The Design Research Society and Emerging Themes in Design Research*

This paper outlines the role of the Design Research Society (DRS) and explores some of the emerging trends in design research as a field of academic inquiry through its biennial conferences. In doing so it gives some insight into the areas of research which might inform future studies from a perspective of an organization that seeks to support the peer review process both directly and indirectly through conferences and events, journal editing, and as a nominating body for national and international research evaluation panels.     

The social functions of the meal

It is suggested that mealtimes are not simply occasions for the ingestion of food but that they perform several other crucial social functions for the participants. Some of these functions are categorized and considered under five headings: social groupings, relationships, symbolism, role performance and socialisation.     

Cyberspace as a medium for terrorists

Given that terrorists are quickly acquiring technical skills that increase the utility of cyberspace to an effective distributed organizational network and the likelihood of potential attacks on U.S. critical infrastructure and defense systems, we consider the value of cyberspace to terrorists. To this end, it is necessary to address the following questions pertinent to the attributes of cyberspace to examine why and how terrorists may utilize cyberspace to advance their goals: (1) What is cyberterrorism? (2) Is cyberterrorism warfare? (3) Why would terrorists use cyberspace? (4) What do we know or anticipate that terrorists want to do in cyberspace? (5) How do we deal with terrorists in cyberspace? We conclude with an assessment of the cyberterrorism threat facing the U.S. today and recommendations that address increasing technical capabilities and security measures for intelligence gathering, digital control and supervisory control and data acquisition (DC/SCADA) systems, and emergency response systems.     

OSHA's interest in chemical plant safety

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has been required by the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 to promulgate a process safety management (PSM) standard for the prevention of catastrophic incidents and to protect the safety and health of employees in the covered plants. The law requires the OSHA standard to cover at least 14 areas or issues and to cover highly hazardous chemicals which include toxic, flammable, highly reactive and explosive substances. The paper will describe in detail how OSHA has responded to this statute and what we have accomplished in the rulemaking effort. Also the interface with other relevant OSHA standards, including the Hazard Communication standard, the Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response standard, the Control of Hazardous Energy Sources (Lockout/Tagout) standard, and others will be discussed. In addition other recent laws that relate to and impact the OSHA PSM standard such as the Hazardous Materials Transportation Uniform Safety Act of 1990, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, and the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) of 1986, will be explained as to their relationship to PSM. The emergency preparedness efforts required of employers under PSM and the relationship to SARA Title III efforts by local community emergency response organization will be covered, as well as the interface with the EPA Risk Management Program initiative that EPA must do under the Clean Air Act Amendments.     

Panama's exports and its sovereign debt

Conclusion Panama has a foreign debt that represents 81.2 percent of GNP. In absolute terms, this is not large by the standards established by countries such as Mexico. For countries like Panama, which are not in the severely indebted middle-income countries, there is a tendency to overlook them with debt assistance programs. In 1989, the Brady Initiative recognized the need to help SIMICs and the Paris Club also stepped in with rescheduling agreements primarily for SIMICs with high official debt. In the 1980s, Panama rescheduled $594 million in debt.That does not reduce the debt; rather, it gives the country more time to pay it off. Exports (or income) growth, if used exclusively to repay the debt, could accomplish that goal in 39 years. But the relationship between existing interest rates and export growth cannot be expected to endure for so long. In fact, it might be impossible for Panama to ever pay off its debt, particularly when its long-term and short-term sum exceed its GNP. If the ratio of debt-to-exports is indeed constant, then Panama will be able to outgrow the debt as long as export growth is greater than the cost of servicing the debt.     

Exploring public house employee's perceptions of their status: a UK case study

This paper suggests that employees' perceptions of their occupational status are important to researchers and managers concerned with the broader nature of service work. This ethnography of a single, medium-sized chain of English public houses demonstrates the complex nature of status, identifying four key influences on barworkers' views of their relative standing at work and in the wider community: the nature of the occupation and the employing organisation/environment (barwork in a ‘respectable’ pub chain); the nature of customer relationships (informal, egalitarian); perceived professionalism (personal responsibility at work); and the relative occupational opportunities available (with equivalent jobs offering considerably less status).     

Stake Management in Men's Online Cosmetics Testimonials

Although the Internet has opened up new avenues for identity expression, many web‐based sources have yet to be examined. Online testimonials as a form word‐of‐mouth advertising are a relatively new development. The present study examines the construction of masculinities in men's cosmetics adverting testimonials presented on the website of a leading brand. The dataset is examined using discursive psychology and membership categorization analysis methodologies. The findings indicate that when men write facial cosmetics testimonials they still justify the use of these non‐typical masculine products even in the absence of others’ responses. The analysis highlights the continued difficulty men report in using typically feminized products, frequently accounting for their cosmetic use as a "corrective" measure rather than for beautification. The implications for the marketing of masculine products are discussed.     

Barriers to ascension to senior management positions in retailing

Using a case study of retailing, this paper examines the continued under-representation of women in senior management positions. Via a questionnaire survey, it reveals that those factors retail managers (men and women) themselves attribute to the disproportionate number of women in senior positions. The findings revealed that the main factors were associated with women's ‘other’ role: the family. Thus, lack of child care facilities and high family commitments were regarded as especially problematic and the organisation of retailing with its long anti-social hours and lack of flexi-time at managerial levels contributed to these problems. Other factors were also regarded as important including company cultures that uphold patriarchal social systems. The paper demonstrates how women's primary position in the home and domestic domain and men's primary position in the economic domain have shaped the way retail organisations are organised and the roles that men and women are traditionally expected to adopt within them.