Specific features of intersemiotic translation of symbols from the perspective of conceptual and semiotic paradigm

The text of the novel “Inferno” written by Dan Brown and its film adaptation, provide the material for the analysis of symbols and their importance in both art forms. This analysis, which rests on the thesis of the conceptual nature of symbols in any literary text, is made in conceptual and semantic fields, and the concepts denoted by the analyzed symbols are pointed out. Given that the text of the source novel is abundant in symbols of various degrees of textual importance, not all of them were subject of research in this paper. The basic symbol of the source text, the Inferno, was singled out, as well as a number of symbols embodied by novel and film personages. In the research, frequent techniques of intersemiotic translations were analyzed as concerns their role in symbol rendering: omission, typical of the studied case of intersemiotic translation, which can be combined with the technique of addition. In the latter case, the degree of expressive force of the symbol can be considerably altered. The greatest shift in the degree of importance of a symbol is named ‘symbol transformation’, it is observed when symbols (in the given case, symbolic personages of the source text) lose their expressive force and the features of a symbol, i.e., in the process of intersemiotic translation these symbols are lost. The suggested model of analysis can be applied in other cases of intersemiotic translation, and other techniques, together with their combinations, can be found.

Infotainment as a hybrid of information and entertainment: a conceptual analysis

PurposeTo elaborate the nature of infotainment as a mediating concept between information and entertainment by analysing how the concept of infotainment is approached in diverse domains such as communication research.Design/methodology/approachConceptual analysis was conducted by focussing on 41 key studies on the topic. First, it was examined how researchers have approached the relationships between informational and entertaining elements of infotainment. Thereafter, attention was directed to the ways in which people make use of infotainment. The conceptual analysis is based on the comparison of the similarities and differences between the characterizations of the above issues.FindingsEarly studies characterized infotainment in terms of soft news which is distinct from hard news offering factual information. Later investigations offer a more nuanced picture by approaching infotainment as phenomenon with diverse dimensions depicting the topics, focus and presentation style. Studies on the use of infotainment offer contradictory evidence of the extent to which infotaining programmes can increase people's interest in social, political and health issues, for example.Research limitations/implicationsAs the study concentrates on the analysis of an individual concept, that is, infotainment, the findings cannot be generalized to concern the ways in which informational and entertaining phenomena are related as a whole.Originality/valueBy elaborating the conceptual nature of infotainment, the study contributes to information behaviour research by refining the picture of the relationships between information and entertainment.

“Back to Normal” vs. “New Normal”: the Post-Pandemic Recovery of Italian Tourism

Based on one year of intensive interaction with and feedback from practitioners, this paper provides a twofold contribution of a conceptual nature. On the one hand, it attempts to clarify the nature of the crisis in comparison with the past experiences. On the other hand, with reference to the literature on dynamic capabilities, it outlines, in an ideal-typical way, two diverging and co-existing (and therefore conflicting) perspectives of the recovery process that are summarized in – respectively – the “back to normal” and the “new normal” discourses.

Managing projects as a mode of temporal ordering. Performative organising of time and temporality in projects

Purpose Project studies analyse either managing practices or the temporal nature of project management, which leaves open a research gap: the temporality of managing practice. The paper demonstrates that performativity theory with a temporal perspective helps us to understand how managing a project organises limited temporal resources by aligning activities, deadlines or milestones to reach a goal in a given time.Design/methodology/approach The article utilises empirical data and grounded theory methodology. Ten interviews with project managers from two companies support empirically guided theory building and conceptual reasoning.Findings The article extends John Law's “modes of ordering” to a project-specific mode of temporal ordering. This mode of temporal ordering describes the underlying rationale of project managers who assign, order and materialise time to generate the temporal structure of the project.Research limitations/implications The conceptual nature of the paper and its limited empirical data restrict the generalisation of the findings. The article's goal is to initiate further research and to offer a set of tools for such research.Originality/value The contribution links managing practice and temporality in a performativity approach. This link focusses the actual actions of the managers and contextualises them in the temporal flow of the project. Managing projects as a mode of temporal ordering describes how project managers enact temporal structures and how they themselves and their activities are temporally embedded.

Halal food certification and business excellence: A conceptual paper

The crux of this paper is to hypothesize that Halal food certification improves business excellence, by way of a conceptual framework highlighting the connectivity between both elements. There have been numerous studies focusing on Halal food certification and business excellence along different perspectives, yet there is a scarcity of research that explicitly studied both aspects together. As far as the methodological approach is concerned, analysis of various secondary sources related with the keywords and topic has been adopted. The paper takes the EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management) model as the groundwork for discussion within the Halal food sector. Based on the literature review, it is propounded that Halal food certification can boost business excellence on the grounds of ethical leadership, holistic strategic thinking and planning, enhanced people management, fortified B2B partnership, effective logistics and supply chain management, and maximised accrued results (customer, people, society and business). The theoretical foundation of this study can support further in-depth research on both elements, and given its conceptual nature, the framework should be empirically tested.

Enforcing charitable trusts: a study on the English necessary interest rule

In England, Parliament introduced the ‘necessary interest rule’ through the enactment of section 115 of the Charities Act 2011 (England and Wales), allowing ‘any person interested’ in a charitable trust to initiate charity proceedings against defaulting trustees in their administration of charitable assets. Nevertheless, insufficient attention has been paid to this rule despite it being initially enacted in 1853. Parliament has refrained from clearly defining the rule, and the courts have long been grappling with its meaning in determining whether a person is eligible to sue. This paper studies the necessary interest rule by exploring the way in which the courts have interpreted it and the uncertainties surrounding its operation. It is shown that, in the context of charitable trusts, the concern of securing the due administration and execution of the trust lies at the heart of the rule. The final section of this paper discusses the significant theoretical implications of the necessary interest rule. It considers the beneficiary-enforcer debate concerning the conceptual nature of express trusts and highlights the insights that analysis of the rule can provide into this debate.

Towards emancipation through organizational (re)design? Exploring integral organizational renewal from a critical management perspective

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a more pragmatic critical management studies (CMS), by exploring the emancipatory intent of organizational (re)design concepts and ideas from the modern sociotechnical approach integral organizational renewal (IOR). Design/methodology/approach This paper is of a conceptual nature in that it engages with relevant literature from the fields of CMS and IOR, guided by a focused conceptualization of emancipation from CMS literature. Findings It is found that although IOR can to a large extent be considered as an emancipatory project, it contains a number of dangers which jeopardize its emancipatory potential. Complemented with other sociotechnical approaches and ideas, however, it appears that IOR could make some valuable contributions to a pragmatic CMS. Originality/value This paper is unique in engaging in an exchange of ideas between CMS and IOR. By doing so, it contributes, first, to the debate on a more pragmatic CMS; second, to the dialogue between CMS and “mainstream” organization science; third, to the field of organizational (re)design.

PHILATELISTIC MATERIALS AS AN ADDITIONAL SOURCE FOR STUDYING (RESEARCH) ECONOMIES OF THE STATE

Philatelic material includes postage stamps, postcards, envelopes, cardmaximums, etc. This also includes numerous catalogs and other sources that tell and reveal the essence of philately, both past and present times. Using such materials, and, first of all, postage stamps - "business cards of the state", researchers can build chronological historical series, systematize and generalize various subjects that reveal certain events, illuminate many aspects of the economic, social, political and social cultural life of the country. Philatelic material is an excellent additional information source for research in the development of the economy of our country, and of course, the central link in the food security system - agriculture. On postage miniatures of agrarian subjects of different years, we can observe posted tabular materials, schedules, targets, various priority tasks and new directions that set the industry in one or another period of its development, the results of difficult agricultural labor. Many stamps are equipped with slogans and slogans of a conceptual nature, motivating agricultural workers to take new labor heights, to implement labor rivalry, etc. It is easy to trace the processes associated with inflation by postage stamps, to judge the strategic tasks aimed at further sustainable development of the domestic agro-industrial complex and the introduction of new progressive technologies.

Strength of Materials Teaching from Active Learning

This paper presents the results of research conducted in the area of engineering education based on active learning from a hands-on experiment determining the Young’s modulus of rubber bands. This research primarily aims to evaluate the extent to which active learning contributes to a better understanding of the Young’s modulus. The theoretical framework emphasises the need for student action in knowledge-building. A hypothesis test for proportions was used to compare the average scores obtained by students from two groups on a test given at the end of each pedagogical intervention. The first group (control group) took traditional lecture-based classes, and the second group took classes combined with a hands-on experiment using rubber bands. The results showed a significant improvement in the students who conducted the practical experiment for questions of a conceptual nature and a statistical difference between the performance for the conceptual questions and calculation questions in both groups.

How Engineering Technology Students Perceive Mathematics

Engineering Technology (ET) is often combined with that of Engineering. Although Engineering Technology is based on a more hands-on approach and Engineering a theoretical approach, the two majors share a very similar pedagogy in teaching students the same engineering and scientific principles. An observation by an ET professor found that ET students more often than not would eschew the use of mathematical computations and instead provide answers they believe to be correct, without computation or explanation. Leading researchers to delve into possible reasons as to why ET students are reluctant to utilize mathematics. This study utilized in-person interviews with 15 undergraduate participants from a Midwestern University in the United States of America from ET to ascertain how ET students perceive mathematics. The results of the study found that although ET students were stated to not hate mathematics and are open to using mathematics, there was a slight apprehension towards math due to bad math experiences and not being able to connect the conceptual nature of mathematics to the visual and real-life scenarios ET students are used to facing. The results of this study help to lay the foundation for future research studies geared towards further understanding why ET students are apprehensive towards mathematics and ultimately how to help ET students overcome this apprehension.