In this paper, we examine some basic linguistic abilities in a small sample of adults with minimal receptive vocabulary, whose receptive mental verbal age ranges from 1;2 to 3;10. In particular, we examine whether the participants in our study understand noun phrases consisting of a noun modified by an adjective. We use stimuli that they can recognise by name. Except for one participant, we find that, while all of them understand the noun and adjective in isolation, none seems to understand (...) these noun phrases, which means that they seem to not do linguistic composition. In order to test whether the difficulty is linguistic or conceptual, we ran two other studies, one on concept composition, and the other on iconic symbolic composition (composition of pictograms). Results suggest that linguistic composition is particularly difficult in this population, and that vocabulary breadth may not predict compositional abilities. (shrink)

Natalia Carrillo and Tarja Knuuttila claim that there are two traditions of thinking about idealization offering almost opposite views on their functioning and epistemic status. While one tradition views idealizations as epistemic deficiencies, the other one highlights the epistemic benefits of idealization. Both of them treat idealizations as deliberate misrepresentations, however. They then argue for an artifactual account of idealization, comparing it to the traditional accounts of idealization, and exemplifying it through the Hodgkin and Huxley model of the nerve impulse. (...) From the artifactual perspective, the epistemic benefits and deficiencies introduced by idealization frequently come in a package due to the way idealization draws together different resources in model construction. Accordingly, idealization tends to be holistic in that it is not often easily attributable to some specific parts of the model. They conclude that the artifactual approach offers a unifying view into idealization in that it is able to recover several basic philosophical insights motivating both the deficiency and epistemic benefit accounts, while being simultaneously detached from the idea of distortion by misrepresentation. (shrink)

Currently, the concept of engagement is crucial in the field of learning and school achievement. It is a multidimensional concept (e.g., behavioral, emotional, and cognitive dimensions) that has been widely used as a theoretical framework to explain the processes of school engagement and dropout. However, this conceptual framework has been scarcely used in the field of homework. The aim of the present study was to analyze the role of intrinsic motivation, perceived homework utility, and personal homework attitude as precursors of (...) student homework engagement (behavioral engagement) and, at the same time, how such engagement is the precursor of academic achievement. Seven hundred and thirty students of Compulsory Secondary Education (CSE) (7th to 10th grade) from fourteen schools northern Spain participated. A structural equation model was elaborated on which intrinsic motivation, perceived utility and attitude were observed variables, and student engagement (time spent on homework, time management, and amount of teacher-assigned homework done) and academic achievement (Mathematics, Spanish Language, English Language, and Social Science) were latent variables. The results reveal that (i) intrinsic motivation is a powerful precursor of student behavioral engagement (also perceived utility and attitude, although to a lesser extent), and (ii) academic achievement is closely linked to the level of student engagement, qualifying the results of many of the previous studies conducted from a task-centered perspective (as opposed to a person-centered perspective). (shrink)

Student academic dishonesty is a pervasive problem for universities all over the world. The development of innovative practices and interventions for decreasing dishonest behaviour requires understanding factors influencing academic dishonesty. Previous research showed that personal, environmental, and situational factors affect dishonest behaviour at a university. The set of factors and the strength of their influence can differ across countries. There is a lack of research on factors affecting student dishonesty in Russia. A sample of 15,159 undergraduate students from eight Russian (...) highly selective universities was surveyed to understand what factors influence their decision to engage in dishonest behaviour. Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behaviour was employed to explain dishonest behaviour among students. The explained variance in the engagement in academic dishonesty equals 48% in the model for the full sample, and reaches 69% in the model for one of the considered institutions. The major findings of this study were: subjective norms appeared to dominate as the strongest predictor of academic dishonesty across the Russian universities; perceived behavioural control, appeared to be positively related to the dishonest behaviour. In the majority of universities, this factor was found to be insignificant. This finding indicates a specific feature of Russian students’ an ethical decision-making process discussed in the last part of the paper. (shrink)

This article analyses the determinants associated with the use of the Integrated Report as a corporate reporting model for sustainability information. IRs provide information regarding the use and interdependence of different company resources. The previous literature has identified determinants behind the presentation of IRs at the country level as well as at the company level. Our work contributes to the literature by using a novel statistical approach that addresses the likelihood of the non-independence of data: companies in the same country (...) are more similar to one another than are companies from different countries. Our results confirm significant inter-country variance, which may be partially explained by the existence of specific regulations and the individualism vs. collectivism dimension. Although we confirm the effect of company-level determinants, our results do not support the role of specific variables tested as determinants. (shrink)

RESUMENGiorgio Agamben intenta explorar las condiciones para alguna experiencia futura. Releyendo el ensayo Sobre el programa de la filosofía venidera (1917) de Walter Benjamin, identifica el núcleo de la relación entre experiencia y conocimiento. En ese breve texto, se explicitan las tareas principales del pensamiento y la necesidad de unificar la exigencia de la legitimación del conocimiento y la exigencia de la experiencia. A partir de esta premisa, en este artículo se intenta repensar la experiencia a partir de la noción (...) de «juego» y vincular el planteo gambeniano con una suerte de arqueología benjaminiana de la historia.PALABRAS CLAVEGIORGIO AGAMBEN, WALTER BENJAMIN, ARQUEOLOGÍA, FILOSOFÍA VENIDERAABSTRACTGiorgio Agamben tries to explore de conditions for some future experience. Rereading Walter Benjamin’s essay about the future philosophy (1917), Agamben identifies the core of the relationship between experience and knowledge. In that short text, Benjamin explicates the main tasks of thinking and the need to unify the requirement of knowledge and experience. From this premise, this article attempts to rethink the experience from the notion of «play» and link the Agambenian proposition with a sort of Benjaminian archeology of history.KEYWORDSGIORGIO AGAMBEN, WALTER BENJAMIN, ARCHAEOLOGY, FUTURE PHILOSOPHY. (shrink)

I take issue with Kalisch et al.’s formulation of PASTOR, arguing that care must be taken in understanding what is meant by “appraisal.” I examine the implications of PASTOR given two competing possibilities for what counts as an appraisal – first, if appraisal is restricted to conscious reflection on one’s circumstances, and second, if appraisal is expanded to include subconscious mechanisms of evaluation.

The subject of the study is Bernardo Bertolucci's film "The Last Emperor", in particular, the coloristic of the film and the psychology of the image of the main character, which is largely revealed through the color palette and individual artistic details. The object of research is the language of cinematography, cinematographic artistic techniques. Despite the sometimes shocking images and plots, Bertolucci's films were highly appreciated by the international community and domestic film critics due to their artistic solution and topical issues (...) affecting the problems of class struggle and anti-fascist themes. The author of the article examines the image of the main character of the film, Aisingero Pu Yi, the last emperor of China and Manchukuo. The film is based on real historical events taking place in the first half of the 20th century, so the dramatic collisions of the character are not perceived by the viewer as some kind of abstract problem. Against the backdrop of the complex historical changes that China has faced, many questions of the formation and self-determination of the individual are being raised. The image of Emperor Pu Yi is revealed gradually through a comparison of two storylines and the color scheme of the film, since it is the color palette that helps to subtly and meaningfully convey the psychological content of the character. The main research methods are analytical and comparative-historical. The composition of the film and the dynamics of the change in the color palette of individual episodes are analyzed, which makes it possible to trace the evolution of the image. The author comes to the conclusion that it was the coloristic solution of the film that allowed the creators to convey the national color and historical atmosphere of China of a certain historical period and show a vivid image of the protagonist on the screen. (shrink)

This article examines the conceptualisation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the context of mining multinationals (MNCs) in Argentina. It explores the suitability of CSR for addressing social, environmental and economic issues associated with mining in the country. The study is based on interviews with four stakeholder groups in the country: government, civil society, international financial organisations, and mining industry. These are analysed using content and interpretative techniques and supplemented by the content analysis of secondary data from headquarters of mining (...) MNCs. Using the concept of corporate social responsibility orientation (CSRO), the study contrasts the perceptions of major stakeholders and examines adaptation of mining companies’ CSRO to local context. It reveals that the CSRO of mining managers in Argentina differs from CSRO developed by global headquarters; and in Argentina companies “negotiate” economic, environmental and legal dimensions of CSR with the government. Although companies “negotiate” philanthropic responsibilities with the communities, ethical responsibilities are defined by the headquarters and not negotiated locally. The analysis suggests that environmental duties are the critical element of CSR in the mining sector in Argentina. This study treats environment as a separate dimension of corporate responsibility defined as to do “what is safe for the environment”. (shrink)

The concept of deliberation in the Ukrainian philosophical discourse is both underestimated and overestimated. Underestimated — as a self-sufficient category that is not reducible to another con- cept, even if it is the concept of consensus or the concept of democracy. Deliberation appears pri- marily as a careful weighing and selection of arguments when making an important decision. Collegiality may or may not be present here, as well as openness. Therefore, the concept of deliber- ation is somewhat overestimated as something (...) that necessarily improves the quality of democratic procedures, and therefore, supposedly, deliberation itself is something democratic in nature. American political philosopher Joshua Cohen drew attention to the fact that deliberation can be of at least three types: individual deliberation, jury deliberation, and oligarch deliberation. The article analyzes these three types of deliberation and found that the closest to the democratic type of government is individual deliberation, or rather, joint deliberation of responsible citizens. While the deliberation of the jury is mostly closed, it is naturally limited access to the extent of the necessary competence of its possible participants. The deliberation of the oligarchs is even more closed and often even secret. However, the article states that it is more appropriate to replace the name «oligarchs» with the term «captains of business»: then the deliberation of the oligarchs ceases to be a cartel conspiracy, and turns into a coordinated protection of the interests of the national economy. However, for this, de- liberation itself is not enough, so not procedural, but other, namely, value factors of decision-making are needed. Democracy benefits from deliberation when the latter is complemented by the liberal and patriotic values of the participants in the deliberation. Already John Locke convincingly argues the importance of citizens achieving a common conscious agreement in state matters. However, for Locke, the very fact of having property was important, while in practice, achieving an effective agreement requires mechanisms for reconciling the positions of owners with very different amounts of property. To some extent, this problem can be solved by John Rawls` concept of justice. (shrink)

Different proprietary databases have been used extensively in research to assess the environmental performance and environmental risk of companies. This study explores the convergent validity of the environmental ratings of MSCI ESG STATS, Thomson Reuters ASSET4 and Global Engagement Services. The study shows that the ratings have common dimensions, but on aggregate, they do not converge. On the environmental opportunity side, KLD environmental strengths, and ASSET4 and GES environmental performance metrics correlate highly and provide convergent scores for US companies from (...) 2003–2011. On the environmental risk side, KLD environmental concerns converge with the GES environmental industry risk and company emissions from the ASSET4 database. Further analysis confirms that industry-related risks are drivers of company-specific environmental performance. (shrink)

The last third of the twentieth century brought about cultural changes, including the rapid scientific progress and the informatization that began in the 1960s. Artists of this period, especially the progressive artists of New York, responded to the changes by integrating the digital reality and a new scientific understanding of the universe into their oeuvre. Such art projects were based on the pure data comprised of facts, instead of subjective ideas, and conveyed in a strongly reduced non-semiotic form. I define (...) this trend as informational art to describe a shift from the verbal, visual and conceptual cognition toward the data-oriented thinking. This pivotal moment in Western history has not been given enough scholarly attention yet. For this reason, the achievement of Walter De Maria and his colleagues in the placement of scientific principles at the foundation of contemporary art has not been fully appreciated. In my paper, I aim to highlight the role of informational art in the advancement of the modern scientifically based ›Weltanschauung‹. (shrink)

The article deals with the mechanisms of female employment. The author has set herself the task of comparing the conditions of employment of women during the Polish People’s Republic (PRL) and contemporary times. The main aim was to indicate the evolution of labour law relating to women workers from a series of instructions and regulations of the Council of Ministers defining the protection of women's work before 1974, through a variety of general rules applicable to all employees, to the regulations (...) contained in the Labour Code and also current legislation. The article attempts to assess the ethical actions taken by the state to improve the conditions of employment of women in the workplace. The text indicates the importance of the work in the lives of women. Occupational status and income level strongly influenced the behaviour of women, who in many cases took up work intended only for men due to the fact that during PRL it was only such work which would allow them to obtain a higher salary. The article indicates that today there is a special emphasis placed on the prohibition of restricting the employment of women in jobs and on the conditions of the employment of pregnant women. The author of this article has evaluated the legislation introduced by the state, which contributed to the increase in female activity in the labour market. However, in ethical terms of ethical it is very difficult to unambiguously assess the actions taken by the state for the protection of women's work in the PRL, but also in contemporary times. (shrink)

La presente investigación analiza la práctica de la ortografía rrazional propuesta por los neógrafos chilenos, un grupo de intelectuales radicales que retomó la discusión lingüística en los últimos años de la reforma ortográfica chilena, a fines del XIX y comienzos del XX, para establecer un proyecto ideológico que no solo se ocupaba del aspecto lingüístico. A partir del uso de esta ortografía no oficial, considerada como un acto glotopolítico en sí mismo, se pudo observar que los neógrafos también difundieron con (...) fuerza temáticas libertarias y positivistas que los caracterizaron como un grupo anarquista, pero que a diferencia de otras manifestaciones anarquistas chilenas de la época, hizo la revolución desde el campo ortográfico, proponiendo un proyecto contrahegemónico lingüístico, político y social, cuyas representaciones hoy podemos clasificar dentro de los estudios de enfoque etnortográfico. (shrink)

Este artículo se propone examinar la caracterización ficcional de la mujer filósofa durante el siglo XVIII, concentrándose en la novela Histoire de Juliette, ou les prospérités du vice de Donatien Alphonse François de Sade. Sostendremos como hipótesis que las heroínas filósofas de Histoire de Juliette se habrían construido a base de la exaltación de la figura de la hetaira de la Grecia Clásica. Analizaremos dos referencias a las hetairai que aparecen en la obra: la caracterización de Clairwil, una de las (...) tutoras libertinas de Juliette, y la participación de Aspasia, Phryné y Lais como parte del séquito de libertinas de la protagonista de la novela. (shrink)

In the present paper I present the metalinguistic solutions to the ‘lost disagreement’ problem proposed Sundell and Plunkett [2013] and Barker [2012]. I argue that metalinguistic negotiations about taste, even though successful in explaining the intuition of disagreement in a vast number of cases, are not an accurate solution to the disagreement problem in contextualism when it comes to the most paradigmatic case of “tasty”. I also argue against the account of faultless disagreement explained via vagueness of taste predicates [Barker, (...) 2012]. I believe that the notion of faultlessness employed in the discussion of vagueness [Wright, 1994] is a different notion than the one employed in the discussion of taste discourse [Kölbel, 2003]. (shrink)

In the article of Natalia Kovalchuk «Sanctity phenomenon of St. Feodosiy Pecherskyi in context of holy persons life» the spiritual way of St. Feodosiy Pecherksyi as a search of time, which bring him closer to the sanctity and search of his personal dimension as a holy place are regarded. Through the analysis of food and cloth, which connect St. Feodosiy with world, his life is researched. Spiritual way of St. Feodosiy Pecherskyi brings him closer to the sanctity.

The aim of this text is to review the 2016 book by Reece Jones Violent Borders. Refugees and the Right to Move. In the book, the author presents how borders, fences, and walls reinforce social, political, and economic exclusion of many people, especially migrants and refugees. Jones argues that the way of creating borders should and must be changed since it deprives many individuals of the right to move freely.

In this paper we aim to think systematically about, formulate, and begin addressing some of the challenges to applying theories of moral responsibility to behaviors shaped by a particular subset of unsettling psychological complexities: namely, implicit biases.

In philosophy of science, abstraction tends to be subsumed under representation, often being described as the omission of a target’s features when it is represented. This approach to abstraction sidesteps cognitive aspects of abstraction processes. However, cognitive aspects of abstraction are important in understanding the role of historically grounded epistemic criteria supporting modeling in science. Drawing on recent work on the relation between metaphor and abstraction, we introduce the concept of paths of abstraction, and use historical and contemporary examples to (...) point to their role in guiding the development of relevance criteria which support modeling strategies in science. (shrink)

Math anxiety results in a drop in performance on various math-related tasks, including the symbolic number ordering task in which participants decide whether a triplet of digits is presented in order (e.g. 3-5-7) or not (e.g. 3-7-5). We investigated whether the strategy repertoire and reaction times during a symbolic ordering task were affected by math anxiety. In study 1, participants performed an untimed symbolic number ordering task and indicated the strategy they used on a trial-by-trial basis. The use of the (...) memory retrieval strategy, based on the immediate recognition of the triplet, decreased with high math anxiety, but disappeared when controlling for general anxiety. In the study 2, participants completed a timed version of the number order task. High math-anxious participants used the decomposition strategy (e.g. 5 is larger than 3 and 7 is larger than 5 to decide whether 3-5-7 is in the correct order) more often, and were slower in responding when both memory- and other decomposition strategies were used. Altogether, both studies demonstrate that high-math anxious participants are not only slower to decide whether a number triplet is in the correct order, but also rely more on procedural strategies. (shrink)

In this reply to the article by I.T. Kasavin “Creativity as a social phenomenon” the authors discuss the possibilities of the scientific precariat as a free creative class, which having entered the scientific community, will give it a new creative potential. The authors express some doubts that such a merger will preserve precariat's special creative spirit. The article draws attention to the diversity in understanding the nature, goals and values of creativity. The specificity of understanding creativity in the scientific community (...) is due to its rational and methodological guidelines, while the precariat is part of postmodern society, and its creative potential stems from a break with traditional rationalistic methodology. However, as long as peer review remains in the hands of the exclusively institutionalized scientific community, there is a high probability that the creativity of the precariat will be marginalized, and becoming part of the scientific community, the precariat will be forced to accept its epistemic values and lose the creative potential that is expected from them. The authors refer to P. Feyerabend’s theory of creativity, in which he rejects the subject-centered model of scientific creativity. According to Feyerabend, creativity is intersubjective in nature and grows organically from the sociocultural environment of the subject. The scientist creates following a cultural instinct, but the subject does not disappear from the creative process, since the cultural instinct is refracted through his individual style. If creativity is a reflection of the spirit of times, the precariat is the best way to embody it. In conclusion, a way for overcoming the social is outlined and, in a broad sense, the methodological problematic nature of the unification of the scientific community and the precariat, which the authors see in the general democratization and pluralism of society. (shrink)

I argue that the increased rate of innovation in eighteenth-century England cannot be understood without accounting for the unprecedented level of contact between England and other societies as a consequence of sixteenth-century colonialism. I propose cultural interconnectedness and in-group cooperation as two potential alternative explanations for the psychological changes and innovative behavior described by Baumard.

Колективні емоційні стани раніше досліджували переважно як чинники соціальної аномії, тоді як соціальну норму асоціювали переважно з втіленням понять у соціальні норми. Цей підхід останні роки зазнає суттєвих коректив: українські та закордонні дослідники розглядають колективні емоційні стани як соціальну норму і постійну основу для досягнення стійкого раціонального консенсуса. Більше того, дослідники вже не стільки протиставляють емоції з інтелектом, скільки виявляють все більше взаємозв’язків і взаємозалежностей між ними. Це змінює уявлення про сутність легітимації та статус мотивації у перебігу соціальних процесів. Мотивація (...) постає не стільки як надто мінлива суб’єктивна психологічна характеристика, скільки як постійна колективна характеристика соціальних спільнот. Мотивація зумовлює соціальну ідентичність через постійне спрямування людей як членів соціальних спільнот до досягнення певних спільних бажаних цілей. Легітимація також постає як процес постійного визнання людьми одне одного під час встановлення спільно визнаних соціальних норм. У такому визнанні колективні емоції відіграють вирішальну роль. Біологічні основи емоційної поведінки людей не так редукують їхню поведінку до біологічних чинників, скільки емоції сприяють сублімації цих біологічних чинників до соціально прийнятних цілей. Емоційна основа утвердження національної ідентичності має свої негативні і свої позитивні сторони: якщо негативний вплив емоцій може викликати загострення радикального націоналізму, то позитивний вплив емоцій сприяє згуртуванню нації у ситуації екзистенційних викликів – таких як війна. Легітимація справедливої війни є одним із головних завдань спрямування колективних емоцій, зокрема праведного гніву, на мотивацію до соціальної мобілізації нації до спротиву збройній зовнішній агресії. (shrink)

En el marco de una crisis democrática que ha hecho cuestionarnos la forma en que estamos llevando a cabo este sistema de gobierno, la presente investigaciónpretende retomar la vieja noción de la parrhesía griega como el ethos que debiera guiar el debate político, pero también como un principio que debe estar presente en aquellos que hacen filosofía. Un cruce entre la acción comunicativa habermasiana y las palabras de Vattimo acerca del rol de la filosofía nos ayudarán a elucidar cómo abordar (...) esta crisis: desde la discusión política para llegar al consenso, que forzosamente debe estar alineado con este potente concepto de parrhesía. (shrink)

Ulepszanie człowieka — perspektywa filozoficzna.

У статті визначено економічний зміст механізму стимулювання соціальної відповідальності підприємства, розроблена концепція його вдосконалення. Сформульовано мету й завдання запропонованого механізму, обґрунтовано принципи його формування. Розроблено інструменти механізму стимулювання соціальної відповідальності підприємства і критерії оцінки його ефективності. Визначено напрями реалізації механізму стимулювання соціальної відповідальності підприємств.

У статті аналізуються питання вивчення українськими істориками ХХ - початку ХХІ ст. наукової діяльності М. Грушевського у Всеукраїнській академії наук (ВУАН). Розглянуто висвітлення цієї наукової проблеми у працях радянських істориків, науковців діаспори, сучасних учених. З'ясовано історіографічні оцінки ролі Михайла Сергійовича в організації роботи вказаної інституції, значення його діяльності задля надання українській історичній науці академічного, міжнародного рівня.

The article highlights particular issues of the research of M.Hrushevskyi's scientific and publicistic activities in the period (1907-1914) carried out by researchers of Ukrainian historiography. The historians considered a number of issues connected with the increase in his activities in the context of peculiarities of the historiographical condition in those times. The historiographical analysis has made it possible to determine the extent of the research of M.Hrushevskyi's scientific and publicistic activities in that period of his life carried out by the (...) Ukrainian scientists and to broaden the scope of issues of further development of Hrushevskyi studies. 1907 - 1914 was a hard and controversial period in the Ukrainian history but M.Hrushevskyi was preoccupied with work in order to help the national movement achieve its goal - autonomy of Ukraine. The historian published such scientific works as "History of Ukraine-Rus" - vol. 6 and 7, "History of the Ukrainian Cossacks", "Illustrated History of Ukraine" and others; publicistic works concerned with vital political issues of those times in such journals as "Movement of the Ukrainian political and social thought in the 19th century", "From the traveling wave", "Liberation of Russia and the Ukrainian issue", "Our policy" and others. That is why the aforementioned period of M.Hrushevskyi's activities was distinguished by fruitful work in the fields of science and publicistic writing. In the publicistic studios of those times the historian was trying to explain the socio-political situation Ukraine was being faced by and to give good advice on how to overcome that hard condition. In this context, the analysis of the outstanding historian's legacy carried out by the researchers of Ukrainian historiography makes the circle of blank spaces in M.Hrushevskyi studies narrower in particular and sets new objectives that boost further development of the Ukrainian historical science as a whole. The analysis of the research carried out by historians and publicistic writers has made it possible to realize the scientists' interest in this problem. M.Hrushevskyi's contemporaries (M.Gechter, S.Iefremov, V.Doroshenko, V.Gerasymchuk and V.Picheta) paid their highest compliments to his scientific and publicistic activities, acknowledging his positive understanding of the socio-political processes of those times along with his experience of a historian and a publicistic writer. They also acknowledged the influence of scientific and publicistic activities on the cultural and spiritual level of all the groups of the population from intelligentsia to ordinary people. The evaluations of that period of M.Hrushevskyi's activities presented by Soviet historians were ambiguous. Besides an attempt was made to analyze his scientific and publicistic activities. On the other hand, there were some accusations of negative treatment of Marxist-Leninist methodology. The historian's activities were examined in other aspects by emigrants, such as D.Doroshenko, O.Ogloblyn, N.Polonska-Vasylenko and O.Pritsak. They ascertained that those activities had an influence on the union of the two parts of Ukraine. In this context, they emphasized the great role of the scientific and organizational activities and acknowledged the scientist's high level of publicistic work as well as his incessant work at "History of Ukraine-Rus" from the point of view of a historian and a sociologist. The historiographical analysis has revealed various aspects in the highlight of this problem the historians were trying to solve and set a number of objectives for the future. (shrink)

The purpose of the study is to identify promising opportunities for outsourcing business processes of an enterprise in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that the article substantiates the possibilities of outsourcing business processes. As a result, it was found that today the global COVID-19 pandemic has forced companies to look for new ways to manage their enterprises, and outsourcing, having great advantages, provides many opportunities for this. It is concluded that enterprises will (...) face huge changes in the short term and must adapt today in order to continue to achieve their initial strategic goals based on the use of business process outsourcing. (shrink)

Scholarship onEcclesiazusae(as onWealth) has been largely divided between those who are in favour of a fantastical/positive reading of the play and view it as a celebration of comic energy void of serious social critique, and those who argue for an ironic/satirical interpretation and deem Praxagora's plan as a spectacular failure. The unsuccessful realization of the new political programme is often regarded as a commentary on the state of democracy at the time. Other views are more affirmative of the democratic values (...) of the play: Scholtz claims that the women inEcclesiazusaesucceed into putting into action Lysistrata's dream of a cohesive civic order, although, according to him, the play does not present ‘an unambiguouslyproorcontraviewpoint vis-à-vis gynaecocratic communalism’. Rothwell believes that the satire is directed against the greedydēmosrather than against Praxagora's plan. He sees the persuasion exercised by women as ‘a benevolent and indispensable force in democracy’, and argues that the women ofEcclesiazusae, like the women inLysistrata, strive to assure the continuity of the community; in his view, the play is about ‘the potential advantages of leadership in building a community’. Moodie also outright rejects a threatening or pessimistic reading, and makes the case that the audience is encouraged to take the women seriously as political actors owing to their unusual interaction with the audience and the rupture of dramatic illusion, which creates a rapport between the women and the audience. If the play is subversive, it is so only in its ‘non-satirical presentation of female leadership’. (shrink)