Al-Shabaab,Social Identity Group,Human (In)Security,and Counterterrorism

This article examines the link between human security, social identity, and al-Shabaab. The first section explores how social identity group theory can help explain al-Shabaab's recruitment. The second part focuses on the counterterrorism campaign against al-Shabaab, which involves decapitation, aggressive peacekeeping through a proxy in the shape of the African Union Mission in Somalia, and the role of a domestic de-radicalization program. The article concludes that al-Shabaab's allure is in decline and the group is facing internal turmoil, which makes its overtures toward the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant very dangerous, as al-Shabaab could act as an effective conduit between the Arabian Peninsula and Africa.     

Predictors of Electronic Government Services Adoption: The African Students’ Perspective in China

This study investigated the willingness of African students in China to adopt and use e-government services. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) was used as the theoretical framework for this study while the data were analyzed with SPSS. The results indicate that performance expectancy, social influence, culture, and facilitating conditions were significant in determining the willingness to use e-government services. Contrarily to our expectations, effort expectancy, trust in the internet and perceived service quality were not significant in influencing the willingness to use e-government services. Also, while social influence had a significant influence on the trust in the internet, it was, however, demonstrated that social influence does not have a significant impact on both the effort expectancy and performance expectancy of e-government services. The implications of these and other result findings of this study are thoroughly discussed.     

Generalizability of a theory of job attitudes: a cross–cultuural view: research note

This study reports the result of a test of applicability of the two-factor theory of job attitudes. The theory assumes two independent sets of variables (motivator and hygiene) important to job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. It is also claimed that the two- factor theory is appropriate for all working populations of differing nationalities. Most of the previous attempts to test the applicability of this theory in different cultures were criticised for examining job attitudes in other cultures from an American point of view as they translate and administer questionnaires either developed in the United States or based on the findings of the original study. The applicability of the assumption of two-factor theory to the job attitudes of Turkish-Cypriot employees (N=62) was determined through content analysis of critical incident stories. Factors associated with the job attitudes of Turkish-Cypriot employees could be separated into two relatively independent sets of' variables comparable to motivator-hygiene dichotomy. It was also found that both sets of variables were found to be associated with job satisfaction, Thus, the results of the present study only partially support the assumption of the two-factor theory and imply that blanket application of American administrative theories, without considerable tailoring by cultural group, is hazardous.     

An analysis of DRM from a consumer protection perspective

The use of digital rights management (DRM) software by mediacompanies is controversial. In recent months, Steve Job at AppleComputers has challenged music companies to stop using the technologybecause, he says, it is stifling the development of online musicsales. Others are more cynical, claiming that his comments aremerely part of a negotiating ploy with EMI, whose music fileshe is hoping to     

Does School Finance Litigation Cause Taxpayer Revolt? Serrano and Proposition 13

An influential theory argues that court-ordered school finance equalization undermines support for public schools. Residents of wealthy school districts who cannot keep their tax revenues for their own school districts may vote to limit school funding altogether. Proponents of this theory point to Serrano v. Priest , a 1977 decision of the California Supreme Court that mandated equalization of school financing and was followed almost immediately by Proposition 13, a ballot initiative to limit the local property tax. I test the theory that these two events were causally related by using hierarchical models to analyze voters within school districts. I find no evidence that opposition to school finance equalization contributed to the tax revolt. Claims about the perverse consequences of school finance litigation should be greeted with skepticism.     

Dealmaking Disrupted: The Unexplored Power of Social Media in Negotiation

While social media has had profound effects in many realms, the theory and practice of negotiation have remained relatively untouched by this potent phenomenon. In this article, we survey existing research in this area and develop a broader framework for understanding the wider roles and effects of social media on negotiation. Through a series of detailed case studies, we explore how social media can drive important negotiations either off the rails or toward beneficial outcomes—and how savvy practitioners can harness this often‐neglected factor to their advantage, or else find themselves outmaneuvered by more digitally sophisticated parties. Applying the lens of the “3D negotiation” approach developed by Lax and Sebenius, we describe a number of potentially decisive roles that social media can play to enhance actions by negotiators “at the table,” with respect to deal design, and “away from the table.” In this 3D context, we show how social media can help negotiators learn about their counterparts (interests, perceptions, relationships, and networks), directly and indirectly influence the parties, mobilize supporters, and neutralize potential opponents. We show that being proactive—both in cultivating digital influence or allies and in building resilience to threats across online information ecosystems—can provide critical advantages for negotiators navigating a hyperconnected world. We develop a preliminary framework to help identify the full range of platforms, tools, and methodologies appropriate for the use of social media in negotiations, including network mapping software and open‐source intelligence techniques. Throughout our analysis, we stress the importance of ethical and privacy considerations.     

Reform and regulation of electricity in colombia -uk experiences taken across the atlantic

The Colombian reform of its electricity industry was inspired in the British experience. The theoretical support and the actual application of the reform in the UK and Colombia are examined in this paper. Both theory and the British experience show the importance of designing an appropriate institutional framework for the sector that takes into account its specific features. The main challenges presented by the reform in Colombia are the control of the concentration of property, the introduction of antitrust and anticorruption mechanisms, as well as the development of new managerial skills that are required to confront the complex dynamics of the new environment.     

Promoting strengths, prevention, empowerment, and community change through organizational development: lessons for research, theory, and practice

SPEC Learning and Changing by Doing is a three-year, action research, and organizational change project designed to ultimately promote social justice and well-being in the community. SPEC is an acronym that stands for Strengths, Prevention, Empowerment, and Community Change. The project consists of five organizations tackling internal organizational change in order to better promote justice and well-being in their respective constituencies. In this article we present a formative evaluation of this multicase study of organizational change in human services. This article contributes to the empirical and theoretical literature on organizational change in the nonprofit human service milieu.