School of Social Sciences

Permanent URI for this communityhttps://dspace-upgrade.is.ed.ac.uk/handle/10399/3328

Browse

Now showing 1 - 20 of 140

The structure of argumentation in Arabic : editorials as a case study
(Department of languages, 1990-12) El-Shiyab, Said; Dickins, Doctor James; Williams, Doctor Malcolm
Abstract unavailable refer to PDF
Discourses on control of capital expenditures of Indonesian local governments from Foucauldian perspective
(School of Social Sciences, 2016-12) Anggono, Alexander; Jackson, Doctor William; Paterson, Doctor Audrey
This study discusses issues of control mechanisms in the capital expenditure of Indonesian local government, because capital expenditure is the second largest portion of local government spending after the personnel expenditure. Indonesian local governments were chosen as a study sample because Indonesia has been undergoing major bureaucratic reform as a consequence of receiving financial assistance from international institutions. This study involves five local governments from a province, including 64 participants from 37 local government agencies. In addition, this study also uses transcripts of interviews as secondary sources, and makes an extensive examination of regulations concerning capital expenditure. The findings indicate that capital expenditure involves many parties with their own interests, whereby every party exercises its power over local government for realising a project. Meanwhile, the internal conditions of local governments are still dealing with technical and cultural obstacles to accommodating the interests of all parties. Moreover, local government officials also have vested interests in the use of capital expenditure. Hence, the control mechanisms intended to monitor the capital expenditure of local government are still vulnerable to misuse and irregularities.
Exploring the influence of national culture on performance management systems.
(Social Sciences, 2017-01) Jwijati, Ihssan Maamoun; Bititci, Professor Umit; Caldwell, Associate Professor Nigel
Globalisation has resulted in the increase of internationalisation for large and small organisations alike. Since Performance Management Systems (PMS) are vitally used by top management to make them aware of their attainment of the planned organisational goals, their use has become widespread in most companies (Speckbacher et al., 2003). At the same time, the expansion of organisations outside their birthplaces has compelled top managers to use their home developed Performance Management Systems in different cultures. Each national culture has its unique combination of National Culture dimensions, which had originally emerged from the anthropology field (Nardon & Steers, 2009, House et al., 2004). This phenomenon prompted scholars to call for the investigation of the impact of national culture on performance management systems (Otley, 2003). Therefore, the aim of the study is to investigate the impact of national culture on the design and use of Performance Management Systems. The researcher first reviewed published literature in performance measurement and management control systems, but found it to be scarce and fragmented; an inductive case study design was employed to collect data from four diverse national cultures to bridge the knowledge gap. Four national cultures were tested: China, Italy, Qatar and the UK. The researcher used Hofstede’s (1980) framework of national culture to map the relationship between the design and use of Performance Management System in different national cultures. The research findings confirmed that national culture dimensions of Power Distance (PD) and Uncertainty Avoidance (UA) impact the design and use of Performance Management Systems individually or combined. PD dimension influence starting a balanced PMS, the degree of collaboration in Performance Management Systems’ design, the intended aim of Performance Management Systems’ implementation, type of performance measures employed, Performance Management Systems’ adoption and the frequency of Performance Management Systems’ use. While UA dimension influences information accessibility and collaboration patterns in PMS use. The research also identified different moderators that affect the action of national culture dimensions such as leaders’ age, and education and innovation based goods.
Pushing the frontier : three essays on Bayesian Stochastic Frontier modelling
(Social Sciences, 2017-03) Carvalho, António Maria Aniceto de; Schaffer, Mark; Bhattacharjee, Arnab
This thesis presents three essays in Bayesian Stochastic Frontier models for cost and production functions and links the fields of productivity and efficiency measurement and spatial econometrics, with applications to energy economics and aggregate productivity. The thesis presents a chapter of literature review highlighting the advances and gaps in the stochastic frontier literature. Chapter 3 discusses measurement of aggregate efficiency in electricity consumption in transition economies in a cost frontier framework. The underlying model is extended to a Spatial Autoregressive model with efficiency spillovers in Chapter 4, showing good performance in simulations. The model is applied to aggregate productivity in European countries, leading to evidence of convergence between eastern and western economies over time, as in the previous chapter regarding efficiency in electricity consumption. Finally, Chapter 5 proposes a spatial model which allows for dependence in the structure of the inefficiency component while accounting for unobserved heterogeneity. This approach is applied to New Zealand electricity distribution networks, finding some evidence of efficiency spillovers between the firms. All essays explore the performance of the model using simulations and discuss the utility of the approaches in small samples. The thesis concludes with a summary of findings and future paths of research.
Future family generations as stakeholders in family businesses : a grounded theory approach
(Social Sciences, 2017-03) Tens, Vera; Sanders, Doctor John W.; MacIntosh, Professor Robert
This research investigates the meaning that is given to future family generations as stakeholders in their own rights by managers of family businesses. It uses a stakeholder perspective to establish whether stakeholder status is attributed, and if so, whether these stakeholders are regarded as important to the business – or not. The initial review of the academic literature identified that future generations of society have caused an ongoing debate on whether stakeholders have to be human or can in fact also include non-human entities. Future family generations, however, do not fit into this dichotomy as they present a special case: they are non-human initially, but over time become a human entity. Moreover, the initial literature review established a neglect of consideration for future family generations as stakeholders in their own right. In order to identify the (stakeholder) meaning that is given to future family generations, this research employs a constructivist grounded theory research strategy to explore first, the entity in the firm who attributes stakeholder status (with or without importance to the business), and second, whether and under what circumstances future family generations may be considered as such. Data was collected via 31 face-to-face in-depth interviews with interviewees working in family firms that are all based in Scotland. The family businesses ranged in size from one employee to several thousands; and in type anything from local butcher to large scale manufacturing company. The analysis of data was done in parallel with data collection, in line with grounded theory requirements, applying the researcher’s interpretivist worldview on coding and all data analysis. The data from this research leads to the conclusion that future family generations require to be regarded as stakeholders in their own right. However, this research finds that the meaning given to future family generations is largely not about attributes, i.e. properties, of the stakeholder, as suggested by several academics, but instead a construct of one or several considerations of the firm’s manager(s). The considerations identified in this research are linked with transfer of ownership, temporal dimensions, prioritising and underlying assumptions of traditions and goal-setting. Nevertheless, the research also finds that the existing dualism of family and business in family firms is an underlying theme; specifically, when identifying that it is the family business owner/managers who are acting upon their meaning given to future family generations and not other managers in the firm. Moreover, this research finds that the family business owner/manager may not only take on the role of proxy for the firm in regards to the stakeholder entity future family generations, but may also act as a human proxy for future family generations itself, in connection with the business; that is, creating a dualproxy role for the family business owner/manager. The latter proxy role was identified in this research to be linked with considerations of temporal dimensions of future family generations, leading to the disaggregation of the stakeholder entity future family generations into smaller ones by interviewees. This segregation of future family generations by their temporal dimension creates a conflict with the current academic debate on the dichotomy of human versus nonhuman stakeholders as it goes beyond that by creating additional entities.
Language policies on the ground : parental language management in urban Galician homes
(Social Sciences, 2017-03) Nandi, Anik; O'Rourke, Professor Bernadette; Nic Craith, Professor Mairead
Recent language policy and planning research reveals how policy-makers endorse the interests of dominant social groups, marginalise minority languages and perpetuate systems of sociolinguistic inequality. In the Castilian-dominated Galician linguistic landscape, this study examines the rise of grassroots level actors or agents (i.e. parents, family members, and other speakers of minority Galician) who play a significant role in interpreting and implementing language policy on the ground. The primary focus of this study is to investigate the impact of top-down language policies inside home domain, it looks at how the individual linguistic practices and ideologies of Galician parents act as visible and/or invisible language planning measures influencing their children’s language learning. However, these individual linguistic ideologies and language management decisions are difficult to detect because they are implicit, subtle, informal, and often hidden from the public eye, and therefore, frequently overlooked by language policy researchers and policy makers. Drawing from multiple ethnographic research methods including observations, in-depth fieldwork interviews, focus group discussions and family language audits with thirty-two Galician parents, this study attempts to ascertain whether these parents can restore intergenerational transmission of Galician and if their grassroots level interrogation of the dominant discourse could lead to bottom-up language policies.
Lean Six Sigma maturity model within Saudi Arabian organisations : an empirical study
(Social Sciences, 2017-04) Albliwi, Saja Ahmed; Antony, Professor Jiju; Arshed, Doctor Norin
Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is a continuous improvement methodology that aims to reduce the costs of poor quality, improve the bottom-line results and create value for both customers and shareholders. LSS has been deployed in organisations in the Western countries for more than two decades. However, its implementation in Middle Eastern countries has only just begun to emerge. Furthermore, there is a lack of empirical studies in the area of understanding the current status of LSS in these countries. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to investigate the current status of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in Saudi Arabian organisations and subsequently develop a Lean Six Sigma Maturity Model (LSSMM) which can be used to assess their current level of LSS maturity. The study is based on a systematic literature review of 45 papers that were published on LSS in high ranking journals in the field and other specialist journals, from 2000 to 2015. LSS themes identified include: LSS benefits, critical success factors, motivational factors, tools and techniques, critical failure factors, and limitations. A descriptive survey via a questionnaire was conducted in the second phase of the data collection process and multiple case studies were conducted in the third phase. Based on the literature review and the findings of the empirical research, a LSSMM was developed and used to assess the current level of LSS deployment maturity in five organisations in Saudi Arabia. The results of the empirical study show that LSS is in the early stages of implementation and that organisations in Saudi Arabia have only recently started to recognise the importance of LSS to their business. This finding was also supported by the evaluation of LSS maturity level that was assessed using the model developed in this study. This study contributes to understanding the current status of LSS in Saudi Arabian organisations and provides recommendations to guide the future of LSS in Saudi organisations by comparisons with the LSS literature and best practice. The contribution to knowledge and theory in this study is through validating and extending current operations management theories to LSS deployment, including organisational learning theory, theory of motivation and goal theory. The adoption of a mixed method approach contributes to the advancement of the methodology applied within LSS research in Saudi Arabian organisations. This study adds value for academics and practitioners in the field of LSS in Saudi Arabia by providing an intensive study on the current status of LSS deployment together with the LSSMM.
Spatial econometrics and the Lasso estimator : theory and applications
(Social Sciences, 2017-04) Ahrens, Achim; Schaﬀer, Mark; Bhattacharjee, Arnab
This thesis links two topics of empirical economics: spatial econometrics and the Lasso estimator. Spatial econometrics is concerned with methods and models accounting for interaction eﬀects between units. The Lasso estimator is a regularisation technique that allows for simultaneous variable selection and estimation in a high dimensional setting where the number of parameters may exceed the sample size. Three applied and theoretical articles are presented that demonstrate how spatial econometric research can beneﬁt from high-dimensional methods and, speciﬁcally, the Lasso. The introduction in Chapter 1 presents a literature review of both ﬁelds and discusses the connections between the two topics. Chapter 2 examines the eﬀect of economic growth on civil conﬂicts in Africa. The Lasso estimator is employed to generate instrumental variables, which account for non-linearity and spatial heterogeneity. The theoretical contribution in Chapter 3 proposes a two-step Lasso estimator that can consistently estimate the spatial weights matrix in a spatial autoregressive panel model. Chapter 4 is an application to the US housing market. A Lasso-based estimation method is considered that controls for spatial eﬀects in a spatial error-correction model. Chapter 5 provides concluding remarks.
An application of the concept of messy problems to supply chain management : an investigation of non-standard supply chains in humanitarian logistics
(School of Social Sciences, 2017-04) Schiffling, Sarah Aline; Piecyk, Doctor Maja; Caldwell, Doctor Nigel; Greening, Doctor Phil
Purpose: This thesis aims to develop a conceptual framework for the management of non-standard supply chains, based upon the concepts of wicked and messy problems and complex adaptive systems, and to validate it in a humanitarian logistics context. Whilst a general theory of wicked and messy problems is in existence, this has not been applied in a supply chain context. Humanitarian logistics presents a complex managerial challenge, in which standard logistics approaches and techniques have been applied with variable success. Here, the underlying generative mechanisms are explored. Design/ Methodology / Approach: This thesis adopts a critical realist approach. A conceptual framework for messy supply chains is developed based on a review of literature on logistics and supply chain management, as well as complex adaptive systems, and wicked and messy problems. This framework is explored in the context of humanitarian logistics. After an initial round of interviews, three case studies were conducted, focusing on humanitarian responses as the unit of analysis. In total, 44 semistructured interviews were conducted. An analysis of findings in each case is followed by the cross-case analysis of key themes, ultimately resulting in a revised framework. Findings: All of the proposed generative mechanisms underlying the messiness in humanitarian logistics are found to be relevant. The challenges for the management of such messy supply chains lie in the behavioural complexity they represent through the mechanisms of sociopolitical impact and the multitude of diverse stakeholder views they encapsulate. Logistics and supply chain management struggles to find holistic management approaches to address such behavioural complexity appropriately. Implications: This research has highlighted the strong element of behavioural complexity that underlies humanitarian logistics and other messy supply chains and is often inadequately addressed by managers and literature alike. The acknowledgement of all the different elements of messiness in humanitarian logistics and other scenarios, as well as the need for holistic management approaches, changes the way in which messy supply chains are seen. The revised conceptual framework presented in this thesis provides a foundation for further study of various messy supply chain contexts. Originality/Value: This thesis provides a novel view of supply chains that are inadequately captured by current frameworks and typologies. As the complexity of supply chain contexts intensifies, behavioural aspects become increasingly important. The framework provided represents a first application of the rich body of literature on wicked and messy problems, as well as complex adaptive systems in supply chain management.
Essays on market conditions and household decisions : internalizing markets through farming decisions & social networks
(Social Sciences, 2017-05) Touray, Sering; Porter, Doctor Catherine; LeMay-Boucher, Doctor Philippe
The objective of the chapters in this thesis is to examine the behavior of farming households in rural Ethiopia where the assumption of perfect markets may be violated by the presence of high transactions costs, thin and isolated markets, and missing markets for insurance among other goods or factors. Since farming households combine both producer and consumer aspects of microeconomic analysis, constraints to consumption decisions due to market failures are (or can be) relaxed through production decisions. This forms the basis of the agricultural household model formalizing non-separability of household decisions under market failures. Using this model, the forms of these responses and their effectiveness have been examined using data on farmers’ choice of crops such as selection between food and cash crops; and composition of crop portfolio; and market participation decisions such as allocation of farm output to market exchange and household consumption; from several countries especially the developing world. These decisions are analyzed through the lens of farmers’ eﬀorts to internalize imperfect food markets through their farming decisions. In addition to production decisions, other responses take the form of informally designed strategies such as risk-sharing and state-contingent credit arrangements between households facing missing insurance markets. We consider the use of these strategies by farmers in rural Ethiopia using rich plot level data added to information about household characteristics (including social networks) and market/community infrastructure collected in repeated rounds of survey starting from 1989 through 2009. We ﬁnd that nonseparability or jointness in household decisions can be observed through farmers’ crop choices and use of farm output. The extent to the nonseparability of household decisions appears to be particularly sensitive to household characteristics such as size of food consumption and risk attitude; and market characteristics such as distance to market as well as community and market infrastructure. Informal risk-sharing arrangements through mutual support between households also exist in rural Ethiopia. It is observed that these informal insurance arrangements are highly persistent between relatives and neighbors.
Immigrant ‘new speakers’ in minority language contexts : a case study of Cape Verdeans in Galicia
(Social Sciences, 2017-05) Bermingham, Nicola; O’Rourke, Professor Bernadette; Craith, Professor Máiréad Nic
Globalisation and changing migration patterns have changed the linguistic climate in Galicia. What was once a bilingual society, with Galician and Spanish, has become a multilingual one. This thesis focuses on a community of Cape Verdean immigrants living in a small fishing town in northern Galicia. The Cape Verdean immigrants at the centre of this study are ‘new speakers’ of both Spanish and Galician, while at the same time native speakers of Portuguese and Cape Verdean Creole. These complex multilingual repertoires have interesting implications both for the process of integration into the host community and for the formation of identity. In this thesis I examine the language practices and ideologies of teachers and Cape Verdean students in two Galician secondary schools. Drawing on ethnographic data such as interviews, focus groups and non-participant classroom observation, I explore the challenges that are faced by immigrant ‘new speakers’ who are in the process of acquiring new linguistic resources and negotiating their identity. Specifically, I look at how contrasting ideologies of linguistic authority (Woolard, 2008, 2016) can impact their position as ‘legitimate’ speakers (Bourdieu, 1991), and how this in turn can impact their access to certain linguistic markets (Bourdieu, 1991; Pujolar, 2007).
Fulfilling the interpreting mandate in business negotiation meetings. The perspectives of interpreters and clients.
(Social Sciences, 2017-05) Karanasiou, Panagiota-Penny; Turner, Professor Graham H.; O'Rourke, Doctor Benadette
This study investigates how interpreters perceive their role while working in business negotiation settings and also what role clients mandate to interpreters in those settings. Building on existing work on liaison interpreting, this study hypothesises that interpreters in business settings are active and visible parties of the interaction. As such, they exceed their prescribed role and become part of the client’s team. In order to test this hypothesis and scrutinize the role of interpreters in those settings, a mixed methods approach was followed. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from interpreters. Data concerning clients’ perceptions were collected by indepth semi-structured interviews. A combination of inductive and deductive approaches was used in order to code and analyse the data. The results showed discrepancy of role perceptions between the interpreters and the clients, and manifested how the setting mandates differing role statuses to interpreters. Furthermore, this study reconfirmed previous studies concurring that liaison interpreters are visible parties of the interactions. This study aims to fill a gap in the interpreting literature concerning interpreters’ role in business negotiation settings, improve professional practices and thus enhance the effectiveness of interpreter-mediated business meetings.
An exploration of the Nigerian skilled workers' 'lived experiences' under the strategic human resource management model
(Social Sciences, 2017-05) Ojikutu, Rasheed Babajide; Kamenou-Aigbekaen, Professor Nicolina; Richards, Associate Professor James
The nature of Human Resource Management in Nigeria has been studied previously, but knowledge is lacking on the lived experiences of Nigerian workers under the Strategic HRM (SHRM) model (Anakwe, 2002; Muogbo, 2013; Badejo, 2015). To address the gap in the knowledge, this study focuses on Nigerian workers’ lived experiences under the SHRM model using a phenomenological paradigm. The phenomenological paradigm informs about both the method design itself and a theoretical framework which states that humans know and perceive the world through their lived experiences. The research method design involved recruiting fifty-three skilled Nigerian bank workers using purposive sampling. Purposive sampling selection units were framed around the workers’ lived experiences. The data was then gathered using mainly semi-structured telephone interviews. The interviews collected were recorded and transcribed for analysis and interpretation using Smith et al’s (2009) Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) framework. In summary, the participants believed that the HRM and SHRM models in Nigerian banks had elements of both Western and indigenous practices which influenced their lived experiences and agency. Discussions with the participants raised key themes such as; the trans-vergence approach, work-life conflicts, gender issues, the incompatibility of some Western policies and the role of the agency of Nigerian workers in shaping their SHRM model. The participants argued that there are gaps between the SHRM rhetoric and reality, partly because the implementation of SHRM policies is the responsibility of managers who have deeply rooted socio-cultural beliefs. Furthermore, the participants suggested that their ‘work-world’ has been influenced by Western practices while their ‘personal lifeworld’ is influenced by enduring indigenous beliefs. The implication for management is that this study advances our understanding of the nature of HRM, and the role that the agency of Nigerian workers has in shaping the SHRM model. Lastly, the research limitations have been discussed and suggestions offered with regard to future studies and the benefit from cross- industry and longitudinal studies.
Language specificity in simultaneous interpreting pedagogy : the case of English into Arabic
(Heriot-Watt University, 2017-05) Shamy, Marwa; de Pedro Ricoy, Doctor Raquel; Perez, Professor Isabelle
Interpreting studies has witnessed a growing interest in language specificity and its role in cognitive processing during simultaneous interpreting. This thesis is a pedagogy-oriented investigation into seven language-specific problem triggers for the language direction English-Arabic, which has received little scholarly attention to date. Fifteen postgraduate interpreting students were asked to simultaneously interpret two speeches, into which language-pair-specific problem triggers had been incorporated. The product data obtained were used to examine how the participants dealt with the problem triggers. Process data was generated by applying the method of retrospection, the objective of which was to ascertain whether the problem triggers were perceived by the participants as such, and to identify the strategies, if any, that they employed to deal with them. Subsequently, a comparison was drawn between the perceptions that the participants verbalized and their actual performances. The findings indicate that language-specific problem triggers can indeed encumber students’ performances and, as such, merit pedagogical attention. This study underscores the need to raise students’ awareness of this type of problem triggers and devise targeted exercises which would enable interpreters-to-be to develop language-specific strategic competence.
Confronting ableism : the experiences of employees with bipolar disorder within 'normative' work contexts
(Social Sciences, 2017-06) Olowookere, Kehinde; Richards, Doctor James; Sang, Doctor Kate
In contemporary, westernized and industrialized nations, such as the United Kingdom, paid work is considered the foundation of political, economic and social order (Newton et al., 2007). As vital as it is, however, paid work/employment remains an area of disadvantage for individuals who are constructed as ‘different’, such as women and disabled individuals. Disabled people, in particular, have been found to experience exclusion and discrimination in the labour market. This is evidenced in employment indicators, which depict an uneven distribution in employment outcomes for disabled individuals, particularly those with mental health conditions. The reasons for these disadvantages remain the essence of substantial dissension. The current study aims to contribute to knowledge of why disabled employees, specifically those with bipolar disorder, may be disproportionately subjected to discriminatory attitudes and practices in the workplace and labour market. The overarching aim is to offer a theoretical background for understanding the experiences of employees with bipolar disorder in the workplace. The study conceptualizes disability as a social construct discursively produced within social relations. The research is informed by qualitative semi-structured interviews with individuals who have bipolar disorder, allowing for a detailed exploration of how participants interpret their work experiences. The data collected was analysed using narrative and Foucauldian analytical techniques. Fundamentally, the findings offer a nuanced and in-depth perspective on the experiences of a concealed, yet marginalized identity in the workplace. The insights gained point to how the experiences of work may be a product of the construct of work around the ‘ideal’ employee. The narratives collected also underscore that the social connotations attached to the label of bipolar disorder, when allotted to participants, constructs such individuals as ‘less capable’. It allows for the dissemination of meaning to participants’ experiences, and opens up positions of subjectivity for these individuals. The findings both affirm and strengthen the theoretical basis of the social relational model of disability. The study contributes to knowledge of the vital role played by ableist work contexts in the lived experiences of employees with bipolar disorder, a subject area that remains largely under-researched in the domain of work and employment. The particular emphasis on social interactions, and on problematizing work contexts rather than individual capability differentiates the study from previous studies on bipolar disorder, and generates pertinent considerations for disability studies. Essentially, the findings call for the modification of work to comprise inclusive strategies, which are suited to the individualities of employees. The implications, both for employees and employers, are wide-ranging. The analysis of the resistance of subjective positions in the study adds to knowledge of how the disadvantaged position of disabled employees can be confronted and altered. The findings also highlight the need for a shift in organizational and governmental policies/schemes from individualizing disability to querying the normative nature of work in contemporary workplaces. As such, the study does not only offer a nuanced analysis of the lived experiences of employees with bipolar disorder; it also offers suggestions on how prevailing discursive practices can be made accommodative of difference.
The collaborative construction of the stand-by mode of interpreting in police interviews with suspects
(Social Sciences, 2017-07) Monteoliva-Garcia, Eloisa; Boser, Professor Ursula; Napier, Professor Jemina
Interpreting is primarily conceptualized as a form of linguistic assistance between two monolingual speakers even though many of those requiring interpreting services in public service settings have some knowledge of the language of the institution (Angermeyer 2015). A limited knowledge of the host language may be considered sufficient to communicate without assistance, insufficient and/or inadequate, or otherwise acknowledged and be combined with the on-and-off assistance of an interpreter. This is the so-called ‘stand-by mode’ of interpreting (Angermeyer 2008, p.390). The case study presented in this thesis explores interactional dynamics and participation patterns in two authentic video-recorded police interviews conducted in English with two Spanish speaking suspects and a professional interpreter, in which the stand-by mode of interpreting was used. Drawing on Conversation Analysis, Interactional Sociolinguistics and on a multimodal approach to the analysis, this thesis looks at the unique footprint of the stand-by mode of interpreting as enacted in the way the interaction is organized, the patterns of use, nonuse and initiation of interpreter-mediated sequences, the contextual conditions surrounding interpreted sequences, and the functions and demands of interpreting in the stand-by mode as a regime that is used selectively and locally. This thesis contributes to conceptualizing a new interpreting mode within the Dialogue Interpreting paradigm which is likely to become more and more relevant in today’s multilingual societies, problematizes its risks in police interviews, and highlights its potential.
Unpacking non-profit brand heritage : creating more satisfied and committed volunteers
(Social Sciences, 2017-07) Curran, Ross William Francis Alexander; O'Gorman, Professor Kevin; Taheri, Doctor Babak
This thesis makes a five-fold contribution to knowledge in the areas of theory, context, method, and management practice. It combines brand heritage, communitas, brand image, work engagement, affective commitment and satisfaction with management to develop a new theoretical model showing empirically, the contribution of brand heritage - the history, image, symbols and story an organisation tells about its origins, evolution, and values - and the interplay between these theoretical constructs for the first time. Second, it contributes to context through empirical demonstration of the appropriateness of brand heritage and communitas to the non-profit sector. Third, contributing to method, the research applied a mixed methodology, which included the use of a formative (as opposed to reflective) measurement model for brand heritage. It also contributes through conceptualizing for the first time, brand image and volunteer engagement as higher-order measurement models. Finally, contributing to management practice, this thesis outlines to managers the importance of nurturing, and cultivating a strong brand heritage, and ensuring it is leveraged appropriately to retain and attract satisfied, and committed volunteers. The data was collected in two phases. The first was conducted via questionnaires distributed amongst Scout volunteers to test the newly developed theoretical model, while the second phase enhanced understanding through semi-structured interviews with volunteers, complementing the validated theoretical model. The data demonstrates brand heritage makes a substantial contribution to volunteer management, and can positively impact upon volunteers’ experiences, and a volunteer organisation’s ability to retain them. Furthermore, the data shows the importance of cultivating non-profit brand heritage and suggests heritage custodianship as an important, but previously unidentified area of non-profit management focus. More broadly, this thesis offers guidance to non-profit managers for retaining volunteers, and vindicates further consideration of the contribution traditionally private sector management practices can have within the non-profit sector.
Censorship and literary translation in Turkey : translating obscenity after 'The Soft Machine' and 'Snuff' court cases
(Heriot-Watt University, 2017-07) Aktener, Ilgin; Winters, Doctor Marion; Angelelli, Professor Claudia
Censorship has been a reality of Turkey since the establishment of the Turkish Republic. Turkish translators and publishers are among those who have been subjected to censorship. In 2011, the Turkish publishers (İrfan Sancı and Hasan Basri Çıplak) and translators (Süha Sertabiboğlu and Funda Uncu) of the novels The Soft Machine and Snuff were taken to court on the grounds of obscenity. These two court cases constitute merely two of numerous examples of censorship imposed on translators and publishers in Turkey. However, such obscenity court cases have hardly been investigated in studies on censorship and translation focusing on Turkish context. To address this gap, this thesis investigates the effects of the two court cases on publishers’ and translators’ subsequent translation/publication behaviours, choices and strategies. This research is constructed as a case study, and is informed by mixed methods including corpus methods and in-depth interviews. Through corpus methods, and interviews with the defendants of the two court cases, data regarding translators’ and publishers’ behaviours, decisions and strategies are collected and triangulated. Interviews also introduce translators’ and publishers’ perspectives in the discussion of censorship in translation studies. The data are discussed in the light of various censorship theories and the literature in censorship and translation, and obscenity and translation.
Managerial sentiment, investor sentiment and stock returns
(Social Sciences, 2017-07) Salhin, Ahmed; Sherif, Doctor Mohamed; Jones, Doctor Edward
It is well established that investor sentiment plays a vital role in global ﬁnancial markets. However, the sentiment of other economic agents has received less attention in the behavioural ﬁnance literature. This thesis aims to address the impact of managerial sentiment on the UK stock market. It investigates the performance of managerial sentiment in predicting stock returns relative to investor and consumer sentiments. In addition, it examines how sentiment is transmitted from managers to investors and whether the response of investor sentiment is asymmetric towards positive versus negative managerial sentiment. Finally, this thesis provides a comparative study of traditional and sentiment-augmented asset pricing models. Using monthly data from January 1985 to December 2014 and a sample of consumer and business conﬁdence indicators provided by the European Commission, the ﬁrst chapter provides novel evidence on how managerial and consumer sentiment indicators aﬀect stock returns. The ﬁndings show no support for consumer conﬁdence as a predictor of stock returns. However, managerial sentiment shows a signiﬁcant impact on aggregate market and sector return indices. Furthermore, results indicate that parameter estimates for sector groupings are not consistent, implying that the sentiment-return relationship diﬀers across sectors and that parameters are sensitive to industry characteristics. In the second chapter, the investigation extends to assess the long and short run dynamics of the sentiment transmission from managers to investors. Using threshold autoregressive (TAR), momentum threshold autoregressive (MTAR), and asymmetric threshold vector error correction (ATVECM) models, the ﬁndings provide evidence on the impact of managerial sentiment on investor sentiment in support of the Catering Theory. Results show that investors’ sentiments converge with long-run equilibrium relationships in response to positive rather than negative shocks in managerial sentiment. Furthermore, ﬁndings indicate that investor sentiment reacts negatively to positive managerial sentiment with a delay of four months, suggesting an over-conﬁdence in managers’ expectations of their future business outcomes. Finally, the third chapter examines the ability of managerial and investor sentiment to explain cross-sectional variation in stock returns. It compares the performance of CAPM, Fama & French (1993) Three factor model and Carhart (1997) four factor model to sentiment-augmented asset pricing models, which incorporate measures of both managerial and investor sentiment. The ﬁndings indicate that inclusion of sentiment factors signiﬁcantly adds to the power of traditional asset pricing models to explain the cross-sectional variation in stock returns. In addition, results show that managerial sentiment outperforms investor sentiment in explaining three out of four test portfolios formed on size, book-to-market, volatility and size/momentum factors. Moreover, ﬁndings show that managerial sentiment exhibits stronger prediction power for size premium over short (1-3 months) forecasting horizon relative to investor sentiment. However, value premiums respond to changes in managerial and investor sentiment over the relatively longer time of 12 months. In addition, the investigation failed to ﬁnd any signiﬁcant relationship between sentiment indices and momentum premium. This study has several implications for empirical researchers, practitioners and policy makers. It provides academics who are concerned with the empirical tests of asset pricing models with new insights on how the inclusion of managerial sentiment impacts the performance of longer term investigated models. For practitioners, our ﬁndings suggest that managerial sentiment and its impact on sector returns provide new opportunities for enhancing trading as well as asset allocation strategies. In developing investment strategies, practitioners may consider sectors that are more or less prone to sentiment in response to investor risk preferences. In addition, results on sentiment-augmented asset pricing models may be of interest to regulators who are concerned with the estimation of businesses’ cost of capital when pricing public services.
Three essays on monetary and international economics
(Social Sciences, 2017-08) Song, Mengdi; Cobham, Professor David P.; Christev, Assistant Professor Atanas
This thesis comprises three essays on monetary and international economics. The ﬁrst essay studies two issues of countries’ exchange rate regime (ERR) choices: why countries peg and, if they peg, how they choose their anchor currency. Using spatial analysis, I found that countries are likely to follow the ERR of “neighbouring” countries, and countries’ ERR are jointly determined by network effects and country-speciﬁc factors. The ﬁndings indicate that countries may achieve higher welfare by jointly choosing their ERRs with their major partners through cooperation and negotiation. In the second essay, I am trying to answer the question why countries target the particular variables they target by studying the determinants of countries’ monetary policy regimes (MPRs). The study focuses on original OECD member countries, and I develop a chronology of countries’ de jure MPRs for early OECD member countries for the post-Bretton Woods period. I also study the determinants of countries’ monetary policy arrangements based on de facto analysis with Cobham’s (2015) classiﬁcation as the cross-reference. The results suggest that economic size, trade openness, ﬁnancial development and political environment all have a role in determining the MPR. The third essay studies two main by-products of ﬁnancial integration: contagion and risk sharing. I set up a Huggett (1993) type heterogeneous agent model with different types of countries, and try to ﬁll the gap in the literature by exploring the impact of ﬁnancial integration on consumers with different wealth status. The main ﬁndings indicate that lenders and borrowers in countries with current account surpluses and deﬁcits respond to the ﬁnancial crisis asymmetrically. Moreover, the relationship between ﬁnancial integration and consumption smoothing is not monotonic, indicating that there is a trade-off between the beneﬁts of international risk sharing and the costs of ﬁnancial contagion induced by unexpected negative shocks as observed in recent history.