Aim/Purpose: To understand the process of social change creation in social entrepreneurial ventures (SEVs), specifically emphasizing the role and nature of the communicative process in social change creation. Background: Drawing on data from seven SEVs from India and the US and employing a grounded theory methodology, this research scrutinizes the social change process and uncovers the role and characteristics of dialogue in this process. Methodology: Qualitative data was collected from seven social entrepreneurial organizations over a period of eight months from July 2011 to February 2012. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a wide range of members within these social entrepreneurial organizations (n=27) with additional informal interviews with field workers and volunteers. Data from the semi-structured interviews and notes from observations were integrated with analyses of archival resources. Contribution: There is little scholarship about the process of social change creation and the necessary conditions to promote social change over time. Understanding the process of social change creation and the individual, interpersonal, and organizational conditions that facilitate the process is central to design of effective trans-sector TD problem solving ventures. This paper focuses on the process of social change creation in social entrepreneurial settings, specifically emphasizing the role and nature of the communicative process in social change creation. Findings: The reflections and experiences of the members of SEVs revealed that social entrepreneurship is a collective endeavor and this collective character is essential to its success. Collective organization and synergy, deep intra-organizational communication, and a conducive organizational context are critical for the creation of collective wisdom and knowledge networks for long-term collaborative community capacity building. Dialogue emerged as a central category linking the other categories to explain the process of social change creation. Organic organizational structure enables knowledge creation and integration through the process of organizational learning through deep and continuous social interaction, or dialogue. Recommendations for Practitioners: This research elucidated the key characteristics of the organizational context required to support the creation of social change. It also identified the critical role and characteristics of the communicative process required to generate structural knowledge and collective wisdom at the organizational level. Recommendation for Researchers: For individual and organizational learning, trans-sector transdisciplinary organizations require an appropriate organizational context. Key elements of such an organizational context include (1) understanding the ecology of the social problem; (2) organic organizational structure; (3) continuous and deep social interaction among all levels of the organization; (4) employee and community autonomy and empowerment; and (5) attention to subtle environmental changes in the system. These elements in combination lead to the creation of collective wisdom. Collective wisdom then feeds back into the conception, planning, and action stages of the iterative cycle of organizational knowledge creation to create positive social change. Impact on Society: Same as above Future Research: Future research model theoretically and study empirically the ecology of social entrepreneurship and trans-sector TD problem solving more broadly. For example, the ways in the personal attributes of social entrepreneurs (e.g., their leadership style, networking abilities) combine with circumstances at organizational, institutional, and international levels to influence the effectiveness of their efforts to promote positive social change within local and global communities. Second, the grounded theoretical framework developed here should be further refined and elaborated through the identification of additional key contextual factors that affect SEVs’ capacity to promote positive social change and to achieve sustainability in different socio-environmental contexts. There is also a need to translate the findings from this research to facilitate the creation of more inclusive problem solving contexts and practices.

Aim/Purpose: There is a need to find a way to utilize narrative storytelling in film to make students more aware of the impacts of global problems and how they are perceived. Background: Two films from the year 2015 from two very different places in the world explore the encroachment and secondary effects of urban civilization upon indigenous cultures. Methodology: An interpretive, qualitative, methodology was used in addressing and discussing the use of these two films as a persuasive communication teaching aid. Contribution: This paper offers an approach to using narratives of films on indigenous issues in education to inform students about real-world issues and the wide impacts of those on various cultures and populations. Findings: Through the discussion of the two films, we suggest that using films with indigenous themes is beneficial to a course curriculum in a variety of subjects from communication to history and politics, to help students visualize the problems at hand. Anecdotally, the authors note that students are more engaged and willing to discuss topics if they have watched films or clips that deal with those topics than if they have simply read about them. Recommendation for Researchers: Technology and use of visuals are used as teaching tools in a variety of fields. Film narratives can be used as a teaching tool in multiple fields and provide insight about a variety of ideas. Identifying films such as those with indigenous themes provides an example of how one film can bring up multiple, real-world, topics and through led discussion student reflection can potentially lead to self-insights and have lasting impacts. Future Research: Additional research and assessment can be done on the impact of teaching with films and their compelling story telling of issues, and what types of questions should be asked to maximize learning and the impact of film narratives.

Aim/Purpose: This article takes ‘tourism decision-making behavior’ as an entry point, and deeply analyzes the factors influencing the travel decision-making of Chinese ‘American Travel’ tourists and their degree of influence, so as to provide a reference for the development of Chinese outbound tourism. Background: With the development of China’s economy and the improvement in people’s level, the outbound tourism market of Chinese residents has developed rapidly. The United States has become an important tourism destination country for Chinese residents’ outbound tourism, and China has also become one of the important tourist source countries of American tourism. However, the rapid development of ‘American tourism’ has also caused competition problems in China’s tourism industry. For example, prices and tourism products have become a means of competition among tourism enterprises. As the main body of consumption, tourists’ decision-making behavior will be affected by various factors. Methodology: Drawing lessons from previous scholars’ research results on tourism decision-making behavior, the influencing factors of tourism decision-making behavior are summarized. A theoretical model and index system of factors influencing tourism decision-making behavior of Chinese residents ‘Travel in the United States’ are established, research hypotheses are put forward, questionnaire data are collected, and SPSS and Amos are used to analyze and verify the theoretical model. Contribution: This research expands the literature on topics related to tourism decision-making in research and practice. It establishes a theoretical model and index system for the factors that influence the decision-making behavior of Chinese residents’ ‘American Travel’ tourism. In addition, we propose countermeasures for tourism products, enterprises, and the government. Findings: Prior knowledge and external information have a positive influence on tourism perception and value perception, and a negative influence on risk perception. Risk perception value perception has a positive and negative influence on tourism decision-making and tourism motivation, respectively. Tourism motivation has a positive influence on tourism decision-making and has a positive impact. Recommendation for Researchers: According to the research conclusions of this article, the following counter-measures and suggestions are put forward from three aspects of tourism: products, enterprises, and governments. On the basis of existing tourism products, relevant operating companies should pay more attention to the upgrading and transformation of tourism, leisure and entertainment products in scenic spots to increase the willingness of tourists to travel. When considering corporate marketing and promotion plans, tourism companies operating related businesses should increase the weight of their marketing budgets in online marketing, increase investment in online marketing, and develop mobile applications that meet the preferences of Chinese residents in the United States. Do a good job in the timely publication of safety reminders and local information. Safety is an important foundation for tourism development and the core concern of many tourists. Future Research: Due to the important research on the impact of tourism activities, the influencing factors are many and complex, and the psychological process of tourism decision-making is carried out directly. There are still unconsidered factors that need to be studied in depth. In the future, it is possible to compare multiple resource-featured themes, and increase the characteristics of potential tourists, and the factors affecting the selection behavior of regional cultural tourists, and so forth, in order to make the research more applicable and practical instructive significance.

Aim/Purpose. This paper, although conceived earlier than the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic, addresses the problem of informing agility as part of organizational agility that has become a rather important issue for business survival. Background. While the general issues of business informing, and business intelligence (BI) in particular, have been widely researched, the dynamics of informing, their ability to act in accord with changes in business and preserve the key competencies has not been widely researched. In particular, the research on BI agility is rather scattered, and many issues need to be clarified. Methodology. A series of in-depth interviews with BI professionals to determine relations between organizational agility and BI agility, and to round up a set of key factors of BI agility. Contribution. The paper clarifies a candidate set of key factors of BI agility and gives ground for future research in relations with areas like corporate and BI resilience and culture. Findings. The interview results show the relations between organizational changes, and changes in BI activities. BI has limited potential in recognizing important external changes but can be rather helpful in making decision choices and detecting internal problems. Lack of communication between business and IT people, existence of data silos and shadow BI, and general inadequacy of organizational and BI culture are the key factors impairing BI agility. Recommendations for Practitioners. There are practical issues around BI agility that need solving, like the reason-able coverage of standards or creation of a dedicated unit to care about BI potential. Recommendations for Researchers. The research is still in its starting phase, but additional interesting directions start to emerge, like relations between BI agility, resilience and corporate agility, or the role of informing culture and BI culture for BI agility issues. Impact on Society. Agile business, especially in times of global shocks like COVID-19, loses less value and has more chances to survive. Future Research. Most likely this will be focused on the relations between BI agility, resilience, and corporate agility, and the role of informing culture and BI culture for BI agility issues.

Aim/Purpose: In this article, the subjective perspectives of young people in Ghana on the use of digital media are elaborated. The aim is to make the positions of young people visible in the often adult-dominated discourse on digital media and to overcome adult-centered considerations in academic and public debates. In addition, the focus on young people from the Global South is intended to help make their underrepresented voices present in this discourse. Background: Digital media devices and Internet access are conditional on people’s social, economic, and educational participation. Many people in the Global South in particular are not yet granted such access. For children and young people worldwide, the educational opportunities offered by digital media are associated with potential threats to mental health and well-being. However, young people’s views on digital media are rarely addressed, especially in the Global South. Methodology: Based on a qualitative thematic analysis of responses to open-ended questionnaire questions, young Ghanaians’ views on smartphone use and how it affects academic success are examined. Contribution: By focusing on the subjective perspectives of young people, especially from the Global South, voices that have hardly been heard in the discourse on digital media are made audible. This should help overcome the dominant adult-centered perspectives in this discourse. Findings: For young people in Ghana, digital media are part of their everyday lives and often necessary to succeed at school. At the same time, they are concerned about the dangers, e.g., from overuse or cybercrime, for which they have few strategies to deal with. In their answers, they refer to socio-culturally specific discourses and values as well as to generational hierarchies that they perceive and deal with, which go far beyond the topic of digital media use. This makes clear the social tensions in which the debate about digitalization is embedded. Recommendation for Researchers: Young people’s knowledge of and perspectives on digital media is an important resource for learning to use them in an emancipated way. Future Research: Future research should recognize young people as experts in their own right on the issue, explore ways to include their perspectives in the discourse on digital media use and work with them to harness the future potential of the technology and avoid risks.

COVID-19 created a surge in e-commerce usage, leading to fierce channel competition between the manufacturer's online sales and the offline retailer. Hence, the imperative need for effective and innovative optimisation strategies to mitigate channel competition. Manufacturer-coupons are widely practiced in market, yet research on the importance they play in coordinating channel competition to achieve optimisation in channel distributions is scarce. This research addresses this gap by examining the effectiveness of manufacturer-coupons on the coordination of the manufacturer's online sales and offline retailer's sales. The findings indicate that issuing a manufacturer-coupon to the customers who buy from the offline retailer reduces the competition in the different channel distributions, but cost sharing of the retailer coupon is a better strategy. We thus examine if profit sharing is an effective strategy to facilitate the use of manufacturer-coupon in the market. After comparing different scenarios, we conclude that advanced profit-sharing can be effective in making manufacturer-coupon prevalent in the market and thus alleviate channel competition effectively.

This paper studies a dual-channel supply chain consisting of one risk-averse manufacturer and one risk-averse retailer with stochastic demand. Herein, the manufacturer provides value-added services to enhance channel demand. First, the optimal pricing and service decisions of the channel members are investigated under different settings, i.e., the cooperative game, Bertrand game, and manufacturer Stackelberg (MS) game models. Second, the effects of channel members' risk aversion on optimal channel prices and expected utilities are analysed under the assumption that the manufacturer service is a decision variable and an exogenous variable, respectively. Third, sensitivity analysis and numerical simulation are performed to verify our propositions consistently and seek more managerial implications. The findings suggest that the manufacturer's value-added services in their direct channel will improve the direct price while decreasing the retail price. Consumers' channel loyalty degree has a great influence on the optimal price decisions and the performance of the channel members. The direct price increases while the retail price decreases in the manufacturer's value-added services. The retailer's risk aversion has a greater influence on price decisions than that of the manufacturer.

Naoya NEZU,Hiroshi YAMADA, Vol.E107-D, No.11, pp.1408-1421
Modern memory devices such as DRAM are prone to errors that occur because of unintended bit flips during their operation. Since memory errors severely impact in-memory key-value stores (KVSes), software mechanisms for hardening them against memory errors are being explored. However, it is hard to efficiently test the memory error handling code due to its characteristics: the code is event-driven, the handlers depend on the memory object, and in-memory KVSes manage various objects in huge memory space. This paper presents MemFI that supports runtime tests for the memory error handlers of in-memory KVSes. Our approach performs the software fault injection of memory errors at the memory object level to trigger the target handler while smoothly carrying out tests on the same running state. To show the effectiveness of MemFI, we integrate error handling mechanisms into a real-world in-memory KVS, memcached 1.6.9 and Redis 6.2.7, and check their behavior using the MemFI prototypes. The results show that the MemFI-based runtime test allows us to check the behavior of the error handling mechanisms. We also show its efficiency by comparing it to other fault injection approaches based on a trial model.
Publication Date: 2024/11/01

In my knowledge graph class yesterday we talked about the SPARQL query language and I illustrated it with DBpedia queries, including an example getting data about the movie Double Indemnity. I had brought a google assistant device and used it to compare its answers to those from DBpedia. When I asked the Google assistant “Who […]

The post Why does Google think Raymond Chandler starred in Double Indemnity? appeared first on UMBC ebiquity.

Social exchange theory is a broad theory that has been used to explain trust as an outcome of various exchange relationships, and research commonly presumes trust exists between exchange partners that have prior relationships. In this paper, we contribute to social exchange theory by isolating the trust outcomes of interorganizational exchanges from other outcomes emphasized by learning and knowledge-based perspectives, and by specifying important boundary conditions for the emergence of trust in interorganizational exchanges. We make such a theoretical contribution within the domain of strategic alliances by investigating the effects of previous alliance agreements, or prior ties, between the partnering firms. We find that prior ties generally lead to learning about a partner's anticipated behavioral patterns, which helps a firm predict when self-interested behavior may occur and know how to interact with the partner during the coordination and execution of the alliance tasks. By contrast, it is evident that the kind of trust emphasized in social exchange theory is not generally rooted in prior ties and only emerges from prior relationships under certain conditions. We discuss the implications of these findings for research on social exchange theory and for delineating the theory's domain of applicability.

Power in business schools is ubiquitous. We develop individuals for powerfull positions. Yet, the way we deal with power is limited by our utilitarian focus, avoiding the visceral nature of power. In relation to this we address two questions business schools don't ask: what is the experiential nature of power? How are we teaching power? We use experiential, aesthetic developments on power in the social sciences to critique the rational-utilitarian stance on power found in business schools, drawing on the work of Dewey and French philosopher Levinas to treat power as a lived phenomenon. We overview and critique approaches to teaching power in business curricula informed by our own research on Executive MBA students learning through choral conducting. Taking an appreciative-positive stance, this research showed students developing new, non-rational, non-utilitarian understandings of power. They developed nuanced learning on the feeling, relationality and responsibility of exercising power. Coming out of this we argue for more experiential and reflexive learning methods to be applied to the phenomena of power. Finally we shine a reflexive light on ourselves and our 'power to profess', suggesting ways we can change our own practice to better prepare our students for the power they wield.

This study looks at what happens to the collection of relationships (network) of service professionals during a role transition (promotion to a management role). Our setting is three professional service firms where we examine changes in relations of recently promoted service professionals (auditors, consultants, and lawyers). We take a comprehensive look at the drivers of two forms of network changes - tie loss and tie gain. Looking backward we examine the characteristics of the contact, the relationship, and social structure and identify which forces are at play in losing ties, revealing an overarching tendency for both cohesion and efficiency forces to play a role. Looking forward, we identify the effect of previous network structures that act as a "shadow of the past" and impact the quality of newly gained relations during the role transitions. Findings demonstrate that role transitions are not only influenced by a few key contacts but that the entire (extant) network of professional relationships shapes the way people reconfigure their workplace relations during a role transition.

As evidenced by recent legislation and media attention, eradicating gender inequity in the workforce is of significant importance today. However, this interest in justice stands in bold contrast to the continued wage gap, the steady number of gender discrimination suits filed, and the plethora of cases exposed in the media. Previous data collected in 2006 suggests that university students do not perceive gender discrimination as a threat of major significance to themselves or others. University students tend to minimize or even disregard the likelihood that they will witness or experience gender bias or discrimination in their career. The current study serves as a continuation of and a comparison to the 2006 study, with the goal of determining whether the perspective of university students has shifted, or whether they continue to consider themselves to be immune to the injustice of gender discrimination at work. Our findings suggest that students in this cohort are not only more acutely aware of these issues, but that this awareness has expanded to include increased concern over gender discrimination against men as well. The reluctance of students to believe that they personally will be unaffected by gender discrimination has been and continues to be surprisingly high.

Using data from 607 subjects organized in 161 teams (84 laboratory teams and 77 organizational field teams), we examined how leader humility influences team interaction patterns, emergent states, and team performance. We developed and tested a theoretical model arguing that when leaders behave humbly, followers emulate their humble behaviors, creating a shared interpersonal team process (collective humility). This collective humility in turn creates a team emergent state focused on progressively striving toward achieving the team's highest potential (collective promotion focus), which ultimately enhances team performance. We tested our model across three studies wherein we manipulated leader humility to test the social contagion hypothesis (Study 1), examined the impact of humility on team processes and performance in a longitudinal team simulation (Study 2), and tested the full model in a multistage field study in a health services context (Study 3). The findings from these lab and field studies collectively supported our theoretical model, demonstrating that leader behavior can spread via social contagion to followers, producing an emergent state that ultimately affects team performance. Our findings contribute to the leadership literature by suggesting the need for leaders to lead by example, and showing precisely how a specific set of leader behaviors influence team performance, which may provide a useful template for future leadership research on a wide variety of leader behaviors.

In order to acquire resources, new ventures need to be perceived as legitimate. For this to occur, a venture must meet the expectations of various audiences with differing norms, standards, and values as the venture evolves and grows. We investigate how the organizational identity of a technology venture must adapt to meet the expectations of critical resource providers at each stage of its organizational life cycle. In so doing, we provide a temporal perspective on the interactions between identity, organizational legitimacy, institutional environments, and entrepreneurial resource acquisition for technology ventures. The core assertion from this conceptual analysis is that entrepreneurial ventures confront multiple legitimacy thresholds as they evolve and grow. We identify and discuss three key insights related to entrepreneurs' efforts to cross those thresholds at different organizational life cycle stages: institutional pluralism, venture-identity embeddedness and legitimacy buffering.

Female corporate leadership has drawn increasing attention from academia and practitioners. We contribute to the literature by examining the impact of CEO succession with gender change—i.e., a male CEO succeeded by a female or vice versa. We propose that due to gender differences in executive leadership positions, CEO succession with gender change may amplify the disruption of the CEO succession process and thus adversely affect post-succession firm performance and increase the likelihood of successor early departure. Using data from 3,320 CEO successions in companies listed in China's Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges from 1997 to 2010, we find evidence to support this argument. We also find that the negative (positive) impact of male-to-female succession on firm performance (the likelihood of successor early departure) may be weakened by positive organizational attitudes toward female leadership as indicated by the presence of other female leaders on the firm's board of directors and/or top management team, and the successor's inside origin.

Wales scrum-half Tomos Williams is ruled out of the Autumn Nations Series match against Australia on Sunday.

Hollie Peabody returns to work in the prisons service after getting to the semi-finals of The Voice.

IN celebration of Earth Month, global prestige skincare brand, Origins, proudly announces the establishment of the Origins Green The Planet Fund and its inaugural non-profit partner, One Tree Planted, upholding the brand’s longstanding commitment to the well-being of people and our planet.

As a brand rooted in nature, Origins believes it is its responsibility to give back to the earth while also striving to make decisions that help limit our impact on the planet. Which is why, for over a decade, Origins has partnered with various environmental non-profit organisations to Green The Planet, planting one tree at a time to aid global reforestation initiatives and helping combat the effects of climate change.

In celebration of Earth Month 2021, Origins designed a limited-edition Dr. Andrew Weil for Origins Mega-Mushroom Relief & Resilience Soothing Treatment Lotion to help Green The Planet and support future tree-planting projects. One US dollar has been donated for every limited-edition Dr. Andrew Weil for Origins Mega-Mushroom Relief & Resilience Soothing Treatment Lotion available at Origins stores and online at Lazada Origins Flagship Store which allows one tree to be planted and cared for in partnership with Origins Green The Planet Fund.

7 -ELEVEN MALAYSIA carries on its goodwill by launching ‘Lend a Helping Hand 2021’ campaign to provide relief and help ease the burden of beneficiaries whom are impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic in the country as well as to our heroic frontliners that are working tirelessly to keep us all safe.

From now until July 4, 2021, the public is encouraged to contribute through the campaign by purchasing necessities and supplies from 7-Eleven stores nationwide and placing them into the collection box. Supplies could range from instant food, groceries, beverages, medications, and other household cleaning essentials found in the store. The public may also drop off essential general supplies into the collection box and the contributions will then be channelled by 7-Eleven to the nearest beneficiaries in each area nationwide including government hospitals and medical clinics, other civil service frontliners, charity homes such as those for the elderly and children, public universities, students’ dormitories and more. Contribution handovers will have necessary precautions in place such as minimal interaction between donor and recipients with the collected items dropped off outside the recipient’s facility wherever possible.

7-Eleven Malaysia’s General Manager of Marketing, Ronan Lee, said: “Everybody can play a part to lend a hand during these trying times and we can always count on the extraordinary kind generosity of the public in supporting our efforts of providing any form of relief to the disadvantaged communities as well as our relentless frontliners who have been heroic in the face of unprecedented adversity. We are all in this together and let us all stay strong together and be there for each other as #KitaJagaKita.”

“While the pandemic has been difficult for most Malaysians, there are communities who are more adversely impacted by the pandemic than the others, especially the B40 communities. In acknowledgement of this, it is more critical than ever before for us to shore up our support and deliver the necessary aid to them, not forgetting the frontline workers as well for their resilience, compassion and gallant efforts. At 7-Eleven Malaysia, we want to ensure that no one is left behind in these challenging and unprecedented times,” Lee added.

For more information on ‘Lend a Helping Hand 2021’ campaign, please visit www.7eleven.com.my or follow our official social media pages @7ElevenMalaysia.

DURING my visit in 1985, I had met the management staff at the plantation in Ghana. The one I remember most was Al Doku.

He was the chief accountant, about 45 years old, working for the managing director, Bill Morrison.

At the meeting in Morrison’s office, he could remember the figures well, and I was impressed. It was just that he was quiet for most of the time, and I could see that his eyes were sad.

At that time, there were many reasons to feel that way. The cedi was devaluing every week, and to go for dinner in town was a major decision for it would involve bringing your money in big wads to pay for it.

This is despite the income from gold that Ghana was blessed with as well as cocoa, which has a flavour that commands a premium. The country also produces shea nut, the fruit of massive trees that grow in the north. The oil is like cocoa butter.

However, that year the food shortage was bad, even potatoes were hard to find. They had to be imported.

Morrison had helped with giving breakfast to the workers, and they would line up for the palm oil, tapioca and fish cooked in large pots in front of them before they started work for the day.

Due to the shortage of hard currency, the plantation too had to make do without many things, and building of workers’ houses was one of them as no imported material was used.

At the housing project for workers, I had no time to ask about Al Doku.

I watched Bill giving instructions to the building supervisor. He was using earth to make a thick wall to build a house, and when it was dry after a few days, he added another level, until the building had a coat of cement and more walls for the rooms. I had not seen a building made in that way before. Bill was thorough.

“Saves a lot of money,” he said, as we had breakfast back in his bungalow. I had fried eggs and a lot of tapioca done very well that they looked like baked potatoes.

I knew that in London Leslie Davidson had advocated using raw materials for buildings, and even for expatriates, he said they could save by eating what is available in the local market and eat like what the locals do, but as usual Bill did not do anything by halves.

“We should be leaving soon to see the country, first to the slave castle at Cape Coast.”

It was in the car that he talked about Al Doku.

“He is going to London on a course that I had arranged for him. But the other reason is it gives him a chance to take his daughter there for treatment. She is losing her eyesight and probably it could be saved by the doctors there.”

“Let him know that I will be in London. I will take him to my house and have lunch with him. He impresses me.”

At the slave castle in Cape Coast, Bill had paid a guide to take us through the full tour. I saw the high white walls and the dark cellars made for the incarceration of human captives. The guide said they were standing in human waste until the time the ship arrived, and they were whipped and pushed through a small exit that all would call the “door of no return”.

We climbed into bright sunlight again to the chapel and the quarters of the commandant. The castle had been fought over by the Swedes, the Norwegians, the Danes and the Dutch before it fell to the English. They traded the slaves in the New World, coming home with cotton and sugar, and out again with cloth and guns to the Gold Coast, and the cycle went on for years.

I was tired after the tour. Bill said to me: “Now I will take you to Elmina castle.”

I did not expect that. It was more or less the same, tiring, as I walked on the hot open yard with rusted cannons lined over the thick stone walls facing the Atlantic below. Coconut trees leaned by the shore where lazy waves lapped away at the sand.

But where our car was parked, we were stopped by many hawkers, who made a brisk business selling handicraft, and what interested me most was the colourful cloth weaved in bright red, yellow and green that I knew was the work of skilled people. The pattern attracted me.

“Fine kente cloth, but tourist prices,” Bill said.

“Can you ask Al Doku if he can bring back a piece and I will pay him in London.”

That was how Al Doku met me again and on a weekend. I invited him for lunch with my family in Surrey and he brought the piece of cloth. It must have cost him a lot of money, and I did not mind paying him a premium for his effort, and it was very beautiful, and probably fit for a minor chief to wear in Ghana.

His daughter was getting medical treatment at a hospital.

I did not hear of Al Doku for many years after I left Unilever, but I still thought of his visit and the lunch like it was yesterday. I had always wondered how he got on after all these years. I remembered him warmly.

By chance, I met him again when he was attending an oil palm conference in Kuala Lumpur. It was just before the conference dinner. I was delighted to see him again and hugged him. I felt a glow of old friendship.

“But I don’t remember you,” he said.

I drew back and explained that he was my guest for lunch in England, and I had bought the kente cloth. I asked him how his daughter was.

But he still could not remember me. Long years had passed but surely he could not have forgotten.

I was told by then he was the managing director of the plantation business. I was upset through the courses of the dinner.

It was at the dessert stage that Al Doku walked up to my table and said with a smile.

“I am so sorry I could not remember you. I think I can remember you now.”

He tried to smile again.

“That’s all right,” I said returning to my dessert.

He tried to be nice to me but the glow of friendship was gone.

The writer has extensive experience in the management of oil palm plantations. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com

PERHAPS one of the highlights of my career was when I was made a chief in a small village in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) in 1986.

After that, a series of events brought me back down to earth.

It was on a normal afternoon during a visit to the plantation and the natural palm groves that I was led to the village by the river Kwenge.

This village was near the town of Kikwit, about 500km east of Kinshasa. Unilever had started its first palm oil mill there in 1911 to supply the soap factories in Liverpool.

In later years, the supplies increased from Malaysia and Indonesia.

Although the business had lost its role as an exporter, it was still an important supplier for the country.

Certainly, the community benefited from Unilever’s presence, employing a population that had experienced not only poverty but also diseases and epidemics such as AIDS and malaria.

Probably even Dr Steve Watson, the director of that region for Unilever Plantations, did not know that I would be installed that day as chief of the village.

It was likely the work of the chef de personnel, an ambitious person from the area.

The people were waiting around an open circle with a stool placed in the middle of the sandy floor.

I was invited to sit on the stool and as soon as the drums began to beat, the chief stepped up with gifts, including three arrows, a drum made of antelope skin and, to top it all, a fly whisk that he placed in my hand.

It was a symbol of power.

The chief’s hands shook slightly.

“You are the chief of this whole village and we are your people now. In your absence, I will be your assistant chief and I will take care of all affairs until your return.”

This was said in the Kikongo language, translated into French by the chef de personnel in a loud and unnecessarily lengthy manner to impress everyone, as I looked around me, and then translated into English by Dr Watson.

He was a Scot who had worked with me in Pamol Sabah and was now in charge of areas extending to the Kasai River.

For the next few days, I travelled with him to see the other plantations, at Mapangu and Bongimba, and I was warned in advance to take my pills against malaria.

In Kikwit, I was reminded of the real risk when I visited a young Belgian engineer at the company rest-house. He lay in bed, shivering.

A transport was arranged to take him to Kinshasa.

But soon after I returned home to Cobham in Surrey, I developed a fever and my body shook. It went on for a few days.

When I became delirious, Maznah took me back to the clinic and suggested to the young doctor: “It could be malaria treatment that he needs.”

The young doctor changed the medicine.

Probably malaria cases were rare in that small town before.

I stopped shivering but still felt feeble when I returned to the office.

Waiting for me were a few messages.

The first, with regret, informed me that the young engineer had died before he arrived in Brussels.

The others concerned changes in top management.

In Malaysia, Pamol had a new chairman who came from Unilever’s factories side and had not previously seen a plantation.

It was a time when many businesses were struggling.

This was a period that followed diversification – a mantra that didn’t always work – ending with the cutting off of parts that were considered non-core. The heroes of the day were directors who boasted about the number of managers they had laid off.

In Unilever’s case, the company decided to slot excess managers where it could and Pamol was not excluded.

The process had shifted from selecting people experienced in plantations.

This shift confirmed the fears that deterred managers from accepting overseas assignments, uncertain if they could return.

In my case, I had been based in London for three years.

Leslie Davidson had asked the personnel department to send me an offer letter for the position of managing director in Cameroon.

Barry Mack, who was there, had resigned for health reasons.

I had discussed this with Maznah and her answer was simple: “When you were sick, I sat by your bed each day, thinking how I might have to pull the children out of school and bring your body home in a box. I don’t want that stress anymore.” I had to refuse the job.

The next offer was to be the director of personnel in DR Congo for Unilever, with its vast business there.

The significant hardship allowance was tempting.

I was to take over the role from Colin Bewick.

I remembered supporting John Dodd, the plantations director, who had insisted on Colin’s departure. I had no idea that one day I’d be in this situation.

Maznah’s response was the same: “Let’s go home and you can look for another job.”

I spoke to Leslie Davidson. We remained close friends, but I knew that with the way head office operated, the decisions weren’t his alone.

“Go with Maznah and the children and stay for a month in Kuala Lumpur. See if you can find a job there. I’ll see what I can do.”

On the long flight back, I had much to think about.

The three children were on school holiday and although glad to be on a plane, they didn’t fully understand what was happening.

Soon I would be jobless. I felt powerless.

Even the fly whisk I kept at home couldn’t help me now.

The writer has extensive experience in the management of oil palm plantations.
Comments: letters@thesundaily.com

KUALA LUMPUR: The retail prices for RON97 and RON95 petrol will remain unchanged, at RM3.19 and RM2.05 per litre respectively from Nov 14 to 20.

The Ministry of Finance, in a statement today, said that the retail price of diesel in Peninsular Malaysia also remained at RM2.95 per litre, while in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan, the price remained at RM2.15 per litre during the same period.

It said the price settings were fixed based on the weekly retail prices of petroleum products, using the Automatic Price Mechanism (APM) formula.

“The Government will continue to monitor the trends of global crude oil prices and take appropriate measures to ensure the continued welfare and well-being of the people,” said the Ministry of Finance statement.

KUCHING: Sarawak police seized 10.4 kilograms (kg) of syabu estimated to be worth RM332,800 in a raid conducted at an apartment in Matang on Monday.

Sarawak Police Commissioner Datuk Mancha Ata said during the raid, a 57-year-old local man who tested positive for methamphetamine and amphetamine was also arrested.

“The total amount of drugs seized could be used by 52,000 addicts and a Kawasaki Z900 motorcycle estimated to be worth RM50,000 was also seized.

“Initial investigations by the police also found that the suspect had a record of past offences under Section 12(2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952,“ he said in a statement here today.

Mancha said the suspect would be remanded for seven days from today until Nov 19 to assist in investigations under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.

What gets you going? From the moment Alison von During set up her Airbnb in the studio apartment and private, leafy patio of her newly-acquired house in Vredehoek, on the slopes of Table Mountain, this was the question that drove...

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s government is monitoring developments in the United States for potential changes in policies as a new administration prepares to take office in Washington, said Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli.

He said that given the influence the US has on the global economy, any country in the world would conduct some level of due diligence on the impacts a change in the US administration might bring.

“That is part and parcel of planning. While we await the next few announcements, we will observe how the Trump administration will impact the global economy and ours,” he told reporters after the Sesi Libat Urus Industri Rancangan Malaysia Ke-13 today.

Rafizi said Malaysia must be nimble and agile to react and respond to any geopolitical and international developments that may arise from a change in administration, not only in the US but in any of its large trading partners. “And the US is a very large trading partner for us,” he pointed out.

However, Rafizi noted that many of Malaysia’s plans concerning semiconductors and energy transition are driven by domestic needs and are largely structural. “That means it’s something we have to go through to prepare our industry and economy to be more robust. So in that sense, I think all the key reforms that need to be done still have to be done.”

Additionally, he said, Malaysia’s 13th Malaysia Plan will include initiatives to position the country as a global provider of a comprehensive artificial intelligence-driven data centre ecosystem. “The government’s focus has always been to tap into the opportunities presented by the data centre boom.”

Rafizi emphasised that Malaysia aims to avoid simply attracting data centre without integrating into the data centre value chain and supply chain. “We have been working on a few catalytic interventions to create the ecosystem.”

Rafizi said that by the end of this decade, Malaysia aims to participate in the entire data centre value chain, first benefiting from existing and future data centers in the country. “But more importantly, for us to begin exporting our own data centers around the world.”

For the 13th Malaysia Plan that is being prepared, Rafizi said, the Ministry of Economy is not only holding engagement sessions with state governments but also ensuring that it includes input from key strategic industries.

The sessions focus on the electronics, aerospace and automotive industries, and the process will continue to align government and industry planning. “The main goal is to transition our industries from assembly-based to innovation and creation-based industries,” Rafizi said.

How does this compare to using the "site:No" syntax to force Google to only return result from .No domains. https://www.google.co.uk/search?num=100&ei=oLL1WeX8NYPtaKS9k4AP&btnG=Search&q=site%3Ano+brexit

Yes, David, I really should have included that in the possible strategies. Thanks for reminding me. It works well for this particular example (Norway) and gives good but slightly different results and will, of course, miss Norwegian sites that are registered as .com or other international domains. The amount of overlap (or lack of it) will vary depending on the country.

Would adding the parameter &gl=no to the result URL, still do the job?

Doesn't work here, Eric :-(

[…] Se også Karen Blakeman’s Bloginnlegg. […]

Google has made a major change to search and it does not bode well. Results are now based on your current location. So what’s new?  Google has always looked at your location, even down to city/town level, and changed the results accordingly. That is fine if you are travelling and want to find the nearest … Continue reading Google makes it harder to change location for country specific research →

Random Photo: Thank You, ChatGPT!

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