Human resource professionals have extensive involvement in workplace bullying situations and workplace bullying research is not reflective of their experience. This study sought to better understand how HR professionals understood and defined bullying, how they made sense of bullying situations and their position in them, and how policies associated with bullying activities were understood and utilized. Using qualitative methods, the findings indicate that HR professionals define and understand bullying as targets do, except they differed in what elements actually turn bullying behaviors into a situation they would label as "bullying." They also felt that addressing and dealing with bullying was complicated due to its definitional state and their low power position. Still, they felt they took complaints of bullying very seriously and acted in these situations. The HR professionals also made sense of how and why bullying happened by pointing to issues like management style, conflict skills, and personality clashes. Additionally, the roles they played in bullying situations were marked by contradiction and paradox and equated to ?walking a tightrope?. Although many felt their organizations had policies that addressed bullying, it was found that most were ambiguous in regards to bullying or did not mention it at all. This study suggests a number of implications for both theory and practice. The findings also point to many necessary areas of future research which could further our understanding of workplace bullying and where organizations in the U.S. formally stand on the issue.

A conference is not only a meeting but an experience as well. The purpose of this study was to analyze and evaluate four conference organizers within the area of Stockholm Sweden, and to identify their range of activities. Studies were made regarding these conference organizers and how they cooperate with other companies to offer a wider aspect of range. The purpose was also to find out how the demand side of the market appears. The demand side of the market could give an implication of how the conference organizers appear from their perspective and how the conference organizers adjust to their demand. This study attempted to find out if and how these four conference organizers had power to be competitive on the fierce market of conference.A qualitative method was chosen where interviews with conference organizers and conference participants were performed. The conclusion of the study is that one-day -conferences are more often held at geographical more central conference facilities and overnight conferences are usually held at less central conference facilities. These less central facilities are the ones that are in a bigger need of a cooperative scheme to be able to offer competitive conferences. Though the four conference organizers are using different methods they are all successful. By taking advantage of their respective geographical position and networks they provide their own conditions for success

The paper discusses the distribution and meaning of the additive particle -m@s in Ishkashimi. -m@s receives different semantic associations while staying in the same syntactic position. Thus, structurally combined with an object, it can semantically associate with the focused object or with the whole focused VP; similarly, combined with the subject it can semantically associate with the focused subject and with the whole focused sentence.

The Allen Paradox is the observation that, in aquatic communities, there is insufficient prey production to support predator growth. An assessment of the literature reveals that this paradox remains apparent in one of every four studies. Here, a novel explanation for this paradox is proposed: predators that feed in a spatially-heterogeneous-prey environment (SHPE) may experience a greater net energy gain than in a corresponding uniform-prey environment (UPE), meaning that predators may require less food than has been traditionally perceived. A model was developed to simulate a predator’s energy gain while feeding in a SHPE rather than a UPE. According to the simulation, a greater net energy gain in a SHPE than a UPE is possible, but only under certain conditions. Since prey can be utilized more efficiently in a SHPE, a given amount of prey production can supply more predator growth, which can have positive implications in fish stocking.

The Allen Paradox is the observation that, in aquatic communities, there is insufficient prey production to support predator growth. An assessment of the literature reveals that this paradox remains apparent in one of every four studies. Here, a novel explanation for this paradox is proposed: predators that feed in a spatially-heterogeneous-prey environment (SHPE) may experience a greater net energy gain than in a corresponding uniform-prey environment (UPE), meaning that predators may require less food than has been traditionally perceived. A model was developed to simulate a predator’s energy gain while feeding in a SHPE rather than a UPE. According to the simulation, a greater net energy gain in a SHPE than a UPE is possible, but only under certain conditions. Since prey can be utilized more efficiently in a SHPE, a given amount of prey production can supply more predator growth, which can have positive implications in fish stocking.

The outsourcing literature has offered a plethora of perspectives and models for understanding decision determinants and outcomes of outsourcing of business processes. While past studies have contributed significantly to scholarly research in this area, there are an insufficient number of studies that are provider centric. Consequently, there is a need to understand how service providers address a core challenge: to achieve scalable growth by developing standardized offerings that can be sufficiently customized to meet the unique demands of individual customers. This study explores how patterns of collective action within and between a provider and two of their largest customers relate to the tension between standardization and customization of information technology (IT)-enabled service provisioning. Specifically, it investigates the relationship between such behavioral patterns and the development of an enterprise architecture designed to address the tension between standardization and customization. A socio-cognitive sensemaking framework consisting of six core properties provides the analytical lens through which the relationship is investigated. The study adopts an interpretive case study methodology guided by the assumption that distinct dimensions of the social world exist, but understanding them comes from inter-subjective interaction between researcher and subject. The approach adopts a combination of literal and theoretical replication strategies (Yin 1994) to help identify similarities and dissimilarities during cross case comparison. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews, direct observations, participant observations, and analysis of documentation and archival records. Our findings suggest that localized action at the expense of global coordination exacerbates the tension between standardization and customization. Furthermore, attempts to address the tension through the logics of spatial and temporal separation proved largely ineffective, as these initiatives put added pressure on the sensemaking processes responsible for guiding collective action. Our findings further suggest that a paradigm modification might be useful for service providers, where they shift their focus from reducing equivocality to improving their internal ability to respond to it. The results of this study contribute to a large body of outsourcing literature that has too often neglected a provider centric perspective. By uncovering key factors that exacerbate the tension within and between organizations, and providing practical methods for addressing them, this study also offers valuable insight for practicing managers.

In my Thesis I investigate many of the standard accounts of knowledge. I argue that epistemic fallibilism, infallibilism, and contextualism fail as viable accounts. I defend an account of knowledge according to which 'knows' is ambiguous. More specifically, I promote an account of knowledge according to which 'knows' is polysemous. This position was advanced by Rene Van Woudenberg. At the end of my thesis, I propose an adjustment to Van Woudenberg's view that will protect his account from problematic implications.

Globalization and global markets are dominating in the today’s business arena. Companies are more often than not required to internationalize and operate in global markets instead of just competing within national borders. Due to the high level of globalization, psychic distance between nations and countries is argued to have decreased significantly. However, underlying national and business culture differences still very much exist and companies must be aware of and take the differences into account in their international operations. For decades cross-cultural science has been guided by Hofstede’s cultural dimensions model and it is widely used to research and describe national cultures and differences between different cultures. Psychic distance concept is one of the most applied constructs of multinational enterprises’ internationalization and it has deservedly attracted a lot of attention within the literature and research of international business. Psychic distance is recurrently utilized when presenting and evaluating differences between a company’s home and foreign market. The general underlying notion of psychic distance is that companies operating in psychically close countries will succeed in their international operations. However, there is an increasing amount of research and literature providing contradictory evidence, referred to as psychic distance paradox. According to the concept of psychic distance paradox, perceived similarities within countries may result in cultural overconfidence and inadequate preparation prior entering psychically close markets resulting in poor organizational performance. The aim of the dissertation is to contribute in the research of the psychic distance concept regarding the existence of the psychic distance paradox and how it appears in the international business. The main focus is on management’s perceptions of psychic distance and how they affect a company’s organizational performance in psychically close foreign market. From the research conducted it can be concluded that the management’s perceptions of psychic distance can essentially affect the company’s organizational performance in a foreign market. In case the management’s perceptions of psychic distance are not in accordance with reality and the differences are overlooked, the company can face difficulties and poor organizational performance even in a psychically close market. The findings of the research provide additional proof to the existence of the psychic distance paradox concept.

This essay is an analysis of Emily Brontë’s novel “Wuthering Heights” and revolves mainly around the love between the two main characters, Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, and how they express this love, either through words or through actions. Paradoxes concerning their love and paradoxes concerning the narration of the novel are of interest as well. The analysis employs Genette’s theories and terminology in the narrative analysis. The essay first discusses the effect of the narrative levels and paradoxes that can be found concerning these narratives and then investigates some events in “Wuthering Heights” that are linked to the two main characters’ love for one another. The events are analyzed in chronological order and discuss the paradoxes found in those events. The essay concludes by giving a short summary of the way Catherine and Heathcliff expresses their love for one another and the paradoxes found concerning this love. The narration is of importance since its complex structure allows for the entire novel to be read as one paradox. Disregarding the narration, the paradoxes found are many. The paradoxical love of Catherine and Heathcliff concern their love for one another in the sense that Catherine chooses to marry Edgar instead of Heathcliff and that she claims that Heathcliff killed her. They concern the way the act upon their love for one another in the sense that Catherine was double natured. The most prominent paradox, however, is the one concerning Catherine’s statement that she is Heathcliff. It is the most prominent because it is referred to throughout the novel in different ways.

Human resource professionals have extensive involvement in workplace bullying situations and workplace bullying research is not reflective of their experience. This study sought to better understand how HR professionals understood and defined bullying, how they made sense of bullying situations and their position in them, and how policies associated with bullying activities were understood and utilized. Using qualitative methods, the findings indicate that HR professionals define and understand bullying as targets do, except they differed in what elements actually turn bullying behaviors into a situation they would label as "bullying." They also felt that addressing and dealing with bullying was complicated due to its definitional state and their low power position. Still, they felt they took complaints of bullying very seriously and acted in these situations. The HR professionals also made sense of how and why bullying happened by pointing to issues like management style, conflict skills, and personality clashes. Additionally, the roles they played in bullying situations were marked by contradiction and paradox and equated to ?walking a tightrope?. Although many felt their organizations had policies that addressed bullying, it was found that most were ambiguous in regards to bullying or did not mention it at all. This study suggests a number of implications for both theory and practice. The findings also point to many necessary areas of future research which could further our understanding of workplace bullying and where organizations in the U.S. formally stand on the issue.