Search results for: conceptual paper

Authors: Eleanor Sweeney, Chunyuan Di

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The metaphors people use in everyday discourse do not arise randomly; rather, they develop from our physical experiences in our social and cultural environments. Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) explains that through metaphor, we apply our embodied understanding of the physical world to non-material concepts to understand and express abstract concepts. Our most productive source domains derive from our embodied understanding and allow us to develop primary metaphors, and from primary metaphors, an elaborate, creative world of culturally constructed complex metaphors. Cognitive Linguistics researchers draw upon individual embodied experience for primary metaphors. Socioculturally embodied experience through music has long furnished linguistic expressions in diverse languages, as conceptual metaphors or everyday expressions.  Can a socially embodied experience function in the same way as an individually embodied experience in the creation of conceptual metaphors? The authors argue that since music is inherently social and embodied, musical experiences function as a richly motivated source domain. The focus of this study is socially embodied musical experience which is then reflected and expressed through metaphors. This cross-linguistic study explores music as a source domain for metaphors of social alignment in English, French, and Chinese. The authors explored two public discourse sites, Facebook and Linguée, in order to collect linguistic metaphors from three different languages. By conducting this cross-linguistic study, cross-cultural similarities and differences in metaphors for which music is the source domain can be examined. Different musical elements, such as melody, speed, rhythm and harmony, are analyzed for their possible metaphoric meanings of social alignment. Our findings suggest that the general metaphor cooperation is music is a productive metaphor with some subcases, and that correlated social behaviors can be metaphorically expressed with certain elements in music. For example, since performance is a subset of the category behavior, there is a natural mapping from performance in music to behavior in social settings: social alignment is musical performance. Musical performance entails a collective social expectation that exerts control over individual behavior.  When individual behavior does not align with the collective social expectation, music-related expressions are often used to express how the individual is violating social norms. Moreover, when individuals do align their behavior with social norms, similar musical expressions are used. Cooperation is a crucial social value in all cultures, indeed it is a key element of survival, and music provides a coherent, consistent, and rich source domain—one based upon a universal and definitive cultural practice.

Keywords: Chinese, Conceptual Metaphor Theory, cross-linguistic, culturally embodied experience, English, French, metaphor, music

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Authors: Leila Goosen, Toppie N. Mukasa-Lwanga

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The purpose of this paper relates to exploring academics’ use of distance education technologies for empowerment and equity in an Information Technology environment. Literature was studied on academics’ technology use towards effective teaching and meaningful learning in a distance education Information Technology environment. Main arguments presented center on formulating and situating significant concepts within an appropriate theoretical and conceptual framework, including those related to distance education, throughput and other measures of academic efficiency. The research design, sampling, data collection instrument and the validity and reliability thereof, as well as the data analysis method used is described. The paper discusses results related to academics’ use of technology towards effective teaching and meaningful learning in a distance education Information Technology environment. Conclusions are finally presented on the way in which this paper makes a significant and original contribution regarding academics’ use of technology towards effective teaching and meaningful learning in a distance education Information Technology environment.

Keywords: distance, education, technologies, Information Technology Environment

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Authors: Clovis Ultramari, Lidia Floriani, Debora Cicioli

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This paper is a preliminary discussion on the constituency of contemporary global urban scenarios. It is based on secondary sources, mostly from the topics mostly currently discussed by global studies institutes, academic material on the possible components of this phenomenon, and a list of possible scenarios preliminarily proposed by these authors. It also discusses one of these possible scenarios (urban insurgencies) through the lens of a global perspective. Main objective of the research presented in this paper is to produce insights for international aid and development agencies as well as to respond to an increasing interest in the urban studies field in discussing global topics. This paper also results from discussions held in seminars offered by the authors in the graduate program of Urban Management along 2021 and 2022. It is part of a research project that puts together an international team of researches, mostly from the Global South. Results so far obtained refer to conceptual aspects for the determination of global urban scenarios and the presentation of urban insurgencies as worldwide trending urban phenomenon. Presentation in the seminar is part of an ongoing discussion.

Keywords: urban global scenarios, contemporary cities, global south, urban insurgencies

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Authors: Leila Trabelsi

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The urbanization of Information Systems (IS) is an effective approach to master the complexity of the organization. It strengthens the coherence of IS and aligns it with the business strategy. Moreover, this approach has significant advantages such as reducing Information Technologies (IT) costs, enhancing the IS position in a competitive environment and ensuring the scalability of the IS through the integration of technological innovations. Therefore, the urbanization is considered as a business strategic decision. Thus, its embedding becomes a necessity in order to improve the IS practice. However, there is a lack of experimental cases studying meta-modelling of Urbanized Information System (UIS). The aim of this paper addresses new urbanization content meta-model which permits modelling, testing and taking into consideration organizational aspects. This methodological framework is structured according to two main abstraction levels, a conceptual level and an operational level. For each of these levels, different models are proposed and presented. The proposed model for has been empirically tested on company. The findings of this paper present an experimental study of urbanization meta-model. The paper points out the significant relationships between dimensions and their evolution.

Keywords: urbanization, information systems, enterprise architecture, meta-model

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Authors: Elysee Guy Yohou

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Côte d'Ivoire established a National Commission for Sustainable Development with a view to implementing the ESD. This study aims to understand the knowledge, attitude and practice about education for sustainability of teachers, students, principals, and staff in secondary schools in Côte d’Ivoire while exploring the barriers, levers and examines the leadership skills needed to help carrying out ESD. The data collection took place in October and December 2015. Questionnaires were administered to 400 participants, which involved teachers, students, principals and staff in 25 public and private secondary schools in four regional offices of education. 297 questionnaires were collected producing a collection-rate of 74.25%. Descriptive statistics, independent t-test, dependent sample t-test, One way ANOVA, Pearson correlation were used to analyze the data. Thereupon, knowledge, attitudes about education for sustainability of teachers, principals and staff in secondary school are better than students. However, there is little practice of ESD. 68.3% of participants are not familiar with the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. In addition, 92.8% of schools do not have a school Agenda 21. The major barriers that prevent the teaching of education for sustainability are lack of access to technical tools, insufficient funding and lack of information. The main levers are teacher and staff training, financing, awareness of students, and public engagement. Principals do possess good human and technical skills but limited conceptual skills. The study showed that conceptual and human skills are convenient assets which rhyme more with education for sustainability. Thereupon, if schools’ principal need to improve education for sustainability through practice, they need more conceptual skills.

Keywords: Côte d'Ivoire, education for sustainability, leadership skills, secondary school

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Authors: Anne Kariuki, Kellen Kiambati

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The broad objective of this study was to establish the mediating effect of media visibility on the relationship between corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the corporate performance of firms listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The review of the literature provided conceptual and empirical gaps that formed the basis of the conceptual hypotheses. A survey questionnaire was distributed to the 50 heads of human resource departments in the different firms. A survey was conducted on fifty (50) companies listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The study findings reported a significant relationship between CSR and non-financial performance and the mediating role of media visibility on the relationship between CSR and performance. The findings of the study support the signaling theory and stakeholder’s theory. Conclusively, CSR activities have an effect on media visibility, which in turn affects performance.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility, media visibility, corporate performance, non-financial performance

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Authors: Mohammed Riyas Pp

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This study aimed at investigating major issues in translating the Arabic Hadith terminologies into English, focusing on choosing the most appropriate translation for each, reviewing major Hadith works in English. This study is confined to twenty terminologies with regard to classification of Hadith based on authority, strength, number of transmitters and connections in Isnad. Almost all available translations are collected and analyzed to find the most proper translation based on linguistic and translational values. To the researcher, many translations lack precise understanding of either Hadith terminologies or English language and varieties of methodologies have influence on varieties of translations. This study provides a classification of translational and conceptual issues. Translational issues are related to translatability of these terminologies and their equivalence. Conceptual issues provide a list of misunderstandings due to wrong translations of terminologies. This study ends with a suggestion for unification in translating terminologies based on convention of Muslim scholars having good understanding of Hadith terminologies and English language.

Keywords: english language, hadith terminologies, equivalence in translation, problems in translation

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Authors: Elham Ghazi Mohammad

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This study examined the female students’ understanding for the solar system concepts through the utilization of the I-Cube technology as a virtual reality technology. The study conducted in Qatar University for samples of students of eighth and ninth preparatory grade students in the State of Qatar. The research framework comprises designated quantitative research designs and methods of data collection and analysis including pre- and post-conceptual exams. This research based on experimental method design that focuses on students’ performance and conceptual questions. A group of 120 students from the eighth and ninth groups were divided into two pools of 60 students each, where the two 60-student groups represent the designated control and treatment groups. It must be mentioned that the students were selected randomly from the eighth and ninth grades. The solar system lesson of interest was taught by teacher candidates (senior students at the college of Education at QU), who taught both the experimental group (integrating I-cube) in virtual lab in Qatar University and control group (without integrating this technology) in one of independent school in the State of Qatar. It is noteworthy to mention that the students usually face some difficulties to learn by imagining real situation such as solar system and inner planet lesson. Collected data was statistically analyzed using one-way ANOVA and one-way ANCOVA using SPSS Statistics. The obtained results revealed that integrating I-Cube technology has significantly enhanced female students’ conceptual understanding of the solar system. Interestingly, our findings demonstrated the applicability of utilizing integrating I-Cube technology toward enhancing the students’ understanding regarding subjects of interests within the landscapes of basic sciences.

Keywords: virtual lab, integrating technology, I-Cube, solar system

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Authors: Sonia Hirt

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The Planner's Triangle, an oft-cited model that visually defined planning as the search for sustainability to balance the three basic priorities of equity, economy, and environment, has influenced planning theory and practice for a quarter of a century. In this essay, we argue that the triangle requires updating and expansion. Even if planners keep sustainability as their key core aspiration at the center of their imaginary geometry, the triangle's vertices have to be rethought. Planners should move on to a 21st-century concept. We propose a Planner's Pentangle with five basic priorities as vertices of a new conceptual polygon. These five priorities are Wellbeing, Equity, Economy, Environment, and Esthetics (WE⁴). The WE⁴ concept more accurately and fully represents planning’s history. This is especially true in the United States, where public art and public health played pivotal roles in the establishment of the profession in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It also more accurately represents planning’s future. Both health/wellness and aesthetic concerns are becoming increasingly important in the 21st century. The pentangle can become an effective tool for understanding and visualizing planning's history and present. Planning has a long history of representing urban presents and future as conceptual models in visual form. Such models can play an important role in understanding and shaping practice. For over two decades, one such model, the Planner's Triangle, stood apart as the expression of planning's pursuit for sustainability. But if the model is outdated and insufficiently robust, it can diminish our understanding of planning practice, as well as the appreciation of the profession among non-planners. Thus, we argue for a new conceptual model of what planners do.

Keywords: sustainable development, planning for sustainable development, planner's triangle, planner's pentangle, planning and health, planning and art, planning history

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Authors: Ben J. Lippe

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Consult Liaison Psychology services are overgrowing, given the robust empirical support of the utility of this service in hospital settings. These psychological services, including clinical assessment, applied psychotherapy, and consultation with other healthcare providers, have been shown to improve health outcomes for patients and bolster important areas of administrative interest such as decreased length of patient admission. However, there is little descriptive literature outlining the process and mechanisms of building or developing a Consult Liaison Psychology service. The main findings of this current conceptual work are intended to be clear in nature to elucidate the essential methods involved in developing consult liaison psychology programs, including thorough reviews of relevant behavioral health literature and inclusion of experiential outcomes. The diverse range of hospital settings and healthcare systems makes a “blueprint” method of program development challenging to define, yet important structural frameworks presented here based on the relevant literature and applied practice can help lay critical groundwork for program development in this growing area of psychological service. This conceptual approach addresses the prominent processes, as well as common programmatic and clinical pitfalls, involved in the event of a Consult Liaison Psychology service. This paper, including a systematic review of relevant literature, is intended to serve as a key program development reference for the development of Consult Liaison Psychology services, other related behavioral health programs, and to help inform further research efforts.

Keywords: behavioral health, consult liaison, health psychology, psychology program development

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Authors: Wafeek Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed

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In the era of globalization and openness informational. Anyone who thinks about innovation in the earth population in Islam in our contemporary reality, he will find that it is not destined to its civilized extension to last. The purpose of the research is a trial to reach a realistic vision for creative, innovative and intellectual thought for the earth population in Islam as an instrument to Confrontation and observe the changes that have affected in the architecture of the land during different eras. Through knowing the controls of the ruling legitimacy(that served as definitions and laws which formulate its features) and using customs, traditions, and conventions as a telescope for the earth population in Islam, It explained the impact of them on features of creative formation for the architecture of the land in our contemporary reality. The study shows a modern vision to identify innovation in the earth population in Islam. As well as reformulating its mental image and monitoring its changes in Islamic heritage cities. This will be done through a two main branches: firstly, set forth a theory represented in studying creative concepts which formulate the population of the earth in Islam. Such as initiative and responsibility for reviving the dead land, the lane [alley] as formation unit and social solidarity,… Etc.. The second branch is preparing a practical, critical vision for innovative conceptual thought for the architecture of the land of Islam, through studying the development of a traditional Islamic city., The conceptual thought of making the birth festival ["Al-Refaee"] and its emulation for governing roles in the traditional city building. The research concludes The necessity of forming the suggested a creative vision for identifying how to re-form the conceptual for our contemporary population of the earth. It poses an important question which is how to return to creativity in the architecture of the land of Islam in our built environments.

Keywords: innovation and creation, architecture, the land in Islam, criticism of design

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Authors: Rajiv Kumar, Amit Sachan, Arindam Mukherjee

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Government agencies around the world, including India, are incorporating digital technologies and processes into their day-to-day operations to become more efficient. Despite low internet penetration (around 34.8% of total population) in India, Government of India has made some public services mandatory to access online (e.g. passport, tax filing).This is insisting citizens to access mandatory public services online. However, due to digital divide, all citizens do not have equal access to internet. In light of this, it is an interesting topic to explore how citizens are able to access mandatory online public services. It is important to understand how citizens are adopting these mandatory e-government services and how the adoption behavior of these mandatory e-government services is different or similar to adoption behavior of non-mandatory e-government services. The purpose of this research is to investigate the factors that influence adoption of mandatory and non-mandatory e-government services in India. A quantitative technique is employed in this study. A conceptual model has been proposed by integrating the influencing factors to adopt e-government services from previous studies. The proposed conceptual model highlights a comprehensive set of potential factors influencing the adoption of e-government services. The proposed model has been validated by keeping in view the local context of Indian society. Online and paper based survey was administered, collected data was analyzed and results have been discussed. A total of 463 valid responses were received and further the responses were analyzed. The research reveals that the influencing factors to adopt e-government services are not same for both mandatory and non-mandatory e-government services. There are some factors that influence adoption of both mandatory and non-mandatory e-government services but there are some which are relevant for either of mandatory and non-mandatory e-government services. The research findings may help government or concerned agencies in successfully implementing e-government services.

Keywords: adoption, e-government, India, mandatory, non-mandatory

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Authors: Mariel Encar H. Uy, Paula Marie G. Pacle

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The purpose of this research is to present a Single Country Comparative Contextual Description Study of Strong Islamic Influences in Relation to the Politics of Republic of Indonesia. This paper recognizes that even the coalition of secular and moderate Islamic parties protect the minority rights of all the constituents, Islam is still the dominant religion among the other recognized religions in Indonesia (Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism). In this study, it will also detail the involvement on the religions’ beliefs and techniques; participation of political actors, depending on what religion they belong and adhere to; the tensions whenever the government interferes with Islamists and other religions; the government’s solution or public policies implemented to maintain peace and order of Indonesia. This paper will develop a conceptual framework to describe how the Religion and Political Stability is interdependent with each other.

Keywords: diversity of religion in indonesia, secularization in Indonesia, motivations of political actors, voter turnouts based on religion

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Authors: Maria Joseph Israel, Ahmed Amer

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Our work aims to broaden the application of provenance technology beyond its traditional domains of scientific workflow management and database systems by offering a general provenance framework to capture richer and extensible metadata in unstructured textual data sources such as literary texts, commentaries, translations, and digital humanities. Specifically, we demonstrate the feasibility of capturing and representing expressive provenance metadata, including more of the context for citing scholarly works (e.g., the authors’ explicit or inferred intentions at the time of developing his/her research content for publication), while also supporting subsequent augmentation with similar additional metadata (by third parties, be they human or automated). To better capture the nature and types of possible citations, in our proposed provenance scheme metaScribe, we extend standard provenance conceptual models to form our proposed provCite ontology. This provides a conceptual framework which can accurately capture and describe more of the functional and rhetorical properties of a citation than can be achieved with any current models.

Keywords: knowledge representation, provenance architecture, ontology, metadata, bibliographic citation, semantic web annotation

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Authors: Jelena Kovačević Vorgučin, Sibila Petenji Arbutina

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The postmodern age brings a rapid development of technology which inevitably leads to man's need to adapt to modern lifestyle. On the one hand, technological achievements have made human life easier, but there are numerous risks involved. Moreover, man's awareness and perception is changing and adapting unconsciously to the world we live in, while communication in the 21st century is predominantly based on the consumption of images. This paper presents sociological aspects of a community which is confined due to turbulent political-economic circumstances and its impact on the development of media literacy in Serbia. Previous researches led to the conclusion that the media culture is on an extremely low level, and that it can have a strong influence on the general development of the society, starting from the youngest segment of the population. Our aim is to use the conceptual authorial photographs inspired by the obtained research results to emphasize the importance that the impact of visual art has in delivering the message, its role in education and in raising awareness of universal social problems. The paper presents a number of stages involved in the conceptual project which is designed to last over a longer period of time in order to facilitate dissemination of information. First, a survey was carried out in several preschool institutions. This resulted in obtaining the necessary information on the habitual use of the medium of television in children and their carers-parents. The second stage focused on the relationship between the parent and the child in TV consumption. Further, an overview of the visual part of the project was made, which consisted of photographs in various dimensions, ranging from miniature to large dimensions, and following various exhibition principles in both gallery and alternative spaces. This stage of the project placed particular emphasis on the non-standard exhibiting formats and alternative exhibition principles which are increasingly present in all kinds of visual art aimed at achieving a higher level of information noticing and memorizing. The motif on the authorial photographs is children's portraits taken while they are watching different television contents, with emphasis on their emotional response. The importance of the medium of TV is particularly emphasized due to the fact that its consumption is the highest, even though there are newer and more advanced information-technological achievements. The already realized part of the project was used for an analysis of the results in the last stage of the project, which led to the conclusion that the response to the entire visual expression campaign was extremely positive, and action as such very useful indeed. The results obtained speak in favour of widening and continuation of the project, both on a greater number of sites locally as well as in other communities in Serbia with the aim of guiding people towards meaningful consumption of the television medium.

Keywords: alternative space exhibiting, children and TV, conceptual portrait photography, media literacy

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Authors: Zhuo Jing-Schmidt, Jun Lang

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Numeral classifiers are common in Asian languages. Research on numeral classifiers primarily focuses on noun classifiers that quantify and individuate nominal referents. There is a scarcity of research on event quantification using verb classifiers. This study aims to understand the semantic and conceptual basis of event quantification in Chinese. From a usage-based Construction Grammar perspective, this study presents a corpus analysis of event quantification in Chinese. Drawing on a large balanced corpus of contemporary Chinese, we analyze 667 NOUN col-lexemes totaling 31136 tokens of a productive numeral classifier construction in Chinese. Using collostructional analysis of the collexemes, the results show that the construction quantifies and classifies dramatic events using a theater-based conceptual metaphor. We argue that the usage patterns reflect the cultural entrenchment of theater as in Chinese conceptualization and the construal of theatricality in linguistic expression. The study has implications for cognitive semantics and construction grammar.

Keywords: event quantification, classifier, corpus, metaphor

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Authors: Saulutė Juzelėnienė, Skirmantė Šarkauskienė

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In this paper, it is aimed to analyse the multimodal representations of the concepts of LOVE and PASSION in Lithuanian graphic novel “Gertrūda”, by Gerda Jord. The research is based on the earlier findings by Forceville (2005), Eerden (2009) as well as insights made by Shihara and Matsunaka (2009) and Kövecses (2000). The domains of target and source of LOVE and PASSION metaphors in comics are expressed by verbal and non-verbal cues. The analysis of non-verbal cues adopts the concepts of rune and indexes. A pictorial rune is a graphic representation of an object that does not exist in reality in comics, such as lines, dashes, text "balloons", and pictorial index – a graphically represented object of reality, a real symptom expressing a certain emotion, such as a wide smile, furrowed eyebrows, etc. Indexes are often hyperbolized in comics. The research revealed that most frequent source domains are CLOSINESS/UNITY, NATURAL/ PHYSICAL FORCE, VALUABLE OBJECT, PRESSURE. The target is the emotion of LOVE/PASSION which belongs to a more abstract domain of psychological experience. In this kind of metaphor, the picture can be interpreted as representing the emotion of happiness. Data are taken from Lithuanian comic books and Internet sites, where comics have been presented. The data and the analysis we are providing in this article aims to reveal that there are pictorial metaphors that manifest conceptual metaphors that are also expressed verbally and that methodological framework constructed for the analysis in the papers by Forceville at all is applicable to other emotions and culture specific pictorial manifestations.

Keywords: multimodal metaphor, conceptual metaphor, comics, graphic novel, concept of love/passion

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Authors: David Ruiz, Carlos Nava, Roberto Carbajal

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The psychological profile has become one of the most important sources of information when it comes to individual selection and the hiring process in any organization. Psychological instruments are used to collect data about variables that are considered critically important for performance in work. However, because of conceptual chaos in organizational psychology, most of the information provided by psychological testing is not directly useful for Mexican human resources professionals to take hiring decisions. The aims of this paper are 1) to underline the lack of conceptual precision in theoretical testing foundations in Mexico and 2) presenting a reliability and validity analysis of a frustration tolerance instrument created as an alternative to a heuristically conduct individual assessment in organizations. First, a description of assessment conditions in Mexico is made. Second, an instrument and a theoretical framework is presented as an alternative to the assessment practices in the country. A total of 65 Psychology Iztacala Superior Studies Faculty students were assessed. Cronbach´s alpha coefficient was calculated and an exploratory factor analysis was carried out to prove the scale unidimensionality. Reliability analysis revealed good internal consistency of the scale (Cronbach’s α = 0.825). Factor analysis produced 4 factors for the scale. However, factor loadings and explained variation give proof to the scale unidimensionality. It is concluded that the instrument has good psychometric properties that will allow human resources professionals to collect useful data. Different possibilities to conduct psychological assessment are suggested for future development.

Keywords: psychological assessment, frustration tolerance, human resources, organizational psychology

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Authors: Vahid Bairami Rad

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With the rapid growth of the Internet and the globalization of the market, most enterprises are trying to attract and win customers in the highly competitive electronic market. Better e-service quality will enhance the relationship with customers and their satisfaction. So the measurement of eservice quality is very important but it is a complex process due to the complex nature of services. Literature predicts that there is a lack of universal definition of e-service quality. The e-service quality measures in banking have great importance in achieving high customer base. This paper proposes a conceptual model for measuring e-service quality in Iranian Banking Iran. Nine dimensions reliability, ease of use, personalization, security and trust, website aesthetic, responsiveness, contact and speed of delivery had been identified. The results of this paper may help to develop a proper scale to measure the e-service quality in Iranian Banking Industry, which may assist to maintain and improve the performance and effectiveness of e-service quality to retain customers.

Keywords: electronic banking, Dimensions, customer service quality, electronic, communication

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Authors: Joanna Błach, Anna Doś, Maria Gorczyńska, Monika Wieczorek-Kosmala

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Financial innovations can be regarded as the cause and the effect of the evolution of the financial system. Most of financial innovations are created by various financial institutions for their own purposes and needs. However, due to their diversity, financial innovations can be also applied by various business entities (other than financial institutions). This paper focuses on the potential application of financial innovations by non-financial companies. It is assumed that financial innovations may be effectively applied in all fields of corporate financial decisions integrating financial management with the risk management process. Appropriate application of financial innovations may enhance the development of the company and increase its value by improving its financial situation and reducing the level of risk. On the other hand, misused financial innovations may become the source of extra risk for the company threatening its further operation. The main objective of the paper is to identify the major types of financial innovations offered to non-financial companies by the banking system in Poland. It also aims at identifying the main factors determining the creation of financial innovations in the banking system in Poland and indicating future directions of their development. This paper consists of conceptual and empirical part. Conceptual part based on theoretical study is focused on the determinants of the process of financial innovations and their application by the non-financial companies. Theoretical study is followed by the empirical research based on the analysis of the actual offer of the 20 biggest banks operating in Poland with regard to financial innovations offered to SMEs and large corporations. These innovations are classified according to the main functions of the integrated financial management, such as: Financing, investment, working capital management and risk management. Empirical study has proved that the biggest banks operating in the Polish market offer to their business customers many types and classes of financial innovations. This offer appears vast and adequate to the needs and purposes of the Polish non-financial companies. It was observed that financial innovations pertained to financing decisions dominate in the banks’ offer. However, due to high diversification of the offered financial innovations, business customers may effectively apply them in all fields and areas of integrated financial management. It should be underlined, that the banks’ offer is highly dispersed, which may limit the implementation of financial innovations in the corporate finance. It would be also recommended for the banks operating in the Polish market to intensify the education campaign aiming at increasing knowledge about financial innovations among business customers.

Keywords: banking products and services, banking sector in Poland, corporate financial management, financial innovations, theory of innovation

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Authors: Anna Ślebioda

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The paper discusses intersections between disability and femininity. Their imbrication may impede negotiation of identity. The analysis of a blog of a women with disability aims to prove this hypothesis. It involves 724 entries written in the span of six years. The conceptual framework for the considerations constitute the concepts of stigma and spoiled identity, and overlapping elements of femininity and disability. The empirical part comprises content analysis. It allows to locate the narrative on femininity and disability within the dimensions of imbricated categories described in the theoretical part. The results demonstrate aspects to consider in further research on identity in women with disabilities.

Keywords: disability, femininity, spoiled identity, stigma

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Authors: Shaima A. Al Mansoori

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Eco-cities have become part of the broader and universal discourse and embrace of sustainable communities. Given the ideals and ‘potential’ benefits of eco-cities for people, the environment and prosperity, hardly can an argument be made against the desirability of eco-cities. Yet, this paper posits that it is necessary for urban scholars, technocrats and policy makers to engage in discussions of the pragmatism of implementing the ideals of eco-cities, for example, from the political, budgetary, cultural and other dimensions. In the context of such discourse, this paper examines the feasibility of one of the cardinal principles and goals of eco-cities, which is the reduction or elimination of pollution through various creative and innovative initiatives, in the UAE. This paper contends and argues that, laudable and desirable as this goal is, it is a polylemma and, therefore, overly ambitious and practically unattainable in the UAE. The paper uses the mixed method research strategy, in which data is sourced from secondary and general sources through desktop research, from public records in governmental agencies, and from the conceptual academic and professional literature. Information from these sources will be used, first, to define and review pollution as a concept and multifaceted phenomenon with multidimensional impacts. Second, the paper will use society’s five goal clusters as a framework to identify key causes and impacts of pollution in the UAE. Third, the paper will identify and analyze specific public policies, programs and projects that make pollution in the UAE a polylemma. Fourth, the paper will argue that the phenomenal rates of population increase, urbanization, economic growth, consumerism and development in the UAE make pollution an inevitable product and burden that society must live with. This ‘reality’ makes the goal and desire of pollution-free cities pursuable but unattainable. The paper will conclude by identifying and advocating creative and innovative initiatives that can be taken by the various stakeholders in the country to reduce and mitigate pollution in the short- and long-term.

Keywords: goal clusters, pollution, polylemma, sustainable communities

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Authors: Inalegwu Stephany Akipu

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Archaeology being the study of mans past using the materials he left behind has been argued to be classified under sciences while some scholars are of the opinion that it does not deserve the status of being referred to as ‘science’. However divergent the opinions of scholars may be on the classification of Archaeology as a science or in the humanities, the discipline has no doubt, greatly aided in shaping the history of man’s past. Through the different stages that the discipline has transgressed, it has encountered some challenges. This paper therefore, attempts to highlight the need for the inclusion of branches of other disciplines when using Archaeology in reconstructing man’s history. The objective of course, is to add to the existing body of knowledge but specifically to expose the incomparable importance of archaeology as a discipline and to place it on such a high scale that it will not be regulated to the background as is done in some Nigerian Universities. The paper attempts a clarification of some conceptual terms and discusses the developmental stages of archaeology. It further describes the present state of the discipline and concludes with the disciplines that need to be imbibed in the use of Archaeology which is an evolving cultural science to obtain the aforementioned interdisciplinary approach.

Keywords: archaeology, cultural, evolution, interdisciplinary, science

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Authors: Cinzia Russi, Chiyo Nishida

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Using data from online corpora (Spanish CREA, Italian CORIS), this paper examines the relatively understudied use of Spanish se and Italian si exemplified in (1) and (2), respectively. (1) El rojo es … el que se come a los demás. ‘The red (bottle) is the one that outshines/*eats the rest.’(2) … ebbe anche la saggezza di mangiarsi tutto il suo patrimonio. ‘… he even had the wisdom to squander/*eat all his estate.’ In these sentences, se/si accompanies the consumption verb comer/mangiare ‘to eat’, without which the sentences would not be interpreted appropriately. This se/si cannot readily be attributed to any of the multiple functions so far identified in the literature: reflexive, ergative, middle/passive, inherent, benefactive, and complete consumptive. In particular, this paper argues against the feasibility of a recent construction-based analysis of sentences like (1) and (2), which situates se/si within a prototype-based network of meanings all deriving from the central meaning of 'COMPLETE CONSUMPTION' (e.g., Alice se comió toda la torta/Alicesi è mangiata tutta la torta ‘John ate the whole cake’). Clearly, the empirical adequacy of such an account is undermined by the fact that the events depicted in the se/si-sentences at issue do not always entail complete consumption because they may lack an INCREMENTAL THEME, the distinguishing property of complete consumption. Alternatively, it is proposed that the sentences under analysis represent instances of verbal METAPHORICAL EXTENSION: se/si represents an explicit marker of this cognitive process, which has independently developed from the complete consumptive se/si, and the meaning extension is captured by the general tenets of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT). Two conceptual domains, Source (DS) and target (DT), are related by similarity, assigning an appropriate metaphorical interpretation to DT. The domains paired here are comer/mangiare (DS) and comerse/mangiarsi (DT). The eating event (DS) involves (a) the physical process of xEATER grinding yFOOD-STUFF into pieces and swallowing it; and (b) the aspect of xEATER savoring yFOOD-STUFF and being nurtured by it. In the physical act of eating, xEATER has dominance and exercises his force over yFOOD-STUFF. This general sense of dominance and force is mapped onto DT and is manifested in the ways exemplified in (1) and (2), and many others. According to CMT, two other properties are observed in each pair of DS & DT. First, DS tends to be more physical and concrete and DT more abstract, and systematic mappings are established between constituent elements in DS and those in DT: xEATER corresponds to the element that destroys and yFOOD-STUFF to the element that is destroyed in DT, as exemplified in (1) and (2). Though the metaphorical extension marker se/si appears by far most frequently with comer/mangiare in the corpora, similar systematic mappings are observed in several other verb pairs, for example, jugar/giocare ‘to play (games)’ and jugarse/giocarsi ‘to jeopardize/risk (life, reputation, etc.)’, perder/perdere ‘to lose (an object)’ and perderse/perdersi ‘to miss out on (an event)’, etc. Thus, this study provides evidence that languages may indeed formally mark metaphor using means available to them.

Keywords: complete consumption value, conceptual metaphor, Italian si/Spanish se, metaphorical extension.

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Authors: Noor Azlina Mohamed Yunus, Noorlaila Yunus, Kadulliah Ghazali

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In this an era of intense competition, Malaysia aspires to be a fully developed country by 2020 and desires its citizens to perform and execute excellent work behaviors. For that reason, organizations are focusing on employees’ positive and constructive behaviors such as organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). They expect employees to not only complete their required duties by providing excellent performance but also keenly go beyond their roles that are not specifying in their formal job descriptions to ensure organizational success. The role and duty to acquire employees to engage and connect in OCB is the responsibility of a leader. Thus, leaders can utilize their sources of power to enable subordinates to accomplish organizational objective including OCB. Therefore, this paper formulates a framework postulating leader’s sources of power as an antecedent of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). The discussion on implications for future theory development is discussed.

Keywords: organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB), leader’s sources of power, call centre industry, conceptual paper

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Authors: Sunandapriya Bhikkhu, Shimo Sraman

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The main objective of this research is to analytically study the concept of Lyotard’s different that rejects the monopoly criteria and single rule with the incommensurable, which can explain about conceptual problems of beauty in the philosophy of contemporary art. In Lyotard’s idea that basic value judgment of human should be a value like a phrase that is a small unit and an individual such as the aesthetic value that to explain the art world. From the concept of the anti-war artist that rejects the concept of the traditional aesthetic which cannot be able to explain the changing in contemporary society but emphasizes the meaning of individual beauty that is at the beginning of contemporary art today. In the analysis of the problem, the researcher supports the concept of Lyotard’s different that emphasizes the artistic expression which opens the space of perception and beyond the limitations of language process. Art is like phrase or small units that can convey a sense of humanity through the aesthetic value of the individual, not social criteria or universal. The concept of Lyotard’s different awakens and challenge us to the rejection of the single rule that is not open the social space to minorities by not accepting the monopoly criteria.

Keywords: difference, Jean-Francois Lyotard, postmodern, beauty, contemporary art

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Authors: Desmond Chinedu Oparaku, Oyemike Victor Benson, Ifeyinwa A. Ariole

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A critical examination of the emerging knowledge society reveals that library and information centres have a significant role to play in the building of knowledge society. The major highlights of this paper include: the conceptual analysis of knowledge society, overview of library and information centres in developing countries, role of libraries and information centre in building up of knowledge society, library and information professionals as factor in building knowledge, challenges faced by Library and Information Centres (LICs) in building knowledge society, strategies for building knowledge society. The position of this paper is that in spite of the influx of varied information and communication technologies in the information industry which is the driving force of knowledge society, there is a dire need for Libraries and Information Centres (LIC) to contribute positively to the migration and transition processes from the information society to knowledge-based society.

Keywords: information and communication technology (ICT), information centres, information industry, information society

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Authors: Jessica To

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Feedback is one of the powerful levers for enhancing students’ performance. However, some students are under-engaged with feedback because they lack responsibility for feedback uptake. To resolve this conundrum, recent literature proposes feedback partnerships in which students and teachers share the power and responsibilities to co-construct feedback. During feedback co-construction, students express feedback needs to teachers, and teachers respond to individuals’ needs in return. Though this approach can increase students’ feedback ownership, its application is lagging as the field lacks conceptual clarity and implementation guide. This presentation aims to discuss the conceptual framework of feedback partnerships and feedback co-construction strategies. It identifies the components of feedback partnerships and strategies which could facilitate feedback co-construction. A systematic literature review was conducted to answer the questions. The literature search was performed using ERIC, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar with the keywords “assessment partnership”, “student as partner,” and “feedback engagement”. No time limit was set for the search. The inclusion criteria encompassed (i) student-teacher partnerships in feedback, (ii) feedback engagement in higher education, (iii) peer-reviewed publications, and (iv) English as the language of publication. Those without addressing conceptual understanding and implementation strategies were excluded. Finally, 65 publications were identified and analysed using thematic analysis. For the procedure, the texts relating to the questions were first extracted. Then, codes were assigned to summarise the ideas of the texts. Upon subsuming similar codes into themes, four themes emerged: students’ responsibilities, teachers’ responsibilities, conditions for partnerships development, and strategies. Their interrelationships were examined iteratively for framework development. Establishing feedback partnerships required different responsibilities of students and teachers during feedback co-construction. Students needed to self-evaluate performance against task criteria, identify inadequacies and communicate their needs to teachers. During feedback exchanges, they interpreted teachers’ comments, generated self-feedback through reflection, and co-developed improvement plans with teachers. Teachers had to increase students’ understanding of criteria and evaluation skills and create opportunities for students’ expression of feedback needs. In feedback dialogue, teachers responded to students’ needs and advised on the improvement plans. Feedback partnerships would be best grounded in an environment with trust and psychological safety. Four strategies could facilitate feedback co-construction. First, students’ understanding of task criteria could be increased by rubrics explanation and exemplar analysis. Second, students could sharpen evaluation skills if they participated in peer review and received teacher feedback on the quality of peer feedback. Third, provision of self-evaluation checklists and prompts and teacher modeling of self-assessment process could aid students in articulating feedback needs. Fourth, the trust could be fostered when teachers explained the benefits of feedback co-construction, showed empathy, and provided personalised comments in dialogue. Some strategies were applied in interactive cover sheets in which students performed self-evaluation and made feedback requests on a cover sheet during assignment submission, followed by teachers’ response to individuals’ requests. The significance of this presentation lies in unpacking the conceptual framework of feedback partnerships and outlining feedback co-construction strategies. With a solid foundation in theory and practice, researchers and teachers could better enhance students’ engagement with feedback.

Keywords: conceptual framework, feedback co-construction, feedback partnerships, implementation strategies

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Authors: Ayla Hoeta, Holly Winton

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Maramataka is an ancestral lunar environmental knowledge system based on environmental tohu (signs, observations or indicators), that continues to impart maatauranga (knowledge) to tangata whenua, people of the land after thousands of years. Maramataka is the mauri (energy) flow between whenua (land), moana (water) and rangi (sky), experienced through tirotiro (observing), connecting and attuning to the natural environment. Tohu serve as guidance to practises of kaiawhina (protection) a key value driving Aotearoa New Zealand led research in Antarctica. Recent developments recognise the importance of including and integrating indigenous knowledge and perspectives such as maatauranga Maaori which can provide insights into the conservation of Antarctica. We use an ancient kaupapa Maaori framework of weaving, wayfinding and attunement to navigate complexities using Hautu Waka. We investigate and weave together learnings from Antarctic and western science and indigenous Maaori maatauranga and tohu of moana, whenua and rangi to provide an indigenous perspective of Antarctica taiao and Maramataka. Drawing on past and present knowledge of environmental calendars contained in maatauranga Maaori and paleoclimate knowledge bases, field observations, interviews and whakataukii (proverbs), we aim to provide a conceptual Maramataka of the southwestern Ross Sea region and area of Antarctica. A key area of interest are the tohu related to the marama which are connected to all three interweaving spheres of moana, rangi, whenua. Maatauranga Maramataka in Aotearoa has been developed over millennia and we acknowledge the mana and sacredness of this tupuna knowledge and that this conceptual Maramataka serves as the starting point of a journey to shine light on indigenous perspectives using Maaori methods and frameworks in a dominant western science paradigm.

Keywords: Maramataka, Antarctica, Aotearoa, Maaori, tohu, moon, lunar calendar

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Authors: Anita D. Adamu, Winston M. W. Shakantu

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Maintenance management is no longer a stand-alone activity. It has now assumed a strategic position in many organisations that have recognised its importance in achieving primary goals and a key aspect of effective management of facilities. This paper aims at providing an understanding of the role and function of strategic management in creating and sustaining an effective maintenance management system in an organisation. The background provides an articulated concept and principles of strategic management. The theoretical concepts paved way for a conceptual framework for which strategic management can be integrated into the maintenance management system of an organisation to improve effectiveness in the maintenance of facilities.

Keywords: facilities, maintenance management, organisations, strategic management

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