditions have been developed. These models enable the determination of fire hazardous properties of mixtures in real-time dialog and PC-based scenarios, considering premature initiation of products based on them under external thermal actions.

Understanding the Impact of External and Internal ESG Actions on Firm Value: The Moderating Role of Customer Awareness

Understanding the Impact of External and Internal ESG Actions on Firm Value: The Moderating Role of Customer Awareness

SCIENTIFICLY BASED CALCULATION METHODS AND EXPERIMENTAL DATA BASES FOR THE PREVENTION OF PREMIUM FIRE EXPLOSIONS AND UNSAFE EXPLOSIONS OF PYROTECHNIC MULTICOMPONENT NITRATE-METALLIZED MIXTURES UNDER EXTERNAL THERMAL

Problem statement. Methods of preventing the occurrence of forced fire-hazardous destruction of products in the event of exposure to external thermal actions are of great practical importance. At the same time, they should be based on scientifically based methods for determining the critical values of parameters of thermal effects on products and technological parameters of mixture charges, the excess of which leads to premature fire-hazardous destruction of products. To develop such methods, it is necessary to have the results of theoretical and experimental studies of the processes of heating the shells of mixture charges for various external heat flows and their thermoreaction times, as well as the processes of ignition and development of their combustion under different external conditions. Purpose of the article. To form the results of theoretical studies in the form of scientifically based methods that allow preventing and controlling the premature ignition of mixture charges, the explosive development of their combustion process and the fire-hazardous destruction of products under conditions of external thermal effects, as well as the compilation of the results of experimental studies into a single database with determination of the influence of the technological parameters of the mixtures on the characteristics of their ignition processes and the development of combustion, the use of which allows reducing the number of fire-explosive destruction of products in conditions of elevated heating temperatures and external pressures. Conclusion. Scientifically based methods of determining the critical values of the parameters of external thermal actions for the quantitative assessment of the level of fire safety of pyrotechnic products based on multi-component nitrate-metallized mixtures have been developed. A scientific and technical base of experimental data was created to determine the regularities of the influence of a wide class of technological parameters of mixtures on the main characteristics of the processes of ignition and development of combustion of mixtures (ignition temperature, induction time, speed of combustion development) under conditions of external thermal actions (elevated heating temperatures, external pressures, etc.), which makes it possible to determine the probability of fires occurring at facilities where products are stored.

Liberal Intergovernmentalism Under Revision: The EEAS and the Creation of a Supra-State Diplomatic Body

Summary Why do Member States agree to create supra-state institutions? Do institutional frameworks affect outcomes? This study employs theory-testing process tracing to contribute to liberal intergovernmentalism by examining the configuration process of the European External Action Service, negotiated within two innovative institutional settings: the Convention and the Quadrilogue. The study concludes that liberal intergovernmentalism needs to be nuanced, as institutional settings are crucial in building supra-state institutions by shaping actors’ behaviour through available choices and conclusions. The bargaining was supra-state rather than intergovernmental. Preference formation was domestic but not liberal, as no interest group, other than the diplomatic corps, was involved. The European External Action Service was agreed upon as a package deal based on benefits to Member States and EU institutional actors, along with control mechanisms. Evidence comes from sixty in-depth elite interviews with EU officials and member state representatives directly involved in the negotiations.

Kazakhstan-EU Relations in the Realities of the Geopolitical Turbulence: A Textual Analysis of Before and After Design

Global security concerns have impacted both domestic and foreign policies of international actors. A regional geopolitical crisis after 2022 has certainly impacted the relations between Kazakhstan and its external partners. This research aims to explore how the regional geopolitical turbulence shaped the dynamics of Kazakhstan’s relations with the EU, one of the major actors in Kazakh multi-vector foreign policy. This research is concentrated on Kazakhstan-EU relations after 2022 and includes two studies: an analysis of press materials and a qualitative content analysis with some quantitative approach. An analysis of 191 press materials from the European External Action Service of 2018-2021 and 2022-2024 as well as content analysis of 2018-2021, 2022, and 2023-2024 press materials revealed the intensification of Kazakhstan-EU relations.

Sharpened “Real Teeth” of China's securities regulatory agency: Evidence from CEO turnover

This study examines the real impacts of the China Securities Regulatory Commission's (CSRC) enforcement actions on CEO turnover in China's fully circulated market. Using data on Chinese publicly listed firms from 2008 to 2022, we find that misconduct behavior alone does not directly lead to CEO turnover. In contrast, CSRC's enforcement actions elicit significant negative stock market reactions for both SOEs and non-SOEs post-2016 and substantially increase the likelihood of CEO turnover, with a notably larger impact on non-SOEs. Furthermore, enforcement actions involving more severe punishments and targeting information disclosure violations and operational misconduct are more effective at compelling CEOs to step down. Potential channels through which external regulatory actions influence firms' CEO replacement decisions include reducing agency costs and enhancing information transparency. These findings suggest that the “teeth” of China's securities regulatory agency now function primarily through market-based mechanisms rather than administrative force, and these “real teeth” are being sharpened by ongoing regulatory reforms.

Wavelet denoising analysis on vacuum-process monitoring signals of aerospace vacuum vessel structures

Abstract The monitoring of micro-defects or external actions induced vacuum degradation in aerospace vacuum vessels is an important challenge. A vacuum-process monitoring method based on quasi-distributed fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensing technology is proposed. Due to the influence of environmental noise and vacuum pump operation noise, the raw signals measured by FBG sensors contain a large amount of noises, which affects the measurement accuracy and data analysis. Therefore, the wavelet threshold (WT) denoising method is proposed to analyze the influence of noises on the monitoring signals measured by two different kinds of FBG sensors. The evaluation of the monitoring signals after denoising indicates that the proposed method can effectively remove the noise and significantly improve signal quality. The highest signal-to-noise ratio of the processed signals can reach 37.61 dB and the mean square error is 3.68 × 10−7, while retaining the key features of the original signal. The proposed WT denoising method demonstrates better performance and feasibility compared with moving average filtering and Kalman filtering methods. The study provides critical supports for improving the performance and reliability of the vacuum vessel monitoring system.

Identification of psychological stress from speech signal using deep learning algorithm

Psychological activities have various dimensions in which they correlate with their respective behavior generated by the human body. Understanding the relationship of psychological events with the help of external action units is one of the research subjects to explore various human behavior and their dependencies. Existing work applied various deep learning algorithms to outline the correlation between psychological activities with human emotions. The study of psychological analysis in the medical field is very time-consuming and costly. It requires constant monitoring of the patient for a period of time and various interrogation sessions to finalize the emotional severity of an individual. Few skilled specialists and the lack of medical knowledge of human emotions drive the need for computer vision approaches to emphasize emotion recognition, particularly in disorders. The proposed study specifically assesses the use of speech signals to identify psychological disorders in terms of stress characteristics and uses a deep learning model that incorporates feed-forward networks and long short-term memory (LSTM) to identify the degree of psychological disease. The study made use of a standard speech dataset that was gathered from a variety of patients using a standard questionnaire format. The survey was conducted throughout a few Indian states. Speech samples were taken from patients whose cortisol levels were higher than 10 %. To assess the relationship between speech and psychological activity, speech signals from each patient have been gathered. The spectrogram of the speech signal's Mel filter bank coefficients has been analyzed, and the characteristics that cause stress and those that don't have it have been further divided into categories. The suggested model classifies stress and non-stress features in 150 voice dataset subjects with an average accuracy of 98 %. The model is found to be robust for various applications such as preventing suicidal cases, improving decision-making in the diagnosis of depression patients, improves the overall mental healthcare system.

It’s not EU, it’s we: ontological stress and French narration of the uprisings in Tunisia

ABSTRACT The ontological security dynamics of EU foreign policy cooperation and integration have been relatively under-researched. The EU’s efforts to seek ontological security – by consolidating myths, solidifying identifications, and positioning itself on the international crisis – have been discussed by Della Sala, Mitzen, Rumelili, and others, yet one question remains: can the EU provide ontological security? International crises can be an important entry point for studying the dynamics of ontological security within the EU. In this paper, I analyse how France and the European External Action Service (EEAS) narrated the 2011 uprisings in Tunisia. I argue that the EU acts as an ontological security provider in this case by providing a stable network of meaning, narrative, and social space. In the case of Tunisia, I argue that the revelation of the mismatch between its self-perception and perception of others led to significant ontological stress for France and that leaning on the EU provided a way out of this uncertainty. By leaning on the EUs narration of events, France could move past its own stress and still feel secure as part of the EU.

Selective adherence to EU values and the quest for external coherence: a comparative discourse analysis of Czechia, Hungary, and Norway Amid Russia’s war in Ukraine

ABSTRACT Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has compelled the EU to adopt 13 sanction packages against Russia, demonstrating increased external coherence in the EU’s foreign policy. This consensus can potentially drive a more robust upgrade, further fortifying the Union’s external coherence. However, this progress is compromised by selective adherence to the EU’s values. Employing a multi-tiered theoretical framework, the study hypothesises that external coherence is rooted in a matrix of legal frameworks, policy discourses, and contributions from external actors. Using critical discourse analysis, the research investigates how selective adherence impacts the EU’s external coherence by comparing the discourses of four actors: Czechia, Hungary, the European External Action Service (EEAS), and Norway. Findings reveal that selective adherence to EU values is least evident in Hungary, moderately present in Czechia, and most pronounced in Norway, with the EEAS striving to promote coherence despite legislative constraints. While Russia’s war in Ukraine has significantly impacted the EU, selective adherence to EU values has nonetheless contributed to fragmented external coherence in its foreign policy, undermining the Union’s international credibility and geopolitical position.

The European Union's Global Health Actorness: A Research Agenda for a New Age of Pandemics

AbstractWhilst the European Union's (EU's) response to health emergencies has historically been subpar, some suggest that it emerged from COVID‐19 as a stronger global health actor. This prompts two interrelated questions: how have International Relations scholars conceptualised and assessed EU ‘actorness’ in the all‐too‐often neglected field of global health, and what adjustments are required in anticipation of a potential new age of pandemics? This article revisits the longstanding notion of ‘actorness’ and dissects the few studies that apply it systematically to analyse the EU's role in global health. After identifying some key shortcomings in the literature, the article formulates a research agenda suitable for the complex and high‐stakes nature of contemporary global health endeavours. By further adapting the concept of ‘actorness’ to a multifaceted EU external action as well as to an increasingly intricate global governance architecture, this research agenda contributes to the broader scholarship on the EU's international outreach.

Fuentes privadas y gubernamentales para el estudio de decisiones de grupo y medidas confidenciales: el régimen sonorense y el uso del servicio consular en el espionaje de exiliados durante la década de 1920

In this article we propose to analyze the private and governmental collections of a political elite that controlled government agencies during the 1920s. Through the prosopographic method and the triangulation of information contained in the Archivo Particular Abelardo L. Rodríguez, Fideicomiso Archivo Plutarco Elías Calles-Fernando Torreblanca and Archivo Histórico Genaro Estrada, we document the ruling group’s perceptions of internal and external problems, their fears, information gathering, and actions implemented through the consular service to overthrow opposition groups in exile in the United States.

A Study on Internal Branding – Developing a Predictive Model for the Indian Service Sector with Reference to Bharti Airtel

In recent times, internal branding has gained importance in the marketing literature because researchers identify that corporate brand management not only associates external actions but also an internal approach that involves employees. Although the growing interest, there is no agreement among authors about experiences, measurements, and outcomes of internal branding. Currently, this paper aims to explore the conceptualization of internal branding and to offer opportunities for future research. The study is an organized literature review that uses a specific database. The contributions of each article were extracted, organized, and processed following systematic procedures. This review defines internal branding as a cross-functional process that involves both marketing and human resource departments. It focuses on managing the brand internally through brand-centered human resource management, internal brand communications, and brand leadership, with the aim of achieving brand outcomes among employees (brand understanding, brand identification, brand commitment, brand loyalty, brand citizenship behaviors) so they can build brand equity in front of external stakeholders. Although a lack of consensus had been established, the literature evidenced similarities that gave rise to the conceptualization proposed in this study. Nevertheless, the discussion about internal branding is still open because there are several issues to investigate in this field.

The European Union’s securitisation of global health: was COVID-19 a Zeitenwende?

ABSTRACT Almost 30 years since the Maastricht Treaty provided an explicit legal basis in the health realm, the European Union (EU) declared global health an “essential pillar” of its external action. Yet, it is still seeking to “come of age” as a global health actor. This might be facilitated by the securitisation of health, which was evident during the COVID-19 crisis, often framed as a war against a common enemy. However, the literature is yet to establish whether these analogies were systematically embraced by EU institutions, signalling a Zeitenwende – or “epochal tectonic shift” – in the EU’s health-related discourse. Through an analysis of key strategic documents and public statements, this article determines the extent to which COVID-19 drove the attempted securitisation of global health in the EU. Relatedly, it discusses whether this framing might be conducive to an enhanced EU actorness on the world stage. The article concludes that, after COVID-19 struck, some EU institutions did intensify their “health security” rhetoric in pursuit of an expanded, more “mature” role. While this shift was neither widespread nor enduring enough to be characterised as “epochal”, it does denote the EU’s turn towards a less altruistic conception of its global health action.