Incompatible Goals Research Articles

Conflict during COVID-19 Pandemic in Thailand: Causes and Recommendations for Conflict Resolution

The purpose of this article is to identify causes of conflict during COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand and provide some recommendations for conflict resolution. Thai government’s policy measures originate the root causes of conflict during COVID-19 including interdependence, perceived incompatible goals, perceived scarce resources, interference. To decrease conflict escalation, recommendations for conflict resolution are discussed in three levels: government, organization, and individual. This article can be used as a foundation for research development in this area.

The paradox of policy advocacy: philanthropic foundations, public interest groups, and second-order policy feedback effects

The Tax Reform Act of 1969 introduced formal legal barriers designed to limit the political activities of foundations. How do these constraints affect foundations’ funding decisions and the capacity of public interest organizations that rely on philanthropic support for their advocacy work? We argue that the policy regime governing private foundations’ work has produced two layers of feedback effects that not only shape philanthropic behavior, but also create real obstacles for grantee organizations and their advocacy efforts. We contend that, particularly for recipient organizations who (1) have a primary mission of political advocacy and mobilization and (2) rely heavily on philanthropic support, the policies governing foundation behavior can create incompatible goals between grantors and grantees pursuing policy change. Drawing on records of grant activity, archival material, and elite interviews, we explore this argument using a salient case study: anti-predatory lending reform. Ultimately, we find that policy restrictions on foundation giving may limit the capacity and threaten the success of advocacy organizations engaged in grassroots political work necessary to promote policy change, thus curtailing the potential for the very reforms foundations are eager to pursue.

The Norwegian Bioeconomy Strategy and the Way Forward for Blue Growth

The Arctic Council Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG) recently released a report on the blue bioeconomy in the Arctic. In this paper, we discuss the Norwegian policy to promote the Norwegian blue bioeconomy, analysing the government’s bioeconomy strategy and its strategy for marine residuals. We find that the strategies have several and partly incompatible goals, related to improving the economic, environmental, and social sustainability of the seafood sector. We discuss challenges and (missed) opportunities in the Norwegian government’s strategy for turning the Norwegian economy towards blue growth. Our findings are supported by recent studies that conclude that more efficient and coherent policy actions are needed to ensure the sustainability of the marine bioeconomy.

Value conflict among adolescents in relation to modernization

Different choices and actions are rooted in values which define what an individual considers good or beneficial to his well being. The necessity of making choices cause conflict and it is very natural, it arises when two or more incompatible goals are active at the same time. Modern era is characterized by technological development and economic prosperity on one hand and cut-throat competition and value erosion on the other. This paradoxical situation affects adolescent’s ability to decide between sets of values which in turns may or may not associated with value conflict. The present study is an attempt to investigate the relationship between adolescents’ attitude towards modernization and extent of value conflict among them. This study also reveals the contribution of modernization as a determinant in value conflict in terms of gender and locale. For the present study a sample of 400 adolescents was taken from six government and private colleges situated in urban and rural areas of Ludhiana district. Value conflict scale by Bhardwaj and Comprehensive Modernization Inventory by Ahluwalia and Kalia were used to collect the data. Results revealed that attitude of adolescents was significantly negatively correlated with value conflict among rural and urban girls and boys. On the basis of regression analysis there was a significant positive contribution of different dimensions of modernization on positive value assumption among adolescents. Adolescents with positive attitude towards different aspects of modernization had greater inclination towards positive values.

“The Penalties of Greatness”: The Heiress in Susan Ferrier’s The Inheritance

ABSTRACT This article analyzes Susan Ferrier’s portrayal of her young heroine, Gertrude, in her second novel, The Inheritance (1824). Gertrude is the apparent heiress of an estate valued at £20,000 that she inherits in the second half of the novel. Ferrier’s choice of heroine is a fascinating one, given that her novel was published decades before the 1882 Married Women’s Property Act, a watershed moment that significantly contributed to the legitimization of female ownership of property. The emancipatory potential in Ferrier’s attribution of such wealth and power to her female heroine is, however, counteracted by the ending of the novel, in which Gertrude loses her material possessions after it is revealed that she is not the lawful inheritor of the estate. Ferrier’s decision to assign that power to her heroine only to take it away from her is, I argue, revealing of the two incompatible goals that she sets for herself with this novel. While on one hand she seeks to legitimize female ownership of property with her choice of heroine, she also uses that character to convey the religious idea that a life led in the pursuit of materialism and worldly pleasures is a frivolous and corruptive one.

Friendly Combat Over Moral Combat: A Reply to My Critics

En esta pieza respondo a los críticos que sostienen que el combate moral no sólo es posible, sino ubicuo. En opinión de algunos, la moralidad está relacionada con los roles, y por lo tanto el paquete único de razones para la acción que posee alguien dentro de un rol determinado puede dictar un curso de conducta que frustre las acciones requeridas de otros que no comparten ese rol. Otros críticos defienden, en cambio, el relativismo moral meta ético, del que se deduce que dos personas que provienen de culturas distintas pueden tener razón (en relación con sus “formas de vida” separadas) al frustrar las acciones del otro. Una tercera línea de ataque es la de los críticos que creen que ciertos valores morales de primer orden son inconmensurables, y que, por lo tanto, sostienen que dos personas pueden ser inocentes al perseguir objetivos inconmensurables, pero mutuamente incompatibles a expensas del otro. Como sostengo, estas tres estrategias no logran reivindicar la afirmación de que nuestra mejor teoría de la moralidad tolera los encuentros de gladiadores en los que el éxito moral de una persona requiere el fracaso moral de otra.

EFFECT OF WOMEN’S PEACE BUILDING ACTIVITIES AND MITIGATION OF ELECTORAL CONFLICTS IN NAIROBI COUNTY, KENYA

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of women’s peace building activities and mitigation of electoral conflicts in Nairobi County, Kenya. 
 Methodology: The study used descriptive research design. The study focused on the individual women who were involved in peace building activities. Data was gathered through questionnaires, interviews, and FGDs. In total, the researcher conducted 17 FGDs, consisting of 8-12 people. A total of 386 respondents filled the semi structured questionnaire. Simple random sampling was used to select the respondents to fill the questionnaire. Purposive sampling was used to select the members to participate in the FGDs. IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (version 22) was used to analyze quantitative data. Percentages, frequencies, figures, bar charts, pie charts and tables were used to present results. Qualitative data was analyzed using coding and thematic analysis. Results were presented in form of themes and verbatim.
 Results: Conflicts mainly take part where there is mismatch in the goals to be achieved, conversely, the mismatched goals are realized and hence introducing conflict, which is equivalent to actors in pursuit of incompatible goals. Women play a crucial role in addressing electoral conflicts. From the findings, the peacebuilding activities that women in Nairobi County have participated in since 1992 are: having dialogues, providing advice, compassionate role, warning people of imminent violence, public sensitization and civic education, peace talks, stopping rumor spreading, and offering psychosocial support.
 Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: the government should educate women on rights and capacity of mind to bring positive change have an impact on the resultant influence in the community transformation. Women and youths should be encouraged, trained and empowered through attending peace seminars. Civil society needs to be fully involved and information on resolutions widely disseminated in effort to educate the society at large.

Luxury marketing in social media: the role of social distance in a craftsmanship video

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the effect of craftsmanship content and social distance embedded in the craftsmanship content on luxury brand experiences, perceived luxury and brand purchase intentions using a social media video.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a single factor (close social distance vs great social distance vs control group) using a between-subjects experimental design. The social distance was manipulated by the presence (i.e. a close social distance) or absence (i.e. a great social distance) of a consumer scene in a craftsmanship video shown on social media. The control group watched a video with non-craftsmanship content. Then, brand experience, perceived luxury and purchase intentions were measured.FindingsThe results showed that the control group perceived less luxury and had lower brand experiences and purchase intentions than the group that watched the video without a consumer scene. In addition, participants who watched the craftsmanship video that included a consumer scene (i.e. a close social distance) had stronger brand experiences than those who watched the video without the scene (i.e. a great social distance). The brand experience increased perceived luxury and purchase intentions.Originality/valueBy manipulating social distance and providing better brand experiences in social media, experiential marketing allows luxury brands to reconcile two apparently incompatible goals: maintaining an exclusive image while increasing purchase intentions.

The challenges of commissioning home care for older people in England: commissioners’ perspectives

AbstractHome care for older people in England is commissioned through local authorities working predominantly with independent providers of care. Commissioners operate in a market model, planning and procuring home care services for local populations. Their role involves ‘managing’ and ‘shaping’ the market to ensure an adequate supply of care providers. Another imperative, emerging from the principles of personalisation, is the drive to achieve user outcomes rather than ‘time and task’ objectives. Little formal research has investigated the way commissioners reconcile these different requirements and organise commissioning. This study investigated commissioning approaches using qualitative telephone interviews with ten commissioners from different local authorities in England. The characteristics of commissioning were analysed thematically. Findings indicated (a) commissioning involved complex systems and processes, uniquely shaped for the local context, but frequently changed, suggesting a constant need for reframing commissioning arrangements; (b) partnerships with providers were mainly transactional, with occasional examples of collaborative models, that were considered to facilitate flexible services more appropriate for commissioning for personalised outcomes; and (c) only a small number of commissioners had attempted to reconcile the competing and incompatible goals of tightly prescribed contracting and working collaboratively with providers. A better understanding of flexible contracting arrangements and the hallmarks of a trusting collaboration is required to move beyond the procedural elements of contracting and commissioning.

The development of a parent–child activity based on the principles of perceptual control theory

AbstractProblems most frequently reported by young people in school counselling relate to family difficulties. During adolescence, conflict between parents and young people increases as young people move towards independence whilst still being reliant on parents. The quality of communication during this period has implications for young people’s well-being. The current study explored how the principles of perceptual control theory (PCT) could be used to develop a structured activity aimed at helping young people to talk to their parents about their goals and goal conflicts.PCT proposes that individuals function well when they are able to control things that are important to them. Every individual has numerous goals/wants and if two or more are incompatible, conflict arises. The current study focused on supporting young people to explore conflict that might arise due to incompatible goals held by them and their parent. Six families (child and parent/carer) were recruited to try a goal-setting and monitoring activity. The activity was facilitated by a Method of Levels researcher over a 10-week period. There were two follow-up appointments at 2 and 4 months. Two families were retained for the entire study. On completion, four families provided qualitative feedback. On the basis of participants’ feedback, the activity was modified to incorporate discussions on incompatible goals. Two families piloted the modified activity and provided feedback. Both families completed the study. Results suggest that a parent–child activity using the principles of PCT is feasible and acceptable among parents and young people.Key learning aims(1)To understand how the principles of PCT can be used to support young people in communicating with their parents.(2)To understand how talking about important goals/wants impacts young people and their parents.(3)To understand how the principles of PCT can be used to resolve parent–child conflict.

Salvaging the EU: Two-Speed or Dual-Track Reform?

In the most recent decade, the European Union has shown itself to be less robust than globalists imagined. Globalists believed that supranationality was weatherproof – that it would always outperform national alternatives and would survive adversity. Economic stagnation and Brexit belied these expectations. This essay investigates one aspect of the EU’s supranational plight: incompatible goals and the difficulty of mutual accommodation, especially during hard times. EU supranationalists contend that the shared dreams assure harmonious results, but experience reveals that supranational government is shakier than advocates claim because shared ideals and benefits have not been enough for members to put aside conflicting national interests. These rivalries do not doom the European Union’s globalizing project, but they do expose the vulnerabilities of its premises. Supranational union is proving to be unsatisfactory to both many centralizers demanding “more Europe” and decentralizers insisting on “less Europe”. EU leaders are aware of the problem but are wedded to a one-track, two-speed supranational approach that is destined to fail. A dual-track supranational solution analogous to China’s “one country, two systems” offers a better alternative.

Assessment of Virtual-Voltage-Based Model Predictive Controllers in Six-Phase Drives Under Open-Phase Faults

The inherent fault-tolerant capability of multiphase machines is highly appreciated, but it requires fault detection and localization together with a reconfiguration of the control scheme. When the multiphase machine is regulated using finite-control set model predictive control (MPC) strategies, the reconfiguration involves the use of different transformation matrices, cost functions, and current references for each of the multiple open-phase fault (OPF) scenarios. Aiming to simplify this procedure and add further robustness, this paper explores the possibility to achieve a natural fault-tolerant capability by maintaining the prefault control strategy after the fault occurrence. For this purpose, this paper first analyzes the two main reasons why MPC-regulated multiphase drives misbehave in the event of an OPF: the voltage vector shifting and the search for incompatible goals. In the next step, a version of the MPC that includes virtual-voltage vectors (VVs) is tested for the first time in postfault situation and it is compared to conventional MPC technique. Extensive experimental results reveal that, while MPC misbehaves in the event of an OPF, the VV-MPC provides a satisfactory ripple-free postfault performance. This finding has two significant implications for industrial applications: the postfault operation is highly simplified and, at the same time, the fault-tolerant multiphase drive becomes immune to fault detection errors and delays.

SOFAR: Large-Scale Association Network Learning.

Many modern big data applications feature large scale in both numbers of responses and predictors. Better statistical efficiency and scientific insights can be enabled by understanding the large-scale response-predictor association network structures via layers of sparse latent factors ranked by importance. Yet sparsity and orthogonality have been two largely incompatible goals. To accommodate both features, in this paper we suggest the method of sparse orthogonal factor regression (SOFAR) via the sparse singular value decomposition with orthogonality constrained optimization to learn the underlying association networks, with broad applications to both unsupervised and supervised learning tasks such as biclustering with sparse singular value decomposition, sparse principal component analysis, sparse factor analysis, and spare vector autoregression analysis. Exploiting the framework of convexity-assisted nonconvex optimization, we derive nonasymptotic error bounds for the suggested procedure characterizing the theoretical advantages. The statistical guarantees are powered by an efficient SOFAR algorithm with convergence property. Both computational and theoretical advantages of our procedure are demonstrated with several simulations and real data examples.

Conficts In Condon’s Movie “Beauty and the Beast 2017”

The title of this paper is Conflicts in Condon’s Movie “Beauty and the Beast 2017”. It is aimed at finding out kinds of conflict faced by the main character and the sources of the main character’s conflict, and analyzing the way the main characters solve the conflict. The data of this study were taken from a movie entitled “Beauty and the Beast 2017”. This study focuses on describing external and internal conflicts. The conflict is analyzed based on the theory of conflict proposed by Kenney who divides conflicts into two types, external and internal conflicts. The description of the presentation of the characters is analyzed based on the theory proposed by Deetz & Stevenson who divides it into two, those are the source of conflict and resolution of conflict. The result of this study shows that the main character faces two conflicts; external and internal conflict. The sources of the main character’s conflict are incompatible goals, and different opinions. In managing the conflict, the main character uses avoidance strategy, competition strategy and pacification.

CТAН ТA ПEPCПEКТИВИ ДЕОКУПАЦІЇ ТА PEIНТEГPAЦIЇ КPИМУ В КOНТEКCТI ПOДOЛAННЯ CУЧACНИХ ВИКЛИКIВ

CТAН ТA ПEPCПEКТИВИ ДЕОКУПАЦІЇ ТА PEIНТEГPAЦIЇ КPИМУ В КOНТEКCТI ПOДOЛAННЯ CУЧACНИХ ВИКЛИКIВ

Conflict Analysis in Stromberg’s Movie “Maleficent”

The title of this paper is Conflict Analysis in Stromberg’s Movie “Maleficent”. It is aimed at finding out kinds of conflict faced by the main character and the sources of the main character’s conflict and analyzing the way the main characters solve the conflict. The data of this study were taken from a movie entitled “Maleficent”. This study focuses on describing external and internal conflicts. The conflict is analyzed based on the theory of conflict proposed by Kenney (1966) who divides conflicts into two types, external and internal conflicts. The description of the presentation of the characters is analyzed based on the theory proposed by Deetz & Stevenson (1986) who divides it into two; they are the source of conflict and resolution of conflict. The result of this study shows that the main character faces two conflicts; external and internal conflicts. The sources of the main character are incompatible goals, and different opinions. In managing the conflict, the main character uses avoidance strategy, competition strategy and creative integration.

The strategy of the organisation of Ukrainian nationalists in its quest for a sovereign state, 1939–1950

ABSTRACTThe armed resistance offered by the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) to the Soviet state was the toughest internal political challenge that the Soviet regime faced from World War II to the 1980s. However, OUN’s grand strategy was based on self-delusion and was, therefore, always irrational. It resulted in misinterpretation of the sentiments of Ukrainians and the international situation, collaboration with Nazi Germany despite incompatible goals, counterproductive ethnic violence and sweeping terror against alleged Soviet collaborators. Local civilians rather than the representatives of the Soviet regime were OUN’s primary target; this alienated most residents of Western Ukraine.

Addressing Conflict in the Fifth Century: Rome and the Wider Church

Abstract In seeking to trace the escalation, avoidance or resolution of conflicts, contemporary social conflict theorists look for incompatible goals, differentials in power, access to social resources, the exercise of control, the expression of dissent, and the strategies employed in responding to disagreements. It is argued here that these concepts are just as applicable to the analysis of historical doctrinal conflicts in Late Antiquity as they are to understanding modern conflicts. In the following, I apply social conflict theory to three conflicts involving the late antique papacy to see what new insights it can proffer. The first is Zosimus's involvement in the dispute over the hierarchy of Gallic bishops at the beginning of the fifth century. The second and longest case-study is Leo I's intervention in the Chalcedonian conflict over the natures of Christ. The final brief study is the disputed election of Symmachus at the end of the fifth century.

Conflicts of interest and industry professional relationships in psychiatric neurosurgery: a comparative literature review.

OBJECTIVE The research required to establish that psychiatric treatments are effective often depends on collaboration between academic clinical researchers and industry. Some of the goals of clinical practice and those of commercial developers of psychiatric therapies overlap, such as developing safe and effective treatments. However, there might also be incompatible goals; physicians aim to provide the best care they can to their patients, whereas the medical industry ultimately aims to develop therapies that are commercially successful. In some cases, however, clinical research may be aiming both at improved patient care and commercial success. It is in these cases that a conflict of interest (COI) arises. The goal of this study was to identify differences and commonalities regarding COIs between 2 kinds of somatic psychiatric interventions: pharmacological and neurosurgical. METHODS The authors conducted a study focused on professional concerns regarding pharmacological and neurosurgical psychiatric interventions. They used medical and bioethics journal articles as an indicator of professionals' concerns and carried out a thematic content analysis of peer-reviewed articles published between 1960 and 2015, using PubMed and Google Scholar. RESULTS One hundred thirty-seven relevant articles were identified, of which 86 papers focused primarily on psychopharmacology and 51 on neurosurgery. The intervention most discussed in the psychiatric neurosurgery data set was deep brain stimulation (n = 42). While there were no significant differences at the level of categories, pharmacological and neurosurgical interventions differ in the underlying themes discussed. Two issues widely discussed in the articles on pharmaceutical interventions, but largely neglected in the neurosurgery articles, were medical professional issues and industry involvement. CONCLUSIONS COIs are a neglected issue in the discussion of ethics concerns regarding medical devices in psychiatry. Yet as these interventions become more common, it is important to address them in part through learning from the discussion regarding COIs in the pharmaceutical industry and by developing approaches to address those aspects of COIs that are unique to the medical device industry.

Twenty years of Hong Kong and Macao under Chinese rule: being absorbed under ‘one country, two systems’

This paper examines the implementation of ‘one country, two systems’ (1C2S) in the two former Western colonies, Hong Kong and Macao, as a policy innovation in managing inter-governmental relations of a large, diverse country like China. 1C2S embodies internal tensions because the Hong Kong and Chinese governments have multiple and often incompatible goals. After 20 years, these two special administrative regions (SARs) of China are gradually being absorbed.