E-Learning in der Kommunikations- und Medienwissenschaft

Using electronic media as teaching and learning tools is no longer a novelty; the fast development and diffusion of §new media”, such as CD-ROM and theWorldWideWeb, have given the use of these media a big boost in recent years. Thus, a number of electronic learning projects have been developed in the field of communication and media studies, of which, however, no general overview was available so far. This article provides such an overview, allows for classification and evaluation of these projects, and thus represents a prerequisite for the future success of such projects. A survey by the authors among communication and media studies departments in German-speaking countries accounted for 14 electronic learning projects that showed fairly diverse emphases with respect to their contents, concepts, didactics, technology, and organisation. In a case study on the Leipzig-based §Distance Learning Propädeutikum" (DLP), the article explores the advantages of electronic learning systems and discusses the challenges in the development and application of such systems. This section also draws on the results of a project-specific evaluation. Both the survey and the case study show that rather than substituting courses or cutting costs on instructors, the main advantage of electronic learning systems lies in their ability to make teaching and learning processes more independent of temporal and spatial constraints.     

How cost-effective are result-oriented agri-environmental measures?—An empirical analysis in Germany

Agri-environmental measures (AEM) are the central area-based measures of the second pillar of the Common European Agricultural Policy. Cost-effectiveness of AEMs has to be improved. In this paper a newly designed AEM called result-oriented incentive is empirically analysed for the first time concerning its impacts on environmental effects and cost.     

Foreign Investment in Brazilian Public Offerings: The Role of Board Composition

Recently, foreigners have been responsible for negotiating more than half of the shares issued by the companies listed in the Brazilian Stock Market. In order to understand the characteristics of companies that influence the increase of international financing, the aim of this article was to investigate the relation between foreign investment in public offerings and board composition. We examine data of 183 Brazilian IPOs and subsequent offerings from 2004–2016 using OLS regression. The empirical result suggested that companies that have a foreign director as a board member and are in a special listing segment of B3—bound by rules of corporate governance—tend to attract more foreign investment. This means that foreigners are sensitive to good corporate governance practices when financing Brazilian firms’ IPOs or that issue new shares. Our findings imply that improvements in the corporate governance practice of companies could increase their ability to raise foreign capital.

RESUMERecientemente, más de la mitad de las acciones emitidas por las empresas cotizadas en la Bolsa de Valores brasileña fueron negociadas por extranjeros. El objeto de este estudio consistió en investigar la relación existente entre las inversiones extranjeras en las ofertas públicas y la composición de sus juntas directivas, para entender las características de las empresas que contribuyen a aumentar el financiamiento internacional. Utilizando la regresión de mínimos cuadrados ordinarios dinámicos (MCOD, OLS en inglés), examinamos datos de la Oferta Pública Inicial Brasileña 183 (IPO) así como ofertas subsiguientes del período 2004-2016. El resultado empírico obtenido sugiere que las empresas cuya junta directiva tiene como miembro un director extranjero y constan en un segmento de cotización especial (B3), sujeto a normas de gobernanza corporativa, suelen atraer más inversiones extranjeras. Esto implica que, al financiarlas, los extranjeros son más susceptibles a que las empresas brasileñas que abren su capital o emiten nuevas acciones, usen buenas prácticas de gobernanza corporativa. Nuestros hallazgos sugieren que la implementación de mejoras en las prácticas de gobernanza corporativa de las empresas puede aumentar su financiamiento internacional.

RESUMORecentemente os estrangeiros passaram a ser responsáveis pela negociação de mais da metade das ações emitidas pelas empresas listadas na Bolsa de Valores brasileira. Para entender as características das empresas que influenciam o aumento do financiamento internacional, o presente trabalho tem como objetivo o estudo da relação entre o investimento estrangeiro nas ofertas públicas e a composição das diretorias. Examinamos dados de 183 IPOs (Oferta Pública Inicial) e de ofertas subsequentes, de 2004 a 2016, usando a regressão MQO (OLS na sigla em inglês). O resultado empírico sugere que as empresas que têm um diretor estrangeiro na diretoria e que estão no segmento de listagem especial da B3—sujeitas às normas de governança corporativa—tendem a atrair mais investimentos. Isso significa que os estrangeiros estão alerta quanto às boas práticas de governança ao considerar empresas brasileiras que abrem o capital ou que emitem ações novas. Os nossos achados sugerem que melhorias nas práticas de governança corporativa das empresas podem elevar o financiamento internacional das empresas.     

Prague’s community gardening in liquid times: challenges in the creation of spaces for social connection

ABSTRACT

Building on the concept of liquid leisure, this paper examines the current potential of community gardening in Prague to create collaborative place-bound communities. By looking closely at the fluctuation of members of selected gardens and the reasons for withdrawal from this activity, we try to see if changes in the member base have any consequences for the functioning of the gardens and the social groups created around them. The results are based on an analysis of interviews held with representatives of community gardens in Prague. Our results document that community projects such as community gardens can be sustained as gardeners come and go and can still fulfil important social, educational and environmental needs of gardens’ immediate neighbourhoods. Moreover, the perception of community around the garden is negotiated and re-negotiated by individual gardeners. The community can play a different role throughout different stages of people’s lives and other changing contexts. Experiences of nuclear families, tribal groupings, collaborative and interest communities often intersect in the space of community gardens. Gardening as a leisure activity, as well as community creation and belonging can, thus, be approached from very different perspectives in the context of liquid modernity.     

Service relationships and the customer disengagement – engagement conundrum

Abstract

Emergent research on customer engagement has focused on enhancing engagement within service relationships. Less attention has been given to how and why customers disengage from their relationships, and the potential interplay between engagement and disengagement has not yet been explored within the marketing literature. This study presents the findings from a qualitative exploration of the concept of customer disengagement, its initiating triggers, nature and the process by which it unfolds within functional/utilitarian (F/U) and participative/co-creative services (P/C). Rather than being mutually exclusive, it finds that engagement and disengagement are highly connected and that prior levels of engagement significantly influenced customers’ subsequent propensities to disengage. Specifically, customers’ propensity towards disengagement was higher within services considered F/U in nature and lower within services of a more P/C nature. In addition, the extent to which customers disengaged from their relationship was strongly determined by their prior levels of engagement with weak engagement for F/U services and strong engagement for P/C services. Relationships in the F/U category were subsequently transactional and volatile when compared to relationships within the P/C category that were comparatively emotionally bonded and enduring.     

The Information Content of Magazine Advertising in Market and Transition Economies

This study examines differences in the information content of magazine advertisements across market and transition economies in Europe. Content analyses are performed on 396 advertisements that appeared in women's magazines in the Russian Federation, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Results of statistical analyses reveal marked differences between economies with respect to the information content of advertisements. Compared to market economies, advertisements in transition economies contain significantly more product-related information, and focus less on consumers' life style. In addition, they contain more prize winning contests and their glossy magazines contain more availability information. The study also explores reasons for these differences and discusses their implications.     

Beziehen sich Medien immer mehr auf Medien?

The media are becoming more and more media-referential. This thesis has become quite common among communication scholars. When reviewing the relevant literature, however, it becomes clear that terms such as self-referentiality or media-orientation are used to decribe a great variety of different phenomena. In addition, there is a lack of empirical evidence to support the notion of a growing frequency of media references in the media. Moreover, the discussion about media reliance and its changes is based on different theoretical approaches, some of which do not make any reference to other such approaches. Against that backdrop, this article first identifies different dimensions of self-or media-referentiality. Second, empirical evidence is presented that speaks for or against an increase of self-or media-referentiality. Third, the usual theoretical approaches used in explanations of self-or media-referentiality are discussed. Fourth, it is explained how an integrative social theory — the structural-individualistic approach — can be used as a basis for the explanation of changes in self-or media-referentiality. Finally, possible effects of such a development are discussed.     

Microaggression,anxiety, trigger warnings,emotional reasoning,mental filtering,and intellectual homogeneity on campus: A study of what students think

College campus life is changing based on pressures to create safe environments for students to learn. Much of this change has been outlined in an article by Lukianoff and Haidt entitled “The Coddling of the American Mind.” The authors of the present article asked 188 students from two universities if microaggressions, trigger warnings, emotional reasoning, and mental filtering are prevalent on campus and whether colleges are promoting these concepts. The results show that the majority of students believe that universities must change the way these concepts are addressed to prevent intellectual homogeneity and to adequately prepare them for their business professions.     

Open issues in happiness research

Happiness research is one of the most vivid and fruitful parts of modern economics. The focus is on empirical findings. In contrast, theoretical work has been rather neglected. The paper deals with three areas needing more analytical work: the choice or imposition of comparison or reference groups; and the extent, speed and symmetry of adaptation to positive and negative shocks on happiness. In both areas, theoretical propositions are derived which can in the future be empirically tested. The third area relates to the political economy of happiness. Many governments intend to take the happiness index as a criterion of how successful their policies are. As a consequence, survey respondents get an incentive to misrepresent their happiness level, and governments to manipulate the aggregate happiness indicator in their favor. A country’s constitution must induce governments to carefully observe human rights, democracy, the decentralization of political decision making, and market institutions and provide people with the possibility to acquire a good education and find a suitable job.