Knowledge of the natural and the social: how are they different and what do they have in common?

Knowledge of the natural and the social are irreducibly different yet have much in common. The differences lie at the levels of complexity they engage, modes of explanation they adopt, investigation aims they allow and whether they assert a ‘double hermeneutic’ effect to the behaviour of the studied objects. Knowledge are in common in that they are all construed out of available resources, justified based on the consequences of acting upon them, settled until better alternatives emerge, and serving as walking sticks for beating unknown paths in human life. Because of this, there can be no hierarchy of knowledge or unity of methodology, and dialogical encounters guided by situational ethics, not professional deafness driven by ontological/instrumental fallacies, are a viable strategy for morally and practically wise actions, including knowledge management projects.     

Wearable energy systems:what are the limits and limitations?

<正>The recent decade marks a sharp rise in wearable electronics with a market size approaching 100 billion USD.Along-side this boom in consumer wearable electronics,researchers have pursued,during the past 15 years,next-generation wearable electronics featuring thin,soft,conformal,flexible and stretchable form factors for application in advanced human-machine interaction and comprehensive sensing.     

Delegating and Distributing Morality: Can We Inscribe Privacy Protection in a Machine?

This paper addresses the question of delegation of morality to a machine, through a consideration of whether or not non-humans can be considered to be moral. The aspect of morality under consideration here is protection of privacy. The topic is introduced through two cases where there was a failure in sharing and retaining personal data protected by UK data protection law, with tragic consequences. In some sense this can be regarded as a failure in the process of delegating morality to a computer database. In the UK, the issues that these cases raise have resulted in legislation designed to protect children which allows for the creation of a huge database for children. Paradoxically, we have the situation where we failed to use digital data in enforcing the law to protect children, yet we may now rely heavily on digital technologies to care for children. I draw on the work of Floridi, Sanders, Collins, Kusch, Latour and Akrich, a spectrum of work stretching from philosophy to sociology of technology and the “seamless web” or “actor–network” approach to studies of technology. Intentionality is considered, but not deemed necessary for meaningful moral behaviour. Floridi’s and Sanders’ concept of “distributed morality” accords with the network of agency characterized by actor–network approaches. The paper concludes that enfranchizing non-humans, in the shape of computer databases of personal data, as moral agents is not necessarily problematic but a balance of delegation of morality must be made between human and non-human actors.     

Who are the researchers that are collaborating with industry? An analysis of the wine sectors in Chile, South Africa and Italy

Research on University-industry (U-I) linkages and their determinants has increased significantly in the past few years. However, there is still controversy on the key factors explaining the formation of U-I linkages, and especially related to individual researcher characteristics. This paper provides new empirical evidence and, in particular, looks at the importance of researchers’ individual characteristics and their institutional environments in explaining the propensity to engage in different types of U-I linkages. Based on an original dataset, we present new evidence on three wine producing areas - Piedmont, a region of Italy, Chile and South Africa - that have successfully responded to recent structural changes in the industry worldwide. Empirical findings reveal that researchers’ individual characteristics, such as centrality in the academic system, age and sex, matter more than publishing records or formal degrees. Institutional specificities at country level also play a role in shaping the propensity of researchers to engage with industry.     

Genes and speciation: is it time to abandon the biological species concept?

The biological species concept (BSC) is the cornerstone of neo-Darwinian thinking. In BSC, species do not exchange genes either during or after speciation. However, as gene flow during speciation is increasingly being reported in a substantial literature, it seems time to reassess the revered, but often doubted, BSC. Contrary to the common perception, BSC should expect substantial gene flow at the onset of speciation, not least because geographical isolation develops gradually. Although BSC does not stipulate how speciation begins, it does require a sustained period of isolation for speciation to complete its course. Evidence against BSC must demonstrate that the observed gene flow does not merely occur at the onset of speciation but continues until its completion. Importantly, recent genomic analyses cannot reject this more realistic version of BSC, although future analyses may still prove it wrong. The ultimate acceptance or rejection of BSC is not merely about a historical debate; rather, it is about the fundamental nature of species – are species (and, hence, divergent adaptations) driven by a relatively small number of genes, or by thousands of them? Many levels of biology, ranging from taxonomy to biodiversity, depend on this resolution.     

Gender diversity in the management field: Does it matter for research outcomes?

This study examines the relationship between gender diversity and research outcomes. Existing research on the topic primarily focuses on how team gender diversity influences scholarly productivity in terms of citations and publication rates. Far less attention has been devoted to the question of how the intellectual contents of research disciplines change as they become more gender diverse. Drawing on a global sample of more than 25,000 management papers, we use natural language processing techniques, correspondence analysis and regression models to illuminate impact-, content- and status-related dimensions of gender diversity in management research. In regression models adjusting for geographical setting, institutional prestige and collaboration patterns, we find no discernable effects of team gender diversity on per-paper scientific impact. In contrast, our analyses converge to yield a broadly consistent pattern of gender-related variations in research focus: women are well-represented in social- and human-centered areas of management, while men comprise the vast majority in areas addressing more technical and operational aspects. Our findings corroborate recent sociological research suggesting that cultural norms and expectations are channeling women and men towards different areas of work and study. We argue that the broadened repertoire of perspectives, values and questions resulting from gender diversity may render management research more responsive to the full gamut of societal needs and expectations.     

Industrial Dehumanization——Viewed from the husband and wife relationship in "Odour of Chrysanthemums"

Lawrence is regarded as one of most accomplished short story writers in twentieth century, with ＂Odour of Chrysanthemums＂ one of his early works. Through the death of a miner, the text shows how humanity was ruined by industrial civilization. This essay is intended to unveil the destructive force by analyzing the relationship between the husband and wife.     

Connecting others: Does a tertius iungens orientation shape the relationship between research networks and innovation?

Research on social networks and innovation emphasizes that individuals spanning structural holes and crossing institutional boundaries have more opportunities for knowledge recombination and innovation involvement. However, transforming the potential knowledge and resources available through personal networks to attain innovation can be difficult for the focal individual. Using an ego-network approach, this study examines whether and to what extent an individual strategic orientation to cooperation (i.e. tertius iungens) contributes to strengthening the relation between two personal network properties (structural and institutional separation) and involvement in innovation. Our analysis is conducted in the context of biomedicine, where research networks are particularly relevant for science and innovation achievements. Our findings advance social network theory by decoupling social network mechanisms from individual strategic networking behavior as factors influencing knowledge generation processes. Results also provide original evidence on an overlooked phenomenon: the moderating role of a tertius iungens orientation in the relationship between multiple social network properties and innovation. Finally, our research sheds new light on the distinct sources of knowledge recombination in networks and the role of individual networking strategies to facilitate mobilization of resources for innovation.     

Explanation and trust: what to tell the user in security and AI?

There is a common problem in artificial intelligence (AI) and information security. In AI, an expert system needs to be able to justify and explain a decision to the user. In information security, experts need to be able to explain to the public why a system is secure. In both cases, an important goal of explanation is to acquire or maintain the users’ trust. In this paper, I investigate the relation between explanation and trust in the context of computing science. This analysis draws on literature study and concept analysis, using elements from system theory as well as actor-network theory. I apply the conceptual framework to both AI and information security, and show the benefit of the framework for both fields by means of examples. The main focus is on expert systems (AI) and electronic voting systems (security). Finally, I discuss consequences of the analysis for ethics in terms of (un)informed consent and dissent, and the associated division of responsibilities.     

Style and substance in psychology: are influential articles more readable than less influential ones?

The results from four studies are reported separately to test the idea that influential articles in psychology will be more readable than less influential ones. This idea is upheld when the papers involved are ones that have been highly rated by fellow colleagues (Studies 1 and 2) but it is not supported when the papers involved are highly-cited journal articles (Studies 3 and 4).     

Intellectual capital and organizational organic structure in knowledge society: How are these concepts related?

This paper seeks to investigate the relationship between organizational organic structure and intellectual capital improvement. Researches show that the organic structure and intellectual capital have a strong relationship but this relationship has not been examined systematically. This paper reviews the important theoretical work in both streams of research, highlighting the fundamental similarities and differences. Models of intellectual capital are compared, and the distinction between social, human and organizational capital is examined. The nature of organizational organic structure is presented. We examine the relationship between organic structure and intellectual capital improvement. Then the impact of organic structure on information management and information processing capability is examined.The results support the view that organic structure has a positive impact on intellectual capital. Therefore, the organic structure can improve intellectual capital in the organization.This study helps managers to design flexible and dynamic organizational structures to enhance the intellectual capital in the organization and increase the ability to compete.     

How does new venture strategy matter in the environment–performance relationship?

Drawing on environmental determinism and environmental management perspectives, this study examines the roles of strategy in the relationship between environment and performance in new ventures. With data from 184 ventures in China's high technology industries, I found that new venture strategies play differential roles in dealing with different environmental dimensions to affect performance. In particular, the results suggest that marketing differentiation strategy plays a significant role in mediating the positive effect of perceived industry growth on performance. Market breadth and marketing alliance strategies significantly moderate the negative impact of perceived environmental hostility on performance. Product innovation strategy plays both mediating and moderating roles in the environment–performance relationship. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.     

‘What are these researchers doing in my Wikipedia?’: ethical premises and practical judgment in internet-based ethnography

The article ties together codified ethical premises, proceedings of ethical reasoning, and field-specific ethical reflections so to inform the ethnography of an Internet-based collaborative project. It argues that instead of only obeying formal statutes, practical judgment has to account for multiple understandings of ethical issues in the research field as well as for the self-determination of reflexive participants. The article reflects on the heuristics that guided the decisions of a 4-year participant observation in the English-language and German-language editions of Wikipedia. Employing a microsociological perspective, it interrogates the technological, social, and legal implications of publicness and information sensitivity as core ethical concerns among Wikipedia authors. The first problem area of managing accessibility and anonymity contrasts the handling of the technologically available records of activities, disclosures of personal information, and the legal obligations to credit authorship with the authors’ right to work anonymously and the need to shield their identity. The second area confronts the contingent addressability of editors with the demand to assure and maintain informed consent. Taking into account these problem areas, the ethical reasoning on the one hand proposes options for observing and documenting episodes. On the other, it provides advice on the feasibility and the necessity of obtaining informed consent.     

“We power democracy”: Exploring the promises of the political data analytics industry

Data-driven campaigning has been in the spotlight over several years. Yet, we still have a limited understanding of political data analytics companies: how they envision data analytics and voter targeting, their role in electoral processes and what promises they make to their clients. This article focuses on the way in which such issues are conceived of in the marketing rhetoric of the political data analytics industry. Drawing on a sample of 19 political data analytics companies it systematically explores the ways in which data analytics is envisioned and marketed as a powerful tool in electoral processes, exposing a fundamental disconnect between scholarly discourse on the one hand – often critical of the claims of these companies about the efficacy of their methods – and a highly functionary data imaginary on the other hand, actively fostered by the political data-analytics industry and the media.