Keywords: introduction; levels of understanding childhood; research of childhood
Our plea for remembering childhood should be understood on a personal, academic and curatorial level. This volume itself oscilates between these dimensions. All articles share a deep concern with childhood and argue for a firmer positioning of this subject in anthropological, ethnographic, visual and museological research.
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Keywords: metaphor; comprehension; concepts; categories; comparison.
The Issue of Cognitivist Models of Metaphor Comprehension. Metaphor is one of the most controversial phenomena of the last few of decades, and connected to it are some very interesting methodologies propounded in philosophy, literary studies, and more recently cognitive science. In this paper we will discuss some of the most viable theories coming from the field of cognitive science, in an attempt to tease out some of their merits and shortcomings and to list some of the key issues they propose regarding the comprehension of metaphor. In view of this, we have chosen three of the most representative cognitivist models, all of which put forward a different mechanism to account for the comprehension process: George Lakoff and Mark Turner’s conceptual metaphor model, Sam Glucksberg’s interactive property attribution model and Dedre Gentner’s structural alignment model.
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Keywords: SMEs; GVC; competitiveness; apparel industry.
In order to survive in the face of continuing global competition, in the long run, developing countries SMEs will have to be inserted into global value chains (GVCs). For the Romanian apparel SMEs, the insertion in a GVC is having farreaching effects on competitiveness, cross-national transfer of new technology, innovation, skills, knowledge and learning, and potentially offers greater opportunities for reaching welfare gains. But it also brings the challenge of being locked into a race to the bottom, “the low road” of competitiveness, based on cutting wages, disregarding labour and environment regulations and avoiding taxation. In this paper we examine the pluses and the minuses of being in the GVC for the Romanian apparel SMEs in order to point up several strategies needed for the “high road” of competitiveness, based on the use of new technologies, efficiency in production and trade, diversified products of better quality. Thus SMEs from the Romanian apparel industry will be able to support higher wages and enhance the national income.
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Keywords: Kafka; Odradek; dada; body; anthropocentric reason.
This paper tries to propose an interpretation of Kafka’s Die Sorge des Hausvaters and of the strange creature called Odradek. This useless, meaningless being that is part wooden spool, part human recalls the Dadaist practices and manifestos. One can easily see Odradek as a liberated senseless object and one can even detect a certain Dadaist humor of the useless machine in his figuration, even if Kafka rejected the dada movement: “Dada is – a crime […] The spine of the soul has been broken. Faith has collapsed.” More than this, even if in Odradek one can see a critical perspective on capitalism, Kafka’s creature pushes at an extreme point the reflection on human and the non-human. This paper uses Bruno Latour and Jacques Derrida’s views in order to better understand all the complex significations Odradek can assume in a critical discourse.
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Keywords: linear space; boulevard; boulevard circle; the elements of formation;structural components of spiritual intelligence;
FORMULATION OF THE PROBLEMLinear landscaping structures occupy a special position among the range of urban green areas. Running through particular parts of the city, they form relatively narrow but elongated strips of urban greenery. This scheme of planning provides the residents of the neighborhoods with a brief daily recreation, gathering them in the local areas, attracting them to urban public facilities or parks and coastal zones. Today, these places not only constitute urban interior spaces, but also serve as a platform for environmental experiments related to the integration of natural elements, or even the testing of technological innovations. The spatial organization of cities has studied by a number of authorities; particularly noteworthy are the works of K. Lynch, R. Venturi, A. Brinkmann, V. Shymko, B. Hlazychev and others. The results of the studying architectural composition and aesthetic features of separate structural components (including linear pedestrian zones or narrower walkways) have beeen highlighted in the theoretical writings of C. Sitte D. Brooks, A. Verhunov, M. Belov, V. Petrov and others. Contemporary studies are aimed at the organization of the object-spatial environment of linear green spaces, based on a “total synthesis” of design with different kinds of design and artistic activities – architecture, urban design, landscape and graphic design, monumental and decorative art. The landscape of the urban environment is addressed in the works of J. Simonds L. Verhunova, A. Mikulina, L. Zaleska, I. Rodichkina, A. Belkin, V. Kucheryavyi, N. Kryzhanovska and others. Further information about these objects is partially covered in online resources, or journals such as Proektinternational, and Landscape Design.LINEAR SPACES IN THE CITY STRUCTUREOrganizing harmonious comfortable spaces in the structure of dense modern cities, or creating conditions for public recreation in a polis, are important issues nowadays, whether for architects, urban planners, or urban and landscape designers, or in fact for ordinary citizens. The place of the human individual in these spaces changes over time, as do the physical parameters and the ideas about the convenience of object-space environment. Today, with technology an increasing force in our lives, we can see the attraction of new comfortable urban spaces, such as free public space, that were popular within Europe in the postwar period. Such parts of a city include linear spaces that permeate the urban framework, connecting important social, cultural and historical sites which attract residents, creating green corridors from residential areas to forest or park areas and coastal zones.The importance of having and preserving such spaces is often emphasized by researchers working towards a statement of principles and methods of organization that would prove in accordance with the current level of urban culture in the 21st century. These spaces include linear urban areas for recreation and general pedestrian movement, such as promenades, boulevards, gardens. Organization of their territory is based on the environmental approach and the laws of deep spatial composition in which movement transpires in a certain scenario along the main compositional axis that ‘threads’ vast visual images. This scenic and consistent visual perception is typical for both the day and night life of urban space.Linear spaces of the city designed for recreation suppose a perception at a slow pace. It is somehow different to a fast visual perception from a moving vehicle, as it provides an opportunity to capture details, colors. As remarked by John Simonds: Slow movement engenders interest in detail. When we are in a hurry we tolerate few delays, but it moving leisurely, we welcome deflection and distraction. We have little interest in motion and take pleasure instead in things seen or experienced.An important aspect of ensuring the availability of the city’s linear recreational spaces for all categories of the population is their physical accessibility. The structure of modern linear spaces actively includes ramps, escalators, elevators, moving walkways that create a highly comfortable space for people with limited mobility.The effective and socially acceptable implementation of such spaces is achieved through the cooperation of different spheres of design – whether addressing the urban landscape, ecology, ergonomics or graphic form. Therefore, the formation of linear urban spaces involves landscape composition, elements of urban design, sculpture, decorative and super-graphic compositions, street furniture and advertising units, visual infopoints and various temporary installations.For a comfortable and attractive space, the necessities include functional planning, original designer’s solutions, taking into account environmental components, ergonomic parameters, and interconnection with the city planning system.THE BOULEVARD AS A TYPE OF URBAN LINEAR SPACEDerived from the German word Bollwerk, it is a protective structure, fortification (15th century). The term originally means a platform for an armed fortress wall, a place occupied by a bastion or curtain. Later the term gained the more general meaning of “city fortifications”. Then, with the destruction of city walls and defensive structures, it meant a place for walks or a broad roadway lined with trees on both sides, situated largely in dependence on the previous location of the walls and fortifications.According to historical information, the first boulevards were built back in the classical period, a prime example of which is the system of the Grands Boulevards in Paris, established during the reign of Louis XIV. In the nineteenth century, after the systematic and large-scale demolition of the old city walls, a number of boulevards appeared throughout Europe. In Paris, after the demolition of the old fortifications of Thiers in 1920, a second circle of boulevards was introduced, known as the “Périphérique” or the “Boulevards of the Marshals”. Here the boulevard takes on a lively air.Colors are gay, spirits are light, the smile is quick and the heart is glad on the boulevard in Paris/. In German-speaking countries boulevards are often known as “Rings”. One of the most famous and largest is the Ringstrasse, the circular boulevard in Vienna, the organization of which was entrusted to Otto Wagner. These actions led to extensive theoretical discussions and were the basis for the works of Camillo Sitte, the famous Austrian architect and city planner. As a result of the relatively open use of the word during the last third of the nineteenth century, the term boulevard became interchangeable with the term Avenue, as mentioned by Baron Haussman in his theoretical treatises...
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Keywords: Apparel retailing; service quality; service quality factors;
The Indian Retail Industry is transforming and is the fastest growing sector contributing around 10 percent of the country’s GDP. Indian retail market is estimated to grow from $427 billion in 2010 to $637 billion by 2015. India became the prime destination for the global retailers because of its favorable demographics, high disposable income levels, changing life styles and increased customer awareness. The fast pace of the Indian retail industry presents many companies with a host of daily challenges. In today’s competitive environment and with the growing importance of services, delivering high quality services has become the basic retailing strategy. Deficiencies in service delivery certainly cause customer dissatisfaction and also affect profitability in the long run. In order to deliver high quality of services and to outperform the competition it becomes essential to all service managers to measure and manage their service quality. It is evident from the earlier studies that littler research has been done in Indian retail service quality and very litter research was evident in apparel retail service quality. So the present study was focused to identify the critical factors of apparel service quality in Indian context. The sample consists of 1012 respondents from four major cities having high potential for Retail Growth in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India. A structured questionnaire was administered for data collection. Secondary data was collected from research databases, reports, journal articles etc. SPSS 17.0 was used for statistical analysis. Factor Analysis was applied to know the critical factors of service quality, the study helps the retailers to focus on critical areas of service - where to improve, where to modify and where to cut down and enables them to take effective service strategies. The study helps to understand which Service dimensions are very important at what places, so that the marketer can develop service strategies accordingly.
More...Keywords: Râmnicu Vâlcea; minorities; entrepreneur; trader; merchant
Either we talk about the Italians, the Greeks, the Macedonians, the Germans or the Jews, or whether they were rich or modest people, the passing of these minorities through Râmnicu Vâlcea played an important role in the intensification of the rhythm of urbanisation and modernisation of the town. There are few local industries in which the Italians, the Germans, the Turks or the Jews become involved, all of them proving to be good craftsmen, entrepreneurs or traders. For some of the foreigners who came and remained in Râmnicu Vâlcea, and which we have been able to identify, until now, the archive information notifies the locality from where they came, the place of birth, along with their previous occupation. Due to the fact that the numbering of the buildings has suffered, in time, repeated modifications, we have managed to present their firms, from the main commercial routes, according to the number of the place where the firm was, as found in the archive documents.
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Keywords: Narratives, mobility; migration; expat spouses; Uganda;
Deploying organizations strongly support their employees’ relocation with their spouses and children under the premise that families guarantee a social and practical support system (Kraimer et al. 2016). Expat spouses I have interviewed in the course of my qualitative data collection were sure that their migration experience differed significantly from their employed spouses. While for themselves relocation was a (repeated) interruption of the “normal pace of life”, they assumed that their spouses were provided with a “ready-made life” because they started work right away and were thus integrated in a local social setting. This paper explorse different perceptions of expat spouses' mobility and argues that expat spouses learn to be expat spouses through repeated relocations and "mobility work" (Mense-Petermann and Spiegel 2016).
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Keywords: hygiene; sanitary system; education system; diseases; pupils
In Craiova, at the beginning of the second half of the 19th century the rivers which carried the toxic wastes of the local industry across the town, the swamp created at the edge of the city by the local Craioviţa Pond or the summer’s dusty streets had the effect of keeping the mortality at higher rates. Every year, an important percent of the city’s population died of tuberculosis, cholera, gastroenteritis, angina or venereal diseases. Since the local sanitary system was unable to solve this problem, an important role was given to the education system, which acted constantly on two significant directions: offering a healthy and hygienic environment in which the pupils could learn and teaching the same pupils – the citizens to come – the virtues of personal hygiene.
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Keywords: E-procurement; E-commerce; Supply Chain Management; Enterprise Resource Planning; hospitality industry;
This research investigates the reception for electronic procurement (e-procurement) concept by those hotels in Egypt, examines how hoteliers perceive the challenges and benefits of e-procurement in the hotel industry. Also this research focuses on identify the challenges and opportunities associated with the implementation of e-procurement. A self-administered questionnaire with purchasing managers was designed as the research instrument for collecting primary data. This questionnaire included items pertaining to illustrate purchasing managers’ perceptions of applying e-procurement in hotels, challenges and benefits of using e-procurement, cost involved in implementing e-procurement, the kind of materials / products procure online, and purchasing managers prediction of return on investment when using e-procurement. Fifteen forms were distributed in fifteen investigated hotels; among them 15 forms valid for analysis (100%) but between fifteen hotels are ten hotels conducted e-procurement process. The findings revealed that e-procurement impacts to supply chain management (SCM); time taking for employees to adopt e-procurement system too long; ten of investigated hotels use e-procurement between one to above four years; there are many benefits and advantages of conducting e-procurement in hotels (i.e. reducing costs, time, and staff); Furniture’s, Fixtures and Equipment and food for the restaurant are the highest percentage of the kind of materials / products implemented by using e-procurement; and return of investment when using e-procurement are short-term within one to two years. Egyptian hoteliers illustrated that the benefits of e-procurement implementation are quality of goods and services which will due to enhancing customer satisfaction, saving time and cost for Hotels.
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Keywords: augmented reality; AR; future marketing; interactive marketing; IT in marketing
IT solutions like augmented reality (AR) significantly increase the flexibility ofrunning business. AR is a system that connects the real world with computer generatedvisualizations supported by an object recognition software. The real word video is mergedwith 3D computer graphics generated in real time. As a result the user gets interactiveand digitally manipulable information about the surrounding world. AR has many areasof application. It can be used in architecture, commerce, education, emergency, industry,medicine, military, navigation, sport and tourism. It can be also a very useful tool in marketinge.g. interactive dressing rooms, smart mirrors, AR catalogues, furniture visualizers, shoeand clothes samplers. Therefore augmented reality can meet the new needs of customersand generate profits for business.The aim of the article is to present recent trends in using AR. The paper contains characteristicsof augmented reality, recently developed AR tools for marketing purposes, benefitsand risks (barriers) of AR tools adoption. At the end of the article the authors presentconclusions derived from the analysis of recent scientific AR publications and AR relatedprojects available on crowdfunding platforms and the proposal for the future research.
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Keywords: metaphoric transfer; multimodality; advertisements; domain mappings
The paper deals with metaphoric transfer of knowledge in English advertising discourse based on two- and cross-domain mappings referring to cultural conceptualizations of the world. On the one hand, text producers’ awareness of social events, as well as of people’s experiences and practices helps them in the construction of advertisements in the most intriguing and sensational way. On the other hand, text receivers are provoked and tempted by the ads deconstruction, though in some cases their unawareness of what is happening or has happened around us or in the world at large may block or hinder comprehension and thus lead to either misunderstanding of the message and their ignorance of it or to their complete indifference to it. The paper deals with all of the above mentioned issues supported by examples of English language ads and commercials. It shows in what ways multimodality related to the use of verbal and non-verbal signs works in them. The results prove the fact that the use of multimodal metaphors, especially in the non-verbal component, is supposed to trigger more emotions and feelings than the mere representation of the advertised items.
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Keywords: Word borrowing; Loanwords; Russianisms; Barbarisms
The paper deals with the dynamics and characteristics of the Russian linguistic influence on the Georgian language in the 19th century. The actuality of the research is conditioned by the growing popularity of the English language in the face of modern globalization and by the fear of Georgian linguists and the society because of the fate of the Georgian language: is it threatened by decay and degradation under the English language influence? Debates on this topic are more and more increasing and intensifying at the gathering places of linguists: scientific conferences or seminars. The serious cause of their trouble is the abundance of Anglicisms in the speech of the adult generation. The aim of the research is to show the scales of the Russian linguistic influence on the Georgian language in the 19th century and to answer as far as possible the questions the Georgian linguists are posing in the scientific agenda. The paper analyses the texts of the 19th century constructed on the living speech, such as the private letters of the writers and public figures, and dramaturgical works, such as the vaudevilles. The research outcomes give us the possibility to generalize them and predict the fortune of the Georgian language in the face of the possible danger from the English language.
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Keywords: history of pharmacies; Bihor County; communist period; nationalization; Oradea Pharmaceutical Office
The article presents the organization and evolution of the pharmaceutical sector in Bihor County in the communist era, from the nationalization until 1989.
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Keywords: loyalty; transaction; retention; content; brand; consumer;
Loyalty programs are designed to change the way customers interact with companies in terms of purchasing value, retention and repetition. The monetary perspective lays at the foundation of every loyalty system, designated to measure the transactional side of the client’s loyalty. However, the serious decline in retention rates and low customer commitment due to lack of relevance and value pushes today’s loyalty marketing into anachronism. Our approach to loyalty programs will analyze the emotional side of customer loyalty, in today’s Internet driven social platforms environment, which is set to generate a switch in paradigm. Customer loyalty models need to focus on brand values and interaction, on meaningful brand experiences worth sharing. Loyalty metrics should focus on creating and inspiring more valuable customers, willing to share their seamless experiences with others. We will analyze the impact of transactional operated loyalty programs against loyalty programs built upon customer expectations, inin order to identify meaningful loyalty models generating brand attachment in tomorrow’s economic environment. Our focus will be on assimilating the loyalty performance model into a new transparent loyalty paradigm, built upon brand values, customer insight, innovative contribution to brand growth and ethics, as opposed to bargain hunting, promotions and retention metrics.
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Keywords: decoupling; energy efficiency; energy intensity; industrial energy consumption; resource intensity;
Romania's energy intensity is almost double compared to the EU average. The country is the sixth most energy-intensive country in the EU-28 and there is a great need for energy efficiency in all economic sectors. Energy efficiency represented a significant part of each of Romania’s energy strategies over the past decades. In order to achieve the goals set out here, many measures have been taken to increase efficiency in all areas of the country's economy. Economic growth has apparently decoupled from energy consumption. However, this fact can be rather explained due to the structural change of the economy towards tertiarization and low energy intensity industries. The present article presents a critical overview of the development of Romania and it’s economic sectors with regard to their energy intensity. It addresses both economic and political and legal frameworks, with a focus on energy policy. Special attention will be given to industry, with a focus on energy-intensive industrial sectors.
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Keywords: EU funds; SME innovation; Regional Operational Program for Wielkopolskie Voivodeship; grants
The micro, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sector is crucial for the development of an innovative and competitive European Union economy. In each programming period, the EU prepares a number of activities and tools for these companies to improve their market position. The article attempts to assess the impact of the Regional Operational Program for Wielkopolskie Voivodeship 2007–2013 (ROPW) on the innovation level of the SME sector in the region. The evaluation was based on 255 projects implemented by these companies within the ROPW. Research shows that there was little interest in EU funds from Wielkopolska entrepreneurs. However the examined projects were characterized by a high degree of innovation.
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Keywords: attention; distraction; stasis; sleep; Andy Warhol;
Categorized as both an instance of ‘durational cinema’ and ‘cinema of stasis’, this paper takes Andy Warhol’s 1963 film Sleep as case study to investigate how the seemingly opposed spectatorial modes of attention and distraction are installed in contemplative film works. This conceptual inquiry is initially enabled by aligning Jonathan Crary’s critical analysis of the contemporary homogenization of perceptual experience with Johanna Drucker’s investigation of conceptions of art. Yet, considering certain historical insights with regard to durational aesthetics and the spectatorial experiences that these elicit, it subsequently becomes necessary to also consider the ways in which a static film potentially stimulates or enables disruption and distraction.
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Keywords: Time; memory; archive; photography; subREAL;
What are the necessary conditions for a photograph to surpass its status as document and to become an art object? What is more important: its aesthetic qualities or the context in which it is displayed? Does the perception of the same photograph change in time? Are there any ethical rigors that we should consider when using in our creations photos belonging to people whom we do not know and/or are no longer alive? These are some of the questions that I have asked (or had to ask) myself over the years as I often used appropriated photographic images in my work.
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Keywords: innovations; innovativeness of enterprises; manufacturing sector
Purpose – The aim of the article is an attempt to estimate the level of innovativeness of Polish manufacturing enterprises conducting their activity in the years 2008-2015. Research method – The study was divided into three stages. First stage – estimation of synthetic innovativeness indicators of manufacturing enterprises operating in Poland (2008 – 2015) – general and broken down into individual departments of the manufacturing sector. Second stage – estimation of the main descriptive statistics of the synthetic innovativeness indicator of Polish manufacturing enterprises (2008–2015) – average, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, median, minimum value, maximum value. Third stage – creating a ranking of innovativeness of Polish manufacturing enterprises representing individual departments of sector C and conducting their activity in 2015. The ranking was based on a synthetic innovativeness indicator of Polish manufacturing enterprises for 2015. Results – The study shows that the synthetic index of innovativeness of Polish enterprises in the manufacturing sector in 2009–2015 is characterized by an upward trend. Department C20 came first in the ranking of innovativeness of Polish manufacturing enterprises by individual departments of sector C (manufacturing) operating in 2015, whereas department C13-15 ranked last. Originality – Estimation, statistical evaluation of the synthetic innovativeness indicator of Polish manufacturing enterprises and creating a ranking of innovativeness of Polish manufacturing enterprises by individual departments of sector C conducting their activity in 2015.
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