Logic Of Action Research Articles

Interdisciplinary participation in climate-adapted urban land-use planning – findings of two gaming simulations in the city of Bottrop, Germany

Purpose Sustainable and climate-adapted urban development requires integrative governance approaches and forms of collaboration between different disciplinary actors in urban society. Integrative approaches are a particular challenge for those planning cultures in which they are not yet sufficiently established. This also applies to formal urban land-use planning in Germany, which forms the governance setting of this study. This study aims to examine how interdisciplinary participation in formal urban land-use planning contributes to the consideration of climate adaptation in the planning process. Design/methodology/approach This paper traces the process of two differently designed interdisciplinary participation formats based on the methodological framework of a gaming simulation, each in the context of a formal urban land-use planning procedure in Bottrop, Germany. The gaming simulations are designed as performance simulations in which we involved several representatives from different public authorities. Findings The gaming simulations show that interdisciplinary participation can lead to an increased awareness of climate adaptation requirements in particular and a mutual understanding of different logics of action in the context of comprehensive and sustainable urban planning in general. In addition, this paper provides recommendations as to how and under what conditions the benefits of the simulations can be transferred to municipal practice. Originality/value While integrative and interdisciplinary formats are increasingly being used in the context of informal urban planning, this does not apply to formal urban land-use planning. Participation in formal urban land-use planning procedures is classically linear and multidisciplinary in Germany. Using two simulated interdisciplinary participation formats, this paper tested to what extent the consideration of climate adaptation requirements as a cross-sectoral task can benefit from interdisciplinarity in the context of two formal urban land-use planning procedures.

Field diary in the study of a school organization: unveiling behind the scenes

ABSTRACT The study of a school organization, due to its complexity and multidimensionality, should be approached from a qualitative, constructivist-interpretivist perspective, in which the field diary is an important source of data and an analytical and reflective tool. In order to understand the importance of a field diary written during the study of a school organization in understanding its multiple logics of action on stage and behind the scenes, we applied the coding processes of the Grounded Theory. We concluded that such a tool has three fundamental dimensions: descriptive, argumentative and interpretive, in a dynamic that allows us to systematise, question and improve processes that are usually hidden in the deep structure of research.

The Norwegian language policy in higher education: an evaluation of policy design

ABSTRACT This article evaluates the design of the official language policy of the Norwegian government in the field of higher education, which was set out in two white papers in 2008 and 2020. The language policy aims to avoid domain loss of the Norwegian language and thus keep it ‘complete' and able to function as a unifying factor in society. In the two white papers, however, the logic of collective action in language policy is not explicit. We adopt a theoretical approach based on public policy evaluation to reconstruct the language policy's internal logic of action (i.e. its ‘programme theory' or ‘theory of change’). Secondly, we assess the validity of the assumptions underlying the programme theory of the two white papers in light of the criteria of plausibility, feasibility, and testability. The results show that most of the measures included in the 2008 language policy are not supported by a valid programme theory. By contrast, most of the measures in the 2020 language policy are based on a valid theory of change although several weaknesses persist. This article contributes to research on the evaluation of language policies by focusing on a relatively unexplored aspect, i.e., the evaluation of policy design.

A New Framework for Food Catering Price Determination

This article aims to propose a reasonable quantitative (mathematical) expressions for the price calculation of food-manufacturing products. Little research has been conducted on the validity of food product pricing; thus we have identified a need for a thorough, systematic investigation in this area. The suggested three methods are also applicable for developing the artificial intelligence system to solve raw food material (resources) quantity management and other inventory issues in collaboration with the food suppliers. We consider the option of an appropriate pricing strategy in the profit-making catering and other food production firms to be a relevant scientific issue, which we have have addressed and proposed solutions for in this article. By analyzing different scientific assumptions and attitudes, informed quantitative decisions were made. We also developed and described quantitative expressions for determining the price of food products using mathematical formulas. Also, we found that a simple three-digit rule, based on logic and proportional modeling of actions, as the main instrument is the most effective approach for formulating these pricing models. Original and innovative mathematical methods for the price accounting of food production have been created and explained. We have also explained how each of the three suggested methods works, along with their advantages and disadvantages in certain situations. Using these recommended methods of pricing will allow food companies to achieve more appropriate commercial results and to make less expenditure for decisions regarding the pricing of food products. In the article, we explained how to calculate the prices of food and catering companies using simple math. The application of any of the three mentioned techniques regarding existing circumstance will enable food production companies to ensure a straightforward yet accurate determination of the product price that aligns with the current situation.

Race and Populism. A Comparative Study of Thatcherism, Peronism and the American Populists

Abstract This article re-examines the race-populism nexus. It asks: Does populist political construction of the figure of “the people” necessarily involve processes of racial othering? We answer this question by revisiting three emblematic cases of populism. Each historical case illustrates a basic type of identity formation that can have an i) exclusionary, ii) ambivalent or iii) positive impact on racial justice. The first case is Thatcherism, whose “authoritarian populism” feeds on and reinforces anti-Black racial prejudice. The second is Peronism, which has an ambivalent relationship with race that promises to shed important new light on this classic case of populism. The third case is that of the American Populists, whose pioneering experiments in interracial politics remain an enduring illustration of populism’s progressive potential. In each case, we focus on a key document from that political regime/movement: the Conservative Manifesto of 1979, the Peronist Constitution of 1949, and the Omaha Platform of 1892. The article concludes that populism, as a logic of action, acts as a catalyst that intensifies whatever specific content is mobilised – racist and anti-racist content alike.

Методический подход к согласованию стратегических приоритетов государственной региональной политики развития старопромышленных регионов Российской Федерации

The formation of strategic priorities of the state regional policy for the development of old-industrial regions is complicated by the multiplicity of its actors and the need to coordinate spatial and sectoral priorities of regulatory impact. The article presents a methodological approach to coordinating the priorities of spatial and sectoral development of old industrial regions in the format of a scheme reflecting the logic and sequence of actions aimed at achieving strategic goals of regional development in accordance with the strategic national priorities of the Russian Federation. The methodological approach was tested on the example of the Saratov region, one of the old industrial regions of Russia with growth potential within the framework of the industrial development model. The necessity of using two approaches in the coordination process is justified: the first should be used to achieve the strategic priorities of the federal Center in a coordinated manner, on the one hand, and the old industrial regions and enterprises and organizations of the "industrial core", on the other (coordination "vertically"); the second — in order to coordinate the regional priorities of spatial and sectoral development of the old industrial region (horizontal alignment). Proposals are presented for the formation of a list of agreed priorities for the spatial and sectoral development of the Saratov region, the implementation of which will contribute to the transformation of the region into a point of growth of the national economy of Russia.

Analysis of the influence of brake pipe pressure gradient on heavy haul combined train and optimisation of operation strategy

In this paper, based on the theory of gas flow, the action logic of the control valve, and the principle of multi-rigid-body dynamics, a simulation model of the 20,000 t heavy haul combined train is established to investigate the influence of brake pipe pressure gradient on the braking performance, longitudinal dynamics, braking and release characteristics of trains. Utilizing real railway line conditions, locomotive and vehicle parameters, and train operation monitoring equipment (LKJ) record data of Shuozhou-Huanghua Railway, the cyclic braking condition of the train on the long and steep downhill is simulated, and the control strategy of reducing the coupler force during the cyclic braking is proposed. The results indicate that a larger brake pipe pressure gradient before braking leads to weaker braking capability, and higher coupler forces during braking, but smaller coupler forces during release. As the brake pipe pressure gradient before braking increases, braking synchronicity decreases, while release synchronicity slightly improves. By adjusting the locomotive’s electric braking force during the cyclic braking, it is possible to appropriately increase the brake pipe pressure gradient before braking, effectively reducing coupler forces during release and reducing the number of braking cycles, thus lowering the operational difficulty of the train.

The Embedding of Party Building in the Construction of "One-Stop" Student Communities in Universities: Action Logic and Coupling Mechanism

During the process of embedding Party building into the construction of "one-stop" student communities in universities, various actors are influenced by the administrative logic of universities, the logic of community autonomy, and the logic of individual action. This leads to deviations between the ideal design and the actual state, tensions between centralized and decentralized resources, and differences between passive involvement and value recognition. Grassroots Party organizations within student communities can effectively enhance their leadership by embedding themselves spatially, structurally, and cognitively. By innovating collaborative governance mechanisms, expanding element aggregation mechanisms, and forming value cohesion mechanisms, a two-way coupling between Party leadership and community autonomy can be realized, thereby empowering and enhancing the construction of "one-stop" student communities.

Getting Down to Business: Governing the Hybridization of UK Charities

AbstractCharity organizations are important to solving complex social and environmental issues that are beyond the reach of government and commercial organizations. However, these organizations are under increasing pressure for survival due to a sharp decrease in their traditional sources of funding. This study examines how leaders of charity organizations can improve the financial security and impact of their organization by adopting commercial structures into their organization, and therefore undergoing a process of hybridization. We conducted a multiple comparative case study of 18 UK charities comparing how they engaged with emerging social finance funding opportunities that required them to adopt commercial structures which lay outside their dominant logic of action. We identified several aspects that influenced the likelihood of a charity organization to engage with this opportunity and, therefore, strategically hybridize. These included whether a charity executive had sufficient socialization in both the social and commercial logics to view social finance as a strategic opportunity and whether the organization could alter the role expectations of trustees with a commercial background to enable them to actively use both logics rather than compartmentalizing them in their decision‐making. Our findings have important implications for research streams on hybridization and hybrid governance.

Fast vs. slow rhythms: balancing human resource change and corporate strategic development in tourism firms

ABSTRACT Due to the dynamic and complex environment in which tourism firms operate, it can be challenging to align the pace of human resource change with corporate strategic development. In this study, we introduce strategic rhythm theory to explore the antecedents of strategic human resource management from a temporal perspective. We construct an innovative theoretical framework categorising strategic rhythms into market and non-market types to elucidate how these rhythms influence the evolutionary process of strategic human resource management within tourism firms. Based on a longitudinal case study, our findings indicate that aligning strategic development with human resource change is a non-linear, sequential, and dynamic process. Both non-market and market strategic rhythms exhibit an entrainment mechanism, achieving an intermittent fit between strategic development and human resource change through optimisation and complementary functions. Furthermore, this study deconstructs the process by which strategic rhythm drives strategic human resources, summarising three action logics: strategic follow-up, strategic leadership, and strategic lag. It also identifies the states of rhythmic systems into three stages: arrhythmia, polyrhythmic coordination, and eurhythmia. This study extends the scope of strategic human resource management by showing how tourism firms can achieve strategic fit, offering practical value to help them leverage strengths to thrive.

Success story or tall tale? Discursive cooperation and economic restructuring in Iceland

Political economists have long recognized the power of ideas to influence economic adjustment by shaping public policy and fostering inter-firm coordination. This article extends this argument, demonstrating how ideas can have a direct and unmediated impact on economic restructuring. More specifically, it identifies discursive cooperation, or collective storytelling, as a distinct logic of collective action, separate from policy concertation and inter-firm coordination. Examining twenty first century Iceland, this article illustrates how shared narratives accelerated the country’s movement into financial services and tourism by facilitating the diffusion of new business models and attracting external resources. Absent inter-firm coordination, policy concertation, or supportive public policies, however, stakeholders struggled to invest in public goods. Instead of incremental upmarket movement, Iceland was characterized by volatile boom-bust dynamics. In illustrating the transformative power of storytelling in small open economies, this article simultaneously highlights the perils of relying on discursive cooperation alone.

The Dilemma and Countermeasures of Rural Teachers Professional Development in the Smart Era

The emergence of artificial intelligence has caused a great impact on the field of education, and the powerful natural language generation and contextual dialog capabilities have brought various opportunities and challenges to the field of education. As one of the elements in education and teaching, teachers professional development will certainly be affected by the wave of artificial intelligence. Based on the problems in the process of rural teachers professional development in the era of artificial intelligence, the paper sorted out the action logic of artificial intelligence to boost the professional development of rural teachers and explored the strategy of artificial intelligence to boost the professional development of rural teachers.

Development of automatic arc sag measurement equipment for tensioned line tightening construction on overhead transmission lines

Due to the low degree of automation of the existing arc droop measurement device, the tension line digital twin system is not yet able to simulate the change of arc droop in the actual engineering situation in a high degree of real time. To this end, a kind of arc droop automatic measuring equipment applicable to the working condition of tension frame line tightening construction is developed. In terms of hardware, firstly, the STC microcontroller is used to control the motor to achieve free movement of the equipment on the wire. Secondly, the Beidou positioning module is used to collect the spatial coordinates of each point on the wire, thereby obtaining the spatial attitude of the wire and calculating the final sag. Finally, LoRa technology with long transmission distance and low power consumption is selected for wireless transmission of controlled data and collected data. The software system of the device is equipped with the motor's action logic, which cooperates with the hardware to respond to the control commands issued by the terminal. The developed arc droop measurement equipment has been successfully applied in the project, compared with the traditional arc droop observation construction method construction efficiency increased by 28%, the difference between the observation file arc droop and the design arc droop after erection of the line is 1.96%. Digital simulation and remote guidance of arc sag variations by the digital twin system for tension racking lines was realized while ensuring the engineering requirements.

Fault diagnosis of the distribution network based on the D-S evidence theory Bayesian network

Relay protection rejection and misoperation exist in the existing distribution network, which will affect the fault diagnosis results. To diagnose faults in distribution networks, this paper presents a fault diagnosis method for the distribution network based on the D-S evidence theory Bayesian network. First, the collected relay protection information is divided into two categories, protection information and circuit breaker information; the corresponding Bayesian network model is established based on their respective action logic, and the corresponding component failure probability is obtained by Bayesian backward inference. Second, the fault probabilities obtained from the two Bayesian networks are fused by the D-S evidence theory, and the obtained fault probabilities are used to diagnose the faulty component. Then, using the Bayesian network corresponding to the faulty component to perform Bayesian forward inference, the protection devices and circuit breakers are identified for misoperation or rejection to achieve the fault diagnosis of the distribution network. Finally, the correctness and reliability of the proposed diagnosis method are verified through the analysis of arithmetic cases.

A Study on the Governance Model of Village Credit Bank in Rural Governance — Taking Youxiqiao Village as an Example

Rural governance is an important component of the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity, and is a key link in achieving the strategy of rural revitalization. The paper takes Youxiqiao Village as an example and adopts a case analysis method to study the operational mechanism and action logic of the "Villager Credit Bank" governance model in rural governance. Research has shown that the governance model of "Village Credit Bank" has three major characteristics: standardized content, procedural process, and reward and punishment methods. It can play an important role in rural governance, including (1) stimulating the enthusiasm of villagers, (2) strengthening the role of grassroots organizations, (3) promoting the orderly implementation of village projects, and (4) enriching grassroots governance methods, which can provide reference for the governance of other villages.

Histamine in the neocortex: Towards integrating multiscale effectors.

Histamine is a modulatory neurotransmitter, which has received relatively less attention in the central nervous system than other neurotransmitters. The functional role of histamine in the neocortex, the brain region that controls higher-order cognitive functions such as attention, learning and memory, remains largely unknown. This article focuses on the emerging roles and mechanisms of histamine release in the neocortex. We describe gaps in current knowledge and propose the application of interdisciplinary tools to dissect the detailed multiscale functional logic of histaminergic action in the neocortex ranging from sub-cellular, cellular, dendritic and synaptic levels to microcircuits and mesoscale effects.

Base of the chain (BoC) sourcing challenges: The role of institutional voids and social agency problems

Due to various factors, including the institutional context of suppliers, the successful implementation of sustainability initiatives remains a persistent challenge for purchasing and supply management (PSM) professionals. Sourcing from the Base of the Chain (BoC) requires buyers to be cognizant of and assess challenges inherent in engaging with the Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP) institutional context. Designing governance structures that facilitate the simultaneous pursuit of economic and social goals demands a thorough understanding of these challenges and their contextual antecedents. The literature has addressed institutional voids and incompatibilities between buyer-BoC supplier institutional contexts as critical factors informing interventions aimed at overcoming sourcing challenges. Drawing upon social agency theory, our study advances these debates. We argue that the broader institutional and social context serves as the contextual antecedents to principal-agent (P-A) relationships established between buyers and their BoC suppliers. This perspective provides a more enriched explanation for the antecedents of BoC sourcing challenges. We draw on a multiple case study incorporating 31 interviews and archival data of five BoC sourcing programs within the Australian agribusiness sector. Our findings shed light on how BoC institutional voids cause BoC sourcing challenges across supplier and product domains by inducing hidden information, hidden action, and hidden logic as social agency problems. Hidden logic, a new type of social agency problem identified in our study, refers to the agents' socially constructed sets of assumptions, values, beliefs, and traditions that are invisible to the principals. Consequently, we present insights into why governance structures addressing BoC sourcing challenges may vary across institutional contexts, providing practical guidance for buyers in developed economies concerning the subsequent design and execution of effective BoC sourcing strategies.

Improved assembly DC circuit breaker based on resonant current injection.

DC circuit breakers (DCCBs) with high breaking capacity and low cost are necessary for quick fault clearance in DC networks. The assembly DC circuit breakers (ADCCBs) have a main breaking section (MBS) and a sub-breaking sections (SBS) for each line, which greatly reduce the cost. But in conventional operation, it bears high voltage for a long time when there is a main switch grounding process in any line fault action. To address this problem, a multiport assembly circuit breaker based on current injection (CI-MPACB) is proposed, which is able to generate a resonant current with increasing amplitude by controlling the duty cycle of Integrated Gate-Commutated Thyristors (IGCTs). Then the resonant current is injected into the SBS to generate current zero crossing and arc extinction. A complex frequency domain circuit analysis is performed on the MBS to describe the action logic as well as the commutation characteristics. In addition, the parameters of each component of the MBS are subject to multiple constraints and reasonable design to ensure the fault current could be cut off quickly and reliably. The cost of existing design is greatly reduced due to the design idea of resonant current injection device parameter selection. Finally, a PSCAD/EMTDC simulation confirms the opening viability of CI-MPACB and the accuracy of the parameter design. The test results show that the designed CI-MPACB can cut off DC fault lines.

COVID-19 and territorial politics: towards a redefinition of Spanish intergovernmental relations?

ABSTRACT When COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) struck Spain, it caused a multidimensional crisis that sparked countless debates on its health, social and political implications. Drawing on the literature on multilevel crisis management and federalism, this paper focuses on the impact of the pandemic on the Spanish intergovernmental relations between 2020 and 2022. This research demonstrates that several intergovernmental coordination and cooperation mechanisms were activated or reactivated at the political and technical levels. This change improved joint decision-making and strengthened the system’s own capacity to cope with future crises. In particular, this article shows how and to what extent the health crisis broke down the existing logic of discretionary collaboration and increased coherence among regional governments by strengthening the role of central ministries. Three movements have been observed and measured consisting in a growing institutionalisation, coordination and cross-sectoral logic of action. Consequently, we conclude that intergovernmental relations in Spain have been strengthened by the pandemic under the leadership of central ministries. The Spanish intergovernmental system has demonstrated its capacity to adapt to external shocks and its learning ability.

In-Sensor Tactile Fusion and Logic for Accurate Intention Recognition.

Touch control intention recognition is an important direction for the future development of human-machine interactions (HMIs). However, the implementation of parallel-sensing functional modules generally requires a combination of different logical blocks and control circuits, which results in regional redundancy, redundant data, and low efficiency. Here, a location-and-pressure intelligent tactile sensor (LPI tactile sensor) unprecedentedly combined with sensing, computing, and logic is proposed, enabling efficient and ultrahigh-resolution action-intention interaction. The LPI tactile sensor eliminates the need for data transfer among the functional units through the core integration design of the layered structure. It actuates in-sensor perception through feature transmission, fusion, and differentiation, thereby revolutionizing the traditional von Neumann architecture. While greatly simplifying the data dimensionality, the LPI tactile sensor achieves outstanding resolution sensing in both location (<400µm) and pressure (75Pa). Synchronous feature fusion and decoding support the high-fidelity recognition of action and combinatorial logic intentions. Benefiting from location and pressure synergy, the LPI tactile sensor demonstrates robust privacy as an encrypted password device and interaction intelligence through pressure enhancement. It can recognize continuous touch actions in real time, map real intentions to target events, and promote accurate and efficient intention-driven HMIs.