Singapore's Malay-Muslim minority: Social identification in a post-‘9/11’ world

Fundamental within Singapore's modernisation push ‘From Third World to First’ was the long-term strategy of establishing a Singapore identity based on multiracialism, multilingualism, multiculturalism and multireligiousity (the ‘4Ms’). But while wholesale landscape changes have largely removed earlier associations between ethnicity and residence, government promotion of a shared Singapore identity has been frustrated by the lagging educational and socio-economic achievements of Singapore's Malay minority. Prior to the events of ‘9/11’ government concern had centred on the growing popularity of private Islamic schools, or madrasahs, which in the government's view could affect educational standards in the city-state. However, following the destruction of the World Trade Center government attention was quickly shifted to the promotion of ‘racial harmony’ and Singaporeans were urged to ‘get to know your neighbours’ in a tacit admission that 40 years of ‘racial’ assimilation had yet to produce ethnically integrated, cross-cultural community spirit. Subsequent events, particularly the arrest of local Jemaah Islamiyah operatives and the destruction in Iraq, have impacted most strongly upon Singapore's Malay-Muslim community and posed challenges to its identity within a multicultural society.     

Output planning for material requirements under uncertainty

This paper considers a production planning and control system requiring that, for each work station, a time-phased series of input and output values be estimated. It is assumed that the projected input levels can vary significantly across time periods and that anticipated output levels can be determined by management, subject to limits specified by available manpower and subcontracting. The actual input and output levels for each period depart from the planned levels according to a probability distribution determined empirically. An approach is presented that allows management to evaluate a chosen set of output levels to determine the probability that sufficient amounts of work will be available at a work station each period.     

Training and organizational commitment: exploring the moderating role of goal orientation in the Lebanese context

In this study, we investigated the impact of organizational training on organizational commitment and whether goal orientation moderates the relationship between training and commitment. The sample consisted of 124 employees from different industries in the country of Lebanon. Multiple regression and hierarchical moderated regression were used to test hypotheses. The results of the analysis showed that training has a significant effect on organizational commitment. Moderation analysis showed that the relationship between training and affective commitment was stronger for individuals who had higher levels of learning goal orientation. Performance goal orientation failed to moderate the relationship between training and affective commitment. Ultimately, this suggests that advanced training offered to individuals with performance goal orientations may not necessarily increase their commitment to their employer, in contrast to individuals with learning goal orientations. Theoretical and management implications in the context of Lebanon are proposed.     

Managing Organizational Paradoxes in Social Enterprises: Case Studies from the MENA Region

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - This study aims to examine the question around how small- and medium-scale hybrid social enterprises within the context of...     

The Compassion Strategy: Race and the Gender Gap in Campaign 2000

Recent studies have shown that social "compassion" issues, andnot those directly linked to women’s interests, seem todrive the gender gap in presidential vote choice. Some of thesecompassion issues are associated with the plight of racial minoritiesin the media and in the minds of average citizens. Drawing ontheories of gender role socialization, we predict that traditionalpartisan stands on racial issues may help to explain the gendergap. Specifically, we hypothesize that the gap emerges becausemen and women react differently to cues about how compassionatecandidates are toward vulnerable social groups. In one experiment,we manipulate news information regarding George W. Bush’scommitment to blacks versus women. The gender gap is maximizedwhen Bush takes the traditional Republican stance, while itis reduced significantly when Bush espouses a more moderateposition. The gender gap is unaffected by variation in the positionthat Bush takes on women’s issues. In another experiment,we also find that the gender gap emerges when traditional partisanappeals are racialized. Finally, exposure to the 2000 RepublicanNational Convention, with its message of racial inclusion, boostedevaluations of Bush among women but not men.     

Detecting discontinuities in nonparametric regression curves and surfaces

The existence of a discontinuity in a regression function can be inferred by comparing regression estimates based on the data lying on different sides of a point of interest. This idea has been used in earlier research by Hall and Titterington (1992), Müller (1992) and later authors. The use of nonparametric regression allows this to be done without assuming linear or other parametric forms for the continuous part of the underlying regression function. The focus of the present paper is on assessing the evidence for the presence of a discontinuity within a regression function through examination of the standardised differences of ‘left’ and ‘right’ estimators at a variety of covariate values. The calculations for the test are carried out through distributional results on quadratic forms. A graphical method in the form of a reference band to highlight the sources of the evidence for discontinuities is proposed. The methods are also developed for the two covariate case where there are additional issues associated with the presence of a jump location curve. Methods for estimating this curve are also developed. All the techniques, for the one and two covariate situations, are illustrated through applications.     

Socio-ecological systems and biodiversity conservation in African city: Insights from Kano Emir’s Palace gardens

Urban biodiversity management in most African countries is at a peripheral stage. At the same time, African urban areas substantially remain poorly planned and intensively growing. This study explores the socio-ecological system as an alternative approach to explore African indigenous urban biodiversity management. For this purpose, we mixed conventional scientific investigation methods to explain the biodiversity conservation in the ancient gardens of the Kano palace in northern Nigeria. This multidisciplinary approach has successfully unveiled a harmonious relationship of humans and ecosystems in the context of African cultural values and heritage systems. The paper reveals that the palace gardens offer an avenue for intersection of a wide range of ecological and cultural activities. These include biodiversity conservation, recreation, security and surveillance, climate hazards proofing, and sacred dimensions. The findings of this study show that it is possible to address challenges confronting Africa’s urban biodiversity through the combination of scientific and indigenous systems.     

Trend,Growth Rate,and Change Point Analysis—A Data Driven Approach

A data-driven technique is proposed to estimate the trend and relative growth rate of time series data. The method is based on the local linear regression smoother and the only assumption about the form of the trend and growth rate function is that they are smooth functions of time. We also extended the method for handling sudden shifts or changes in the trend or growth rate functions by adding dummy variables for the jumps. Simulation studies are carried out to see the performance of the proposed procedure. The method is applied to study the trend and growth rate of wheat production in India from 1951–2005.     

Postnatal breastfeeding education at one week after childbirth: What are the effects?

Background

The first week after childbirth is a crucial period for exclusive breastfeeding initiation.