What if Bourdieu had played FarmVille? Examining users’ motives for playing the browser game FarmVille in relation to socio-demographic variables

With its almost 80,000,000 users, FarmVille is the number one browser game on the Internet. This real time game places its players into the role of a farmer who has to plough land and raise livestock. Given the game??s popularity, on the one hand, and the specific overall theme of farming, on the other, we ask which motives drive players to participate in a game that involves such a considerable amount of time and effort. Against the background of Bourdieu??s sociological perspective and concept of habitus, we hypothesized that diverse user characteristics impact usage motives. A survey we conducted (N?=?210) revealed, for example, that entertainment, challenge, and escapism were the most important motives. Furthermore, a relationship between the occupational status of players and their gaming motives was found: Those who had not yet started an occupational career focused more on entertainment and challenge than gamers who had gained occupational success. Results are discussed against the background of Pierre Bourdieu??s sociology of difference.     

An Evolutionary Psychology Perspective on Physical Exercise Motives: Implications for Social Marketing

This study uses the theoretical framework of evolutionary psychology to examine the motives driving physical exercise behavior, as evolutionary psychology is still under-explored in the social marketing literature. The study employs a survey that draws on a sample of 220 participants. Independent sample t-tests and analysis of variance are conducted, and findings show significant sex and marital status differences in terms of motivations to exercise. Research findings have original implications for social marketing interventions that seek to understand physical exercise motivations and to encourage increased levels of physical exercise. Further, findings contribute to the extant literature by establishing the importance of sex-based segmentation strategies and message appeals that resonate with specific segments’ innate physical exercise motives.     

Human capital and entrepreneurial success: A meta-analytical review

The study meta-analytically integrates results from three decades of human capital research in entrepreneurship. Based on 70 independent samples (N = 24,733), we found a significant but small relationship between human capital and success (r_c = .098). We examined theoretically derived moderators of this relationship referring to conceptualizations of human capital, to context, and to measurement of success. The relationship was higher for outcomes of human capital investments (knowledge/skills) than for human capital investments (education/experience), for human capital with high task-relatedness compared to low task-relatedness, for young businesses compared to old businesses, and for the dependent variable size compared to growth or profitability. Findings are relevant for practitioners (lenders, policy makers, educators) and for future research. Our findings show that future research should pursue moderator approaches to study the effects of human capital on success. Further, human capital is most important if it is task-related and if it consists of outcomes of human capital investments rather than human capital investments; this suggests that research should overcome a static view of human capital and should rather investigate the processes of learning, knowledge acquisition, and the transfer of knowledge to entrepreneurial tasks.     

Tourist Motivation with Sun and Sand Destinations: Satisfaction and the Wom-Effect

To study the tourist consumption process, the present work suggests a new conceptual framework of tourist motivation. This framework for tourist motivation proposes causal relationships for important constructs in the consumption process: between motivations to travel, tourists' satisfaction, and intentions to communicate with others by word-of-mouth (WOM). A review of current tourism and marketing literature suggests two body-related dimensions (i.e., sun and warmth, fitness and health) and two mind-related dimensions (i.e., culture and nature, escapism). The study tests an instrument to measure the dimensions of tourist motivation. A research model investigates the relevant relationships among the constructs and uses a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. Analysis of 1,222 outbound charter tourists from Norway tests the model. The results confirm that body and mind are useful as a framework to assess tourist motivations. People have many motives for visiting sun and sand destinations. Satisfaction was, as expected, found to impact WOM. However, only mind-related motives affect satisfaction with the destination, and tourists prefer to talk about culture and nature motivations, in particular, to others. These findings are of great importance due to the great influence of WOM in tourism marketing. The findings point to the importance of recognizing the differences in tourist motivation for traveling and what tourists are inclined to tell others when arriving back home.     

Internationale Forschungs- und Entwicklungsstandorte

The internationalisation of research and development (R&D) is continuously increasing and will also take on steadily growing importance in the future. Firms are very mobile when deciding upon their R&D locations and choose locations where they can profit from local knowledge. In the light of the high degree of specialisation in certain technology fields by German firms while at the same time foreign firms focus their R&D activities on these very same fields, the authors recommend a broad approach for policies regarding education and basic research in order to be prepared for future technological developments.     

Identity Brokerage and Nonprofit Community Building

Scholars have increasingly approached organizations as complex systems with indeterminate, shifting boundaries. Boundaries in many nonprofit organizations may be especially fluid, given the heterogeneity of stakeholders and highly multiplexed relational and value characteristics involved in constructing identity. The present study frames nonprofit organizations as complex organizations seeking to build communities of legitimacy. Within these communities they construct their identity through a combination of boundary setting, or perceptions of the organization and in what ways it is distinct from other organizations and communities, and relationship building, through both interpersonal contacts and socially mediated interaction. These dimensions combine to allow organizations to identify and bridge structural holes in the larger network in which they are embedded, through processes of identity brokerage. These mechanisms have significant implications for driving growth and engagement in nonprofit organizations. In support of this theoretical model, the article describes a mixed-methods research study involving a nascent arts organization in a large U.S. city.     

Kombilohnmodell – Praktikable Konzepte statt politischer Placebomaßnahmen

Von Kombilohnmodellen wird eine bessere Integration geringqualifizierter Langzeitarbeitsloser in den Arbeitsmarkt erwartet. Welche F?rderkonzepte gibt es? Welche Anforderungen müssen an die Kombilohnmodelle gestellt werden? Wie schneidet das „Hamburger Modell“ im Vergleich ab? Welche Wirkungen k?nnen für eine bundesweite Ausdehnung des Modells prognostiziert werden? Dr. Michael Gerhardt, 41, ist Leiter des Grundsatzreferates der Beh?rde für Wirtschaft und Arbeit in Hamburg. Er gibt in dem Aufsatz ausschlie?lich seine pers?nliche Meinung wieder; Nina Wielage, 27, hat dort die Entwicklung des Hamburger Modells zur Besch?ftigungsf?rderung seit 2005 untersucht.     

Government monitored codes of practice in Ireland

This paper is divided into four parts. It begins with an analysis of the problems inherent in Irish codes of practice. Two major problems are identified: (a) no provision is made for the payment of compensation to consumers who suffer losses as a result of infringements of the codes; (b) the drafters of the codes have a tendency to understate the precise effect of certain legal provisions. The paper then proceeds to an assessment of the advantages of Irish codes of practice. One of their main advantages is that they are more flexible and speedier than the redress procedures provided by law. Another is that the codes are often so far in advance of the law that it is anticipated they will channel its development. The paper also addresses itself to whether the enforcement and monitoring mechanisms enshrined in some of the codes are effective. It concludes by recommending that (a) the terms of the codes which understate the precise effect of legal provisions should be reworded, and (b) all or part of the fines payable by code violators should be channelled to consumers who have suffered losses stemming from the infringements.

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Staatlich überwachte Verhaltenskodices in Irland

Zusammenfassung Der im Jahre 1978 erlassene irische Consumer Information Act sieht die Einrichtung einer Behörde für Verbraucherangelegenheiten vor, der neben Uberwachungsaufgaben im Bereich der Werbung mit den Anbietern Verhaltenskodices (codes of standards, codes of practice) aushandeln soll. Inzwischen existieren einige solcher Kodices, insbesondere im Bereich von Werbung und des Versandhandels. Zwei weitere Kodices sind noch im Entwurfsstadium, nämlich für Isoliermaterialien und für Pauschalreisen.Der Beitrag weist auf zwei Hauptprobleme der irischen Kodices hin: sie enthalten keinerlei Vorschriften über Ersatzleistungen zugunsten von geschädigten Verbrauchern im Falle von Verstößen; die Verfasser der Kodices tendieren dazu, die präzisen gesetzlichen Verpflichtungen nur ungenau darzustellen.Weiterhin wird eine differenzierte Beurteilung der bislang vorliegenden irischen Kodices versucht. Einer ihrer Hauptvorteile besteht in ihrer Flexibilität. Verfahren können dadurch schneller erledigt werden als es nach den gesetzlichen Einrichtungen der Fall ist. Ein weiterer Vorteil besteht darin, daß sie der Entwicklung des Rechts so weit voraus sind, daß sie vermutlich seine weitere Entwicklung bestimmen werden. Die Mechanismen zur Durchsetzung und Überwachung sind nur z. T. wirksam; es fehlt an einer wirksamen Erfolgskontrolle. Außerdem fehlen Schieds- und Schlichtungsverfahren, anders als in den entsprechenden englisches Codes of Practice.Der Beitrag schließt mit zwei rechtspolitischen Vorschlägen: Bestimmungen in den Kodices, die den präzisen Inhalt gesetzlicher Verpflichtungen nur ungenau wiedergeben, sollten neu gefaßt werden; die gesamten oder wenigstens ein Teil der Geldbußen, die bei Verstößen gegen Verpflichtungen aus Kodices fällig sind, sollten an geschädigte Verbraucher als Ersatzleistung ausgekehrt werden.

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Alex Schuster is a Lecturer in Law at Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland.     

HRM as a Significant Factor for Achieving Competitiveness through People: The Croatian Case

This paper evaluates the quality of human resource management (HRM) in Croatia because excellent human resource (HR) policies, programs and activities enable enterprises to maximize their workforce productivity. The research was conducted in enterprises with more than 200 employees. The value of HRM was assessed using the HR audit approach. Fifty-five HR indicators were analyzed from the top 10 Croatian HR enterprises to serve as benchmarks for the final sample of 80 enterprises. Results indicate Croatian enterprises have deficient HR practices, on average. Independent sample t-tests showed 61.82% of HR indicators were significantly better in the benchmark firms. Consequently, HRM in Croatia can not be considered solid ground for achieving competitiveness through people.