Status Quo Research Articles

A SWOT Model-Based Analysis of Marketing Strategy Taking Mixue Ice Cream and Tea as an Example

Peoples living needs have become increasingly diversified as a result of the rapid development of the economy. In recent years, the freshly-made tea beverage industry has seen a surge in popularity, with numerous tea beverage brands entering the market. The tea industry has formed a fruit-flavored tea and milk tea beverage model based on high-quality tea, gradually replacing the dominant position of tea powder preparation in the past In order to obtain a place in the fierce market competition, the majority of tea brands must fully understand the market changes and their own development status, and formulate long-term development strategies. This paper takes Mixue Ice Cream and Tea (hereinafter referred to as MIXUE) as the research object and uses the SWOT model to analyze its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Besides, we analyze and study its own status quo in the construction of internal control. We also formulate future marketing and development strategies for MIXUE, aiming to improve its brand competitiveness and help it to achieve substantial development.

Status Quo of Artificial Intelligence’s Role in the HRM Operations

Coexistence of technology and business dates back to the late 18th century when the first ever use of a computer was for recording the census by the US government in 1890. The use of technology in business can be ascribed to different organisations in the different nations on the parallel lines of time. It includes invention of cash machines and their use by Barclays in England in the early 1960s, the induction of telephone-based modems for order management by Baxter Pharmaceuticals and use of small desktop computing device called Minitel for processing customer orders in France were the other notable developments in the history of coexistence of technology and business. Increasing operations in the business functions have created an urge for the technological innovation in the industry to handle the operations electronically. Figueiredo and Cohen (2019) say that technology has become an indispensable component of every business function by delivering ease in operations and productivity. The end of the 20th century had witnessed the leaping progress in computing in the form of artificial intelligence (AI) performing the tasks that were unimaginable to comprehend a decade back in time. Developments in the technological research and development prove that organisations have started inducting AI into as many fields as possible at a considerable pace. As a part of the shifting technological dynamics in the industry HR function has also transformed digitally. Tools like enterprise applications have forayed intensely into the operations of human resources management (HRM). These enterprise resource planning (ERP) tools remain to primarily serve the integration of HRM to the other functions. However, enterprise tools could not serve the purpose of supporting decisiveness in the areas of HR planning, workforce design and performance management at large. However, Tuck (2019) argues that AI is assuming increased responsibilities in the different sections of the society and business including the HRM function. At present, the amount of knowledge on the status quo of the role of AI in the HRM functions is scarcely available. Literature related to this disruptive technology in the HR function is still at the nascent stage. This study will examine the role of AI as a key component in the HRM function, which is regarded to be highly human-driven.

Recontextualization and Imagination: The Public Health Professional and the U.S. Health Care System.

Based on a qualitative study, this paper explores how United States public health professionals view and think about the existing U.S. healthcare system, while also allowing these study participants to imagine new ways of structuring and practicing public health. Using semi-structured qualitative interviews, I show how public health professionals engage with the concept of "the social" and their personal experiences with public health to question the status quo. By giving public health professionals space in which to imagine changes and different ways of practicing public health, I demonstrate the effectiveness of imagination as a capacity that public health professionals possess to take the lead in creating the changes they hope for.

A Post-Humanist Perspective of Singapore's Ecomodernist Leadership

Green growth has become doxa in the political economic governance of climate change. This is despite the lack of empirical evidence of its success and concerns that it reifies a business-as-usual dynamic. The question arises: why have practices of ‘green leadership’ maintained a hegemonic hold on how nation states respond to climate change? This provocation examines this question through an analysis of Singapore's policy ambition to become Asia's climate services leader. It draws on post-humanism to suggest that the form of ecomodernist leadership exhibited by Singapore not only perpetuates the status quo but (re)affirms the problematic anthropocentrism underpinning their approach. We demonstrate this through analysis of recent policy, media and private sector documents. Finally, we argue that a focus on Singapore matters because of its influence in the region and networked position globally.

The Analysis of Intelligent Functions Required for Inland Ships

Sorting out the requirements for intelligent functions is the prerequisite and foundation of the top-level design for the development of intelligent ships. In light of the development of inland intelligent ships for 2030, 2035, and 2050, based on the analysis of the division of intelligent ship functional modules by international representative classification societies and relevant research institutions, eight necessary functional modules have been proposed: intelligent navigation, intelligent hull, intelligent engine room, intelligent energy efficiency management, intelligent cargo management, intelligent integration platform, remote control, and autonomous operation. Taking the technical realization of each functional module as the goal, this paper analyzes the status quo and development trend of related intelligent technologies and their feasibility and applicability when applied to each functional module. At the same time, it clarifies the composition of specific functional elements of each functional module, puts forward the stage goals of China’s inland intelligent ship development and the specific functional requirements of different modules under each stage, and provides reference for the Chinese government to subsequently formulate the top-level design development planning and implementation path of inland waterway intelligent ships.

Negotiating the representations of the village in socialist Czechoslovakia

Abstract This study deals with shared ideas about the countryside and its inhabitants during the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia. It identifies the most significant sources of contemporary representations of the rural. These include, besides historical ideas pre-dating the regime, the party-state itself, expert structures, the arts, and pop culture. In many cases, representations encompassed efforts to transform the countryside, or society, or to maintain the status quo, and, following de Certeau, we can consider such activities to be strategies. On the other hand, villagers approached these representations and strategies using their own tactics. This study demonstrates that rural policymaking was not just in the hands of power structures; the effects it had depended a great deal on the dominated rural inhabitants.

The Politics of the Status Quo in Sri Lanka

Resistance to political change is a hallmark of Sri Lankan politics since the 1980s. Thus, the polity has been able to sturdily maintain the status quo. Linking contemporary politics with the political legacies of the 1980s, the article argues that by providing continuity to the 1978 constitution, Sri Lanka’s political system has become a hostage to the status quo. This is shown in the analysis of the functioning of democracy, and ethnic conflict and peace-making. The rise of illiberal democracy is traced to the present constitution and the centralizing tendencies of the J.R. Jayewardene regime. While some successive power-crazed leaders have nurtured illiberalism, others have undertaken a limited constitutional reform. Yet, none of them have rejected illiberalism altogether and shown commitment to a liberal constitutional order. Likewise, the debate on political solution is centred on the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution. Both the government and opposition leaders have a shared interest in failing every peace initiative and denying a permanent political solution. Together they form a barrier to comprehensive political reform in the country.

Integrating Raiffa and Nash approaches to bargaining using interim agreements

Raiffa's solution to the bargaining problem, outlined in Luce and Raiffa (1957), is the point where the negotiation curve - a sequence of points that constitute step-by-step improvements from the status quo in the feasible payoff space - meets (possibly in the limit) the efficient boundary of the feasible region. A bargaining model with interim agreements yields a negotiation curve in equilibrium (in the spirit of Raiffa), and as the bargaining frictions disappear, the Raiffa path of payoffs converges to the Nash solution.

The Role of Innovation-Driven Leadership in Public-Sector Innovation: The Case in Emerging Economies

Public sector organizations today must confront a steady stream of challenges, push against the status quo, and to be creative in capturing opportunities to effectively serve the public. Emerging economies’ public sector organizations have been slow to adopt change or innovate. Using the UAE as a case study, this study provides valuable insights into the relationship between innovation-driven leadership and innovation in public-sector organizations in emerging economies. Utilizing qualitative data from sixteen government and semi-government organizations’ leaders, the results indicate that innovation-driven leadership is essential in developing a culture of innovation and transformational leadership style is the more effective leadership style.

The ongoing transformational journey of Australia’s oldest and largest oil and gas operation

For over 50 years Gippsland Basin Joint Venture (GBJV) has been producing oil and gas from the Gippsland Basin. Through hard work, challenging the status quo and innovation, the business, the operation and the people have been on a transformational journey. You may have heard about our conventional expansion opportunities, Kipper-Tuna-Turrum development and Longford Gas Conditioning Plant, but have you heard about how GBJV is progressing carbon dioxide (CO2) to sales with BOC and Air Liquide or how the team has reduced flare by 46% since 2018? Have you heard how the team increased Longford’s capacity by 11% in 2022 to deliver the highest gas production since 2017 to meet market demand. Or about how we are transforming the operation through our Gippsland Asset Streamlining Project, where we will no longer have a Crude Stabilisation Plant or a Gas Plant 1 at Longford? We continue to focus on our reliable gas operation through upcoming projects such as Hastings Generation Project, and Kipper Compression Project while also pursuing meaningful reductions in greenhouse gas emissions such as South East Australia Carbon Capture and Storage Project in the Gippsland Basin. Our transformation to a ‘Modern Australian Gas Business’ has not only meant change for our facilities but also change for our people in how we work and the culture we have built. Every day, our teams work to supply essential energy to Australian homes and businesses while also being on a transformational journey to improve the sustainability of our operation and contribute to the energy transition.

Prefigurative imaginaries: Giving the unbanked in Kenyan informal settlements the power to issue their own currency

As corporate social responsibility research increasingly focuses on the role of grassroots organizations in challenging business practices, there remains a gap in understanding how these organizations prefigure alternatives to the prevailing business status quo. This study addresses this gap by developing a framework of prefigurative imaginaries, drawing from a qualitative study of a grassroots organization confronting the social irresponsibility of the Kenyan banking system in serving the poor. The framework captures how grassroots organizations use imaginaries to prefigure an alternative community currency system for enacting and foreshadowing social change. However, when attempts were made to scale up the system, these actions became disjointed, resulting in cracks within the imaginaries and the eventual abandonment of the system. Our study contributes to corporate social responsibility research by broadening its scope to include grassroots organizations and unveiling how they prefigure social change in marginalized contexts. By highlighting the significant influence of imaginaries on experiences and practices, this study underscores their role in shaping the acceptance or rejection of grassroots initiatives by the communities they aim to serve. It has implications for scholars and practitioners interested in understanding the role of imaginaries in shaping community-driven initiatives and advancing social change agendas.

Great Power Competition, Clientelism, and De Facto States: Transnistria and Taiwan Compared

Abstract To what extent can de facto states act autonomously vis-à-vis their patron states and domestic societies? This article draws on theories of clientelism in international relations to develop a novel argument explaining the agency of de facto states. Examining two strategic triangles—Russia–Transnistria–Moldova and US–Taiwan–China—it demonstrates that interrelated domestic factors such as robust political competition, democratic pluralism, reimagined national identities, and big business shape the autonomy of de facto states in Eastern Europe and East Asia. Furthermore, the structured focused comparison of Transnistria and Taiwan indicates that the agency of de facto states declines when rising parent states and dissatisfied patron states challenge the status quo, engaging in great power competition. Their autonomy varies across areas of low and high politics, as patron states prioritize military-security issues and interfere less in the economic and cultural affairs of the de facto states.

Seeing what you want: How goal‐oriented descriptions of the status quo alter outcomes in ethno‐territorial conflict bargaining experiments

AbstractIn conflict bargaining models, variation in initial conditions is expected to have a significant impact. Better initial conditions should make the status quo more acceptable and likely to persist, and worse initial conditions should make crisis and conflict more likely. At the same time, players' preferences over the different possible bargaining outcomes are expected to influence perceptions of initial conditions. We use conflict bargaining experiments in ethno‐territorial conflict settings—in which participants are asked to advise leaders—to investigate these relationships. First, we find that variation in leaders' nationalist preferences indeed affects perception of initial conditions. Next, preference‐influenced, goal‐oriented descriptions reduce the effect of variation in initial conditions by making factually better initial conditions seem more similar to factually worse ones. As a result, the conflict‐reducing effects of better initial conditions are weakened. In addition, and perhaps counter‐intuitively, those advising moderate nationalists react more confrontationally to goal‐oriented descriptions of initial conditions than those advising extreme nationalists. The main policy implication is that, as a general rule, more factual, less goal‐oriented description of initial conditions is likely to improve conflict outcomes.

‘Knowing What a Man Wants’: Advertising in Playboy magazine, 1972–1982

AbstractThis article argues that faced with the changing cultural environment, competition and financial hardship, Playboy tried to find ways to adapt with more sexualised editorial content, while also making an attempt at maintaining normalcy in the advertising of their ideal Playboy lifestyle in the magazine to keep the illusion of a fantasy lifestyle alive for readers and keep advertisers happy. Playboy’s team, like their readers, had to navigate their own ideas of masculinity, sexuality and feminism – even if that meant maintaining the status quo. This led to an unclear goal for what Playboy was trying to be in the 1970s and 1980s.

Molecular systematics of the Dendrolagus goodfellowi species group (Marsupialia: Macropodidae)

Tree-kangaroos (genus Dendrolagus) are a morphologically distinctive genus of specialized, arboreal macropodids confined to the wet forests of New Guinea and northeast Australia. A distinct Goodfellow’s group, containing up to four species, has long been recognized. Resolving the relationships of taxa within the group has been hampered by limited samples of most taxa. Here we supplement published genetic data from high quality tissue samples with molecular data generated from museum specimens to improve taxon and geographic coverage. This includes specimens of the previously unsampled D. g. goodfellowi, the holotype and paratype of D. deltae, and additional specimens of D. matschiei, D. spadix and D. g. buergersi. DNA sequence data were generated from three mitochondrial loci. Phylogenetic analysis improved the resolution of relationships within the Goodfellow’s group, with the morphologically similar D. g. goodfellowi and D. g. buergersi being recovered as sister taxa, while D. pulcherrimus was the sister to the closely related, but morphologically and ecologically distinct, D. spadix and D. matschiei. Despite being sister to D. g. buergersi, D. g. goodfellowi was highly divergent. However, the two are morphologically very similar and we recommend retaining the taxonomic status quo (recognizing them as two subspecies of a single species) until improved sampling and a more thorough analysis is possible. The problematic D. deltae was confirmed as a junior synonym of D. matschiei.

Enabling older employees' well‐being through HR attributions: The moderating role of management context

AbstractFusing the extant literature on successful aging at work (SAW) and HR attributions, we examined the confluence of employee‐oriented internal HR attributions and unit‐level employee management context on burnout for employees across the age spectrum. Time‐lagged, multi‐level survey data were collected from a sample of 1762 blue‐collar employees from 178 work units at the manufacturing plants of a large firm operating in the Turkish energy industry, which is characterized as a high‐risk safety environment. A cross‐level moderated mediation model was tested using multi‐level structural equation modeling (MSEM). Results supported study hypotheses such that the negative association between age and burnout was mediated by employee‐oriented positive HR attributions, and this indirect association was moderated by unit‐level perceptions of the employee management context. Development‐oriented contexts that emphasized personal development/growth—indicated by the degree of emphasis on innovation strategy, safety training, and active unit safety leadership—weakened the negative indirect (i.e., buffering) effect of age on burnout via less positive HR attributions. Conversely, a maintenance‐oriented context that emphasized maintaining the status quo—indicated by passive unit safety leadership—strengthened said effect through more positive HR attributions. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings for fostering employee well‐being across the age spectrum are discussed.

Expanding Access to High KDPI Kidney Transplant for Recipients Aged 60 y and Older: Cost Utility and Survival.

Modern organ allocation systems are tasked with equitably maximizing the utility of transplanted organs. Increasing the use of deceased donor organs at risk of discard may be a cost-effective strategy to improve overall transplant benefit. We determined the survival implications and cost utility of increasing the use of marginal kidneys in an older adult Canadian population of patients with end-stage kidney disease. We constructed a cost-utility model with microsimulation from the perspective of the Canadian single-payer health system for incident transplant waitlisted patients aged 60 y and older. A kidney donor profile index score of ≥86 was considered a marginal kidney. Donor- and recipient-level characteristics encompassed in the kidney donor profile index and estimated posttransplant survival scores were used to derive survival posttransplant. Patients were followed up for 10 y from the date of waitlist initiation. Our analysis compared the routine use of marginal kidneys (marginal kidney scenario) with the current practice of limited use (status quo scenario). The 10-y mean cost and quality-adjusted life-years per patient in the marginal kidney scenario were estimated at $379 485.33 (SD: $156 872.49) and 4.77 (SD: 1.87). In the status quo scenario, the mean cost and quality-adjusted life-years per patient were $402 937.68 (SD: $168 508.85) and 4.37 (SD: 1.87); thus, the intervention was considered dominant. At 10 y, 62.8% and 57.0% of the respective cohorts in the marginal kidney and status quo scenarios remained alive. Increasing the use of marginal kidneys in patients with end-stage kidney disease aged 60 y and older may offer cost savings, improved quality of life, and greater patient survival in comparison with usual care.

The racial politics of Afropolitanism and Zukiswa Wanner’s London, Cape Town, Joburg

ABSTRACT While scholars have long taken Afropolitanism to task for its classism, its racial politics have largely been praised. Pushing against this (un)critical consensus, this article offers the first sustained analysis of the racial politics informing Achille Mbembe’s theory of Afropolitanism alongside Zukiswa Wanner’s novel London, Cape Town, Joburg (2014). Making visible how institutional racism continues to define the post-apartheid present, it shows that both authors differentially single out race for scrutiny and collude in mystifying white dominance in South Africa. Just as Mbembe’s works on Afropolitanism are preoccupied with race but obfuscate racism, Wanner’s novel uses racialized drama as an important plot device yet stigmatizes the denunciation of white supremacy, while sharply critiquing homophobia, sexism, and xenophobia. In invoking race as central while relieving white people of responsibility for the racist status quo, these works display paradoxes that reveal an investment in silencing racism, paradoxes which this article lays bare.

Model-driven decision support: A community-based meta-implementation strategy to predict population impact

PurposeStandard tools for public health decision making such as data dashboards, trial repositories, and intervention briefs may be necessary but insufficient for guiding community leaders in optimizing local public health strategy. Predictive modeling decision support tools may be the missing link that allows community level decision makers to confidently direct funding and other resources to interventions and implementation strategies that will improve upon the status quo. MethodsWe describe a community-based model-driven decision support (MDDS) approach that requires community engagement, local data, and predictive modeling tools (agent-based modeling in our case studies) to improve decision-making on implementing strategies to address complex public health problems such as overdose deaths. We refer to our approach as a meta-implementation strategy as it provides guidance to a community on what intervention combinations and their required implementation strategies are needed to achieve desired outcomes. We use standard implementation measures including the Stages of Implementation Completion to assess adoption of this meta-implementation approach. ResultsUsing two case studies, we illustrate how MDDS can be used to support decision making related to HIV prevention and reductions in overdose deaths at the city and county level. Even when community acceptance seems high, data acquisition and diffuse responsibility for implementing specific strategies recommended by modeling are barriers to adoption. ConclusionsMDDS has the capacity to improve community decision makers use of scientific knowledge by providing projections of the impact of intervention strategies under various scenarios. Further research is necessary to assess its effectiveness and the best strategies to implement it.

Long Live Article 2(4) of the UN Charter? Four Ways to Save the Peaceful Rules-Based International Order after Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

Long Live Article 2(4) of the UN Charter? Four Ways to Save the Peaceful Rules-Based International Order after Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine