Browsing Department of Intercultural Communication and Management (ICM/IKL) by Title
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Leander, Anna (København, 2007)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: On September 16 2007 the employees of the U.S. security firm Blackwater became involved in a shooting incidence in the Nisour Square in Baghdad. They were escorting a U.S. State Department delegation, which according to the firm, came under attack. According to by-standers, the Blackwater employees opened fire unprovoked, shooting in all directions and seemingly at anyone moving, including those trying to flee or help those wounded. 17 Iraqis civilians died in the incidence and at least twice as many were wounded. President Al-Maliki immediately came out to "revoke Blackwater’s license” for operating in Iraq and Iraqi authorities engaged the process of ending contractor impunity in their country. However, it soon became clear that there was no license to revoke and that the Iraqi government may not have the authority to deny Blackwater the right to operate in Iraq, let alone decide the fate of private contractors more generally. On their part, the U.S. authorities promised to open their own investigation and expressed regret at the civilian casualties but did not end their contracts with Blackwater in Iraq or elsewhere. The incapacity of the Iraqi government to impose its authority and right to control the use of force on its territory, to hold Blackwater and/or its employees accountable for the incidence, made Jeremy Scahill conclude that: "nothing gives a more clear indication to the Iraqis that they don’t have a sovereign government” (2007). Scahill is right in pointing to the limitations of the Iraqi government’s role as the ultimate authority deciding on laws on Iraqi territory. However, it does not follow that the Mansour incidence is illustrative of the extent to which the private markets for force have undermined sovereignty generally. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7033 Files in this item: 1
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Abstract: This paper argues that security belongs to a specific category of commodities: “contested commodities” around which there is an ongoing and unsettled symbolic struggle over whether or not they can and should be though of as commodities (section 1). The contested nature of commodification has implications for how markets function; market practices tend to be defined and organized in ways that minimize their contentiousness and obfuscate their expansion. The paper looks at the implications of this argument for the conceptualization of the security. It focuses on the three central articulations of contestation: the discussion about whether the use of force can be left to the market, whether it can be so in the international realm and the discussion about whether or not markets trigger increased insecurity. It shows how this specific articulation of contestation has produced markets where the practice/definition of security is as public rather than private (section 2), as inside rather than outside (section 3) and as a responsible reaction to a threat rather than as something contributing to the constitution of threats (section 4). Conceptualizations of private security consequently have to be devised to capture these practical consequences of contested commodification; they need to capture the private in the public, the inside in the outside and the securitizing in the response to threats. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7964 Files in this item: 1
Contested_Commodity_working_paper.pdf (152.8Kb) -
on the art of duality in learning partnershipsMorsing, Mette; Vendelø, Morten (København, 1995)[More information][Less information]
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An implementation and evaluationHalskov, Jakob (København, 2008)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The research object of this thesis is the so-called knowledge patterns and their usefulness in automatically extracting specic semantic relations from unannotated and uncategorized text on the WWW so as to facilitate semi-automatic updating and extension of existing ontological and terminological resources. The main contribution of the thesis is the implementation of a com- plete ontology extension framework called WWW2REL which is 100% based on a knowledge-poor, domain-independent processing of WWW text snippets and includes the three stages of pattern discovery, pattern ltering and relation instance ranking. Unlike most comparable systems WWW2REL is special in that it is both highly portable, can be applied to any semantic relation type and operates directly on uncategorized WWW text snippets. The system is tested on the biomedical UMLS Metathesaurus for four dierent relation types and manually evaluated by four domain experts. It is demonstrated that high precision in the task of knowledge discovery from a noisy text source can be achieved using a very simple instance relevance measure and two ranking heuristics. In contrast, many comparable systems operate on richly annotated academic text and tend to apply heuristics which are custom-tailored to a specic domain and/or relation type. When selecting the overall best ranking scheme, average system performance across all four relation types ranges between 70% to 65% of the maximum possible F-score by top 10 and top 50 relation instances, respectively. Finally, the thesis experiments also examine the portability of individ- ual knowledge patterns and of the ranking heuristics. It is concluded that synonymy KPs are the most domain independent closely followed by ISA KPs, whereas patterns for "may_prevent" and especially "induces" are more dependent on the domain. Empirical experiments also suggest that a ranking heuristic which penalizes relation instances whose arguments occur frequently in a general language corpus can be highly eective, but may need to be adapted to the domain in question. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7731 Files in this item: 1
jacob_halskov.pdf (1.810Mb) -
a narrative approach to the study of international acquisitionsSøderberg, Anne-Marie (København, 2003)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Most studies of mergers and acquisitions have a managerial tilt and are founded on short visits to the companies investigated. This essay is based on a longitudinal study of a company that experiences a series of international acquisitions, giving voice to a wide range of organizational actors at different hierarchical levels, interviewed at different points of time over a period of six years. The collected narrative interviews are viewed as retrospective interpretations of change processes in the acquired company, made by organizational actors as parts of the plots they are continually constructing and revising to make sense of the course of organizational actions and events. Greimas’ actantial model is used to systematize the different plots that can be seen as results of both individual and collective processes of selection, hierarchization and sequencing of organizational actions and events. It is argued that a narrative approach is well suited to clarify changing patterns of identification and justification and to display different modes of storytelling. The narratological analyses moreover illustrate that even central actors within an acquired company often have such different work-views and world-views that it may be problematic or even counterproductive if upper-level management introduces corporate storytelling through conscious efforts without any negotiation of the different versions of stories told by the employees. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6962 Files in this item: 1
wp67.pdf (333.5Kb) -
A Reflection on Historical Sociology and IRLeander, Anna (Frederiksberg, 2009)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: In 2004 I published an argument to the effect that “taking Tilly seriously” could help International Relations (IR) scholars understand some of the processes and mechanisms involved in state-building (Leander, 2004: the chapter is pasted in at the end of this statement). This short statement is a reflection on why, if I were to write that piece today, it would be written differently. I would still argue that we should all engage the Historical Sociology of State-Building (HSS) in a serious way (go beyond the folklore as I termed it in 2004) but my inclination today would be to be far more explicit about to the pitfalls of not going beyond the folklore as well as about the importance of studies of practices (in anthropology, ethnography, geography, regional/area studies or even IR, sic!) in signposting these pitfalls. This change in tone has less to do with any particular idea or argument in historical sociology, and even less with the work of any particular historical sociologist (seen the focus of this workshop Tilly will figure as the recurring reference point) than it does with the way the HSS is read, feeds into and shapes IR discussions (section 1). The way HSS has been integrated into IR has led scholars deeper into the pitfalls which hamper their understanding of contemporary state-building. More specifically it has perpetuated a misconstrued understanding of the inside/outside, it has obscured the nature and role of the private/public, and that it has devalued contextually specific articulations of politics and governance (sections 2-4). This “misunderstanding” is not only a scholastic matter as it translates into policies that are ineffective, inadequate not to say positively harmful (section 5). As the statement concludes, the implication is that IR scholars who decide to walk the terrain chartered by HSS would do well to observe the warning signposts set up by observers of political practices around these pitfalls. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7968 Files in this item: 1
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Leander, Anna (København, 2008)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper analyses one influential Hollywood documentary, Edward Zwick’s movie Blood Diamond as if it were an advertising campaign. Drawing on a business school textbook: Sign Wars: The Cluttered Landscape of Advertising, it poses the kinds of question an advertiser would: namely how the brand image is established, how it is made superior to other images and how good it is at capturing would-be-consumers. The paper suggests that Blood Diamond fares well on all three accounts and it traces why this is so. Specifically, it emphasizes the extent to which the film has contributed to establish and solidify the link between blood and diamonds in a process of "cultural cannibalism”. Second, it underlines role of "Hollywood authenticity” in establishing its very particular picture of politics as superior to alternatives. This certainly is more an unintended "collateral damage” than a part the producers’/directors’ intention. Finally, the last section suggests that Blood Diamond effectively captures the spectator by the reassuring, but illusive, plurality of images and by its visual fetichism. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7031 Files in this item: 1
wp 2008-1.pdf (207.4Kb) -
analysed through costume and movement in Crouching Tiger, Hidden DragonSkov, Lise (, 2008)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: In this essay, I wish to examine the relation between body, movement and costume in Chinese martial arts film. I propose to see fight choreography as dance, and I rush to say that this is a totally unoriginal claim on my part; practically any book or commentary on the martial arts genre will use the word dance, either literally or evocatively. There are good reasons for this, as I will discuss below. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7778 Files in this item: 1
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Enhancing Social Entrepreneurship and Stakeholder TheoryDacanay, Marie Lisa (Frederiksberg, 2012)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This thesis develops a framework for understanding how social enterprises engage the poor and address poverty, a pressing global problem of the 21st century. Using casebased theory building, it studies a theoretical sample of three pairs of Philippine-based social enterprises, where the poor were suppliers, workers, and customers. In half of the cases, the poor were also owners. The research studies the roles and role changes of the poor in these social enterprises, how and why these roles changed, or did not change, and the impact of the roles and role changes, if any, on the social enterprises and the poor. Data for the research was gathered mainly from key informant interviews, published and unpublished organizational documents as well as previous studies done by external consultants on the case subjects. Based on a cross case analysis of the data from the theoretical sample, the thesis develops three models of stakeholder engagement among social enterprises with the poor as primary stakeholders or SEPPS, namely: control, collaboration and empowerment. This thesis provides insights and develops propositions about the importance of stakeholder engagement and the power and limitations of these three models in bringing about social inclusion and poverty reduction. These propositions are suggested to be applicable in countries in the South other than the Philippines where systemic poverty and inequality are exacerbated by the failure of state and market institutions to address the needs of the poor. This thesis makes a contribution to social entrepreneurship and stakeholder theory. It does so by sharing a perspective from the South and giving a voice to the poor as stakeholders. The researcher notes that overall, the poor and the South are under-represented in these discourses. On the whole, social entrepreneurship theorizing has been characterized as embryonic as a topic of academic inquiry. Stakeholder engagement is considered an under-theorized area in stakeholder theory. In developing a framework for understanding stakeholder engagement models involving the poor, this thesis makes a first step towards applying and extending stakeholder theory in SEPPS. The thesis likewise enriches social entrepreneurship theory by conceiving of SEPPS as a global social enterprise model that catalyzes South-North cooperation to address poverty and inequality. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8513 Files in this item: 1
Marie_Lisa_Dacanay.pdf (2.477Mb) -
Schramm, Jette; Faradonbeh, Heidi Aakre (København, 2001)[More information][Less information]
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Singapore as a City for the ArtsOoi, Can-Seng (, 2009)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Can the arts and cultural prosper under a less than democratic political regime? This paper looks at the soft authoritarian Singaporean government and the making of Singapore into a “City for the Arts”. Many scholars advocate that a culturally vibrant and creative city must also celebrate diversity, tolerance and experimentation. This implies that a democratic space is needed for creative energies to flow. Singapore is not known for its democracy. But Singapore has become relatively successful in being the cultural hub in the region. A more liberal approach to diversity and criticism of the authorities can now be observed but there are still many strong-handed social and political controls in the city-state. This paper shows that the Singapore authorities weigh the economic, political and social costs while they liberalize the environment to promote Singapore as a City for the Arts. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7916 Files in this item: 1
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Moeran, Brian (Frederiksberg, 2012)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This working paper, delivered at the ©reative Encounters workshop on the Business of Ethnography in June 2012, and in part (the sections on advertising and anthropology) at the American Anthropological Association’s annual meeting in San Francisco in November the same year, recounts the author’s personal experiences as a fieldworker to consider what it is that defines the newly emergent sub-discipline of business anthropology. The underlying argument is that all kinds of ethnographic research not overtly conducted on ‘business organizations’ may be counted as an anthropology of business, which itself is not strictly defined by the word ‘business’ per se, but includes such features as kinship and household organization, creative and craft practices, community structures, and so on. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8511 Files in this item: 1
Brian_Moeran_2012_2.pdf (201.0Kb) -
Dahl, Dorte Boesby (Frederiksberg, 2011)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper presents stories from fieldwork among parking patrol officers and managers in a Danish municipal centre. The stories are about the hiring, firing and retention of parking officers. The centre is renowned for management’s active and ambitious work to improve the work environment for parking patrol officers, the quality of parking services and to employ diversity management. As many other types of unskilled work in Denmark, the job as parking patrol officer is a possible entry point to the labour market for people without formal education or people who have been worn out in other occupations. By presenting stories told by parking patrol officers and their managers at Centre for Parking, I wish to contribute to our understanding of the role of the public sector as an employer: the ambitions and limits of the public sector in regard to employing people for unskilled work and the dilemmas that follow. The aim of the paper is to show how these stories shape the simultaneous processes of professionalizing the traditionally unskilled work of parking patrolling and fulfilling a role as a socially inclusive workplace. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8604 Files in this item: 1
Boesby_2011.pdf (29.06Kb) -
Reflections on hermeneutics, intercultural understanding and the management of differenceBlasco, Maribel (København, 2003)[More information][Less information]
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Abstract: This working paper – written for inclusion as a chapter on Japanese society, to be published in Chinese by the Beijing University of Foreign Studies later in 2011 – looks at popular culture as a form of cultural production. It argues for the need to study popular cultural forms like advertisements, ceramics, fashion magazines and folk art as both products and as processes of design, manufacture, distribution, appreciation and use, which must all be taken into account. Precisely because popular cultural forms are both cultural products and commodities, they reveal the complementary nature of the two categories of culture and the economy. The paper outlines and analyses the different ways in which social, cultural, symbolic and economic capital are converted by those participating in advertising, ceramic, fashion magazine and folk art worlds, and suggests that popular culture may best be seen as a name economy. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8252 Files in this item: 1
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A critical management studies comparative assessment based on Japanese industrial relations researchTackney, Charles T. (, 2009)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: At the core of the present global crisis lies an ideological oversight that indicates standard business models are subject to fail due to moral hazard: managerial prerogative, particularly the U.S. variant, is not self-regulating in respect to either corporate risk or the stewardship of stakeholder trust. We know there is variance in national political economies, but less is known about legal factors informing firm-specific variance, especially as these regards trust and transparency. This paper reports research seeking to bridge this ‘gap’ by the introduction of comparative legal ecology employment models of the enterprise. The construct is derived from reflection upon industrial relations research into the existence and nature of Japan’s ‘lifetime employment system’. Construct parameters include employment security, labor unions and the degree of employee participation permitted (if any); model schematics are offered for the United States of America, Germany, Japan, Denmark, and the People’s Republic of China. The comparative models help to account for variance in the legal extent and nature of managerial prerogative, job security, and the degree of information, power, and resource transparency of any enterprise. These offer, in consequence, clear and clearly comparative benchmarks of industrial democracy. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7918 Files in this item: 1
wp 2009-1.pdf (332.2Kb) -
Jeppesen, Soeren (, 2009)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The international literature on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has focused on large rms, in the North, mostly applying normative, universal and positivist approaches. However, over the last 10-15 years increasing attention has been directed towards micro, small and medium-sized rms, SMEs. While the focus on CSR in SMEs mainly has been con ned to a Northern context, limited, though growing, focus has been on CSR in SMEs in a Southern or developing country context. The paper assesses the contributions on CSR and SMEs in Development. It does so by presenting three dominant and con icting perceptions of SMEs in the CSR literature (SMEs as problems vs. SMEs as innovators; SMEs as miniature versions of large rms vs. SMEs in their own right; SMEs responding to voluntary approaches vs. SMEs responding to state regulation). The paper then takes stock of what we know about CSR, SMEs and Development (concerning environmental issues; labour, safety & health; global supply chains; and nally CSR and SMEs in Clusters) and what we don’t know. The paper nally argues in favour of a critical research based on a) focus on Southern perspectives, b) SMEs in their own right, and c) application of context-sensitive approaches. It advocates the key issues of a critical CSR in SMEs in Development research agenda should be focused at the interface between SME, CSR and Development issues. It presents four main parts or areas of such an agenda and three suggestions concerning policy initiatives, before it brie y concludes on the changes that the eld has undergone over the 10-15 years observed. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7947 Files in this item: 1
wp 2009-9.pdf (1.274Mb) -
a narratological perspective on international acquisitionSøderberg, Anne-Marie; Cardel Gertsen, Martine (Frederiksberg, 2000)[More information][Less information]