External Audiences Research Articles

Social Media, Mental Health, and Equestrian Events

Many studies have investigated the benefits and drawbacks of social media, but the impact it has on amateur sports participants who use it as part of their practice has been largely overlooked. This study addresses this gap, investigating the impacts of social media on the mental health of women participating in amateur sport activities–specifically, equestrian events through a mixed methods survey of 221 female amateur equestrians in the UK. Themes included the pressure to present a “perfect” image to an external audience, the stress of comparison to others, and constant judgment around the performance of a participant. We also found issues of distorted reality and false representation. We conclude by highlighting a need for better assistance for athletes both while they are competing at events and at other times, particularly pre/postevent.

Legitimacy under pressure: Energy firms’ expansion in countries with weak environmental performance

Environmental pollution and climate change have become alarming global issues in the process of rapid economic growth and accelerated internationalization. Due to the environmentally sensitive nature of energy firms, maintaining their legitimacy in the international expansion process, especially in countries with weak environmental performance, is a largely underexplored area in the existing literature. Building on legitimacy as a theoretical perspective, this study examines energy firms’ international expansion patterns when facing environmental pressure. We analyze a dataset of 2134 cross-border mergers and acquisitions conducted by energy firms between 1992 and 2019 to examine the impact of host-country environmental performance, encompassing environmental health (i.e., environmental conditions that affect human well-being) and climate change (i.e., variations in weather patterns), on their expansion. We also investigate the boundary conditions underpinning this relationship. We find that firm-level internalization capability and country-level diplomatic relations make energy firms appear legitimate to their internal and external audiences, respectively. The findings bring fresh insights to the literature on international expansion under environmental threats, enrich the legitimacy perspective, and outline practical implications for firms to preserve and enhance legitimacy for international growth. Additionally, we discuss important policy implications for governments to strengthen regulatory standards on environmental issues in support of sustainable world development.

Legitimacy and Hegemony in Late Imperial China

Canonical international relations research treats international orders as systemic, long-term projects of hegemons. However, orders can also provide valuable domestic political capital for leaders. Hegemonic leaders have stronger incentives to invest in hegemony when doing so potentially enhances their political legitimacy. Using a new dataset of over 8,000 Ming and Qing dynasty tribute exchanges between 1368 and 1895, I assess whether emperor legitimacy needs help explain China’s engagement in tribute diplomacy, a central institution of Chinese hegemony. The findings show that new emperors, particularly those following “irregular” entry into power, invested heavily in tribute to pursue legitimacy among internal and external audiences. This behavior was most common with “high-value” counterparts. An illustrative case documents how the Yongle Emperor deployed tribute to legitimize his right to rule. The findings demonstrate the importance of domestic politics and leader legitimacy for understanding the nature and persistence of hegemonic order in early modern Asia.

Falling Fortunes: The Contingent and Asymmetric Effect of Rankings on Organizational Outcomes

As rankings of organizations have proliferated in recent decades, much research has focused on organizational efforts to maintain a high position in rankings. A common theme in this literature is that changes in rank affect evaluations by external audiences and, consequently, organizational outcomes. Yet, accumulating evidence suggests that rankings sometimes have little effect on audience assessments and organizational outcomes, a finding that calls into question the power of rankings. Instead of asking whether rankings matter, this study adopts a contingency approach and investigates when rankings matter. I develop theory about contextual and organizational factors that shape the salience and information value of shifts in rankings: the direction of the change, the availability of information from other intermediaries, the sophistication of the audience, and the focal organization’s previous ranking position. Panel data analysis and a natural experiment focused on the Fortune 500 rankings support this theory. This article provides a framework to help scholars understand the contingent and asymmetric consequences of rankings on organizational outcomes, with implications for research on evaluation systems.

Personal Storytelling and Subjective Narratives of Local Reporters through Private Newsletters

ABSTRACT This study explores the emergence of personal, subjective narratives in private, digital newsletters, focusing on the SIDINL network’s role in transforming citizens into local news reporters in Sub-Saharan Africa. By analysing cases of newsletters in Nigeria and Cameroon, this study investigates how these local reporters can develop a distinctive personal style of reporting, engaging with niche Western audiences in an informal and affective manner. It highlights the significance of personalised storytelling in conveying the nuanced realities of local communities, emphasising the power of subjective voices in enriching the global conventional understanding of social and environmental issues. Through this lens, the study underscores the potential of these carefully monitored digital platforms in facilitating a deeper, interactive connection between local reporters and their small niche audiences, fostering a stronger sense of empowerment through shared narratives and discussions between the local people and the external audience.

Illuminating an uncatalogued micropalaeontological collection at the Lapworth Museum of Geology, University of Birmingham

The Lapworth Museum of Geology (LMoG) at the University of Birmingham (UoB) holds >300,000 specimens, including a sizable micropalaeontology collection. However, ~50% of the total LMoG collection is not digitised (e.g., there is no digital record) and thus inaccessible to external audiences. We contributed to the LMoG’s ongoing digitisation efforts by assessing the curation, historic and scientific significance of an uncatalogued assortment of “large” micropalaeontological specimens. We digitised and curated 219 specimens (comprising 307 parts) made up of hand specimens, containers and vials of loose fossils and sediment, and thin sections. The collection contained organisms from ten different phyla but was dominated by Larger Benthic Foraminifera (LBF). This dominance is reflected in the predominantly low-mid latitude geographic distribution of the collection, reflecting LBFs subtropical ecological preferences. The completeness of specimen metadata varied considerably with generally good geographic, chronostratigraphic, and taxonomic information at higher levels but poorer information with increasing detail and in relation to acquisition. Despite these limitations, we find that the studied collection was primarily assimilated for teaching purposes with donations from UoB staff and other specialist museums, and purchase from commercial dealers. There is little evidence for research on these specimens to date. Future work at the LMoG will digitise the collections and contribute to the ongoing efforts of international bodies to create large, open-access natural history datasets.

The Role of Communication in Nation-Building: A Theoretical Framework for South African National Unity

Communication plays a crucial role in the formation of a nation and its identity. It is apparent that the government of South Africa has previously started nation-building initiatives, but it is unclear how much the public is involved in the design and implementation of these campaigns. In this study, the contemporary literature on communication in the context of nation-building was critically engaged to clarify the role that communication plays in nation-building. The study concludes that the two-way symmetrical model is the best as it emphasises honest information exchanges between the public and the government through interactive communication. In order to effectively communicate with both internal and external target audiences and advance the agenda for nation-building, the South African government should employ communication techniques that will create and maintain enduring relationships with the public based on mutual trust by implementing participatory communication approaches to nation-building.

PENGEMBANGAN MODEL KOMUNIKASI PERSUASIF PEMUDADESA ADAT CIPTAGELAR DALAM KEGIATAN AGROFORESTRI BERBASIS KASEPUHAN

Forest sustainability will be if the ecological and economic functions of the forest can take place appropriately. The sustainability of the two purposes of the forest requires community participation through persuasive communication. Kasepuhan Ciptagelar presented that community participation in environmental activities, especially agroforestry, is also represented by young people. Therefore, this research aims to identify Persuasive Communication of Ciptagelar Traditional Village Youth in Agroforestry Activities in Kasepuhan Ciptagelar, Sirnaresmi, Sukabumi Regency, West Java Province. This research used a constructivist paradigm and a qualitative descriptive approach. The study highlights every form of persuasive communication in agroforestry activities by Ciptagelar Indigenous youth. The results showed that the persuasive communication carried out by the Ciptagelar Indigenous Youth used a behavioral intention approach. All forms of persuasive communication actions in Kasepuhan-based Agroforestry activities. Uniquely, the youths are very obedient to customary rules, but also use the latest communication media in persuasive communication. Persuasive communication that is carried out only aims at cognitive aspects for external parties in the Village. The concept of kasepuhan which is carried out in every form of persuasive communication by Ciptagelar Traditional Village Youth to external village audiences carries the principles of trust and volunteerism.

“It Takes More Than a Pill to Kill”: Bounded Accountability in Disciplining Professional Misconduct Despite Heightened Transparency

Existing theory suggests that professionals are ineffective at regulating the work of their peers, especially when it comes to disciplining misconduct, because of professional norms of collegiality. In response, transparency measures have been put in place over the years to increase accountability toward key external audiences, such as the public, and to ensure that professionals hold guilty peers accountable for misconduct. Few studies, however, have sufficiently investigated how professionals discipline peer misconduct in the face of transparency measures. We gained access to a state medical board’s internal deliberations about how to discipline physicians guilty of overprescribing opioids, endangering public health. We found that even in the most egregious cases, the board predominantly refrained from implementing stringent disciplinary action despite extensive transparency measures. Our data allow us to theorize what we call bounded accountability, which refers to individuals charged with holding guilty actors accountable for their misconduct instituting only limited discipline. We found four mechanisms that constrained the exercise of accountability: information asymmetries between regulatory bodies, bureaucratic inefficiencies of the disciplinary apparatus, shared professional beliefs among decision makers, and interpersonal emotions between decision makers and the guilty professionals whom they are put in charge of disciplining. We found that these mechanisms operated at the field, occupational, organizational, and interpersonal levels, respectively. Utilizing a highly consequential study context, our findings suggest that when professional misconduct is disciplined by members of the same occupation, bounded accountability is the most likely outcome, even with extensive transparency measures in place. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2023.17932 .

Политический язык консервативного дворянства периода крестьянской реформы

The article examines the political language of the conservative nobility during the preparation and implementation of the peasant reform. As the intention of the government to abolish serfdom became evident to society and the general contours of this reform became clear, proponents of conservative ideals within the nobility sought to articulate their position on this pressing issue. The political language used by actors does not always literally coincide with the content of the statement. The author highlights the characteristics inherent in this language, both aimed at an external audience, that is, government officials, the educated public in general, as well as used within a circle of like-minded people. In the first case, the language of the conservative nobility is emphatically archaic, in the second case it is devoid of this distinctive feature. In addition, if necessary, the conservative nobility uses the argumentation and language of the liberal camp to defend their interests.

Does transformational leadership and reputation management relate to employee mission valence: A two-wave study of mission valence in public agencies

Mission valence holds a vital motivational potential vis-à-vis employees which subsequently can improve organizational performance. But which types public leadership hold the potential to cultivate mission valence as an attraction among their employees to the organizational vision? Both transformational leadership and reputation management involve visioning behavior performed by public managers but differ in terms of the former primarily targeting external audiences, for the purpose of fostering positive perceptions among those audiences of the organization’s contribution to society, and the latter targeting employees to transcend their own self-interest and achieve organizational goals. Based upon panel data using repeated measures of 193 employees in three Danish regulatory agencies, the article shows that both transformational leadership and reputation management is positively related to employee’s mission valence. By so doing the article adds to public leadership literature suggesting reputation management as an alternative route by which public managers can foster employee’s mission valence.

Customer perception of brands' heritage: synthesis and perspectives

This article looks at of what marketing has produced regarding the way consumers engage with brand heritage. The literature review shows how marketing scholars take the heritage discourse and analyses the way the message is communicated to external audiences, if they accept it or not, and what effects it has on their broad relation to the company. Then, the first part of the paper clarifies the distinction in brand heritage literature between the focus on the corporate brand and the focus on the marketing mix and its perception by consumers. The second part defines brand heritage as it is perceived by consumers, while the third examines protocols and, most particularly, scales that facilitate the measurement of brand heritage percep- tion. The fourth part reviews the known consequences of brand heritage perception. Finally, the conclusion lists avenues for further research.

Center for teaching and learning websites as online faculty development: A framework

Center for teaching and learning (CTL) websites help communicate information, services, and opportunities to institutional stakeholders while also serving as an institutional brand to external audiences. Thus, CTL websites must strike a balance of being publicly accessible and user-friendly while also providing various support, resources, and pathways tailored to faculty needs and development. Still, faculty attendance at and participation in CTL-supported faculty development programs and initiatives are persistent and pervasive challenges in higher education. Faculty have many competing priorities and may lack the necessary incentives or time needed to engage with such development opportunities, especially in in-person settings. CTLs are increasingly turning to online faculty development to provide faculty with access to professional development offerings anytime, anywhere. However, few, if any, studies focus on the CTL website as a form of online faculty development in and of itself. The purpose of this single-instrument case study was to shed light on CTL websites as a medium for online faculty development. Data were collected using Google Analytics and through heuristic evaluation and moderated remote usability tests with purposive samples of faculty from varying disciplines and higher education institutions. The case explored provided insights into website design, user experiences, and the information architecture of one CTL website. Findings and lessons learned are discussed, and a framework for online faculty development via CTL websites is theorized. Newly formed or existing CTLs may find value in the results.

A Conceptual Analysis of Social Justice Content in Social Work Program Mission Statements

ABSTRACT Mission statements guide organizations and communicate their goals and objectives for both internal stakeholders and external audiences. Given that many nonprofits and governmental organizations are value driven, it is important to examine how those values are embedded in and communicated within mission statements. This examination is especially relevant considering the role that mission statements have on employee engagement, volunteerism, and fundraising support. In this study, we examine mission statements of accredited social work programs in the United States as a case study to examine the link between professional values and ethics and mission statements. Using a conceptual content analysis approach, 590 social work program websites were reviewed and 350 mission statements were found and coded. Our findings offer insights and implications for how schools and other organizations can best approach creating mission statements that align with professional ethics and educational competencies.

Communication activities as one of the areas of administrative and legal support for the institutional capacity of local courts

The article highlights the theoretical and applied aspects of communication in local courts as one of the important areas of administrative and legal support for their institutional capacity. The author emphasizes the relevance of this issue and the insufficient level of its research within the science of administrative law. The court’s communication activities are defined as a well-established process of information exchange aimed at achieving mutual understanding, agreement between the parties and changes in the consciousness and/or behavior of the recipient of information, which is manifested in raising awareness, level of trust, forming a certain image in the eyes of the audience, taking certain actions or refraining from them on the part of the recipient of information. The author emphasizes the need to develop a communication strategy for local courts. Strategic communication is defined as a systemic communication focused on establishing long-term relationships between courts and their external and internal audiences that help to achieve certain goals. The author analyzes the best practices of court communication and emphasizes the importance of their dissemination. It is noted that court communication should primarily be aimed at increasing the level of public confidence in the court. It is emphasized that the best practices of communication activities of local courts not only need to be disseminated, but also studied from the perspective of administrative law science, which will contribute to the development of a solid scientific basis for this area of activity.
 It was noted that the communication activity of the court is an important direction of judicial administration and administrative and legal support of the institutional capacity of both local courts and the judicial system in general. The conclusion is formulated that domestic courts of all levels carry out significant work both in terms of effective communication and the development of a communication strategy. Such perspective directions of the development of the court’s communication activities as the development of modern communication platforms between the court and the public, the development of communication in the environment of the judicial branch of government, etc. are indicated.

Pride cometh before a fall: The incongruence of status and resource commitment signals in the video game industry

This study extends the burgeoning literature on social evaluations by investigating the incongruence between two quality signals in the video game industry: resource commitment and organizational status. It is hypothesized that while having one of the signals leads to higher product recognition and, hence, allows firms to capture more value from a product and its demonstrated quality, having both signals can be problematic due to the incongruence of these signals. This is because, in creative industry settings, the occurrence of both signals might send an incongruent message to external audiences (i.e., consumers and industry experts), leading to lower than expected results. My empirical analysis using historical data from the video game industry showed that organizations which featured either a status or a resource commitment signal were able to capture more value from their product quality than organizations that feature both of these signals. In an additional survey study, I found tentative evidence for my theoretical explanations of these findings.

Инструменты контрпропаганды в условиях гибридного внешнеполитического противоборства

The article presents and analyses the tools of counterpropaganda in the context of a hybrid foreign policy confrontation. The aspects and problems of political communications are presented during the hybrid war in which the Russian Federation was involved in confrontation with the unfriendly and destructive forces of the countries of the collective West, as well as their proxies. The key directions of anti-Russian political communications in the conditions of a hybrid war are described, aspects of their implementation by the enemy are shown, special attention is paid to the problems of countering special information and psychological operations. The importance of counterpropaganda in the effective conduct of information confrontation, aimed at both external and internal audiences, is argued. A set of promising tools for successfully organizing counterpropaganda in the current conditions of the hybrid militarypolitical confrontation between Russia and the collective West is presented and described.

The Role of University Academic Innovations in Agriculture and ICT to the Country’s Economic Transformation (A Case of Kapasa Makasa University)

In the recent past, Zambia has seen an increase in the number of institutions of higher learning and Kapasa Makasa University is one such Institution. Kapasa Makasa University (KMU) being the only public university in Muchinga province has put research and innovation at the helm of its daily academic activities. As a result the institution has between 2019 and 2021 developed a number of innovations, which if fully exploited by the government and private sector can have the potential to contribute significantly to the economic transformation of the country. In trying to actualize the implementation of these innovations, Management engaged various stakeholders in the industry to determine whether or not they can help to commercialize these innovations. As its motto state “Learn to Innovate”, KMU has put so much emphasis on innovations in the areas of ICTs and Agriculture which if well enhanced can help to contribute significantly to the economic transformation of the nation. Against this background the current study seek to investigate the role of university academic innovations in to the country’s economic transformation. To this effect a descriptive survey was conducted on the university population involving members of academic staff and students to determine the evolving role of university academic innovations on the country’s economic transformation. The results established that lack of deliberate academic policies aimed at commercializing innovations, inadequate stakeholder’s engagement (government and private sector), and lack of proper communication of innovation successes across internal and external audiences as well as limited financial resources are the main factors that hinder the innovations in universities from contributing to the country’s economic transformation. Based on the findings the study recommends that there is need to create strong partnership between the university, government and the industry in order to further develop and commercialize the innovations in university. In addition, the university authorities need to create academic policies that are aimed at commercializing innovations as well as deriving a proper and well-coordinated mechanisms to communicate the innovations to both internal and external audiences. Finally the study also concludes that university management need to adequately fund innovations in the institutions if they are to make a positive impact to the economic transformation of the country.

Analyzing Radical Visuals at Scale

Research examining radical visual communication and its manifestation on the trending platform TikTok is limited. This paper presents a novel methodological framework for studying mobilization strategies of far-right groups on TikTok, employing a mixed-method approach that combines manual annotation, unsupervised image classification, and named-entity recognition to analyze the dynamics of radical visuals at scale. Differentiating between internal and external mobilization, we use popularity and engagement cues to investigate far-right mobilization efforts on TikTok within and outside their community. Our findings shed light on the effectiveness of unsupervised image classification when utilized within a broader mixed-method framework, as each observed far-right group employs unique platform characteristics. While Conspiracists flourish in terms of overall popularity and internal mobilization, nationalist and protest content succeeds by using a variety of persuasive visual content to attract and engage external audiences. The study contributes to existing literature by bridging the gap between visual political communication at scale and radicalization research. By offering insights into mobilization strategies of far-right groups, our study provides a foundation for policymakers, researchers, and online platforms to develop proactive measures to address the risks associated with the dissemination of extremist ideologies on social media. The study contributes to existing literature by bridging the gap between visual political communication at scale and radicalization research. By offering insights into mobilization strategies of far-right groups, our study provides a foundation for policymakers, researchers, and online platforms to develop proactive measures to address the risks associated with the dissemination of extremist ideologies on social media.

Academic citizenship in an age of anti-intellectualism

This essay focuses on the fundamental idea that established theory can guide faculty professional service to inform and educate the general public. More specifically, we explore how faculty can use Boyer's scholarship of engagement as a framework for faculty academic citizenship and partnering with external audiences. Two recommendations are made related to intentional structural changes to universities as organizations for faculty academic citizenship to be relevant and make important contributions in the future.