Interdependence Research Articles

Conclusion. La gouvernance du Grand Paris au service de sa compétitivité

La compétitivité des territoires est une notion économiquement légitime qui connait un terrain d’application renouvelé dans le cadre du projet du Grand Paris. Des caractères « géographique » et « inclusif » de cette compétitivité sont mis en évidence à partir de l’analyse de l’offre de transport que constitue le Grand Paris Express, mais aussi du rôle de la gouvernance urbaine ; celle-ci est définie à partir de ses déterminants structurels et relationnels selon lesquels elle fait intervenir des acteurs non nécessairement institutionnels et induit un partage flou des responsabilités entre ces acteurs interdépendants et nécessairement respectueux de l’exercice d’une autorité régulatrice. La construction d’un dispositif de gouvernance assurant aux entreprises la liberté d’exprimer pleinement leur responsabilité territoriale pourrait alors permettre de nourrir les deux impératifs de compétitivité « géographique » et « inclusive » recherchés par le projet du Grand Paris.

Introduction. Grand Paris : projet pour une métropole globale

Depuis environ une dizaine d’année le débat sur le développement et l’aménagement de l’Île-de-France s’incarne autour de l’expression « Grand Paris ». Au-delà des controverses politiques et scientifiques sur l’avenir de la région capitale, trois enjeux majeurs, fortement liés, ont émergé. Il s’agit du développement économique et de la place de Paris dans le monde (Section 2), de la justice socio-spatiale et de la qualité de vie (Section 3) et de la gouvernance (Section 4), autant de clefs pour comprendre les projets et les évolutions en cours en région Île-de-France. L’objectif de ce papier, qui introduit le numéro spécial « Grand Paris », est d’alimenter une réflexion scientifique en explorant chacun de ces enjeux, à partir des principaux faits stylisés et du raisonnement sous-jacent des parties prenantes, tout en soulignant l’apport original des différents articles qui composent ce numéro.

ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL MARKETS INTEGRATION OF IRAN WITHIN THE MIDDLE EAST AND WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD

It is universally argued that Iran’s financial mark ets are effectively isolated from the rest of the w orld. However, in the last three years, privatization inc reased in Iranian financial markets as well as capitalization, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and equity prices, albeit with suspicion of reaching t he bubble level. Questions are raised whether Iran is still isolated from the rest of the world. To see w hether argument in relation to isolation of Iranian financ ial markets is true and to better understand Iran’s financial development, we estimate financial interd ependencies of Iran within the Middle East and with the rest of the world based on the important r ecycling of petrodollars . For this analysis monthly financial data from equity, money and foreign excha nge markets are applied over 12 years . Integration of each of these markets are analysed in turn for I ran within the region and with the rest of the worl d. Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) cointegration method is conducted to analyse the interdependencies among the financial markets after the application of unit root test in presence of structural breaks. We found that Iran has fairly in dependent and isolated foreign exchange market. However, its equity and money markets are integrate d within the Middle East and with the rest of the world. Iran is neither completely segregated nor fu lly integrated with the rest of the world; it is st ill controversial whether Iran should be considered as a good choice for international portfolio diversification based on its segregated nature.

SEVALERPS a New EX-ANTE Multi-Criteria Method for ERP Selection

Selecting the right ERP system is one of the most risky, tedious and complex decision making activity for any organization. This paper develops a new multi-criteria method for ERP systems evaluation and selection, which addresses some of the most important shortcomings relating to the methods found in the literature. The proposed method serves mainly twofold objectives; firstly it introduces a new systematic evaluation process that considers ERP tailoring and mismatch handling as the corner stone of the evaluation activity. Secondly, it presents a semi-structured evaluation model that helps the selection team to voice out its preferences. The evaluation model relies on many mathematical techniques to handle the various aspects of the evaluation: 0-1 linear programming systems to define the anticipated functional coverage of ERP candidates, MACBETH cardinal scales to represent, in an interactive way, the selection team’s preferences, and the Choquet integral to address interdependencies among evaluation criteria.

Organization and Effectiveness of the Multiple-Product Salesforce

AbstractAn effective salesforce organization is one which permits sales representatives to provide appropriate selling services. Two types of services which are related to selling effectiveness are the quality of selling skill and the quantity of selling effort provided by sales representatives. The results of the analysis of data obtained from a multidivisional firm are consistent with the hypothesized relationship between selling effectiveness and these services. Management can design an effective salesforce organization by specifying the right amount and type of specialization of selling roles. The experiences of some prominent firms are examined for insights into the market conditions for which various selling roles are appropriate. One determinant is the type of selling expertise which is required—whether expertise in products or in prospects' needs. Another determinant is the existence of interdependencies between products or between prospects' needs. A prescriptive typology based on these determina...

WHOSE GOOD? WHICH COMMUNITY? THE INDIVIDUAL, THE WHOLE, AND THE COMMON GOOD

The question of how and in what way the good of an individual being and the common good of a whole are interrelated and interdependent seems to be a perennial one. Is the good of the individual ach...

The Impacts of User Evaluationsof the Task-Technology Fit to Employees’ Performance: A Case Study at The Information System of the Directorate General of Taxation (SIDJP), Pratama Taxpayers’ Office in the Regional Office Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta

A key concern in Information System (IS) research has been to better understand the linkage between information systems and individuals’ performance. The presence of technology in an organization will help the organization provide accurate and relevant information to support individuals in making decisions. The level of technology utilization and task-technology compatibility determine the effective impact of the technology on individuals’ performances. This study reexamines a part of the Technology-to-Performance Chain (TPC) model by incorporating individual characteristics but it does not include the construct of utilization. When utilization is mandatory, it does not need to be considered. Unlike previous studies, the model is tested using a Structural Equation Model (SEM) to provide evidence on the effectiveness of the TPC model. Data used in this study were collected from individual information technology usersof the Sistem Informasi Direktorat Jenderal Pajak (SIDJP) in theregional office Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta, Directorate General of Taxes. Data were collected using 322 questionnaires through a contact person. Of those, 252 questionnaires were fit to be used (response rate 78.26%). Data analysis was conducted using multivariate structural equation modeling by AMOS 7. The result shows that the individual characteristics of the users are associated with the task-technology fit. The TPC model test indicates that the model is robust with a goodness-of-fit index over 0.90. This research highlights the importance of the fit between technologies, users’ tasks and users’ characteristics in achieving individual performance impacts from information technologies. The conclusion suggests that the needs and abilities of individual users be taken into consideration whenever an information system is implemented. Another conclusion is to take the managerial level (echelon IV and above) as a respondent to better measure the task characteristics which are defined by non-routine tasks and interdependence tasks.

Recomendações metodológicas para a adoção da perspectiva da estruturação nos estudos organizacionais

O presente ensaio teórico discute o emprego da teoria da estruturação de Giddens em estudos na área de organizações. Sob esse foco, trata das implicações metodológicas que podem tornar mais coerentes as pesquisas baseadas nas premissas e hipóteses da teoria da estruturação nos Estudos Organizacionais. Quatro pressupostos foram inicialmente tratados: a realidade social como construção intersubjetiva, o princípio da dualidade da estrutura, a dupla hermenêutica na pesquisa social e o posicionamento estrutural como elemento relevante na análise da agência. Depois, foram apresentadas recomendações metodológicas tomando como ponto de apoio três aspectos fundamentais: a definição do nível de análise, o estabelecimento da janela temporal e o delineamento de procedimentos metodológicos, considerando dois níveis interdependentes do processo de investigação. O primeiro nível considera a elucidação hermenêutica de significados e de formas de consciência prática, enquanto o segundo trata da definição dos limites da agência e de fronteiras espaciotemporais. Tomados conjuntamente, são traçadas considerações finais em favor de projetos de pesquisa de longo prazo à luz do estruturacionismo giddensiano.

Students first language writing skills and their English language proficiency as predictors of their English language writing performance

This study endeavored to find out whether or not grade 11 students’ L1 (Amharic, in this case) writing and their L2 (English) proficiency could significantly predict their L2 writing. It also investigated whether or not the students’ L2 reading, grammar and vocabulary knowledge could significantly determine their L2 writing. To this end, students’ first semester final English examination, and teacher-made writing (both in L1 and L2), English reading, grammar and vocabulary tests were given. Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient and multiple regressions were used for analyses. The results indicated that all the predicting (independent) variables significantly correlated with the dependent variable (L2 writing); however, only students’ L1 writing, first semester overall English and reading test scores were significant predictors of their L2 writing. Finally, it was recommended that special attention be paid for the students’ grammar and vocabulary teaching approach so that they will be able to apply them in their L2 writing. Key words: Linguistic interdependence, threshold level, transfer, prediction

Porters, Catapults, Community, and Justice: St. Augustine on Wealth, Poverty, and Property

Contrary to widespread views that Augustine had little to say about questions of wealth and poverty, this essay shows that Augustine envisioned interdependent Christian communities where the poor achieved full participation. He preached that wealth is morally dangerous, enabling vice and weakening dependence on God. While he believed that poverty is morally protective, he supported the poor in advocating for their own well-being with the wealthy. He depicted the poor as “porters to heaven” with the unique power to help the wealthy earn favor with God through almsgiving, and even argued for distributive justice, saying that the excess of the rich is the rightful property of the poor. Augustine’s primary concern around issues of wealth was for the moral development of the individual, a valuable perspective for today’s renewed attention to virtue; but as this essay shows, his thought is also useful to those who focus on social change. This essay makes Augustine’s thought on wealth and poverty accessible to ministers seeking guidance from one of the pillars of Christian tradition on one of the most morally urgent issues of our time.

Combining DEMATEL with ANP to modify multidimensional scaling in identifying the similarities of e-shopping stores

While many studies have discussed the purchase behavior for e-shopping stores, there is little study focusing on mechanism which consumers accurately and reasonably identify the similarities of e-shopping stores. Therefore, we introduce the approach which combines DEMATEL with ANP to modify multidimensional scaling to address this concern. In traditional MDS, the average summation is combined with the proximity matrices of the objects for each criterion (perceived price of stores), which may neglect the interdependence and feedback relationships between the criteria. The weights and relationships of different criteria are treated as equal and independent to obtain similarities that are often counterintuitive because the human mind has a much more complex judgment system that is able to account for different weighting. To address these problems, we propose an approach that combines DEMATEL with ANP. An empirical study is used to compare our approach with traditional MDS. Key words: Multidimensional scaling (MDS), Analytic network process (ANP), Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL), multiple criteria decision making (MCDM), Purchase intention, online shopping.

La question du régime de change en Asie de l'Est : Vers un bloc monétaire régional ?

Depuis la crise financiere de 1997-1998, les pays d’Asie de l’Est ont developpe un grand nombre d’initiatives en matiere de cooperations monetaire et financiere. La crise mondiale qui debute en 2007 a encore accelere ce processus de cooperation. La multilateralisation de l’initiative Chiang Mai en mai 2010 devient l’element cle en instituant un Fonds monetaire asiatique. Ce renforcement de l’integration institutionnelle, couple a un accroissement de l’interdependance economique, relance le debat sur la creation eventuelle d’un bloc monetaire de facto dans la region. L’objectif de ce papier est d’approfondir cette hypothese, a l’aide de donnees de panel non stationnaires. Pour cela, les outils de la convergence sont ici transposes aux taux de change et nous testons, apres l’avoir defini, l’hypothese d’un bloc monetaire a l’aide des trois generations de tests de racine unitaire en panel. Les resultats obtenus revelent, d’une part, le decrochage de ces monnaies vis-a-vis du dollar et, d’autre part, l’emergence d’une convergence vers des cibles « regionales ».

INTERTIDAL ZONATION AND KEY-SPECIES ASSOCIATIONS OF THE FLAT ROCKY SHORES OF SINAI, USED FOR SCALING ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES AFFECTING CERITHIID GASTROPODS

ABSTRACT Horizontal and near-horizontal rocky platforms at about mean sea level dominate a significant portion of the Sinai Red Sea rocky coasts. Four key-environmental variables govern the distribution of cerithiid gastropods (probably many other species as well) on the platforms' surfaces: wave exposure, fluctuations in moisture, temperature and salinity and presence of sediment and its depth and sediment movement. These variables are interdependent and difficult to assess directly, but, being associated with other easily observable environmental features, they can be indirectly determined. In spite of differences in species richness and diversity and the degree of patchiness between the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Elat, the universal scheme of intertidal zonation could be commonly applied to both gulfs. Within this scheme, key-species associations were consistently associated each with a specific segment of the gradients formed by the four environmental variables. As a result, a system for scaling the...

A Genetic Algorithm Based Intuitionistic Fuzzification Technique for Attribute Selection

This paper initiates perceptions and algorithms of feature selection, survey of existing feature selection algorithms and assesses diverse algorithms with a classifying frame based on search approaches, valuation criteria, and provides strategy in selecting feature selection algorithms. A unifying platform is projected to continue our efforts headed for building an incorporated system for intelligent feature selection. Feature selection intends to reduce the dimensionality of patterns for classification by choosing the most informative instead of irrelevant and/or redundant features. In this proposed work Intuitionistic fuzzy based feature clustering is proposed for grouping features based on the degree of membership and degree of indeterminacy among the attributes and clusters. In this proposed work a novel approach which uses an Intuitionistic fuzzy version of k-means has been introduced for grouping interdependent features. Genetic algorithm reinstating which is the variation of traditional genetic algorithm is then applied to appraise whether the measured feature is independent of class labels; hence, it leads to eliminate unrelated clusters to classification process and progress the selection of features. The proposed method achieves improvement on classification accuracy and perhaps to select less number of features which show the way to simplification of learning task to a big extent. The Experiment results have been demonstrated by the good performance and also find good enough subset features of this method on using UCI benchmark datasets that are for data mining methods such as Breast Cancer, Sensor and Iris Records.

Permeable Borders: Lay Christians in a Changing World

Christian laity have the capacity and the opportunity to lead in the movement toward Church unity as it may appropriately be defined in the twenty-first century. The foundations for rethinking the character and role of the lay Christian must be built from fresh thinking about the nature of the changing world where the whole Church of Jesus Christ lives and works. We start by placing our thoughts about the character and role of the laity in the context of the wider world and broad human experience. We begin with this world perspective because this is the setting in which the unity of the baptized must ultimately be realized and with which smaller communities of believers must find harmony. “Go, ye, into all the world. . . .” Then we proceed to examine today’s political communities and Christian churches where Christians first form the relationships through which they work in national and international settings. New insights emerge in each of these three arenas. These three will outline our consideration of “the lay Christian in a changing world” below. • First, profound changes in how states, governments, and peoples interact in our increasingly interdependent post-Cold War world challenge traditional thinking about the capacity of states and governing authorities acting outside partnership with their own citizens to envisage new relationships.

Decision support model for employee selection: A strategic human resource management (HRM) perspective

Human resource has been regarded as an important factor for an organization to gain competitive advantages. Employee selection is an essential decision especially to intellectual property technology service industry, since “human” is the theoretical basis of establishing the important assets for an organization. The decision makers should select the specialists who best match the needs of the organizational strategy by contemporaneously considering multiple and interdependent evaluation criteria. Thus far, literatures detailing employee selection problems assumed that the criteria for evaluating specialists are independent and ignore the strategic viewpoint. Since the process for employee selection is so complicated, an effective tool, especially for dealing with interdependence among criteria, is needed. Based on the viewpoint of strategic human resource management and resource-based theory, the study aimed to develop a systematic decision support model that combines an Analytic network process (ANP) with an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) for employee selection decisions. To implement the model, an empirical study for the intellectual property technology service industry in Taiwan was conducted. Moreover, an empirical example of specialist selection for company G demonstrated the computational process and effectiveness of the proposed model. The results calculated by the decision support model were confirmed to be a useful point of reference for decision makers during practical implementation. Key words: Analytic network process (ANP), analytic hierarchy process (AHP), employee selection, human resource management (HRM), resource-based theory.

Régulation monétaire et financière et viabilité des économies de marché

Les modèles d’évaluation interne décentralisée (autorégulation), qui se substituent aux mécanismes de régulation publique, ne sont pas en mesure d’avoir une vision macroéconomique à long terme ni de prendre en compte les interdépendances entre les acteurs privés et les marchés. Dès lors, ils se révèlent incapables de faire face à des situations de crise systémique. De surcroît, les schémas de supervision libérale réduisent le champ d’action des Autorités monétaires et limitent la portée systémique de leur intervention en cas de crise d’envergure. Par conséquent, l’absence de mécanismes de régulation macroéconomique apparaît comme l’une des raisons de l’apparition et la persistance des crises financières généralisées. Une relecture du schéma Minskien d’instabilité financière et des résultats des modèles de conventions, de financement par LBO et de dissonance cognitive montre que la crise financière actuelle remet en question deux principes du mode de régulation financière du capitalisme moderne : 1) La croyance en la capacité des marchés à corriger les erreurs de jugement des acteurs décentralisés sans une intervention publique structurelle ; 2) L’efficacité d’une autorégulation des marchés par rapport aux schémas de régulation publique. Ces principes se révèlent incapables aujourd’hui d’assurer la continuité des rapports économiques sous leur forme actuelle si bien qu’un débat de fond sur de nouveaux mécanismes de régulation macro-prudentielle, visant à renforcer la viabilité des systèmes monétaires et financiers, paraît nécessaire.

INTERCOMMUNICATIONS OF INDEXES OF SPEED AND POWER QUALITIES OF SPORTSMEN SINGLE COMBAT ON THE STAGE OF THE SPECIALIZED BASE PREPARATION

The purpose of work is a study of interdependence between indexes specially-preparatory and general preparatory exercises of sportsmen (boxing, sporting hand-to-hand fight hopak, fencing). 42 sportsmen took part in researches. Statistical reliable intercommunications are set: a) indexes of force of shots by hands with the indexes of rate of single movement; b) indexes of force of shots by feet with indexes from maximal force of muscles (tractive forces); c) indexes of speed of shots by hands (pricking) with the indexes of distance of shove of balls by mass 300 gramme; d) indexes of speed of movement a step in a battle bar with indexes: speeds of shots by hands (pricking); e) indexes of frequency of shots of boxers and sportsmen hand-to-hand fight hopak with the indexes of frequency of movement (manoeuvring) on feet. Facilities which it is expedient to apply in the training process of single combats on this stage of long-term preparation are certain.

ERNST-ULRICH PETERSMANN, INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC LAW IN THE 21ST CENTURY: CONSTITUTIONAL PLURALISM AND MULTILEVEL GOVERNANCE OF INTERDEPENDENT PUBLIC GOODS, OXFORD ET PORTLAND, HART PUBLISHING, 2012

Dans sa plus recente contribution, le professeur emerite de la European University Institute Ernst-Ulrich Petersmann 1 remet en cause les preceptes bien etablis du droit international economique. Tel que son titre l’indique – International Economic Law in the 21st Century – l’auteur jette les bases d’un changement de paradigme du droit international economique, lequel changement consisterait en la seule reponse possible aux problematiques du nouveau siecle. La these proposee repond a la question fondamentale de la mise en œuvre coherente de l’ensemble des obligations internationales contractees par les Etats. Petersmann soutient que les libertes individuelles ainsi que les droits et obligations prevus par le droit international doivent etre interpretes comme des limites au pouvoir etatique et ceux-ci doivent dorenavant etre directement invoques et reconnus par les instances judiciaires nationales. Ainsi, le citoyen aurait la possibilite de faire respecter l’ensemble des obligations internationales, par exemple celles relatives au droit du commerce ou aux droits humains, par son propre gouvernement a travers ses institutions judiciaires nationales 2 . Cette these est developpee en huit chapitres qui forment autant d’essais autonomes sur des questions phares de la gouvernance mondiale et du droit. L’introduction qui precede ces chapitres resume les principales evolutions theoriques de l’interaction du droit interne et du droit international et rappelle les enjeux de la recente crise financiere mondiale, y incluant la crise des dettes souveraines. Les huit essais abordent tour a tour la protection des biens publics interdependants (chapitre 1); l’emergence du droit international economique cosmopolitique dans le respect du pluralisme constitutionnel (chapitre 2); l’imposition des restrictions sur les pouvoirs public et prive pour assurer le passage vers la constitutionnalisation du droit international economique (chapitre 3); les strategies juridiques et politiques

Reverse engineering: Mining structural system models from system data

Many systems exist without us knowing system models that drive system behaviors. Although having complete, accurate system models is critical to understand system behaviors and to perform system engineering, we often do not have pre-defined system models due to the interconnectivity and interdependencies of many engineered system factors and non-engineered system factors (e.g., natural system factors). Energy consumption and supply systems at multi-tiers (equipment, occupants and other building contents, building, building cluster, and community) are such systems [1,2]. We need adequate, accurate energy system models to predict/project energy demand and to closely align energy production with energy demand for energy use and production efficiency. Yet, we do not have adequate, accurate system models of energy consumption and supply because energy consumption and supply at multi-tiers involve not only engineered system factors (e.g., equipment whose energy consumption is well defined from the engineering design of equipment) but also social/behavioral factors (e.g., occupants and their activities whose energy consumption is not pre-defined) and environmental factors (e.g., climate). The neuronal system in our brain drives our behaviors, but we do not have a clear understanding of how a large number of neurons work together to store, process and select information [3]. A network system of interacting genes regulates functions of biological systems, but we do not have adequate and accurate models of the gene regulatory network system [4,5] which will help us understand diseases and develop cures. Current sensing and information technologies have allowed us to collect massive amounts of data about systems in many fields. With available system data, it is highly desirable to perform reverse engineering which is to mine system data in order to discover white-box, structural system models that explicitly explain system behaviors. A white-box, structural system model presents explicit relations of multiple system variables in a structural form (e.g., a network of variables and their relations). Figure 1 gives an example of whitebox, structural system models capturing causal relations of nine system variables, x1, . . . , x9, where xi represents the presence or absence of system factor i by the value of 1 or 0, respectively. Each directed link in Fig. 1 represents a causal relation. For example, x1 → x5 in Fig. 1 represents that the presence of system factor 1 causes the presence of system factor 5, that is, x1 = 1 causes x5 = 1. Suppose that we do not know the structural system model in Fig. 1 but have 10 instances of data observations with the presence/absence of system factors under 10 system conditions, respectively, as shown in Table 1. For example, data in instance 1 in Table 1 are observed when the system is under the condition of system