Integrated energy systems: Challenges,trends, philosophy

The creation of an energy metasystem that combines electrical, heat, cooling, and gas supply systems on an intellectual framework is a manifestation of a new energy paradigm. Integrated intelligent power supply systems combine complexity, intelligence, efficiency, reliability, controllability, flexibility of energy conversion, transmission, storage technologies and assume an active consumer.     

Social network analysis in accounting information systems research

This paper introduces social network analysis as an alternative research method for conducting accounting information systems related research. With advances in information and communication technologies, transaction data are being recorded in electronic form, resulting in a variety of research opportunities to examine dyadic interactions. A network consists of a set of nodes connected by ties. Social network research focuses on how outcomes are influenced not just by the attributes of the nodes (e.g. individuals), but also by the ties connecting nodes to each other. The nodes are typically conceptualized as actors, such as individuals, teams, or organizations. A unique network structure is created to reflect each different type of tie, such as trust, advice, collocation, or organizational affiliation. Social network analysis can be used for research examining individual, dyadic or network levels of analyses, and is a powerful tool for conducting multi-method research. Given the vast amounts of trace electronic data collected via accounting information systems, this paper reviews how social network analysis not only opens new research avenues for accounting information systems researchers, but identifies opportunities for the field of accounting information systems to inform social network research by identifying new network structures and dynamics leveraging transactional data.     

Reparations for African‐Americans as a Transfer Problem: A Cautionary Tale

We examine how different methods of reparations payments to African‐Americans affect both the black and nonblack populations of the United States using the framework of the transfer‐problem from international trade theory as a theoretical foundation. We find that reparations payments that provide incentives for blacks to use the payment toward purchases of goods and services produced by nonblacks might expand the income gap. Also a reparations payment in the absence of productive capacity owned by blacks is found to have no final positive impact on black income. These results indicate that a reparations payment strategy must be carefully and cautiously conceived in order to achieve the desired effects.     

World Leisure and Recreation Association International Position Statement on Leisure Education and Youth at Risk

Researchers have noted the utility of the Investment Model in explaining the formation of loyalty. This study extends the Investment Model in a leisure service context by including two additional constructs of quality and value. Quality and value are proposed as antecedents of satisfaction, with their effects on loyalty mediated by satisfaction. Results from an online panel survey of American cruise passengers support these hypotheses. The study provides a model of loyalty building that may shed new insight on loyalty research.     

A Risk-Return Analysis of a Firm's Working-Capital Position

In this paper, a method is proposed by which management is able to analyze the risk-return tradeoff for various levels of liquid assets for the firm and for different maturity compositions of its debt. Together, these factors determine its working-capital position. Certain probability concepts are employed; and information is provided about the risk of cash insolvency for alternative strategies. In addition, the opportunity costs of these strategies are determined. With the framework proposed, more rational working-capital decisions are possible. The firm is able to achieve a working-capital position that provides the appropriate margin of safety in relation to the cost involved in attaining that position     

Narratives of Negotiation and Transformation: Women's Experiences within a Mixed-Gendered Gym

ABSTRACT

Those within the fitness industry claim that gyms provide accessible space for women (of certain economic status) to engage in activities that will increase their health. As such, gyms are marketed as safe, inclusive, and empowering spaces. Yet when viewing gym spaces through a feminist-informed lens, it becomes clear that gyms are not always innocuous spaces. They often reflect and perpetuate gendered power relations and highly prescribed cultural expectations for femininity around women's bodies, appearances, strength, and abilities. This narrative inquiry sought to illuminate women's gendered experiences within a for-profit mixed-gendered gym space. Through the use of unstructured life story interviews, this research highlights the dominant gendered expectations that women perceived within the gym and how these expectations influence women's gym use. The narratives also exposed several ways that gyms can be changed in order to facilitate more positive gym experiences for women.     

Globalization with a human face

This paper has six parts. The first part defines globalization. The second discusses globalization eras. The third discusses the irreversibility and inevitability of globalization. The fourth section discusses the benefits and costs of globalization. The fifth section asks what is to be done. The sixth section contains my conclusions.