Embodiment grows out from deep concerns about the body and embodied knowledge across disciplines. As both subject and object, the body demands explorations that move beyond the dichotomy of body and mind, surface and depth, outside and inside. The interaction, intensity, and interstanding in the middle activate the body to move, to feel, and to be with other bodies. In the information age, with the rapid change in digital, computerized, and networkable technology, coupled with our growing concerns about the environment, embodiment becomes more complex and shatters the boundaries between human and nonhuman. In a sense, embodiment becomes posthuman by extending itself to interactions and interstandings with other species. In this dissertation, I extend embodiment into aesthetics and media by thickening the notion of surface in all of its profundity, contentious forces, and intertextuality. I emphasize as well its significance in exploring what an embodied curriculum and pedagogy could become for schools and society. This dissertation points toward the interaction and interstanding between philosophy, art, and technology. It encourages a notion of experience that engages readers/viewers viscerally with a technically manipulated surface. The readers/viewers not only encounter the theoretical mapping of the content of this dissertation, but also imagine and investigate the metaphorical and metaphysical possibilities of curriculum and pedagogy.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Idaho, May 2006. / Major professor: John C. Davis. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 154-174). Also available online in PDF format.

This thesis offers a critical reflection of posthumanism as seen through the perspectives of performance art. The first part of the text discusses the onset and development of posthumanism as a philosophical and cultural movement focused on the gradual convergence of the human and technology. The following second part then presents a reflection of thus conceptualized posthumanism in performance art. Posthumanism is conceived as a movement on the border between serious scientific discourse and fiction: Based on the mathematical theory of communication, as well as the legacy of cyberpunk dystopia, posthumanism offers a vision of a transition from human to the so called posthuman. The posthuman is seen as an offspring of technoculture, the synthesis of living and artificial, a loosely evolving entity without fixed ontological boundaries. The existence of the posthuman lies beyond dualistic categorization, has a processual character and refuses any essentialist approach. It is an attractive subject of science-fiction stories and a sexy postmodern slogan, but it is also a symbol of a transgression of actual predestinating categories such as race, gender or social status. More than anything else, posthuman is primarily a metaphor, adopted by a variety of narratives focused on the potential aspects of...

The evolution of the airport business is demonstrated by airports that are adopting new business strategies and commercial models, which allow them to be, for example, service providers instead of real-estate managers, with the focus on cost reduction and increasing non-aeronautical (commercial) revenues. Information technology (IT) can be used by airports to achieve their business goals, such as enhancing performance by delivering cost reductions and generating additional revenue streams. Airports operate in an increasingly competitive and dynamic market, with the aim of attracting a larger share of hub traffic from neighbouring airports. Therefore, financial and operational performance will be key elements for airlines when choosing a new airport destination. The research shows that airports are more focused on passenger satisfaction, resulting in airport performance indicators that have the passenger at its operational core and performance targets (e.g. Airport Service Quality passenger satisfaction survey). IT plays an important role in increasing airport performance through the automation of processes such as the deployment of common-use check-in desks and self-service check-in kiosks. Studies of other industries have shown evidence that IT impacts firm performance, but there have been few studies related to the airport industry. Thus, the aim of this research is to assess the relationship between IT and airport performance, and it proposes a conceptual framework to assess the relationship between IT and airport performance by drawing from studies in other industries. Two methodologies were used in this research, the first one was the case study, and the second one was the online survey. The case studies consisted of 16 faceto- face interviews with senior staff representing two airports in Asia, one airport in Australia, and one airport in Europe. The case studies result show that there is a relationship between IT and airport performance ... [cont.].

衡量現今之國內外市場之未來發展，技術上的創新、提昇競爭力與新產品的研發，已成了企業求生存與持續成長發展的唯一途徑。目前汽車市場有高級化的趨勢，即增加汽車電子性產品的趨勢如電子控制系統等。在期望加入國際汽車分工體系的實力之情況下，本研究以台灣汽車電子零組件產業為研究對象，深度訪談六家廠商，探討其近一兩年來跨入電子零組件之生產的經營績效，在不同的技術環境不確定性下，與所採用的技術策略之關係。茲將實證所得之相關命題與結論摘述如后： 　　本研究依個案實證研究結果，發現技術策略可因內涵不同而有不同的類型，因而將技術策略分為三個類型，有助於後續相關研究主題之用。另一方面，本研究針對台灣汽車電子零組件業之樣本廠商，分析其所面臨之技術環境與技術策略之內涵，並探討其與技術發展績效之關係，從而得出台灣汽車電子零組件業的技術環境、技術策略內涵之配合與技術發展績效間是存在著相互影響的關係。本研究發現，技術環境不同，對企業技術策略的型態會有顯著的影響；技術策略內涵改變時，對技術發展績效會有顯著的影響。 　　本研究之結論，可以指引台灣汽車電子零組件廠商瞭解所面臨技術環境與技術策略訂定與配合之重要性，在擬定技術策略時，需考慮技術環境變動相互配合之關係，如此將有助於廠商提升其競爭力與績效。茲將本研究對於台灣汽車電子零組件廠商未來的策略作為建議如後。 　　（一）提昇本身的技術開發能力 　　建議國內電子零組件廠未來的策略方向為由目前的組裝，漸漸朝技術原廠一些關鍵零組件的OEM代工；在術、品質受原廠核可認定後，接著掛上自己的品牌成為技術原廠的ODM，最後逐步進行零件真正的國產化。 　　（二）積極主動的行銷策略 　　台灣汽車電子零組件廠商應採積極主動的行銷策略，可分兩方面來談： 　　1. 向國內各汽車廠推銷並至各車廠簡介目前所掌握零組件之技術水準。 　　2. 以品質肯定、無關稅且生產成本低於日本兩個理由說服車廠與其日本合作母廠爭取採買國產電子零組件。 　　（三）儘可能開發標準品以達到規模經濟量 　　儘可能挑選「標準品」的電子零組件，或配合各車型僅需做很小部份的修改者，如此較容易達規模經濟，使成本下降，甚至低於日本，則日本就沒有理由不讓汽車廠向國內零組件廠購買電子零組件。 　　（四）與政府密切相互聯繫配合 　　建議國內的汽車電子零組件廠家若能與政府有關單位密切的聯繫與配合，一方面廠商可以透過政府力量的運作，克服技術引進的困難；另一方面則可藉由政府所提之獎勵方案或出面整合各廠商之力量，得以降低研發投資的風險與成本。

This thesis proposes to enlighten several channels that favor the emergence and the outcome of creative ideas and innovation in general amongst private firms, with a particular focus on European companies. The first chapter introduces the motivations related to this research, defines the research objectives and questions addressed by the dissertation and concludes with the outline and the contributions of the thesis. <p><p>The second chapter analyzes the financing constraints on R&D investments. The central question in this chapter is whether financing constraints can explain a part of the acknowledged R&D gap between Europe and the US. In order to address this question, a dataset is constructed on the basis of a compilation of R&D scoreboards. The findings of this chapter are based on a sensitivity analysis of R&D to cash flow using estimates of dynamic R&D equations. The relationship between the financing constraints on R&D and the age of the companies is analyzed in an additional set of results with parametric as well as non parametric estimations. European firms appear to be affected by financing constraints in the 2000s while this is not the case for the US companies. The age seems to affect negatively the R&D sensitivity for EU and US leading innovators, with higher sensitivities for old and low-tech EU firms than their US counterparts.<p><p>The third chapter is dedicated to the measuring of the knowledge production of R&D expenditures when they are disaggregated into the following components: intramural versus extramural expenditures, research versus development expenditures, product-oriented versus process-oriented, human capital versus investments. The sources of funding and the types of subcontractors are also considered. The main question of this chapter is whether the heterogeneity of R&D affects the technology performance of the companies, as measured by patent applications. A cross-sectional Belgian R&D survey conducted over 2004-2005 is used for the purpose of the analysis. Given the high dependency of the Belgian innovation system towards the foreign MNEs, a matching process was performed between Belgian R&D and patents related to Belgian inventors in order to capture the patents filed outside Belgium but related to inventions created by firms located in Belgium (i.e. subsidiaries of foreign groups). Estimates of the elasticity of the quantity of patents with respect to the components of R&D are provided. <p><p>The main question of the fourth chapter is whether the diversification strategies of the economic activities of the R&D leaders in Europe affect, positively or negatively, the performance of their R&D activities. An original approach is proposed on the basis of the analysis of the subsidiaries of EU MNEs. The sample consists of large R&D firms that represent about 80% of total European R&D. In general, the results indicate a positive impact from globalization on firms’ R&D productivity, especially in the US, while a negative impact for industrial diversification is found. <p><p>The main question of the fifth chapter is whether the R&D activities that are conducted outside Europe still benefit to European growth. If so, how does the regional location of R&D centers matter in the production process of EU MNEs? The analysis is conducted on the basis of a unique sample of 637 European R&D leaders with information that is consolidated with respect to about 8000 worldwide patenting subsidiaries. The assessment of R&D internationalization is proxied by the regional repartition of the inventors of each firm. The empirical findings suggest that R&D located in Europe yields significant economic results, but a reallocation of R&D located in Europe instead of outside Europe seems to be correlated with lower R&D performances in high-tech sectors, but not in lower-tech industries. Conversely, a larger share of R&D located in the US seems to improve the economic performance of R&D activities within high-tech EU MNEs while the effect is negative for lower-tech companies. Nevertheless, the economic performance of R&D centers in Europe and US is jointly positive and significant for both regions.<p><p>The sixth chapter concludes the dissertation by reviewing the main findings of the previous chapters. Policy implications are summarized and the limitations of the thesis are addressed. Finally, extensions of the scope of the analysis and ideas for future research are suggested. / Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished