Unaffiliated Groups Research Articles

Does institutional ownership and internationalization affect corporate social responsibility in emerging economy firms? An empirical evidence from India

PurposeThe preference of firm corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending is shaped by different groups of owners and the institutional environment in which the firm operates. This paper aims to study the heterogeneity among the controlling groups and firms’ internationalization in influencing the CSR decision in emerging economy firms.Design Methodology ApproachThis paper draws understanding from institutional theory to inspect the propensities of various ownership groups such as lending institutions (LI), domestic mutual funds (MF) and foreign institutional investors (FIIs). The empirical analysis was conducted from a sample of 1,594 unique Bombay stock exchange (BSE)-listed non-financial Indian firms during the 2014–2019 period using Tobit panel regression analysis.FindingsThe findings reveal that firms’ CSR activities are impacted differently by ownership share of different types of institutional investors after controlling for firm-level resources and capabilities. Lending institutions, FIIs and MF are supportive of CSR investments by firms along with international investments by the firm. Further, the results show that the CSR spend is positively influenced by the business group affiliation of the firm compared to the unaffiliated group of firms.Practical ImplicationsThe analysis has implications for both institutional investors and multinational firms. In the merging market context, managers and owners who target long term strategies such as CSR will benefit from increasing shareholdings of creditors (lending institutions). They can also take steps to improve their transparency and corporate governance structure so as to attract foreign institutional investments, thus, in turn, helping the internationalization process of the firm.Originality ValueThis paper considers the role of the diverseness of the ownership institutional investors along with the moderating effect of business group affiliation of the firm and international investments in impacting the CSR spend. This disparity has not been previously studied with the latest data in an emerging economy context.

Differences among religiously unaffiliated and Christians in the perceptions of the personality of Jesus

ABSTRACTPrevious research has demonstrated that Christians living in Korea and Christians living in the US differ in their perceptions of Jesus, in a manner that is aligned with cultural values. The present study examined differences in the perception of Jesus within the US, examining agnostics, atheists, Catholics and nondenominational Christians, specifically assessing perceptions of his personality traits and moral foundations. Differences were observed between Christian groups and religiously unaffiliated groups, especially on the perceived levels of Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and respect for Authority. However, among Christians, nondenominational Christians perceived higher levels of Conscientiousness, Openness, and respect for Authority than Catholics did. Finally, agnostics perceived higher levels of Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Compassion and lower levels of Neuroticism than atheists did.

Secularization and the Wider Gap in Values and Personal Religiosity Between the Religious and Nonreligious

Increasing proportions of religious nonaffiliation characterize most Western societies, although the periods over which these increases have occurred and the speed in which they happen do vary. Consequently, some nations now have larger unaffiliated groups and others much smaller ones. What is less well known is if, in areas where unaffiliated groups are larger, the religious “nones” have become more distinct from the actively religious in their attitudes and behavior. In contexts of advanced secularization, to what extent is the gap greater between the actively religious and the nonreligious when it comes to their views on family life and reproduction, for example? In regards to their levels of religiosity and spirituality in their private lives? Are the unaffiliated more liberal in their attitudes and less religious in their private life? This article sheds light on these questions by analyzing data from over 200 North American, European, and Oceanic country subregions included in the 2008 International Social Survey Programme. With hierarchical linear models, I find that, in areas where the unaffiliated form a larger proportion of the population, the differences between the actively religious and the unaffiliated in family values and personal religiosity tend to be greater.

Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and the global jihadist movement: what everyone needs to know

Contents Introduction Chapter One: History What Was Impact of the Anti-Soviet Jihad on the Jihadist Movement? Did the United States Fund Bin Laden and Al Qaeda? Why Was Al Qaeda Founded? What Did Al Qaeda Do in the Sudan? What Were Al Qaeda's Initial Goals? Why Did Al Qaeda Focus on the United States? What Was the Role of Egyptian Militants during Al Qaeda's Formative Years? What Was Al Qaeda's Relationship with the Taliban before 9/11? Chapter Two: Key Attacks and Plots Why Were the 1998 Embassy Attacks So Important? What Were Al Qaeda's Most Important Attacks before 9/11? How Did Al Qaeda Carry Out the 9/11 Attacks? Could the 9/11 attacks have been prevented? How Did Al Qaeda Justify the 9/11 Attacks? What was the fallout from the 9/11 attacks for Al Qaeda? What Attacks Has Al Qaeda Done Since 9/11? Chapter Three: Strategy and Tactics What Are Al Qaeda's Goals Today? Does Al Qaeda Have a Strategy? How Did Al Qaeda Become a Suicide Bombing Factory? How Dangerous Are Lone Wolves? What Do You Learn in an Al Qaeda Training Camp? Could Al Qaeda Get a Nuclear Weapon? Should We Laugh at Al Qaeda? Chapter Four: Ideas and Influences Key Schools of Thought that Influence Salafi Jihadism Who Are the Key Thinkers Jihadists Admire and Read? How Does Al Qaeda Differ from the Muslim Brotherhood? Why Do Other Jihadists Criticize Al Qaeda? How Does Al Qaeda Justify Killing Civilians? What Themes Does Al Qaeda Push in Its Propaganda? Chapter Five: Organization and Recruitment Why Was Bin Laden Such an Effective Leader? How Does Ayman al-Zawahiri differ from Bin Laden? How Is Al Qaeda Organized? So Why Does Al Qaeda Make So Many Mistakes? Is There an Al Qaeda Profile? How Does Al Qaeda Recruit? What is the Role of War? What Is the Role of the Internet? Where Does Al Qaeda Get Its Money? How Does Al Qaeda Spend Its Money? Chapter Six: Friends and Enemies How Did the 2003 Iraq War Shape Al Qaeda? How Does Al Qaeda View Iran and the Shi'a? Is Saudi Arabia Secretly Supporting Al Qaeda? Why Does Pakistan Support Jihadists? What Is the Relationship between Pakistan and Al Qaeda? Why Doesn't Pakistan Cooperate More with the United States? How Important Is Israel? How Do Muslims Perceive Al Qaeda and Why Does It Matter? How Did the Arab Spring Affect Al Qaeda? Chapter Seven: Beyond the Al Qaeda Core What Are the Key Al Qaeda Affiliates? Al Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) Al Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb Al Shebaab Jabhat al-Nusra (JN) What About Like-Minded but Unaffiliated Groups? What's In It for Al Qaeda? What's In It for the Affiliates? What are the limits of cooperation? Does the Al Qaeda Core control the Salafi-jihadist movement anymore? So What Do We Talk About When We Talk About Al Qaeda? The Islamic State Who is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi? What Should We Call This Group? Where Did the Islamic State Come from? Why Did the Islamic State Fight with Al Qaeda? What Does the Islamic State Want? How Strong Is the Islamic State? How Does the Islamic State Publicize Its Cause? What is the Khorasan Group? Is the Islamic State a Terrorist Threat to the American Homeland? Why Did the United States Go to War with the Islamic State? Chapter Nine: Counterterrorism Isn't Diplomacy Worthless when It Comes to Fighting Terror? What Role Does the Legal System Play? What about military tribunals, Guantanamo, and other post-9/11 legal measures? What Is and Why Is It So Controversial? How Do We Go After Al Qaeda's Money? What is the Role of Military Force? What About Drones and Other Air Strikes? Do Drones and Other Controversial Tools Result in How Do We Collect Intelligence on Al Qaeda? How Do Tools Change When Fighting Affiliate Movements? The Broader Cause as a Whole? How do we win the war of ideas? What is the role of allied governments threatened by terrorists? How Does Al Qaeda Adapt? How do you counter radicalization? What threat does Al Qaeda pose today to Europe? To the United States? Can We Defeat Al Qaeda and the Broader Jihadist Movement? How Is Fighting the Islamic State Different from Fighting Al Qaeda? What Else Should I Read If I Want to Learn More?

Evaluation of the Spiritual Well-Being Scale in a Sample of Korean Adults.

This study explored the psychometric qualities and construct validity of the Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS; Ellison in J Psychol Theol 11:330-340, 1983) using a sample of 470 Korean adults. Two factor analyses, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, were conducted in order to test the validity of the SWBS. The results of the factor analyses supported the original two-dimensional structure of the SWBS-religious well-being (RWB) and existential well-being (EWB) with method effects associated with negatively worded items. By controlling for method effects, the evaluation of the two-factor structure of SWBS is confirmed with clarity. Further, the differential pattern and magnitude of correlations between the SWB subscales and the religious and psychological variables suggested that two factors of the SWBS were valid for Protestant, Catholic, and religiously unaffiliated groups except Buddhists. The Protestant group scored higher in RWB compared to the Buddhist, Catholic, and unaffiliated groups. The Protestant group scored higher in EWB compared to the unaffiliated groups. Future studies may need to include more Buddhist samples to gain solid evidence for validity of the SWBS on a non-Western religious tradition.

Cyberwar to Wikiwar: Battles for Cyberspace

Abstract: National leaders warn of a and that may lead a potential Pearl Harbor. To prevent such an occurrence requires cyber defense or even some sort of cyber deterrence. Some policymakers even want cyber arms control. However, these concepts are a retrofitting of those used in the physical domain describe violent acts and responses them. Do these concepts help policymakers, national security professionals, and scholars understand aggressive acts perpetrated in cyberspace? ********** A few days after the bombings at the Boston Marathon in April 2013, the Associated Press (AP) reported via Twitter, Breaking: y Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is injured. The Dow Jones Industrial lost nearly 150 points; $136 billion of equity was suddenly gone. The AP's Twitter account, whose feed had been integrated into the reporting algorithms of the New York Stock Exchange a few days prior, was hacked by a group calling itself the Syrian Electronic Army, allowing it tweet the fake message. Fortunately, the loss in national wealth was short-lived as stocks recovered their value within three minutes. How do we place a context around what happened within those three minutes? Was this a salvo in a initiated by the Syrian regime or a prank by an unaffiliated group for lulz (a corruption of lol, laugh out loud)? There was no permanent loss of capital and aside from the perpetrators, few would have actually laughed out loud. But there is still a sense of seriousness about this episode that reveals the genuine limits of our understanding of the cyber domain in the national security arena. Given the newness of the digital domain, its man-made origins, and its constantly changing nature due manipulation by human beings, it should not be surprising that national security professionals reach for comfortable and familiar approaches. Cyberattacks are a daily, or more accurately a nanosecond-after-nanosecond, occurrence that requires security. National leaders warn of a cyberwar and cyberterrorism that may lead a potential Pearl Harbor. To prevent such an occurrence requires cyberdefense or even some sort of cyberdeterrence. Some policymakers want arms control limit what types of cyberattacks can be perpetrated against another country. These concepts are a retrofitting of those used in the physical domain describe violent acts and responses them. Do these concepts help policymakers, national security professionals, and scholars understand aggressive acts committed in cyberspace? Richard Clarke in his book, Cyber War: The Next Threat National Security and What Do About It, believes these concepts are not only relevant, but also consistently overlooked by policymakers. For Clarke, a refers to actions by a nation-state penetrate another nation's computers or networks for the purpose of causing damage or disruption (6). In his first chapter, he details trial runs which are incidents of perpetrated most notably by the Russians, North Koreans, and Israelis. These episodes are now well-known--the Israeli owning of Syria's air defense system in 2007; the suspected Russian distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks against Estonia in 2007 and the more sophisticated cyberattacks against Georgia in 2008; and the North Korean botnet attack against US websites in 2009. From these episodes, he derives four maxims: is real; happens at the speed of light; is global; and has begun. These maxims form the core of his book as he presents more accounts of the cyberwarriors in the battlespace and how the United States should prepare, defend, and retaliate. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Clarke spends the majority of his time reemphasizing these maxims throughout the book with brief examples. Clarke appears be most worried about China, which he argues is systematically doing all the things a nation would do if it contemplated having an offensive cyber capability and also thought that it might itself be targeted by cyber war (54). …

Changes of bacterioplankton apparent species richness in two ornamental fish aquaria

We analysed the 16S rRNA gene diversity within the bacterioplankton community in the water column of the ornamental fish Pterophyllum scalare and Archocentrus nigrofasciatus aquaria during a 60-day growth experiment in order to detect any dominant bacterial species and their possible association with the rearing organisms. The basic physical and chemical parameters remained stable but the bacterial community at 0, 30 and 60 days showed marked differences in bacterial cell abundance and diversity. We found high species richness but no dominant phylotypes were detected. Only few of the phylotypes were found in more than one time point per treatment and always with low relative abundance. The majority of the common phylotypes belonged to the Proteobacteria phylum and were closely related to Acinetobacter junii, Pseudomonas sp., Nevskia ramosa, Vogesella perlucida, Chitinomonas taiwanensis, Acidovorax sp., Pelomonas saccharophila and the rest belonged to the α-Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, candidate division OP11 and one unaffiliated group. Several of these phylotypes were closely related to known taxa including Sphingopyxis chilensis, Flexibacter aurantiacus subsp. excathedrus and Mycobacterium sp. Despite the high phylogenetic diversity most of the inferred ecophysiological roles of the found phylotypes are related to nitrogen metabolism, a key process for fish aquaria.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/2193-1801-2-66) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

16SrRNA and enzymatic diversity of culturable bacteria from the sediments of oxygen minimum zone in the Arabian Sea

Sediment underlying the oxygen minimum zone of the eastern Arabian Sea is rich in organic matter. Bacteria in this sediment-water interface are of great ecological importance as they are responsible for decomposing, mineralizing and subsequent recycling of organic matter. This study has for the first time addressed the phylogenetic and functional description of culturable bacteria of this region. Genotypic characterization of the isolates using amplified rDNA restriction analysis (ARDRA) followed by 16SrRNA sequencing grouped them into various phylogenetic groups such as Firmicutes, Gammaproteobacteria, Low G+C Gram positive bacteria, Actinobacteria and unaffiliated bacteria. Among the enzyme activities, phosphatase was predominant (52%) and was associated with all the phylotypes followed by amylase (37%) and gelatinase (33%). These hydrolytic enzymes were expressed at a wide range of temperature and pH. Firmicutes expressed most of the hydrolytic activities, consistent with a role in degradation of organic matter. Multiple enzyme expression (>/=3) was exhibited by Actinobacteria (100%), followed by unaffiliated group (62.5%) and Firmicutes (61.5%). Besides hydrolytic enzymes, the phylotypes also elaborated functional enzymes such as nitrate reductase and catalase (58 and 81% of the isolates, respectively). In the oxygen minimum zone, the diversity was high with 28 phylotypes. Culturable bacterial assemblages encountered were Bacillus sp., Halobacillus sp., Virgibacillus sp., Paenibacillus sp., Marinilactibacillus sp., Kytococcus sp., Micrococcus sp., Halomonas sp. and Alteromonas sp. The high diversity and high percentage of extracellular hydrolytic enzyme activities of the culturable bacteria reflect their important ecological role in biogeochemical cycling of organic matter in the oxygen minimum zone.

Prokaryotic community structure and diversity in the sediments of an active submarine mud volcano (Kazan mud volcano, East Mediterranean Sea)

We investigated 16S rRNA gene diversity at a high sediment depth resolution (every 5 cm, top 30 cm) in an active site of the Kazan mud volcano, East Mediterranean Sea. A total of 242 archaeal and 374 bacterial clones were analysed, which were attributed to 38 and 205 unique phylotypes, respectively (> or = 98% similarity). Most of the archaeal phylotypes were related to ANME-1, -2 and -3 members originating from habitats where anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) occurs, although they occurred in sediment layers with no apparent AOM (below the sulphate depletion depth). Proteobacteria were the most abundant and diverse bacterial group, with the Gammaproteobacteria dominating in most sediment layers and these were related to phylotypes involved in methane cycling. The Deltaproteobacteria included several of the sulphate-reducers related to AOM. The rest of the bacterial phylotypes belonged to 15 known phyla and three unaffiliated groups, with representatives from similar habitats. Diversity index H was in the range 0.56-1.73 and 1.47-3.82 for Archaea and Bacteria, respectively, revealing different depth patterns for the two groups. At 15 and 20 cm below the sea floor, the prokaryotic communities were highly similar, hosting AOM-specific Archaea and Bacteria. Our study revealed different dominant phyla in proximate sediment layers.

Understanding Biosecurity and its Limitations

In conjunction with the Student Affairs Committee, entomology graduate students have hosted student debates annually since 1993 (with the exception of one year) at the Entomological Society of America national meetings. The debates have focused on a variety of topics and emphasized current interests in prominent issues or subjects that shape our science. The 2007 student debate theme was Biosecurity, and debate teams consisted of graduate and undergraduate students majoring in entomology. Each team selected a faculty adviser who met weekly with them during the fall semester, often as part of a special credit course for debate preparation. Because of planned publication limitations, each debate manuscript was summarized in a 600-word narrative. Each topic includes a neutral introduction presented by an unaffiliated group (associated with neither the pro nor con teams). We invited Professor Phyllis M. Higley from the Department of Biology at the College of St. Mary in Nebraska to introduce the overall debate program this year.

Technical documents as rhetorical agency

This research argues that documents can become intermediaries which affect the relationships between disparate groups. Through a critical analysis of materials distributed during an online protest, the author traces the life of a single technical document, simultaneously describing how it was described during deliberation between several groups. Marcusean critical theory and rhetorical criticism framed the analysis. It is suggested that certain documents act as a locus between otherwise unaffiliated groups and that those documents become agents who can mediate deliberation. Further, it is suggested that document analysis can become an important aspect for interpreting group relationships. Future research examining the agency of documents is suggested.

Distribution Systems: Consider Water Quality and Hydraulic Quality

This article discusses the benefits of a flushing program to the water quality in a distribution system and compares and contrasts conventional flushing with unidirectional flushing. Also, several additional issues are discussed relating to water quality that include: coordinating unaffiliated groups when they perform activities affecting the distribution system such as the fire department and public works department; deteriorating water quality and biological growth in tanks or reservoirs where the level remains constant; maintaining water quality in systems with extensive uncoated iron pipe with effective corrosion control; and, reducing the number of artificial dead‐ends and minimizing the problems associated with broken valves during a flushing campaign with a regular valve exercise program.

Identification and characterization of bacteria in a selenium-contaminated hypersaline evaporation pond.

Solar evaporation ponds are commonly used to reduce the volume of seleniferous agricultural drainage water in the San Joaquin Valley, Calif. These hypersaline ponds pose an environmental health hazard because they are heavily contaminated with selenium (Se), mainly in the form of selenate. Se in the ponds may be removed by microbial Se volatilization, a bioremediation process whereby toxic, bioavailable selenate is converted to relatively nontoxic dimethylselenide gas. In order to identify microbes that may be used for Se bioremediation, a 16S ribosomal DNA phylogenetic analysis of an aerobic hypersaline pond in the San Joaquin Valley showed that a previously unaffiliated group of uncultured bacteria (belonging to the order Cytophagales) was dominant, followed by a group of cultured gamma-Proteobacteria which was closely related to Halomonas species. Se K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy of selenate-treated bacterial isolates showed that they accumulated a mixture of predominantly selenate and a selenomethionine-like species, consistent with the idea that selenate was assimilated via the S assimilation pathway. One of these bacterial isolates (Halomonas-like strain MPD-51) was the best candidate for the bioremediation of hypersaline evaporation ponds contaminated with high Se concentrations because it tolerated 2 M selenate and 32.5% NaCl, grew rapidly in media containing selenate, and accumulated and volatilized Se at high rates (1.65 microg of Se g of protein(-1) x h(-1)), compared to other cultured bacterial isolates.

Deliberating Global Environmental Politics

1. Environmental Cooperation Global environmental and resource concerns like hunger, population growth, loss of biological diversity, deforestation, and the so-called 'greenhouse effect' are now emerging on the peace and security research agendas (see Brock, 1991; Levy, 1995). In part, this is because of the alleged relationship between 'ecological scarcity' and violent conflict (Homer-Dixon, 1991). Another explanation is the significant global threat thought to be posed by environmental degradation. The World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED, 1987, p. 23) has warned that 'the security, well-being, and very survival of the planet' are at stake. Because of these perils, the WCED recommends that states pursue 'sustainable development'. In practice, meeting the needs of today without threatening the needs of tomorrow would seem to require unprecedented global collaboration. The Commission's Chair, Gro Harlem Brundtland, wrote (in WCED, 1987, p. x) that perhaps the 'most urgent task today is to persuade nations of the need to return to multilateralism'. Since calls for united global action by UN-affiliated groups can sound suspiciously like self-serving platitudes, it is worthwhile to explain the need for environmental cooperation. The simplest rationale is ecological. Resources like the atmosphere, oceans, and biosphere are shared and must be jointly managed. Other considerations are political and economic. Some form of cooperation will be required to solve problems of global proportions. In the words of the neorealist Kenneth N. Waltz (1979, pp. 209f.), serious concerns like 'poverty, population, [and] pollution,' will 'never be solved by one nation unaided ... no one will deny that collective efforts are needed if common problems are to be solved or somehow managed'. Because of wide gaps in the global distribution of power and wealth, environmental problems related to this disparity can only be addressed collectively. In the developing world, hundreds of millions of people already live in abject poverty, and tax their limited resource base. Some of the least affluent nations have suffered virtual ecological collapse as forests or fisheries have disappeared from years of unsustainable economic activity. Developing states must gain long-term access to global material and economic resources, or else their poverty will lead them to exhaust limited resources or irrevocably sully the environment. The world's poor and weak states will probably not be able to resolve their environmental and resource problems without the cooperation and assistance of the richer, more powerful states and vice versa. Indeed, Ken Conca (1993, p. 319) claims that, because of interdependence, 'the South appears to hold an effective veto over ... international environmental protection merely by staying on its current course'.

Courtesy Listing of the Unaffiliated Groups

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Courtesy Listing of the Unaffiliated Groups

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Factors affecting the birth and death of mutual-help groups: the role of national affiliation, professional involvement, and member focal problem.

Examined the predictive relationship of three variables to the birth and death of mutual-help groups for a statewide New Jersey sample of 3,152 groups over a 2-year period. The three variables studied were group affiliation with a national mutual-help organization, local professional involvement in group activities, and group members' type of focal problem. Log-linear logit analysis revealed that the best-fitting model included Affiliation Status x Professional Involvement, and Affiliation Status x Focal Problem interactions. Among unaffiliated groups, professional involvement was related to lower group mortality, while among affiliated groups it was related to higher group mortality. Unaffiliated behavior control groups had higher odds for mortality and for birth than either unaffiliated life stress groups or unaffiliated medical groups. Among main effect findings, unaffiliated groups had consistently higher odds for birth than affiliated groups. The implications for research and action are discussed.

Courtesy Listing of the Unaffiliated Groups

Courtesy Listing of the Unaffiliated Groups

Courtesy Listing of Unaffiliated Groups

An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content.

Courtesy Listing of Unaffiliated Groups

Courtesy Listing of Unaffiliated Groups