Future Shape Research Articles

Uczelnia organizacją w odcieniu turkusu - szansa czy iluzja?

After several years of discussions on the future shape of higher education in Poland, both at the systemic and institutional level, on July 20, 2018, “The Law on Higher Education and Science,” from now on referred to as the Law, was enacted. Together with a package of ordinances, this regulation broadened the autonomy of universities in terms of organization and management while substantiating the importance of their accountability. Strengthening the rector’s authority resulted in a change in the perception of universities as dispersed organizations (Weick, 1976) towards compact organizations (Brunsson and Sahlin-Andersson, 2000). The authors noticed that the concept of the university, in line with the letter and spirit of the Law, does not pay due attention to the relations between university employees. Therefore, the article aims to present a proposal to implement the elements of the turquoise organization concept (Laloux, 2015), which is more and more often described in the scientific literature – and at the same time evokes extreme emotions – into an academic institution. The article indicates the unused, in the authors’ opinion, possibilities of organizational and management changes created by the Law and describes selected features of the turquoise organization, relating them to an academic institution. It also compares the characteristics of a traditional university, entrepreneurial, and a university with a shade of turquoise. The research part analyzes interviews with deliberately selected employees of the Gdańsk University of Technology. During individual conversations, they expressed their opinions on new organizational and management solutions proposed by the article’s co-author. In summary, an attempt was made to answer the question formulated in the title.

Combining the Digital, Social and Physical Layer to Create Age-Friendly Cities and Communities

This qualitative investigation makes suggestions about creating age-friendly cities for older adults focusing on three domains of the World Health Organization (WHO) age-friendly city framework namely “Communication and Information”, “Outdoor Spaces and Buildings” and “Social Participation”. The authors present two case studies, the first one focusing on older adults using activity wearables for health self-management in the neighborhood, and the second one focusing on older adults engaged in social prescribing activities in the community. The authors then reflect on the relationships of the domains and future opportunities for age-friendly cities. These case studies apply a co-design and citizen-based approach focusing within these larger frameworks on emotions, values and motivational goals of older adults. Results suggest how the convergence of the often siloed age-friendly city components based on older adults’ goals and input can lead to better social participation and longer-term health outcomes. The authors propose that the digital, physical and social aspects need to be considered in all domains of age-friendly cities to achieve benefits for older adults. Further work involving older adults in the future shaping of age-friendly neighborhoods and cities, and identifying barriers and opportunities is required.

Assessing Architecture-and-Landscape Integration as a Basis for Evaluating the Impact of Construction Projects on the Cultural Landscape of Tourist Seaside Resorts

The coastline of Western Pomerania has natural and cultural assets that have promoted the development of tourism, but also require additional measures to ensure the traditional features and characteristics are protected. This is to ensure that new developments conform to a more uniform set of spatial structures which are in line with the original culture. Today, seaside resorts are characterized by a rapid increase in development with a clear trend towards non-physiognomic architectural forms which continually expand and encroach on land closer to the coastline. This results in a blurring of the original concepts that characterized the founding seaside resort. This study evaluates 11 development projects (including a range of hotels, luxury residential buildings and hotel suites) built in 2009–2020 in the coastal area of Western Pomerania. An assessment of architecture-and-landscape integration for each development project was made, using four groups of evaluation criteria: aesthetic, socio-cultural, functional and locational factors. The study methodology included a historical and interpretative study (iconology, iconography, historiography) and an examination of architecture-and-landscape integration using a pre-prepared evaluation form. Each criterion was first assessed using both field surveys and desk research (including the analysis of construction plans and developer materials), and then compared with the original, traditional qualities of the town. This study demonstrates that it is possible to clearly identify the potential negative impact of tourism development on the cultural landscape of seaside resorts, and provides recommendations for future shaping, management and conservation of the landscape.

How much is enough? The role of effort in market shaping

PurposeMarket shaping research predominantly focusses on the activities of the market shaper, rather than the equally important roles of other market actors. Market shapers may enhance resource density and value creation within markets, yet such influences cannot exhaustively explain how markets get shaped. Other market actors also must and do exert effort in the value co-creation processes; this study aims to explore the effects of reducing their efforts, as a mechanism to facilitate market shaping.Design/methodology/approachThis conceptual paper uses a theory adaptation approach to link value co-creation with market shaping and effort. It offers a conceptual framework and five propositions that outline the role of effort reduction in the value co-creation process to achieve market shaping.FindingsThe proposed conceptual framework indicates how enhanced resource density, resulting from the firm’s market shaping activities and reduced effort lead to enhanced value creation for market actors. Effort reduction can be achieved by reducing either the level of resource input required or the activities required to access, transform and combine resources to co-create value. Potential resource flows then may benefit the market shaper.Originality/valueThis research contributes to emergent market shaping literature by offering effort reduction as a viable tactic. Specifically, it broadens the scope of consideration of effort in value co-creation, and it advances understanding of resource density as a focal market shaping construct. The resultant framework offers a foundation for future market shaping research.

4D printing and collaborative design of highly flexible shape memory alloy structures: a case study for a metallic robot prototype

This paper investigates the entire process of 4D printing of shape memory alloys (SMAs), characterized by pre-programming of the future responsive shape of a deformable structure during its 3D forming. Taking an inchworm-inspired crawling robot as an application case, we propose a system prototype composed of two deformable SMA structures, i.e. a curved sheet and a spring coil. From the behavioral synergism of these two antagonistically configured structures, the initial and responsive shapes of each binary structure were collaboratively designed. The feature shapes of different structures were then pairwise combined to generate the robot’s gait, which was realized through the alternating activations of the two components. We also investigated the processing strategy and methods of the presented structures with small feature sizes and unique configurations, based on the optimal 3D printing process of selective laser melting of nickel–titanium alloys. The experimental results verified the design expectations and demonstrated the performance stability of the SMA structures under multiple testing cycles. This research confirmed the possible use of hard materials to create customized smart structures with high levels of flexibility and deformation control, providing new ideas for further development of intelligent, flexible robots.

Cleophus J. LaRue and Luiz C. Nascimento, The Future Shape of Christian Proclamation: What the Global South Can Teach Us About Preaching

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Managing bank risk through the crisis perspective from Malaysia

This paper considers the practical implications of the COVID-19 crisis for risk management in a bank in Malaysia and goes on to draw more general conclusions. It is suggested that standard strategic and credit risk-management practices will need to be taken to the next level in order for banks to better prepare for 2021. Recommendations have been given for improving stress testing and credit risk assessment so as to provide enhanced information on the basis of which difficult decisions can be made. In particular, it is suggested that greater use of reverse stress testing will be beneficial. This use should be coupled with more sophisticated relationships between macroeconomic scenarios and potential credit losses, which will give the bank management a much improved control over uncertainties in the macroeconomy. It is also suggested that banks apply a similar, more formalised (stress testing) approach to credit risk assessment of their larger customers so that a realistic assessment of their repayment ability can be made. Finally, some hard thinking about the future shape of banking needs to be carried out and positions taken in terms of technology, staffing levels, office space and product offerings.

RCVS news

Professor Stephen May, former RCVS President and Chair of the Legislation Working Party, gives us an insight into the background to the recently launched RCVS consultation on legislative reform and provides an overview of the recommendations it is making. All members of the Royal College are invited to respond to the consultation and have their say in influencing the future shape of the professions.

Alternative lenses for viewing how China has built its accounting and auditing profession

PurposeThe paper reviews some theoretical approaches that have been adopted for understanding the drivers and achievements of the Chinese professional project and the challenges it faces for the future, as a complement and a contrast to previous histories of China and to studies of other developing economies.Design/methodology/approachBased mainly on evaluating the information as obtained from the interviews in mainland China, in Hong Kong and in London reported by Macve (2020), complemented by other published histories.FindingsChina remains a paradox. Since the “reform and open” policy began in 1978 it has been transformed from one of the poorest countries to one of the economically most powerful in just some 40 years. However it remains (per capita) a “developing country”/”emerging economy” and ideologically a Communist country. While the accounting profession in the USA and UK has developed “from the bottom up” over more than a century and a half, the Chinese profession has effectively been created “from the top down” in under 25 years. The paper outlines alternative theorizations of the major stages in this achievement, in the context of the continuing rapid growth of China's economy and its stock markets, and of the overseas expansion of its manufacturing and increasingly service-oriented base.Research limitations/implicationsSpace has restricted the analysis here to a general overview. Application of Gramsci's hegemony theory is argued to be inappropriate in the context of understanding China's professional project. Instead, this study is framed within the neo-institutional theory of “linked ecologies” originally developed to examine “Western” developments and extended to the emergence of glocalization, while offering a comparison with related theorization of Russia's post-Communist development. Further theoretical development outside the Western neo-liberal context is called for.Originality/valueThe paper demonstrates how accounting and auditing's development in this globally significant context has differed from that in other developing and transitional economies, reflecting in particular the proactive agency of the state. Given China's economic power, fuller understanding of the interrelated factors shaping its development is important for understanding the likely future shaping of the worldwide profession.

Covid‐19 and Our Understanding of Risk, Emergencies, and Crises

Covid‐19 and Our Understanding of Risk, Emergencies, and Crises

Public Participation in Planning Processes Under the Confinement Regime

The lockdown triggered by the coronavirus pandemic (March– June 2020) affected not only the economy, but also the functioning of the administration, and thus procedures connected with spatial planning. Spatial planning at the local level, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity enshrined in the Polish constitution, belongs to the so-called “commune’s own tasks” 1 . Formal spatial planning procedures in Poland, equipped with administrative, technical consulting apparatus, were subjected to stress testing during the pandemic. The crisis situation not only highlighted their weaknesses unprecedentedly, but also showed new opportunities and caused changes in conducting procedures. The discussion on issues of deliberativeness and communication in planning theory that has been going on for decades has been enriched with many new practical experiences in just a few months. Although the research regarding this period is just beginning, it is already known that the conclusions drawn from it will affect the future shape of the planning system. Various reactions of local governments to an unusual situation constitute a reservoir of diagnoses, problems and practical solutions that should be taken into account in the discussion. This paper presents the results of qualitative research conducted during the confinement regime. It is focused on the issues of self-government spatial planning units’ work organisation and connected with these changes in the shape of the consultation processes conducted. Research has focused on issues related to the organisation of work of local planning units, supporting digital technology and related changes in the shape of consultative processes.

Market shaping dynamics: interplay of actor engagement and institutional work

PurposeCombining institutional work and actor engagement (AE) literature, this paper aims to elucidate how the collective action of market shaping occurs through the interplay between market shapers’ institutional work and engagement of other market actors. While markets are shaped by actors’ purposive actions and recent literature notes the need to also mobilize AE, the underlying process remains nebulous.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is conceptual but supported by an illustrative case study: the Winding Tree. This blockchain-based, decentralized travel marketplace shapes a market by decoupling existing resource linkages, creating new ones and stabilizing others through a dynamic, iterative process between the market shaper’s institutional work and others’ AE.FindingsThe paper develops a dynamic, iterative framework of market shaping through increased resource density, revealing the interplay between seven types of market shapers’ institutional work distilled from the literature and changes in other market actors’ engagement dispositions, behaviors and the diffusion of AE through the market.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the emergent market shaping and market innovation literature by illustrating how the engagement of market actors is a fundamental means of market shaping. Specifically, it advances understanding of how market shapers’ institutional work leads to new resource linkages and higher resource density in emergent market systems through AE. The resultant framework offers an original, critical foundation for future market shaping research.

Analysis of Factors that Tourists Attach Importance to Rural Tourism Image——Taking Rural Tourism in Ningde Region as Example

Rural tourism was formed with traditional characteristics of the countryside industry naturally. It combined with human ecology, production, and ecological environment. In order to prepare the image of the future shape of rural tourism strategy in Ningde regions. This study classified visitors' importance of image of rural tourism into 6 categories: "leisure recreation", "improving knowledge", "service facilities", "modern function", "childhood in the countryside", and "rich theme activities" by using factor analysis and structured questionnaires to a random sample survey for the visitors over 15 years old. The major result was summarized as follows: the research shows that there are significant differences in tourists' views on the importance of rural tourism image at all levels, and the most importance image of visitors to rural tourism was "service facilities".

After the post-public sphere

The idea of a public sphere has long been central to discussion of political communication. Its present condition is the topic of this essay. Debate about the public sphere has been shaped by the boundary-policing of competing political systems and ideologies. Current discussion reflects the accelerating transition from the mass media era to the ramifying entrenchment of the Internet age. It has also been influenced by the vogue for analysing populism. The present transitional phase, whose outcome remains unclear, is best described as an unstable ‘post-public sphere’. This instability is not unusual as, over time, conceptions of the public sphere’s underpinnings and scope have continually shifted. Latterly, states’ responses to the development of the Internet have given rise to a new shift of focus, a ‘regulatory turn’. This is likely to influence the future shape of the public sphere.

Fatigue life characterization and modeling of a Ni–Ti snake-like element for mini actuation

The interest in the design of shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators is recently broadened thanks to their high power density and versatility. In particular, snake-like Ni–Ti actuators demonstrated high potential at the mini- and micro-scales as SMA non-conventional active elements, due to their capacity to provide significant displacements in a very limited space and over a high number of thermo-mechanical cycles. In this study, the fatigue behavior of a snake-like Ni–Ti element has been investigated to identify the Wöhler F-N curve. Moreover, a validated digital twin of the device was prepared and used to evaluate the stress distribution throughout the fatigue tests, to convert the experimental data into a Wöhler stress-life curve. The numerical description of shape memory behavior was performed through the Petrini–Bertini constitutive model, which also allowed a better insight for future shape and functional optimization of the device.

DENTISTRY IN THE POST QUARANTINED ECONOMY – THE COVID-19 EFFECT

Dentistry is looking at very tough times ahead owing to the ongoing global pandemic of Covid-19. Owing to the proximity with oral cavity (one of the main hub of infection) for dental work, dentistry for sure is going to be the most affected profession and probably the last to get back on track. While the future shape is yet uncertain, the article attempts to summarize the plight of dentists and a brief roadmap of times ahead.

Engineering self and civil society: the promise of charity in Turkey

ABSTRACT In this article, I will show that charitable giving, along with charitable associations’ institutional practices, fashion moral, productive, and religious citizens through both intent and practice of giving. Thereby the individual donors and associations not only legitimize their aim of social transformation with reference to religious norms of giving, but at the same time also introduce new, professionalized (rationalized) forms to further develop, track, institutionalize and regulate these norms. If we define religious engineering as ‘active and conscious ways of working on the future shape of a given society’(cf. Spies and Schrode, Introduction), this article argues that the work of charitable associations and the processes of charitable giving in Turkey are practices of ‘religious engineering’ and should be analysed as such. I do this analysis through a direct focus on activities, ideas, and implementations of charitable associations and individuals.

Religious engineering: exploring projects of transformation from a relational perspective

ABSTRACT This introduction presents the concept of religious engineering, offering a new perspective on a field of research which deals with the interrelations of religion and international development. The concept, we propose, allows for an analysis of a wide array of projects of transformation without presupposing religion, secularity and development as different given spheres or concepts. Following criticisms of the instrumental use of a sui generis concept of religion and a narrow definition of development, we suggest a focus on the relational, on-going constitution of development and religion through transformative practices of religious engineering. This refers to ways of working on the future shape of a society, group or individual, where the ‘engineers’ allude to what they understand as religious traditions and practices. At the same time, the concept accesses purposeful transformations of religious traditions and self-understandings that are spurred on by such projects of societal and/or individual improvement.

Through thick and thin: Russia, China and the future of Eurasian International Society

Recent years have seen Moscow and Beijing driven closer together as their respective relations with Washington have deteriorated. While a normative convergence between Russia and China appears to be underway, there remains a legacy of historical mistrust in addition to potential irritants that could plague their bilateral relationship. Nonetheless, if Western sanctions against Russia and pressure on China continue unabated, they may have little option but to continue their rapprochement. Against this backdrop, this article will explore whether the two countries currently display a ‘thin’ or ‘thick’ bilateral relationship, making use of an English School theoretical framework. It will do so by exploring established English School concepts such as pluralism and solidarism and discussing notable literature within the School on contestation in order to derive conclusions regarding the potential future shape of international order in Eurasia.

Phase stability of TiPd1-xRux and Ti1-xPdRux shape memory alloys

TiPd alloys have been suggested for commercial applications due to their high strength and good corrosion resistance. An improvement upon its stability through alloying with Ru requires an understanding of its thermodynamics, which currently is not clear. A cluster expansion based Monte Carlo simulations have been used to investigate the phase stability of TiPd1-xRux and Ti1-xPdRux shape memory alloys. The cross-validation score (CVS) was used to verify the fitting accuracy and was found to be reasonable. The cluster expansion generated 27 new structures on B2 TiPd1-xRux (Pd site) and 17 new structure for B2 Ti1-xPdRux (Ti site). The ground state line predicted no stable structures relative to the predicted enthalpies of formation for TiPd1-xRux alloys. All formation energies of TiPd1-xRux alloys are positive, showing that there is a miscibility gap in the system and thermodynamic instability. The result showed that Ru prefers being substituted on the Ti-site than the Pd-site. Monte-Carlo simulations were employed to determine phase changes and high temperature properties of mixed TiPd1-xRux and Ti1-xPdRux alloys for the entire range of Ru concentrations (0 ≤ x ≤ 1). The phase diagram of TiPd1-xRux and Ti1-xPdRux systems were constructed. These findings can have important implications for future shape memory materials design in aerospace industries for actuators.