多元文化共谋下的当代商贾历史叙事

当代商贾历史小说在多元期待视野下演绎儒商故事、财富神话和国族想象,呈现出多重叙事动机和多重文化内质。这是新兴的商业经济力量表达自身文化和意识形态诉求的结果,也折射出当代商业意识形态与社会主流意识形态、大众意识形态之间博弈且调和共生的局面。     

Measuring sustainability risks: A rational myth?

The objective of this paper is to investigate the rigorousness and reliability of sustainability rating agencies' evaluation of corporate sustainability risks. Using grounded theory, this study conducts a qualitative analysis of 32 semi‐structured interviews with practitioners involved in this activity and shows the trade‐offs and rational myths underlying this evaluation process. The image of rationality and rigorousness projected by sustainability risk measurements is mostly intended to address the increasing institutional pressures for reliable and comparable information, particularly from institutional investors and socially responsible investment decision makers. Nevertheless, risk analysts face serious challenges due to the lack of reliable information, the unpredictability of sustainability risks, the methodological issues related to the measurement process, and the complexity and context‐dependency of risk assessment. These challenges call into question the official and optimistic rhetoric of rating agencies. This study contributes to the literature on sustainability risks and rational myths in organizations. Managerial implications and avenues for future research are also discussed.     

Tackling age discrimination in employment in Singapore

In a country with an ageing work-force, a decline in the number of new entrants to the labour market and an acute labour shortage, it would be reasonable to assume that employers would encourage older workers to remain in employment for as long as possible. In the case of Singapore, however, private sector employers often retired employees at age 55 and hired younger workers in their place. In many cases older workers re-hired had to accept lower pay and lower grade jobs. In an attempt to tackle this sort of age discrimination in employment, the government passed the Retirement Age Act in 1993. Prior to its enactment, the government urged employers to raise the retirement age voluntarily, but the response was poor, especially in the non-unionized sector. This paper argues that employers resisted the extension of the retirement age because they perceived older workers in stereotypical terms. The main issues which gave rise to the Retirement Age legislation are discussed. So also is the possible impact of the legislation on some HRM practices. The paper also proposes some future directions for research on older workers in Singapore.     

It’s time to close the experimentation gap in advertising: Confronting myths surrounding ad testing

Marketers know that running experiments is a proven way to improve results and gain competitive advantage against rivals. Despite this knowledge—and the fact that experiments are now easier to conduct than ever before—data shows that marketers consistently under-experiment. In this article, we examine why this gap exists and what can be done to close it. We do so by connecting with senior-level marketing professionals representing seven consumer-facing industries in two phases. First, through a series of interviews, we gain initial understanding of the concerns, challenges, and realities of those working in the industry. Following this phase, we surveyed a larger group to corroborate and extend our initial findings, comparing cases to identify challenges and the strategies used to overcome them. We present our findings as a series of experimentation myths before closing with a broader perspective on how organizations can infuse experimentation into their culture.     

吴越神话传说中的海洋文化精神研究

文章对吴越神话传说做一个大致的梳理,归纳了吴越神话传说集中表现的三大主题即王之德勇、英雄之忠勇、百姓之智勇,认为"崇武尚勇"的鲜明个性是吴越先民所具有的海洋文化精神的集中表现。这说明了吴越民族文化精神最初有着自己独特的源头,但在长期的民族大迁徙和大融合中,吴越民族逐渐加入到中原农耕文化圈的行列,其海洋文化精神的鲜明特征逐渐削弱了。     

当下中国社会成功观误区和大学生思想政治教育

当下中国社会成功观误区对大学生成长产生负面影响,应加强对大学生成功观的教育。国家、社会层面应为大学生树立正确的成功观创造良好的社会氛围;大学教育、管理层面应凝聚大学校园各种工作力量对学生进行正确的成功观教育和引导;大学生自身要不断加强各方面的学习,提高明辨是非的能力,确立正确的成功观。     

Commercial mythmaking at the Holy Land Experience

Commercial mythmaking, where firms create, appropriate, and cultivate myths, plays an important role in creating and disseminating ideologies that help consumers manage tensions in the marketplace. Commercial mythmaking remains under-researched. In response we explore commercial mythmaking at the nexus of consumption, markets, and religion, where firms create myths that negotiate between market and religious logics. Some evangelical Christians hold beliefs that create tension with consumer culture, which they perceive to be secular and amoral. A religious theme park in the United States that appeals to this sub-segment serves as the empirical context. We identify three prominent politico-religious themes re-cast at the park as commercial myths. They are: redemption, authentic connection to the sacred, and American exceptionalism. These commercial myths aid consumers in resolving ideological tensions by infusing a politically conservative religious ideology into the brand's basic value proposition.     

Spiritual myths of consumption: puritanism,transcendentalism and the consubstantiation of the American consumer

ABSTRACT

Contemporary consumer trends in America are profoundly influenced by the enduring religious values of Puritanism and the more secular spiritual values of Transcendentalism. Both belief systems have deeply penetrated American collective memory. While they share common historical roots, the tensions that emerge from their differences describe a typology of three enduring collective myths of American culture – the Myth of the American Dream, the Myth of the American Adam and the Myth of American Exceptionalism. These myths, in turn, define three contemporary consumer movements – Voluntary Simplicity, Transformational Consumption and Radical Consumption.     

Regulation in Vertically-Related Industries: Myths, Facts, and Policy

This paper explains why conclusions that appear to be “facts” can truly be “myths” in industries like today’s telecommunications industry, where key suppliers operate in multiple vertical stages of production. The paper explains, for example, why an entrant’s decision to make or buy critical production inputs may be largely insensitive to the price of these inputs. It also reviews why a vertically-integrated producer (VIP) may prefer to assist, rather than disadvantage, retail rivals, and why a VIP may be disadvantaging rivals even when it provides them with the same wholesale service quality that it provides to its own retail affiliate.     

传统诗歌中祝融形象的变迁

祝融是我国上古神话人物之一,关于他的传说历来众说纷纭,其形象渗透到文学作品尤其是诗歌中,也承载着不同的意蕴。祝融最早出现在诗歌当中,是诗人们在现实中遭遇打击和排挤,政治理想受阻后的悲愤之歌,隋唐以后,诗歌中所呈现的祝融的形象,已经从单一化逐渐向多元化过度,宋代及后世的诗歌当中,则更是展现了一个意蕴丰富的祝融,而随着神话题材诗歌的大量涌现,祝融形象在诗歌中的内涵也逐渐定型。本文从神话与诗歌的关系和渊源着手,分析和考究了历代诗歌中祝融形象的内涵及其意义,以求勾勒出祝融形象在诗歌中的演变和发展轨迹。