Vdm verlag dr müller jun 2007 (18 risultati)

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - Since the e-commerce are booming on sales and information is becoming a critical resource to firms. How the market information and pricing strategies impact the performance of e-retailers Specifically, is the information accuracy valuable to e-retailers Can the information sharing effectively improve the performance of e-retailers what are the optimal pricing strategies for the e-retailer What are the values of information accuracy and information sharing respectively, given that the product categories are considered This book includes three business scenarios addressing the value of market information and pricing strategies in the Internet retailing. First, we study the product choice and the value of information accuracy for the online retailers in the chapter one. Second, we study the marketing information and dual-channel pricing strategies in a multi-channel retailer in the chapter two. Finally, we investigate the value of cooperative information sharing in a manufacturerecommerce retailer supply chain in the chapter three. This book is addressed to professionals, policy-makers, academics, researchers, and managers in IT, marketing, business and commerce.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - This is the 21st century. Mankind has gone through lots of critical and dangerous times. A lot of our wars have been fought just because of the distribution of power. The atrocious and despicable treatment of black slaves in the US and the determined holocaust of Jewish people during World War II are just two examples of racially motivated humiliation and mistreatment of human beings. Today, we have to face cultural racism, rooting in prejudices and stereotypes which are still being supported and spread by lots of people. First, the author Bettina Wohlgemuth gives a historical overview of the term 'racism', starting with the religious racism of the Middle Ages, continuing with the biological racism of the 20th century and ending with today's cultural racism. Second, the author introduces Intercultural Learning as one of the most promising ways to positively influence people s thinking and acting. Finally, she tries to provide teachers with an example of how racism could be dealt with at school. The book is aiming at people working at school, young people willing to reconsider their point of view and everybody who would like to make a difference.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - This work summarizes the experience of the Department of Cardiac Surgery, University of Heidelberg with the surgical treatment of tracheal and cardiac anomalies in infants and children for a period longer than 20 years. The Heidelberg group lead by Prof. Siegfried Hagl succesfully introduced new operative techniques and achieved one of the best results reported in the contemporary surgical literature. The survival rate of over 94% is remarkable given the severe pathology and comorbidity involved and the complexity of surgical procedures. Two of the important messages of the work are:- cardiopulmonary bypass is usefull tool in surgical treatment of congenital tracheal stenosis;- more than 30% of the length of the trachea can be resected and reconstructed.This work could be of interest for thoracic surgeons, cardiac surgeons, pediatricians, pathologists and all students in the field of congenital cardiac and respiratory pathology. …

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - The humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality and impartiality provide an ethical framework that defines and delineates the humanitarian space within which relief agencies are supposed to operate. Current experiences, however, show that these traditional principles were not designed to cope with the development underlying the increasing merging of humanitarian aid and politics. To avoid political manipulation, relief organizations must rethink these principles and face the responsibility of getting more involved in the broader political arena to be able to take appropriate action, and to avoid long-term damages on a society. The author examines the difficult realities in a heterogenic humanitarian environment, by addressing all the complex legal and political issues surrounding an emergency, including the impact of external actors like donors, host governments, and armed forces. It therefore provides a realistic understanding for everyone who is working in the field of humanitarian aid and development policy of the possibilities and limits of being neutral and impartial in current crisis responses. In this regard, the paper further analyzes the Sphere process on how far it is taking political influences on humanitarian aid into consideration, and can thus actually be seen as a reasonable guideline for relief organizations in the 21st century.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - Fox hunting has been one of the most divisive issues among the British population in the past few years. On the first glance, the debate seems like an issue of rural versus urban ways of life, of blood sports devotees versus animal rights activists, of upper class versus working class. In reality, however, there is much more to it.Emotionally charged discussions, from local pubs to the House of Commons, have made many people lose sight of the factual origins and the background of fox hunting. Written before the introduction of the Hunting Act 2004, this book provides a broad picture of fox hunting, dealing with its historical, sociocultural, political, economic and environmental implications. Not only does this work offer informative facts and figures, but it also looks at the political attempts to introduce a hunting ban and conveys an impression of the heated debate led by pro- and anti-hunting lobby groups.The book is addressed to proponents and opponents of fox hunting alike, to people who are interested or involved in hunting or who want to be informed about this controversial issue in a larger context.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - In the 1970s and 1980s, Papua New Guinea used to be a good spot for investing in the mineral sector. This situation, however, changed. Especially since the Bougainville crisis - rooted in conflicts produced by a large-scale mining operation - became one of the most difficult and protracted problems in the state s short history. It is quite clear that resource extraction brings profound changes, when it is carried out in a former intact environment. But what are the changes that happen when a large-scale mining operation starts And are these changes able to produce different kinds of conflicts This monograph should present a discussion of the changes that such large-scale mining operations entail for local rural communities in Papua New Guinea. For this reason, three different peoples from the Ok Tedi mining area are compared in the second half of this book. Thereby, the focus lies on the reactions of the local people to those changes and the conflicts that may result. This book is addressed to people who have a general interested in the possible consequences caused by large-scale mining operations in rural areas and the outcomes for the local population.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - From the year one the Middle East has been a hotbed of religious, territorial and political conflicts and especially the undeclared war between the Palestinians and Israel enjoys great interest in the western hemisphere. Every day, news about the region appears on television and in newspapers and in particular, the United States try to impinge on the situation. The purpose of this book is to give an overview of the conflicts origins and development and the exertion of influence of the United States. In this context it will focus especially on the role of U.S. Middle East policy during the Clinton administration, while investigating the clash between the Palestinians and the Israelis and its historic origins. Besides, it questions whether the United States, and particularly Bill Clinton, functioned as a peacemaker between the hostile parties and achieved significant progress in the peace process.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - Since the end of the Cold War the number of civil wars with following peace- and state-building attempts has significantly increased. In line with the third wave of democratization theory more and more states try to establish a market democracy after the end of domestic conflict. But is a rapid transition with immediate elections really the one best way to end domestic conflict Recent examples of Afghanistan and Iraq show that elections are by no means an endpoint for domestic conflict within war-torn societies, but rather an accelerator for ethnic violence.Therefore to introduce primarily stable institutions, like rule of law and a functioning bureaucracy, before organizing democratic elections, seems to be a more promising strategy.The author Florian Kunze investigates this hypothesis, first through a quantitative analysis of 35 cases, and second through an in depth analysis of three case studies: Namibia, Liberia, and South Africa.This book addresses researches and students of international relations, politicians, development workers and military staff faced with state building tasks, and all other interested in the issue of democratic transition after domestic conflict.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - The provision of governmental services and the very nature of governance changes with the ever growing influence of Information and Communication Technologies in all governmental institutions. This book is examining the design and success of the European Commission's efforts to engage the citizens, consumers and businesses in policy- and decision making, in order to improve the democratic and political outcomes. The theoretical part of this book makes the rationale clear why reforms of governmental agencies are necessary. It provides theoretical evidence on why eDemocracy improves the working processes of political and bureaucratic agencies and how best practices can facilitate such initiatives. A sound design of eDemocracy programs is imperative, in order to attract citizens and businesses to make use of the initiatives on one hand, and to maximize the potential of an engaged citizenry in politics, on the other. The three pillar model, as is developed in this book, offers a platform for such design. It stipulates governments to offer two-way communication and participation tools that promote transparency, accountability, democratic affiliation and effectiveness of political programs and policy proposals. The European Commission has introduced a single access point for citizens, consumers and businesses, in order to promote electronic democracy and to gather and store crucial information that is used in policy-making. The main initiatives are online consultations and the, so called, Feedback mechanism, accessible through the official web site of the European Union, europa.eu.int/yourvoice. Both tools give the interested stakeholder the possibility to express his or her view, opinion, concern or experience on various matters concerning the European Union and its institutions. Although the initiative is relatively new and evolving, success is perceptible and satisfaction increases. Nevertheless, promotion is still weak and eParticipation as well as eVoting have a long way to go before they can be truly encompassed into eDemocracy within the European Union. This book is dedicated to all citizens, consumers, politicians and those who are interested in the written topic.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - Since 1973 the exchange rates of major currencies have been permitted to float freely against one another. This, along with an increase in the volume of the world trade, has escalated foreign currency risk. Exchange rate movements have a significant impact on companies engaged in international trade. In contrast to big multinational companies, that have a broad range of tools available to reduce their foreign currency exposure, middlesized companies have only limited possibilities to hedge their foreign exchange rate risk. The aim of the paper is to examine all available hedging techniques that can be utilized by a middlesized company and to analyse the impact of an effective foreign exchange risk management on the value of the company. The paper begins with an overview of the foreign exchange market and detailed analysis of models that are used to make short-, medium- and longterm exchange rate forecasts. Further on, the book examines the impact of FX hedging procedures on the company and presents pro and counterarguments of corporate hedging. Finally, different internal and external hedging techniques are examined in order to make recommendations on when a particular hedging technique should be used.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - This work examines the British referendum since the the 1970s, while primarily focusing on the question whether the referendum could be regarded as a new understanding of democracy in the UK. It is investigated whether this approach is true or whether the referendum is rather a clever, opportunistic device which supports political manipulation and thus helps to impose the interests of its triggers. In order to answer those questions, it is necessary to elaborate on the constitution and its main principle, parliamentary sovereignty. The second part of this work will offer a detailed, descriptive introduction to all eight referendums that have been carried out so far in the UK, intending to inform about the circumstances of each individual referendum. The main part will then form the assessment of these referendums. Controversies and inconsistencies of the governmental actions are addressed in order to find an answer to the central question of this work, whether the referendum is part of a changing democracy in Britain or, whether it is rather understood as a tactic of the government. This work is directed towards students of British cultural and political studies and towards those who do research in the field of the referendum. It is also addressed to readers with a general interest in the topic.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - The debate about the use of Anglicisms in German during the past decade has focused primarily on general language use, whereas languages for specific purposes (with the exception of advertising) have not come under similar scrutiny. The study presented in this book focuses exclusively on the English lexical influence on German business language over time and across different text types. Randomly selected articles (cover stories, editorials, and letters to the editor) of one of Germany's major business magazines, Wirtschaftswoche, serve as the corpus of this study. The author describes and analyzes the use of Anglicisms in this business weekly over a period of 30 years and answers questions such as the following: 4 Is there empirical evidence for an increasing use of Anglicisms in German business language appearing in print media 5 Are there significant differences in the use of Anglicisms in the selected genres, and do professional journalists and readers differ in their use of these loanwords 6 Do opinion-centered articles differ from fact-centered articles in the use of English loanwords 7 Which Anglicisms are used most often This book should be of interest not only to scholars in the fields of linguistics and language teaching, but also to the general reader interested in Anglo-American influences on German language (and culture), and English loanwords in particular.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - Most of us are scared by the mere thought of our lethal fate and even if we try not to think about it, our mortality comes to mind more or less frequently and conflicts with our instinct for self-preservation and self-determination. In response to this, humans have developed several cognitive and behavioral strategies for the management of this existential problem. The present book addresses this human dilemma and its consequences, and further looks to examine how existential fears influence our day-to-day consumer behavior. According to Terror Management Theory, people may overcome their fundamental fears by establishing a shared cultural protection system that provides their world with meaning, order, and stability. Since consumer products and brands may be seen as significant parts of our (consumer) culture, it is empirically investigated whether and under what circumstances commodities can act as symbols that provide meaning by signifying our culture, worldviews, and identity and whether and why they are used by us as a means of ameliorating our existential fears. This book mainly targets consumer behavior researchers as well as marketing, branding, and advertising executives.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - Thomas Mann's three stories 'Tonio Kröger', 'Tristan' and 'Der Tod in Venedig' are compared with the translations by Helen Lowe-Porter and David Luke respectively. From the comparison, it emerges that Lowe-Porter's translations are so deeply flawed that her oeuvre can be regarded as a scandal in the translation world. Even today, her botched versions of Thomas Mann's works are still being widely published and used as texts in institutes of higher education. Luke's translations are generally reliable, but they still fail to capture the literary aspects of Thomas Mann's prose. Alternative literary strategies are discussed with examples illustrated by the author s own samples. The discussion about how to approach the translation of dense literary passages, humour, philosophical arguments and dialect has led to the development of a new theory of translation: the Strategic Approach. The traditional concept of fidelity is redefined, based on Wittgenstein's language game theory. This book should be of interest to linguists, translators, students and teachers of translation as well as to any one who wishes to increase their knowledge and appreciation of one of Europe's greatest prose stylists.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - Nigeria has acceded to several regional and international covenants promoting the rights and well-being of women. In July 2000 it made an official statement of intent to promote gender equality by endorsing a National Policy on Women. Yet, the vast majority of women persist on the periphery of economic and political life. In spite of a considerable degree of compatibility between women's aspirations and the NPW, particularly in terms of addressing immediate practical necessity, awareness of its existence and that of the new National Gender Policy remains low. Consequently, there is no concerted agenda to push for policy implementation. The Gender Management System put in place by the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs to oversee the mainstreaming of gender policy is undermined by institutionalised and routinised gender bias and by systemic distortions in the wider policy environment.This book examines the relevance of the NPW to the aspirations of Nigerian women, through their eyes. It explores the experiences, perspectives and collective agendas of women across class, ethnicity and religion to discover their understandings of the present and visions for the future. It also investigates the extent to which state institutional capability exists to implement gender policy, and to mainstream gender perspectives as the policy stipulates. This book provides valuable resource material for public policy analysts, development practitioners and feminist scholars of politics, sociology, economics, anthropology and African, cultural, religious and development studies.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - In these times of rapid increase of internet usage, the question arises for multinational companies (MNCs) whether to standardise or adapt their internet presence to different cultural groupings or even subcultures. The authors attempted to address this problem with an approach relatively new up to now.Global players have already realised their opportunities to add value to their company by setting up a high quality internet performance and a properly designed website. This raises the question whether these companies could use their basic home country website for all cultures or if any adaptation should be conducted. If so, it has to be determined on the one hand to what degree an adaptation still aligns with the corporate identity or on the other hand if the companies should rather respect the culture of the respective market they are operating in.The overall target of this research is therefore to assist MNCs by producing recommendations concerning the promotion of products and services for a particular transnational consumer group. Therefore, country-specific websites of companies rooted in different cultural origins are selected for this research, namely EgyptAir, Mercedes-Benz and SonyEricsson.This publication targets at companies seeking to develop a foreign market in particular the Arab cultural area. Moreover, it is aimed to create an awareness for differences in consumer behaviour and in the resulting opportunities global companies are faced with.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - Mobile applications running on personal devices, like smartphones, PDAs, or laptop computers, create a fascinating market for many new mobile services. Mobile commerce, location-based services, multimedia messaging, or mobile gaming are expected to constitute a main drivingforce for technological advancements, creating a new source of revenue for infrastructure providers and developers. Based on what we observe today, the logical next steps lead to integrated infrastructures and applications supporting 'pervasive computing'. Whatever this future will look like, the basic cornerstones will be: (i) highly nomadic users, (ii) personalized devices running smart applications, (iii) pevasive smart infrastructures, and (iv) efficient communication for end-to-end integration of all building blocks. This book introduces the amazing world of pervasive computing, leads step-by-step through the new design challenges for pervasive computing applications and identifies the key challenges for engineering middleware supporting pervasive applications. Based on the wellknown publish/subscribe paradigm it demonstrates how middleware systems can be designed to explicitly make use of 'context' of users and applications. It then shows how context information can be leveraged for optimizing the efficiency of communication inside a notification service. The book addresses developers of middleware, mobile application designers, as well as interested individuals who want to learn more about the challenges of next generation pervasive and mobile systems.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - In order to obtain an acceptable quality of filtering services in real time conditions a trade-off between relevance of results and response time has to be addressed while searching for needed information in numerous distributed repositories. Unfortunately, ignoring a necessity to address information retrieval in distributed and resource-aware manner is usually a serious drawback for many existing search engines that try to survive an ongoing information explosion. The essence of a proposed distributed approach for information retrieval is in comprehensive coordination and cooperation mechanisms which both take care of current availability of resources and try to improve themselves during runtime. Additionally, they are able to guarantee delivery of results by combining multiple filtering strategies with very different capabilities and by using inbuilt self-healing for recovery after failures. As the realization of the proposed mechanisms is described in details and experimentally proven, this book is mainly addressed to professionals in distributed information retrieval and advanced search engine technologies. It is also directed towards researches in filtering strategies and agent technologies. …