Accounting for the “transcendent self”: spirituality, narcissism, testimony and gift

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulia Achilli ◽  
Cristiano Busco ◽  
Elena Giovannoni
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
The Self ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Archival Material ◽  
Accountability Practices ◽  
The Church

PurposeThe paper explores the process of construction of the “accountable self”, particularly as this process engages with the spirituality of the self. This study examines the “space of accountability” within which the accountable self constructs itself as such and investigate how different accounts of the self are drawn upon in the making of this space, both defining and transcending it.Design/methodology/approachThe paper relies upon archival material concerning accounting and accountability practices about the project for building the altar of St. Ignatius in the Church of Gesù, Rome, Italy (1691–1706). This study examines calculative and narrative accounts about the project from the perspective of the superintendent, who was the sole person accountable for the building works.FindingsWhereas calculative accounts enabled the self to account for actions within the specific space of accountability of the project, narrative accounts opened up this space, providing for a testimony of actions and a gift of accountability towards future indefinite others. This process was prompted by the spirituality of the self and the narcissistic gratification of fulfilling this spirituality.Originality/valueThe paper adds to the literature on the accountable self and to theological perspectives into accountability. This study suggests exploring how different accounts of the self engage with each other through testimony, gift, narcissism and spirituality in the construction of the accountable self, providing for a “transcendent” space of accountability. This research also adds to studies on narrative accounts by showing that they are drawn upon alongside calculative accounts in the construction of the transcendent, accountable and self.

Exploring the boundaries of rhetoric

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 793-806 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduard Bonet
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
The Self ◽  
History Of Rhetoric ◽  
Content Type ◽  
History Of ◽  
Practical Development ◽  
The Subject

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how the boundaries of rhetoric have excluded important theoretical and practical subjects and how these subjects are recuperated and extended since the twentieth century. Its purpose is to foster the awareness on emerging new trends of rhetoric. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology is based on an interpretation of the history of rhetoric and on the construction of a conceptual framework of the rhetoric of judgment, which is introduced in this paper. Findings – On the subject of the extension of rhetoric from public speeches to any kinds of persuasive situations, the paper emphasizes some stimulating relationships between the theory of communication and rhetoric. On the exclusion and recuperation of the subject of rhetorical arguments, it presents the changing relationships between rhetoric and dialectics and emphasizes the role of rhetoric in scientific research. On the introduction of rhetoric of judgment and meanings it creates a conceptual framework based on a re-examination of the concept of judgment and the phenomenological foundations of the interpretative methods of social sciences by Alfred Schutz, relating them to symbolic interactionism and theories of the self. Originality/value – The study on the changing boundaries of rhetoric and the introduction of the rhetoric of judgment offers a new view on the present theoretical and practical development of rhetoric, which opens new subjects of research and new fields of applications.

Design and vibration analysis of a self-adaptive piston in a novel nanoimprint system

2017 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 591-597
Author(s):  
Chaoran Liu ◽  
Yufeng Su ◽  
Jinzhao Yue ◽  
Junjie Wang ◽  
Weiwei Xia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nanoimprint Lithography ◽  
Vibration Analysis ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
The Self ◽  
Ball Screw ◽  
Piston Rings ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Simulation Results ◽  
The One ◽  
Self Adaptive

Purpose A self-adaptive piston is designed for the compressional gas cushion press nanoimprint lithography system. It avoids the lube pollution and high wear of traditional piston. Design/methodology/approach The self-adaptive piston device consists of symmetrical piston bodies, piston rings and other parts. The two piston bodies are linked by a ball-screw. The locking nut adjusts the distance between two piston bodies to avoid the piston rings from being stuck. The piston rings are placed between two piston bodies. Findings The simulation results based on COMSOL indicate that cylinder vibration caused by self-adaptive piston is 15.9 times smaller than the one caused by a traditional piston. Originality/value The self-adaptive piston is superior to the traditional piston in decreasing cylinder vibration.

Pracademic productive friction: boundary crossing and pressure points

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
John Paul Mynott ◽  
Michaela Zimmatore
Keyword(s):  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Lesson Study ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
The Self ◽  
Boundary Object ◽  
Boundary Crossing ◽  
Content Type ◽  
School Based ◽  
Spatial Approach

PurposeProductive friction (Ward et al., 2011) can exist as pracademics cross between boundaries of their different identities. Through an exploration of the self-perception of two collaborating pracademics, this paper will consider that organisational and occupational (Evetts, 2009) elements exist that generate professional friction for pracademics.Design/methodology/approachUsing two consecutive Lesson Study cycles as a boundary object, the authors will consider their pracademic identity through a spatial approach. Their perceptions are expressed through semi-structured qualitative interviews and subsequent thematic analysis. This analysis is then explored through Engeström's (2001) learning stages to consider how pracademics interact within the contradictions of their identities and within their context and their work.FindingsTime, purpose, integration and collaboration are all elements that impact on pracademic identities. For each one of these themes, pracademics both experience friction and find resolutions. As these themes vary, there are also moments of unresolved friction, where the pracademics maintain their work based on their enthusiasm alone. Constraints on time and the visibility of pracademic emerge. Exploring these pressure points and their resolutions is key to understanding how pracademics can be further supported by other professionals.Originality/valueWhile it is not possible to draw large conclusions from the experiences and perceptions of two primary-school-based pracademics, their experiences and understanding of contextual pressure points may facilitate the support of other pracademics and resonant with their experiences, particularly if they are using Lesson Study.

The leadership journey Antony Sheehan

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-56
Author(s):  
Antony Sheehan
Keyword(s):  
National Health Service ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Health Management ◽  
Church Health ◽  
Original Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Management Priorities ◽  
Management Career ◽  
The Church ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to trace the health management career of Antony Sheehan, a former executive in England's National Health Service and now president of the Church Health Center in Memphis, TN, and reveals principles that guide his management priorities. Design/methodology/approach – The approach is reflective, reading-based, and anecdotal. Findings – Three leadership priorities emerge: liberating talent, profound belief in knowledge, and purpose beyond self, all three being mediated by respect. Research limitations/implications – The narrative is not based on clinical research, but specific experience of the author. Practical implications – Readers may find inspiration to examine the principles that guide their own leadership efforts. Originality/value – Based in the author's own experience, the paper does not represent original research.

scholarly journals Am I worth it? Gifting myself with luxury

2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 112-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannele Kauppinen-Räisänen ◽  
Johanna Gummerus ◽  
Catharina von Koskull ◽  
Åke Finne ◽  
Anu Helkkula ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Research Topic ◽  
The Self ◽  
Luxury Brands ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Data Collection And Analysis ◽  
Sample Data ◽  
Marketing Activities ◽  
Key Dimensions ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – Consumers gift themselves with luxury fashion brands, yet the motives for self-gifting are not well understood. Whereas traditionally, self-gifting is defined as self-orientated in nature, luxury brands are seen as social statements, and self-gifting of luxury fashion brands that combine these two controversial areas is an interesting research topic. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue by exploring the self-gifting behaviour of consumers, in particular focusing on the personal motives of gifting oneself with luxury fashion brands. Design/methodology/approach – The study takes a multi-qualitative approach involving a small (n=19) but rich sample. Data collection and analysis were triangulated to reduce researcher biases. Findings – The study provides key dimensions for understanding consumers’ perceptions of luxury fashion brands and self-gifting motives (self and socially orientated). The findings reveal that reflections from others are part of the self-gifting phenomenon. It appeared that although self-orientated benefits and personally orientated motives trigger the self-gifting act, the act of actually purchasing explicitly luxury brands for oneself as a gift may be triggered by other-orientated benefits and socially orientated motives. The findings also imply that luxury holds a self-orientated aspect; luxury brands are not only purchased for socially orientated reasons but also for reasons related to oneself. In addition, the findings discuss the act of shopping, where the act can be perceived as a luxury experience and overrun the importance of the brand. Practical implications – The findings provide insights to consumers’ gifting behaviour that may be valuable for retailers and fashion marketers as they plan for marketing activities related to their customers’ self-gifting. Originality/value – Self-gifting represents a view of gifting that remains under-researched. This study uncovers the motives for gifting oneself with luxury fashion brands, a further sub-area in need for more investigation.

Automated element grouping and self-stress identification of tensegrities

2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 1643-1660 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kambiz Koohestani
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Feasible Solution ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
The Self ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Stress Mode ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Minimisation Problem ◽  
Feasible Solutions

Purpose – The determination of feasible self-stress modes and grouping of elements for tensegrities with predefined geometry and multiple self-stress modes is very important, though difficult, in the design of these structures. The purpose of this paper is to present a novel approach to the automated element grouping and self-stress identification of tensegrities. Design/methodology/approach – A set of feasible solutions conforming to the unilateral behaviour of elements is obtained through an optimisation process, which is solved using a genetic algorithm. Each chromosome in the population having a negative fitness is a distinctive feasible solution with its own grouping characteristic, which is automatically determined throughout the evolution process. Findings – The self-stress identification is formulated through an unconstrained minimisation problem. The objective function of this minimisation problem is defined in such a way that takes into account both the feasibility of a solution and grouping of elements. The method generates a set of feasible self-stress modes rather than a single one and automatically and simultaneously suggests a grouping of elements for every feasible self-stress mode. A self-stress mode with a minimal/subminimal grouping of elements is also obtained. Originality/value – The method can efficiently generate sets of feasible solutions rather than a single one. The authors also address one of the challenging issues related to this identification, i.e., automated grouping of elements. These features makes the method very efficient since most of the state-of-the-art methods address the self-stress identification of tensegrities based on predefined groupings of elements whilst providing only a single corresponding solution.

Practical wisdom, an attempt for a Protestant re‐formulation

2010 ◽  
Vol 29 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 724-735 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Weber‐Berg
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Practical Wisdom ◽  
The Self ◽  
Georg Simmel ◽  
Religious Perspective ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Change Of Perspective ◽  
Self Reference ◽  
Organisational Level

PurposeThis paper seeks to explore the role of virtues in the context of management from a religious perspective. Its objective is to shed some light on the significance of Martin Luther's anthropology and theology of justification for a modern understanding of practical wisdom.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reviews some passages of source literature by Martin Luther and – with side glances to Georg Simmel – reflects on basic structures of personal failure, as implied by Luther's metaphor of the self‐inclined man (homo incurvatus in se ipsum). By developing two theses, the paper proceeds to the question whether a protestant re‐formulation of practical wisdom could be useful to overcome self‐reference, not only on a personal, but also on an organisational level.FindingsFaith and love, reformulated as virtues of practical wisdom for modern management from a protestant perspective can be understood as a receptive attitude and the ability to establish non‐instrumentalised and respectful relationships to humans. Lived by managers, they could help preventing companies and economy at large, to get caught in self‐referential, and inherently instable feedback cycles.Originality/valueThe change of perspective, inspired by Luther's theology of justification, enriches the notion of practical wisdom with new connotations and makes them accessible to the discourse over virtues in management.

Socializing accounting practices in governing boards: dairy co-operatives down-under

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen VanPeursem ◽  
Kevin Old ◽  
Stuart Locke
Keyword(s):  
Chief Executive Officers ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Chief Executive ◽  
Document Analysis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Small Pool ◽  
Executive Officers ◽  
Accountability Practices ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the accountability practices of the directors in New Zealand and Australian dairy co-operatives. An interpretation of their practices, which focus on the relationship between directors and their farmer-shareholders, is informed by Roberts’ (2001a) understandings of a socializing accountability. Design/methodology/approach – The fieldwork consists of interviews with 23 directors, including all chief executive officers and chairmen, of six dairy co-operatives together with observations and document analysis. These co-operatives together comprise a significant portion of the regional dairy industry. The methodology draws from Eisenhardt’s (1989) qualitative approach to theory formation. Findings – The authors find that these directors engage in a discourse-based, community-grounded and egalitarian form of socializing accountability. As such, their practices adhere generally to Roberts (2001a) hopes for a more considerate and humble relationship between an accountor and an accountee. Social implications – Findings add to the small pool of research on the lived experiences of co-operative boards and to a parsimonious literature in socializing accountability practices. The contributions of the study are in advancing real understandings of alternative forms of accountability, in evaluating the conditions in which these alternatives may be likely to arise and in anticipating the challenges and opportunities that arise therefrom. Originality/value – The originality of the project arises from accessing the views of these industry leaders and, through their frank expressions, coming to understand how they achieve a form of a socializing accountability in their relationships with farmer-shareholders.

Personal digital libraries: a self-archiving approach

2014 ◽  
Vol 63 (6/7) ◽  
pp. 436-451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikitas N. Karanikolas ◽  
Christos Skourlas
Keyword(s):  
Digital Libraries ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
The Self ◽  
Information Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Software Product ◽  
Reduced Time ◽  
Key Questions

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine personal digital libraries (PDL) as a self-archiving approach, mainly based on individuals’ activities. Literature presents a wide range of perceptions of the term PDL. The rationale of using PDL and the capabilities that PDL should offer are also discussed. The key questions we focus on are: “What are the critical features of PDL?” and “Are there technologies that enable the implementation/incorporation of such capabilities in a low cost software product?” Design/methodology/approach – We focus on “a user centred view of information process”, and examine how PDL could assist individuals to “create, seek, share and manage the life of information” (Foster et al., 2010). The capabilities that PDL should support, and the related technologies, are also discussed. Then, we describe experimentation with a prototype implemented to support/provide the mentioned capabilities. It is used to clarify our view for the creation of PDL. Finally, further discussion and conclusions are presented. Findings – The technology is mature enough for building up PDLs with the specified features/capabilities. Originality/value – A new perception of the term PDLs is presented. This perception tries to combine the self-archiving approach of information, based on a low-cost tool, and the user-centred approach to manage the “life of information”. This type of library is mainly used to cover personal needs. Users benefit from this type of PDL by personalised handling of information, reduced time to search and seek specific documents in their personal collections and less possibility for broken links or unavailable documents. We must also mention that new opportunities seem to appear for offering PDL as a service in the cloud.

scholarly journals Disability and the criminal justice system in Zambia

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-69
Author(s):  
Jessica Jacobson ◽  
Phillip Sabuni ◽  
Jenny Talbot
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
The Self ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
The Family

Purpose Drawing on multi-method research conducted in 2013-2014, the purpose of this paper is to consider the extent and nature of disadvantage experienced by individuals with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities (PID) who come into contact with the criminal justice system in Zambia. The research was conducted as part of a wider project aiming to bring about improvements in how people with PID are dealt with by the criminal justice services. Design/methodology/approach The research activities included interviews with 29 individuals with PID who had experienced the criminal justice system as suspects, defendants or prisoners (“self-advocates”). A focus group and interviews were also conducted with the family members of people with PID who had criminal justice experience. Findings People with PID in contact with the criminal justice services in Zambia are disadvantaged and discriminated against routinely and systematically. Like all detainees, they experience harsh and at times brutal conditions of detention. However, because of their disabilities, such experiences can be more keenly felt: their disabilities may be exacerbated by detention or by limited or non-existent health care; and they are likely to be less resourceful than other detainees and, therefore, less able to cope with the privations of detention. Originality/value In drawing on the self-advocate interviews, this paper presents direct, vivid accounts of what it means to be a suspect, defendant or prisoner with disabilities in Zambia. These are extremely marginalised and multiply disadvantaged individuals whose voices are rarely heard.

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