Facilitating Contextual Ambidexterity in a Global Operations Expansion Program

One of the focal challenges in managing global operations is how to utilize existing knowledge to avoid reinventing the wheel, yet to critically assess current knowledge and develop new knowledge when adapting to local conditions. Research indicates that successful organizations manage these tensions by developing ambidexterity. We elaborate on contextual ambidexterity—one specific form of ambidexterity—in the global operations expansion program at Neste. We conclude with illustrations of tools used to facilitate alignment and adaptability over time. Interestingly, different tools are used in different phases of the program. Moreover, the emphasis cycles between alignment and adaptability.

System Analysis and Simulation of the Process of Destructive Hydrogenization of Deasphaltisate of Heavy Oil

The article presents a systematic analysis and simulation of the process of destructive hydrogenation of deasphalted oil. The process of thermoregeneration of spent zeolite and the surface - acid properties of CaA zeolite catalysts are also studied. It has been established that such patterns that allow predicting their influence and to regulate the quality of the hydrogenation obtained on one or another form of the catalyst obtained from the studied factors and catalysts. In addition, the obtained data can be used in the search for the optimal process modes of the process under consideration on the specific form of the catalyst.

Dating Apps: The Uncertainty of Marketised Love

Dating apps promise a ‘digital fix’ to the ‘messy’ matter of love by means of datafication and algorithmic matching, realising a platformisation of romance commonly understood through notions of a market’s rationality and efficiency. Reflecting on the findings of a small-scale qualitative research on the use of dating apps among young adults in London, we problematise this view and argue that the specific form of marketisation articulated by dating apps is entrepreneurial in kind, whereby individuals act as brands facing the structural uncertainty of interacting with ‘quasi-strangers’. In so doing, we argue, dating app users enact a Luhmanian notion of interpersonal trust, built on the assessment of the risk of interacting with unfamiliar others that is typical of digitally mediated contexts dominated by reputational logics. From a sociocultural perspective, dating apps emerge as sociotechnical apparatuses that remediate the demand to rationally choose a partner while at the same time reproducing the (im)possibility of doing so. In this respect, far from offering a new form of efficiency, they (re)produce the ontological uncertainty (Illouz, 2019) that characterises lovers as entrepreneurs.

The Transnationalization of Business Education

Recent decades have witnessed the emergence and growth of transnational higher education, a specific form of internationalization which considers education as a product which can be packaged and sold abroad. This transnationalization of higher education is especially prominent in the discipline of business, which has wide student appeal. The purpose of this chapter is to review the transnationalization of business education. The chapter begins by situating transnational higher education within the internationalization of higher education more broadly. It then characterises transnational higher education, enumerating various definitions and transnationalization modes. Finally, it rationalizes transnational higher education from a geo-political/economic perspective.

Features of Self-Actualization of Specialists with Various Professional Orientations

Introduction. The article analyzes the problem of self-actualization and professional orientation of specialists in various fields. A theoretical study of the problem of self-actualization has shown that it is a specific form of cognitive creative activity, involving the identification, study and assessment of one’s capabilities and implementation in the profession. Materials and Methods. The article presents the results of an empirical study of self-actualization and professional orientation of specialists of various profiles using a set of methods: the questionnaire “Diagnostics of self-actualization of the personality of A. V. Lazukin” (adapted by N. F. Kalin); test to determine the professional orientation of the personality of J. Holland; methods of diagnostics of socio-psychological attitudes of a person in the motivational-need-sphere of O. F. Potemkina; methods of statistical data processing: Mann – Whitney U-test, correlation analysis. Research Results. Statistically significant differences were revealed between the indicators of self-actualization, motivation and professional orientation among specialists from different professional groups. The correlation relationships between the types of professional orientation and various scales of self-actualization and attitudes in the motivational-need-sphere of representatives of various professional groups have been revealed. It was found that the features of self-actualization, values, motives and needs of specialists are largely due to the specifics of their professional activities and the type of professional orientation. The desire for self-actualization, creativity, spontaneity, self-understanding, contact and flexibility in communication is most pronounced among specialists with a social and entrepreneurial type of orientation, whose activities provide opportunities for creative self-expression. Discussion and Conclusion. The results obtained confirm the assumption that the desire for self-actualization of specialists is largely due to their professional orientation and the specifics of their professional activities.

Interpersonal Mindfulness in Leadership Development: A Delphi Study

Mindfulness is increasingly being used within leadership development to enhance managers’ wellbeing and leadership capability. Given the relational nature of leadership, we posit that an interpersonal form of mindfulness has the potential to offer benefits over and above those provided by personal or internal mindfulness. We therefore chose a Delphi research methodology to consult and achieve consensus among expert practitioners, exploring if and how interpersonal mindfulness, in the specific form of the Interpersonal Mindfulness Program (IMP), can contribute to leadership development. Our aims were, firstly, to identify the necessary components of an IMP-based leadership development program and, secondly, to create guidelines for practitioners. Through four phases of data-gathering and feedback, we achieved consensus among 39 experts on guidelines for how to develop a leadership development program based on the IMP, contextual factors that will act as facilitators or barriers, and selection and screening of participants. The intention is that the resulting guidelines will support the implementation of coherent, consistent IMP-based leadership development, sensitive both to its origins and to the context.

Autonomous Knowledge

A central conclusion developed and defended throughout the book is that epistemic autonomy is necessary for knowledge (both knowledge-that and knowledge-how) and in ways that epistemologists have not yet fully appreciated. The book is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 motivates (using a series of twists on Lehrer’s TrueTemp case) the claim that propositional knowledge requires autonomous belief. Chapters 2 and 3 flesh out this proposal in two ways, by defending a specific form of history-sensitive externalism with respect to propositional knowledge-apt autonomous belief (Chapter 2) and by showing how the idea that knowledge requires autonomous belief—understood along the externalist lines proposed—corresponds with an entirely new class of knowledge defeaters (Chapter 3). Chapter 4 extends the proposal to (both intellectualist and anti-intellectualist) knowledge-how and performance enhancement, and in a way that combines insights from virtue epistemology with research on freedom, responsibility, and manipulation. Chapter 5 concludes with a new twist on the Value of Knowledge debate, by vindicating the value of epistemically autonomous knowledge over that which falls short, including (mere) heteronomous but otherwise epistemically impeccable justified true belief.

Series Under Threat

Lockdown has given us an occasion to discover new television series and to revisit others. TV series accompany us in our ordinary lives, but they can also be a resource or refuge in extraordinary situations. As the enduring success of Friends proves, they provide us with universes of comfort. TV series provide strong common cultural referents, which populate both ordinary conversations and political debates. TV series, by virtue of their aesthetic format (their duration, weekly and seasonal regularity, and the fact that they are, or were until recently, usually viewed in the context of the home), the attachment they inspire to their characters, the democratization and diversification of modes of viewing them (internet, streaming, discussion forums), make possible a specific form of education and constitution of a public. TV shows are hence a medium for political and ethical discussion. The article studies two series, Homeland and The Bureau, which are paradigmatic examples of a genre that has grown exponentially since the beginning of the century, and which we refer to as the “security series” genre. These series are great works of art and can also be seen as powerful tools for educating and informing the public.

Sound-meaning relations in Japanese Tanka

This study aimed to test sound-meaning relations in Japanese poetry. To this end, participants assessed the sentiments expressed in a random selection of Tanka (a specific form of Japanese poetry) on six bipolar scales comprising Evaluation (emotional valence), Potency (dominance), and Activity (arousal). The selected Tanka differed with regard to their average formant-dispersion (i.e., the distance between the first and second formant). Corroborating results of a previous study that tested the relation between formant dispersion and emotional tone in German poetry, results suggest that poems with an extremely low average formant dispersion have a significantly higher likelihood of expressing dominance and activity than poems with an extremely high formant dispersion. No significant differences regarding the Evaluation dimension were found.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Fournier Gangrene in Secondary Hospital; A Report of Two Cases

Fournier Gangrene (FG) is a specific form of necrotizing fasciitis that localized on genital and perianal, although it is rare but it is progressively fast and potentially fatal. The incidence of FG is 1.6 cases per 100,000 males, with a case fatality rate of 7.5%. Proper diagnosis and management are very important to avoid serious complications. Early debridement, broad-spectrum antibiotics and immediate supportive therapy, can reduce mortality. The objective is reporting two cases of FG who were admitted to a secondary hospital and what is the best management based on our setting. The method is qualitative observational study. The material collected through direct interview and from medical record. The best management for our setting was rapid diagnosis and followed by prompt debridement.