Instrumental Perspective Research Articles

Deconstructing the Poaching Phenomenon

Summary of drivers of the deviance typologies As a consequence of the fundamental division between the normative and instrumental perspectives within the drivers of the deviance approach, little research here provides integrated theories across disciplines. Notably, cost–benefit analyses fail to be situated in a context of norms and values. As precedent for calls for multidimensional models of motivation, Smith ambitiously sought a model of drivers that ‘… integrates economic theory and theories from social psychology, thereby accounting for morality, legitimacy and social influ-ence in addition to the conventional costs and revenues associated with illegal behavior ’ (Smith 1759: 313) and whose absence is felt in discussions of drivers of illegal hunting. Lastly, explanations of illegal hunting drivers were also found to diverge along internal (e.g. utility maximization, CRAVED, neutralization of crime) and external lines (e.g. global markets, socialization within subcultures and values pertaining to industrialized cul-ture at large), with only neutralization theory overcoming this division.Of the drivers of the deviance approaches outlined above, neutralization theory may emerge as the most holistic perspective. Notably, it includes lenses at both the micro level and the macro level. The level of analysis afforded by discussing neutralizations in terms of ‘

Finding and tracing the effects of governance processes in the New Opportunities Initiative: an outline

Based on a Globally Structured Agenda for Education, this article presents the construction of the New Opportunities Initiative in Portugal. Thus, it analyses the relationship between the European Union and the Portuguese State with regard to the construction of this programme, identifying for this purpose the effects of governance processes. Through an analysis of Education and Training 2010 Program and New Opportunities Initiative documents, issued between 2000 and 2010, the strengthening of the discursive rhetoric based on a utilitarian and instrumental perspective of adult education and the incorporation of the principles of new public management in the field of education can be shown. In Portugal, the New Opportunities Initiative not only reflects these trends but also gives rise to a new way of constructing policies in the field of adult education.

Development of Pump-Probe Nanoscopy Architecture

Although modern optical microscopy allows the achievement of sub-diffraction resolution, most of the current techniques rely on a fluorescence contrast mechanism. Moreover, deep tissue imaging remains a challenging task especially for thick and highly scattering biological objects. The infrared absorption/saturation microscopy method is designed to overcome these issues [1, 2], having InfraRed Nanoscopy (IRN) as an instrumental perspective. The main idea behind IRN is an absorption/saturation effect similar to conventional pump-probe in which the first pump beam modifies the carrier density inside the sample, followed by intensity changes in the transmitted probe beam. By introducing an additional doughnut shaped pump beam one can transiently saturate the induced transition in the periphery of the focal spot, and collect the signal generated from the central sub-diffraction area. This is useful mainly for infrared absorption microscopy. The IR range operates in the transparency window of biological tissues and by selecting specific wavelengths one can observe selected vibrational modes. Therefore, such a technique could be applied for the imaging of non-fluorescent species, which is important for various biological applications.In this work we outline the architecture of a saturated transient absorption microscope, directed towards the development of a microscopy platform comprising a pump-probe setup and STED nanoscope [3]. Pump and probe wavelengths can be tuned from the visible (400-500 nm) to the near IR (800-1000 nm) spectral ranges, according to the sample properties. This permits accessing explicit spatial and dynamical information about the sample for applications in cellular biophysics and nanochemistry. We also indicate the possibility of implementing 3D super-resolution capability.Supporting grants: LANIR, FP7/20012-2015, 280804 and PRIN, MIUR 2010JFYFY2_002.1. C. Silien, et al., Opt. Express 20(28), 29694-29704 (2012).2. W. Pu et al., Nat. Photonics 6, 449-453 (2013).3. S. Galiani, et al., Opt. Express 20(7), 7362-7374 (2012).

The role of the capture fisheries and aquaculture sectors in the Korean national economy: An input–output analysis

The aquaculture industry can meet food security needs and reduce the pressure on marine resources. The expansion of aquaculture allows the fisheries industry to restructure from hunting to farming, and thus drives the need for an analysis of the economic impacts of aquaculture industry in consideration of the interdependence between capture fisheries and aquaculture industry. This study attempts to analyze the economic impacts of two fishery sectors using input–output (I–O) analysis, with specific application to Korea. To this end, this study applies the I–O models to the Korean I–O tables generated by the Bank of Korea, paying particular attention to the two fishery sectors in Korea, considering them as exogenous, and then determining their impacts. Specifically, the production-inducing effects, employment-inducing effects, supply shortage effects, sectoral price effects, forward linkage effects, and backward linkage effects of the two fishery sectors are presented over the period 1995–2010. For example, the production-inducing effect of a KRW 1.0 change in fisheries investment is larger in the petroleum and chemical sectors than in other sectors. Moreover, the aquaculture sector has larger employment-inducing effects than the capture fisheries. Finally, the potential uses of the results of this analysis are presented from the perspective of policy instruments, and policy implications are discussed.

Serviço Social: razão ontológica ou instrumental?

O presente ensaio analisa a oposição entre as perspectivas ontológica e instrumental, tendo como referência o campo particular das profissões e o processo de formação profissional dos assistentes sociais. Para tanto, remete a uma importante questão: que tipo de profissional pretende-se formar, intelectuais ou técnico-operativos? Além disso, considerando o atual estágio de acumulação do capital, procura contribuir para o debate contemporâneo acerca da direção social estratégica assumida, a partir dos anos 1990, pelas principais organizações representativas da categoria profissional dos assistentes sociais no Brasil.

Die biopolitische Produktion „lebensunwerter“ Subjekte im Rahmen der „Aktion T4“ – Eine Re-Lektüre von ‚Ich klage an‘

The history of the Nazi “euthanasia programme” named “Aktion T4” has been examined from a biopolitical perspective for some time. However, these studies have not focused on the analytics of biopolitical practices of subjectivization as an essential element of the Foucaultian concept. The use of such a theoretical approach can be used in combination with new and substantial empirical research results. The Heidelberg DFG research programme evaluated the “T4” medical records statistically in order to conclusively determine which features had significant importance for selection by the “T4” experts. The inability to work or having an incurable mental illness were the criteria by which psychiatrists and “T4” experts subjectivized patients as “lives not worth living”. Considering these new results and a biopolitical approach as starting point, it is time to reconsider the Nazi “euthanasia” propaganda movie “Ichklagean” (“I Accuse”, 1941). When scholars began to study the production process of the movie in the 1980s, they looked at the narrative and the movie characters from an instrumental perspective. In other words, they examined how the “T4” protagonists and filmmakers sought to create a film which affected the viewers’ opinion in a specific way intentionally influenced by them. According to that line of thought, the character Hanna was neglected because she was considered to be the morally inoffensive disguise of the intended propaganda massage. However, two works from the 1990s which were gender history-oriented finally focused on Hanna and the way the film narrative turns her into a subject “not worth living”. Based on these considerations, this article states its thesis. The criteria of the film to subjectivize Hanna share many basic characteristics with those of the subjectivization process of the “T4” victims. To prove this statement, the analytics of the movie are combined with the results of the DFG project. Through the combination of both types of sources, the examination of the subjetivization process of the “T4” victims is expanded upon through the incorporation of discursive and imaginative procedures. For this reason, the film is analysed from a narratological and aesthetic perspective. The article starts with a description of the spatial structure of the narrative, which serves to establish an ideal of a “life worth living”. Subsequently, the analysis focuses on the staging of Hanna’s body and her self-description - both mean to show Hanna’s regression from the norm of a “life worth living”. Then, the case of Hanna is contextualized by the “T4” subjects. Due to the fact that incurable illness was a necessary feature of the victims, Hanna’s husband’s search for a cure for multiple sclerosis is also examined. The final part of the article deals with the research controversies regarding the importance of racial hygiene for the “euthanasia programme”. Even in regard to this last question, which is also important in order to understand the subjectivization of the “T4” victims, the film offers interesting answers.

CSR in Marketing: Quo Vadis? Empirical Evidence for Questioning the Dominant Instrumental Approach

The objective of this article is to understand how the discipline of marketing has thus far addressed and incorporated corporate social responsibility (CSR). Our quantitative literature review shows that research questions in literature are stuck in the “how” question frame—that is, how CSR can affect consumer response, which in turn influences the firm’s profitability. In addition, our review confirms that most marketing research is based on the “instrumental” approach to CSR, which tends to emphasize solely the business consequences of engaging in CSR. As our review suggests, the instrumental perspective favours a rationalistic vision of consumers that excludes ethical considerations as a question of responsibility. We therefore claim—based on the American Marketing Association (AMA) definition of marketing— the need to take a step toward a more comprehensive integration of the ethical, societal, and political implications of CSR in marketing.

MAS Integration and Controllership Effectiveness: Evidence of a Preparer-User Perception Gap

AbstractRecent evidence suggests that managers establish a positive link between management accounting system (MAS) integration and controllership effectiveness, which is fully mediated by the perceived consistency of financial language. Our paper extends this research by analyzing whether controllers have similar perceptions on MAS design. Testing a series of multi-group structural equation models, we find evidence for a preparer-user perception gap with respect to the mediating impact of a consistent financial language. Our results contribute to the still-ongoing controversial debate on MAS integration by indicating that the effectiveness of MAS design cannot be evaluated solely from an instrumental perspective independent from users’ perceptions.

Managing boundaries in primary care service improvement: a developmental approach to communities of practice.

BackgroundEffective implementation of change in healthcare organisations involves multiple professional and organisational groups and is often impeded by professional and organisational boundaries that present relatively impermeable barriers to sharing knowledge and spreading work practices. Informed by the theory of communities of practice (CoPs), this study explored the effects of intra-organisational and inter-organisational boundaries on the implementation of service improvement within and across primary healthcare settings and on the development of multiprofessional and multi-organisational CoPs during this process.MethodsThe study was conducted within the Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC) for Greater Manchester—a collaborative partnership between the University of Manchester and local National Health Service organisations aiming to undertake applied health research and enhance its implementation in clinical practice. It deployed a qualitative embedded case study design, encompassing semistructured interviews, direct observation and documentary analysis, conducted in 2010–2011. The sample included practice doctors, nurses, managers and members of the CLAHRC implementation team.FindingsThe study showed that in spite of epistemic and status differences, professional boundaries between general practitioners, practice nurses and practice managers co-located in the same practice over a relatively long period of time could be successfully bridged, leading to the formation of multiprofessional CoPs. While knowledge circulated relatively easily within these CoPs, barriers to knowledge sharing emerged at the boundary separating them from other groups existing in the same primary care setting. The strongest boundaries, however, lay between individual general practices, with inter-organisational knowledge sharing and collaboration between them remaining unequally developed across different areas due to historical factors, competition and strong organisational identification. Manipulated emergence of multi-organisational CoPs in the context of primary care may thus be problematic.ConclusionsIn cases when manipulated emergence of new CoPs is problematic, boundary issues could be addressed by adopting a developmental perspective on CoPs, which provides an alternative to the analytical and instrumental perspectives previously described in the CoP literature. This perspective implies a pragmatic, situational approach to mapping existing CoPs and their characteristics and potentially modifying them in the process of service improvement through the combination of internal and external facilitation.

Doctrinal Knowledge, Legal Doctrinal Scholarship and Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Law – Reassessing the Realist Legacy in the Age of Globalization

The paper is about the prospects of legal scholarship (considered specifically as a doctrinal discipline) in the contemporary disciplinary environment. It focuses mainly on developing an epistemological and methodological model for legal scholarship. This model proceeds from an account of what doctrinal knowledge is. The paper argues that doctrinal legal scholarship can claim to perform unique functions as an interpretive and intensely normative discipline – as the only discipline that can provide adequate academic reflection of the variety of ways in which doctrinal knowledge interacts with a complex social practice like law. It seeks to provide a non-instrumentalist account of legal scholarship. At the same time, it seeks to neutralise the risk of countering instrumentalism with an insular internalism by (1) giving up the idea that doctrinal constructs can be (or even must be) developed exclusively from law’s own core values, and (2) accepting a legitimate (even positive) role for instrumental perspectives on law.

Exploring the language of learning within further education

Researchers claim that a rise in the language of learning has led to education being seen as a commodity and the learner as a customer, leading to a market model in FE. To ascertain the impact the language of learning has had upon practitioners’ understanding of education, their practice and their professional identities, semi-structured interviews were carried out. A total of 12 practitioners with differing levels of experience in the FE sector across the north of England were interviewed. Thematic analysis and coding of responses revealed the presence of two additional languages, one related to a therapeutic ethos and the other connected to aspects of the market model. Both these and the language of learning were inter-relational in nature, apparently legitimising and reinforcing each other and defining and valuing what can be done. The languages appeared to be creating a blinkered view of life, one stripped of complexity, leading to a simplistic, reductionist and instrumental perspective. This perspective is in conflict with the complex concepts and theories used in teacher training, so much so that it appeared such concepts quickly became forgotten as they had no apparent purpose or relevance within the actual practice – a practice that is defined by these languages.

Las actividades en la naturaleza en la formación inicial docente: un acercamiento desde los sentidos

El artículo que a continuación se presenta es el resultado de un trabajo de investigación relacionado con el sentido que otorgan los estudiantes de educación física a las actividades en contacto con la naturaleza. En el estudio emerge con nitidez que el currículo escolar del subsector carece de espacios para el desarrollo y despliegue de este núcleo temático. Por otro lado, permite visualizar la pertinencia del modelo curricular de educación física como disciplina, entendiendo que este enfoque paradigmático sobrepasa la perspectiva mecanicista, dualista e instrumental asignada tradicionalmente a este sector de aprendizaje, para centrar su mirada en la resignificación que emerge de las concepciones y vivencias de los sujetos en proceso de formación inicial. En consecuencia, el propósito central es comprender cómo los futuros profesores otorgan sentido y significado a la relación que establecen con el medio natural, toda vez que entienden la generación de un vínculo eminentemente complejo, que configura el ser humano a partir de la biogeoestructura de los espacios naturales, la relación hombre naturaleza y la propia historicidad del sujeto. Por otro lado, esta investigación se enmarca en el paradigma interpretativo y la metodología cualitativa, toda vez que lo central es comprender las nociones de sentido de profesores de educación física en formación, en el marco de las actividades en el medio natural.

Using IT to share knowledge and the TRA

PurposeThe major objective of this paper is to examine whether or not information technology (IT) usage to share knowledge is a mediator or moderator of the intention behaviour relationship proposed in the theory of reasoned action (TRA).Design/methodology/approachA letter of invitation to participate in the study was sent to all of the public‐listed companies in Malaysia. A total of 483 full‐time employees from 23 organizations completed an anonymous, self‐administered survey in a cross‐sectional design. Partial least squares analysis was used to test the conceptual model.FindingsThe major finding is that the relationship between the intention to share knowledge and knowledge sharing is partly mediated and not moderated by IT usage to share knowledge.Research limitations/implicationsKnowledge sharing was considered only at the individual level. The data are self‐reported, cross‐sectional, from a single source and a single method. The relational and capability‐membership perspective leads to a positive attitude towards knowledge sharing whereas the instrumental perspective leads to a negative attitude. The findings augment the TRA by showing there is a mediator of the intention‐behaviour relationship in the context of knowledge sharing.Practical implicationsThe findings indicate that organizations need to ascertain employees' preferred methods for sharing knowledge, provide appropriate IT for knowledge sharing, establish online communities for knowledge sharing, publicly acknowledge members for sharing knowledge, and avoid relying on extrinsic tangible rewards to foster knowledge sharing.Originality/valuePrevious research has shown that using IT to share knowledge does not moderate the intention‐behaviour relationship in the TRA. An alternative conceptualisation of the role of using IT to share knowledge in the intention‐behaviour relationship is provided.

Asklepian Dreaming and the Spirit of Transformational Healing: Linking the Placebo Response to Therapeutic Uses of Self

Asklepian medicine - as an archetype of healing - was underpinned by therapeutic uses of self, which, if understood, could be beneficial to modern healthcare. It is being proposed in this article that therapeutic uses of self from instrumental, authentic and transpersonal perspectives could support the process of endogenous healing. Such therapeutic uses of self could play a pivotal role in activating and enhancing the potential for placebo responses, with spiritual significance.

Relationship-Based Social Work and Its Compatibility with the Person-Centred Approach: Principled versus Instrumental Perspectives

In recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in social work towards relationshipbased practice. In this article, we discuss the conceptualisation of relationship-based practice from a person-centred point of view and its applicability to contemporary social work. It will be shown that the person-centred point of view has a meta-theoretical basis that makes it incompatible with modern statutory social work practice. First, we outline the theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of the person-centred approach and argue that a potential conflict lies at the heart of the contemporary social workers’ capacity to truly accommodate person-centred theory. Next, the resurgence of interest in relationship-based practice, paying particular attention to the person-centred approach, is considered within the context and influence of risk management, managerialism and consumerism on social work. We then challenge the assumption that relationship-based social work founded on the personcentred approach legitimately supports service users’ ability and capacity towards self-determination. Our challenge is based on the premise that the person-centred approach is defined by principled non-directive practice. On this basis, we conclude that a personcentred relationship-based approach to contemporary social work is untenable.

Citizens’ Obligation to Obey the Law

For thousands of years, China primarily used morality for its social control. Since its economic reform starting in 1978, China has moved toward legal control. Two fundamental questions, however, remain understudied in China: (a) the degree to which citizens feel obligated to obey the law and (b) the sources of citizens' perceived obligation to obey the law. This study was intended to answer these questions based on random surveys of 1,196 residents from Guangzhou, China. The study revealed that the vast majority of citizens in Guangzhou felt obligated to obey the law irrespective of their personal feelings. Normative and instrumental perspectives were important sources of Guangzhou citizens' perceived obligation to obey the law. In addition, Guangzhou citizens' perception of obligation to obey the law was related to not only individual-level variables but also neighborhood contextual factors.

Instituciones y poder organizado. Una mirada crítica sobre la conexión de las teorías administrativas con la perspectiva política

Este texto discute las tesis del Management Estratégico sobre el papel y los conflictos de poder en las organizaciones modernas. Aunque se muestran limitaciones de dichas teorías manageriales, se reseña el esfuerzo de las escuelas administrativas al reconocer la centralidad de pensar la POLÍTICA, como uno de los puntos centrales del análisis organizacional. Las teorías manageriales clásicas y sus desarrollos actuales han aportado en la descripción del poder instrumental, los procesos comunicacionales y los sistemas de información en el ejercicio del poder organizado que, sin embargo, resultaron víctimas de su propia perspectiva pragmática e instrumental. Por ello, revisar tal literatura resulta útil para reinterpretar las descripciones, las mistificaciones e ideologizaciones respecto del poder organizado en su forma preeminente en la sociedad global contemporánea: las grandes organizaciones que actúan, en un contexto más mercantilizado, y donde muchas de las fronteras entre lo público y lo privado se abaten

An instrumental perspective on apologizing in bargaining: The importance of forgiveness to apologize

Although very little research in bargaining has addressed how perpetrators should deal with the aftermath of unfair allocations, it has been proposed that an apology may help the reconciliation process. Prior research, however, only focused on whether apologies can reveal positive effects on the reconciliation process but did not focus yet on whether perpetrators are actually willing to apologize. In this paper we investigate perpetrator’s willingness to apologize for a trust violation in a bargaining setting. We hypothesized that perpetrators willingness to apologize would be a function of the extent to which the victim of the trust violation is willing to forgive. This effect, however, was expected to emerge only among those perpetrators who are low in dispositional trust. The results from a laboratory study with actual transgressions and actual apologetic behavior supported our predictions and thus emphasize an instrumental view on apologizing in bargaining situations.

Stakeholder social capital: a new approach to stakeholder theory

In this paper, I present a systematic approach to stakeholder theory based on social capital: the stakeholder social capital approach. Social capital is a relatively novel concept in stakeholder theory, which in previous research was not properly defined or systematically developed. This paper aims to fill this gap by taking into account the specificities of the stakeholder theory, which implies an explicit consideration of values. Therefore, the stakeholder social capital concept is defined by four dimensions (relational, cognitive, structural and evaluative) instead of three (relational, cognitive and structural). I present the stakeholder social capital approach according to Donaldson and Preston's distinction: the descriptive, instrumental and normative. The descriptive perspective implies mapping the stakeholder networks based on the four dimensions and implies a shift toward relationships rather than groups of stakeholders. The instrumental perspective based on the relational view focuses on the drivers of relational rents within the network (relational assets, knowledge routines, complementary resource endowments and effective governance) and the normative perspective aims to foster a relational view of society.

Collaborations for leadership in applied health research and care: lessons from the theory of communities of practice.

BackgroundThe paper combines the analytical and instrumental perspectives on communities of practice (CoPs) to reflect on potential challenges that may arise in the process of interprofessional and inter-organisational joint working within the Collaborations for Leaderships in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRCs)--partnerships between the universities and National Health Service (NHS) Trusts aimed at conducting applied health research and translating its findings into day-to-day clinical practice.DiscussionThe paper discusses seminal theoretical literature on CoPs as well as previous empirical research on the role of these communities in healthcare collaboration, which is organised around the following three themes: knowledge sharing within and across CoPs, CoP formation and manageability, and identity building in CoPs. It argues that the multiprofessional and multi-agency nature of the CLAHRCs operating in the traditionally demarcated organisational landscape of the NHS may present formidable obstacles to knowledge sharing between various professional groupings, formation of a shared 'collaborative' identity, and the development of new communities within the CLAHRCs. To cross multiple boundaries between various professional and organisational communities and hence enable the flow of knowledge, the CLAHRCs will have to create an effective system of 'bridges' involving knowledge brokers, boundary objects, and cross-disciplinary interactions as well as address a number of issues related to professional and organisational identification.SummaryThe CoP approach can complement traditional 'stage-of-change' theories used in the field of implementation research and provide a basis for designing theory-informed interventions and evaluations. It can help to illuminate multiple boundaries that exist between professional and organisational groups within the CLAHRCs and suggest ways of crossing those boundaries to enable knowledge transfer and organisational learning. Achieving the aims of the CLAHRCs and producing a sustainable change in the ways applied health research is conducted and implemented may be influenced by how effectively these organisations can navigate through the multiple CoPs involved and promote the development of new multiprofessional and multi-organisational communities united by shared practice and a shared sense of belonging--an assumption that needs to be explored by further empirical research.